Tag Archives: NFL offseason

NFL

Biggest remaining needs for each team in the NFC for 2020:

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The big free agency period and draft are now in the books, so we have reached what I like to call the “dark hole” of the offseason. You don’t have a lot of trades or signings going on and the biggest news are about teams changing their uniforms. However, what this part of the year allows me to do, is watch the film of some players I wasn’t really able to during the regular season and evaluate how teams are built.

I looked through the rosters of all 32 NFL organizations and tried to pin-point the one spot they could still use an upgrade at. That can be a very specific fit for their scheme, a true impact starter, depth at a certain position group or whatever. I tried to go through some of the areas of improvement I looked at, how they might have addressed some of them already and how I got to the conclusion of what their biggest need is.

You can also listen to my breakdown on Youtube and I will put out my AFC version of this next week.

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Position battles at 2019 NFL training camp for every single team:

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With training camp in full swing for all 32 teams and just a week away from the Hall of Fame game between the Falcons and Broncos, I wanted to take a look at the biggest position battles going on for every team throughout practice and a lot of times most of the preseason. Some of these may be very close two-man races for a specific spot, others include several candidates looking to crack the starting lineup. Some of them may be sexier when it comes to quarterbacks, while others are about offensive guards putting in the work up front. However you want to turn it, these are what I think the toughest battles going on right now and only competition will determine the winners.

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Boom-or-bust NFL teams for 2019:

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As I am starting to project how teams might do in 2019, where they improved and which areas are still question marks for me, I came up with a few squads, who I think are tough to judge and could go a few different ways. I chose three teams from each conference that I think have the biggest volatility, meaning the differential I could see in terms of their win-loss ratio. Some of these might be due to uncertainty at specific positions, while others are about explosive personalities or injury concerns. Therefore, I did not include up-and-coming teams like the Browns and 49ers, who I think very highly of, and no teams that I expect to bounce back after bad 2018 seasons – like the Jaguars and Falcons.

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NFL, Sports

Most improved units in the NFL heading into 2019:

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A few weeks into the black hole of the offseason, which is filled with overblown reports from OTAs and media analysts coming up with crazy ideas for discussions, I had the time to go back and analyze which moves teams have made to improve a specific area of their football team. However, this is not about the most improved team overall, such as the Browns who added on several fronts, and I won’t name any teams that only added one superstar at a position and nothing else. This list is more about how these front offices made it a priority to invest into a unit that either needed to get better anyway or might have been solid to this point, but could be a true strength for them in 2019. These are the ten position groups I came up with and I added a few units at the bottom, who didn’t quite make the cut.

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Biggest remaining needs for each team in the AFC:

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After putting out the biggest areas of need for the 16 teams in the NFC, we switch over to the AFC side of things. Once again, this list is about improving all teams as much as possible for this upcoming season by addressing one area of the roster, not building for the future necessarily. That may be just a distinct role player, adding depth at a rather thin position group or even the need for an actual premium at some spot. Like I said when talking about the other conference last week, I am happy that none of these teams are in desperate need for an actual starting quarterback for now and we can focus on other areas.

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NFL

Biggest remaining needs for each NFC team:

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As I do every year once free agency and the draft are wrapped up, I wanted to take a look at every team in the league and point out their biggest remaining area that could use some improvement. This could be a need for a top-end starter, a specific role player or simply depth at a position. To specify this a little bit, these are the most important additions the teams should still make to win this year, not necessarily for the future. So I am not considering having to find replacements for older players or some guys a team might not be able to afford a year or so down the road – simply that one hole they need to fill to be more competitive this season. For the first time ever this list does not include a single starting quarterback since I think pretty much all 32 teams are set at that spot at least for the upcoming season – even though I might disagree with them long-term.

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Free agency fits for the top ten teams in terms of cap space:

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With the NFL Scouting Combine less than a week away and more than a month of intense draft coverage ahead – not even counting the following analyses and undrafted free agent work – I decided to at least put together one piece about free agency. To do so I took the top ten teams in terms of cap space for 2019 according to spotrac.com and found one player I think would fit well with them. This can be due to personal connections, scheme fit or simply a combination of need at the position and the money to spend. While it is often times about all the small moves a team makes over the course of the offseason and how a team builds depth (also through the draft), I thought it would be fun to put together some pairings that I believe would make sense. I did not include likely franchise tag candidates such as DeMarcus Lawrence, Jadeveon Clowney and Nick Foles – who the Eagles will look to trade once they have secured his rights. With that being said, I still think we have a strong class of edge rushers and there are three safeties who were among the very best at the position just two years ago. On the other hand, there are no big fish at quarterback out there, assuming Foles will be tagged, such as Kirk Cousins last offseason, and I will tell you to look for your team to draft a receiver out of college, because outside of one veteran pass-catcher these guys on the market will all be overpaid. So here are some of the fits I found when looking at who is available and where these ten teams could use some help.

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Position battles to watch out for heading into NFL training camps:

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In the NFL there is constant competition at pretty much every position. Front offices try to find replacements for aging players or those, who will soon demand contracts they can’t afford. That creates an environment, where every man is working as hard as they can to earn a starting spot. Only competition gets the best out of football players and it is vital for a team’s success. I picked out the eight positional battles that will be most interesting to watch through training camps and beyond. So here they are:

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NFL Top 100 Players of 2018:

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Like I do every year once the official player’s countdown is fully released, I wanted to make my own top 100 list. There is a serious misconception about the voting process. While opinions are heavily based on last year, this list is about the 2018 NFL season. It’s not about grading what they did last year alone, but rather what to expect from them this upcoming campaign. That’s why it is the top 100 players of 2018. I mean only 12 teams even played this year so far. Of course you should have recency bias to some degree, but you also have to look at the body of work and what you believe they are capable of. Without any further ado, here’s what I came up with:

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