Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Obviously, the big news of the Bucs offseason was the signing of Russell Gage. Well, maybe I’m underestimating the retirement and unretirement of Tom Brady and Bruce Arians stepping down as head coach. But that Gage signing could be important. Brady is back for another run before he heads to the Dolphins next year (I may not be kidding about that). Anyway, the team returns a lot from last season but they need some health and they aren’t off to a great start. With Bruce Arians stepping aside and Todd Bowles promoted to head coach, this is now unequivocally Byron Leftwich’s offense (don’t worry, Brady will still get the credit though).
WR Chris Godwin is Brady’s favorite target but he’s coming off a knee injury and isn’t back yet. Mike Evans remains the steady star who always gets 1000 yards receiving no matter who plays QB for the Bucs. They signed Russell Gage to be their third WR, he’s a good slot guy who should be more reliable than Antonio Brown (and by that, I mean he won’t strip half naked and run off the field in the middle of a game). They signed Julio Jones as a depth piece, he’s simply not the guy he once was but he can still be effective while Godwin gets back. Kyle Rudolph joins Cameron Brate at TE as they look to replace Rob Gronkowski. No one will have the rapport Gronk had with Brady but Rudolph is a tried-and-true veteran Brady can trust.
Leonard Fournette was re-signed because he has Brady’s trust too. He’s a good runner and has proven to be an excellent pass catcher. He does everything the offense needs. As long as he gets into shape by the start the season, he’ll dominate the running game. The offensive line was supposed to return three starters and LT Donovan Smith and RT Tristan Wirfs are back. However, Ryan Jensen re-signed after Brady recruited him hard to come back and now, he suffered a serious knee injury early in training camp and his season is in serious doubt. That’s a big blow to the interior of the offensive line already replacing both guards. They traded for Shaq Mason, he starts at RG. Unfortunately, they lost Aaron Stinnie to a knee injury too and he’s out for the year. It looks like rookie Luke Goedeke will start at LG unless the sign a veteran. Robert Hainsey steps in at center for Jensen, they could sign a veteran at center but they are giving Hainsey every chance to win the job. Wirfs isn’t completely healthy either, it’s getting a bit tough up front. The offensive line issues could derail this offense.
Todd Bowles takes over as head coach and he promoted two guys to coordinate the defense but make no mistake, he’s still running it. Bowles is an excellent defensive mind and he’s going to have develop a few young guys to replace some important veterans. The team didn’t re-sign Ndamukong Suh and they drafted Logan Hall at DE in round two. Clearly, they weren’t convinced he’ll be ready right away because they signed Akiem Hicks to start with Vita Vea and William Gholston. Vea is arguably the best nose tackle in football and Gholston is solid vet. Hall will give them some youth but he’s basically the only depth they have.
The team also failed to re-sign OLB Jason Pierre-Paul who is aging, wasn’t very effective last year, and had shoulder surgery after missing the end of the season. They will turn to 2021 first-round pick Joe Tryon-Shoyinka to play opposite Shaquil Barrett. Barrett is the star pass rusher now and they also have veteran Anthony Nelson who was steady yet unspectacular last year. Devin White and Lavonte David are probably the best ILB duo in the league and they do everything Todd Bowles wants his ILBs to do. They are undersized guys but Bowles likes them that way and he knows exactly how to play to their strengths.
Bowles is one of the best secondary coaches in NFL history and the way you know that is he has one elite player in this secondary and yet they are consistently one of the most effective units every year. SS Antoine Winfield Jr. is quickly becoming one of the best safeties in the NFL and he’s the chess piece Bowles can move anywhere he needs him. The team lost Jordan Whitehead in free agency but they signed Logan Ryan. Ryan has moved from CB to safety in the past few years and redefined himself as a pretty good safety, a move that has successfully extended his career. Carlton Davis III, Jamel Dean, and Sean Murphy-Bunting make a really solid trio at CB. They are all similar sizes with similar builds and similar playing styles so Bowles can just put them out there and let them play.
New Orleans Saints
It feels like people are downplaying the Saints because of their QB and new coaching situation, yet plenty of people are picking them for the playoffs because the NFC isn’t exactly stacked. It seems like them going with Jameis Winston at QB is making people doubt them and people are doubting their offense overall. Pete Carmichael is taking over play calling duties but he’s not the “new” offensive coordinator, he has been Sean Payton’s offensive coordinator for more than a decade, he had to have picked up something in that time. Dennis Allen is the new head coach as he moves up from defensive coordinator so Carmichael will be running the offense.
Winston went 4-2 in games he started and finished last year before his injury in game seven ended his season. He was up and down at times but his starting WRs to begin last year were Tre’Quan Smith, Marquez Callaway, and Deonte Harris. Those three are still around, none of them will start and there’s a chance one or two of them don’t make the roster. Michael Thomas is back to claim his #1 WR spot on the outside. They drafted Chris Olave to give them a major playmaker and they signed Jarvis Landry to be the chain mover in the slot. TE Adam Trautman had a nice October and November before he missed some time at the end of the year. Also, Taysom Hill as a QB is officially dead and the team is going to try him at TE and maybe use him as a skill position weapon on offense. Winston has way more to work with now than he did to start last year.
