San Francisco 49ers
The San Francisco 49ers still have the same holes they did at the end of the 2013 season, except now those holes aren’t nearly as glaring. Those holes are at cornerback and wide receiver. At the cornerback position their starters right now are Tramaine Brock and Chris Culliver. Culliver is coming over a major knee injury and neither corner has a full year of starting experience under their belt. After those two corners they have Eric Wright, Perrish Cox, Chris Cook, Darryl Morris, and Kenneth Acker. Their first-round draft pick, Jimmie Ward, will almost certainly play the nickel this season. On paper this could be a very formidable group of cornerbacks, but as of right now not a single one of them has proven anything.
At wide receiver it’s a little bit different. They have established vets in Anquan Boldin and Michael Crabtree as their top receivers and both excellent. Their third and fourth wide receiver spots are completely up for grabs though. Competing for those spots they have Quinton Patton, Stevie Johnson, Jon Baldwin, Bruce Ellington, Brandon Lloyd, and Kassim Osgood. The type of receiver they were in dire need of last season was a burner, someone who can run right by the cornerback. The two front runners for the third and fourth spots are Patton and Johnson but Patton was injured most of his rookie season so we weren’t able to see how he could do against NFL competition and Johnson has no experience in the 49ers’ offense. Although the position group is much stronger than it was last season, it is still a hole.
Arizona Cardinals
The Arizona Cardinals have two major holes that could be the reason they miss out on the playoffs again in the 2014 season. The first hole is at quarterback. Carson Palmer had a decent year last year but he isn’t consistent. Palmer is also getting old and they need to find a quarterback to replace him. The team’s window to win a championship is closing and they need to find a quarterback before it’s closed. Possibly the biggest problem with Palmer is that he’s a statue in the pocket. With the NFL putting such a premium on pass rushers, your quarterback either has to be able to move a little bit to avoid sacks or has to get the ball out of his hands fast. Palmer does neither. And with their offensive line, this leads to too many sacks.
This brings me to their next shortcoming: their offensive line. With the addition of Jared Veldheer via free agency and Jonathan Cooper actually being able to play this season they will absolutely be better than they were last year. However, the right side of the line is still very weak. This wouldn’t be a big deal because most teams only have one top level pass rusher, but the Cardinals play in the NFC West where each team has two or more top level pass rushers. This could end up being very problematic for Arizona.
St. Louis Rams
The St. Louis Rams have a major hole at wide receiver, especially with Stedman Bailey facing a four-game suspension at the start of the season. This position was a problem for them last season as well, which makes it surprising that they didn’t address it during the draft. Of course they have Tavon Austin at receiver but we still don’t know if he’s capable of being a true number one receiver. After him they have Austin Pettis, Chris Givens, and Brian Quick. None of those receivers are proven answers. Besides receiver, the Rams don’t have any other glaring holes.
Seattle Seahawks
The Seattle Seahawks have a big hole at wide receiver. Outside of Percy Harvin they don’t have a consistent target for Russell Wilson to throw to. They attempted to address this need in the draft but waited to do so. They got a few guys who might be able to contribute somewhere down the road but I don’t think they’ll make a significant impact this season.
The other hole the current champs have is at offensive line. They drafted a few offensive linemen to help correct this problem but all it did was add depth, their starters are still below average. Luckily for them, they have a quarterback who can compensate for lackluster offensive line play.