32 Teams in 32 Days: Philadelphia Eagles

Philadelphia Eagles 2011 Season Preview
by Will Soistman

Key Additions: QB Vince Young, RB Ronnie Brown, Wide Receivers Steve Smith (USC) and Johnnie Lee Higgins, TE Donald Lee, Offensive Linemen Ryan Harris and Evan Mathis, Defensive Linemen Jason Babin, Cullen Jenkins, and Anthony Hargrove, Cornerbacks Nnamdi Asomugha and Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie.

Key Losses: Linebackers Omar Gaither, Stewart Bradley, and Ernie Sims, Defensive Tackle Brodrick Brunkley, Safety Quintin Mikell, QB Kevin Kolb.

Quite the offseason for the Eagles. Coming off a 10-6 2010 season where Vick shocked the football world, the Eagles aren't going to sneak up on anybody. They may even have the target on their backs more so than the Super Bowl Champion Packers. Remember, Vick and the Eagles were one pass away from beating the Packers in the Wild Card Round before the Packers won the Super Bowl. With a handful of additions and a full season of "The Michael Vick Experiment" is this the year Andy Reid and the Eagles win the big one?

Offensively for the Eagles the high-powered offense remains intact. Lesean McCoy is a great running back who catches the ball a lot and can make guys miss in the open field. Desean Jackson is scary fast, and Jeremy Maclin is already proving himself as one of the best route runners in the NFL. Vick has said himself he wants to get TE Brent Celek more involved in the offense and Riley Cooper has consistently found himself more playing time as a 3rd receiver. The offensive line is going to be the big worry for the Eagles as RT Winston Justice is on PUP and may not return to full strength this season, and Jason Peters has been simply average at Left Tackle.
The Eagles are going to need to keep Vick upright for the whole season, although they did make another smart move in grabbing Vince Young as a backup. While he is nowhere near as good as Vick, he is a very similar player so that the offense wouldn't change entirely if had to come in the game.

Defensively for the Eagles EVERYthing has changed. They now have 3 starting Cornerbacks in Asomugha, Samuel, and Rodgers-Cromartie which will keep opposing offenses at bay in the passing game. They added Cullen Jenkins and Jason Babin to their already fierce pass rusher in Trent Cole to help give opposing Quarterbacks even less time to throw to aforementioned starting cornerbacks. However, the entire Linebacker corps pretty much has been wiped out from 2010. 4th round rookie Casey Matthews is slated to start and while he has some good blood in him, it will be tough for a rookie to come in day 1 and be in charge of a defense. If teams want to beat the Eagles, running the ball has to be the primary option.

Fighting injuries and starting multiple Quarterbacks the Eagles still finished 10-6 in 2010. If the Eagles can stay healthy all year they definitely have a shot at the NFC East crown and are Super Bowl contenders. The middle of the defense is shaky though, and teams know what is coming after a full year of film to watch on the new Mike Vick.

Prediction: 11-5 1st in NFC East

32 Teams in 32 Days: Arizona Cardinals

Arizona Cardinals 2011 Season Preview

by Will Soistman

Key Additions: QB Kevin Kolb, Tight Ends Todd Heap and Jeff King, Offensive Linemen Pork Chop Womack and Daryn Colledge, Defensive Linemen Vonnie Holliday and Nick Eason, Linebacker Stewart Bradley, Corner Richard Marshall.

Key Losses: Running Back Tim Hightower, Wide Receiver Steve Breaston, Defensive Linemen Alan Branch and Gabe Watson, Corner Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie.

The Cardinals took a step back in 2010 (5-11) after making the playoffs 2 straight years. Losing potential Hall of Fame QB Kurt Warner can do that to a team, and the Cardinals were unable to find a replacement. This year, the Cardinals are going all in on former Eagles QB Kevin Kolb as they traded their best Cornerback and a 2nd round pick for the former Houston Cougar QB.

Larry Fitzgerald personally lobbied for Kolb in the offseason as the two have practiced together on multiple occasions during past offseasons. With the QB situation solved, for now, Arizona brought in Todd Heap to try and have defenses respect the passing game more and draw attention from Fitzgerald. Losing Steve Breaston to the Chiefs is going to hurt, but Arizona is high on Andre Roberts and Early Doucet to replace the injury-prone Breaston.

