Arms Race Continues: The Wild West Gets More Wild. JJ Watt Joins The Arizona Cardinals. What The Move Means For Each Team In NFL’s Best Division

Yesterday the news broke that one of the NFL’s most highly desired free agent’s defensive lineman/edge rusher JJ Watt, was joining the Arizona Cardinals. Watt broke the news himself on Instagram. Arizona could be paying Watt 31 million dollars over the course of two seasons. 23 million of those dollars are guaranteed. Yes, the move was a surprise to many. Especially after the reports that Watt was down to the Bills, Titans, and Packers in the final days. All those teams made plenty of sense for us. However we are not JJ Watt he decided to take his talents to the Wild West in the NFL’s best division in the NFC West. To be honest with you, to me it’s not really close either. A division where the four starting quarterbacks are Russell Wilson, Matthew Stafford, Jimmy Garoppolo, and Kyler Murray it’s hard to argue that. There are other divisions with two great teams such as the Buccaneers and Saints. However no division is as deep as the West. The worst team in the division next year could be 8-8. The Bears got in the playoffs at 8-8. The NFC West is a wild place and the addition of this former Texan just makes it even more wild. Watt saddling up and going out West is a big effect on the division. Which teams in the division does the transactions affect more?

Cardinals

First things first Watt doesn’t affect any team more than the one he signed to. Watt signing to Arizona is definitely interesting. It didn’t seem like the Cardinals were desperate for a defensive lineman. That didn’t seem to be the piece that would send the Cardinals to the next level. Nonetheless adding Watt certainly doesn’t hurt their chances. Watt will be apart now of what could be looked at as a good pass rush but a terrible rush defense. Watt is coming from the Texans. Under defensive coordinators/ interim head coach Romeo Crennel Houston they ran a 3-4 plenty of times. Cardinals defensive coordinator Vance Joseph runs very similar defensive sets in the 3-4 when he runs his base defense. Joseph’s defense last season was ranked 13th in overall defense. They were ranked 10th in passing yards allowed a game and 5th in sack percentage. Arizona didn’t struggle with rushing the passer. They were an above average pass rushing team. Add him with Chandler Jones, Zach Allen, and Jordan Phillips that only gets scarier. Jones only played five games last season but still mustard to get a sack. In his last four seasons he has 50 total sacks. Lining Watt up on the other side of Jones makes the Cardinals a dangerous front four. Don’t get me wrong Watt is not what he used to be. To be fair in his prime he’s a Hall of Fame pass rusher. Last season according to Sports Info Solutions, Watt ranked 64th in pressure rate (9.1%) amongst the 78 defenders to record at least 30 pressures on the season. Watt will have to be better to live it up to that deal. He’ll have to be better to compete with the pass rushes in his division. Wilson, Stafford, and Jimmy G can not get all day in the pocket. Watt ability however to play the weak side and strong side on runs will be a big deal for Arizona. Since they are one of the worst rush defenses in the league. The Cardinal’s defense ranked 24th in opposing yards per carry (4.6), 16th in rushing success rate (41.1%), 21st in opposing teams rushing yards per game (125.5), and 23rd in allowing rushing first downs per game (7.4). The Cardinals are a mess against the run. The Rams, Seahawks, and 49ers all have good running games you can’t keep the defense out there. Watt and Jones are not young stallions like they used to be. Nonetheless Watt will improve the pass rush for the Cardinals and help improve the rushing defense. Even if he does play like he did last year. Watt didn’t have someone with Jones' skill lining up across from him last season. Now he’ll have a chance to play with another good pass rusher. No one knows what DeAndre Hopkins said to get Watt to Arizona but hey it worked that definitely makes them better.

Seahawks

Watt signing on to the Cardinals may affect the Seahawks the most as a competitor of the Cardinals in the same division considering the questions they have. First the biggest question they have is does Russell Wilson really want to leave? This is the third offseason in a row where we have heard rumors that Wilson is unhappy in Seattle. Even after signing a life changing extension Wilson is still disgruntled with his organization. At some point where there's smoke there is fire. His camp says that Wilson doesn’t want to be traded. Then drops teams he would play for if he was traded. Not saying but just saying seems that Wilson wouldn’t mind a change of scenery but it doesn’t need to happen. Wilson and head coach Pete Carroll have been at odds for a while on the scheme. That’s where the saying “Let Russ cook” comes from. Carroll wants the identity of the team to be run first. Which is crazy considering he has a Hall Fame quarterback on his team in his prime. It’s also clear why Wilson is really upset with the Seahawks. He said it himself on February 9th when he said “I’m frustrated about getting hit to much.” Where does JJ Watt play? In a position where it’s his job to hit Wilson. Wilson must hate the Cardinals getting Watt. That makes his job that much harder. He will get hit more. The Seahawks were rolling going into the bye week then around Week 10 they started hitting a skid. In the end Seattle ended being 18th in total offense. Arizona beat Seattle once and lost a close one. Considering Seattle was 29th in QB sacked percentage Arizona only got closer or maybe even better than Seattle. Watt and Jones will be in Wilson’s face. Some will try to defend that offensive line in Seattle by saying they had the 16th ranked offensive line according to PFF that’s the highest in the Wilson era. Which is nuts and just shameful of the Seahawks. Did they watch the Wildcard game against the Rams? The Rams had a broken thumb Goff and won. Not because of Goff but because Wilson was sacked five times while running like a mad man in the backfield every play. He had no time. The only good thing on that offensive line is Duane Brown who joined the team in 2017. Brown has improved every year according to PFF. Wilson’s games will only get longer with Watt going to Arizona since they play twice a year. Seattle also may have to blame themselves for the Watt move. The NFC West could be considered an arms race at this point. With the additions of All-Pro safety Jamal Adams and defensive end Carlos Dunlap last year by Seattle why wouldn’t Arizona think they had to make a move. The Watt deal makes life harder for Wilson physically and the Seahawks life harder mentally. They need to make a move on that offensive line to keep their franchise quarterback happy he can’t be getting hit that much. He will be with the state of the line now and the addition of Watt to his division.

