Larry Fitzgerald

Fitzgerald has been in a tough situation ever since Kurt Warner left, and you have to feel bad for the guy. He is a great player, but the team doesn’t have a quarterback that can get him the football. Even though Fitzgerald hasn’t had a quarterback that can let him do what he can do, Fitzgerald still managed to pull in 1400 yards and 8 touchdowns in 2011. Last season was a disappointment however. After five consecutive seasons with over 1,000 yards receiving, Fitzgerald only pulled in 798 yards and 4 touchdowns last season. With Carson Palmer throwing the football, Fitzgerald should be able to play more freely. Palmer will be able to get Fitzgerald the ball anywhere on the field. Had it not been for an ACL injury in 2005, it could have been the Bengals in the Super Bowl against the Seahawks instead of the Steelers. If Palmer and Fitzgerald can build good chemistry, Fitzgerald should be able to put up the Hall Of Fame numbers everyone expects him to get.

Sam Bradford

Sam Bradford didn’t have a bad year in 2012, in fact it was the best year he has had so far. However, it still was not enough and the Rams missed the playoffs once again.  Like Fitzgerald, Bradford hasn’t had a great supporting cast. The Rams finally went out and got him some weapons in the offseason, bringing in Jared Cook and Tavon Austin. The Rams also have rising stars in Chris Givens and Brian Quick. If Bradford didn’t have a supporting cast before, he sure does now. Bradford should the best season of his short NFL career this year. Barring injury Bradford should be able to throw for over 4,000 yards and 25 touchdowns. Now that Bradford has the supporting cast, expect him and the Rams to do good things.

Percy Harvin

Percy Harvin was the only offensive weapon in Minnesota other than Adrian Peterson. Harvin was in a tough situation last year with Christian Ponder under center. However, with Russell Wilson and the Seattle Seahawks, Harvin could very well post the best numbers of his career. The Seahawks have a lot invested in Harvin and will get him the ball as much as possible, Harvin could very well become Wilson’s favorite target. If Harvin can stay healthy and play a full season, Harvin could do good things for the Seahawks and be what they need to get over the hump to get to the Super Bowl.

Anquan Boldin

Boldin played some of the best football in his career in the playoffs last season, coming up big on multiple occasions. Boldin had a good career in Arizona, and played solid for the Ravens in three season. Boldin is now back in the NFC West, only this time in San Francisco, where at first he thought he may be the number 2 or 3 guy. However, with Crabtree out with a torn Achilles for at least the first half of the season, Boldin could become the number one guy and be one of Kaepernick’s go to guys. Boldin hasn’t pulled in over 1,000 yards receiving since leaving Arizona, but with Crabtree out  Boldin could very well pull in 1,000 this season.

Jared Cook

Jared Cook has the physical attributes to be a dominant TE in the NFL. However, with Jake Locker throwing the football, that can be hard to do. Cook now has Sam Bradford  who has been begging for a weapon like Cook ever since he was drafted. Cook could become Bradford’s favorite target and according to sources Cook has been lighting it up in OTA’s and has a good connection with Bradford. Cook will be a nice red zone threat for the offense as well. Don’t be surprised if Cook posts the best numbers of his career and has over 1,o00 yards receiving as well as leading the team in touchdowns.

These are only five guys on a list of players in the NFC set for success in 2013. All of these players have been expected to do great things their entire career and they might be able to finally do it this season. All of these players could very well post the best numbers of their careers this season. With that said, Larry FItzgerald, Sam Bradford, Percy Harvin, Anquan Boldin, and Jared Cook are the five NFC West players that are set up to succeed in 2013.

Now, on a less bitter note, I thought the defense was outstanding today. It wasn’t just that they forced safeties on back-to-back Arizona possessions — which I don’t know that I’ve ever seen before — but they absolutely shut down the running game for most of the four quarters.I really thought the secondary did a nice job again, and the defensive ends played well again also. I didn’t see much from the defensive tackles in the pass rush, but I thought they did a nice job moving the line on running plays for the most part. It really looks like this defense is starting to figure things out, which is pretty huge. It’s no secret that the offense is going to struggle, so the defense is going to have to keep us in games. I know Arizona isn’t the greatest offense in the world or anything, but Beanie Wells is a nice player who had absolutely no room today and Larry Fitzgerald is an elite receiver who was largely kept in check for much of the contest. He did catch the TD pass, but that wasn’t so much bad coverage as it was a great throw by John Skelton. More on the next page.

While it’s a travesty that SJ39 isn’t named, the list actually isn’t bad. Larry Fitzgerald is at the top, followed closely by Patrick Willis, Justin Smith, and Vernon Davis. I don’t have any huge problems here, although if I was making the list Willis would be far and away my number one overall. I think Laurinaitis is about where I expected him to be, and I was pleasantly surprised that Long is finally getting some recognition for how good of a player he has become. Maybe I’m crazy here, but Steven Jackson should be on the list over guys like Russell Okung (8) who was injured for much of his rookie season, and Mike Iupati (10) who is a guard, just to name a few. I’m going to put it in your hands. Check out the poll on the side of the page to rank where you think Jackson belongs in the scope of this division. We will see what the Rams nation thinks of SJ39 and if ESPN isn’t giving him the respect he deserves.