Roster Reset: NFC West

[Alan]

http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap3000000483993/article/roster-reset-nfc-west
Things are changing in the NFC West, though not necessarily at the top.

The Seahawks -- coming off another Super Bowl trip -- remain the class of the division. The NFL's most loaded roster got even better following the blockbuster trade that brought Jimmy Graham to town. Adding an elite end-zone target for Russell Wilson is almost unfair for a division that already has to tangle with Seattle's historically great defense.

The 49ers were once viewed as an equal of the Seahawks, but unrest has arrived following the defection of Jim Harbaugh and a slew of personnel losses, none more biting than the stunning retirements of Patrick Willis and Chris Borland over the stretch of six days in March. New coach Jim Tomsula and general manager Trent Baalke need to reload on the fly to avoid a steep franchise downturn.

Meanwhile, it's put-up-or-shut-up time for the Rams and coach Jeff Fisher, who will be under considerable pressure to lift St. Louis from stubborn mediocrity into a playoff spot. They'll try to do it with quarterback Nick Foles, who came to the team in the blockbuster deal that sent former No. 1 overall pick Sam Bradford to the Eagles.

The Cardinals will stick with Carson Palmer as their signal-caller following the veteran's second reconstructive knee surgery. Can Arizona pull the trigger on a deal that would allow Adrian Petersonto line up behind Palmer in the backfield?

In our Roster Reset series, Around The NFL will rank teams in each division based on how much they improved this offseason. The NFC West is up next.

1. Seattle Seahawks

Why Seattle is still king: Because deft personnel work -- including an untouchable draft pedigree -- keeps the Seahawks ahead of the game. There was no panic after February's crushing Super Bowl loss. Instead, theSeahawks kept all their major players in the building and imported in Graham to fill one of the team's most glaring needs -- a red-zone difference-maker.

That doesn't mean there aren't challenges for general manager John Schneider. The team is without a first-round pick (ceded to the Saints to land Graham) and have seen their depth chipped away as other teams look to capture Seattle's magic. Schneider's job is to use the 11 picks at his disposal -- including five in rounds 2 through 5 -- to patch the weak spots and send the Seahawks out on another title journey.

Seahawks' moves
Re-signingsArrivalsDepartures
TE Anthony McCoyTE Jimmy GrahamC Max Unger
OLB Mike MorganCB Will BlackmonG James Carpenter
FB Will TukuafuNT Ahtyba RubinSS Jeron Johnson
DT Jesse WilliamsCB Cary WilliamsCB Byron Maxwell
DE O'Brien Schofield
OLB Malcolm Smith
What's next?

» Offensive line help: The Seahawks are down two starters after Max Unger was dealt to the Saintsas part of the Graham deal and guard James Carpenter signed with the Jets in free agency. Pete Carroll has talked up this draft for its line talent, making this a likely area to be addressed in Chicago -- perhaps repeatedly.

» Lock up Russell Wilson and Bobby Wagner: Wilson's star continued to ascend in his third season as starter, while Wagner earned All-Pro honors and established himself as one of the best middle linebackers in the game. Both are going to get paid, but only Wilson could come out of negotiations with the biggest contract in NFL history.

» Add another receiver? This isn't as high on the priority list after the Graham acquisition. But Seattle could still use some fresh talent at wide receiver, unless you believe Chris Matthews' breakout performance in Super Bowl XLIX was a sign of things to come.

2. Arizona Cardinals

Reason to believe? Though it might be somewhat obscured by 2014's injury-aided slow fade, the Cardinalsare still the Seahawks' top threat for NFC West supremacy. The roster remains largely intact with reigning Coach of the Year Bruce Arians leading the way.

There is work to do. The Cardinals lost a starting cornerback when Antonio Cromartie returned to the Jets, while the colorful and productive Darnell Dockett signed with the 49ers after refusing a pay cut to stay in Arizona.

The Cardinals and Adrian Peterson have been consistently linked this offseason. Though a deal should probably be considered a long shot, don't discount the possibility. The Cardinals know they probably need another difference-maker to topple the mighty Seahawks.

Cardinals' moves
Re-signingsArrivalsDepartures
LS Mike LeachG Mike IupatiOLB Sam Acho
DT Corey PetersCB Antonio Cromartie
DE Cory ReddingDT Darnell Dockett
C A.Q. ShipleyG Paul Fanaika
OLB Sean WeatherspoonWR Ted Ginn
DE LaMarr WoodleyNT Dan Williams
QB Chandler Harnish
What's next?

