The Good

DeMeco Ryans was one of the hottest head coaching candidates after last season. The San Francisco 49ers have been one of the best defensive units over the last 2 years under Ryans. He will now be tasked with rebuilding the Texans from the ground up and build a winning culture. While the Texans defense had its struggles in 2022 it has many young talented pieces to build on. Will Anderson will be an instant difference maker and is the favorite to win NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year. On the back end, Safety Jalen Pitre had an outstanding rookie season in which he hauled in 5 interceptions. These two players along with Ryans have me excited for the Texans defense going forward

The Bad

With the 2nd pick in the 2023 NFL Draft, the Texans selected Ohio State quarterback CJ Stroud. I was and still am a fan of this pick. Stroud showed promise in the college football semi-final matchup with Georgia. The Bulldogs are full of studs on defense and Stroud still put up 348 passing yards and 4 touchdowns. He also showcased his running ability several times during the game. I was hoping the Texans would surround Stroud with more offensive weapons but that’s not the case.

The Texans were able to bring in tight end Dalton Schultz from the Cowboys but lack explosive wide receivers. Nico Collins showed some promise last season but he is more of a number 3 wide receiver. They also brought in Robert Woods this offseason but it seems Woods has lost a step since his time in Los Angeles. There is one bright spot for the Texans and that’s rookie Tank Dell. If Dell can develop and learn the offense quickly he has the potential to make big plays.

The Prediction

It’s important for Houston Texans fans to be patient as the team goes through this rebuild. Houston has young bright stars on both sides of the ball and a head coach that will challenge them. This year will be a struggle but going forward the Texans will only get better.

2023 Record: 5-12 (4th in the Division)

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Houston Texans: WR Robert Woods (ADP 223.8)

Robert Woods is on his second team in two years as he tries to revitalize his career. When he was with the Rams, he was very consistent and made life easy for Jared Goff. His mission now is to help C.J. Stroud thrive. He is currently the top WR in the Texans. Look for Stroud to focus on him especially at the start in order to get a rhythm and to get acclimated to the NFL. His ADP of 223.8 is ridiculous for someone of his talent.

Indianapolis Colts: WR Alec Pierce (ADP 188.1)

For the Indianapolis Colts, I’m looking at Alec Pierce. As a rookie last season, he had his moments such as scoring 18.6 FP against the Cowboys and 15.1 FP against the Broncos. What makes him stand out is his 15 deep targets as the other Colts WRs only had 18 total deep targets. With Anthony Richardson having a cannon of an arm, Alec Pierce could benefit from the deep throws with the rookie QB.

Jacksonville Jaguars: WR Christian Kirk (ADP 82.9)

Christian Kirk had a career year last season when he caught 84 passes for 1108 yards and eight TDs. His year helped the Jaguars have a successful season and make Jacksonville look like an elite contender for years to come. Currently, he is slated at ADP 82.9 which is a steal for what he can do. Even with Calvin Ridley coming in, Trevor Lawrence will still pass the ball around. Christian Kirk will overcome his ADP again.

Tennessee Titans: QB Will Levis (ADP 137.9)

We’ve all seen the tape that he’s throwing the ball well in camps and looks like a steal. Let’s hold our horses first. He’s still very raw and Ryan Tannehill is still the guy for the Titans. Now I expect Will Levis to get some run depending on Tennessee’s record. This makes him intriguing especially in dynasty leagues if you need a QB. The fans will be calling for him if the Titans look bad.

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By: Jake Rajala

The Tennessee Titans moved on from the very explosive A.J. Brown, but it’s clear that the show must go on for the Titans WR unit. The Titans showcase the shifty, underrated Robert Woods, the exciting rookie Treylon Burks, and the third-year WR Nick Westbrook-Ikhine. PFF slotted the Titans as the 26th best WR group entering the 2022 season. I really believe love the outlook for the uncertain, 22-year-old WR that was taken by the Titans in the first round of the 2022 draft. Hence, I expect the Titans to be at least a middle-of-the-pack WR group in the upcoming season.

The former LA Rams wideout ousted 1,219 yds and six TDs in 2018, 1,134 yds in 2019, and 936 yds in 2020. In Marques Colston-like fashion, the productive wideout has still failed to make the Pro Bowl in his career. It’s been widely noted that he’s had a fantastic training camp thus far. Woods is under contract with the Titans until the 2026 off-season.

The reigning one seed in the AFC (yes, you read that correctly) will anticipate magic from their WR2 Treylon Burks. Burks impressively notched 1,104 yds and 11 TDs in 2021. He had conditioning issues in training camp, but he’s flashed excellence on and off this off-season. It would be an understatement to say the Titans have one of the most underrated WR duos in the league.

The third starting wideout is none other than Nick Westbrook-Ikhine. He’s also a young gun (25 years old) and coming off a modest 2021 campaign: 38 receptions, 476 yds, and 4 TDs. He registered a modest 68.7 grade by PFF last season. Per AtoZ Sports Nashville, Tanny has a lot of confidence in the young wideout. He’s undoubtedly one of the biggest x-factors on the Titans squad.

