Can Kurt Work His Magic In 2009?

Don’t let a Super Bowl appearance fool you, the NFC West was a bad division last season. The best of the worst was the Arizona Cardinals. Arizona took a 9-7 record into the playoffs, got hot, and were only 35 seconds away from being the Super Bowl Champions. San Francisco experienced a mid-season resurgence after Mike Singletary took over as head coach and finished 7-9. Both the Seahawks and the Rams suffered various injuries throughout the year. Without a Quarterback, Wide Receivers, or an O-Line, Seattle finished 4-12. The lowly Rams were even worse, finishing 2-14. The Cardinals may have gone to the Super Bowl, but the Seahawks and Rams are fully recovered from their injuries. If anything, the NFC West could prove to be the most surprising division in the NFL.

Arizona Cardinals

Key Additions- RB Chris Wells (draft)

Key Subtractions- RB Edgerrin James, OC Todd Haley

Fitzgerald Should Be Warner's Top Target Again

The Cardinals, by all accounts, had a great season in 2008, but that doesn’t mean that they were a great team. I’ve already chronicled why I think the Cardinals will struggle this season here. Much of the Cardinals success was based on going 6-0 within their division. Outside of the NFC West, the Cardinals were 3-7. However, no one can argue that the offense was, and should be, explosive. Kurt Warner, Larry Fitzgerald, and Anquan Boldin make up the most fearsome passing attack in the NFL. Chris Wells was added via the draft to stabilize a non-existent running game from last season. The Defense was nothing special last season. S Adrian Wilson continued to be a force in the box, and CB Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie started 8 games as a rookie. The good news is that DE Darnell Dockett announced, via his twitter, that he would not hold out for a new contract this season.

Fantasy Sleeper- No one. Almost every player on this offense will be drafted high in drafts. Chris Wells is worth a look towards the middle of most drafts, but he has some durability issues. Then again, Tim Hightower averaged 2.8 YPC last season, so Wells is the best choice in Arizona.

St. Louis Rams

Key Additions- OT Jason Smith (draft), QB Kyle Boller

Key Subtractions- WR Torry Holt, QB Trent Green, WR Drew Bennett

Atogwe Has Quietly Become A Great Safety

Boy, it was a really bad year in St. Louis. The Rams, decimated by injuries, only managed to win 2 games. In order to address the struggles on offense, the Rams drafted OT Jason Smith and signed C Jason Brown. The addition of both players should give Marc Bulger more time to throw and open up running lanes for RB Steven Jackson. Rookie WR Donnie Avery played so well last season that the Rams dealt WR Torry Holt to the Jaguars. The key to this offense will, once again, be health. If Bulger, Jackson, and Avery (who is already dinged) can stay healthy, this offense might be respectable in 2009. The Defense has a few promising youngsters, but they haven’t put it all together just yet. The addition of HC Steve Spagnulo should help DE Chris Long and DT Adam Carriker develop. ILB James Laurinaitis will slide in at Linebacker this season. In the secondary, Oshiomogho Atogwe emerged as an excellent Safety and James Butler was brought over from New York. The Pro Football Almanac pegged the Rams as the team most likely to surprise people this season. If all breaks right, the Rams have a chance. Then again, a lot has to go right for this team to challenge for the division.

Fantasy Sleeper- TE Randy McMichael

McMichael was a pretty good pass catcher in Miami for years. Since coming to St. Louis, he hasn’t made an impact at all. McMichael enters this season as one of the few decent receiving options on the team. Also, OC Pat Shurmur is installing a West Coast offense that should allow McMichael to stretch the field and make plays. McMichael probably isn’t a fantasy starter, but he could be a good bye week option during the year.

San Francisco 49ers

Key Additions- WR Michael Crabtee? (draft, still unsigned), WR Brandon Jones

Key Subtractions- RB Deshaun Foster, QB JT O’Sullivan, WR Bryant Johnson

Can Singletary Improve The Defense in SF?

Hiring Mike Singletary may have been the highpoint of the 49ers 2008 season. Off the field, Singletary provided the public with, arguably, the best press conference of the season. On the field, Singletary installed Shaun Hill at Quarterback and put an end to Mike Martz’s crazy experiments. The result, the 49ers won 5 of their last 7 games with Hill under center. Hill isn’t a flashy player, but he is the best the 49ers have going into 2009. WR Michael Crabtree remains unsigned as of this article leaving second year WR Josh Morgan as a Hill’s number 1 option. TE Vernon Davis is a popular breakout player each season, but hasn’t lived up to expectations. Defensively, the team is led by LB Patrick Willis. Under Mike Nolan, the defense often switched between a 3-4 and 4-3. Now that Nolan has been fired, the team has settled on a 3-4 alignment. If nothing else, this should bring stability to the defense. CB Nate Clements remains effective, but his partner, Walt Harris, will miss the season after tearing his ACL. Free agent addition, Dre’ Bly may get a chance to replace Harris. At Safety, Michael Lewis is always around the action. He was involved in 12.4% of the 49ers plays last season.

Fantasy Sleeper- WR Josh Morgan

Morgan showed flashes as a rookie last season and now enters 2009 with a starting role. Morgan has difficulty staying healthy and is pretty raw as a WR, but should provide more big play ability than Isaac Bruce. That being said, Morgan is likely a late round pick or a waiver wire guy this season.

Seattle Seahawks

Key Additions- OLD Aaron Curry (draft), WR TJ Houshmandzadeh, RB Edgerrin James

Key Subtractions- WR Bobby Engram, RB Maurice Morris, FB Leonard Weaver

One Of The Few Bright Spots For Seattle Last Season

If you think the Rams were hit hard by injuries, look no further than the Seattle Seahawks. The injuries were so bad, that Billy McMullen and Michael Bumpus had to be signed to play WR by week 3. Both players were lost to injuries by week 6. Nate Burleson tore his ACL in the season opener and missed the rest of the year. The O-Line wasn’t any better. Over a five week stretch in November, the Seahawks’ O-Line lost four players to season ending injuries. QB Matt Hasselbeck suffered a back injury and was lost for most of the year as well. This season, it can’t get worse for the Seahawks. While they have already suffered a few injuries in the pre-season, the team will be healthier in 2009. If Hasselbeck can stay healthy, the team will perform well. Keep in mind that Hasselback has been healthy in odd-numbered years (if you buy into things of that sort). If there was a bright spot on this offense last season, it was rookie TE John Carlson. Carlson should see a slight up-tick in his numbers with a healthy Hasselbeck. Patrick Kearney was good when he played, but his injury had a domino effect on the team. With Kearney out of the line-up, no one of Seattle’s Defense got to the Quarterback. CB Ken Lucas will provide solid play in the secondary, which is good because S Brian Russell is still a starter in Seattle.

Fantasy Sleeper- Matt Hasselbeck and John Carlson

This duo could have a pretty solid season together. Hasselbeck isn’t getting any younger, but he has been a solid fantasy option when healthy. Plus, it is an odd-numbered year. Carlson should become Hasselbeck’s number 1 target in the passing game. Carlson actually led the Seahawks in receptions, receiving yards, and touchdowns in 2008. He should get a nice stat increase with Hasselbeck under center.

2009 Projections

1. Seattle Seahawks 9-7

2. Arizona Cardinals 7-9

3. San Francisco 49ers 7-9

4. St. Louis Rams 6-10