LogFAQs > #968603529

NFC West Prediction

1. St. Louis Rams
2. Toronto Wildcats
3. Seattle Seahawks
4. San Francisco 49ers

The reigning champion Rams should still be the favorites, but I'd hardly call them heavy favorites. They lost two of their starting OL to retirement, and their Cs did not have good seasons. 3/5 of a the line I would call very good or great, but that might not be at the level needed to salvage the running game. To their credit, they did sign veteran Matt Forte to start over Mike Davis who has yet to finish a season above 3.5 YPC. With a much stronger offseason by most of the division, they can't rely on such a one-dimensional offense to carry them to a division crown. The defense is still one of the league's best and return every starter from a year ago. They enter the season with no injuries and play the AFC South in non-conference play. There's a good chance that the NFC West winner will secure a first round bye, and the Rams seem like the best bet.

The Wildcats, who already had a quality defense, went out and drafted a new #1 CB and signed a new #1 DT, giving them a complete team on that side of the ball. QB Aaron Murray is one of the best QBs in the game, and WR Gonzie Massey might still be the best WR. They went out and got a great #2 in Jordy Nelson, at the expense of a young rising WR, and they shored up the OL some. They have never solved their run-game issues since Laurence Maroney retired. Unfortunately, Dalvin Cook, unquestionably the worst starting HB from the past two seasons, will be the lead back, but it is year three for him, and combined with the OL additions, he could finally show what made him a first round pick. Even approaching a below-average run game might be good enough to compete for the division and definitely a wild card spot.

Two seasons ago, the Seahawks completely revamped their defense. While it never approached elite levels, it was good/above-average, a substantial improvement over the terrible unit from before. Now the offense was poor, so they went and completely revamped that. 4/5 of the starting OL is new and they have first round pick Gardner Minshew taking over at QB. Now while rookie QBs tend to start out poorly, you sometimes get one that turns some heads. Given the support system he has in place, Minshew could be one of those exceptions. The schedule isn't great, but the middle portion of it is very favorable to them. If they can play .500 ball in the early and late portions, they could be a sneaky wild card pick or if everything breaks right, compete for the division.

The 49ers have never been a truly bad team. I can't off the top of my head think of what their worst season has been, but I think the earliest they have naturally picked was in the late single digits. There's a lot to like about this team. The defense keeps improving, and the OL, as it has long been, continues to play at an elite level. The rest of the offense though? I'm a bit worried. They've somehow made the playoffs in each of the past two seasons despite a pedestrian passing game (more on the receiving corps than QB) and HB Thomas Rawls being a high-volume, below-average efficient player. This appears to be arguably the strongest division in the league, so while I have them finishing last in the division, I do expect them to be wild card contenders all season long.