Key Points
Bullet point summary by AI
- Each NFC West team faces a critical question after the NFL Draft that could define their 2026 season.
- The division champion Seahawks must address key gaps or risk falling short of repeating as Super Bowl champions.
- The Cardinals team's strategy could jeopardize a rookie's development while the Rams leans on a veteran to carry the offense.
The NFC West Division produced the 2025-26 NFL champion and it could very well produce the winner of Super Bowl LXI this season too.
Whether that's a repeat by the Seattle Seahawks or a challenge form their rivals (minus Arizona, of course) we'll have to wait and see. But each member of the division made moves to improve this offseason.
A total of 28 rookies were added via April's draft but those newcomers won't patch every hole that needs addressing. Let's evaluate the major issue each franchise has to address to find success this season.
Seattle Seahawks: Was enough done to replace Kenneth Walker?
After lifting the Lombardi Trophy for the first time since 2014, Seattle made the head-scratching decision to let its Super Bowl MVP running back, Kenneth Walker, sign elsewhere in free agency. The 25-year-old landed with the Kansas City Chiefs and the Seahawks decided to promote Zach Charbonnet to RB1 while adding former Green Bay Packers rusher Emanuel Wilson and drafting Notre Dame rusher Jadarian Price with the 32nd overall pick.
Will that three-headed monster be enough to make up for Walker's absence? On paper, you'd think so but it's all going to come down to how the offensive scheme is executed. Charbonnet's 12 touchdowns last season mostly came on the back of Walker's work outside the redzone. If none of the three can truly establish themselves as the workhorse yard-wise, then the team may be spinning wheels and relying on QB Sam Darnold to get them to the endzone via the air. Eventually defenses are going to lock in on that approach and make Seattle's title defense difficult.
Los Angeles Rams: Was the addition of Trent McDuffie enough to shore up the secondary?
Los Angeles made a major move to acquire cornerback Trent McDuffie from the Kansas City Chiefs this offseason. The Rams defense gave up on average 216.7 yards per game last season. That was middle of the pack but considering they were Super Bowl contenders, an improvement on that front could put them over the top in 2026.
McDuffie's arrival will certainly help plug coverage holes that were exposed last year but can teammates like Kam Curl and Quentin Lake step up to match his level of play? One man does not a defense make and if McDuffie isn't backed up by adequate support downfield, he could be left on an island while opposing receivers carve up the rest of the secondary. If he is, the Rams will clamp down on offenses and terrorize the NFC.
San Francisco 49ers: Is the roster deep enough to deal with mounting injuries?
Last year the 49ers saw most of the starting offense and a good chunk of the defense go down with injury for a significant period of time. Whether it was related to a nearby power station, you can decide, but the most prominent of those absences was QB Brock Purdy who missed eight games with turf toe. Backup Mac Jones filled the void admirably but with weapons like Ricky Pearsall missing some time as well as Brandon Aiyuk absent the whole year, things could've been a lot worse.
Aiyuk, in all likelihood, will not be with the team come Week 1 and Juaun Jennings is still a free agent. San Francisco drafted rookie De'Zhaun Stribbling to backup Pearsall with new arrivals Mike Evans and Christian Kirk, but only time will tell if they'll all stay healthy and the depth chart can hold the ship together. If an injury prone guy like Evans misses time, Stribbling will have large shoes to fill and if he can't, the wheels may actually fall off of San Francisco's challenge for the division crown.
Arizona Cardinals: Will embracing the tank endanger Jeremiyah Love's development?
The Cardinals are not going to contend for anything except the No. 1 overall pick in the 2027 NFL Draft. With the No. 3 pick this year, they took Heisman Trophy finalist Jeremiyah Love to essentially be the star of the offense (Marvin Harrison Jr. still has a lot to prove). But if the team knows it's not going anywhere fast (especially with QB Jacoby Brissett reading the tea leaves about his eventual replacement by a 2027 rookie), will Love even get the chance to develop into an effective franchise star?
Arizona's run blocking finished 14th last season, per Pro Football Focus, but the areas along the offensive line where the team opened up holes the least is where Love thrived the most in college. That's going to be a serious problem if Love is having to pound his way through the neutral zone over and over again. Injuries will happen and Arizona cannot afford to lose him to a ligament tear or create a chronic soft tissue ailment. That'll set the rebuild back by years and just prove taking him in a tank year was a waste of a top three selection.
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