Alvin Kamara had a tough year last season with the offense being on his shoulders. He had 240 rushes last year and only 47 catches. That was almost 50 more rushes than his previous career high and about half the passes you want him catching. Kamara is not a traditional “pound-the-rock” RB, he needs to be in space. They didn’t have a better option so he got stuck in a bad role. They still don’t have great options for a traditional back but Mark Ingram II is back after coming home in a trade last season. They signed Malcolm Brown, they still have Tony Jones Jr. and I think they are ripe for picking up someone’s veteran castoff at some point. Kamara shouldn’t get 240 rushes this season if they want to succeed.
The offensive line returns intact after Terron Armstead missed most of last season and now he’s off to Miami. James Hurst will likely be the starting LT to start the year unless rookie Trevor Penning can beat him out. It’s going to be hard to do if he keeps getting kicked out of practice for fighting, someone needs to tell him these guys are on his side. The rest of the line just needs to stay healthy. LG Andrus Peat, C Eric McCoy, RG Cesar Ruiz and RT Ryan Ramczyk are all quite talented players when they play. Ruiz struggled at times last year but he’s still their best option at RG.
Dennis Allen turned around the Saints defense the minute he got there and there is no reason to think they won’t be good. He’s still relying on a few older vets but these guys can play. Starting up front with DE Cameron Jordan going into his twelfth year, he’s a still a menace. He’s the guy that scares everyone up front. Marcus Davenport missed time early in the year but he finally started to show his promise after a pretty lackluster three years. He might be the guy they thought they were getting when they traded up for him in the first round of the 2018 draft. Shy Tuttle and David Onyemata aren’t game wreckers but they are tough in the middle and make life easier for the guys around them.
LB Demario Davis is still the picture of consistency going into year eleven and he’s the QB of this defense. He’s a tackling machine and makes plays everywhere. The team really only uses two LBs because Allen uses a lot of nickel defense so Pete Werner is the other LB who plays a lot. The team has some depth with Zack Baun and Andrew Dowell but keep an eye on D’Marco Jackson. He’s a small-school guy who’s a little undersized but he has Demario Davis vibes.
Allen likes to have options in his secondary and he’s got lots of options in this secondary. Marshon Lattimore can be one of the best corners in the league. He wasn’t quite at his best last year but he still has it in him. Paulson Adebo locked down the other starting CB spot and he was pretty good. Allen likes five DBs and Chauncey Gardner-Johnson is their nickel guy. He’s a CB/S hybrid and he plays a lot of snaps for this team. They needed new safeties after Marcus Williams left in free agency and Malcolm Jenkins retired. They signed Marcus Maye and Tyrann Mathieu as their starters. Allen will love their versatility. They also have plenty of backup options for Allen to choose from. PJ Williams is still around at CB and they drafted Alontae Taylor, a very intriguing rookie. Also, they still have Bradley Roby somehow. They signed Daniel Sorensen (I don’t know why) as depth at safety.
Carolina Panthers
Somehow the Panthers have the #1 and #3 picks from the 2018 draft on their roster and it’s not really a good thing. They finally pulled off the trade for Baker Mayfield once Mayfield took a pay cut and the Brown picked up most of the rest of the contract. Now Mayfield becomes the likely starter over Sam Darnold after Darnold was pretty bad last year. This offense has a chance to be good if they get good QB play, I’m not sure if they will get good QB play. I’ve never been a Mayfield fan but he’s better than Darnold (as long as his shoulder is okay).
Mayfield could find this WR group to actually be better than the one he was playing with at the end of his time in Cleveland. DJ Moore is an underutilized talent. Somehow, Moore has never scored more than four TDs in a season, that’s an insane stat for a guy who has had over 1100 receiving yards each of the last three years. Robbie Anderson may not have been excited to have Mayfield become his QB but maybe he should be. Darnold has yet to be great and maybe if Mayfield is more consistent Anderson can get back to being a productive receiver. Terrace Marshall Jr. is a talented guy who just never got going last year. They also signed Rashard Higgins, a guy who always had a little connection to Mayfield in Cleveland. Tommy Tremble can be a more productive TE with a more consistent QB.
RB Christian McCaffrey is the engine to this offense. He has essentially missed the last two seasons and they need to keep him healthy. It would help if they don’t give him 1000 touches like they did back in 2019, I understand it’s tempting to give him the ball every play but it’s just not smart. They do have Chuba Hubbard and now they signed D’Onta Foreman after he played so well in place of Derrick Henry in Tennessee last year. They have to let those guys handle some of the workload.
The offensive line was atrocious last season which is why they will likely have four new starters this year. RT Taylor Moton is the only returning starter and that’s because he’s actually pretty good. LT Ikem Ekwonu was their first-round pick and he’s going to be a stud, you’re going to have to give him a minute with the pass blocking, but he’ll get there. He’ll be their first steady starter at LT in quite a while. C Bradley Bozeman was signed from Baltimore and he should stabilize that spot. RG Austin Corbett started for the Super Bowl winning Rams and he got a nice big contract in free agency. The LG spot is going to have some competition. Pat Elflein is an uninspiring veteran choice, his versatility means he can be the backup guard and center. Brady Christiansen could win the job but I think he’s the swing tackle. I think rookie Cade Mays will end up the best option. He was a sixth-round pick but he’s really tough. It could be scary starting two rookies on the left side but it can’t be worse than their starters there last year.
