Predicting every NFL team’s MVP that will lead the way in the 2020 season.
As we gear up for perhaps one of the strangest NFL seasons in league history, there are storylines aplenty on every single team. Aside from the usual questions like which teams will go from worst to first, which playoff teams will fall back into mediocrity, we have to ask which players will stand out in these bizarre circumstances.
The NFL has its own system for rewarding excellence through the Pro Bowl and individual awards but every team has players that stand out among their teammates. Even teams that end up picking at the top of the draft end up having a few players that have excellent seasons but are rarely rewarded for their achievements.
So in the spirit of those players who stand out on their individual teams, we have predicted which player on each of the 32 teams will end the season as their team’s MVP. We start with the AFC East.
Buffalo Bills: WR Stefon Diggs
The Buffalo Bills were one of the most fun stories of the 2019 season as they battled to a 10-6 record through an old school combo of elite defense and a punishing run game. Second-year quarterback Josh Allen made some strides as a passer and playmaker and showed what he could do with a full arsenal of weapons.
So the Bills went out and got one in former Minnesota Viking Stefon Diggs by trading four picks including a first, fifth and sixth-rounder in the 2020 draft. Diggs has grown into an elite receiver with two straight 1,000 yard seasons and 165 catches combined over that same span. He is already the best receiver on the Bills and gives Allen another target that can stretch the field alongside John Brown.
Diggs is in line for another big-time season on an AFC contender and will be a big factor in the Buffalo offense, and the team as a whole making a leap in 2020. The division is suddenly up for grabs with the departure of Tom Brady and Diggs and the Bills will stake their claim.
Miami Dolphins: WR DeVante Parker
On a Dolphins team that was devoid of talent last year, DeVante Parker stood head and shoulders above the rest of his teammates. After years in Jarvis Landry’s shadow, Parker finally had his breakout season with 72 catches for 1,202 yards and nine touchdowns.
Parker accounted for nearly a third of the Dolphins’ total receiving yards and nearly half of their receiving touchdowns.
Even more remarkable was the fact that Parker did this on an offense with no other legitimate threats, so he often had the full attention of opposing defenses. He also put up these stats with two quarterbacks who would be described as average at best.
Now in 2020, he gets the opportunity of being a security blanket for rookie Tua Tagovailoa, the player the Dolphins were supposedly tanking for all along. Parker may not see the same volume of targets (128 in 2019), but he has established himself as a top receiver in the AFC and another strong season could see him creep into that elite category.
New England Patriots: QB Cam Newton
Just when it seemed like no team would take a chance on Cam Newton, the New England Patriots stepped in and signed the former NFL MVP to a one-year deal. Cam was brought in for a quarterback competition that he was always destined to win unless his health continued to be an issue and was recently named the starter ahead of Week 1.
Newton has plenty to prove after he was somewhat unceremoniously kicked to the curb by the Carolina Panthers after nine years of service, but the decision is understandable given his recent health issues.
He appears to be fully healthy now and gives the Patriots either a bridge from the Tom Brady era to whoever comes next, or could prove himself worthy of a long term deal in New England.
His success will be contingent on his health but he is the dual-threat quarterback that Josh McDaniels and Bill Belichick have supposedly craved for so long. The combination of Newton’s big arm and his ability to make plays with his legs should be able to compensate for a lack of top tier receiving threats.
Belichick and McDaniels must be salivating at all the new things they can draw up for a quarterback with Newton’s skill set and he immediately becomes the most important player on their offense.
New York Jets: QB Sam Darnold
The New York Jets are one of the least talented teams in the NFL and they will once again ask young quarterback Sam Darnold to do more with less.
Darnold had a difficult 2019 after missing time with mononucleosis and struggling with interceptions but bounced back with a 6-2 finish to the season though many of those wins were against some of the worst teams in the NFL.
If the Jets are to contend for the AFC East or for one of the wildcard spots they will need Sam Darnold to take that leap and justify his high draft position. He has some new weapons to work with in Breshad Perriman and Denzel Mims and the Jets invested heavily in the offensive line after giving up an abysmal 52 sacks last season.
