Niners Nation
The NFC West has quickly become the talk of the NFL once again, as the Los Angeles Rams and San Francisco 49ers both made moves this offseason to compete with the Super Bowl champion Seattle Seahawks.
Los Angeles went all out with trades for Kansas City Chiefs cornerback Trent McDuffie and Cleveland Browns pass rusher Myles Garrett, while making a few other moves in free agency to shore up holes.
The 49ers added help at wide receiver and linebacker, while not losing much talent in free agency, and they should get a couple of their stars back from injury.
With the NFC West looking like a juggernaut this season, let’s compare the top three teams at every position.
Quarterback
Matthew Stafford leads the way here after an MVP-caliber season for the Rams. The only question with him is health heading into his age-38 season. But, even with back issues and other injuries, Stafford has played in at least 15 games in each of the last three seasons.
There are varying opinions on Brock Purdy and Sam Darnold, but it feels like the former is closer to the Top 10 of quarterbacks, while the latter is just a bit behind after the best year of his career.
All three teams seem quite confident in their quarterbacks. For Purdy and Darnold, their respective teams could ask more of their quarterbacks following each team’s offseason moves (or losses).
Running Back
The 49ers lead the way here after another big campaign from Christian McCaffrey, especially as a pass-catcher.
Kyren Williams and Blake Corum continue to lead the backfield for Los Angeles. Both were fully healthy last year and Williams shored up his fumbling issues a bit(only two lost last year), while rushing for 1,252 yards on 4.8 yards per carry. Blake Corum was quite efficient as well, averaging over five yards per carry in a complementary role.
The big question here will be with the Seahawks, who lost Kenneth Walker III to the Kansas City Chiefs, while drafting Jadarian Price in the first round. Lead backup Zach Charbonnet could be out for a good portion of the 2026 season after his knee injury, so Price could be asked to carry a big load early in his career.
Wide Receiver
The Rams have the elite duo of Puka Nacua and Davante Adams still under contract, although they didn’t address that No. 3 receiver role.
San Francisco improved their receiver core by adding Mike Evans, while losing Jauan Jennings. But there are still major health concerns with a group that now includes Evans, Ricky Pearsall, and Christian Kirk leading the way. We’ll see if the 49ers get more production from that room after the wideouts struggled in 2025.
Seattle re-upped Rashid Shaheed on a three-year deal, keeping him paired with star Jaxon Smith-Njigba and Cooper Kupp. There’s probably the biggest disparity between the 49ers and the other two teams here.
Tight End
San Francisco hopes George Kittle will be back for Week 1, which would be...