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By: Will Baptist

Matthew Stafford’s play has been somewhat erratic throughout his career, but being traded to the Los Angeles Rams will prove to be a blessing. The Detroit Lions are in disarray and have been one of the most dysfunctional organizations over the past 30 years. Stafford desperately needed a fresh start to prove that he can still be a top-10 QB in the NFL.

Stafford led them to the playoffs on three separate occasions, but was never able to secure a playoff victory. The Lions have not won a playoff game since 1991, and it seems they are starting all over once again.

Stafford was the first overall pick in the 2009 NFL Draft and has one of the biggest arms in the NFL. In his 12-year tenure with the Lions, he compiled 45,109 passing yards and 282 passing touchdowns and broke a multitude of records.

Stafford had some outstanding seasons with the Lions, and showed true greatness. His best season was back in 2011, when he completed 63.5% of his passes and threw for 5,038 yards, 41 touchdowns and 16 interceptions. Stafford was one of the QBs in the NFL at throwing the deep ball, especially when Calvin Johnson was in Detroit.

The Lions simply never had a talented enough roster for Stafford to get them over the hump. They had a horrid defense throughout his time there, and never had a stable run game. Stafford is now with a proven coaching staff and offensive guru in Sean McVay, with a Super Bowl ready roster. Stafford will not have to force the issue, and he is now set up to have the best season of his career at 33 years old.

The talent on the Rams roster

The Rams are a drastically better organization than the Lions, and their roster is a perfect fit for Stafford to step in and dominate. Outside of Calvin Johnson, the Lions did not surround Stafford with much talent, while also having one of the worst offensive lines in the NFL.

Cooper Kupp is one of the best slot receivers in the NFL, and he is poised for a huge season in 2021. He played in 15 games last year and caught 92 balls for 974 yards and three touchdowns. That was a down year for Kupp compared to his stellar 2019 season, where he caught 94 balls for 1,161 yards and 10 touchdowns.

Robert Woods has been a model of consistency since arriving in Los Angeles. Over the past three seasons, Woods has 266 catches, 3,289 receiving yards and 14 receiving touchdowns. Last year was his first season under 1,000 receiving yards since 2017, but he should eclipse 1,000 yards easily with Stafford under center.

Van Jefferson was one of the Rams second round picks in 2020, but he was not used very often last season. All signs are pointing towards a breakout season for Jefferson, according to the reports from the Rams camp. McVay is extremely high on him and now that Josh Reynolds has left the team, Jefferson can step into that role immediately.

Cam Akers was the other second round pick in 2020 for the Rams and he is in line to be the every down back this season. He took over as the lead back for the last four games and their two postseason games and looked like a veteran. In the last six games, he totaled 561 rushing yards and three rushing touchdowns. He is running behind one of the best offensive lines in football, which will help Stafford immensely as well.

A lot of offensive players had a down season for the Rams last year because of how poor Jared Goff played. His inability to throw the ball down the field made it much easier for opposing defenses to defend the Rams. Stafford is one of the most gifted quarterbacks in the NFL in terms of arm talent, which bodes well for all of the Rams skill positions to have a bounce back year.

Jared Goff’s production with the Rams

Goff was the first overall pick in 2016, but he did not live up to the hype. Stafford proved that he should have been taken first overall with his talent and production, while Goff was wildly underwhelming throughout his time with the Rams. Goff’s only good seasons with the Rams were 2017 and 2018.

In 2017, Goff led the Rams to an 11-4 record for the 15 games that he played. He completed 62.1% of his passes and threw for 3,804 yards, 28 touchdowns and seven interceptions. His play was up and down, but he kept the mistakes to a minimum and showed that he may have been worth the first overall pick.

Regardless of Goff being inconsistent, he was still able to have great production and lead his team to a Super Bowl in 2018. During that season, he completed 64.9% of his passes and threw for 4,688 yards, 32 touchdowns and 12 interceptions and led his team to a 13-3 record. He was atrocious in the Super Bowl in their 13-3 loss, and Bill Belichick laid out the blueprint on how to disrupt Goff by constantly getting pressure on him.

McVay set Goff up for success and surrounded him with extremely talented playmakers for those two seasons. He had Todd Gurley, Brandin Cooks and Robert Woods all making their presence felt, while McVay was a mastermind at drawing plays up that Goff could handle.

Goff showed flashes of being good throughout his time with the Rams, but overall his play was disappointing. If they had better quarterback play in 2018, they could have won the Super Bowl without question.

The Rams were one of the best offenses in the NFL during Goff’s time there, even though Goff was below average. Stafford is a much better player than Goff in every aspect, and with how genius McVay is at running an offense, the sky is the limit for Stafford in Los Angeles.

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