2020 POTENTIAL BREAKOUT STARS: NFC WEST PART 1

BY ADAM GREENE

We finish up our predictions on possible breakout stars with the NFC West, the division that has sent its champion to the Super Bowl five times in the last eight years and earned exactly one Vince Lombardi Trophy in the process.

Considering this is the best division in football and the teams inside, even at the bottom of the projections, have to be in the playoff and Super Bowl conversation, it’s no surprise they’re all loaded with stars. You could argue that, legitimately, four of the league’s Top 10 players suit up in this division (Aaron Donald, Jalen Ramsey, Russell Wilson and DeAndre Hopkins) and not a one of those guys plays for the loaded team that won the conference in 2019. And there’s a first-ballot Hall of Famer (Larry Fitzgerald) still kicking around there too.

ARIZONA CARDINALS

Linebacker Isaiah Simmons

(Rookie)

If you felt a great disturbance in the force on Draft Day back in April, as if the NFC West teams cried out into the darkness and were suddenly silenced, you were not hallucinating. They were lamenting the Cardinals, already on the cusp of being good, adding the star Clemson linebacker. Simmons was one of the best overall players in the entire college player pool and he should make an immediate impact as the Cardinals attempt to make the next step under second year head coach Kliff Kingsbury and second-year quarterback Kyler Murray.

Last season at Clemson, Simmons played against the best of the best, helping his team make it all the way to the National Championship game for the fourth time in five seasons. He recorded 104 tackles, 16.5 for a loss, eight sacks, three interceptions, eight passes defended, one fumble recovery and two forced fumbles.

LOS ANGELES RAMS

Wide receiver Josh Reynolds

(2019: 21 catches, 326 yards, one touchdown)

The collective NFL narcolepsy on the Rams could end up making plenty of people piles of money before the season’s out not only through betting, but in big free agent contracts. One of those guys is Josh Reynolds, who likely doesn’t have a future in Los Angeles (at least as a Ram), but will have a tremendous audition for other teams in the final year of his rookie contract.

Reynolds has stepped up every time the team has called upon him to perform when the guy ahead of him on the depth chart got injured. He slid nearly seamlessly into Cooper Kupp’s role in 2018, helping LA get to the Super Bowl. Last year, he took over for Brandin Cooks, and averaged 15.5 yards per catch.

It’s not been a secret that the Rams’ No. 4 wideout for the last three seasons could start on most NFL teams and that’s probably what will happen next year. With big contracts still to go (Ramsey, Kupp and an extension for Woods), Reynolds will be the odd man out, but he’ll be fine.

With a full year as a starter, he’ll lay down plenty of film and it would not be a surprise to see him, Kupp and Woods all hit 1,000 yards in Sean McVay’s offense this season.

To be continued in Part 2

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