Post by Pittsburgh Steelers (Malachi) on Sept 21, 2023 20:10:17 GMT -5
Walter Payton Division Preview: Something about the divisions with the name Payton/Peyton gives teams in this league playoff success (to some extent), like in the AFC, the Payton division has had a team in the NFC championship game every single season. Green Bay year 1, Minnesota year 2, and Green Bay again last season. The only difference (a big one) is that is as far as the Payton division has gotten as all 3 seasons has seen the other team from the NFC make the LHL Super Bowl. Green Bay is starting to separate themselves at the top of the division, while Chicago has been running a slow build at the bottom. Minnesota and Washington have been mired in the middle the last 2 seasons and seem to be missing ingredients to really worry Sal's Packers this season. Can Sal finally punch his ticket to the LHL Super Bowl this season or will it be another trend following year of losing in the penultimate round?
Chicago Bears (John): 2022 Record: 2-11
Da Bears have been at the bottom of the league every season so far in LHL and have been taking this roster on a slow build strategy, finishing with the 3rd overall pick in 2021, then the 2nd overall pick in 2022, and finally the 2nd overall pick again in 2023. In each of those seasons the Bears added Najee Harris, Drake London, and Jordan Addison in respective years. Those 3 have been added to some offensive talent including Justin Herbert, but the team still lacks punch across the board and is the biggest reason why John has not finished outside of the top 3 rookie picks yet, and might not escape that this coming season. Despite the poor record on the season the Bears were 17th in total points, 19th in offensive put out, but were 23rd in defensive points. Thanks to Justin Herbert being the QB for the season, the Bears were ranked 2nd in passing yards, but 10th in passing touchdowns, and tied 10th in INTs. Justin Herbert is back for another season. For rushing last season the Bears were 14th in yards and tied for 13th in touchdowns. The unit was heavily reliant on Najee Harris as Wayne Gallman was the only other RB on the roster. This season the team starts with Najee as the only RB on the roster, so Chicago will need him to stay healthy or be left to piece the season together with free agents that are overtly unpredictable. The Bears receiving core ranked 18th in receptions, 20th in yards, and were able to be the 12th best team in receiving touchdowns. Michael Thomas still wasn’t healthy last season so the numbers put up were thanks to Curtis Samuel, Tyquan Thornton, Nico Collins, Drake London, and Isaiah Coulter at the WR position. Headed into the 2023 season the team added standout rookie Jordan Addison to play with Drake London, Michael Thomas, Nico Collins, Isaiah Coulter, Tyquan Thornton, and fellow rookie Demario Douglas. Can a healthy Michael Thomas and new face Addison get this group to leap to a top half unit? To help the WRs this season is the TE Taysom Hill, as the Bears did not bring back Jonnu Smith. The team has half a TE currently and will be missing that production dearly at the position. The defense needed a lot of help for this season, so let’s take a peak at what John has done to help this side of the ball. At DL the team had Danielle Hunter, Chase Winovich, Christian Barmore, and Chase Young. A solid group of players when healthy, but Chase Young missed a good chunk of time last season and opens this season injured. Tyree Wilson was drafted and replaced Chase Winovich, while the other 3 guys are back for 2023. The LB group has some promise to it as TJ Watt headlines the unit once again and will be backed by Leonard Floyd, and addition Matt Judon. Which meant Raekwon McMillan, Cory Littleton, and Nick Vigil were allowed to leave and strip the unit of much needed depth this season. The last unit on defense is the DBs and the team ended last season with Malik Hooker, Jack Jones, Marcus Jones, and Kevin King. Coming into 2023 the DBs will be rookie Jordan Battle, Marcus Jones, Malik Hooker, and Jack Jones. Not a ton to hope for with this unit with Malik Hooker being the only starter to open the season. Chicago has room to go up the league, let's see if the team can take that step this season.
