Philadelphia Eagles: Jalen’s time to shine

After QB competition in training camp and preseason, Jalen Hurts is officially QB1 for the Eagles. New head coach, Nick Siriani was hesitant all offseason to name the former sooner as QB1 and brought in Joe Flacco.

Last season, Hurts got the reigns to the offense late in the year and led the Eagles to wins. During that time, his QB wasn’t amazing as he made bad reads frequently, arm strength lacked, and relied a lot on his legs to move the chains. Now hurts has had a full offseason to learn this new system that Nick Siriani wants to implement.

Drafting Heisman winner, Devonta Smith will help give Hurts a reliable target for the upcoming year. Philly is going to depend on Hurts to win them games this year, it’s now time to see if he’s capable of that with Joe Flacco and Gardner Minshew waiting for the chance to be QB 1.

Dallas Cowboys: Can Dak stay healthy

After suffering a season-ending ankle injury last year, Dak Prescott dealt with an injury on his throwing arm in training camp. While Prescott is a full go for the season opener, Cowboys fans are hoping that this doesn’t hinder his play this year.

Prescott recently signed a 4-year 160 million dollar contract this offseason after 2 seasons of negotiating for a big-money deal. Dak has been instrumental in the success of Kellen Moore’s offense. Last year Any Dalton, Garret Gilbert, and Ben DiNucci struggled to fill that void as the Cowboys went 6-10.

If Dak stays healthy and puts up similar numbers to last year before he got injured and if Dan Quinn and the defense step up, this team will easily win the division.

New York Giants: The Prove It Year

Giants General Manager, Dave Gettleman will be on the hot seat if the team has another mediocre year. Gettleman has made some questionable decisions in his time as GM, drafting a Running Back second overall, Drafting Daniel Jones sixth overall when he could’ve been available in the second round, and then this year drafting Kedarious Toney after signing Kenny Goliday to a big deal in free agency and having other areas of need on the roster.

Aside from Gettleman, the eyes of fans and the media will be upon Daniel Jones and Saquon Barkley. Jones was given some great receiving weapons this offseason in the hope we could see a Josh Allen-type leap this year. Saquon Barkley is coming off an ACL tear last year and may not start until week 3. With running back being the most replaceable position in the game and if Barkey can’t ever come back with the explosiveness we saw in his rookie year, he may end up in the route of Todd Gurley.

The Giants need to make the playoffs for this year to be considered successful with the investments they made in Daniel Jones this year and with their defense looking better than last year (they were a top 10 defense). If that can’t happen, the Giants fan base will be wanting Dave Gettleman to go.

Washington Football team: Fitzmagic??

Washington won the division last year due to their young and dominant defense shutting down teams. There is no doubt that they will dominate again but there are questions about the Quarterback position. It’s so easy to that Washington is an elite QB away from being seen as contenders for the Lombardi Trophy. After letting go of Alex Smith, the replacement would end up being journeyman QB, Ryan Fitzpatrick. Fitz has had some incredible moments of magic (hence the name ‘Fitzmagic’) during his career but has also looked as inconsistent as any journeyman QB.

Washington will look to keep its crown as NFC East champions with Fitz now. With him being on a 1-year deal, he’s a bridge QB for next year.

Detriot Lions: Dan Campbell

This offseason, Dan Campbell has been one of the most entertaining figures in all the NFL. His Introductory press conference saw him making comments about the team ‘biting off kneecaps’, during OTA’s he revealed his crazy amounts of caffeine to start the day, and him being ‘fired up’ watching 2 rookies fight in training camp. He’s quite the character but can he be the coach that leads the Lions to rebuild.

Campbell will either be the worst coach the lions have had or the best they have had, there is no in-between. He’s definitely set the culture in the Detriot but can that translate to good football.

Chicago Bears: The Call for Fields

The Bears drafted the Ohio State QB this offseason but are going to let him ride the bench as Andy Dalton is starting QB. He played well in the preseason which got the fanbase hyped and wanting him to start over Dalton. The Bears saw the struggles of Mitch Trubisky for the last 4 years and now there is promising potential in Fields.

Matt Nagy made the right move in letting the rookie QB sit and learn from the bench. He’ll have time to watch film and have Dalton as his mentor along with Nick Foles. It’s a question of when, not if, we’ll see Justin Fields start this year. Dalton has already passed his prime in the NFL and Nagy could put him Fields down the stretch when the team needs results.

Minnesota Vikings: Defensive performances

The Vikings last year dealt with lots of injuries to their defensive players. Mike Zimmer's teams are known for their defense and that wasn’t the case last year. They let the team down by not getting stops in close games. Zimmer was tough on the defense after week 1 on the preseason saying that it was an unacceptable display from them.

The emergence of Justin Jefferson was great for the team and added another weapon for Kirk Cousins. Now it’s time the defense emerges as one of the best with the talented players the Vikings have at each position. If the Vikings win the division, the defense will be why.

