The season is creeping closer. Before we know it, the Pro Football Hall of Fame Game (Aug. 3) will be here. As we speed toward the start of the 2023 season, let’s examine the best of the NFC West.
BEST QB | Matthew Stafford, Los Angeles Rams: This might be a bold pick given Stafford’s age (35) and the fact that he is coming off an injury-filled season, but who else in the division do you feel good about? San Francisco’s Brock Purdy and Seattle’s Geno Smith are unproven as full-time starters. Kyler Murray of the Cardinals has the potential to be at the top of the list, but he had an awful 2022.
Stafford, on the other hand, not only has an extensive history of being an upper-level quarterback (52,083 yards passing and 333 touchdown passes). He also has a Super Bowl ring. If he is healthy, the Rams can bounce back from a dreadful 2022.
BEST COACH | Sean McVay, Los Angeles Rams: There is a strong argument to be made for San Francisco’s Kyle Shanahan, but McVay gets the slight edge. In six years as Rams head coach, McVay has one losing season, 2022, when injuries to his best players crushed the team. He has a .612 regular-season winning percentage, which ranks seventh among active coaches, tops among his NFC West counterparts and 34th all-time. McVay is 7-3 in the playoffs and already has led the Rams to two Super Bowls, winning one.
BEST 2023 FREE-AGENT SIGNING | Javon Hargrave, San Francisco 49ers: The 49ers already had one of the best defenses in the NFL before they signed Hargrave. That is what makes adding him so special, he takes a top-tier defense and turns it into something that could be remembered as an all-time great one if the Niners win a title.
Hargrave has morphed into one of the best interior defensive linemen in football in the past few years. He is coming off a dominant 2022 performance with the Eagles (11 sacks). Now he is joining a defensive front that already includes Nick Bosa — the 2022 Defensive Player of the Year — on the edge.
BEST 2023 DRAFT PICK | Paris Johnson Jr., Arizona Cardinals: There are layers to what makes this the best pick. For one, the Cardinals had a glaring need for a left tackle, somebody who could help protect Murray. Johnson, the former Ohio State star, was the best offensive line prospect in the 2023 NFL Draft.
But it was how Arizona got him that makes this pick such a win. The Cardinals traded back from the No. 3 spot in a blockbuster deal with the Texans that also netted them Houston’s first-round pick next year. The Texans could be one of the worst teams in the NFL this season, so that could be a top-five selection. Major props for new GM Monti Ossenfort for these moves.
BEST FANS | Seattle Seahawks: Seahawks fans are clearly the best in the NFC West, among the best in the NFL and perhaps in all of North American sports. They are loyal, loud and help create one of the most intense and intimidating environments in the NFL when they pack Lumen Field. Seattle’s fan base is so crazed that the franchise retired the No. 12 in honor of the faithful in 1984.
