User blogs

NFC: North East West South Ranks AFC: North East West South Ranks There's no need to pretend that free agency rocked the NFC's power structure. Teams will rise and fall in 2017 because teams rise and fall every season, but the last two months have included few dramatic changes. 2017 NFL DRAFT▹ Future All-Pros, Pro Bowlers in '17 class▹ Draft Do-overs:▸ 2008 | 2011 | 2014 | 2015▹ AFC Draft Needs:▸ West | North | South | East▹ NFC Draft Needs:▸ West | North |South | East SCOUT'S NOTEBOOK▹ Coach: Chiefs can win SB with Smith▹ Malcolm Butler worth first-rounder? 2017 NFL SCHEDULE RELEASE▹ What you need to know▹ Toughest schedules ▹ Easiest schedules▹ Top 7 revenge games▹ Nine best prime-time games▹ Top 17 games of '17 season END AROUND▹ Bucs on 'Hard Knocks'? Giddy up! As we wrap up NFC Offseason Overhaul week Sergei Plotnikov Jersey, it struck me that few teams truly underwent an overhaul. "Offseason Minor Adjustments" doesn't have the same ring to it, but most teams lightly pruned their rosters rather than chopping them down. With salary cap space having exploded, there were fewer game changers changing addresses. So how does the NFC stack up before 2017 NFL Draft begins on April 27? Not so different than it did at the end of last season. Playoffs or bust Green Bay Packers, Seattle Seahawks, Atlanta Falcons and Dallas Cowboys. A year ago at this time, I asked if the Panthers and Cardinals were ready to to join the ranks of teams that contend for a championship every season https://www.pitpenguinsfanatics.com/38-kris-letang-jersey. They both finished with losing records. The Seahawks and Packers -- the other half of my top tier a year ago -- each made the NFC's Final Four for a sixth time in the last seven seasons. That incredible stability starts at quarterback and extends to two front offices that deserve the benefit of the doubt. Both teams have taken some hits this offseason. The Packers lost a number of contributors (Julius Peppers, T.J. Lang, Eddie Lacy, Micah Hyde) and the Seahawks' dangling of Richard Sherman is a sign that Seattle's defensive cohesion might be turning stale. Yet both teams deserve to be penciled in as playoff teams until proven otherwise, something no other NFC teams can claim. The Cowboys and Falcons boast offensive firepower. Now they must prove they have staying power. The departure of Falcons coordinator Kyle Shanahan overshadows any additions like DT Dontari Poe, but an improving defense should keep the Falcons soaring. The Cowboys have to show they can handle success, a quality that has eluded them since the Barry Switzer era. The potential for a sophomore slump from Dak and Zeke -- along with a completely re-formed secondary -- makes the Cowboys the shakiest bet of this tier. Still, anything less than a playoff spot from any of these squads would qualify as a huge disappointment. The fat middle Carolina Panthers, New York Giants Nick Bonino Jersey, Arizona Cardinals, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Minnesota Vikings, New Orleans Saints, Detroit Lions, Washington Redskins and Philadelphia Eagles. The difference between 6-10 and 10-6 in the NFL is overstated. All nine of the teams in this tier have the rosters to put together a playoff season or division title if everything breaks right, but even a .500 record is far from assured. No one can convince me there's much separating this group in early April, so why pretend there is some phony Power Rankings gap? The Cardinals probably had the worst offseason of any team here because three defensive starters left, but they have more "blue chip" talent than most Trevor Daley Jersey. Their window shouldn't be closed. The Eagles did a stealthy job upgrading their defense in addition to adding receiver threats. The Giants will have done well to keep their defensive line intact if Johnathan Hankins returns Carl Hagelin Jersey. The Panthers and Saints have the best quarterbacks of this tier, which should keep them in the mix. Carolina did a laudable job building pass-rushing depth, even if Cam Newton's surgery is a nagging worry. Detroit and Minnesota spent the offseason trying to fix their offensive lines, with the Lions getting the better players. Tampa made two smart signings in DeSean Jackson and Chris Baker, but the roster is thinner than general manager Jason Licht would like. Fans of any of the teams above should believe they have a potential contender to root for. Still rebuilding Los Angeles Rams, Chicago Bears and San Francisco 49ers. The NFL tries to sell hope in every city, but some teams enter the season just hoping to be competitive. Some "7-9 bulls---" would qualify as a victory for new Rams coach Sean McVay. This Rams season is about developing quarterback Jared Goff and hoping that defensive coordinator Wade Phillips can work his magic yet again. The Bears carpet-bombed free agency with signings, but most of them (outside of starting quarterback Mike Glennon) were role players. Coach John Fox needs a quality draft class to help out this talent-poor roster, and even that might not be enough to save him. Niners head coach Kyle Shanahan has the luxury of time in San Francisco with a six-year contract. He doesn't have the luxury of a franchise quarterback like he had in Atlanta. The NFL makes these offseason predictions look silly year after year, but it would be legitimately stunning to see any of these three teams make the playoffs.

