NFL Preview: Falcons, Cardinals, Seahawks and Panthers

Atlanta Falcons

Cheers: Even though veteran Warrick Dunn may be slowing down, they’ll still have a pretty good running game with Jerious Norwood backing him up. Their Offensive Line can’t protect the passer very well, but they’ve done a good job of opening up holes in the running game for a while now. If their defense manages to stay kind of healthy, they should have one of the better ones in the league with a pretty good pass rush.

Jeers: Vick is no top tier QB, but they’re still downgrading to Joey Harrington. They’ve never had a strong passing game for a number of reasons. One, Vick can’t pass. Two, they can’t block long enough for him to pass. Three, their receivers were as bad as the Eagles pre-TO days. They’ve put a band-aid over the receiver problem with Joe Horn, but with his injuries, you have to wonder how much relief he can bring. Their secondary is no more than mediocre, led by DeAngelo Hall, who has to be on of the most overrated players in the league.

On second thought… here’s another mediocre team. Their strong running game will be weakened without Vick, and it’s going to be interesting to see how the offense responds without the threat of a running QB. Injuries have banged up their defense in recent years so it’s tough to get a read on how good they are, but without Patrick Kerney, who was a difference maker when healthy, they’re not going to be as good. DeAngelo Hall needs to step up and finally live up to expectations to lead the secondary.

New guy who won’t meet expectations: Joey Harrington? They really don’t have any guys that have huge bust potential, but as of right now, Harrington is their starting QB. I say he won’t meet expectations because he won’t be by the end of the season.

New guy who will meet expectations: Ovie Mughelli. The Falcons have gotten decent play out of the FB position as of late, and when they had to bring in a new guy, they grabbed one of the most underrated players in the league. He’s an okay blocker and he has good ball skills. He’ll help out the Falcons a lot.

Arizona Cardinals

Cheers: They have great skill position players that can put up a lot of points in not a lot of time. Their young receivers are possibly the best duo in the league, and Bryant Johnson stepped up a bit in Fitz’ absence last year, even though he was previously a pretty big bust. Matt Leinart will continue to come into his own this year and help the passing game take the next step. Edge is better than he showed last year, and with Ken Whisenhunt in the fold, the toughness this team needs on both sides of the ball should be there.

Jeers: Their Offensive Line moved laterally in the offseason. Although they improved late in the year with some personnel changes, at this point, Levi Brown isn’t any better than Leonard Davis yet. Whisenhunt’s experience will help some. Their defense is also transitioning into a 3-4, and I don’t know if they have the personnel to do it. Of course, I also said that about the Chargers when they made the switch a few years ago, and look at what they did. I looked like an idiot.

On second thought… this may be the year the Cardinals finally break out, but I wouldn’t count on it. They’re going to put up a lot of points and be one of the best offenses in the league, but they’ll be closer to Cincinnati last year than Indianapolis the past few years. They still need to work out the players on their defense to figure out what works and who they need to bring in.

New guy who won’t meet expectations: Rod Hood. When Lito Sheppard was hurt in 2005, he did a pretty good job of filling in. Last year, he became overrated. He’s a decent nickel back and okay if you need a guy to start for a game or two, but he’s not good enough to be a full time starter. The Cardinals will be relying on him for that, and that’s bad news.

New guy who will meet expectations: Levi Brown. The Cardinals had problems running the ball last year, and Brown is a guy who’s going to help with that. At Penn State, he worked in a system that relied heavily on a power running game with Tony Hunt, and his big body is going to be great for Edge too. He’s not the greatest pass protector yet, but with Matt Leinart at QB, Brown won’t be protecting his blind side.

Seattle Seahawks

Cheers: They’ve been one of the more consistent teams in the league the past few seasons, and despite several injuries that would’ve sunk a lot of teams, they made the playoffs anyway. A healthy Shaun Alexander will be huge for them, and he should be better than he was last year. Hasselbeck is still one of the better QBs in the league, and they don’t have a bad defense.

Jeers: Losing players and not adequately replacing them has to catch up to them sometime, right? They traded Darrell Jackson for a draft pick a year after losing guard Steve Hutchinson, who they visibly missed in 2006. They just never seem to do what it takes to retool and make sure they stay on top, but it’s worked out so far. They return a pretty solid defense with Pat Kerney hopefully providing an upgrade over Grant Wistrom, a free agent bust.

On second thought… They’re the leaders of a mediocre division top to bottom, but they remained stagnant while everyone else got better. It took until the final couple weeks to claim the division again, and it’s going to be another battle this year. They have to stay healthy, or someone is going to step up and take it from them.

New guy who won’t meet expectations: Brian Russell. After starting to play a bit better in Cleveland, he was brought in by the Seahawks to compete to replace Ken Hamlin. He’s not Ken Hamlin, even though Ken has missed his fair share of games recently.

New guy who will meet expectations: Don’t see any that stand out, so I’ll say Deon Grant takes the FS job from Russell and does okay.

Carolina Panthers:

Cheers: They’re preseason favorites every year, and after September, we always wonder what we were thinking. Obviously when you think Carolina, you think defense, and this year is no different. They return Julius Peppers and a good cast of characters on the line as well as some pretty good players in the secondary, even though Chris Gamble took a step back last year. Steve Smith is one of the best playmakers in the game and DeAngelo Williams will come into his own and become one of the better backs in the league.

Jeers: Jake Delhomme has to play 100% better than he did last year, or he’s going to lose his job. He’s always been a bit aggressive and turned the ball over a bit, but he had a really rough year last year, in part due to injuries to him and the guys around him. David Carr is breathing down his neck and could step in at any time. The defense can’t blow late leads like they did all of last year. That’s really a luck thing and a trend I don’t expect to continue in 2007.

On second thought… after 2006 dampened people’s excitement for this team, they could sneak up on some people this year. They don’t have a bad core, but they need to stay healthy and get some good contributions from young guys and role players. Their Linebacker play has to be better and the offense’s success could hinge on Carolina finally getting a running game with DeAngelo Williams.

New guy who won’t meet expectations: Jon Beason. He’s going to have to fight for his playing time and unless Dan Morgan gets hurt, he’s not going to get it. So in other words, he will get playing time. Very quickly. Hopefully he fares better than the last Miami LB they drafted.

New guy who will meet expectations: Dwayne Jarrett. He slipped because of his 40 time. His stinking 40 yard dash. He was a great player at USC and he’ll be a great player in Carolina. He’s a pretty big guy with good hands, kind of in the mold of Anquan Boldin. He should be able to get playing time right away and develop into a good player. One of the better steals of the draft for Carolina.