The Jets believe in Darnold as the quarterback of the present and future and if he can continue improving then they have good reason to believe that he can help make up for a defense that is suddenly devoid of stars.
Baltimore Ravens: QB Lamar Jackson
The reigning MVP of the league has to be the projected MVP of his own team right? Lamar Jackson put up video game numbers in 2019 with 1,206 rushing yards and seven rushing touchdowns to go along with 3,217 yards through the air and 36 passing touchdowns.
He was just the second quarterback in the history of the NFL to rush for over 1,000 yards and the first since Michael Vick accomplished the feat in 2006.
Jackson electrified the league in his sophomore season and quickly established as one of the best young quarterbacks in the league. He gives the Ravens an identity as a hard-nosed that can run the football at will but also tear you apart through the air.
The only thing missing on his resume at the moment is a playoff victory, but he should be able to deliver on that and much more if his career continues on the same trajectory. He will be aided by the new weapons the Ravens have added this summer and will have even more chances to prove he is not just an elite runner, but an elite passer as well.
Cincinnati Bengals: RB Joe Mixon
No. 1 overall pick Joe Burrow is the headliner on this team but the other Joe in the backfield will be the MVP of the offense and the team. The fourth-year running back out of Oklahoma is coming off his second straight 1,100 yard season and has show that he can be a receiving threat as well.
Cincinnati’s quarterback situation last season makes Mixon’s numbers all the more impressive as he faced more defensive attention than he ever had in the past and his stats reflect that. More than half of his rushing yards came after contact and he broke 24 tackles over 16 games.
The Bengals have high hopes for Joe Burrow as a rookie but they will almost certainly lean on the run game to help him get his feet wet. Mixon is in for the biggest season of his career and if this offense is going to be as explosive as some experts think, he will be right at the heart of it.
Cleveland Browns: RB Nick Chubb
The other stars on the Cleveland Browns offense will capture the headlines but this AFC North contender will only go as far as Nick Chubb carries them.
In 2019, the Browns were 1-6 when Chubb had less than 18 carries and 5-4 when he had 18 or more. When they were able to lean on him and feed the beast, the Browns had a chance to win the game.
The third-year back was voted into his first Pro Bowl in 2019 after rushing for 1,494 yards and eight touchdowns, finishing less than 50 yards away from the rushing title. Chubb is a workhorse that is also developing as a receiving threat and should thrive in Kevin Stefanski’s offensive system.
Baker Mayfield, Odell Beckham, and Jarvis Landry may get the magazine covers and plaudits but when Nick Chubb is at his best the Browns usually are too. That was the case and will almost certainly be the case in 2020 as well.
Pittsburgh Steelers: OLB T.J. Watt
The Pittsburgh Steelers may not have a monopoly on dominant outside linebackers but they seem to know how to find them better than any other team. Following in the footsteps of Joey Porter and James Harrison comes TJ Watt who has grown into much more than just JJ’s little brother.
After a strong sophomore season that earned him his first Pro Bowl nod, Watt increased his sack total from 13 to 14.5 and accounted for eight forced fumbles and two interceptions on the way to a First-Team All-Pro selection.
Watt’s play was at the forefront of the NFL’s fifth-ranked defense and he spearheaded the best pass rush in the league which racked up a league-leading 54 sacks in 2019.
The Steelers are welcoming back Ben Roethlisberger and hope to get their offense back on track after an abysmal season but their identity has always been about punishing defense. They have their defensive stars in TJ Watt, Cam Heyward, and Minkah Fitzpatrick but Watt stands out above the rest of his teammates and even the league.
Houston Texans: QB Deshaun Watson
Deshaun Watson had yet another Pro Bowl season in just his third season in the NFL as he led the Houston Texans to their second straight AFC South title. He capped off the season with a playoff victory against the Buffalo Bills and built a three-score lead in Arrowhead before falling victim to the eventual champion Kansas City Chiefs.
If the Texans are going to threepeat as division champions then Watson will have to do so with an almost entirely new cast of weapons. Leading rusher Carlos Hyde is off to Seattle and his favorite target and First-Team All-Pro DeAndre Hopkins was inexplicably traded to the Arizona Cardinals.
