Los Angeles Rams
The Rams are the betting favorite for the Super Bowl heading into the season and while Seattle fans are upset by that, this is about the 2026 roster, it’s not about what you did last year. The Rams were built to win this year and that was before they traded for the record-setting reigning Defensive Player of the Year Myles Garrett. They certainly aren’t a lock to win the title, but they deserve to be the favorites. Sean McVay is a genius coach, Les Snead has been an incredible GM, and they have reigning MVP Matthew Stafford and Defensive Player of the Year Myles Garrett, it’s an embarrassment of riches. Oh yeah, and just before the start of the season, Aaron Donald announced his return, maybe they are locks for the title.
Matthew Stafford won the MVP last season (even if I disagree because he was padding his stats with 1-yard TDs to Devante Adams all year), he did have a great year, and he stayed healthy. If he can stay healthy again, this offense will keep humming along. WR Puka Nacua has had some off-the-field issues, but it shouldn’t hurt his season. Nacua and Adams are a dynamic pass catching duo with very complementary skill sets. McVay hasn’t had a good WR3 and I don’t think Jordan Whittington is going to change that this season which is why he uses 3 TE sets so much. They have Tyler Higbee, Colby Parkinson, Tyler Ferguson, Davis Allen, and now rookie Max Klare to run out there at TE. McVay is an offensive mastermind, and he knows how to design a passing game with whatever personnel he has available to him.
The offensive line is stronger as a unit than they are as individual pieces. LT Alaric Jackson is solid but unspectacular. RT Warren McClendon III stepped in for Rob Havenstein last year and played well, now Havenstein retired and it’s McClendon’s job. Guards Steve Avila and Kevin Dotson are big and physical, and they make up for the lack of size and physicality from C Coleman Shelton. There’s not a lot of depth but after watching McClendon step in last season at RT and play well, it’s hard to question McVay about his offensive line.
The running game relies heavily on Kyren Williams and he never disappoints. He rarely stands out as a dynamic playmaker, but he always gets the yards they need and never backs down. They started to sprinkle in Blake Corum a little more last season and you will continue to see that as they lessen the load on Williams. Corum plays a lot like Williams so there’s not a ton of dropoff when he plays. As long as the scheme keeps working as it has for years for McVay, the run game will be fine.
The Rams defense was pretty solid up front last season and now they switched out Jared Verse, a very good DE for Myles Garrett, the best defender in football. Adding Myles Garrett to Braden Fiske, Kobie Turner, Poona Ford, and Byron Young is basically unfair. Garrett broke the single season sack record last year and that was on the Browns. He has a better group around him up front in LA than he had in Cleveland. The defense will have to be slightly different but defensive coordinator Chris Shula seems like a guy who can figure it all out. The addition of Aaron Donald at DT is just icing on the cake. Yes, Donald has been retired for a few years and he’s 35, but they won’t be relying on him as an every down player, they have depth.
The LB corps has never been a priority for the Rams when it comes to talent acquisition. Last year their big move was signing Nate Landman, and of course, he was quite good. They also have Omar Speights, an undrafted free agent from a couple of years ago, he does just fine too. It’s just the way the Rams roll when it comes to LBs.
The CB position was a problem last season and before the Rams ever traded for Myles Garrett, they made a major trade with the Chiefs for Trent McDuffie. McDuffie is one of the better CBs in football and he’s a massive upgrade. Then they signed another Chiefs starting CB Jaylen Watson to be the other starter, instant upgrade at both outside CB spots. The safety position is in good hands with Kam Kitchens and Kam Curl and Quentin Lake proved to be an excellent nickel last year. Between the improvement in coverage, they should get from McDuffie and Watson and the pass rush from Garrett, this defense is going to be very, very good.
Seattle Seahawks
The Seahawks can be upset that the Rams are favored over them even though they won the Super Bowl last year, but this isn’t last year’s team. The Super Bowl MVP for the Seahawks plays for Kansas City now and they lost Riq Woolen and Coby Bryant out of the secondary, this team will be good but it’s not the same as last year. The loss of Klint Kubiak as the offensive coordinator could be huge if Brian Fleury, who’s never called plays before, struggles in his new role.
Sam Darnold had a solid season last year, but he was playing in Klint Kubiak’s friendly QB offense and there’s no telling what happens with Brian Fleury calling plays. They did re-sign Rashid Shaheed at WR and expect Tory Horton back from injury, so the entire passing offense doesn’t have to rest on Jaxon Smith-Njiba’s shoulders. Even Cooper Kupp is back. Fleury was the TEs coach in San Francisco so perhaps he will get even more out of AJ Barner and second-year man Elijah Arroyo in the passing game.
