2018 NFL division preview: NFC West

Arizona Cardinals

2017 record: 8-8 (third in NFC West)

Key additions: CB Bene Benwikere, S Tre Boston, QB Sam Bradford, WR Brice Butler, FB Derrick Coleman, QB Mike Glennon, LB Gerald Hodges, WR Greg Little, DE Benson Mayowa, OLB Arthur Moats, OL Justin Pugh, OL Andre Smith, DE Jacquies Smith, CB Jamar Taylor 

Notable losses: QB Matt Barkley, CB Justin Bethel, G Alex Boone, S Tyvon Branch, WR Jaron Brown, WR John Brown, LB Karlos Dansby, QB Blaine Gabbert, OLB Kareem Martin, S Tyrann Mathieu, DE Josh Mauro, QB Carson Palmer, RB Adrian Peterson, DE Frostee Rucker, QB Drew Stanton, T Jared Veldheer, OL Earl Watford, CB Tramon Williams, NT Xavier Williams

Top draft picks: QB Josh Rosen, WR Christian Kirk, C Mason Cole

2018 outlook: The eventful Bruce Arians stay came to an unremarkable close thanks to injuries that ransacked Arizona’s offense. The Cardinals, after soaring to their Arizona-era peak behind veterans Palmer and Kurt Warner, again looked to the Pac-12 to find an heir apparent. Matt Leinart did not work out; the Cards are betting on Rosen’s arm talent. Bradford will attempt to avoid injuries and provide the bridge.

Mike McCoy will run a third team’s offense in three years. (Though, the Broncos’ quarterback situation contributed to a quick downfall in his second Denver stay.) Arizona’s run game sans-David Johnson graded (per Football Outsiders) as one of the worst in modern NFL history, and new pieces Cole (replacing A.Q. Shipley), Pugh and Smith are penciled in to start this season. The Cards gave a five-year, $45 million contract to Pugh on the heels of a season-ending back malady. Smith peaked many years ago but is the right tackle starter. With injuries forcing Mike Iupati and D.J. Humphries to miss most of last year, this may be a dicey situation for the league's most injury-prone passer to join.

Steve Wilks and DC Al Holcomb brought the Panthers’ 4-3 look to Arizona, which has All-Pro talent in Patrick Peterson and Chandler Jones. The 2017 Cardinals ranked sixth defensively and return ascending cogs Budda Baker, Haason Reddick and Markus Golden (12.5 sacks in 2016) and could use Robert Nkemdiche to consistently display the athleticism that’s enthralled scouts since his high school days. Despite its issues finding Peterson sidekicks, Taylor's the latest, this should be the more reliable of the Cards’ units.

Are they better or worse than last season? Comparing the 2017 roster, pre-injuries, to this one, the Cardinals look a bit worse. Rosen entered the draft viewed as its most polished passer; he could be running the show quickly given the instability Bradford brings.

Best-case scenario: This isn't a good year for surprise NFC teams. The Cardinals could be readier to compete than expected, resulting in a .500 season or close to it. But their contention days likely won't resume in 2018.

Worst-case scenario: Bradford goes down early, which is a pretty safe bet, and Rosen is not yet ready. This would thrust the Cardinals toward the NFL’s basement, defensive proficiency aside.

Record prediction: 5-11

Los Angeles Rams

2017 record: 11-5 (NFC West champion)

Key additions: WR Brandin Cooks, DE Ryan Davis, CB Marcus Peters, CB Sam Shields, DT Ndamukong Suh, CB Aqib Talib, ILB Ramik Wilson

Notable losses: WR Tavon Austin, OLB Connor Barwin, TE Derek Carrier, DB Cody Davis, CB Trumaine Johnson, OLB Cameron Lynch, ILB Alec Ogletree, OLB Robert Quinn, DE Tyrunn Walker, WR Sammy Watkins, CB Kayvon Webster

2018 outlook: The Rams have a stranglehold on the Los Angeles NFL market after one of the most eventful offseasons in memory. They now more closely resemble a Wade Phillips defense, with two elite press cornerbacks and dominant pass-rushing talent. The Rams are gambling they can manage Talib and Peters while coaxing another high-level season from Suh. Watching them try, along with integrating Cooks into Sean McVay’s offense, will be one of the league’s best subplots this season.