Watson will have to rely on the newly acquired David Johnson and Brandin Cooks who have not been paragons of health in recent years but if anyone can do it it’s him. His ability to make plays out of nothing is nearly unparalleled in the NFL and he will have to be at his best to compete in a competitive division.
Indianapolis Colts: LB Darius Leonard
The Indianapolis Colts found an absolute gem in the second round of the 2018 NFL Draft as Darius Leonard was named First-Team All-Pro in his rookie season. He followed up that incredible campaign with a Pro Bowl-caliber season in 2019, though he missed three games with injury. When healthy, Leonard is perhaps the best linebacker in the AFC South and one of the best in the NFL.
The focus of the offseason was the Colts adding veteran quarterback Philip Rivers and trading for Pro Bowl defensive tackle DeForest Buckner but the engine that makes the team go is Leonard.
He is the vocal leader in the middle of that defense and the team as a whole as one of the captains. Leonard’s ability to make plays in space makes him that special breed of linebacker that can stay on the field for every defensive situation.
The former South Carolina State Bulldog is a tackling machine but he is also a ballhawk, recording a career-high five interceptions in 2019. Leonard is the heart and soul of the Colts and he will only continue to get better as his career progresses.
Jacksonville Jaguars: QB Gardner Minshew
Gardner Minshew was one of the most fun stories of the 2019 season as the sixth-round rookie stepped into the starting role after Nick Foles went down and absolutely lit it up. He had his struggles with accuracy at times but, in 14 starts, put up 3,271 yards and 21 touchdowns with only six interceptions.
Unfortunately for Minshew, the Jaguars appear to be on a mission for the No. 1 pick in the 2021 NFL Draft as they continue to unload many of their talented players. They are content to stockpile assets and hope to finish in a position to select one of the top college QBs to continue their rebuild.
Minshew may not be the long-term answer in Jacksonville but he is an absolute gamer and will do his best to keep the Jaguars competitive. He may not have much talent around him, and part of that is by design, but he will still be one of the more exciting QBs in the NFL to watch in 2020.
Tennessee Titans: RB Derrick Henry
Derrick Henry knows the meaning of putting the team on his back and he did just that in 2019, leading the Tennessee Titans to the AFC Championship where they fell just short to the eventual champions. Henry won the rushing title with 1,540 yards and 16 touchdowns and was a legitimate MVP candidate.
He continued his incredible run in the playoffs and punished Baltimore and New England to the tune of 377 rushing yards and even threw a touchdown pass against the Ravens. His hot streak ended against the Chiefs after the Titans fell behind but he comes into the 2020 season as one of the most important players in the NFL.
Tennessee has high hopes for the 2020 season after adding weapons on both sides of the ball but it all starts and ends with the man they call King Henry. If he can be as effective in 2020 as he was last year, perhaps with a lighter workload to keep him fresh, then the Titans are a legitimate playoff and Super Bowl contender in the AFC.
Denver Broncos: LB Von Miller
Even after all these years, the best player on the Denver Broncos defense is still outside linebacker Von Miller. The future Hall of Famer had a down year by his standards in 2019 with “just” eight sacks in 15 games and no forced fumbles for the first time in his career.
Denver as a team struggled to get to the quarterback and it didn’t help that 2018 first-rounder Bradley Chubb played just four games. Chubb was coming off a 12 sack rookie season and would have eased some of the offensive attention from Miller but he was still an effective pass rusher.
The Broncos knew they needed to make things easier for Miller and did so with the addition of defensive tackle Jurrell Casey and now boast a fearsome defensive line ready to terrorize opposing quarterbacks.
Miller has the supporting cast and the drive to get back to his usual self and will continue to be the heart of a formidable Broncos defense.
Kansas City Chiefs: QB Patrick Mahomes
While the rest of us may be struggling, Patrick Mahomes is having the year of his life in 2020. He kicked it off with a Super Bowl victory, signed a gargantuan $500 million contract, and recently got engaged to his long-time girlfriend Brittany Matthews.