Green Bay Packers: The Last Dance

This will be Aaron Rodger’s last season in Green Bay. No doubts about it, he’s lost his respect for the front office. The same could be said about Davante Adams who has been hesitant to sign a contract extension. After losing 2 straight NFC Championship, the pressure is on to make the big game this year.

The Packers re-signed RB Aaron Jones after a great 2020 season on the ground and air. The defense did not lose any big pieces and look ready to help the Packers get success this year. All eyes are going to be on Rodger’s final season with the Packers. The only acceptable result for this season is winning a super bowl.

Carolina Panthers: Sam Darnold experiment

The Panther are looking to give Sam Darnold a career restart after a tough start in the NFL with the Jets. Carolina will want to see a similar revival as Ryan Tannehill with the Titans. The Panthers have a good receiving trio with DJ Moore, Robby Anderson, and David Moore not to mention Christian McCaffery will start the season healthy.

The Panthers are a young team that needs to grow together in order for success in the NFL. The question is how long will that be? How long does Sam Darnold get the QB1 title? The trade for Darnold was a low-risk high reward, they only gave up 2 3rd round picks for his services. It’s now time to see what gets produced on the gridiron.

New Orleans Saints: Jameis time

With Drew Brees retiring at the end of last season, a new era begins in Louisiana. Taysom Hill and Jameis Winston battled for the QB1 spot but ultimately Winston would be named the starter. During the offseason, Winston got emotional when talking about the impact Brees has on him last year on a personal and professional level.

The last time Winston started week 1, he ended the season with 30 touchdowns and 30 interceptions. He would end up getting Lasik eye surgery that offseason to improve his vision. In 2021 he will try to put that behind him with this new opportunity. He’s got an amazing RB in Alvin Kamara and a great offensive line to protect him. Micheal Thomas looks to get back to his 2019 form and the defense still has its leaders in Cameron Jordan and Demario Davis. If Jameis can’t take a positive step in his play, it’ll be the last time we see him as a starter.

Atlanta Falcons: Rebuild is coming

The Falcons are in a weird spot. They have a good QB in Matt Ryan with great weapons but their defense is in rebuild mode. They have yet to officially rebuild even though they traded away Julio Jones. Drafting TE Kyle Pitts was a move that seemed questionable especially since the Tight End position wasn’t an area of need. If it all goes south in Atlanta, expect them to complete rebuild their roster and front office.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers: 17-0?

The Super Bowl Champions did something that seemed impossible in the salary cap era, keep all 22 starters that played in the Super Bowl. The Bucs are looking to repeat as champion, the last team to do that was the 2004 Patriots. The expectations are high in Tampa and many are predicting this team to possibly go undefeated.

Last season the Buccs weren’t the most dominant team in the league but were able to get the job done. It would be a concern to see this team struggle especially with the familiarity the players have with the system and one another. They open up the season against the Dallas Cowboys.

San Fransisco 49ers: Can they stay healthy?

The last time the 49ers season didn’t get derailed by injury, they went all the way to the Super Bowl. Nick Bosa returns after an ACL suffered last year and Jimmy Garoppolo returns to health as well. Garoppolo is under pressure to perform this season with Trey Lance in the wings ready to be called as QB 1.

They lost defensive coordinator Robert Saleh this offseason who transformed the Niners' defense into a dominant force. They still have studs like Fred Warner and Nick Bosa to impact the game. If they are healthy all year, the 49ers should be a dangerous team come January.

Seattle Seahawks: Russ MVP?

For the past 2 seasons, Russell Wilson has started off the season with great performances and getting early MVP shouts but at the end of the season, he wasn’t near that level. The Seahawks are extremely dependant on Wilson now with their defense still trying to figure themselves out. With a new offensive coordinator Shane Waldron in, he could play a style of football that Wilson could sustain to win the elusive MVP award.

LA Rams: Stafford Impact

The blockbuster deal to bring in Matt Stafford came with huge expectations. Stafford is the guy who Sean McVay and the Rams organization are banking on to lead them to a Super Bowl win within the next 2 years. The Rams defense will do its work and be one of the best but can the offense contribute in that way too. Stafford will be wanting to make a good impression on the Rams fan base under the primetime lights against the Chicago Bears.

Arizona Cardinals: playoffs now

Arizona continues to prove that they are the retirement home of the NFL. JJ Watt and AJ Green were some of the notable acquisitions the Arizona Cardinals made this past offseason. The Cardinals look to be in contention for the playoffs last season until the final stretch of games derailed that. Kliff Kingsbury is under the hot seat as his Cardinals haven't had much success in his tenure. Kyler Murray will be looking to have another breakout year in order to compete for the tough NFC West Title. The main goal for the Cardinals this season is to make the playoffs, and show that they can compete with the other teams in the NFC. Will the mix of veterans and youth help lead the Cardinals to become a great football team, that's the biggest question that needs to be answered this year.