Richard Seymour: A Valuable Free Agent Addition in Today’s NFL

Richard Seymour should have the pick of many teams after June 1st.

It is often noted that today’s NFL is a passing league. With eight of the top 10 seasons for individual passing yards coming in the last five years, it’s impossible to argue against that claim. However, even though it is a passing league and offenses need to have a good quarterback to win games, balance on both sides of the ball is as important as ever.

When you look at the final four teams who competed for this year’s Super Bowl, each were able to run and pass the ball with different approaches. The New England Patriots unbalanced defenses with their plethora of weapons, the Baltimore Ravens have a pair of excellent running-backs and a strong offensive line, the San Francisco 49ers had the best offensive line in the league and a stable of runners in various forms and the Atlanta Falcons used their passing threat to set up the running game.

Yet, ultimately the two teams who made the Super Bowl are considered defense-first units. Led by Justin Smith and Haloti Ngata, the Ravens and 49ers ranked 12th and second in the league in points allowed during the regular season respectively. Smith and Ngata are singled out for very important reasons. Ngata wasn’t fully healthy during the regular season, which was a big reason that the Ravens fell to 12th overall in points allowed per game, while Smith wasn’t healthy in the post-season, when the 49ers’ defensive output dropped notably compared to when he was 100 percent.

Ed Reed’s Health Pivotal For Houston Texans’ 2013 Success

Ed Reed needs to be healthy for Houston Texans in 2013

Gary Kubiak let it be known today that newly signed Houston Texans’ safety Ed Reed had undergone an unexpected hip surgery this off-season after signing with the franchise in free agency. Reed was a key part of the Baltimore Ravens’ Super Bowl winning team in 2012, but played through the whole season with a torn labrum.

Reed’s torn labrum made him a liability as a tackler, while his somewhat diminishing skills at 34 years of age are slowing him down slightly.

Of course, when you slow down one of the smartest safeties in the history of the game who will ultimately be a hall-of-fame inductee because of his ability to create turnovers, you’re still going to be fast enough to be a difference-maker for a championship caliber roster. Reed has the potential to be exactly that in Houston.

The Texans have made the playoffs twice in the past two seasons, but they have fallen short of the AFC championship game on both occasions. Last year their biggest issue on offense was the lack of a second receiving threat or a Plan B when their original gameplan was curtailed. The addition of DeAndre Hopkins gives them that second receiver, while DeVier Posey, Lestar Jean and Keshawn Martin will be looked to in their second seasons to provide that depth and dynamism in the gameplan.

Defensively, the Texans were led by JJ Watt and had another fine season. However, injuries once again caught up to them and they were unable to impose their will on the New England Patriots when they needed to most. The loss of Brian Cushing to a torn ACL early on in the season was massive, while Jonathan Joseph was notably limited at times during the season. Having Joseph and Cushing back at 100 percent will have a major impact on what Reed can do as a roaming free safety.

Each AFC North Team’s Greatest Weakness After the NFL Draft and Free Agency

Who does the carrying in Cincinnati?

Now that the bulk of free agency and the draft is over, each one of the 32 NFL teams are beginning to take shape for the 2013 Regular Season. Although there will be reasons for every teams’ fan-base to be excited, this is also the time of the year when weaknesses on each roster finally come into focus.

In an eight part-series, I am going to try to identify and inform you about every NFL team’s weakness division-by-division. To kick things off, we go to the home of the current Super Bowl champions, the AFC North.

Analyzing the Flexibility of the Baltimore Ravens’ Re-Tooled Defense

Lardarius Webb needs to come out of the shadows for the Baltimore Ravens in 2013.

Nothing ever stays the same. Nothing in life or in football. The Baltimore Ravens learned that the hard way this off-season.

After figuring out the formula to winning a Super Bowl with Joe Flacco as his quarterback, Ravens’ general manager Ozzie Newsome was pushed into rebuilding his roster this off-season. Immediately after he lifted his second Super Bowl, Ray Lewis’ career came to a close. Lewis’ long-time partner in leading the Ravens’ defense, Ed Reed, followed his inside linebacker out the door in free agency.

Lewis and Reed were the two most recognizable names leaving the roster, but joining them were key pieces such of the Super Bowl run such as Paul Kruger, Dannell Ellerbe, Cary Williams and Bernard Pollard. Not to mention Matt Birk, Bryant McKinnie and Anquan Boldin on the offensive side of the ball. Each of those losses were compounded by the losses of key members of the roster in 2012, Ben Grubbs, Cory Redding, Jarrett Johnson, Lee Evans and Ricky Williams.

In just two years, the Ravens’ roster has gone through some serious surgical subtractions.

Of course, Newsome would never accept those subtractions without making significant moves to fill them in with quality replacements. The offensive side of the ball brought in younger, unproven players to replace the departed veterans, but on the defensive side is where Newsome showed off his creativity.

NFL Draft 2013: Best Landing Spots For Each Style of Prospect

Where would strong-armed quarterback Tyler Wilson prefer to be?

At this stage of the draft process, every single prospect is starting to let his mind wonder about where this portion of his life is going to project his career. Who will take him in the draft and allow him to wear their jersey?

Undoubtedly each prospect will have their personal preferences, but since it’s impossible to ask every single one and get an honest answer, I instead decided to look through the different styles of players available and where they would likely be best fit for their careers.