A new idea I had in order to help me go through the NFL team's rosters and examine all the personnel and coaching changes, etc., one-by-one. I'm going to look at two teams head-to-head in seven key categories (my bias on what is 'key'). The team that gets my vote in each category gets a 'win'…the first team to 4 wins moves on to the next round. Just a quick, hopefully fun, way to take the temperature of each team heading into the 2023 preseason.
The seven categories…it's actually six because one category is so important that it's worth double:
1-2) The quarterbacks comparison…the winner of this gets 2 wins, or if too close to call it could be a 1-1 split.
3) O-Line -- Judging which team has the better O-Line…the most critical aspect of a team after the QB.
4) Cornerbacks -- After O-Line, I think the most critical position is shutdown corners (or not having any).
5) Head Coach/Organization -- A battle of which coaches will get in the way less, to some degree but also an edge given to teams that will attract free agents or be a desired destination in trades…and what teams are filling the stadium for home games, etc. Everything rolled into one judgment call.
6) Offensive Weapons -- Which team has the better, scarier RB-WR-TE group.
7) Kicker -- If it comes down to #7, of course the kicker should make the determination...as the kicker often determines the winner of a 59+ minute war prior with a last second make/miss.
As we lead into each category and tap a winner -- I'm also listing the major add/loss for each team in the offseason so far, just to eyeball it as a list.
Is this a brilliant way to judge teams over another? Who knows! But it struck me as something fun to do while studying each team this preseason, after the majority of offseason moves have been made.
SEA major adds: CB Witherspoon, WR Smith-Njigba, LB D. Hall, DT B. Young, DB J. Reed, DE D. Jones, SAF Love, DT Reed, LB Wagner
SEA major losses: DT Q. Jefferson, DT Shelby Harris, OG G. Jackson
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LAR major adds: OG Avila, LB B. Young, DT Turner, QB St. Bennett
LAR major losses: WR A. Robinson, PK Gay, WR Beckham, LB Floyd, LB Wagner, DL A. Robinson, QB Mayfield
QB (2x): Geno Smith vs. Matt Stafford…I cannot believe this…but in 2023, I'd rather have Geno Smith. But a healthy Matt Stafford isn't too shabby. He did win a Super Bowl (stolen from Cincy by the refs). I'll call it a split to be fair to Stafford…but Geno looks more modern/new age era QB than Stafford, who feels like he's fading.
A (1-1) split to start.
O-Line: Seattle has a promising, emerging O-Line…and the Rams were in the running for the single worst O-Line of 2022, and they really didn't upgrade it all that much this season. Big edge to Seattle.
Seahawks take a (2-1) lead.
CBs: Seattle is in the running for the best CB duo in the NFL with Woolen-Witherspoon…and the Rams may have the worst CB duo in all the NFL. Seattle wins easily…
Seahawks led (3-1).
HC/Organization: The Rams have had a better head coach, coaching staff (always in demand to be hired elsewhere), and a stadium and city players prefer to go to. Rams win this.
Seattle still leads (3-2).
Weapons: Seattle is WAY better at RB. Seattle is WAY better at WR. Seattle is better at TE due to depth especially.
Seattle wins it (4-2).
Kicker: The Rams are having kicker tryouts right now…and Seattle has a very solid kicker in Jason Myers.
Seattle nails it down (5-2).
Upcoming Matchups (next round):
MIA v. BUF for AFC East
LAC v. KC for the AFC West
BAL v. CIN for AFC North
IND v. JAX for the AFC South
DAL v. PHI for the NFC East
MIN v. DET for the NFC North
TB v. NO for the NFC South
ARI v. SEA for the NFC West