Predicted Division Finish: 4th
Green Bay Packers (Sal): 2022 Record: 10-3
Looking at teams across the league the Packers feel very much the same to me as the Chargers do, but with a slightly better result year to year. A team that puts up a lot of points and wins a lot of games every season, but has just stumbled at the very worst times and it has been the NFC championship game 2 of the 3 years, losing to the eventual champs Rams in 2021 and the runner ups, the Giants, last season. Sal has an elite team and once again will be one of the top NFC teams with a target on his back this season. Can 2023 be the year that Sal’s Packers don’t stumble and secure that first LHL title? Looking at last season the roster was unified in finishing 5th as the offense and defense both ranked 5th and the team as a whole squared away at 5th as well. Though it seemed he wasn’t thrilled with running Geno Smith out at QB last season, Geno was the 6th overall QB on the season and had the team 8th in yards, tied 8th in touchdowns, and tied 14th in INTs. With Jordan Love stepping into the starting role in Green Bay in real life, Sal has decided to hand the reins over to him for his Packers as well and moved off Geno. Hendon Hooker was drafted as well and we shall see how things pan out there for him and Sal. The Packers had the #1 team in rushing yards and 3rd in touchdowns. Nick Chubb was the lead back with Josh Jacobs coming in during the season to create an elite 1-2 combo. Zach Moss and Rashad Penny also made contributions along the way for Sal. Now in 2023 the team has Nick Chubb and Josh Jacobs back for a full season together. Sal also took a chance on Leonard Fournette, but he has yet to sign for an NFL team. Rashad Penny is also in Philly now and can be a boost to the top 2 when called upon. The receiving core finished out the season as the 12th best team in receptions, 10th best team in yards, and 18th best in touchdowns. It will be the area that needs the most help for Sal this season to help the RBs not carry the load, but with Tyreek Hill and Tyler Lockett leading the unit they can likely take a step forward. The other guys involved are Mecole Hardman, Marvin Jones, and Marquez Valdes-Scantling. Isaiah McKenzie and Samori Toure were moved off of this off-season. Zach Ertz and Tyler Conklin were the TEs that Sal used last season to help his WRs, and this season those two are back, but Sal has added Gerald Everett to hopefully give him more scoring from the TE spot in a bid to make this offense even more deadly. The Packers had a high end defense and it started up front, with Davon Godchaux, Carl Granderson, and Zach Allen. Those 3 were great for the team but in 2023 it is now Myles Garrett and Cam Jordan an elite duo for sure, but one that has no depth behind them. At LB last season it was Christian Kirksey, Germaine Pratt, De’Vondre Campbell, and Malcolm Rodriguez, going into the new season it will be Ja’Whaun Bentley, Germaine Pratt, De’Vondre Campbell, Christian Kirksey, and Malcolm Rodriguez, so Bentley came in to add some depth to the unit. Finally we see the DB unit and Sal had Rayshawn Jenkins, Taylor Rapp, Jalen Thompson, Nick Cross, and Kamren Curl, which was a productive unit last season. The Packers’ DBs this season are Kamren Curl, Rayshawn Jenkins, Jalen Thompson, and new man Jamal Adams. With Adams coming in it means Nick Cross and Taylor Rapp were not needed and moved on in the off-season. Sal will have a tough 5 game stretch in the middle part of the season as he plays the other division winners, will that be enough to deter him from a strong season and possibly the division?
Predicted Division Finish: 1st
Minnesota Vikings (German): 2022 Record: 6-7
German had his team in the NFC Championship game in his rookie season in 2021, but regressed mightily in 2022 finishing 6-7 and missing the playoffs completely. It was an okay season for the Vikings, nothing really went wrong, just nothing also went right for them and they hovered right around that .500 mark ultimately finishing below that line. In 2022 the team finished as the 15th best scoring team overall, while finishing 15th overall on offense and 17th overall on defense. At QB it was Kirk Cousins for the NFL and LHL Vikings. Kirk had the team 3rd in passing yards, 3rd in touchdowns, and tied for 21st in interceptions. Kirk Cousins will once again man the QB position for the Vikings in 2023. Over at the RB spot the Vikings ran with Derrick Henry, Melvin Gordon, Larry Roundtree, and Joshua Kelley and that unit finished 10th in yards and 8th in touchdowns. A strong return from the group and it will see Derrick Henry, Melvin Gordon, Joshua Kelley, and Larry Roundtree all return while German has also added Devin Singletary, rookie Devon Achane, and Kareem Hunt to the roster to try and climb further into the top 10 in rushing in the league. Receiving is really where things were not up to par for the Vikings in 2022 with the team finishing 20th in receptions, 17th in yards, and 19th in touchdowns. The WRs responsible for that return were Allen Lazard, Olamide Zaccheaus, Nelson Agholor, Braxton Berrios, John Brown, and Phillip Dorsett, while the TEs that helped were Dalton Schultz and Mo Alie-Cox. A look at these names it is easy to see why the team struggled with Schultz likely the top name here, the rest are mid level at