Teams I Expect to Bounce Back in The 2017 Season

Teams I Expect to Bounce Back in The 2017 Season

Robert Knuckles

With the draft over I’ve been waiting to make an article where I talk about the teams who I believe will bounce back in the 2017 season. Now what I mean bounce back it means that certain teams that came into the season were picked to go to the Super Bowl or make the playoff making the playoffs but didn’t do well but after this offseason and the draft I believe these teams will come back in the 2017 season.

1. Denver Broncos.

I want to start off with last year’s Super Bowl Champion. In 2015 the Denver Broncos were a force on the defensive side of the ball. They became the #1 defense in the NFL. Now Peyton Manning had a not so good season. This was the first time where Manning had a great defense. Denver’s defense would have Manning’s back if he struggled. This defense got Denver another Super Bowl ring but coming into the offseason had a couple worried. Manning retires and Brock Osweiler signed to the Texans so Denver didn’t have quarterback. They also lost Malik Jackson the biggest guy that could the stop the run. Now there were people that said Denver wouldn’t make the playoffs but I still believed that the defense would still get the job done.

In the 2016 draft they drafted QB Paxton Lynch who was believed to red shirted with Mark Sanchez believing to be the starter but couldn’t keep up with Lynch and Trevor Siemian.

In the 2016 season Trevor Siemian made his NFL debut this past season coming into his second year. Things seem to go well after the first four games but things started going on a roller coaster ride. Denver’s offensive line struggled, Siemian was only a rookie (well technical he wasn’t but it was his first NFL start so he had his ups and downs.) Denver’s Defense was still good being number one against the pass but they were bad against the run being ranked 28th. Losing Jackson proved that.

Heading into the 2017 season I believe that Denver will bounce back in 2017. Defense will still be there. They signed NT Domata Peko and DE Zach Kerr and LB Kasim Edebali in free agency to help them. They also drafted OT Garett Bolles in the 2017 draft and signed Guard Ronald Leary in free agency to help the offense line. Siemian and Lynch are young and have much to learn and I believe they’ll get better.

2. Carolina Panthers

Next is the team that faced last year’s Super Bowl Champion the Carolina Panthers. Cam Newton took the league by storm in 2015 but came up short in the Super Bowl. Coming into 2016 a lot of people picked Carolina to even go back to the Super Bowl especially with Cam getting his number one target back Kelvin Benjamin after missing the whole 2015 season with an ACL injury. But the 2016 wasn’t very friendly for Carolina. They went from 15-1 to 6-10 being last in the NFC South. Cam didn’t play very well, he was also taking lots of hits to the head, Josh Norman signed to the Redskins so that really hurt Carolina’s secondary but arguably the biggest thing was losing Luke Kuechly due to a concussion in the middle of the season.

Coming into 2016 I believe Carolina will be a tough team. They drafted RB Christian McCaffrey in the first round. I believe this is a huge weapon for the Panthers. This helps Cam with the running game especially with the type of offense that they run. Now granted his size might be a bit smaller than average running backs. McCaffrey has great speed and has good ball catching skills. McCaffrey can be used in the slot as well. I believe the defense will get back in form with the front seven especially with Kuechly returning. The offense line will get back in its 2015 form. So watch out for Carolina.

3. Arizona Cardinals

Another team that had huge potential coming into the 2016 season. In 2015 Arizona was a very well balanced team on both offense and defense, Carson Palmer had a great year but the team got destroyed in the NFC championship against the Panthers.

Entering the 2016 many people picked the Cardinals to go to the SuperBowl but that didn’t happen. Many people can say that the Cardinals season was in trouble after losing their first game to the Patriots without Tom Brady and Rob Gronkowski. The team went 7-8 and tied.

In the off season Cardinals lost DT Calais Campbell which was a huge lost but they drafted Temple linebacker Haason Reddick joining Bucannon and Chandler Jones. The linebacker core looks to be extremely dominant. They still have their offense with Palmer, David Johnson, Larry Fitzgerald and John Brown but i worry about the offensive line but knowing Arizona coach Bruce Arians he won’t have a losing season back to back.

4. Minnesota Vikings

The Minnesota Vikings were a field goal away from advancing to the Divisional round last year in the playoffs. During the offseason QB Teddy Bridgewater dislocated his knee and suffered a torn ACL injury that made him miss the 2016 season and will also miss the 2017 season. This made  the Vikings traded their first round to the Philadelphia Eagles for QB Sam Bradford which shocked the NFL.

Things seem to be going well for the Vikings after their 5-0 start but after their bye week it went downhill from there finishing the season 8-8. Many people say the Bradford experiment was a failure but I don’t think it was because Adrian Peterson went down in the second game which hurt the running game. The offensive line was depleted and receivers couldn't catch the ball. Despite Minnesota having a great defense the offense couldn’t get the job done.

In the 2017 draft the Vikings drafted RB Dalvin Cook in the second round. Vikings moved up just to get him so now they have a double running attack with Cook and Latavius Murray. Receivers do need to step up in the 2017 season but I believe the Vikings the running game will help them out and the defense will still do their thing.

5. Jacksonville Jaguars

Now this is a bit tricky for me. Blake Bortles had a pretty good 2015 season. He had  35 touchdowns passing for 4,428 yards. Coming into the 2016 I was one of those people that had high expectations. Bortles have great wide receivers in Allen Robinson and Allen Hurns. They also got RB Chris Ivory and DT Malik Jackson in free agency and drafted CB Jalen Ramsey. I picked the Jaguars to win the division and boy was I disappointed. Bortles didn’t have a great season to his standards with 23 touchdowns, 16 interceptions passing for 3,905 yards in 2016. Ivory had rough season after having a great season with the Jets last year. Ivory rushed for 439 yards which was also due to injury but he also didn’t play well. The Jaguars finished the season 3-13.

In free agency you can make the argument that they won by getting DT Calais Campbell from Arizona, CB A.J. Bouye from the Texans and safety Barry Church from the Cowboys. They drafted LSU running back Leonard Fournette which will take a huge load off Bortles. Tom Coughlin is vice president of football operations and he's done a great job in the free agency.

With all these weapons I would be shocked if this doesn’t make the playoffs in 2017. There is so much talent on this roster. I just can’t see this team fail. Now it all starts on Bortles. I want to give him one more chance with new coach Doug Marrone. If Bortles doesn’t do well in 2017 he’s most likely out.