Sean McVay says at the start of every offseason that each year stands on its own and there’s no guarantee your team will be good based on how it performed the year before.
For the Los Angeles Rams and the rest of the NFC West, that means building a new identity as teams finish OTAs and look to the beginning of training camp at the end of July.
For the past two years, the path to the top spot in the division has gone through the San Francisco 49ers. And the expectation is that it will not be any different in 2024, with the 49ers a betting favorite to advance to the Super Bowl again.
However, each NFC West team can point to a path to the postseason if everything goes as planned. And all four teams have a key player who can be instrumental in getting them there. Here, we look at that key player on the hot seat for each team.
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Arizona Cardinals, QB Kyler Murray
Cardinals GM Monti Ossenfort and head coach Jonathan Gannon could have moved off of Murray in their first season in Arizona. Instead, the leadership duo embraced the team’s uniquely talented quarterback, surrounding him with more playmakers with the hopes of getting the Cardinals back to the postseason.
And Murray has taken the team’s approach to heart, recommitting himself to his craft and taking on more of a leadership role as the highest-paid player on the team. At age 26 and fully healthy after ACL rehab, the No. 1 overall pick in the 2019 draft should be entering the prime of his career.
Last season, he completed 65.7% of his passes for 1,799 yards, with 10 touchdowns and five interceptions. The Cardinals finished 3-5 with Murray under center after winning just one game in the first half of the season. Arizona averaged 22.4 points per game with Murray at quarterback, and 16.8 points per contest in the first nine games when he was sidelined.
Along with drafting receiver Marvin Harrison Jr., running back Trey Benson and tight end Tip Reiman, the Cardinals signed offensive tackle Jonah Williams, center Evan Brown and receiver Zay Jones in free agency.
And with second-year offensive coordinator Drew Petzing, the Cardinals have created an identity of running the football and using play-action with one of the most dynamic playmakers at quarterback.
Now, it’s up to Murray to play to his potential in leading the Cardinals back to the postseason for the first time since 2021.
[READ MORE: Cardinals expect explosive offense with healthy Kyler Murray, rookie weapons]
Los Angeles Rams, DT Kobie Turner
Yes, Aaron Donald has retired, and Turner can’t be expected to be a one-for-one replacement for one of the best defensive linemen to ever play the game.
Still, Turner led the team with nine sacks last season and is the team’s best interior pass-rusher returning. He’s expected to move to a 3-tech defensive tackle, and the Rams will undoubtedly try to game plan to get Turner one-on-one matchups, similar to how they tried to free up Donald during his decade of dominant play.
Turner already got a little of the Donald treatment as a rookie: According to Next Gen Stats, Turner was double-teamed on a league-high 54.1% of his pass rushes last season. He finished second in pressures against double teams last season (22) and tied Jalen Carter for the most pressures by rookie defensive tackles in 2023 with 47.
The Rams selected Florida State products Jared Verse and Braden Fiske with the idea of juicing the team’s pass rush, adding them to second-year pros Byron Young and Turner.
In the end, however, Turner will be the one who’s expected to lead this team up front defensively.
[READ MORE: The Rams can’t replace Aaron Donald. But Chris Shula, grandson of Don, has a plan]
San Francisco 49ers, Deebo Samuel
There’s been plenty of talk nationally about the possibility of San Francisco trading Samuel or Brandon Aiyuk because of the cost of keeping both of them around while eventually having to pay Brock Purdy when he’s eligible for a new deal.
Samuel has two years left on a three-year, $71.55 million contract and, at 28 years old, he’s working toward another splashy deal. He understands that 2024 is an important season for him to prove his value once again. He changed his jersey back to his college No. 1 and appeared slimmed down during offseason work at the team’s facility.
And he’s been working hard on his own in Florida to get back to the player he was in 2021, when he earned the term “wide-back.” That season, Samuel finished with 1,770 scrimmage yards and 14 total touchdowns, earning first-team All-Pro honors.
No, Samuel is not the most polished route-runner, but he’s a tone-setter for San Francisco’s offense. And there’s little doubt that the 49ers operate at a higher level when the South Carolina product is playing at peak form. According to FOX Sports Research, San Francisco is 54-24 (including the postseason) in games Samuel has played and 8-9 without him. The 49ers lost both games he missed during the regular season in 2023.
Seattle Seahawks, Jaxon Smith-Njigba
Expectations were high for the first receiver taken in last year’s draft. And while Smith-Njigba had a slow start, he came on in the back half of his rookie season — something he should build on in his second year.
From Week 6 on, Smith-Njigba had 51 receptions for 566 receiving yards and four touchdowns on 75 targets. Yes, Puka Nacua‘s rookie season was far superior, but Smith-Njigba was a bigger part of Seattle’s offense during the second half of the season.
He also should benefit from new offensive coordinator Ryan Grubb taking over as Seattle’s offensive coordinator. Last year, as the offensive coordinator for the University of Washington, Grubb engineered one of the top passing offenses in the country.
Grubb should find innovative ways to use Smith-Njigba’s unique skill set on a weekly basis. The Seahawks were 14th in passing yards (230 per game) and 16th in scoring (21.4 per game) last season. Geno Smith finding Smith-Njigba more often should improve those numbers in 2024.
Eric D. Williams has reported on the NFL for more than a decade, covering the Los Angeles Rams for Sports Illustrated, the Los Angeles Chargers for ESPN and the Seattle Seahawks for the Tacoma News Tribune. Follow him on Twitter at @eric_d_williams.
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