best and will leave German needing more in 2023 to make the offense a competitive one. Heading into 2023 the Vikings will start out with Braxton Berrios, Curtis Samuel, and Olamide Zaccheaus at WR and Hayden Hurst, Mo Alie-Cox, and Dalton Schultz at TE. The 6 players still leave a lot to be desired on the receiving front, especially given the other players in the division they will face off with this season. The defensive line was led by 2022 DPOY Nick Bosa with Boye Mafe, Jermaine Johnson, Ifeadi Odenigbo, and Kemeko Turay making up the unit around him. For the 2023 season it will be Jalen Carter, Boye Mafe, and Za’Darius Smith at the position, meaning the top end man Nick Bosa has left the team. Down the line to LB the 2022 unit was Za’Darius Smith, Foyesade Oluokun, Tae Crowder, Shaq Leonard, and BJ Goodson. Now in 2023 with Za’Darius flipping to DL only, the LB room is filled by Foyesade Oloukun, Jermaine Johnson, Tae Crowder, and rookie Marte Mapu. A very thin unit that only has 1 player projected to do anything of note on the season. Finally we have DB and in 2022 it was Desmond King, Jordan Poyer, Eddie Jackson, Caden Sterns, and A.J Terrell. German will bring Tyrann Mathieu, A.J Terrell, Charvarius Ward, Desmond King, and Caden Sterns into the 2023 season. A clear upgrade at the position with the honey badger in town, but can the others carry their weight to make the unit a good one. Despite a below .500 mark last season, the Vikings will square off with the other 2nd place division finishers, so the middle section of the season will be a battle. Can German get back to the NFC championship game with this team?
Predicted Division Finish: 2nd
Washington Commanders (John): 2022 Record: 4-9
John and his Washington squad have been stuck right around the middle of the league the entire time here with a 5-7 finish in year 1, a solid 7-6 in year 2, but missed the playoffs that year, and finally last season finished 4-9. John took the build through the rookie draft approach when the league opened and it was set up for him to continue to build up the young core he established and be a contender within a couple seasons, but last season saw Jonathan Taylor go down, some WRs not pan out the way he expected, and Mike Williams also continue to battle injuries on offense, the defense has names on it but just seemed to lack the depth behind the top names to be competitive. It is an impressive thing to win 4 games and still wind up at the bottom of the league in scoring by almost 200 points. The offense was the lowest scoring unit in the league, but the defense was able to put together an 18th place finish. The QB position was a bit of a minefield last season with the team having Mitch Trubisky and Taylor Heinicke with rookie Kenny Pickett behind them. Kenny took the reins of the team about half way through the season and the team finished as the #22 team in passing yards and #24 team in passing yards, while also tied 6th team in INTs. For rushing Jonathan Taylor was the only player on the team and while he had a good season when healthy it was only good enough for 24th in yards and 24th in touchdowns. In 2023, JT is having a massive dispute with Indy and could be on a new team when he does take the field, so we shall see how that plays out, Washington also has Gus Edwards at the position. The receivers were ranked 21st in receptions and yards, while being tied 20th in touchdowns. The group that put up those numbers were Kenny Golladay, Denzel Mims, Keelan Cole, Joshua Palmer, Jamison Crowder, Terrace Marshall, Mike Williams, and Joe Reed, The group was hampered heavily by Golladay continuing his fall off and Mike Williams being hurt for a good part of the season. The TEs that paired with the WRs were Devin Asiasi, Darren Waller, and Jelani Woods. Waller was by far and away the best option in the receiving group. For the 2023 season, John will run out Jaxon Smith-Njigba, Mike Williams, Terrace Marshall, Jaylen Reed, Josh Palmer, Denzel Mims, and Josh Reynolds. Some better depth on the unit with JSN and Reed being drafted and Reynolds being added, will that be enough to get to the top half of the league? The Commanders also command the largest TE group in the league with Darren Waller, Devin Asiasi, Durham Smythe, Brenton Strange, and Jelani Woods on the roster. A TE group with Waller in toe will be competitive most weeks. A defense that performed better than the offense but still needs upgrades ran out a Panther duo of Derrick Brown and Yetur Gross-Matos and Azeez Ojulari at DL last season. This season it will be Derrick Barnes, Azeez Ojulari, and Harrison Phillips manning the position. I would say LB was the best position on the roster for the Commanders last season with Patrick Queen, Lavonte David, and Zack Baun there. Going into the 2023 season it will be those 3 again, but will see EJ Speed slide into the group to add some needed depth. Finally we have the DB group and in 2022 it was Kevin Byard, Daxton Hill, CJ Henderson, and Xavier McKinney. John will utilize Kevin Byard, Daxton Hill, and Xavier McKinney again this season at the position. The Commanders added depth on offense, but lost some depth overall on the defense headed into the 2023 season, so will the change in roster build help this team move back up the standings and be back in the 2023 playoff race in the NFC?