Not only was the QB situation a disaster in 2010, the running back situation was crowded and never reached its full potential. However, with one running back leaving town in Hightower, a new one was brought in via the draft in Ryan Williams. Beanie Wells is really going to have to prove that he can stay healthy and carry the load for the team if he wants to keep the talented Ryan Williams off the field.

On the defensive side of the ball the Cardinals drafted Patrick Peterson in the 1st round. Peterson was/is highly regarded as the best player in the 2011 draft and this made way for the Cardinals getting rid of Rodgers-Cromartie in the trade for Kolb. Steward Bradley is an off-the-radar move that could bode very well for the Cardinals if Bradley can stay on the field. He was always seen as the future star of the Eagles, but injuries slowed his career down. Last year's 1st round pick, Nose Tackle Dan Williams, is reportedly out of shape and not improving from last years poor 1st year. Darnell Dockett and Adrian Wilson are still very good players and will help make the Cardinals defense at least respectable.

In order for the Cardinals to be relevant in 2011, Kevin Kolb will have to live up to the hype the Cardinals have built, and paid for him. I see the Cardinals improving on their disastrous 2010 campaign and challenging the Rams for the division crown in 2011.

Prediction: 7-9 2nd in NFC West

32 Teams in 32 Days: Seattle Seahawks

Seattle Seahawks 2011 Season Preview
by Will Soistman

Key Additions: QB Tarvaris Jackson, WR Sidney Rice, TE Zach Miller, G Robert Gallery, DT Alan Branch

Key Losses: QB Matt Hasselbeck , Offensive Linemen Sean Locklear, Stacy Andrews, and Chris Spencer, Linebackers Will Herring and Lofa Tatupu

Pete Carroll and the Seattle Seahawks shocked the world in 2010 by winning the NFC West with a 7-9 record and beating the defending world champion New Orleans Saints in the playoffs. However, this new season brings new personnel into Seattle as well as former staples of the franchise leaving. Can Carroll repeat the magic?

The offense is essentially brand new with half of the offensive line leaving and new Draft picks (James Carpenter) and free agents stepping in to retool this Offensive Line. Couple that with Tarvaris Jackson, Sidney Rice, Zach Miller, and Marshawn Lynch for a full year and the Seahawks look completely different than a year ago. With all the new looks, everything would seem positive for Seattle. However, Hasselbeck was as solid as they come at QB and to replace him with Mr. Consistently innacurate Jackson may not be the best move made this offseason. The re-done Offensive line looks nice, but a new slew of guys may take some time to mesh together. Sidney Rice played only a couple games at the tail end of the 2010 season, so he may not be fully healthy and ready to lead a new team.

The defense looks to remain mostly the same although Lofa Tatupu was a decent but not spectacular middle linebacker who apparently struggled more than people believed. Trufant is healthy on the cornerback end, and maybe high pick Aaron Curry can finally live up to the hype and help the linebacker core improve. Seattle needs to try to find a comparable safety to stud Earl Thomas in order to keep teams from throwing on them all day.

Seattle had a nice little story run in 2010, but 2011 is a whole new year with a whole new QB. Tarvaris Jackson has never proved anything and the season rests on his shoulders.

Prediction: 6-10 3rd in NFC West

32 Teams in 32 Days: San Francisco 49ers

San Francisco 49ers 2011 Season Preview
by Will Soistman

Key Additions: Wide Receiver Braylon Edwards, Center Jonathan Goodwin, Cornerback Carlos Rogers, Safeties Madieu Williams and Donte Whitner

Key Losses: Offensive Linemen David Baas and Eric Heitmann, Defensive Tackle Aubrayo Franklin, Linebackers Travis Leboy, Takeo Spikes, and Manny Lawson, Cornerback Nate Clements.

This may be the first year in quite some time where the 49ers are no longer the "Surprise team" that will shock people and make it to the playoffs. They have been in a constant downward spiral with no signs of improvement since Norv Turner left for the San Diego Chargers back in 2007.

After finishing 6-10 in 2010 the Mike Singletary experiment was over and the Jim Harbaugh era is about to begin. With Harbaugh comes another new QB in... wait. Alex Smith is STILL the quarterback? Somehow, Smith is still the favorite to start for the 49ers and you got to hand it to the kid, he just won't go away. However, Harbaugh and co. did select Nevada QB Colin Kaepernick in the 2nd round of this year's draft so perhaps Smith is finally on a short leash.

