NFC South
Atlanta Falcons: An entirely new secondary
Last season, the Falcons’ cornerbacks and safeties allowed 18 passing touchdowns and intercepted nine passes. Of the corners who played at least 20% of Atlanta’s defensive snaps, Blidi Wreh-Wilson, Kendall Sheffield, Isaiah Oliver, and Jamar Taylor combined for no interceptions and seven touchdowns allowed. Desmond Trufant led all Falcons defenders with four picks, but he also allowed five touchdowns, 23 catches on 34 targets for 390 yards, and an team-high opponent passer rating allowed of 106.3. Things did turn around in the second half of the season when head coach Dan Quinn put Raheem Morris in charge of the secondary, and Morris is now the team’s defensive coordinator, but if the Falcons want to anywhere near the postseason again, several upgrades in the secondary would be a must.
Carolina Panthers: Cam Newton’s successor
At the 2020 scouting combine, new Panthers head coach Matt Rhule said all the right things about Cam Newton, who missed all but two games last year to injury, and saw a dip in effectiveness late in 2018 related to other injuries.
“From my perspective, I am unbelievably excited to get a chance to work with Cam,” Rhule said. “You come in from the outside, you kind of know as just a fan, but just on a personal note getting to know him, he is a diligent guy. He’s working so hard, both in Atlanta and in Carolina, to get himself healthy.”
That’s all well and good if Newton can come back healthy, but although he’s just turned 30, Newton has taken more of his share of hits over the years, and they appear to be adding up. The Panthers have an interesting decision to make with Newton in that he’s in the last year of his current contract, he’d account for $21.1 million of the team’s 2020 cap, and there’s a $19.1 million cap savings if he’s released.
Regardless of Newton’s immediate future, the Panthers need to get their long-term quarterback situation sorted out. Kyle Allen showed a bit of potential as Newton’s understudy last season, and Will Grier looked more overwhelmed than not.
New Orleans Saints: Another great receiver for Drew Brees
Now that Drew Brees has acknowledged his return to the Saints in 2020, it would behoove New Orleans’ front office to reinforce the receiver position for their top guy, especially if they would like to present him with a second Super Bowl ring on his way out the door. Last season, Brees completed 74.3% of his passes for 2,979 yards, 27 touchdowns, and four interceptions in 11 games. Teddy Bridgewater was nearly as effective in five games as Brees’ backup when Brees was recovering from a thumb injury. That both quarterbacks were this good with one star and a bunch of question marks at the receiver position should have Sean Payton thinking what’s possible with more.
Michael Thomas firmly established himself as one of the league’s great receivers with 149 catches on 185 targets for 1,725 yards and nine touchdowns, leading the NFL in receptions for the second straight season. After that, it was mostly running backs Alvin Kamara and Latavius Murray, and tight end Jared Cook, picking up the slack. The Saints should seriously endeavor to give Brees another receiver who might not be on Thomas’ level, but can do more than limited roles and gimmick stuff. Guys like Taysom Hill, Tedd Ginn, and Tre’Quan Smith are either on the way up, on the way out, or on their way to different positions.
Tampa Bay Buccaneers: A quarterback who throws the ball to his own team
Ouch, we know. Last season, Jameis Winston became the first quarterback in NFL history to throw 30 touchdowns and 30 interceptions in the same season. He also led the league in passing yards with 5,109, for what that’s worth. When you’re an offensive-minded head coach like Bruce Arians, and your quarterback is equal parts volume and back-breaking inconsistency, it’s a problem. Arians has gone on the record more than once claiming that a lot of Winston’s interceptions weren’t his fault, and while that may be true… well, a lot of his pick-sixes were.
When asked at the scouting combine whether Winston’s offseason LASIK surgery might improve his prospects to re-sign with the team, Arians was his usual unrestrained self.
“I don’t think so. It’s more of a personal thing. His deep ball increased dramatically. So I don’t think he has problem seeing the guys. He has problems seeing the scoreboard sometimes.”.
Last season, under defensive coordinator Todd Bowles, the Buccaneers improved from dead last to fifth overall in Football Outsiders’ opponent-adjusted defensive efficiency metrics. There’s certainly enough talent on the offensive side of the ball to pair with that defense for a team in line for its first playoff berth since 2007. Aligning Winston with the Buccaneers any longer seems to be the kind of thing that could delay that process frustratingly further.