» Land a pass rusher: The Cardinals never identified an adequate replacement for John Abrahamlast season. They could take a first-round chance on Nebraska prospect Randy Gregory, who has seen his stock fall after acknowledging habitual marijuana use during his college career. Gregory is the instant-impact player the Cardinals are looking for, and the team has succeeded by taking players with character concerns in the past (see: Mathieu, Tyrann).

» Inside linebacker help: Daryl Washington remains suspended and enforcements are needed for a paper-thin group that includes Sean Weatherspoon and Kevin Minter. There should be some enticing options at the position with the 24th overall pick.

» About A.P.: Peterson would be a huge addition, but the Cardinals might be better off finding their complement to Andre Ellington in a draft class that Arians calls the best for running backs in a decade. Arians said at the NFL Annual Meeting that there are 15 "really quality" backs available through the draft. The Cards could pluck one.

3. St. Louis Rams

A bold new direction: You know it couldn't have been easy for the Rams to move on from Sam Bradford, who the team long believed would become a franchise cornerstone. Two knee surgeries and a Chip Kelly offer Les Snead could not refuse, and Nick Foles is the Rams' new starter.

The defense isn't the concern here. The Ramsreturn all 11 of their starters from last season and have added defensive tackle Nick Fairley and linebacker Akeem Ayers to the mix. The key to making a jump to playoff contention rides on the offense under new coordinator Frank Cignetti. Foles could use weapons in the pass game, while the offensive line looms as a major concern.

Rams' moves
Re-signingsArrivalsDepartures
WR Kenny BrittOLB Akeem AyersQB Shaun Hill
TE Lance KendricksDT Nick FairleyDT Kendall Langford
QB Nick FolesT Mike Person
QB Sam Bradford
What's next?

» Patch the O-line: Both Jake Long and Joe Barksdale are unsigned and unlikely to return. Former first-round pick Greg Robinson will inherit the left tackle job on a full-time basis, but questions persist at center, right guard and right tackle.

» Add more weapons in passing game: Fisher said he's expecting "a lot more out of" Kenny Brittin 2014. We think 48 catches and 16 games played is plenty for the disappointing former first-round pick. The Rams could add another receiver to a group that includes Britt and first-round draft bustTavon Austin. NFL Media draft expert Daniel Jeremiah currently has West Virginia playmaker Kevin White going to St. Louis with the 10th overall pick.

» More quarterbacks please? You have to wonder what the Rams would do if Marcus Mariota is still on the board at No. 10. Foles is coming off disappointing season in Philadelphia that included inconsistent play and a season-ending injury. What would Chip Kelly be thinking if Fisher ended up with both Foles and Mariota?

4. San Francisco 49ers

For the first time in years, expectations are absent in San Francisco. More people will pick the Niners to finish last in the NFC West than to make it back to the Super Bowl. This is understandable considering Harbaugh's departure and the exodus of multiple impact players.

Plenty of pressure rests on the shoulders of Colin Kaepernick, who must be better in his third full season as starter. Kaepernick spent part of his offseason working with a host of quarterback gurus, including Kurt Warner.

49ers' moves
Re-signingsArrivalsDepartures
LB Desmond BishopLB Nick BelloreLB Patrick Willis
CB Chris CookDT Darnell DockettLB Chris Borland
QB Blaine GabbertG Erik PearsCB Perrish Cox
WR Torrey SmithCB Chris Culliver
CB Shareece WrightRB Frank Gore
G Mike Iupati
WR Steve Johnson
DE Ray McDonald
OLB Dan Skuta
What's next?

» Front-seven trouble: This was a major strength of the Niners during Harbaugh's tenure, but the sudden retirements of Willis and Borland, coupled with the release of Ray McDonald, the uncertain health status of Navarro Bowman and the possible retirement of Justin Smith, all add up to make a huge stew of uncertainty. Oregon defensive tackle Arik Armstead is a popular choice for the Niners among NFL Media draft analysts.

» Corner help: More trouble in the secondary, where both starting cornerbacks -- Chris Culliver andPerrish Cox -- departed in free agency. The 49ers signed Shareece Wright, though the formerChargers cover man had more pass interference penalties than any player in football over the past two seasons. Cornerback should be a target in Chicago.

