With the draft over and the offseason settling into a lull, we’ll continue to assess the state of NFL rosters league-wide and look at every team’s most glaring need. Next up is the NFC West starting with the Arizona Cardinals.
Arizona Cardinals: Trenches
The 2023 NFL Draft put the Cardinals in a better long-term position than they were heading into it. Trading the No. 3 overall pick bought the Cardinals an extra 1st round pick in 2024, but they still got their man, Paris Johnson Jr., by trading up to No. 6. The Cardinals clearly have a long-term vision in place.
That doesn’t mean things will be rosy in the short term. The roster needs a ton of work. There are holes across the board, so we’re going to cheat a little here. The Cardinals were soft and squishy under Kliff Kingsbury, often outmatched on both sides of the trenches. So we’re going with the defensive and offensive lines.
There’s just not enough talent on either side of the line. Adding Johnson Jr. and B.J. Ojulari is a step in the right direction, but having the likes of Jonathan Ledbetter, Hjalte Froholdt, and L.J. Collier playing prominent roles this season is a sign of things to come. 2023 could be a tough watch in Arizona.
Los Angeles Rams: Anywhere on defense
Sorry, sorry. We’re cheating again. It’s only been a year since we were celebrating the Rams as Super Bowl champions. How quickly things can change. The 2022 season was a mess, the Rams were wrecked by injuries, and their lack of depth caught up with them. Although, once you lose your starting quarterback, you’re essentially doomed unless you’re the San Francisco 49ers. And even that eventually caught up to them in the NFC Championship.
The Rams’ offensive line was front and centre of most of their issues in 2022, but it’s hard to avoid the defense as a whole unit. They traded away Jalen Ramsey and lost the likes of Leonard Floyd, Taylor Rapp, and Bobby Wagner in free agency and didn’t have the means to replace them. Now, the defense has guys like Marquise Copeland, Russ Yeast(!), and Derion Kendrick all slated to start in 2023. You won’t be blamed for not knowing who these players are.
Sure, Aaron Donald is still on the roster, but the Rams’ defense is bad. Plain and simple.
San Francisco 49ers: Cornerback
The 49ers didn’t have the prime draft capital to improve their roster, their first-round pick was sent to the Dolphins in the trade that saw them draft Trey Lance in 2021, so their first pick wasn’t until the third round. And their draft choices faced harsh criticism, with the team picking kicker Jake Moody with their second pick in the third round. Hmmm.
Luckily, the 49ers’ roster doesn’t have a ton of holes. But they missed a real chance to upgrade the roster with a potential day one contributor at cornerback. That’s the weak link on the defense. Charvarius Ward was great as the number-one corner for the team in 2022, but Deommodore Lenoir is projected as the Niners other starting outside corner in 2023 and there’s room for improvement.
The front seven will be as dominant as ever with the addition of Javon Hargrave as a penetrating interior pass rusher to line up alongside Nick Bosa and Arik Armstead, but the secondary might need a little more help.
Seattle Seahawks: Interior Offensive Line
This is almost the Seahawks rebuild that never was. After Russell Wilson was traded to the Broncos last summer, the expectation around the league was that the Seahawks would take a step back under Geno Smith. The drop-off never came and the Seahawks won 9 games en route to a postseason appearance. Smith was re-signed to an extension and the Seahawks drafted well for the second year in a row, adding Devon Witherspoon and Jaxon Smith-Njigba in the first round.
The Seahawks upgraded the offensive tackle positions in the draft in 2022, adding Charles Cross in the first round and Abraham Lucas in the third – with both players turning into solid contributors early on. The offensive line is better for it, but the interior still needs work. The starting guards right now are Phil Haynes and Damien Lewis. Lewis played well enough at left guard in 2022, allowing 21 pressures in 17 games, but Haynes played less than 500 snaps. Has he shown enough to warrant a starting role?
Maybe not. Smith has the chops to avoid pressure on occasion, but his 21.1 percent pressure-to-sack rate was the 14th highest in the NFL. It might be best not to leave it to chance.
-Thomas Valentine
Twitter: @tvalentinesport
Photo: The 621st Contingency Response Wing. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license.