Last Word on Pro Football will be breaking down every position in the league by division. This article contains an in-depth, position-by-position breakdown of every NFC West offense. The breakdown will consist of “the best” at every position followed by “the rest”.
NFC West Breakdown By Position: The Defense
2019 NFC West Breakdown By Position: The Offense
Quarterback
The Best: Seattle Seahawks
The Rest: Arizona Cardinals, LA Rams, San Francisco 49ers
The quarterback position is quite interesting in this division for the first time in years. Russell Wilson barely ran the ball this year, 376 yards on 67 attempts (lowest attempts in his career), and only threw for 427 passes. However, Wilson still had a perfect quarterback rating (158.3) throwing to Tyler Lockett and was the best deep-ball thrower last year due to maximizing play-action passes. His passing touchdown efficiency (8.20% touchdown rate) was comparable to Patrick Mahomes’ numbers (8.62% touchdown rate) despite the team finishing dead last in pass attempts.
On top of that, Jared Goff has turned into a Philip Rivers-esque quarterback. He puts up impressive stats year in, year out, but doesn’t garner much attention because he isn’t as mobile or as flashy as most of the modern era quarterbacks playing right now. Speaking of modern era quarterbacks, how will Kyler Murray fair once he starts facing real NFL defenses showing him various schemes and fake looks?
Another team with some question marks that is still holding out hope is the San Francisco 49ers. Will Jimmy Garoppolo stay healthy? Can he be a successful starter in the NFL or was his five-game win streak the peak of his career? Only time will tell for the last two QB’s, but what I can say is that I am excited to see these QB’s duel each other this year. If every team in this division gets there way, then the NFC West might rise again as one of the toughest divisions in football.
Running Back
The Best: LA Rams
The Rest: Arizona Cardinals, San Francisco 49ers, Seattle Seahawks
This might be the division that yields the best running game teams in the entire NFL. Todd Gurley, David Johnson, Chris Carson & Rashaad Penny, plus Kyle Shanahan’s running back scheme is going to be giving the NFC West’s defensive lines fits every time they face each other.
Honestly, it’s a tough call deciding between a presumably injured Todd Gurley and a resurging David Johnson, who is a fellow 2,000-yard scrimmage player that flashed MVP potential. However, it would be foolish to conduct this exercise assuming Gurley is somehow less explosive than before. Gurley has had issues with his knee going back to his college days. That being said, if Gurley and DJ both stay fully healthy then it’s no question that I’ll be taking Gurley in that Sean McVay offense over newcomer Kliff Kingsbury.
Wide Receiver
The Best: LA Rams
The Rest: Arizona Cardinals, San Francisco 49ers, Seattle Seahawks
The Los Angeles Rams consistently field one of the best offenses in the NFL. So, it goes without saying that the Rams have one of the best wide receiving trios in the league. Brandin Cooks, Robert Woods, and Cooper Kupp have varying specialties, yet they all maintain themselves as big-play threats. Despite Kupp missing half the season, this lot still combined for 206 receptions, 2,989 yards, and 17 touchdowns. Kupp was on pace for 80 receptions, 1,132 yards, and most importantly 12 touchdowns! This success is undoubtedly Sean McVay’s doing, but coaching is a huge factor in determining any player’s success. If you believe McVay’s passing attack to be prolific then you have to buy into the wide receivers involved in said passing game.
The Cardinals have a bunch of young unknown talent outside of future Hall of Famer Larry Fitzgerald, who is nearing the end of his illustrious career. The 49ers best wide receiver is Dante Pettis, but then who else do they truly have? Rookie Deebo Samuel? The oft-injured Marquise Goodwin? The Seahawks feel like almost the exact same situation as the 49ers, except more people are hype about Dante Pettis than Tyler Lockett. Will rookie D.K. Metcalf live up to the hype or just be another bust? Analysts adore David Moore, but will he be a breakout? Only time will tell.
Tight End
The Best: San Francisco 49ers
The Rest: Arizona Cardinals, LA Rams, Seattle Seahawks
This is quite literally no contest. The biggest position discrepancy by far in this division is the tight end position. Don’t believe me that the gap is that staggeringly huge? No problem. Consider the fact that in 2018, Ricky Seals-Jones, Maxx Williams, Nick Vannett, Tyler Higbee, and Gerald Everett combined had 10 yards less than George Kittle’s 1,377 yards… COMBINED! That’s insanely terrible on the part of these other TE’s and a stunning breakout performance on Kittle’s part. I don’t know which stat impressed me more. These five other tight ends didn’t even average 275 yards on the season. On the other hand, Kittle surpassed Travis Kelce’s incredibly short record for the most single-season yardage for a TE with his 1,377 yards. In addition, he fell only five yards short (210 yards) from breaking Hall of Famer Shannon Sharpe’s single-game record for most receiving yards by a TE (214 yards). It’s safe to say this was a no brainer even if you’re a Cardinals, Rams, or Seahawks fan.
Offensive Line
The Best: LA Rams
The Rest: Arizona Cardinals, San Francisco 49ers, Seattle Seahawks
The Seahawks do have an ascending offensive line. Just take a look at their great run game, albeit they did run the football the most out of any team so that would make most subpar-average pass-blocking offensive lines look good. The 49ers displayed excellent run blocking, but that’s more scheme from Kyle Shanahan than it is the talent on the line. Overall, they’re just a mediocre run-blocking line that are the perfect example of a team being greater than the sum of its parts due to scheming. Man… what to say about the Cardinals? Please oh boy, please don’t get Kyler Murray and David Johnson killed this year. The biggest caveat to joining the Cardinals offensive bandwagon is that they have arguably a bottom-five offensive line. For my own sanity, I’ll end this mini-rant here. By process of elimination the Rams, who lost Rodger Saffold and have Andrew Whitworth on what is essentially his retirement year, are still the clear cut favorites to have the best offensive line in this division.
NFC West Breakdown By Position: The Defense
Main photo:
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