Predicted Division Finish: 3rd
Chicago Bears (John): 2022 Record: 2-11
Da Bears have been at the bottom of the league every season so far in LHL and have been taking this roster on a slow build strategy, finishing with the 3rd overall pick in 2021, then the 2nd overall pick in 2022, and finally the 2nd overall pick again in 2023. In each of those seasons the Bears added Najee Harris, Drake London, and Jordan Addison in respective years. Those 3 have been added to some offensive talent including Justin Herbert, but the team still lacks punch across the board and is the biggest reason why John has not finished outside of the top 3 rookie picks yet, and might not escape that this coming season. Despite the poor record on the season the Bears were 17th in total points, 19th in offensive put out, but were 23rd in defensive points. Thanks to Justin Herbert being the QB for the season, the Bears were ranked 2nd in passing yards, but 10th in passing touchdowns, and tied 10th in INTs. Justin Herbert is back for another season. For rushing last season the Bears were 14th in yards and tied for 13th in touchdowns. The unit was heavily reliant on Najee Harris as Wayne Gallman was the only other RB on the roster. This season the team starts with Najee as the only RB on the roster, so Chicago will need him to stay healthy or be left to piece the season together with free agents that are overtly unpredictable. The Bears receiving core ranked 18th in receptions, 20th in yards, and were able to be the 12th best team in receiving touchdowns. Michael Thomas still wasn’t healthy last season so the numbers put up were thanks to Curtis Samuel, Tyquan Thornton, Nico Collins, Drake London, and Isaiah Coulter at the WR position. Headed into the 2023 season the team added standout rookie Jordan Addison to play with Drake London, Michael Thomas, Nico Collins, Isaiah Coulter, Tyquan Thornton, and fellow rookie Demario Douglas. Can a healthy Michael Thomas and new face Addison get this group to leap to a top half unit? To help the WRs this season is the TE Taysom Hill, as the Bears did not bring back Jonnu Smith. The team has half a TE currently and will be missing that production dearly at the position. The defense needed a lot of help for this season, so let’s take a peak at what John has done to help this side of the ball. At DL the team had Danielle Hunter, Chase Winovich, Christian Barmore, and Chase Young. A solid group of players when healthy, but Chase Young missed a good chunk of time last season and opens this season injured. Tyree Wilson was drafted and replaced Chase Winovich, while the other 3 guys are back for 2023. The LB group has some promise to it as TJ Watt headlines the unit once again and will be backed by Leonard Floyd, and addition Matt Judon. Which meant Raekwon McMillan, Cory Littleton, and Nick Vigil were allowed to leave and strip the unit of much needed depth this season. The last unit on defense is the DBs and the team ended last season with Malik Hooker, Jack Jones, Marcus Jones, and Kevin King. Coming into 2023 the DBs will be rookie Jordan Battle, Marcus Jones, Malik Hooker, and Jack Jones. Not a ton to hope for with this unit with Malik Hooker being the only starter to open the season. Chicago has room to go up the league, let's see if the team can take that step this season.
