Offseason checklist for NFC West teams: Seahawks, Rams, 49ers, & Cardinals📋

0:01 The most competitive division in the NFL made a few changes this off seasonason.

0:05 New head coach Mike Laflur hoping to take

0:07 the Cardinals to the next level in year one.

0:09 But let's be real, everybody is chasing down the reigning champs.

0:13 Seattle already shaping up nicely for another title run,

0:16 [music] but still have some work to do as they

0:18 tidy up before the start of the new season.

0:20 So, let's get to some offseason checklist.

0:22 Check some things off of that list.

0:24 I love a good list here.

0:25 And to do so, we've got the host of with the First Pick podcast,

0:28 Ryan Wilson, and the co-host of Pushing the Pow podcast, JP Aosta.

0:31 Fellas, it's good to be with you.

0:32 We're going to be breaking down the NFC West,

0:34 and we are starting with the reigning champion, Seattle Seahawks.

0:38 Of course, they have made some moves.

0:40 They sent away their Super Bowl MVP.

0:42 Um, but still hoping to win another Lombardi.

0:44 So, give us the checklist, Ryan, when it comes to the reigning champs.

0:47 Hey, Haley.

0:48 Hey, JP.

0:48 Good to see you guys.

0:49 You love lists, Haley.

0:50 Well, I got some lists for you.

0:52 You talk about the Seattle Seahawks.

0:53 Let's start with OC.

0:54 He was promoted from pass game coordinator Brian Flory taking

0:57 over for Clint Kubak who is now the Raiders coach.

1:00 Can they keep the pace of what that offense was like last year?

1:03 I think the short answer is uh yeah, they should be able to do that.

1:06 They drafted a Jerryian Price of course to replace Kenneth Walker.

1:09 They're getting Zack Charbanet off that injury.

1:11 But most importantly, they have shout out to guys with beards and ball heads.

1:15 have Sam [laughter] they have Sam Darnold u coming back and we know how well

1:20 he played when he is able to play in structure and a lot of that structure

1:24 has to do with the ability to run the ball again high Jarian Price it

1:27 also has to do with the schema they run which is a lot of wide zone

1:31 hello Jaren Price uh and then easy passes

1:34 uh hello what you have there and Jackson

1:36 Smith and Jigba so there's a lot of reasons for optimism with that the other

1:39 thing I'm going to keep an eye on is Bud Clark and his role in this secondary

1:43 uh Bud Clark played at TCU Uh he finished his TCU career with 15 interceptions,

1:48 including 10 the last three seasons.

1:50 He's an absolute ball hawk.

1:52 Uh and he is going to fit right into what Mike McDonald wants to do.

1:55 We know what they had last year with Nicki Manor.

1:57 We know what they had with Deon Witherspoon

1:58 uh and all the other players in that secondary.

2:00 They did resign Tea Cata,

2:02 so it'll be interesting to see how quickly Bud Clark gets on the field,

2:05 but he does provide uh that ability and that playmaking

2:08 ability that we know that Mike McDonald likes so much.

2:11 And finally, a pick 148 there.

2:12 I'll mention Bud Stevens, the interior offensive lineman out [music] of Iowa.

2:15 I actually like him a little bit more than Jenny's Dunker

2:18 who had the flowing locks uh in the red mullet there.

2:20 And I think he's going to have a chance to win

2:22 the job uh at right tackle over Anthony Bradford who I think

2:26 it's fair to say was the weak link a year ago

2:29 in what was a pretty good offensive line when they were healthy.

2:31 So Bo Stevens is going to come in.

2:33 He's going to battle right away and I I would not be surprised if he

2:36 ends up earning that job and he will pair with last year's first round pick

2:40 out of North Dakota State who hit the ground running moving from left guard

2:43 to left excuse me left tackle in college to left guard once he got to Seattle.

2:47 I'm not going to lie, Ryan, I spent that entire awesome analysis that you just

2:51 gave in envisioning your beard just getting longer and longer.

2:54 [laughter] So, uh that is the visual I had in my head

2:57 while you were talking about the reigning Super Bowl chance.

2:59 Let's talk about the Rams JP already kind of looking towards the future.

3:02 They took Ty Simpson with their first round pick,

3:05 but uh the big hangup here is they want to win right now.

3:07 So, how do they do that?

3:08 What's on the checklist to make sure they

3:10 are the winners of the Super Bowl this year?

