One more week, just a few more nights of sleep. The Ravens and Chiefs will kick off the new NFL season in a few days and the race to New Orleans for Super Bowl LIX is on.
Now that the calm before the storm has set in, in this Four Verts article we discuss four players who will be among the most important players in the NFL and how their presence could impact the landscape of the league.
Let’s merge the first two sections into one, because these two quarterbacks are operating in somewhat of the same space. Kirk Cousins and Aaron Rodgers are both aging quarterbacks fresh off their Achilles tendons and looking to write a new, successful page on a new team — and they’re arguably the two most important players in the shifting NFL landscape in 2024.
The Falcons and Jets both have hopes of a playoff spot, and those hopes live and die with the performance of the veteran quarterback investments each team makes. desperate needed. No position moves the needle more than quarterback, and when good quarterbacks change teams, the NFL changes. These two teams are hoping they can produce one strong performance on the back nine of these players’ careers.
Jets first. It’s a cowardly thing to say that everyone has to wait and see what shape Rodgers is in, but it’s true. There’s really no way to know what he’s going to look like in real life after his Achilles injury until he gets on the field. His mobility was already drastically reduced during his last few years in Green Bay and now he’s 40 years old after an Achilles injury. Athletically, we certainly won’t see the Rodgers of old. That could be a good thing.
In addition to the athleticism that made Rodgers so great, he has two decades of experience as a good quarterback. That experience playing against all types of defenses will be hugely important this year as he settles into the level of athlete he is now. It’s a bit like where Drew Brees was at the end of his career in New Orleans. Brees’ arm was declining rapidly, but the accuracy and experience still allowed him to be a very effective quarterback before his arm strength became untenable. Rodgers’ arm should be dramatically better than where Brees was — there’s room for Rodgers to become more of a stoic pocket passer than he’s generally been known for throughout his career. He’s got the reps to make it work, and if he has protection, he should still be effective out of the pocket. The out-of-structure plays won’t be as prevalent, but that’s OK.
Rodgers is the ultimate wild card in the NFL this year. Given the circumstances surrounding his return, any outcome seems possible for the Jets. He could be anywhere from great to completely written off, and that wouldn’t be all that surprising. If the offensive line can stay healthy, Rodgers has a shot at a nice bounce-back season from 2022, the last time he actually played. If the Jets can fix the Haason Reddick situation, they might be able to make a playoff run. The rest of the roster is good enough.
The Falcons’ roster can’t match the Jets’ in overall talent, but they did decide to make a big move at quarterback by signing Kirk Cousins to a four-year, $180 million contract (and drafting Michael Penix Jr. with the eighth overall pick, but that’s neither here nor there — for now). Cousins tore his Achilles in Week 8 of last season, but has been working out with the Falcons and appears ready for the regular season.
While Cousins has been an easy quarterback to mock for years, it’s also easy to see why the Falcons made the move. Before his Achilles injury, Cousins was playing the best football of his career. Per rbsdm.com, Cousins ranked sixth in expected points per play (.145) in his shortened 2023 season and showed a level of consistency he hasn’t shown previously. Cousins coming off an Achilles tear will be a big statue in the pocket, but he’s a huge upgrade over the other quarterbacks the Falcons have drafted since Matt Ryan left the door.
There’s also this simple truth: The Falcons need to get more out of their talented trio of young skill players in Bijan Robinson, Kyle Pitts and Drake London. One of the best ways to do that is to get a quarterback who can create a credible passing game right away. Cousins can do that. If first-year offensive coordinator Zac Robinson can harness some of the Rams’ McVay Magic, where he spent the last five seasons in various offensive assistant roles, Cousins is good enough to provide Pitts and London with quality targets. Darnell Mooney will likely be the third receiving option, which is fine.
The Falcons don’t have the defense the Jets do, but if Cousins is healthy and can repeat his season of last year, they’ll be in contention for a playoff spot. They’re still an offseason away from having a roster capable of making a playoff run, but they’ve put themselves in a position to compete this year. That’s how big of a change Cousins is for the Falcons, even if he’s not one of the league’s elite quarterbacks.
Both situations have veteran quarterbacks who will essentially determine their team’s success this year. They raise the floor significantly over the quarterbacks who came before them, but they come with the caveat that they’ve dealt with serious injuries. The Jets have a higher ceiling than the Falcons, but they play a similar game. Anytime there’s a player who can potentially take teams from mediocrity to playoff contention (or worse than before!), they should be considered one of the most important players in the league.
