With every passing week the NFL draft gets closer and teams spend more and more work figuring out which positions to address in the draft. No matter how well a team is playing, the team could stand to upgrade somewhere, or simply replace players headed for free agency.
St. Louis Rams
Guard:
The Rams offensive line has been playing well recently with Jake Long, and Joe Barksdale replacing Rodger Saffold. The issue that stands out on this offensive line is Chris Williams, who is seen as one of the worst starting guards in the NFL. It’s unlikely the team will draft a guard early in the first round as guards aren’t usually drafted very high. A trade back is always a possibility where they could look into someone like Baylor guard Cyril Richardson.
Safety:
Current starter Darian Stewart is set to be a free agent after this year and he’s probably the best safety the Rams have. Resigning him or replacing him with a better player will be important this offseason for a team that is considered to have one of the worst pass defenses in the NFL. A player that should be available right around where the Rams will be picking is Alabama safety Ha Ha Clinton-Dix and he would be a major upgrade to the secondary.
Quarterback:
It’s time to move on from Sam Bradford and his latest injury should only hasten this. Bradford isn’t a Jeff Fisher player, as he was drafted by a previous head coach, and there is no time better then now for Fisher to get his own guy. Likely picking early in the first round the Rams should be able to grab a quarterback along the lines of Derek Carr or Tajh Boyd among others.
Arizona Cardinals
Offensive Line:
I simply say offensive line rather than a certain position because every spot on that line, except left guard where Jonathan Cooper will play when healthy, needs to be upgraded. Across the board this may be the worst offensive-line in football. Picking early the team could go in a number of directions, it all depends how early they pick though. I can see Arizona having their choice from any of the top tackles like Jeff Mathews or Taylor Lewan.
Tight End:
A position that could really use a talent influx in a bad way. Arizona’s top two tight ends are both primed for free agency where I doubt they’ll see much action. The Cardinals will need to address the position early, possibly even trading up from the second round for someone like Eric Ebron.
Safety:
Maybe not the most pressing of needs but someone needs to replace Yeremiah Bell who isn’t under contract for next season. Even if he were under contract, Bell’s best days are behind him. It really comes down to if the team feels comfortable having his current back-up, undrafted rookie Tony Jefferson, replace him as a starter next year. If not then safety becomes a pressing need.
Seattle Seahawks
Wide Receiver:
Seattle is a star studded team that’s going to have to get creative with the cap space to keep all of the talent they’ve recently drafted. This could mean the end of Sidney Rice’ career in Seattle especially after suffering a season ending injury. Coupled with the fact that Golden Tate and Doug Baldwin are unrestricted free agents, wide-receiver could become a glaring whole on this team. Look for the Seahawks to add a few receivers in the early to middle rounds.
Tight End:
Zach Miller is another player that could be out the door strictly to have more money for other positions, and better players. Even if the Seahawks retain him for another year, both of his backups are on their way to free agency. Both could probably be retained cheaply but the Seahawks could stand to upgrade at tight-end regardless. This again is primed to be a middle-round priority.
Secondary:
Another group that I’m coupling together, mostly because help will be needed everywhere. Now before you start yelling that the Seahawks have one of, if not the best, secondary in the NFL, think about the money they’ll have to pour into this unit to keep it together. Brandon Browner is one of the better players in the secondary, and he is set to be a free agent. Included in this is that Richard Sherman and Earl Thomas both only have one more year on their rookie contracts, which means they’re eligible for extensions. I wouldn’t be shocked to see the Seahawks go after a player for their secondary very early in the draft this year, a player like Antone Exum who is 6’1 and 220 pounds fits the mold for the bigger defensive backs Seattle likes to play with.
San Francisco 49ers
Corner:
Pretty obvious need when two of the top three corners are headed for free agency and the other is likely to be a cap casualty. Chris Culliver is coming back from a major injury and only has one more year left on his rookie contract. Those problems together makes corner the 49ers biggest need in the draft and look for them to address it early. With a ton of picks again this year don’t be surprised if they trade up for “their guy” like they did with Eric Reid last year.
Wide Receiver:
Two of Kaeps favorite targets are set to hit free agency in Anquan Boldin and Mario Manningham and that’s going to be a problem. Crabtree only has one more year on his deal and we still don’t exactly know what the 49ers have in Quinton Patton yet. Look for the 49ers to use one of their second-round picks on a wide receiver to help bolster that core.
Interior Offensive-Line:
Jonathan Goodwin is the 49ers only lineman set to hit free agency, and this time around they’ll probably move on. The interior offensive-line becomes a problem after 2014 though when Mike Iupati becomes a free agent and Alex Boone would only have one more year left. Offensive-line play is a key ingredient for the 49ers success on offense. Drafting a center, or Iupati’s future replacement, may be an area the 49ers look to address in the early to middle rounds this year.