Predicted Division Finish: 4th
Green Bay Packers (Sal): 2022 Record: 10-3
Looking at teams across the league the Packers feel very much the same to me as the Chargers do, but with a slightly better result year to year. A team that puts up a lot of points and wins a lot of games every season, but has just stumbled at the very worst times and it has been the NFC championship game 2 of the 3 years, losing to the eventual champs Rams in 2021 and the runner ups, the Giants, last season. Sal has an elite team and once again will be one of the top NFC teams with a target on his back this season. Can 2023 be the year that Sal’s Packers don’t stumble and secure that first LHL title? Looking at last season the roster was unified in finishing 5th as the offense and defense both ranked 5th and the team as a whole squared away at 5th as well. Though it seemed he wasn’t thrilled with running Geno Smith out at QB last season, Geno was the 6th overall QB on the season and had the team 8th in yards, tied 8th in touchdowns, and tied 14th in INTs. With Jordan Love stepping into the starting role in Green Bay in real life, Sal has decided to hand the reins over to him for his Packers as well and moved off Geno. Hendon Hooker was drafted as well and we shall see how things pan out there for him and Sal. The Packers had the #1 team in rushing yards and 3rd in touchdowns. Nick Chubb was the lead back with Josh Jacobs coming in during the season to create an elite 1-2 combo. Zach Moss and Rashad Penny also made contributions along the way for Sal. Now in 2023 the team has Nick Chubb and Josh Jacobs back for a full season together. Sal also took a chance on Leonard Fournette, but he has yet to sign for an NFL team. Rashad Penny is also in Philly now and can be a boost to the top 2 when called upon. The receiving core finished out the season as the 12th best team in receptions, 10th best team in yards, and 18th best in touchdowns. It will be the area that needs the most help for Sal this season to help the RBs not carry the load, but with Tyreek Hill and Tyler Lockett leading the unit they can likely take a step forward. The other guys involved are Mecole Hardman, Marvin Jones, and Marquez Valdes-Scantling. Isaiah McKenzie and Samori Toure were moved off of this off-season. Zach Ertz and Tyler Conklin were the TEs that Sal used last season to help his WRs, and this season those two are back, but Sal has added Gerald Everett to hopefully give him more scoring from the TE spot in a bid to make this offense even more deadly. The Packers had a high end defense and it started up front, with Davon Godchaux, Carl Granderson, and Zach Allen. Those 3 were great for the team but in 2023 it is now Myles Garrett and Cam Jordan an elite duo for sure, but one that has no depth behind them. At LB last season it was Christian Kirksey, Germaine Pratt, De’Vondre Campbell, and Malcolm Rodriguez, going into the new season it will be Ja’Whaun Bentley, Germaine Pratt, De’Vondre Campbell, Christian Kirksey, and Malcolm Rodriguez, so Bentley came in to add some depth to the unit. Finally we see the DB unit and Sal had Rayshawn Jenkins, Taylor Rapp, Jalen Thompson, Nick Cross, and Kamren Curl, which was a productive unit last season. The Packers’ DBs this season are Kamren Curl, Rayshawn Jenkins, Jalen Thompson, and new man Jamal Adams. With Adams coming in it means Nick Cross and Taylor Rapp were not needed and moved on in the off-season. Sal will have a tough 5 game stretch in the middle part of the season as he plays the other division winners, will that be enough to deter him from a strong season and possibly the division?
Predicted Division Finish: 1st
Minnesota Vikings (German): 2022 Record: 6-7
German had his team in the NFC Championship game in his rookie season in 2021, but regressed mightily in 2022 finishing 6-7 and missing the playoffs completely. It was an okay season for the Vikings, nothing really went wrong, just nothing also went right for them and they hovered right around that .500 mark ultimately finishing below that line. In 2022 the team finished as the 15th best scoring team overall, while finishing 15th overall on offense and 17th overall on defense. At QB it was Kirk Cousins for the NFL and LHL Vikings. Kirk had the team 3rd in passing yards, 3rd in touchdowns, and tied for 21st in interceptions. Kirk Cousins will once again man the QB position for the Vikings in 2023. Over at the RB spot the Vikings ran with Derrick Henry, Melvin Gordon, Larry Roundtree, and Joshua Kelley and that unit finished 10th in yards and 8th in touchdowns. A strong return from the group and it will see Derrick Henry, Melvin Gordon, Joshua Kelley, and Larry Roundtree all return while German has also added Devin Singletary, rookie Devon Achane, and Kareem Hunt to the roster to try and climb further into the top 10 in rushing in the league. Receiving is really where things were not up to par for the Vikings in 2022 with the team finishing 20th in receptions, 17th in yards, and 19th in touchdowns. The WRs responsible for that return were Allen Lazard, Olamide Zaccheaus, Nelson Agholor, Braxton Berrios, John Brown, and Phillip Dorsett, while the TEs that helped were Dalton Schultz and Mo Alie-Cox. A look at these names it is easy to see why the team struggled with Schultz likely the top name here, the rest are mid level at best and will leave German needing more in 2023 to make the offense a competitive one. Heading into 2023 the Vikings will start out with Braxton Berrios, Curtis Samuel, and Olamide Zaccheaus at WR and Hayden Hurst, Mo Alie-Cox, and Dalton Schultz at TE. The 6 players still leave a lot to be desired on the receiving front, especially given the other players in the division they will face off with this season. The defensive line was led by 2022 DPOY Nick Bosa with Boye Mafe, Jermaine Johnson, Ifeadi Odenigbo, and Kemeko Turay making up the unit around him. For the 2023 season it will be Jalen Carter, Boye Mafe, and Za’Darius Smith at the position, meaning the top end man Nick Bosa has left the team. Down the line to LB the 2022 unit was Za’Darius Smith, Foyesade Oluokun, Tae Crowder, Shaq Leonard, and BJ Goodson. Now in 2023 with Za’Darius flipping to DL only, the LB room is filled by Foyesade Oloukun, Jermaine Johnson, Tae Crowder, and rookie Marte Mapu. A very thin unit that only has 1 player projected to do anything of note on the season. Finally we have DB and in 2022 it was Desmond King, Jordan Poyer, Eddie Jackson, Caden Sterns, and A.J Terrell. German will bring Tyrann Mathieu, A.J Terrell, Charvarius Ward, Desmond King, and Caden Sterns into the 2023 season. A clear upgrade at the position with the honey badger in town, but can the others carry their weight to make the unit a good one. Despite a below .500 mark last season, the Vikings will square off with the other 2nd place division finishers, so the middle section of the season will be a battle. Can German get back to the NFC championship game with this team?
