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ESPN.com issued its off season report cards on the NFC West for 2017 while Gambling911.com offers its picks for the best futures odds in which to wager on.
Seattle Seahawks – High priced at just shy of 1/3 odds or -275 to win the NFC West, it’s hard to see the Seahawks NOT winning this division. With that in mind, the Seahawks still have value here.
Bill Barnwell gives the Seahawks a C.
Keeping Richard Sherman is seen as a good thing but much of the off season discussion centered around trying to trade the guy, so difficult to see how this won’t affect Sherman’s morale, in a less-than-positive way.
While they accumulated a few good draft picks, Seattle hasn’t done much to bolster their offensive line. They did get Eddie Lacey, but health will be a concern.
Arizona Cardinals – Chandler Jones, Carson Palmer are returning.
There was an offseason exodus of defensive players but Arizona, according to Barnwell, did a reasonable job of replacing them.
It's not easy for a defense to replace five starters overnight, but the Cardinals have viable options across the board. Arizona signed Antoine Bethea away from San Francisco, where Bethea was excellent in 2015 before slipping at age 32 last season. He could start next to Tyvon Branch. The Cardinals recruited Karlos Dansby to make his third stint with the team at inside linebacker. Arizona gets more out of these veterans under Arians than just about any other team in the league.
Arizona also took a pair of typically freakish athletes in the top two rounds. Linebacker Haason Reddick and safety Budda Baker are versatile enough to play a variety of spots around a defense.
They also received the maximum of four compensatory picks in the 2018 draft, including a third-rounder for Campbell and a fourth-rounder for Jefferson.
The cornerback position is still a problem and Arizona did little to address the situation. Tyrann Mathieu and Patrick Peterson are good when healthy.
Los Angeles Rams – Drastic coaching changes include Sean McVay, a 31-year-old offensive-minded newbie to the world of coaching and the youngest ever NFL head coach. There are even Rams players older than McVay.
This move could be hit or miss or continue the mediocrity we’ve come to expect with this organization in recent years. The hiring of former Broncos defensive coordinator Wade Phillips though is a major plus.
They pretty much did nothing to improve their offensive line though offensive linesman Andrew Whitworth is certainly a good pickup.
San Francisco 49ers – They fired GM Trent Baalke. Kyle Shanahan will take over as head coach and offensive coordinator.
The 49ers drafted well with defensive lineman Solomon Thomas and linebacker Rueben Foster.
This is a weak division so San Francisco winning OVER 4.5 regular season games is not entirely improbable.
- Don Shapiro, Gambling911.com