» More receiver help: The 49ers gave Kaepernick a legitimate deep threat with the signing of Torrey Smith. That doesn't mean their work is necessarily done. Anquan Boldin is entering his 13th season,Michael Crabtree is unlikely to return and the newly signed Jerome Simpson faces a possible suspension. Can Vernon Davis still play?

 

[RAMSinLA]

Very informative....thanks! Kind of says it all.

 

[Faceplant]

I see a lot of dumb in that.....

 

[LumberTubs]

"first-round draft bust Tavon Austin"

This kind of nonsense p1sses me off. In my view, apart from being completely unnecessary and down right disrespectful to Tavon, it says a lot about people when they write off a player as a bust after only two full seasons in the league.

What are we supposed to do? Move on from him already? That kind of short term thinking belongs in Cleveland (who are being linked to starting QB's less than a year after drafting one in the first round) not in St Louis under the current regime.

 

[brokeu91]

"first-round draft bust Tavon Austin"

This kind of nonsense p1sses me off. In my view, apart from being completely unnecessary and down right disrespectful to Tavon, it says a lot about people when they write off a player as a bust after only two full seasons in the league.

What are we supposed to do? Move on from him already? That kind of short term thinking belongs in Cleveland (who are being linked to starting QB's less than a year after drafting one in the first round) not in St Louis under the current regime.

I agree, I don't know how a WR could be bust after two years when he hasn't had a starting QB throwing to him.

 

[LumberTubs]

I agree, I don't know how a WR could be bust after two years when he hasn't had a starting QB throwing to him.

Good point. I was going to mention this in my post but forgot. The writer that labelled him a bust clearly hasn't looked into the circumstances in any sort of detail despite knowing full well that Bradford played only seven games in Tavon's two seasons in the league.

There are also some finer points that many wouldn't consider. The 'Mountaineer' punt return against Seattle may not have worked if Tavon wasn't considered such a threat and he played it perfectly (I almost soiled myself when I saw him fall backwards surrounded by Seahawks players).

I'm not saying I don't expect more from him because I do but calling him a bust is way off the mark.

 

[Alan]

I agree with everyone's thoughts about not passing judgment on Tavon yet but...looking beyond the lack of a decent QB throwing to him and his lack of experience is what type of routes they have him running. Either he can't run the normal WR route tree very well yet or the Rams don't think he can be effective in that way. Worrisome if you trust the Rams brain trust.

 

[Elmgrovegnome]

So far I think that the expectations of Austin as a top ten pick and the production don't even come anywhere near matching up. And because of that he does appear to be a bust. Especially to people that are not homers.

I don't buy the argument that he had no QB. Britt looked good last year as did Quick. When other receivers on the team are producing then it kind of shoots holes in the argument.

And if a player needs special configurations to make him affective, then how good can he actually be? Austin needs to work on his craft and learn to run routes better to be a good WR. For the most part he looks like what most of us said he was, a gadget player.

He is hovering dangerously close to bust material.

 

[LumberTubs]

I agree with everyone's thoughts about not passing judgment on Tavon yet but...looking beyond the lack of a decent QB throwing to him and his lack of experience is what type of routes they have him running. Either he can't run the normal WR route tree very well yet or the Rams don't think he can be effective in that way. Worrisome if you trust the Rams brain trust.

Absolutely agree. He has to accept some of the blame for not meeting expectations to this point and you do wonder if Schotty didn't feel able to be as creative with Tavon as he (and the rest of us) would have liked.

In terms of routes, I'd like to see him used to stretch the field more. He's one of the quickest players in the whole league and teams are expecting him to run short or intermediate routes or even run the ball (jet sweeps etc) so he could in theory find himself running deep one on one with no safety covering him. I realise that this hasn't been an option with Clemens, Hill and Davis but Foles can throw a deep ball and he's capable of throwing to small receivers as he had Desean Jackson in Philly IIRC.

 

[Alan]

LumberTubs not liking his role so far:
In terms of routes, I'd like to see him used to stretch the field more. He's one of the quickest players in the whole league and teams are expecting him to run short or intermediate routes or even run the ball (jet sweeps etc) so he could in theory find himself running deep one on one with no safety covering him. I realise that this hasn't been an option with Clemens, Hill and Davis but Foles can throw a deep ball and he's capable of throwing to small receivers as he had Desean Jackson in Philly IIRC.

