Category: NFC South burning questions for 2020 Tom Brady Drew Brees define divisional race in their 40s
NFC South burning questions for 2020 Tom Brady Drew Brees define divisional race in their 40s
By sharonorn, 2025-04-20
Perhaps no division has undergone more dramatic change this offseason than the NFC South. and Ron Rivera are gone from Carolina. and are in Tampa. The let go of and signed . John Reid Jersey The somehow created cap space out of thin air and traded up in the draft multiple times.OK so that last one isn't actually different at all. But still, it's fun. The whole division is pretty fun. Let's dig in on the burning questions that will define each team's season.Falcons: Can the defense stay healthy, get back on track, and save Dan Quinn's job (again)?Not all that long ago, the Falcons rode one of the NFL's best offenses to the Super Bowl, but that offense was supported by a defense that approached league average for most of the season and reached a level far higher than that down the stretch. Given all the youth and athleticism on hand, it seemed like a unit on the rise. Instead, the defense has been beset by injuries in each of the past three seasons, and the performance has dropped off dramatically.The Atlanta offense should again be strong in 2020, but the Falcons won't be able to compete in a loaded division if the defense doesn't put up more than the token resistance that has become a staple over the past few years. Atlanta Drew Lock Jersey cut bait on and , but used its first two draft picks on defenders (A.J. Terrell and Marlon Davidson) and signed Jr. with the plan of at least shoring things up on that side of the ball. It took a midseason switch of play-callers for this defense to even resemble an NFL-caliber unit last season, and a similarly-slow start probably won't be acceptable after Quinn (seemingly) narrowly escaped being canned.: Can the offense overcome one of the league's worst defenses getting even worse?Speaking of bad defenses ... yikes. Carolina finished last season ranked 25th in defensive DVOA, then saw its two best defenders retire () and leave in free agency (). The Panthers spent most of their free-agent capital on changes to the offense, swapping out Cam Newton for , signing , trading for , and handing a monster extension.They came into the draft barely having enough starter-quality players to field a defense, so it was notable but not all that surprising when the Panthers used all seven of their draft picks on defensive players. should help turn around what was the league's worst run defense last season, but if you're basing your defense around stopping the run in 2020, you're already likely on the wrong path. The secondary is incredibly thin, even after the Panthers devoted four draft picks to it (, Jr., , and ), and the pa s rush is pretty barren beyond .So, can Bridgewater, McCaffrey, Anderson, D.J. Moore, and overcome what is likely to be a poor defense and a sub- Gerald Everett Jersey par offensive line in order to make this team respectable? Or is the not-really-a-rebuild likely to look far more like an actual rebuild by the time the year is done?Saints: Does have one last run in his right arm?The Saints' last three seasons have ended miserably. The Minneapolis Miracle. The mi sed pa s interference call on . The upset at the hands of their old foes, the . It's entirely po sible New Orleans was one of the two or three best teams in the league in each of those seasons, and yet the Saints came away with zero Super Bowl appearances, let alone a Lombardi Trophy.Heading into what is almost surely Drew Brees' final profe sional season, there is no team in the league more all-in than the Saints. They brought in veterans like and . They signed as their backup QB and gave double-digit million dollars a year to make sure he didn't leave. They traded up in the draft three different times to land their player of choice. With an aging QB and a roster that may never have a better shot than right now, it makes sense. The only question left is whether they can get it done.: What's next for Todd Bowles's defense?Tampa's defense was surprisingly one of the best in Derrick Coleman Jersey the NFL last season, so Year 2 of the Todd Bowles era should be an interestiBuccaneers: Uh, so, Poona Ford Jersey Tom Brady?OK seriously, folks. Tom Brady is on the Bucs. I don't know what to do with my hands.There are bound to be questions and mi steps when it comes to mixing Brady's skill set and Bruce Arians' offense, but there is enough talent on hand to offset them, and more. How the targets shake out among Brady's top options is an open question, though seems like a favorite to be Brady's No. 1 guy due to his role in the slot. However, Brady hasn't really had a guy to whom he could just chuck the ball down the field in quite a while, so he may make some throwback magic with more often than you'd think.With Gronkowski, O.J. Howard and , the Bucs will always have a quality option at tight end on the field, and the draft pick of gives them a high-upside No. 3 wideout as well. Again, the talent is here. The question is how it all meshes together.