1st & 10: Post-Combine NFC West Roundup

important that is to reaching their ultimate goal. Quite a few changes have been made to our neighboring NFC West teams, and we've gathered some insight from them at the NFL scouting combine that is wrapping up today. Lindsay, I know you had the chance to sit down with Arizona Cardinals team reporter Danny Serek. What did you learn about the latest for their team? Yeah, so, you know, like every offseason for every team is it's a few months where

you expect to see some significant changes. I would say probably out of all of the NFC West teams, the Arizona Cardinals probably have the most organizational changing moves, and a couple of them have already happened. There was a hire for a new general manager and Monty Astin for it, and then also a new head coach in place, Jonathan Gannon coming over from the Philadelphia Eagles, just recently coached who's the defensive court, was the defensive coordinator, and is

now with the Cardinals. So the Cardinals are coming off of, you know, a difficult season, just four wins on the year, I believe, and you know, part of that being because their starting quarterback, Kyler Murray went down in season with an ACL injury, and that's kind of one of the biggest updates we got from the combine. Danny mentioned that monte Asinport and Jonathan Gannon both mentioned separate lead that Kyler Murray is not expected to be ready for the

start of the twenty twenty three season. That's not really news, but you know, no expected timetable. That being said, both of those guys are very happy with the progress that he's making. And I know we've seen kind of floating around social media just some footage of Kyler Murray on an exercise bike and he looks like he's moving relatively well.

So it sounds like in terms of progress, they're very happy where he's at at this point, and with this type of internet with this type of injury, you just don't want to rush things because that's a franchise QB. With the way things stand, also, lots of potential for the Cardinals. They do have the third overall pick, and they have thirty guys that are set to enter free agency, so a lot of moves that can be made and

need to be made this offseason for Arizona. Yeah, it sounds like the Cardinals are going to be building almost a whole new team and they've got some new guys at leadership position. So I'm very interested to see what they do with that third overall pick and how their season is just going to play out. So just two picks away from Arizona are the Seattle Seahawks. They are lined up to have the fifth overall pick in the

draft this year. Get ready to see their name a few times early in the draft because they have four picks in the first two rounds. The Seahawks still have head coach Pete Carroll and general manager John Schneider leading their team. However, we've learned that they've lost a couple

of coaches on both the offensive and defensive side. Dave Canalis, who is a long time assistant under Carroll is now the offensive coordinator for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and Shandaci, Seattle's defensive associate head coach, has become the Philadelphia Eagles new defensive coordinator. We saw just how competitive the Seahawks were last year. I think we all remember that battle to win the NFC West in Seattle and last season. How do you think Seattle's draft capital and slight movement

in the coaching staff impacts their upcoming season. Yeah, so, I think a lot of that is going to hinge on what happens with quarterback Gino Smith also was the ap NFL Comeback Player of the Year. I think the Seattle Seahawks in twenty twenty two were a very pleasant and, like you said, very competitive surprise. They were the wildcard team and fell in that round of course to our team, the San Francisco forty nine ers. But they are in

a really sweet spot in this offseason. Like you mentioned, two first round draft picks, one of them coming from the Russell Wilson trade, and then they've got their own first round draft pick and then cap space. I believe I read it and it's at thirty one million dollars They've got a decent amount of money to play with. Most of their coaching staff is in tax. Definitely not as much move leaving pieces as we've seen with other teams around the league. You know, it's possible Gino Smith

comes back. He had a great coming off a great year obviously, So I think they are set up to replenish and reload their roster where they need it. And they've got like I said, they've got money, and they've got picks to do it. Plus those second round draft picks, there is a lot of value that the Seattle Seahawks could potentially come and get and like, you know, two first round draft picks. That's not a bad bad thing for anyone. Okay, Now moving on to the Los Angeles Rams,

They've had a few hires for some big positions. One is actually a familiar face. Michael Floor has been named the Rams offensive coordinator after spending the previous two seasons as the offensive coordinator for the New York Jets. But prior to his time in New York, he actually spent four seasons on the forty nine Ers coaching staff, working with San Francisco's wide receivers and passing game. Another prominent hire for la Is Chase Blackburn as special teams coordinator,

formerly working with the Tennessee Titans special teams. In twenty twenty two, the Rams are scheduled to make their first pick in the draft, early in the second round, at number thirty six overall. How do you see just their off season playing out. Yeah, well, Bree, I you know, one thing you did mentioned Michael Floor and you know, San Francisco always thinks so highly of its alum, whether it's from players to coaches. So Mike Laflour obviously going

to make an impact there with the Rams. And then also, yeah, their off season, although they don't have they won't actually have their own first round pick until twenty twenty four. I think because they are picking so early in the second round, I do believe they have the number thirty six overall and thirty nine, there is definitely good draft value to be had. That's a nice spot to be at.

And then you know, for the Rams, one of the biggest downfalls last season, which obviously no one can control our injuries, and with a little bit of luck, I think they're going to be in a decent spot heading into next year. Matt Stafford, Cooper Cup, and Aaron Donald are the big guys that were you know, had significant injuries of blue. Cooper Cup missed eight games with an ankle injury, Aaron Donald missed six with an ankle injury, and then Stafford missed eight as well with the neck injury.

So with some help in terms of the health side and having those two early early second round draft picks, they're going to be able to at least come back up from a little bit from where they were in twenty twenty two. And then again Sean McVay will be the head coach against there's a lot of continuity in terms of just that position on the coaching staff. So you know, I don't think they're in a bad spot. And traditionally they are very competitive with the San Francisco

forty nine ers. I see that, you know, improving a little bit from the twenty twenty two year in which you know, the forty nine ers swept the entire division. Yeah, now let's bring it back to the forty nine ers. The twenty twenty three league year and free agency period begins at one pm Pacific time on March fifteenth. I know you spent a lot of time with general manager

John Lynch at the combine over this past week. What do you see mixing up for the forty nine ers and what are their biggest goals once that free agency period hits. Yeah. I asked John Lynch what the theme or the focus of this combine and offseason would be for him and the entire forty nine ers scouting department, and he really said boiled it down to one word, and that was depth. And that's nice to hear when you have drop fixed that are starting either ninety ninth

overall or one hundredth overall. The forty nine Ers have the luxury of having all the cornerstone players in place, So now it's about shoring up the offensive line, the secondary, maybe looking at that corner back in the safety position, also getting just some more depth on the defensive line as well. So I think again it is just about replenishing the roster. A lot of the success of the

forty nine Ers also hinges on the quarterback position. The forty nine Ers feel really good about the two options they have in Tray Lance and Brock Purty. Both of them need to get healthy this offseason. But I think the fact that John Lynch is so optimistic about both of them. Bodes well for the team headed into twenty

twenty two. But you know, John Lynch did mention it was their duty, their responsibility of this combine to be up to date on every person one of those three hundred and nineteen prospects, because you never know where people are going to become available, and you know, the forty nine ers have had a lot of success drafting in the late round. So we'll see who's available at pick ninety nine or one hundred. It'll be exciting. We're less

than ten days away from the new league gear. We'll keep you updated with all the latest information on forty nine ers dot com. Thank you so much Lindsay for joining me in this offseason update. Don't forget to follow first and ten on Spotify, and thank you Faithful for tuning in.