3:12 So, the first thing they have to do

3:14 in order to win right now is put Devonte Adams

3:16 and Matthew Stafford in the immortal chamber again

3:19 and don't let them out for the entire off season.

3:21 The depth behind both those guys is really thin.

3:23 They're not ready to win the Super Bowl right now.

3:25 I just I know they just selected Tai Simpson 13th overall,

3:28 but I don't think Tai Simpson is going to help this team win playoff games,

3:32 meaningful football games if Matthew Stafford is hurt.

3:35 You have to keep those guys healthy.

3:37 I think Devonte Adams is such an important part of this offense

3:40 because of his ability to create separation on the boundary.

3:43 He is a true ex receiver that they went to a lot in the red

3:46 zone because of his ability to create

3:48 separation and create space for himself outside

3:50 of guys like Puka Nakua who do more of the the same stuff that Cooper

3:54 Cup did and the peak of the Rams offense in a few years back.

3:58 So I think a guy like Dvonte Adams means a lot.

4:00 Stafford is obviously the reigning MVP.

4:02 You have to keep both those guys healthy in order to win a Super Bowl right now.

4:06 The next thing I would say is to find

4:08 ways to inject speed into both sides of the ball.

4:11 I think this goes along with Devonte Adams

4:13 point about the depth behind both guys being thin.

4:16 But I think the biggest thing about that receiver core

4:18 is they don't have a lot of speed they can trust,

4:21 especially now that 22 Atwell is a Miami Dolphin.

4:23 They don't really have a lot of guys that can

4:25 open up the field vertically for that offense to allow

4:28 Pukanua to open up the middle of the field

4:30 to allow Devonte Adams to be more of the separator.

4:33 Go get him a bucket on third down.

4:35 It they just need a little bit better layering and more useful layering.

4:38 Even though I do think this Rams offense is still very good,

4:41 I just think that they need a little more speed to take them over the top.

4:44 And then defensively, they're spying other defense.

4:47 So, middle linebacker, safety,

4:48 I think they need more speed in those areas, especially at linebacker.

4:52 When you saw the Rams struggle on defense in 2025,

4:56 it was because their middle of the field defense was really, really poor.

4:59 You think about the Lions game.

5:00 You think about the ways that the Seahawks beat

5:02 both them and I'd say extend the core players.

5:04 Kobe Turner, Pukakua, Steve Avula, Byron Young, Kevin Dodson,

5:08 keep those guys around for a long time.

5:10 I remember when we talked about the immortal

5:12 chamber like it feels like a hundred years ago.

5:14 You too can have an immortal chamber for uh $3,000 a month.

5:18 Payments uh as low as $3,000 a month is what it says on the website.

5:21 So uh depending on where your money is, you too can live forever.

5:24 Let's pivot to the 49ers.

5:25 Ryan Wilson.

5:26 Uh maybe they could use some Immortal Chambers

5:28 with all the injuries that they had last year.

5:30 What's on that offense or that offseason checklist in San Francisco?

5:34 Yeah, you didn't ask him.

5:35 I know he is in uh growing my beard.

5:37 So that's I'm tied up in that elsewhere.

5:39 We get it.

5:40 That's right.

5:40 And we'll see how that pays off.

5:42 High hopes.

5:42 Fingers crossed.

5:43 But in terms of talking about the 49ers who were one

5:45 of the best teams last year despite those injuries that you're talking about,

5:48 Haley, I think it starts with getting the day two skill position players right.

5:52 And that sounds like a mouthful and maybe even a weird thing to say,

5:55 but in recent history, the 49ers have done some strange things,

5:59 at least when you compare it to what others were thinking on day two.

6:02 This year, they took Deshawn Stribbling, the wide receiver on Old Miss pick 33.

6:05 I just checked, he was 66 on my big board.

6:08 So, a little rich there.

6:09 And then Kaylin Black, who didn't even get a combine invite,

6:11 the running back, went 90th overall.

6:13 Well, we talked to Ryan about this who worked with uh

6:16 Kyle Shanahan in San Francisco and he was there when

6:18 they drafted Tyrion Davis Price in round three and Trey Surman

6:21 in round three and he says look Kyle likes big backs.

6:24 Kaylin Black runs big and angry and I think

6:27 he's going to have a chance to have success there.

6:29 Stribbling will be interesting in that he's not refined as a route runner

6:33 and they do have histories of struggling with that pick there on day two.

6:36 Danny Gray for example at SMU didn't quite work out.

6:38 Jaylen Herd didn't work out in part because of injuries.