McVay turning the Rams — whose 262.7 yards per game in 2016 was the worst total any team’s produced since 2011 — into a cutting-edge offense (10th in yards) made for one of the more stunning scheme overhauls in NFL history. Jared Goff went from 5.3 yards per attempt as a rookie to 8.0 and a Pro Bowl in '17, squashing the premature "bust" narrative. Pro Football Focus graded the Rams’ offensive line, which returns en masse, sixth last season. That bodes well for Todd Gurley, although, it's worth monitoring how defenses adjust to Goff after his monumental second-season leap.

The Rams have two historically great turnover producers at corner, and their safety tandem of Lamarcus Joyner and quick-acclimating 2017 third-rounder John Johnson joins Nickell Robey-Coleman in giving Phillips a secondary that has peak Broncos No-Fly Zone potential. And the Suh-Aaron Donald-Michael Brockers passing-down sequences are going to be intense. To allow for these moves, the Rams stripped their linebacking corps down to Mark Barron and unknowns. They're trying former first-rounder Dominique Easley at outside linebacker, but this is a rare trouble spot for a loaded roster. Might Les Snead try to work another trade? 

Are they better or worse than last season? If Phillips can handle the new vocal presences on defense, this team is much better. Watkins-for-Cooks is a nice upgrade, too.

Best-case scenario: Goff follows in Carson Wentz’s footsteps and takes another step forward, with the Rams’ all-in effort paying off with a Super Bowl title. L.A.'s not a surefire favorite, but this is one of the many NFCers that could realistically host a February parade.

Worst-case scenario: Defenses catch on to Goff, and the defensive enhancements prove overhyped. It’s hard to see the Rams not winning the NFC West, however. But once they’re in the playoffs, there will be plenty of comparable teams waiting. 

Record prediction: 11-5

San Francisco 49ers

2017 record: 6-10 (fourth in NFC West)

Key additions: DE/LB Jerry Attaochu, G Jonathan Cooper, P Jeff Locke, RB Jerick McKinnon, RB Alfred Morris, OL Mike Person, C Weston Richburg, CB Richard Sherman, LB Korey Toomer 

Notable losses: T Trent Brown, DL Tank Carradine, DE Elvis Dumervil, G Brandon Fusco, CB Leon Hall, RB Carlos Hyde, C Daniel Kilgore, CB Dontae Johnson, DE/LB Aaron Lynch, WR Louis Murphy, TE Logan Paulsen, S Eric Reid, P Jon Ryan, DL Cedric Thornton

Top draft picks: T Mike McGlinchey, WR Dante Pettis, LB Fred Warner, S Tarvarius Moore

2018 outlook: Like the Rams, the 49ers stroll into this season after rapid progress. Jimmy Garoppolo’s first five 49ers starts, and subsequent extension, accelerated the 49ers rebuild. While they still could use more talent to more closely resemble a playoff-caliber roster, this will be a key transition year for the Kyle Shanahan/John Lynch regime.

Pierre Garcon was on pace for a 1,000-yard season with Brian Hoyer and C.J. Beathard throwing to him; he'll work with Garoppolo for the first time. Marquise Goodwin, who outdid his four-year Bills air-yardage total in one 49ers season (962 yards), and George Kittle provide solid targets as well. McKinnon’s surprising $7M-per-year salary dictates he’ll start [UPDATE 9/1/18: McKinnon is on IR with a torn ACL], but Alfred Morris has a productive history with Shanahan from their Washington days and looked good in spurts in Dallas. Richburg will add a quality interior blocker to the 49ers' front — one that 34-year-old Joe Staley still anchors. 

Robert Saleh’s defense progressed in his first year as a coordinator, but the 49ers still carried a bottom-third unit. After a two-game ban, fast-rising/on-thin-ice linebacker Reuben Foster will join DeForest Buckner in leading the 49ers’ front seven. Solomon Thomas and Arik Armstead switched defensive end positions, and the 2017 No. 3 overall pick will be expected to generate a better pass rush. But no returning 49er recorded more than three sacks last season. Out of the Seattle system for the first time and having returned from an Achilles tear, Sherman’s performance in San Francisco will be interesting to follow for a mid-level team aiming to get to where the Seahawks once stood.

