NFC West Training Camp: Questions to be Answered
The NFC West has recently been one of, if not the weakest, division in all of the NFL. The only division that may rival it is the AFC West. The Arizona Cardinals were able to grab the division title the past two seasons after records of 9-7 and 10-6 were good enough, as veteran Kurt Warner saw his career resurrect and ended it on a high note.
Now Warner is retired and Arizona will have to turn to their first round pick of 2006, Matt Leinart, to finally take the reins and lead the talented offence to the same success Warner led them, if not more.
There are no more excuses for Leinart. The shadow of a future Hall of Famer in Kurt Warner is gone and it’s Leinart’s turn to lead the Cardinals. He must command the huddles, play with confidence and show that four years under Ken Whisenhunt’s offence has taught him well.
He does have an excellent offence to work with in wide receiver (WR) Larry Fitzgerald, who may be the best in the league at his position, with Steve Breaston and Beanie Wells in the backfield.
Many are suggesting that with the retirement of Warner and the departure of Karlos Dansby and Anquan Boldin, that the door is open for the San Francisco 49ers to take the division this year. They showed great potential last year and even beat the Cardinals twice.
Alex Smith will likely be the starter, and will have to show that he truly can be a real franchise quarterback. He has done enough to get the starting job, now he must lead and bring the 49ers back to the playoffs, after all the Bay Area has seen its share of great quarterbacks.
Nate Clements must also bounce back after an injury put an end to what was an uncharacteristically poor season for him. The defence needs him to come back strong as the secondary is already one of the team’s weaknesses.
The Seattle Seahawks hottest question is who will start at running back? The team tried desperately to improve in the backfield as they traded for both Lendale White and Leon Washington. Due to poor work ethic and a violation of a drug policy, White was released a month after his arrival and Washington is still recovering from a compound fracture.
Now the position will likely go to Julius Jones or Justin Forsett. Forsett showed some good signs last season and his talents may sway new head coach Pete Carroll to go with him over Jones.
There aren’t really any questions for the team at quarterback as Matt Hasselbeck is the unquestioned starter despite a couple of shaky years. Due to a lack of real competition and the fact that Hasselbeck suffered from injuries, he still is the number one man behind centre.
The biggest question out of St. Louis is when will Sam Bradford start this year? The team will once again become compelling once Bradford starts playing. They signed A.J Feeley, who has been a career-backup and will provide little interest to Rams fans.
Everyone is waiting for Bradford to come in and take the starting job, but it’s unlikely to happen in training camp. Head coach Steve Spagnuolo does not like giving starting jobs to rookies, but Bradford can change Spagnuolo's mind if he shows his talents immediately. Feeley was merely brought in as a mentor and potential interim starter for Bradford. Bradford is the more talented one though so we should see some of him this season as the Rams will likely struggle early on.
Training camps will likely reveal a lot about these teams and this season will come down to who has the talent and who will rise above the division and take it again. It will likely come down to the Cardinals and 49ers and the outcome will likely be determined by the performance of the teams’ former first round quarterback draftees.
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