NFL training camp is underway, and there are a lot of intriguing subplots within each team in terms of players fighting for the top spot in their respective depth chart rankings (and for some players, their job entirely).
To nobody’s surprise, the majority of our list is about the starting quarterback job. In fact, the top three slots feature three matchups for the much-coveted position. That just goes to show that having a solid playmaker under center is still the most important key to success in this league. Continue reading to learn more about the most critical starting positions that are on the line during training camp and in the preseason.
One thing’s for certain: Tom Brady won’t be New England’s starter by Week 1. What we do have, though, is our list of Brady’s Wives and Girlfriends to keep you entertained for the meantime. Oh, and go ahead and check out who else is with the reigning Super Bowl MVP in the NFL’s doghouse with our NFL suspensions update.
[sc:Football ]Top 5 Position Battles in the 2015-16 NFL Offseason
5. Atlanta Falcons RB: Devonta Freeman vs. Tevin Coleman
Much of the Atlanta Falcons’ problems from last season lay not only with their defense, but also with their running game. Atlanta was 24th in the league last year in rushing, and somebody’s got to step up and help take some pressure off of Matt Ryan and the passing game.
[sc:NFL240banner ]Second-year running back Devonta Freeman is still the top candidate for the starting role. Although Freeman saw only 65 carries for 248 yards last season, it was mainly because he had to play second-fiddle to Steven Jackson. With Jackson gone, the Florida State product can bring his multi-faceted skillset full-time. Freeman excels as a passing down back first and foremost; he had 30 catches for 225 yards and a touchdown from his rookie campaign.
But if the Falcons and their new head coach Dan Quinn need a true running back to take the lead, look no further than their third-round pick from this year’s draft in Tevin Coleman. In his final year with the Indiana Hoosiers, Coleman broke the school’s record for most rushing yards in a season with 2,036 to go with 15 touchdowns.
4. Dallas Cowboys RB: Darren McFadden vs. Joseph Randle
As a former top-5 pick from the 2008 draft, Darren McFadden has not lived up to his lofty expectations during his time with the Oakland Raiders. Apart from his thousand-yard rushing season from 2010, McFadden has failed to reach even just the 800-yard plateau in all his other seasons with the Silver and Black. And in spite of playing his first 16-game season last 2014 in what has been an injury-plagued career, he still only managed to run for 504 yards on the ground with just a pair of TDs.
Something tells us that McFadden’s career will be revitalized under the Cowboys’ high-powered offense that touts one of the league’s most solid offensive lines, which DeMarco Murray – now playing for the Eagles – ran behind in his breakout season last year. But not if Julius Randle has anything to say about his own shot at the halfback starting job.
While Murray saw a whole lot of touches compared to his backup last year, Randle showed that he has a great burst of speed in him by averaging 6.7 yards per carry for his 343 yards rushing in just 51 attempts. The downside to Randle, however, is that he coughed-up the football twice (and lost them on both occasions) with such a limited number of carries. McFadden, meanwhile, just fumbled the ball once in each of his past four seasons with the Raiders.
3. Buffalo Bills QB: Matt Cassel vs. E.J. Manuel vs. Tyrod Taylor
Does Rex Ryan have his work cut out for him in his first year with the Buffalo Bills or what?
In a three-way Mexican standoff at the third spot of our list, the Bills still have no solution to their quarterback conundrum just yet. The trio of Matt Cassel, E.J. Manuel and Tyrod Taylor seem almost equally ill-equipped to take the starting QB role for Buffalo.
Cassel’s definitely on the shortest end of the stick in this situation, as he’s even at risk now to lose his job altogether if Buffalo decides to cut him from the team to make some room in their salary cap. Feedback from the Bills’ OTAs have been unkind to Cassel, who has not had a 2,000-yard season since 2010 with the Chiefs.
Manuel seems like the lesser evil at this point. He’s been with the Bills his entire career, albeit with disappointing results. The former first-round pick has almost as many interceptions (12) as touchdowns (16) and has a meager QB rating of 78.5 through his first two seasons as a pro.
Taylor, Joe Flacco’s former backup in Baltimore, has a lot of work to do in preseason and training camp if he wants to leapfrog both Manuel and Cassel for the starting role. He doesn’t have a lot in his portfolio to merit any significant buzz, though: four seasons with just 14 games played, 19-for-35 for 199 yards and two picks all for the Ravens (and mostly in garbage time).
Whoever Ryan decides to take the first snap in Week 1 of the regular season, that player has got to play above and beyond his past production if the Bills want to overthrow the consistent reign of the Patriots in the AFC East.
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2. Cleveland Browns QB: Josh McCown vs. Johnny Manziel
While we’re on the subject of inept quarterbacks, no team has gone through a wilder QB carousel in the past decade or so than the Cleveland Browns.
2015 is no different, as Josh McCown and Johnny Manziel vie for a spot on the infamous list of Browns quarterbacks. That’s Luke McCown on the list by the way, not Josh, which just goes to show that Cleveland has gone around the QB block one too many times to actually pick up two different McCowns.
If the Browns are looking for immediate success, their best bet would be to stick with McCown as the starter. The 13-year journeyman is in his sixth team in the league, putting up good but not great results for teams in desperate need of a playmaker. McCown passed for over 2,000 yards last season with the Bucs for just the second time in his career, but also had 14 interceptions to just 11 touchdowns.
Cleveland head coach Mike Pettine could look towards the future instead, and have Manziel take the snaps this entire year to see if he’s really worth keeping on the roster. Yes, his brief stints at actual playing time last year showed that he clearly needs more work. But Johnny Football has steadily improved his development this offseason, and has even managed to steer away from his usual off-field extra curricular activities.
1. Philadelphia Eagles QB: Sam Bradford vs. Mark Sanchez
Philadelphia’s QB controversy tops our list mainly because of how the Eagles will be in a lot of discussions about likely playoff contenders this season. As for the matchup itself, it’s really more like healthy Sam Bradford versus disabled list Sam Bradford.
At full-strength, Bradford is sensational. He passed for over 3,500 yards in each of his two 16-game seasons in 2010 and 2012, and even his two other seasons where he was bit with injury bugs had him on pace to produce similar numbers before going down. Without playing a single snap last year due to a re-torn left ACL, Bradford’s recovery from surgery and the absorption of head coach Chip Kelly’s system have to reap rewards, and not create even more headaches for the team.
Philly won’t be without a viable backup, though, as Mark Sanchez is still in the mix. By no means was Sanchez a total bust starting in place of injured Nick Foles last year. It’s just that his production was subpar when you put him in an offense like Kelly’s. That, and Sanchez is quite a turnover machine. He has 80 interceptions against 82 touchdowns throughout his five-year NFL career.
The bottom line is that a tip-top Bradford is a starting Bradford. The moment he goes down again, Sanchez will pick up the pieces. Let’s not hope that both of these QBs will miss time simultaneously, as we might just see the second coming of Tim Tebow. The Eagles will certainly do all they can to get Bradford up to schedule with his progress, as the team is still a slight +145 underdog to win their division.
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