Tyler Lindenbaum, C, Ravens
Yes, Lamar Jackson and Derrick Henry are going to be the driving force behind the Ravens’ offensive success, but that would be too easy a choice here. Someone who can help spread the floor for what this duo is capable of this year is Ravens stud center Tyler Lindenbaum. In just a few years, Lindenbaum has developed into one of the best centers in the game. His presence and skill set will be needed in a year where the Ravens will try out multiple unproven commodities as they attempt to return to the Super Bowl.
“Unproven” is really the perfect word for this offensive line. Outside of longtime Raven Ronnie Stanley, the Ravens’ projected starting offensive linemen are all on rookie contracts. Rookie tackle Roger Rosengarten is slated to start at right tackle, while 2022 fourth-round pick Daniel Faalele will man one guard position and 2023 seventh-round pick Andrew Vorhees will play the other. That’s a vegetable unit. Stanley himself has been inconsistent after injuries robbed him of some mobility, but his stability will be useful this season as the Ravens bring in three new starting offensive linemen.
Lindenbaum should be the instant glue for a team that hasn’t played much together in the NFL — or in NFL football at all. There’s no time to waste for a team that has a two-time MVP quarterback in his prime, Henry, and arguably the best defense in football. It’s winning time for the Ravens, so these guys need to hit the ground running.
Centers have an impact on the game that most casual fans don’t see. The really good centers help direct traffic and clear the blocking picture for his fellow linemen and quarterback. That’s the version of Tyler Lindenbaum the Ravens need in this time of change. Reliable centers are sources of communication for the entire offense. Having these less experienced players moving in the right direction would be a huge boost for the Ravens’ offensive line, on top of Lindenbaum’s own excellent blocking skills.
Play well enough to support an offensive line with Super Bowl aspirations, get three new starters with a combined An NFL gets on the same page quickly and also performs well on his own individual blocks. Easy. Lindenbaum is capable of this role and if he does, the Ravens offense has a chance to be among the best in the league again.
L’Jarius Sneed is now in Tennessee, where he’s creating an incredibly young cornerback room for the Chiefs. They don’t have a single cornerback on their roster drafted before 2022, meaning these players are at most about to enter their third year in the NFL (with two Super Bowl rings to start their careers). In fact, the only defensive back drafted prior to 2022 is safety Justin Reid. That’s a bit of a scary proposition for a team with astronomical expectations, but one of those young cornerbacks has already developed into one of the most talented players at his position.
Trent McDuffie’s performance this year will be critical for the Chiefs. It helps to have great defensive minds like Steve Spagnuolo and Chris Jones blowing up the offensive line, but the pieces around those two still have to do their part. McDuffie will have to pick up where he left off: being a dominant defensive player in the Chiefs’ Super Bowl victory over the 49ers.
McDuffie was arguably the best slot defender in the league last year. According to Sports Info Solutions’ Points Saved metric, essentially a more comprehensive version of expected points allowed per game, McDuffie ranked third in the league among slot corners in points saved (19.00) and tied for third in points saved per game (.051) with Colts cornerback Kenny Moore II. McDuffie is undoubtedly one of the best slot defenders in the league, but he will need to continue to build this offseason.
With Snead gone to the Titans and no one of his caliber signed to replace him, McDuffie will likely play more outside than he did in the NFL. That role would more closely resemble the one he played at the University of Washington, where he was primarily an outside corner. According to Pro Football Focus, McDuffie played 1,454 snaps as an outside corner in college and only 38 in the slot. In his entire career. McDuffie had 378 coverage snaps from the slot last season alone.
While this will be a new adventure for him in the NFL, his outside corner tape and college stats were good enough to get him drafted in the first round. Even though he’s been incredibly successful moving inside, that doesn’t mean he’ll fail as an outside corner. McDuffie may ultimately need to become a do-it-all cornerback who can play every role throughout the season, especially if the less-tested players around him struggle. McDuffie has said this training camp that he’s doing his best to master the slot and outside corner positions, which are vastly different roles that only become more complicated in a Spagnuolo defense.
It will be fascinating to see if McDuffie settles back into the slot for the long haul (which would be fine) or if he becomes the most versatile cornerback in the NFL. If he can do the latter, the Chiefs defense has a good chance to become a top unit again, making McDuffie a key figure heading into the 2024 season.