The offensive line was so much better under Kubiak just from the scheme change and Fleury should run a similar scheme considering his time with Kyle Shanahan. As long as LT Charles Cross and RT Abe Lucas have healthy seasons, they should be excellent on the edges. Jalen Sundell stepped up at center last year and while he’s not some Pro Bowl player, he played well for them. Gray Zabel had an excellent rookie year at LG and he should only get better. RG Anthony Bradford is everyone’s favorite whipping boy, and the team did trade back up into the fifth round of the draft to take Beau Stephens out of Iowa. He’s going to have a chance to unseat Bradford if he falters at all.
The running game lost Kenneth Walker III in free agency after his Super Bowl MVP performance. They also lost Zach Charbonnet to a knee injury in the playoffs and he’s not expected to be ready to start the year. Jadarian Price may have been a bit of a reach with the last pick of round one in the draft, but he was a necessary choice. The team needs the running game to take pressure off Sam Darnold. If Price can hold down the spot until Charbonnet is back, that would help considerably. If he does more than hold it down, he’s going to be a big piece of the puzzle.
Mike Macdonald proved to be one of the elite defensive minds in the game last year and put together one of the best defenses in the game and won a Super Bowl with them. The offense only has to be so good when the defense is this elite, now they have to sustain that level. The defensive front isn’t made up of a bunch of superstars; it’s made up of a bunch of guys all doing their jobs well and the team having waves of rushers. DT Byron Murphy might be the one guy who can ascend to elite status at some point, he had a heck of a year. Leonard Williams is still a very productive player even as he gets a little older. Jarran Reed is just a professional defensive lineman.
The team is counting on DeMarcus Lawrence to continue to fight off father time and for Uchenna Nwosu to stay healthy. They did lose one player from their pass rush rotation, Boye Mafe, and they replaced him with an aging and less effective Dante Fowler Jr. They still have Derick Hall and he’s a solid piece too. These rushers rotate around ILB Ernest Jones IV, who is the leader in the middle and he’s excellent. Drake Thomas is the other starter inside and he’s a solid young player.
The secondary has some excellent players in CB Devon Witherspoon, S Julian Love, and nickelback Nick Emmanwori. However, they took a couple of hits with Riq Woolen and Coby Bryant leaving in free agency. Woolen had fallen out of favor and was losing time to Josh Jobe, who they brought back but Jobe isn’t great, he’s solid at times but not great. For now, it looks like Ty Okada is penciled in at safety to replace Bryant and he was a college free agent three years ago and I’ve never heard of him. If the pass rush is compromised at all without Mafe and with Lawrence and Fowler’s age, any hole in the secondary could be exposed.
San Francisco 49ers
The 49ers are such an injury riddled team that Kyle Shanahan got himself into a car accident just to be more like his players…okay…maybe that wasn’t the reason but still. Their WR corps was a wreck last year and Ricky Pearsall is already out for the year with knee surgery. At least he’s sparing us the fantasy football headache of where to take him when you know he’ll only play about nine games; you can just skip him this season. If it’s not the electrical substation near the practice facility causing these injuries they should really investigate to find out the reason, their injury luck is awful.
Brock Purdy carried this offense last season relying mostly on Christian McCaffrey and then receivers like Kendrick Bourne, Jauan Jennings, and TE George Kittle, until he got hurt. They signed Mike Evans and Christian Kirk in the spring and recently brought back Deebo Samuel, Evans and Kirk are already hurt. Kittle is likely to miss some time early but he’s making a remarkable recovery from a torn Achilles. That’s good, they’re going to need him. Right now, the most promising pass catcher they have is rookie De’Zhaun Stribling, that’s a concern.
The offensive line is more than the sum of its parts as LT Trent Williams is the only above average starter. Williams is still playing at a Pro Bowl level but the rest of the group is just a bunch of guys. C Jake Brendel and RT Colton McKivitz have been good in Shanahan’s system but the system really helps them look good. RG Dominik Puni might be a good guard and the LG is now in the hands of rookie fourth-rounder Carver Willis. He won an uninspiring camp battle for the job.
The run game is all McCaffrey all the time. He had over 300 carries and over 100 receptions, to say Brock Purdy peppered him with touches is a major understatement. He just turned 30 this summer but he’s still one of the most electric playmakers in the league. It would help him if they had some help around him so he isn’t the focal point for the defense. It doesn’t seem to deter him, but it would be nice for him. Rookie RB Kaelon Black adds a different player and they will use FB Kyle Juszczyk like no one else uses a fullback.
The defense wasn’t spared from the injury bug last season with both DE Nick Bosa and MLB Fred Warner going down for most of the season. Those are two All-Pro caliber players and the leaders of this defense. Robert Saleh did everything he could to patch the defense together and now he’s the Titans head coach. Raheem Morris comes in and he’ll try to rebuild this unit with healthy pieces. Having Bosa back and hopefully Mykel Williams at some point when he gets back. DT Osa Odighizuwa came over in a trade from Dallas, and he gets a starting spot. Alfred Collins should be the big-body DT next to Odighizuwa. They do have some decent depth this year; DT CJ West, DT Gracen Halton, and DE Keion White are a solid group. White will hold down the starting spot until Williams is back. Rookie Romello Height will be the designated pass rusher for now.