As do we all. The question remains as to why he hasn't done that. Let's hope the acquisition of Foles will change that but I can't get by the fact that Schotty had other Ram's WRs running those routes. Why not Tavon?

 

[Alan]

Elmgrovegnome almost using the "B" word:
He is hovering dangerously close to bust material.

I think we have different definitions of what a bust is. He's a disappointment and a huge waste of resources so far but not a bust IMO. Not when he's such a good return man with the occasional trick play thrown in. Were it not for all the penalties he might have made the PB as a return guy. High price to pay for that though. Too high.

 

[LazyWinker]

"first-round draft bust Tavon Austin"

This kind of nonsense p1sses me off. In my view, apart from being completely unnecessary and down right disrespectful to Tavon, it says a lot about people when they write off a player as a bust after only two full seasons in the league.

What are we supposed to do? Move on from him already? That kind of short term thinking belongs in Cleveland (who are being linked to starting QB's less than a year after drafting one in the first round) not in St Louis under the current regime.

If nothing else he's an awesome punt returner. Having a guy like him return punts helps the field possession game.

So far I think that the expectations of Austin as a top ten pick and the production don't even come anywhere near matching up. And because of that he does appear to be a bust. Especially to people that are not homers.

I don't buy the argument that he had no QB. Britt looked good last year as did Quick. When other receivers on the team are producing then it kind of shoots holes in the argument.

And if a player needs special configurations to make him affective, then how good can he actually be? Austin needs to work on his craft and learn to run routes better to be a good WR. For the most part he looks like what most of us said he was, a gadget player.

He is hovering dangerously close to bust material.

I've got a theory as to why we've only seen flashes from Austin, outside of the punt return game. I'm of the belief that Austin was given too much to do. There are definitely things Austin does well but it didn't look like he'd get an opportunity to do those things again and again in a game. It seemed like if the Rams had a successful play on offense the playcaller's mindset was "they might be ready for that now" instead of "lets keep doing this until they show they can stop us"

 

[Alan]

LazyWinker positing a theory:
I've got a theory as to why we've only seen flashes from Austin, outside of the punt return game. I'm of the belief that Austin was given too much to do. There are definitely things Austin does well but it didn't look like he'd get an opportunity to do those things again and again in a game. It seemed like if the Rams had a successful play on offense the playcaller's mindset was "they might be ready for that now" instead of "lets keep doing this until they show they can stop us"

Could be part of it Lazy.

 

[LumberTubs]

Just another general point on Tavon.

There was a game last season where we started off with a number of jet sweeps which ended up with a fake jet sweep/screen thing to Tre Mason on the right hand side who scored a TD. Can't remember which game it was. Shaun Hill played it brilliantly but without a threat like Tavon, that doesn't work.

 

[Stel]

While bust may be a bit premature and over the top for Austin at this point, it is also true that it cannot be disproven based on performance to date. Bear in mind that he (at #8) and McDonald (at #71) represent our #16, #46, #78, and #222 picks from that draft. Austin taken at #16 wouldn't have bothered me nearly as much as the trade up to take him. I believed at the time, and still do, that we could have done much more with the picks we had than the ones we acquired in that trade.

 

[Elmgrovegnome]

If nothing else he's an awesome punt returner. Having a guy like him return punts helps the field possession game.



I've got a theory as to why we've only seen flashes from Austin, outside of the punt return game. I'm of the belief that Austin was given too much to do. There are definitely things Austin does well but it didn't look like he'd get an opportunity to do those things again and again in a game. It seemed like if the Rams had a successful play on offense the playcaller's mindset was "they might be ready for that now" instead of "lets keep doing this until they show they can stop us"

It could be that Schotts scheming worked against Tavon, however I still don't see anything that makes me think he is the dominant player that he was in college. Even if he hasn't arrived yet I would expect to see more glimpses of dominance here and there. What I see is NFL defenders not being fooled by his moves, and Tavon hesitating too often because of it.

I predicted as much before he entered the league, but believe me, I would love for him to prove me wrong.

 

[RamzFanz]

Tavon's PR stats and RB stats last season were very good for a WR. I'm still of the opinion he was a victim of Schotty asking too much too soon, making it too complicated, not designing plays that favor his skill sets, poor execution of blocking, and average to poor QB play behind a weak O line.

In hindsight, it wasn't a good fit or value IMHO, but that could change.

For me, this season is the proving grounds for TA.