NFC West Offenses: Ranking By Position

As every Cardinals’ fan knows, the players on the Cardinals’ offensive last year did not grade well, per the PFF standards. If we were to rank the NFC West players (on their current rosters) at each by last year’s PFF grades, here’s what the rankings would look like:

QB: 1---Russell Wilson (SEA---89.3); 2---Jared Goff (LA---85.5); 3---Jimmy Garoppolo (SF---62.6)

RB: 1---Chris Carson (SEA---85.3); 2---Todd Gurley (LA---78.6); 3---Tevin Coleman (SF---66.0); 4---David Johnson (AZ---63.9)

WR: 1---Robert Woods (LA---88.0); 2---Tyler Lockett (SEA---80.3); 3---Brandon Cooks (LA---79.7); 4---Cooper Kupp (LA---77.4); 5---Larry Fitzgerald (AZ---73.2); 6---Christian Kirk (AZ---70.3); 7---Dante Pettis (SF---68.5); 8---Jaron Brown (SEA---65.1); 9---Marquise Goodwin (SF---62.7)

TE: 1---George Kittle (SF---89.8); 2---Gerald Everett (LA---82.5); 3---Tyler Higbee (LA---71.8); 4---Will Dissly (SEA---71.4); 5---Maxx Williams (AZ---71.2)

LT: Andrew Whitworth (LA---83.1); 2---Joe Staley (SF---82.2); 3---Duane Brown (SEA---81.5); 4---D.J. Humphries (AZ---68.8)

LG: 1---Laken Tomlinson (SF---64.2); 2---Mike Iupati (SEA---62.9); 3---J.R. Sweezy (AZ---45.5)

C: 1---Justin Britt (SEA---55.3); 2---Weston Richburg (SF---51.9); 3---Mason Cole (AZ---50.9)

RG: 1---Austin Blythe (LA---71.8); 2---Mike Person (SF---67.3); 3---Justin Pugh (AZ---50.7); 4---D.J. Fluker (SEA---50.4)

RT: 1---Rob Havenstein (LA---84.3); 2---Mike McGlinchey (SF---73.2); 3---Marcus Gilbert (AZ---68.5); 4---Germain Ifedi (SEA---55.6)

The 2019 Cardinals can use the 2018 PFF grades as motivation.

Question---how many of the Cardinals starters this year can finish in the top half (1st or 2nd) and (1st, 2nd, 3rd or 4th at WR) at their positions? Could at least half of the Cardinals’ starters crack the upper half? I think that’s a reasonable goal.

The Rams have new starters at LG (Joseph Noteboom) and C (Allen Brian). LT Andrew Whitworth was contemplating retirement and is not quite as dominating as he was a couple of years ago. There is uncertainty about RB Todd Gurley’s knee and there’s a possibility of a Super Bowl hangover.

The Seahawks are hoping that LG Mike Iupati can remain healthy. WR Doug Baldwin retired. TE Jimmy Graham moved on. Oddly enough, even though the Seahawks led the NFL in rushing last year, their OL did not grade well and J.R. Sweezy was their only OL to receive Pro Bowl consideration (and was named as an alternate).

The 49ers may have the best OL and TE in the division now across the board, but they have yet to gel as an offense. They look to have the pieces to do it, but can they all get on the same page and will they stay healthy?

The Cardinals are young at the skill positions, but they are talented. Could they be a top 2 offense in the NFC West?

At this point it may not seem likely, but who knows?

On paper it looks like the Cardinals have narrowed the talent gap with the Rams and have matched the overall talent levels of the Seahawks’ and 49ers’ offenses.

I think it’s possible that the following players can grade out in the top half at their position in the NFC West:

QB Kyler Murray

RB David Johnson

WR Larry Fitzgerald

WR Christian Kirk

TE Charles Clay

LG J.R. Sweezy

C Mason Cole (or A.Q. Shipley)

RG Justin Pugh

RT Marcus Gilbert

The toughest challenge is for LT D.J. Humphries to grade out higher than Whitworth and/or Staley, but even that is possible if Whitworth and/or Staley show signs of age and Humphries stays healthy and becomes rejuvenated in the K-Raid.

Now that we have reminded ourselves of last year’s grades, it should be interesting to compare them to this year’s.