Fred Warner returning to the MLB spot is like getting Jordan back on Bulls. There is no way to describe how valuable he is to this entire defense. When healthy, Warner is the best MLB in the league. The team is bringing back Dre Greenlaw to pair with Warner after he spent last season in Denver (mostly injured). They need some young guys to step up but if they can get a healthy year out of Warner and Greenlaw, they’ll be fine.
The secondary isn’t teeming with overwhelming talent, but Saleh made it work and Morris has been an excellent defensive backs coach in his career so he should figure it out too. CB Renardo Green will try to hold off Jack Jones at one outside CB spot while Deommodore Lenoir handles the other. Upton Stout was a solid rookie nickel last year and they hope he continues to develop. Ji’Ayir Brown, Malik Mustapha, and Marques Sigle were the three main safeties last year and they will be again. Not a great group but they hold their own. The team signed Jack Jones and Nate Hobbs to be depth pieces and push the starters at CB, Hobbs went on IR so Jones is the only real depth. They also drafted Ephesians Prysock in round four, if nothing else, he has one of the cooler names in football.
Arizona Cardinals
The Cardinals were quite bad last year, and they play in a division with three behemoths, so things are not easy for them. Jonathan Gannon is out and Mike LaFleur gets his first shot at being a head coach. I like some of the moves they made on offense and having LeFleur bring in his version of the McVay offense from the Rams can’t hurt. LeFleur kept defensive coordinator Nick Rallis who did a decent job with a pretty beat up group on that side. With some better health, the defense should get better.
The one major issue I have with what the Cardinals did on offense was how they handled the QB position. I’m not a Kyler Murray fan and it was time for him to go. However, keeping Jacoby Brissett as your likely starter, signing Gardner Minshew as your backup, and drafting Carson Beck with the first pick of the third round is just dereliction of duty. This offense could be solid if they have a QB, but we’ve seen Brissett fail as a starter, multiple times. Minshew isn’t a starter either, that leaves their hopes with Beck. I understand they are looking at a better QB crop in the 2027 draft, but they are wasting a year of Michael Wilson and Marvin Harrison Jr. Those two could be good, if they had a QB. Wilson had a breakout season last year and I’m really looking forward to what a smart offensive mind like LeFleur can do with Marving Harrison Jr., the guy is still a talent. TE Trey McBride is one of the best in the league and he should thrive in this system, he’s too good not to.
They made a solid move signing LG Isaac Seumalo to fill a big hole in their line, he’s a good veteran addition. He’s going to make life easier for LT Paris Johnson Jr. who’s a very good player who’s been playing on an awful line his whole career. C Hjalte Frodholdt is fine, and RG was going to be a competition until Chase Bisontis got hurt. Isaiah Adams is fine but Bisontis has a higher ceiling. RT Elijah Wilkinson isn’t good but he’s better than the guys they were running out there at RT last season and LeFleur comes from the Shanahan/McVay tree which means he should be able to mitigate some of issues with the offensive line.
The Cardinals have taken plenty of heat for drafting a RB with the third pick in the draft when they aren’t likely to be very good. It was also strange considering they already had James Conner and had signed Tyler Allgeier as a free agent. That said, Love is a supreme talent and maybe once they get a new QB next year, Love will be a huge part of an offensive explosion then. Conner is coming back from an injury but he’s still solid and Allgeier is a great short yardage, power back. They shouldn’t have to tax Love too much this year.
Nick Rallis did a solid job with a defense that was beat up and mostly outmanned so he got to stick around and see if he can make them better with some healthy guys. Up front, he really needs Walter Nolan and Darius Robinson to be healthy and ready to play. Nolan is a game wrecker and Robinson is a big, physical athlete they could really use. Roy Lopez comes in as the NT and he’s a solid veteran addition.
Josh Sweat had 12 sacks last year and they need him to keep up that production. Zaven Collins, Baron Browning, and maybe BJ Ojulari need to give them something at the other edge rushing spot if the defense is going to make strides. If Nolan is healthy up front, he gives them some disruption but one of these guys has to step up. At ILB, Cody Simon and Mack Wilson Sr. are just guys, they aren’t moving the needle. The team signed Jack Gibbens as depth but he’s not doing it either.
The secondary was inconsistent last season because there were plenty of injuries and there’s a lot of youth. Will Johnson is real talent, but he only played 12 games last season. Garrett Williams might be good but he’s coming off an Achilles injury. Denzel Burke was a fifth-round rookie last year but might have been the most reliable CB they had. Max Melton is a still a young player who can add something to this CB room. At safety, Budda Baker is a menace, but they lost his running mate Jalen Thompson to Dallas in free agency. Andrew Wingard is penciled in as the starter opposite Baker, they should hope to do better. Baker is the one true constant on this defense and he will be again.
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