From Purdy to Rodgers: the most important people in the new NFL season
Last season’s version of this list did notfeature Brock Purdy (oops), was headlined by Trey Lance (double oops), and hit on Aaron Rodgers’ impending divorce from Green Bay (we’ll take it). Hopefully we do better this year (not guaranteed).
1) Brock Purdy, San Francisco 49ers
There were questions heading into the offseason over who would start for the Niners at quarterback. Brock Purdy was coming off elbow surgery and Trey Lance, who the team shelled out a number of draft picks to move up and select in the 2021 draft, is returning from an injury of his own. As an insurance policy, the Niners added Sam Darnold this offseason. Now it’s clear that Purdy is healthy and will be the starter. “Brock Purdy would have to melt in practice to lose the starting job,” 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan told Albert Breer this week.
Purdy was outstanding after taking control of the Niners’ offense last season, guiding the team to the NFC title game before his injury. He did what was asked of him: He played the role of distributor and showed just enough offbeat creativity to help elevate the Niners’ all-world offense.
The NFC is the league’s JV conference. The Niners and Philadelphia Eagles occupy a tier of their own, with the Dallas Cowboys a few steps behind. After that, there’s little sign that anyone can compete for the conference title. Purdy’s health – and play – will dictate whether the Niners can get back to the Super Bowl.
2)Robert Saleh, New York Jets
Aaron Rodgers’s move to New York has, understandably, dominated the conversation around the Jets over the offseason. There’s pressure on Rodgers, a chance to show it was those silly folk in Green Bay’s fault for past failings, not his. There’s pressure, most of all, on Robert Saleh.
Saleh has proven his credentials as a defensive architect, but what about as a program builder? What about running a team, and not just any old team, but a championship team? And what about running a championship team with a cantankerous 39-year-old at quarterback and an organization that has loserdom coursing through its veins?
How does he cope when the team lose back-to-back games? How does he keep a young roster grounded when they win four on the spin? What about when Sir Moans A Lot takes a shot at a teammate? What if there are early struggles on offense, or his defense falters out of the gate? For a young head coach, it’s a lot to juggle.
Recent championship coaches fall into four buckets: those who had reached the Super Bowl before, either winning or losing (Andy Reid; Sean McVay; Bill Belichick; Tom Coughlin); second-time head coaches with bags of experience (Pete Carroll; Gary Kubiak; Bruce Arians); coaches whose win was the end product of a team’s traditional cycle: getting close, losing, then coming back to win (John Harbaugh); and the outlier: Doug Pederson, author of the Eagles’ Super Bowl Cinderella run with Nick Foles at quarterback.
To win it all, Saleh will have to buck a trend. He doesn’t have the time to build in the traditional cycle. He doesn’t have the experience of Carroll or Arians or Kubiak; or the the most overwhelming roster in the league as