The next award in Mahomes’ growing cabinet is going to be the 2020 team MVP as the Chiefs, as good as they are across the board, will go far as Mahomes takes them.
The Chiefs continue to build around Mahomes and giving him more weapons to play with including rookie running back Clyde Edwards-Helaire. A top tier running back is just about the only thing Mahomes has been missing since the team released Kareem Hunt and he may have one in the versatile rookie out of LSU.
We have seen Mahomes grow as a passer year over year and he has already achieved so much in just his third season in the league. The sky is the limit for the young superstar and the question is not if but when he and the Chiefs will win another Super Bowl.
Las Vegas Raiders: QB Derek Carr
Running back Josh Jacobs was the engine that powered the Raiders offense in 2019 but Derek Carr managed to have a very good season in his own right. Carr set career highs in yards, passer rating, and perhaps most significantly for his doubters, in yards per attempt.
The Raiders have all the makings of a great offense in 2020 as they feature a stout offensive line and difference makers at all of the skill positions, including a reloaded receiver group that was decimated by the end of last year. Carr will be the main beneficiary from this added weaponry and he will as comfortable as ever in his third year in Jon Gruden’s system.
Some believe that this is a make or break year for Carr as the starting quarterback for the Raiders as the team can move on from his contract with little penalty. If that is the case then we can expect to see a fire lit under him as he fights to stay as QB1 in Silver and Black.
Los Angeles Chargers: RB Austin Ekeler
Austin Ekeler came out of absolutely nowhere to become one of the most important players on the Los Angeles Chargers. An undrafted free agent in 2017, Ekeler’s role has grown every year and in 2019 he broke out with an incredible 92 catches for 993 yards and eight receiving touchdowns. He added 557 rushing yards and three rushing touchdowns to finish ninth in the NFL in total yards from scrimmage with 1,550.
The Chargers are rolling into the season with veteran Tyrod Taylor as the starting quarterback but when they eventually hand the reins off to rookie Justin Herbert, he will have the luxury of one of the best receiving backs in the league lined up behind him.
Ekeler may not be the workhorse back that Herbert can turn and hand the ball to 20 times a game but if he needs to get into rhythm or hit a checkdown, there aren’t many better options than the fourth-year back.
LA is in a transition period as they move on from the Philip Rivers era after 15 years and enter the unfamiliar waters of a young QB. Weapons like Keenan Allen and Hunter Henry will make that a smoother transition but none more so than Austin Ekeler.
Dallas Cowboys: QB Dak Prescott
The most disrespected man in Dallas continues to light up the boxscore and develop as a passer year after year. Dak Prescott passed for an incredible 4,902 yards and 30 touchdowns as he spearheaded one of the best offenses in the NFL and the best overall in total yards.
Prescott spread the ball around to his weapons as the Cowboys featured two 1,000 yard receivers in Amari Cooper and Michael Gallup and nearly a third as slot receiver Randall Cobb finished the season with 828.
The knock against him, and the Cowboys as a whole, was that they beat up on bad teams and stumbled against playoff contenders. Some of that can be chalked up to coaching and they certainly upgraded in that category with the hiring of Super Bowl-winning head coach Mike McCarthy.
In addition to the coaching upgrade, Dallas added more firepower on both offense and defense and may have the best receiver group in the NFL after drafting CeeDee Lamb in the first round. Prescott will play the 2020 season under the franchise tag and is officially in “prove it” mode. He will have plenty of weapons to help him put up numbers but the only thing that matters now in Dallas is winning.
New York Giants: RB Saquon Barkley
The New York Giants are in full rebuild mode as they officially move from the Eli Manning era to the Daniel Jones era. Luckily for Jones and the Giants, they have one of the best running backs in the league and a generational player in Saquon Barkley.
Barkley was hampered by injury and only played 13 games but still managed to account for 1,441 yards from scrimmage and eight total touchdowns.
It was a down year by his standards and a transition year for the Giants but all signs point to him coming back strong in 2020 as he gets more comfortable with his new starting quarterback.