Rams

The Arizona Cardinals probably thought they had to make this move for Watt not just because of the Seahawks moves but mostly because of the Rams most recent move. The Rams traded away Jared Goff, a pair of first rounders, and a third for Matthew Stafford. Which makes the Rams better just because Stafford is better than Jared Goff at quarterback. You combine that with the offensive mind of Sean McVay, weapons such as Cooper Kupp and Robert Woods, their young running back Cam Akers that makes the Rams very scary on offense. Just considering their offense if you’re the Cardinals you have to make a move. Stafford has had a top 10 defense once that’s the year he won the division. The Rams defense was first last year and won them a playoff game against Russell Wilson. That defensive line constructed around Aaron Donald and anchored by Leonard Floyd is something opposing quarterbacks lose sleep over. The Cardinals need to give Stafford that same uncomfortable feeling to give themselves a chance in the division. Watt can do that with the combination of Jones. The Rams have a good running back in Cam Akers, Watt will make it harder for Akers to find those holes. Akers didn’t break 100 yards once against the Cardinals terrible rush defense last year. Akers will get better but so did that defense. Arizona was rebuilding a couple of years ago now they need to keep up. For me the Rams will be the hardest this year to keep up with. They don’t just have a top offensive mind with Mcvay, a top 10 quarterback now, weapons, and a good young running back they have a very good offensive line. Last season the Rams offensive line ranked third according to PFF. Their sack percentage ranked 8th in the league. Stafford will have time. Watt will need to disturb that. Watt’s addition to the Cardinals makes them more competitive with the Rams. However the Rams have the perfect formula to match that if you ask me.

49ers

The San Francisco 49ers (who play an hour and a half away from San Francisco that’s not here or there but just saying) can be greatly affected by the Watt signing. Well for one Watt is in Arizona to cause more pressure on the quarterback. If you didn’t know, the 49ers quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo can not stay healthy. Jimmy G has only played one full season since being traded to San Francisco three years ago. In his three seasons with the 49ers he played three games then he tore his ACL, he played a full season when they went to the Super Bowl but lost to the Chiefs, then last season he missed 10 games due to nagging injuries. Garoppolo can not take hits and pressure has head coach Kyle Shannan clinching of here we go again every time his quarterback hits the deck. Kyle Shannan has had to deal with two seasons where Jimmy G is out and they have backup quarterbacks in there acting as a starter. Injuries are a problem throughout Shannan’s and general manager John Lynch’s era in San Francisco. A weird situation where the team hasn’t looked great under their leadership but it’s because of injuries. The one year they had a full team they went to the Super Bowl. For example star Tight End George Kittle couldn’t stay healthy either last year. He missed 8 games last year. After star defensive end Joey Bosa tore his ACL in week 2 the injury bug crept into the San Francisco locker room again. Bosa is a reason the Cardinals needed to get Watt. Yes Watt doesn’t play the other defense but when the competition has a pass rusher with the skill Bosa has you have to give the opposing quarterback that same feeling your quarterback has. That if I’m not careful this could be a painful day feeling. Especially with Jimmy G back there Watt can make the day very long for the 49ers offense. The 49ers were ranked 9th by PFF in the offensive line department. Another reason to boost the defensive line for Arizona they have to make life harder in the trenches. However the 49ers line isn’t getting younger and still ranked 19th in sack percentage. The line could be regressing. Watt could be more of a problem now than if he was signed a year ago. Especially with all the questions the 49ers have at quarterback. It’s clear Shannan doesn’t want to lose another season because his starting quarterback gets injured. Their name has been involved in the DeShaun Watson sweepstakes, and they have even contacted the Jets about Sam Darnold allegedly. It’s not like Darnold is a world beater but he still has talent and is young. He was in a dysfunctional Jets franchise. Darnold could definitely still be a first round talent but just needs the right development. The quarterback whisper Shannan could do that. Reports came out that apparently San Francisco was talking to the Panthers about Teddy Bridgewater. Who missed a season over injury. Which shows you San Francisco isn’t confident in Jimmy G. With a pass rush with the Rams and Seahawks in your division the quarterback question made life harder as it is. Now with Watt going to Arizona life gets harder. San Francisco are affected by the Watt signing because they have to join the arms race at some point. It’ll be interesting to see what they can do in response.

NFC West Favorites Today

After the Watt signing the NFC West did get better and more competitive than it was before. It's obvious the division has become more competitive. However does the signing make the Cardinals favorite or even a dark horse to win the division? After major review of the division after the Watt signing it's hard to say they are now shot up to be favorites after going 8-8 last season. Yes the defense needed to be improved but to me Watt makes them a win and a game better. So now they are 9-7 or a 10-6 team, don’t see winning the division. The Cardinals will be a major Wildcard threat however. The favorite in the NFC West for me is the Rams. They are committed to winning. Where it seems everyone else has all these questions. They have a top offensive line in a division full of savages in the trenches. Mcvay is an offensive guru, they have weapons, and they looked the best last time we saw all these teams play. The Rams are still my favorite in the West. After the draft it could be different but at this moment bet the Rams to win that NFC West.

By Matthew Doherty