NFL 2024 Division Previews; NFC West Edition; 49ers Top Contender, The Rest Continues to Build

Over the next pair of months, I will be going through each division and giving an overall projection of how they could perform in the upcoming season. The record projection should be taken with a grain of salt as we are still months out before the season even starts and roster changes and injuries will occur in that time.

1) San Francisco 49ers – Projected Record 12-5

Last year’s Super Bowl runner-up came so close to becoming champions but just couldn’t close out that game. Outside of an interception, the defense could not do enough to contain Patrick Mahomes, who had 399 total yards in that game. A tough end for a very successful season, good for them, most of the same team is coming back for this season as well.

Offensively, they’re extremely well coached by a great scheme and have great talent at the skill positions which makes it easier on Brock Purdy. There were rumors about both of their top receivers being on the trading block in Brandon Aiyuk and Deebo Samuels. The Samuels rumors seem to have slowed down which is huge considering his role. The Aiyuk situation is a bit concerning which not appearing at mandatory minicamp. Regardless they still have a guy named Christian McCaffrey who makes up for a lot. They also went on offense in the first round with rookie receiver Ricky Pearsall. They have some big games that will provide a challenge this year like a rematch with Chiefs and Lions among others. Regardless 12 wins should be pretty simple for a team this talented.

2) Los Angeles Rams – Projected Record 9-8

The Los Angeles Rams are coming off a playoff appearance where they fell in the first round to the Detroit Lions in a very close and competitive game where both quarterbacks just battled it out. Last season Stafford proved to many why he is an all-time underrated quarterback and had another good season, especially coming off injury. It was a team that seemed lacking in talent going into the season and they proved people wrong with a fantastic draft class and great coaching.

This time around, I have them going just a game under their last year's total, finishing 9-8. As good as Stafford is and has been, he’s dealt with injuries and is continuing to get older. Aaron Donald decided to hang up the cleats and call it a career and what a career it was. Truly impossible to replace that type of impact and the longevity of that high level of play. The Rams are doing their very best to make the defensive line not an afterthought after his retirement. They first started when they drafted Kobie Turner who was fantastic last season and now they drafted two Florida State Seminoles who are true game-wreckers in Jared Verse and Braden Fiske. Regardless of their good job replacing talent, it’s a tough schedule with legit 8-9 opponents in their schedule who could see the postseason and that’s without upsets so 9-8 feels reasonable for now.

3) Seattle Seahawks – Projected Record 6-11

Two years ago the Seattle Seahawks decided to roll out with Geno Smith as their starter and he repaid them with a great season at quarterback in 2022 with 30 touchdowns to 11 interceptions and completed nearly 70% of all his passes. He followed up that season with one that wasn’t quite on the same level which left people wondering if that one season was an anomaly.

If I had to estimate, Geno will likely take another slight step back next season, and if that is the case it’s going to be tough to keep up with the bigger and more explosive talent rivals in their division. The obvious biggest change is at their head coaching position, finally, the retirement of Pete Carroll leaves some big shoes to fill as he has been there for quite some time. A potential quarterback declining, a new head coach, and a tough slate of the schedule, especially in the first half, could be a way to fall behind in the records early.

4) Arizona Cardinals – Projected Record 5-12

The Cardinals were not good last year, and that was to no one’s surprise, they had one of, if not the worst roster in the NFL. Despite that though, they played a lot of teams really tough and even managed an upset or two like when they took down the Cowboys. Regardless of that, they only managed to win a total of 4 games.

They managed to make some improvements so only a game improvement over their 4-13 record seems like not much but this team still has a long way to go. The offense should be better with the full-season return of Kyler Murray and the big new draft piece in Marvin Harrison Jr. Also drafting Trey Benson at HB provides a big burst and homerun potential which was not there with James Connor who will still get a lot of carries. So, a lot of potential there on the offense even if the receiver room is still a little thin. The big concern is on the defensive side of the ball, where they just have hole after hole and the holes they don’t have are full of talented but unproven athletes that need time to blossom. While they could easily win a few more than just five games next season, it would not be a surprise for them to be unable to break that mark this season with a hard schedule.