NFL Key Performance Indicators: NFC West

Every spring, every NFL team looks to get better: they draft rookies, they sign free agents, they let underperforming players go. But when teams aren't being put to the test against each other, how can we know if they're really improving? Throughout July, VICE Sports will be identifying Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) for each squad: the things fans should be watching in August for hints about how their teams might perform come kickoff time.

Hoo boy.

When Chip Kelly took over as head coach of the 49ers, two of the NFL's biggest drama bombs merged into one giant mushroom cloud. Now we still aren't quite sure who's calling the shots in San Francisco, Blaine Gabbert is rumored to be starting, and the dynastic squad Jim Harbaugh built just a few years ago has been utterly dismantled.

When the 49ers open camp, there will be far more questions than answers—but VICE Sports can at least identify which questions are most crucial to the 49ers' success this year.

• Martin Mashing: When the 49ers drafted center Marcus Martin in the third round of the 2014 draft, he was supposed to lead the youth movement for a powerful but aging offensive line. A preseason injury torpedoed much of his rookie season, and he struggled mightily in 2015. Martin may start camp behind the injury-prone Daniel Kilgore, but if he can recover the form he consistently showed at USC, he'll greatly improve interior protection for whoever is under center.

• Young Receivers Standing Out: With Anquan Boldin reportedly gone to Detroit, Torrey Smith is the unquestioned No. 1 receiver. After that, things are very murky. 2014 fourth-round pick Bruce Ellington seems ready to take a step forward, or at least to hold steady while 2013 fourth-round pick Quinton Patton continues to slide behind him. Jerome Simpson could flip his way into a role, as could CFL standout Eric Rogers. For all the potential, though, there's no one behind Smith with any proven NFL ability. At least one of these receivers will have to light it up in camp if the 49ers are going to improve on last season's dead-last ranking in scoring offense.

• Garnett Setting the Tone: It's almost impossible to overstate how much strong run-blocking means for the success of a Chip Kelly offense. In order for an offense that relies on winning a numbers game to work, linemen must have the agility get to the assignment, and the strength to win that one-on-one matchup. Zane Beadles may or may not be an improvement over the aging Alex Boone (who left for the Vikings) on the left side, but first-round pick Josh Garnett absolutely has to step in and solidify the line. That, in turn, will make the center's job much easier. With tailback Carlos Hyde likely powering the offense, Garnett will have to prove he can power the line.

• Chip's Down?: Even more important than which of the 49ers' big, athletic quarterbacks starts the season will be how much Kelly has learned from his failures in Philadelphia. Does he seem to be working well with others? Or does he still assume he's the smartest person in the room?

The perennially middling Rams have moved from the middle of the country to bathe in the limelight (and suffer the scrutiny) of the Los Angeles media market. It's only fitting that VICE Sports reached out to Vincent Bonsignore, the Los Angeles Daily News' Rams columnist, for the KPIs he'll be watching as the Rams open camp.

• They Went with Jared: "Of course," Bonsignore said, "all eyes will be on Jared Goff and his development." Given the resources the Rams spent to acquire the No. 1 overall pick to draft him, how quickly newly promoted offensive coordinator Rob Boras gets Goff gets up to speed—and up to the top of the depth chart—will be critical.

• God Bless You Please, Mr. Robinson: "The Rams have spent a lot of pick value on the offensive line," Bonsignore said, and 2014 No. 2 overall pick Greg Robinson will be under a lot of pressure to perform better than he has to date. With Goff now in the fold, protecting the quarterback will be at least as important as opening holes for Pro Bowl tailback Todd Gurley. Robinson and his cohort will have to show some dramatic improvement if the Rams are to avoid repeating last season's anemic scoring production, which ranked 29th in the league.

• Capital Gaines: The Rams already lost one top cornerback, Janoris Jenkins, to free agency; the other, Trumaine Johnson, is playing on the franchise tag after negotiations on a long-term deal went nowhere. That puts 2014 sixth-round pick E.J. Gaines in a pressure situation coming off a Lisfranc injury—but Bonsignore believes Gaines has the talent to deliver. "People forget," said Bonsingore, "E.J. Gaines was competing with Trumaine Johnson for a starting job when he suffered the injury." If Gaines is fully healthy and at the top of his game when camp opens, the Rams may not miss Jenkins at all.

For almost any other franchise (or any other era of this franchise), a 10-win season with a playoff berth would be considered successful. For a team coming off back-to-back Super Bowl appearances, it was a stinging disappointment.