Lookings at the 49ers offseason it is hard to tell if any good came out of it. With nearly twice as many departures as additions, the 49ers new regime is looking to try and start fresh albeit with the same QB. The defense is looking to be retooled as 3 of the 4 starting linebackers from 2010 were not retained and pass rusher Aldon Smith was drafted in the 1st round to lineup opposite Justin Smith at Defensive end. The loss of Aubrayo Franklin is really going to hurt this team as well as those aforementioned Linebackers so the pass rush is going to be near to nonexistent. Losing Nate Clements looks bad on paper, but he really wasn't the difference maker people believe him to be. He was an expensive nickel back that just didn't pan out after the 49ers acquired him through free agency years ago. Carlos Rogers replaces him in the secondary which is pretty much a wash, but for a cheaper player that is a win for the team.

Offensively, Frank Gore is coming off a serious injury, Crabtree again can't stay healthy, and Braylon Edwards was added to the offense to try and get that good 1-2 punch at receiver. Vernon Davis is still a great Tight End but with Smith still throwing the ball, there is really no telling what good can come out of this offense.

I don't have any hopes for the 49ers in 2011. There are no bright spots, aside from Pro Bowler Patrick Willis, on this team and no reasonable thought as to who will help push the team to the next level. This is going to be a tough year. But they do play the Seahawks and Cardinals a total of 4 times, so they have a chance at some wins.

Prediction: 49ers 5-11 4th in NFC West

32 Teams in 32 Days: St Louis Rams

St Louis Rams 2011 Season Preview
by Will Soistman

Key Additions: Running backs Cadillac Williams and Jerious Norwood, Wide Receiver Mike Sims Walker, G Harvey Dahl, Defensive Tackles Justin Bannan and Daniel Muir, Linebackers Ben Leber Brady Poppinga Zach Diles and Larry Grant, CB Al Harris, and Safety Quintin Mikell.

Key Losses: S O.J. Atogwe, Wide Receivers Laurent Robinson and Mark Clayton.

The St Louis Rams are looking to improve upon a very surprising 2010 season led by Quarterback Sam Bradford and Running Back Steven Jackson. Although finishing below .500 at 7-9 the team looked great at times with a bunch of random cogs working together. Sam Bradford was throwing to guys named Denario Alexander, Danny Amendola, and Michael Hoomanawanui after early season injuries to Mark Clayton and Donnie Avery. With Donnie Avery coming back and the addition of Mike Sims Walker, Bradford has some new toys to play with at the Wide Receiver position, he didn't have one year ago.

Add Williams and Norwood to the Running Back mix, and now there is some explosiveness and depth behind the consistent, and consistently fragile, Steven Jackson. Other offensive additions include Wide Receivers Austin Pettis and Greg Salas and Tight End Lance Hendricks all of whom were acquired through the draft. Couple that with new Offensive Coordinator Josh McDaniels and there may be a "Greatest Show on Turf 2.0" coming to the Edward-Jones Dome.

On the defensive side of the ball the Rams are returning nearly every starter, aside from Pro Bowl Safety O.J. Atogwe, and added pass rusher Robert Quinn in the draft. With Chris Long and Robert Quinn coming off the edge in Steve Spagnuolo's pressure defense, look for the Rams to improve on their 43 sacks from a year ago.

The one problem that remains for the Rams is the Cornerback position. Ron Bartell did a decent but not spectacular job last year and Bradley Fletcher is a solid number 2 CB. However, the nickel back role has yet to be decided and Al Harris certainly won't fix that problem. If the Rams want to be contenders, they need to improve upon their 19th ranked Pass Defense, and they are trying to fix that by pressuring the Quarterback.

I really like the Rams this year. They showed up against good teams last year and have been very proactive in this offseason. If Sam Bradford can repeat or exceed what he did last year, avoiding the sophomore slump, I can see the Rams winning the NFC West.

Prediction: Rams 9-7 1st in NFC West.

32 Teams in 32 Days

There are 32 days left until the first Sunday of the NFL Regular Season kicks off (29 until Thursday Night kickoff when the defending champion Packers take on the Saints) so I thought it would be fun to write about 1 NFL team every day, detailing their offseason and projections for the upcoming regular season.

Each day there will be a new post featuring a new NFL team.
Please to enjoy.

Will Soistman