Can you feel it? Can you smell it? The NFL season begins in just one day, and there’s plenty to be excited about as we prepare for kickoff. In this Four Verts column, we’ll focus on four storylines central to the season.

Dallas could be OK at least for this season

Once again, the Cowboys were the talk of the offseason. They hesitated on a contract extension for superstar wide receiver CeeDee Lamb, but ultimately rewarded him with the market-rate extension he was hoping for. With the contracts for Dak Prescott and Micah Parsons apparently set to expire after the season, the Cowboys’ 2024 roster is set. Now that the dust has settled and the financial hysteria for the regular season can be calmed, the Cowboys can focus on getting back into the playoffs (and actually winning a game this time). Let’s face it: This is still a damn good roster, capable of at least winning the NFC East.

Prescott, Lamb, and Parsons are an elite trio that the Cowboys can build their team around. Those three alone would make them a tough prospect in almost any game. Lamb and Parsons are two of the truly best players at their positions, while Prescott just finished a season where he finished second in the MVP voting. Aside from them, this team has just enough depth to win a fair amount of games, especially with the encouraging performance of their rookie offensive linemen during the preseason.

If left tackle Tyler Guyton and center Cooper Beebe are just average from the start, this team should once again have one of the best offenses in the league. Tyler Smith, who is in his third year as a pro, and future Hall of Famer Zack Martin are already considered two of the best guards in the league. Anything they get from their rookie offensive linemen is just icing on the cake. They’ll need that group to be strong with a shaky running back room behind them, but quarterback, offensive line and CeeDee Lamb will give the Cowboys a formidable offense on their own.

The defense is an interesting dilemma. Defensive coordinator Mike Zimmer is in town to replace Dan Quinn, who was hired to run the Commanders, which could be an improvement. Zimmer was known as one of the NFL’s best defensive coaches this century, but he was out of the league for a couple of years after being fired by the Vikings. If he still has the muscle as a defensive playmaker, Dallas’ defense could actually be a bit better than it was a year ago. Getting Trevon Diggs back would be a big boost for a defense that already had a strong cornerback last season in DaRon Bland, although Bland is out 6-8 weeks due to injury to start this game.

Everything should be fine in Dallas for at least 2024. Things only get shaky after that. Lamb has a contract for the foreseeable future, but Prescott is set to become an unrestricted free agent with a “no tag” clause, meaning the Cowboys can’t do anything to stop him from becoming a free agent. That’s going to be a pretty big deal soon, but that’s a problem for later. For now, the Cowboys’ plan to be a competitive team in 2024 looks like a reasonable accomplishment.

What does the second year look like for Bryce Young?

OK, let’s try again. Bryce Young had a miserable rookie season after the Panthers signed him, leading them to a 2-15 record and one of the weakest supporting teams in the game. It was a terrible situation for Young’s rookie year, but the results are the results. Frank Reich didn’t even last his first season as the Panthers’ head coach; it was that bad. Now Dave Canales is at the helm as the Panthers’ third head coach in the last three years and faces a hard Task before him.

As everyone knows, the Panthers traded the first pick to the Bears, depriving them of an incredibly valuable talent that could help them rebuild. However, the offense was able to get an infusion of talent in the offseason with the signing of offensive guards Robert Hunt and Damien Lewis, the trade for wide receiver Diontae Johnson, the signing of wide receiver Xavier Legette, and a draft pick for running back Jonathon Brooks. The new additions may not pay off immediately, but the experienced additions should at least help stabilize this offense and keep it from becoming the worst in the league.

To say that this offense will be good or even average is perhaps an exaggeration. However, you could Only There is now enough talent that the new team can properly assess Young’s chances of developing into a franchise quarterback. The glimpses of sustainable quarterback play have been few and far between, but that can easily be attributed to his situation. This year, he at least has a chance to play in something resembling an NFL offense.

The Panthers still have a long way to go before they’re feared, but that wasn’t a reasonable expectation this year. They tried to sign Young in year one, with disastrous results, but year two should at least give them a clearer picture of whether they need a new quarterback in the next NFL Draft.

