We’re merely 25 days from the start of the 2014 NFL season. Since the start of camp we have reviewed the top storylines from training camps across the NFL, providing who is impressing, who is disappointing, and any other significant notes from on and off the field.
Given the news coming out of camps, XN Sports will be naming one difference-maker for each team. Saturday marks the AFC West and NFC West, and the rest of the links are listed below.
Aug 6.: AFC East
Aug. 6: NFC East
Aug. 7: AFC North
Aug. 7: NFC North
Aug. 8: NFC South
Aug. 9: AFC West
Arizona Cardinals, Larry Foote
Arizona won 10 games and still missed the playoffs in 2013. While the offense remains intact, the defense lost a pair of key linebackers in Daryl Washington and Karlos Dansby.
Veteran Larry Foote and unproven Kevin Minter will be tasked with making Cardinals fans forget about Washington and Dansby. Foote will have to regain the form he once had when he was anchoring the Steelers’ D, and Minter needs to grow up quickly. The play of those two will essentially determine how well the Cards’ D can perform.
San Francisco 49ers, Colin Kaepernick
The Niners’ D underwent a major makeover in the offseason. Donte Whitner and Carlos Rogers are gone from the secondary. NaVorro Bowman is recovering from a major knee injury. Aldon Smith will likely be suspended. And Glenn Dorsey is likely out the season.
In other words, the 49ers need a spark.
In 2014 expect Colin Kaepernick and the offense to take center stage in San Francisco. The defense cannot come close to where it’s been the last few years, so it’ll fall on the quarterback to jump-start the offense to help the team win games.
Expect Kaep — who got more weapons in the receiving corps — to have an even greater role.
Seattle Seahawks, Percy Harvin
Seattle’s offense is stout. The defense: stellar. So who controls how well the defending Super Bowl champions will be in 2014? How about special teams?
The team has a major difference-maker returning in 2014, one who has barely scratched the surface in terms of his contributions. Percy Harvin will not only be an offensive weapon in the run and passing games, but add a new element to the return game Seattle hasn’t had before.
In just a handful of touches in 2013, Harvin’s presence was felt. Now he’ll be ready for a full 16-game slate.
St. Louis Rams, Sam Bradford
Following the trend set by Tennessee or New York or Buffalo, the Rams will only go as far as quarterback Sam Bradford can take them.
Bradford is entering a contract year, a make-or-break type of season in which the Rams organization needs to determine whether he’s the right guy to captain the ship now and in the future.
Bradford had a terrific rookie season, but has battled injuries the past few years. He’ll need his receiving corps, which includes last year’s first-round pick Tavon Austin and veteran Kenny Britt, to take a step forward, too.