O'Brien excited about Texans' QBs, mum on Tony Romo - NFL.com Bill O'Brien won't take the bait and pine for Tony Romo to join the Houston Texans. Speaking with NFL Network's Judy Battista, in an interview that will air Monday on Up To The Minute Live at 5 p.m. ET, from the Annual League Meeting in Phoenix Joel Ward Jersey, O'Brien again declined to talk about the possibility of adding Romo, and instead praised the two quarterbacks on his roster https://www.shopforwsh.com/50-ryan-stanton-jersey. Well first of all https://www.shopforwsh.com/22-dennis-maruk-jersey, Tony is under contract so he's a Dallas Cowboy, O'Brien said. We feel like, right now, we have two quarterbacks that'll be there on April 17, the beginning of our offseason program Tim Gleason Jersey. It'll be Tom Savage and Brandon Weeden. We are really looking forward to working with those guys https://www.shopforwsh.com/17-chris-conner-jersey. Both those guys can throw the football. Tom is a guy who played two or three games for us last year, played well, did some good things for our football team. Still a young player, so we're real excited to work with him. We're excited to be working with Brandon. Two years ago, he helped us win a couple games as our starting quarterback, so that's where it is right now. Now, every day in this league is a fluid situation. Every day, whether it's the draft or free agency or someone gets released or whatever that is. But today, as we sit here right now, we're excited and we will be excited about who we have in that room, and of course, over the next few weeks, maybe we add to that room, maybe we don't... While the Cowboys and Texans have an intrastate starring competition regarding Romo, it's reasonable if O'Brien's praise of Savage and Weeden reminds you of his famous Hard Knocks declaration in 2015 that both those kids can play when stumping for Ryan Mallett and Brian Hoyer. O'Brien doubled down on his belief that Savage can be a starting quarterback if the Texans don't add a veteran quarterback. (The unspoken Romo speculation is the grease in which all quarterback discussions marinate this offseason.) Absolutely, O'Brien responded about Savage's ability to start. He came into some tough games, the Jacksonville game last year that we had to win. We were down in the game, he helped us come back. He helped us beat Cincinnati on Christmas Eve, which was a big game that we had to win to clinch the South. We knew we had to win because of what happened earlier in the day in our division. And he helped us win that game. He got injured, and that's been kind of one of the things that's happened to him. He's been injured over the last three years of his career. But if you look at the history of the league, there's a number of guys who have played that were injured early in their career. Tom is a smart guy, he can throw the ball really well, he knows our system and he's a guy that we're real excited about working with. Savage certainly was an upgrade on Brock Osweiler last season. The 26-year-old has the arm to open up a previously restricted offense and understands O'Brien's system. While we are skeptical of Savage's ability to lead a playoff-ready team deep into the postseason, O'Brien believes the former fourth-round pick has the talent and confidence, if he can stay healthy. I believe he can, the coach said. Now look, I think the thing about the injury question, that's a tough question for any coach to answer. Ultimately he knows what he needs to do to stay healthy. He's a smart guy. He's actually worked very hard to change his body in the years that he's been with us. He's gotten stronger and in better shape, more flexible. But you know, when he plays the game maybe he needs to do things a little bit smarter with the experience that he has now, to stay healthy for 16 games. If or when the Cowboys release Romo and the Texans dive into the fray, this entire post becomes mostly irrelevant. Yet, with Romo's injury history, we could still see O'Brien's faith in Savage put to the test in important games in 2017. Draft facts Ohio State could have 3 members of its secondary selected in the first round of the 2017 draft. That s only happened one other time in NFL history. View 2017 NFL Enterprises LLC. NFL and the NFL shield design are registered trademarks of the National Football League.The team names, logos and uniform designs are registered trademarks of the teams indicated. All other NFL-related trademarks are trademarks of the National Football League. NFL footage NFL Productions LLC. 2017 NFL Enterprises LLC. NFL and the NFL shield design are registered trademarks of the National Football League.The team names, logos and uniform designs are registered trademarks of the teams indicated. All other NFL-related trademarks are trademarks of the National Football League. NFL footage NFL Productions LLC. PRIVACY POLICY | Terms & Conditions NFL News CONTENT