Rams defense after Aaron Donald could be tough

That’s pretty clear. The Rams lost the game’s best defensive tackle, who held together a talent-less defense for the past few years. They made some good additions, like defensive tackle Kobie Turner and edge rusher Byron Young, but we haven’t really seen what that would look like without AD99 under center, causing chaos and nightmares for opposing offensive lines.

This is a real makeover for the Rams’ defense. Turner and Young are in their second year and are joined on the front line by Florida State rookies Braden Fiske and Jared Verse. In fact, their entire front seven, aside from veteran linebacker Troy Reeder, is very young. Growing pains are to be expected – especially with defensive coordinator Raheem Morris taking over as head coach with the Atlanta Falcons. Chris Shula, the grandson of the legendary Don Shula, was promoted from linebackers coach to defensive coordinator, but still deserves some leniency as a first-time defensive coordinator.

That’s the formula for a defense that will likely struggle a lot this year as they get used to not having a black hole in the middle. I’m not saying everyone on that defense is a failure, but it’s hard to lose that kind of presence and just keep going like nothing is lost. There will be an adjustment period and they may struggle through it.

The good thing is that the Rams should still have an elite or near-elite offense to lift them up and get them over the line while this young defense hogs that side of the ball. Bringing veteran cornerback Tre’Davious White to the roster will help from a communications standpoint, but the performance of this defense will be dictated by its young players. If they can get things together quickly, they could challenge the 49ers for the NFC West crown. If not, this will just be another entertaining team that poses no real threat in January.

Can anyone snatch the AFC North from the Ravens?

The Ravens are fresh off a heartbreaking loss in the AFC Championship game at home, but expectations for this season haven’t changed at all. This team is still good enough to win the Super Bowl, assuming they make it there. The defense is still intact from last season, Lamar Jackson and Derrick Henry are in town, and they may have more S-tier players than any other team. This should still be considered one of the best rosters in the NFL, but the AFC North is one of the best divisions in the league and will make their return to the top of the division difficult.

Cincinnati appears to have the best chance of ousting the Ravens. Joe Burrow will return to play quarterback this year after missing much of last year due to injury. Ja’Marr Chase still has an unsettled contract, but it’s unlikely he’ll miss so much time that he’ll actually be out well into the regular season. Burrow, Chase, and Tee Higgins still make up one of the best offensive trios in the game. The offensive line is in transition, but the potential is high if first-round pick Amarius Mims can stay healthy and on the field. The defense is a concern, but the projected offensive output should be enough to keep the Bengals competitive within the division.

Pittsburgh probably just isn’t good enough to actually compete for the AFC North crown, even though they did beat the Ravens last season. Mike Tomlin teams will always be tough and win games they shouldn’t win, but where is the offensive force that will consistently threaten other teams over the course of a season? George Pickens has a ways to go before he can be a true No. 1 wide receiver, and there isn’t much else besides him. Maybe this team can be a formidable offensive unit if their rookie offensive linemen take off, but that’s asking a lot. This team has nice talent up top with players like TJ Watt and Minkah Fitzpatrick, but the rest of the roster has very little depth.

Cleveland is the wild card here. Their defense is just as good as Baltimore’s, with some metrics favoring the Browns’ defense’s performance last year over the Ravens’. Their defense will almost certainly be a solid unit again, but the offense is what people care about. Deshaun Watson is simply one of the worst quarterbacks in football since the Browns traded three first-round picks for him and gave him a fully guaranteed $230 million contract. If that doesn’t change, the Browns will definitely fall short of their goals this year. It’s been four years since Watson even remotely resembled a franchise quarterback, so it could just be that. The defense will still make them incredibly difficult to beat, but they might not score enough.

Baltimore realistically needs to beat Cincinnati and Cleveland to have a chance of defending the AFC North championship title, but they still have the best chance in the division. Tracking Watson’s lifelines, Burrow’s health and Chase’s contract will be critical for the Ravens and anyone who believes they can win the division.