6:41 But if they get that right,

6:42 this offense has a chance to [music] have a different look.

6:45 Also in ter terms of health, you see right there,

6:48 get healthy and stay healthy on defense.

6:50 Last year, Fred Warner was lost for the year with a broken ankle.

6:53 Uh almost thought about coming back for the playoffs

6:55 and they continue to to keep going there.

6:57 And then of course, Nick Bosa and Mikel Williams,

6:59 the edge rushers, both former first round picks.

7:01 Mike was a rookie last year, tore their ACLs,

7:04 and that was a huge impact on a really good football team,

7:07 but still found ways to win.

7:09 Shout out M.

7:10 Jones [music] and then finally address address the issues at left guard.

7:13 We saw there uh in that draft

7:15 the list of drafted players that San Francisco had.

7:17 They took Carver Willis uh at pick 148.

7:20 I believe he played left tackle at Washington.

7:23 He's insanely athletic in space.

7:25 He makes a ton of sense for what they like to do running the ball.

7:27 He'll have a chance to win that job at left

7:29 guard uh over the next coming weeks and months.

7:31 And that could be critical to of course keeping Brock party upright,

7:34 but to keep get that running game back on track.

7:36 All right, let's wrap up with the biggest wild card in the West.

7:39 You've got new head coach Mike Lafleur

7:41 leading the way in terms of the Cardinals.

7:43 He's got some decisions to make JP when it comes to the quarterback spot.

7:46 So obviously that's on the checklist,

7:47 but they also have the diamond of the season in Jeremiah Love.

7:50 Feels like a lot of upside here.

7:52 So what are you seeing for them to get there?

7:54 So the first thing on their offseason checklist is number one, March for Arch.

7:58 And by Arch, I'm talking about Arch Manning.

8:01 It's not going to look very good for the Cardinals this season.

8:03 I think the biggest thing for them is

8:06 understanding that their foundation is good enough to bring

8:09 in a young quarterback like Arch Manning if

8:11 they do get number one overall pick next year.

8:13 I think they're well on their way.

8:14 It depends on what this offense looks like under Mike Laflur

8:17 and what schematically he's going to bring over from Los Angeles.

8:20 Jeremiah Love is obviously fantastic.

8:22 I think they have a very nice core of skill position players.

8:26 And I think now that you have a guy in Chase Pzantis at guard,

8:29 maybe you can add another tackle.

8:31 you can find another guy at right tackle to really help build

8:34 that offensive line out and be ready for a quarterback in 2027.

8:37 I think part of this also might be you might have

8:39 to apologize to Jacobe Brassette and let him play out the season.

8:43 I don't know if Carson Beck is going to get starting reps,

8:46 but the march for Arch is priority number

8:48 one for the Cardinals uh this off season.

8:50 The second thing I would say is any more impact players at linebacker.

8:54 I think losing Kazir White last season was a big loss because

8:57 they needed a guy who could play off of blocks with some physicality.

9:00 I don't think they have that.

9:01 I think they need some more explosive guys at the middle of that defense,

9:04 especially if they're going to continue to play

9:06 sort of their odder structures under Nick Rollis.

9:08 I think they need some more impact guys at linebacker.

9:11 Whether that be guy going out in free agency, bringing Kaiser White back,

9:14 I just think they need some more juice from that spot.

9:17 And then finally, get the most out of Marvin Harrison Jr.

9:21 I think he is one of the bigger question

9:22 marks on this team because he's been up and down.

9:25 I think he struggled with a little bit of physicality, struggled with drops,

9:28 but he found something in that role and being sort of a power slot,

9:31 getting him free releases.

9:33 I think you can maximize him using

9:34 crossing routes with Michael Wilson, Trey McBride.

9:37 And I just think if you can get him going,

9:39 if you can get him confident in his ability to play football,

9:42 you once again have built a core that's ready for your quarterback

9:45 in 2027 if it is going to be Arch Manning.

9:47 Okay, a lot to think about there.

9:49 March for Arch.

9:49 I like that.

9:50 I wonder who else is going to steal that slogan.

9:52 Uh fellas, appreciate the time.

9:53 Thanks so much for breaking down uh the checklist

9:56 when it comes to the offseason in the NFC West.

9:59 This is interesting.

10:00 The Rams actually favored to win the West just slightly there over

10:04 the Seahawks who of course won the Super Bowl a year ago.

10:07 Either way, we know that this division,

10:09 except for when it comes to Arizona, could be a tossup.

10:12 Anyone [music] could win.