The NFC West spent the week getting measured against the rest of the league, and a few familiar names landed right where you’d expect. Matthew Stafford checked in at No. 3 on Jeremy Fowler’s quarterback rankings, while Puka Nacua was slotted fourth among receivers and Davante Adams came in at No.
- On the defensive side, Myles Garrett sat atop Fowler’s pass-rusher list, and Trent McDuffie continued to draw praise as one of the league’s better corners.
Stafford’s placement came with big praise from one NFL head coach, who said, “Nobody played better than him last year, and it wasn’t even close,” and added, “Stafford and McVay are now the best quarterback-coach duo in the league.” Not everyone was ready to push him even higher, though.
One NFL coordinator pointed to the structure around him, saying, “The system helps him,” and adding, “He has an elite offensive coach and elite weapons. He’s great, don’t get me wrong.
He has advantages that some of the other quarterbacks don’t have.”
Kyren Williams also earned notice in Fowler’s running back rankings, landing an honorable mention from an NFL defensive coordinator who called him “Really underrated. Productive, tough as s-, runs hard, brings the juice, has improved as a pass catcher, and is really good in protection. Just doesn’t have the high-end traits of some of the others.”
Nacua’s spot near the top of the receiver list came with a glowing scouting report from an NFL coordinator: “Strong hands, contact balance, ability to block in the run game, run after the catch, run through the catch, can go get it, can play any spot,” the coach said. “Complete receiver.
Him and Chase are the hardest to tackle.” Adams, meanwhile, was recognized for the parts of his game that still travel, even as the athletic burst has faded.
An NFC exec said, “His instincts and route running are still there even as his athletic traits have declined,” and added, “He just knows how to get open.”
Garrett’s standing as the league’s top pass rusher drew one of the strongest evaluations in the piece. An NFL coordinator said, “He doesn’t get enough credit for just how powerful he is and how you feel that up close,” then went on to compare him directly with Aaron Donald’s strength.
The same evaluator said Garrett has already seen every kind of protection offense can throw at him and still finds answers. “From a mental standpoint, it’s really impressive.
His ability to feel and navigate at the line without much wasted movement is elite.”
McDuffie, now with Kansas City, was described by an NFC scout as “One of the top coverage corners in the league,” with the scout highlighting his versatility across the perimeter and slot, his man and zone ability, and his work as a tackler. “You’re going to have to beat him because he won’t beat himself,” the scout said.
On the Seattle side, Mike Macdonald wasn’t interested in looking outward at all, even with Garrett now in the division. He told reporters he’s not spending any energy on what the rest of the NFC West is doing.
“Yeah, I don’t care,” Macdonald said, via Vic Tafur of TheAthletic.com. “Don’t care.
If you start worrying about what everybody else is doing, it’s just mentally taxing. It’s so much easier if you don’t.
Let’s just worry about the Seahawks and being the best version of ourselves and getting better every day.”
The 49ers’ piece of the conversation came from Robert Saleh, who spent last season watching San Francisco battle through injuries and still finish 12-5 with a road playoff win. Now the Titans’ head coach, Saleh said the organization’s response to that adversity stood out to him from top to bottom.
“The resiliency of the organization and the players, the locker room, Kyle [Shanahan], John [Lynch],” Saleh said, via NBC Sports Bay Area’s Matt Maiocco. “There were so many different times last year where all of us could have just said, ‘Screw it, it’s over.'”
He also made sure to credit the depth pieces who kept the season moving when the injuries piled up. “And, you know, credit to the Tatum Bethunes and all the different players that had to step up through all the injuries and grind and take extra reps and, you know, [Marques] Sigle stepping in for 5 games before, Malik [Mustapha] came back.
So just all the way up and down the roster, all the youth that got so much learning experience, but, you know, it was a really, really cool year in terms of resiliency. And again, credit to Kyle and just the way he operates … with his messaging and all that.”
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