The Giants are likely on their way to a mediocre season, but Barkley and his enormous quads are anything but. We can expect a return to form for the former Penn State standout and the Giants and Jones will lean on him from Week 1 on.
Philadelphia Eagles: QB Carson Wentz
Carson Wentz is perhaps the most unfairly maligned player in the NFL as his reputation took another hit as once again, he wasn’t healthy to finish a season for the Philadelphia Eagles. Wentz was knocked out of the Eagles’ playoff game against the Seattle Seahawks, but it was almost a miracle that they advanced to the postseason in the first place.
By the end of the season, Wentz had lost all three of his starting receivers from Week 1 and was literally throwing to guys just activated off of the practice squad. He still managed to throw for 4,039 yards and 27 touchdowns and just seven interceptions as he led the Eagles to an improbable NFC East title.
The same story appears to be in the works as the Eagles have already caught the injury bug but if Wentz can play all 16 games for just the third time in his career, they will have a shot at the division and a playoff berth. Philadelphia fans may have doubts about Wentz’s long-term health but there should be little doubt about his talent and ability to do more with less.
Washington Football Team: DE Chase Young
The Washington Football Team were one of the worst teams in the NFL in just about every category in 2019. They had the worst-ranked offense and the 27th ranked defense but were still able to get to the QB at a solid clip, finishing 10th in the league with 46 sacks.
They were able to add potential defensive rookie of the year and sack machine Chase Young through the draft and he is the type of player that can turn a franchise around.
Young is in the Khalil Mack/JJ Watt mold as a potentially dominant player that Washington can build around and be the centerpiece of their defense for years to come.
It may be a lot to expect of Young to come in and be a difference-maker right away, but he is as NFL ready as any prospect in recent history. There are question marks all over this Washington team but from the looks of it, Chase Young may be one of the answers.
Chicago Bears: OLB Khalil Mack
The story in Chicago this summer was the quarterback battle between Mitchell Trubisky and Nick Foles but, just like it has been since the dawn of the franchise, the defense is still the identity of the Bears. Even as the offense struggled the defense was still a top-five unit in the league and much of that had to do with superstar outside linebacker Khalil Mack.
Mack had a down year by his lofty standards with 8.5 sacks and 14 QB hits in 16 games, his fewest in both categories since his rookie season in 2014. Much of that likely had to do with a lack of pass rush from the other members of the Chicago defense as they finished near the bottom of the league with just 32 total sacks on the season.
2020 should be a different story as double team magnet defensive tackle Akiem Hicks is back from injury and newly acquired pass rusher Robert Quinn had 11.5 sacks for the Cowboys in just 14 games. Mack will have teammates to attract some attention from the offense and he will be back to his usual game-breaking self.
The Bears may not know who their quarterback will be from week to week but they know they have one of the best players in the league-leading the way for them on defense.
Detroit Lions: QB Matthew Stafford
The identity of the Detroit Lions for the past decade has been all about Matthew Stafford and their aerial attack. The Lions rely so much on Stafford, at times to their own detriment, that they have only had one 1,000-yard rusher during his career and that was way back in 2013.
There were high hopes for second-round pick Kerryon Johnson but his inability to stay healthy has kept the onus on Stafford to carry the offense and the Lions as a whole. Stafford played in only eight games in 2019 but was his usual box score stuffing self as he threw for 2,499 yards and 19 touchdowns in limited action.
The Lions are in the middle of a reload as they try to rebuild a defense that finished 31st in yards allowed and gave up the 24th most points in the league. While that unit is a work in progress they will still lean on Stafford’s right arm to carry them in a tough division as they try to bounce back from a three-win season.
Green Bay Packers: RB Aaron Jones
The focus and story of the offseason for the Green Bay Packers was their decision to draft a quarterback of the future in the first round over a weapon that can help them in the present. Aaron Rodgers reportedly turned to tequila to drown his sorrows but what he should have been doing was toasting his backfield mate Aaron Jones.
Jones has gone from little-known fifth-round pick to one of the more versatile backs in the NFL as he finished the 2019 season with his first 1,000 yard rushing season and an incredible 16 rushing touchdowns. He carried the load for the Packers offense as the leading rusher, third-leading receiver, and scorer of nearly half of their total touchdowns.
