This was one of the easiest decisions. I considered Patrick Peterson, but it is obvious that Larry Fitzgerald is the most irreplaceable player for the Arizona Cardinals. He did have a bit of a down year last season, but with so few options on the Arizona offense, teams swarm Fitzgerald making it tough for him to produce. All the attention being paid to Fitzgerald allows the Arizona offense to make plays even without their star WR catching a lot of passes.
The Atlanta Falcons have many offensive weapons. Julio Jones, Roddy White, Tony Gonzalez and the newly acquired Steven Jackson give quarterback Matt Ryan plenty of options to go to. If one of these guys get injured, it hurts but Ryan still has other great options. If Ryan goes down, the Falcons do not have anybody to get the ball to their playmakers as well as he does.
The Baltimore Ravens sure did pay Joe Flacco like he is irreplaceable, giving him a six-year, $120.6 million contract this offseason. While there were many players who helped the Ravens to their improbable Super Bowl run, nobody was as important than Flacco. This guy really stepped his game up and led his team to the promise land.
C.J. Spiller is a very dynamic player, as we started to see last season. Spiller is about to enter his fourth season with the Buffalo Bills. Last year was the first time we really saw Spiller unleashed and he did not disappoint, showing off his special athletic ability. Spiller should continue to get opportunity in Buffalo this season and prove that he is an irreplaceable member of the Bills.
Cam Newton is the Carolina Panthers franchise right now. With a healthy Newton, the Panthers could possibly surprise and make a run for the playoffs. Without Newton, I am not sure that they would win one game.
It was tough for me to pick the most irreplaceable player for the Chicago Bears. You could make strong arguments for Lance Briggs, Brandon Marshall and Julius Peppers. All of these guys are very important when it comes to the success of the 2013 Bears. However, Jay Cutler is the pick for me. I understand that he has not had the greatest career, but he is a legitimate NFL QB, and the QB is the most important position in the game. If they lose him, they simply do not have a chance in such a tough division.
I definitely considered Andy Dalton here but I think A.J. Green is more important to the Cincinnati Bengals. Not only does he consistently put up great numbers, he opens up the rest of the field for the other players on the Bengals and makes Dalton's job much easier.
I almost chose running back Trent Richardson as the most irreplaceable member of the Cleveland Browns. As I said earlier, running backs are fairly easy to replace. While I do think that Richardson is a great talent, Joe Thomas is a proven elite left tackle, which is a much harder position to fill. Thomas helps make Richardson as good as he is, and protects Brandon Weeden, or whoever the Browns start at QB, as well as anybody in football.
I considered Tony Romo, but I think that DeMarcus Ware is the most irreplaceable player for the Dallas Cowboys. When he is 100%, Ware is simply dominant. He uses a great power and speed combination to constantly put pressure on the quarterback.
When it is all said and done, Peyton Manning will go down as one of the greatest quarterbacks of all time. There is nobody on the Denver Broncos that even compares to the irreplaceability of Manning. With him, they are obvious Super Bowl contenders. Without him, they probably do not make the playoffs.
You could argue Matthew Stafford as the most irreplaceable player of the Detroit Lions, but I think the answer is Calvin Johnson. He is a freak. Johnson is hands down the best wide receiver in the game today. I think he makes a run at greatest of all time before it is all said and done. He has an outstanding combination of size and speed that we have not seen before.
While the Green Bay Packers' defense struggles mightily when Clay Matthews goes down with injury, the obvious choice here is Aaron Rodgers. He is probably the best quarterback currently in the game, and as I said before QB is the most important position in the NFL.
J.J. Watt is an absolute monster. He can rush the passer and stop the run as well as any player in the league. He also has the uncanny ability to knock down passes at the line of scrimmage. The Houston Texans have a great defense, but if Watt were to go down, I think it is an average defense.
Do not get me wrong, Andrew Luck has extremely impressive on the field skills. That is not what impresses me the most about the young Indianapolis Colts quarterback. He has a relentless drive to learn as much as he can and is a great leader. If the Colts were to lose Luck, they would not only lose their best player at the most important position, they would lose their leader.
There were some slim pickings for the Jacksonville Jaguars' most irreplaceable player. The only guy that I could justify using was Maurice Jones-Drew. MJD missed most of 2012 due to injury, and we saw how irreplaceable he really is as the Jaguars went 2-14. Jones-Drew returns healthy for the 2013 season and should give the Jaguars a nice spark offensively.
The Kansas City Chiefs went 2-14 as well last season. When looking at the Chiefs roster, there is way too much talent there for them to be so bad. In my eyes, the problems came down to one position, quarterback. As I have said before, QB is the most important position in the game and the Chiefs struggled mightily there last season with Matt Cassel and Brady Quinn. They traded for Alex Smith this offseason in hopes he could turn things around at the position. Smith was very good at times with the San Francisco 49ers, and I think is a huge upgrade. With the returning talent and the addition of Smith, I think the Chiefs will see a rapid turn around this season.
You could argue that Ryan Tannehill is the most irreplaceable player for the Miami Dolphins. I am not yet sold on the young QB, so I decided to go with Cameron Wake. In his first four NFL seasons, Wake has had a combined sack total of 43, including a career high of 15 last season. He is the best player on a very underrated defense. Wake is a great young talent with a bright future ahead of him.