Are they better or worse than last season? Garoppolo enjoyed a full offseason to digest Shanahan’s offense, but Hyde, Brown, Reid and Fusco are gone. Still, a possible franchise-level quarterback changes the equation.

Best-case scenario: The 49ers don’t appear as talented as the NFC’s deep upper echelon, so moving closer to .500 or slightly beyond would be a step as they gear up for the future. But if Goff can’t sustain his breakout performance, it’s not lunacy to suggest the 49ers could back into an NFC West crown. It’s improbable, however.

Worst-case scenario: Garoppolo (still just 272 NFL pass attempts) can't sustain the level he reached last season and causes concern about the high-end contract to which he’s now attached.

Record prediction: 8-8

Seattle Seahawks

2017 record: 9-7 (second in NFC West)

Key additions: S Mo Alexander, WR Jaron Brown, TE Ed Dickson, G D.J. Fluker, QB Brett Hundley, K Sebastian Janikowski, CB Dontae Johnson, WR Marcus Johnson, DT Tom Johnson, WR Brandon Marshall, DE/OLB Barkevious Mingo, DT Shamar Stephen, G J.R. Sweezy, OLB Erik Walden

Notable losses: OL Oday Aboushi, DE Cliff Avril, DE Michael Bennett, S Kam Chancellor, LB Terence Garvin, TE Jimmy Graham, OL Luke Joeckel, RB Eddie Lacy, CB Jeremy Lane, RB Thomas Rawls, WR Paul Richardson, DT Sheldon Richardson, CB DeShawn Shead, CB Richard Sherman, DE Marcus Smith, OL Matt Tobin, K Blair Walsh, LB Michael Wilhoite, TE Luke Willson

Top draft picks: RB Rashaad Penny, DE Raheem Green

2018 outlook: Since Russell Wilson remains at the controls, the best stretch in Seahawks history can’t be categorized as finished. But there may be a line of demarcation dividing the first part of Wilson’s career — where he played with one of the best defensive nuclei the modern game's seen — and whatever’s next. Exits of Avril, Bennett, Chancellor and Sherman strip the Seahawks of much of their Super Bowl core. Forming a comparable next group won't be easy.

This sets up a classic rebuilding year, or will Wilson allow the Seahawks to expedite the process? The seventh-year quarterback carried the 2017 Seahawks, who again couldn’t assemble a competent offensive line and thus could not sustain a non-Wilson ground attack. (No back gained more than 240 ground yards.) How much better is this year’s line going to be? Beyond a 33-year-old Duane Brown, the Seattle front — though free of Tom Cable – still houses mostly the same cast. The addition of Fluker, who’s never lived up to his first-round pedigree, epitomizes the Hawks’ poor structuring up front the past few years. Seattle now needs a new red-zone weapon, too, after Graham's exit.

Shrugging off Earl Thomas' holdout, Pete Carroll sounds excited about his new young defenders. But it’s not easy to reconstruct the kind of core Seattle built in the early 2010s. The Seahawks led the league in scoring defense in four straight seasons (2012-15). Shaquill Griffin takes over the Sherman role, and Bradley McDougald will inherit Thomas’ if, in fact, he's traded. Seattle's front seven is weakened without Bennett and Avril, but Frank Clark (19 sacks the past two seasons) is a worthy successor and playing for a big contract. Rookie punter Michael Dickson has drawn rave reviews, too. That’ll help.

Are they better or worse than last season? Worse. The Seahawks gutted their defense and will need an All-Pro-level season from Wilson — and major O-line improvement — to be a threat this year.

Best-case scenario: The Seahawks finish around .500 and see future long-term starters emerge.

Worst-case scenario: Well, expectations aren't high. Their new secondary and non-Clark defensive line showing they won’t be the pieces that will help future Seahawks teams contend would qualify as a letdown.

Record prediction: 7-9