Rodgers is still the man in Green Bay but as he gets older he will need to lean more than ever on the run game and having Jones lined up behind him is a blessing. The Packers had a great 2019 season and will hope for more success and that starts with more of the same from the former UTEP standout.
Minnesota Vikings: RB Dalvin Cook
Since recovering from an ACL injury that cut short his rookie season, Dalvin Cook has become one of the most dynamic running backs in the NFL and a player that the Minnesota Vikings heavily depended on. They probably should be leaning on their big-money QB but Cook is the main man for the Vikings offense.
In the two games he missed in 2019 the Vikings were 0-2 and were 6-1 in games where he had at least 97 yards rushing. He quite literally makes the Vikings offense go and is on hunt for a new contract that reflects that reality.
Teams may be leery of paying big money to a running back, but he has more than proven his worth to the Vikings with his play in 2019. We can expect more of the same from Cook and perhaps even more production after the team traded away wide receiver Stefon Diggs to the Buffalo Bills.
Cook is in line for a big payday if he continues to produce and will be motivated by that and more in 2020.
Atlanta Falcons: WR Julio Jones
It has been eight years since his first 1,000-yard season and Julio Jones is still the engine at the heart of the Atlanta Falcons offense. Since 2014 he has had no less than 83 catches and 1,394 receiving yards, setting career highs of 136 catches and 1,871 yards in 2015 along the way.
There may be other receivers that garner more media attention or hype than Julio but no one has more catches or yards than him over the last five years. Where he falls short and has become the subject of some cruel memes is in receiving touchdowns but he is still in the top 10 of that category over that span.
The Falcons finished the season strong as six of their seven wins in 2019 came in the least eight weeks of the season. They were at one point, inexplicably perhaps, a 1-7 team but ended the season 7-9 and have a great deal of momentum coming into 2020.
If they are to challenge for the NFC South title they will need Julio Jones to be at his best but thankfully for them that has been a near certainty for almost a decade.
Carolina Panthers: RB Christian McCaffrey
The Carolina Panthers are in the middle of a major rebuild as they, in one fell swoop, moved on from head coach Ron Rivera and quarterback Cam Newton, who led the organization together for nine years. At the heart of that rebuild is superstar running back Christian McCaffrey who has become one of the best, if not the best back in the NFL.
McCaffrey is an incredibly versatile weapon that in 2019 became just the third player after Marshall Faulk and Roger Craig to have 1,000 yards rushing and receiving in the same season. He led the NFL in yards from scrimmage with 2,392 and accounted for 19 total touchdowns. This was all the more impressive considering he accomplished on a team that started three quarterbacks on their way to a 5-11 season.
New head coach Matt Rhule will get to deploy his full bag of tricks with McCaffrey on his squad but for the sake of balance and team success he may want to dial back the touches just a bit. McCaffrey may not put up the same videogame numbers as he did in 2019 but his importance to the team will only increase as they look to improve and contend for a division title.
New Orleans Saints: WR Michael Thomas
We extolled the virtues of Julio Jones in a previous slide but, in Michael Thomas, we may have his heir apparent in terms of sheer consistency. He may not be as explosive a downfield threat as Jones, but Thomas now has four straight 1,000=yard seasons to start his career and has increased his catch and yardage total every year.
Thomas put up an absurd 1,725 yards on 149 catches and scored 9 touchdowns for a Saints team that featured one of the best passing offenses in the league. He accounted for nearly 40% of the team’s total receiving yards and 35 percent of their total receptions.
The quarterback throwing him these passes may be a key figure but there are few skill position players more vital to their offense than Thomas.
New Orleans is coming off yet another postseason disappointment but if they are to finally break through to the Super Bowl in the current era, Michael Thomas will be a big reason why.
Tampa Bay Buccaneers: QB Tom Brady
Tom Terrific, Touchdown Tom, TB12, or simply the GOAT, Tom Brady is known by many names but until this year he was known for his success with just one team. Brady traded the navy and silver of the Patriots for the pewter and red of the Buccaneers after 20 years and has become one of the most interesting storylines of the 2020 season.