The Seahawks boasted the league's No. 1 scoring defense and No. 4 scoring offense, yet finished three games out of first place, only made it out of Minnesota on sheer luck, and got waxed by the Carolina Panthers. Prized new offensive weapon Jimmy Graham was a disappointment and then got injured, their hallmark early-season struggles lingered all the way into November, and they still couldn't beat the struggling Rams.

With little immediate help in the draft, the Seahawks are going to be fundamentally the same excellent team they've been for the past several years. Will they get better results this season than last?

• When Will Graham Be Ready?: Patellar tendon tears are notoriously difficult to recover from. The Seahawks expect Graham to be ready for the start of the season, per Geoffrey C. Arnold of The Oregonian; if that's the case he'll almost certainly have to get on the field at some point during camp. The earlier that is, and the better he looks, the more chances he'll have to finally get on the same page as quarterback Russell Wilson.

• Lockett Up: Tyler Lockett garnered a lot of attention, and a Pro Bowl nod, as a rookie returner last season. Per Sheil Kapadia of ESPN.com, head coach Pete Carroll is "really pumped" about Lockett's growth, and the speedster will be "right in the middle" of all their offensive plans, moving all over the field. That kind of physical mismatch and big-play threat is exactly what the Seahawks have missed for years; if Lockett's play during camp matches up with the hype, that's huge for the Seattle offense.

• Youngsters in the Trenches: The Seahawks' first-round reach for massive offensive lineman Germain Ifedi caused a lot of draftniks to scratch their heads; he'll need to solidify the right guard spot after the departure of J.R. Sweezy. The free-agent addition of even-more-massive J'Marcus Webb at right tackle lets third-year undrafted free agent Garry Gilliam replace Russell Okung at left tackle. That's a big ask: Gilliam was Pro Football Focus' 63rd-rated tackle out of 77 qualifiers last season, while Okung was 31st. Ifedi and Gilliam had better show well in camp early if still-healing tailback Thomas Rawls is going to have a shot to replace Marshawn Lynch's production.

The Cardinals are coming off a glorious 13-3 season, the winningest in franchise history. A healthy Carson Palmer finished what he started in 2014, playing the entire 2015 season at a career-best level. When Palmer threw the overtime touchdown pass that advanced the Cardinals to the NFC Championship Game, it felt as though Palmer was ready to lead the Cardinals to their second Super Bowl berth—and, maybe, their first win.

Instead, Palmer had a four-interception nightmare against the Carolina Panthers, and a charmed season ended in curses for the second year in a row. Have the Cardinals gained enough positive momentum this spring to carry them all the way to February?

• Northern Exposure: David Johnson, the Northern Iowa product and breakout superstar of VICE Sports' "ICYMI" series, should be featured even more as part of the Cardinals offense in 2016. Veteran Chris Johnson's late-season injury accelerated the rookie's ascent into the starting role; whether the elder Johnson can re-establish himself over the younger is a question that will be settled in camp. David has the home-run ability that used to be Chris's hallmark, and he is a far better pass-catcher than Chris has ever been. Though no NFL back is truly an every-down back anymore, Cardinals fans should be watching in the hopes that their sophomore tailback takes another big step forward.

• Branch Office: The Cardinals are one of the NFL's most forward-thinking franchises when it comes to positional flexibility, but the ACL rehab of Tyrann Mathieu, a star at multiple spots on the field, may limit their ability to be creative. Safety Tyvon Branch, signed as a free agent after a renaissance season in Kansas City, will likely be starting alongside Tony Jefferson when camp opens. Branch averaged an interception, five passes defensed, two sacks, and 83 tackles over three seasons as an every-game starter for the Oakland Raiders (2009-2011); he'll need to flash some of that form early to ease fans' fears while Mathieu heals.

• Here Comes the Boehm: Though veteran A.Q. Shipley is a good guy and a good story, he's best maintaining his current role as a valuable swing lineman, not anchoring the line for one of the league's best offenses. Asking fourth-round rookie Evan Boehm to step in and run with the ones is a big ask; he'll have to quickly master the calls and protections (while also learning how to block NFL linemen).

• What about Bob?: The Cardinals needed 35-year-old defensive end Dwight Freeney to come in and give them eight sacks last year (which, remarkably, he did), but neither he, nor LaMarr Woodley, nor Jason Babin have been re-signed, so Robert Nkemdiche—one of the biggest stories in this year's draft—will be expected to step in and immediately get after the quarterback. How well he does against the Cardinals' ever-improving line will be a great early indicator.

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