The Panthers’ defense wasn’t very good last year. It’s possible it was the personnel, it’s possible it was the scheme and the coaching, and it’s possible that the offense was so bad it put the defense in terrible position. It’s actually all of those things. The front four is led by DE Brian Burns. He had a solid year with nine sacks but he has yet to really break out. He has the talent; now can they unleash him. Yetur Gross-Matos is the other starting end, he’s solid but doesn’t excel as a pass rusher so he isn’t taking much pressure off of Burns. They need someone to help at end. Derrick Brown is a big man on the inside they would like to see make more plays. They signed Matt Ioannidis to be the other starting DT because Bravvion Roy and Daviyon Nixon haven’t proven to be ready.
The LBs are a work in progress. Shaq Thompson is the only sure thing as long as he’s healthy. They had veteran Corey Littleton last year, he was fine but not great. They signed Damien Wilson to play MLB. He’s generally productive but hardly inspiring. The secondary is where the true upside resides. CB Jaycee Horn only played in three games before he was lost for the season, he’s got true #1 CB potential. Donte Jackson is a solid #2 CB and they are hoping their trade for former first-round pick CJ Henderson pays off and gives them a solid trio. SS Jeremy Chinn is a unique athlete that I’m not quite sure they have figured out how to use just yet. FS Xavier Woods is a new addition and he should be solid on the back end. I’m not sure if this defense is holding this team back because they aren’t good or if this team is holding this defense back because they aren’t good. We may have to wait for them to replace the coaching staff to find out.
Atlanta Falcons
This Falcons team is pretty rough and it starts at QB. They traded Matt Ryan and they signed Marcus Mariota to be the stopgap starter. Mariota has been the backup for the Raiders for a couple of years and he’s not a great choice to start. They drafted Desmond Ridder but they seem committed to Mariota, this is clearly a team looking for a high draft pick next year. Arthur Smith has a type of receiver he likes, big. Last year the team drafted TE Kyle Pitts, essentially a 6’6 receiver that they played outside quite a bit. This year they drafted Drake London, a 6’4 WR with the versatility to play inside or outside so they can move him around with Pitts. They traded for Bryan Edwards, a big 6’3 WR from the Raiders. They also signed Auden Tate, a 6’5 WR, that’s not a coincidence. Olamide Zaccheaus is a small WR they plan to use but that will likely be because they don’t have a ton of choices, it’s not a great depth chart.
The running game looks to be in the hands of Cordarrelle Patterson again after he was the surprise last season. He had never been a full-time RB until the Falcons had no other choices last year and he excelled at it. They have some help this year with Damian Williams and rookie Tyler Allgeier. They aren’t great but they can play. The offensive line has stalwart LT Jake Matthews returning. C Matt Hennessey also returns to start. They desperately need the other three spots to get healthy. RG Chris Lindstrom and RT Kaleb McGary simply haven’t stayed healthy enough to show their talent and they are running out of time. Both were first-round picks in 2019 and they are quickly approaching the end of their rookie contracts, it’s now or never to prove they are worth keeping around. LG Jalen Mayfield is fighting a back issue with Bears’ castoff Elijah Wilkinson set to replace him. If you’re playing a guy the Bears let walk, you should reconsider your life’s direction.
As bad as I think the Atlanta offense might be, the defense is going to be worse. Up front they have Grady Jarrett, and while he’s pretty good, they have very little else. Marlon Davidson has some talent but he simply doesn’t play enough. Ta’Quon Graham is young guy trying to figure it out and while Anthony Rush looks the part of a nose tackle, he’s bounced around a lot for a reason. It’s going to be a long year for Jarrett.
The LB corps is better but still not great. They have some solid pros but not a lot of playmakers. Deion Jones should be one ILB as long as he’s healthy. They signed Rashaad Evans from Tennessee to give them a solid guy inside next to Jones. Evans isn’t a game breaker but he’s consistent. They also drafted Troy Andersen, a small-school guy with some upside. At OLB, they signed Lorenzo Carter from the Giants. He’s solid but he doesn’t set the world on fire as a pass rusher. They drafted Arnold Ebiketie and while he might take a minute to adjust to the NFL, he has high upside as a pass rusher, certainly more than anyone else on this roster.
The secondary has some talent at the CB position. AJ Terrell developed into a top-notch cover guy last season and they added Casey Hayward in free agency. Hayward is getting older but he’s been pretty consistent over the last several years which is more than can be said for Isaiah Oliver, their other CB. Richie Grant, Dean Marlowe, Jaylinn Hawkins, Erik Harris is an underwhelming group at safety but there is competition. If Grant and Hawkins can play up to their potential, the secondary could be the strength of the defense. It’s a low bar but you have to start somewhere.
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