All eyes will be on Brady and Tampa Bay as we all wait to see what he still has in the tank and if the much-hyped Bucs can live up to the headlines. Brady will have more weapons than he has had since the 18-1 season in 2007 but will have to learn a new system and adapt to a new organization in this truncated offseason.
If anyone can do it it’s the greatest quarterback of all time so if the Buccaneers end up being as good as they look on paper then him returning to his best will be the biggest reason why.
Arizona Cardinals: WR DeAndre Hopkins
2019 number one overall pick Kyler Murray lived up to the hype with a strong debut season that saw him named the offensive rookie of the year as he led the Arizona Cardinals to a better than expected 5-10-1 record. Murry was the star of the team and the heart of the offense but he did so, with all due respect to Larry Fitzgerald, without a true number one receiver.
So the Cardinals went out and got him one in a trade with the Houston Texans for some inexplicable reason did not want to pay DeAndre Hopkins what he deserved. Hopkins is arguably the best wide receiver in the NFL and has been recognized as such with three straight First-Team All-Pro nods.
In those three seasons, he has had no less than 96 catches and 1,165 yards and has done so with a carousel of quarterbacks throwing him the football. He has plenty of experience working with a mobile passer after two full seasons with Deshaun Watson and his ability to get open in scramble drills will be an incredible asset to Murray as he develops as a quarterback.
The Cardinals are in a tough division and might be a year or two from truly contending but the addition of Hopkins is a great step in that direction.
Los Angeles Rams: DT Aaron Donald
The only word you need to describe Aaron Donald is dominant. The defensive tackle out of Pittsburgh has been a First-Team All-Pro for five straight years and has been named defensive player of the year twice in his illustrious career.
He puts up absurd sack totals as an interior defensive lineman and is an absolute menace to quarterbacks and running backs alike. Opposing offensive game plans begin and end with figuring out how to slow down Donald because you simply can’t stop him, you can only hope to contain him.
The Rams fell just short of the playoffs in 2019, through no fault of Donald’s, and they will be looking to bounce back from a relatively disappointing 9-7 season. There are plenty of new faces on the Rams defense but as long as Aaron Donald is manning the line of scrimmage the rest will be just fine.
San Francisco 49ers: TE George Kittle
In just three years George Kittle has gone from fifth-round afterthought to the unquestioned best tight end in the NFL. Other tight ends might match his receiving ability but none combine explosive offensive ability with the top tier blocking Kittle brings to the table.
The former Iowa Hawkeye is the rare breed of tight end, in the Rob Gronkowski mold, that can catch like a top tier wide receiver and block like a Pro Bowl offensive tackle.
The 49ers recognized his value to the team and rewarded him with a 5-year, $75 million contract making him the highest-paid tight end in the NFL. They are paying him like a wide receiver because that is the type of impact he makes on offense. Defenses game plan around slowing him down but he is just as happy catching touchdowns as he is making pancake blocks to aid SF’s potent running game.
If the 49ers want to overcome the dreaded Super Bowl loser hangover they simply have to follow Kittle’s lead as his drive and intensity will allow him to accept nothing less than the best from himself and his teammates.
Seattle Seahawks: QB Russell Wilson
Russell Wilson has become a meme this offseason as Seahawks fans are imploring the team’s staff via social media to “let Russ cook”. They feel that Wilson is hamstrung as a quarterback by Seattle’s stubborn commitment to the run and have proven through statistics that the team is at its best when Wilson is well, cooking.
Wilson is going into his ninth season in the NFL and as the starter in Seattle and is unquestioned as one of the best quarterbacks in the game. His ability to improvise and turn broken plays into touchdowns is nearly unparalleled in the league and makes him one and the Seahawks incredibly dangerous.
Despite all of his achievements, Russell Wilson has yet to be named NFL MVP but there have been several years where he has made a very strong case.
Perhaps his numbers are not as eye-popping as some of his contemporaries but maybe if the Seattle staff finally lets him loose he can lead them once again to the promised land and win some individual trophies along the way.