Predicted Division Finish: 2nd
Washington Commanders (John): 2022 Record: 4-9
John and his Washington squad have been stuck right around the middle of the league the entire time here with a 5-7 finish in year 1, a solid 7-6 in year 2, but missed the playoffs that year, and finally last season finished 4-9. John took the build through the rookie draft approach when the league opened and it was set up for him to continue to build up the young core he established and be a contender within a couple seasons, but last season saw Jonathan Taylor go down, some WRs not pan out the way he expected, and Mike Williams also continue to battle injuries on offense, the defense has names on it but just seemed to lack the depth behind the top names to be competitive. It is an impressive thing to win 4 games and still wind up at the bottom of the league in scoring by almost 200 points. The offense was the lowest scoring unit in the league, but the defense was able to put together an 18th place finish. The QB position was a bit of a minefield last season with the team having Mitch Trubisky and Taylor Heinicke with rookie Kenny Pickett behind them. Kenny took the reins of the team about half way through the season and the team finished as the #22 team in passing yards and #24 team in passing yards, while also tied 6th team in INTs. For rushing Jonathan Taylor was the only player on the team and while he had a good season when healthy it was only good enough for 24th in yards and 24th in touchdowns. In 2023, JT is having a massive dispute with Indy and could be on a new team when he does take the field, so we shall see how that plays out, Washington also has Gus Edwards at the position. The receivers were ranked 21st in receptions and yards, while being tied 20th in touchdowns. The group that put up those numbers were Kenny Golladay, Denzel Mims, Keelan Cole, Joshua Palmer, Jamison Crowder, Terrace Marshall, Mike Williams, and Joe Reed, The group was hampered heavily by Golladay continuing his fall off and Mike Williams being hurt for a good part of the season. The TEs that paired with the WRs were Devin Asiasi, Darren Waller, and Jelani Woods. Waller was by far and away the best option in the receiving group. For the 2023 season, John will run out Jaxon Smith-Njigba, Mike Williams, Terrace Marshall, Jaylen Reed, Josh Palmer, Denzel Mims, and Josh Reynolds. Some better depth on the unit with JSN and Reed being drafted and Reynolds being added, will that be enough to get to the top half of the league? The Commanders also command the largest TE group in the league with Darren Waller, Devin Asiasi, Durham Smythe, Brenton Strange, and Jelani Woods on the roster. A TE group with Waller in toe will be competitive most weeks. A defense that performed better than the offense but still needs upgrades ran out a Panther duo of Derrick Brown and Yetur Gross-Matos and Azeez Ojulari at DL last season. This season it will be Derrick Barnes, Azeez Ojulari, and Harrison Phillips manning the position. I would say LB was the best position on the roster for the Commanders last season with Patrick Queen, Lavonte David, and Zack Baun there. Going into the 2023 season it will be those 3 again, but will see EJ Speed slide into the group to add some needed depth. Finally we have the DB group and in 2022 it was Kevin Byard, Daxton Hill, CJ Henderson, and Xavier McKinney. John will utilize Kevin Byard, Daxton Hill, and Xavier McKinney again this season at the position. The Commanders added depth on offense, but lost some depth overall on the defense headed into the 2023 season, so will the change in roster build help this team move back up the standings and be back in the 2023 playoff race in the NFC?
Predicted Division Finish: 3rd
