The NFC West, collectively, has been one of the most active divisions this offseason. They’ve been extremely active during free agency, with trades, and with hirings and firings. Some of the teams have come out better than their divisional counterparts though. Here’s the NFC West offseason power rankings:
4. San Francisco 49ers
The 49ers had quite a forgettable season in 2014 and an offseason to match. When you lose a head coach with the winning percentage that Jim Harbaugh had, it’s certainly a tough pill to swallow and leaves some very big shoes to fill. Not only did they lose their head coach, they lost just about every assistant as well. Once free agency started the hits kept coming for the 49ers. They lost their franchise all-time leading rusher Frank Gore, All-Pro guard Mike Iupati, cornerback Chris Culliver, cornerback Perrish Cox, wide receiver Michael Crabtree (who has yet to sign with anyone), and wide receiver Stevie Johnson. On top of all those losses, they had perennial All-Pro inside linebacker Patrick Willis retire along with their stud rookie inside linebacker Chris Borland. That is an awful lot of talent to make up for.
Although they lost that much, they were still able to add a few strong pieces. To fill in for Jim Harbaugh they promoted defensive line coach Jim Tomsula. While plenty of people have criticized this move, Tomsula is a player’s coach and, by all accounts, a great teacher. Not only is he a great teacher, apparently he’s a great recruiter as well. It speaks volumes that he’s been able to fill his staff with a lot of former head coaches and assistants with offensive or defensive coordinator experience. He’s also had the ringing endorsement of newcomer Darnell Dockett as well. The main addition this offseason has been wide receiver Torrey Smith. He’s the kind of weapon Colin Kaepernick has needed since he’s taken over as the starting quarterback. They were also able to add dynamic running back Reggie Bush.
3. St. Louis Rams
The biggest problem for the Rams this offseason was losing Sam Bradford. Bradford certainly has a decorated injury history but the guy they traded him for, Nick Foles, doesn’t have much better luck with injuries. And the gap in talent between the two is a sizeable one. In addition to the loss of Bradford, they lost some pieces to an already struggling offensive line. They lost Joe Barksdale, Jake Long, Davin Joseph, and Mike Person. On defense they lost Kendall Langford but more than made up for that with the addition of Akeem Ayers and Nick Fairley to make their front seven that much stronger.
Although they downgraded at the quarterback position, they also got out from under a terrible contract at the same time. They also made one of their strength's even stronger. The Rams were able to re-sign wide receiver Kenny Britt, making the wide receiver position not as much of a priority going into the draft. Through free agency they’ve made their plans heading into the draft clearer.
2. Seattle Seahawks
The Seahawks haven’t been incredibly active this offseason. They lost guard James Carpenter, safety Jeron Johnson, cornerback Byron Maxwell, defensive end O’Brien Schofield, and linebacker Malcolm Smith. They didn’t go through free agency just letting everyone go though. They brought in cornerback Cary Williams and Will Blackmon to strengthen up their secondary. But the biggest move wasn’t done in free agency. The blockbuster deal that completely changes the dynamic of the Seahawks’ offense was the trade to acquire tight end Jimmy Graham. Although the Seahawks had to part ways with their stud center Max Unger. Losing your best offensive lineman is nothing to sneeze at, but Russell Wilson’s skillset makes this loss a bit more palatable. Adding Graham to this offense makes them almost as dangerous as their defense is. It gives them that big red zone target they’ve needed and prevents defenses from loading the box to stop Marshawn Lynch. This trade changes everything their offense is able to do.
1. Arizona Cardinals
The Cardinals went through free agency without losing much in terms of talent. Their two notable losses were nose tackle Dan Williams and cornerback Antonio Cromartie. The more notable of these two is Williams, who is a very good, young nose tackle. The pieces the Cardinals added greatly outweigh what they lost however. They were very clear about what their needs were and addressed them swiftly. They added Mike Iupati and A.Q. Shipley to their offensive line and Corey Peters, Cory Redding, Sean Weatherspoon, and LaMarr Woodley to their front seven. These are a lot of good pieces that fit very well into the system the Cardinals run. What sets their offseason apart from other teams, is they directly addressed glaring needs, which led to a clearer draft strategy as a result. Having a clear and distinct plan in the draft gives them a leg up on some other teams, which is very valuable in the NFL.