Carolina Panthers (12-3)
With the help of a much improved Cam Newton, The Panthers basically proved last year that they were more than a team stuck in mediocrity playing in a terrible division. 2015 was truly a special for Carolina, where they dominated on both side of the ball like no team has ever done before, but what made it so amazing is the fact they did it without a stand-out receiver.
Potential star wide-out, Kelvin Benjamin, will be back this year, one year after tearing his ACL during his sophomore season and if he develop like everyone expect, he should be the perfect target for Cam Newton.
Benjamin and Newton are both set up for a superb year which could potentially improved the Panthers beyond last year's performance.
The second receiver spot will be a battle between Funchess, Brown and Ginn but from reports out of training camp, Funchess is the favorite to win out because of his size advantage and depending on how fast Benjamin can get back into football shape, Benjamin could possibly become Cam's main target.
Greg Olsen, one of the NFL's premiere tight-ends, will also be part of a great line-up of receivers that Cam Newton should take full advantage of in 2016. On top of that, the aging Jonathan Steward is not showing any sign of slowing down as he was among one of the most productive backs in the NFL.
So while Carolina's balanced offense may prove to even be better than last year, I do expect a bit of a drop-off on defense simply because the NFC division has gotten better on the offensive side of the ball
Atlanta Falcons (10-6)
After starting the 2015 season on fire by winning 5 games in a row to put them at 5-0, the Falcon proceeded by only winning 2 games in the remaining games to eventually finish the year at a disappointing 8-8 record. Considering how well they had started, this was seen as an epic collapse which eventually cost them a playoff birth.
Even with an heart-breaking and disappointing 2015 season, Atlanta will enter the 2016 campaign with an offense that was graded as the fourth best in the NFL and this same exact offense will remain intact, for the most part with key contributors in Julio Jones, Devonta Freeman and of course Matt Ryan. New acquisition Mohamed Sanu should help balance-out the lost of long time veteran and dependable receiver Roddy White.
Matt Ryan had a so-so year where he ended up looking very impressive on a strings of games while looking very unimpressive on what felt like too many games. He finished with 21 Touchdown's and 16 interception with an 89 QB ratings which was still the 8th highest amongs Quarterbacks.
While Ryan should take some of the blame for failing to get the Falcons to the playoff, he was also victimized by his receivers who dropped 37 catch-able balls. That was the fourth most dropped passes in the NFL.
As for the Falcons's defense, it greatly improved in compare to previous years where its been a problem and the hiring of head coach Dan Quinn should further solidify the gains made in 2015 and possibly improve it beyond what we saw last year.
I see the Falcon having a good year but they won't be better than the Panthers.
New Orleans Saints (7-9)
The New Orleans Saints, unfortunately for them, had another below-average year where they again missed the playoff by finishing 7-9, the same exact record they finished with, the year before last year. To make it worst, the Saints traded their star tight -end, Jimmy Graham and a fourth round pick to the Seattle Seahawks in exchange for 28 year-old center Max Unger and the Seahawks first round draft pick in 2016.
On the other hand, the Saints did what needed to be done by relieving head coach Rob Ryan of his duties since he hadn't done enough to improve the team from the previous year.
Bryan Cook, the third year wide-out who was very impressive during his sophomore year will lead a young receiving corps in 2016 and there's a sense he'll have a break-out season. Cook only dropped 6 passes out of 143 passes thrown his direction over the past 2 years.
Jimmy Graham void at Tight-End will be filled by Cody Feener, coming from Indianapolis Colts. Feener had failed to impress like he was expected to as a Colt but a change of scenery may be what's needed to change his fortune.
My expectation for the Saint is that they won't improved much from last year but they won't drop off in any meaningful ways neither...So I see another 7-9 or 6-10 record.
Tampa Bay Buccaneers (6-10)
Jameis Winston is a key building block for the Buccaneers based on his performance as a rookie Quarterbacks but I still don't expect him to play in a way that would greatly improved his team toward a playoff birth. That will wait for another year or 2, but the future going forward does look brighter than it looked before drafting Winston.
At running backs, aiding Winston, the Bucs will have Doug Martin and Charles Smith who had both productive years and with an improving Jameis, I can see these 2 running backs doing better than last year.
Rookie Cornerback Vernon Hargreave could be possibly set for an early break-out season based on how he performed during pre-season. He's recorded 2 interception in 2 pre-season games and simply looked like he's always been in the NFL. If he can keep up this type of coverage, expect the Buc's pass-coverage to become a huge strenght that would in turn make it possible for a great year. Maybe playoff appearance.
All and all, I believe it is way too early to expect this young Tampa team to do much this upcoming season but they surely have the right pieces and building block to topple this division in a few years. A lot it will be based on how Jameis Winston continues to develop as a player. I see them finishing 6-10 which is a 1 win improvement from last year record.
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