I strongly believe that the running back position is extremely replaceable. That being said, Adrian Peterson of the Minnesota Vikings is an all-world talent. He recovered way ahead of schedule last season from a torn ACL, and returned to play the whole year. He rushed for 2,097 yards, which is only 8 yards behind Eric Dickerson's all-time record. This guy is a freak, and even though I think most running backs are completely replaceable, Peterson is an obvious exception.
This was a hard one for me. When it comes to the New England Patriots, I think it comes down to two guys. Quarterback Tom Brady and tight end Rob Gronkowski. Gronkowski has missed a lot of time due to injury the past couple of seasons. His injuries have occurred at the worst possible times for New England, at the end of the regular season and playoffs. During this time, it has been obvious that Gronkowski is irreplaceable, but it is hard for me to think he is more irreplaceable than Brady. Without Brady, this team would probably get by, but they would not be on the same level. He is one of the all time greats, and you simply do not replace that kind of player.
Drew Brees has been one of the best players in the NFL since he joined the New Orleans Saints. There is no arguing that he is the most important player for the Saints. I believe Brees will also go down as one of the all-time great quarterbacks. With head coach Sean Payton returning, I see a great season ahead for Brees and the Saints.
Eli Manning is in one word, clutch. He simply plays better when the game is on the line. He may not put up the amazing stats like Brady, Brees and his brother Peyton, but he is a winner. You cannot replace that.
Considering the lack of talent on the New York Jets, this was a pretty easy decision. While he can be inconsistent at times, when he is on his game Antonio Cromartie is a lock-down corner. He is very athletic and uses his athleticism to make some incredible plays. The Jets felt safe enough with Cromartie to justify trading Darrell Revis this offseason. With the departure of Revis, Cromartie is even more important to the Jets.
Because of the lack of options on the Oakland Raiders, I decided on Darren McFadden. He is an elite talent when healthy, the problem is, he is rarely healthy. If McFadden can stay on the field for a full season, I think he could put up incredible numbers. With his great combination of speed and strength, McFadden is a tough player to catch and even tougher to bring down.
LeSean McCoy is a very special talent. He has amazing quickness and agility. He fits in perfectly with new Philadelphia Eagles' Head Coach Chip Kelly. Kelly used players exactly like McCoy extremely well while coaching at the University of Oregon. While Bryce Brown showed flashes last season, nobody fits Kelly's offense like McCoy, making him irreplaceable for the Eagles.
Ben Roethlisberger is one of the most successful quarterbacks currently in the game. He has led the Pittsburgh Steelers to two Super Bowl victories in his short career. He may not light up the stat sheet like other guys but he is always solid, and seems to step his game up when needed the most. Roethlisberger is also the clear leader of the team. Without Big Ben, the Steelers would not be competitive this coming season.
For lack of a better option, I decided to go with Phillip Rivers as the most irreplaceable player of the San Diego Chargers. Personally, I have never been a huge fan of Rivers, but he has put together a solid NFL career. With not much talent surrounding him, I decided on Rivers because he plays the most important position in the game and has done so at a decent level for years.
The 49ers might be a run-first team, but that does not make their quarterback Colin Kaepernick less important. Kaepenick is one of the best running quarterbacks in the NFL. That being said, do not sleep on him as a passer because he is deadly there as well. I considered Frank Gore, but the 49ers have so many good options at RB, I think they would be fine without Gore. I also considered Patrick Willis but that defense is so good, and so deep, that I think they would be just fine without their star middle linebacker. When it comes down to it, Kaepernick is the piece that puts them over the top.
The Seattle Seahawks are stacked. Defensively, they are one of the best units in the league. On offense guys like Marshawn Lynch and newly acquired Percy Harvin make defenses cringe. In order for this all to come together, quarterback Russell Wilson will have to continue on his amazing rookie season. Wilson was very impressive last season and I think has a very bright future in the league. Also, he is a born leader and that is very hard to replace. With Wilson, I think Seattle is arguably the best team in the league, without him, they would still be solid, but they would not be even close to the "best team" discussion.
When it comes to the St. Louis Rams, I strongly considered Sam Bradford as the most irreplaceable player. Even though Bradford has not been that impressive in his short NFL career, I think the future is bright for him. On the other side of the ball, the Rams have a guy who has a bright future and has been impressive in the NFL. Even though he is a great pass rusher (42 sacks in 5 seasons) that is not all that Chris Long does. He is also very effective against the run, allowing his linebackers to make a ton of tackles while he swallows up blockers. Long is also the emotional leader for the Rams. Without Long, I think the Rams defense, which is very underrated, would suffer immensely.
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers filled the biggest need on their team when they traded for Revis. Last season the Bucs struggled mightily against the pass. Revis is considered by many to be the best corner in the NFL. If he can make a successful return from injury, he will take the Bucs defense to another level.
Michael Roos has been the starting left tackle for the Tennessee Titans for the last eight seasons. He has always been very solid. Roos has been a three time All-Pro selection (2008, 2009 and 2011). It would be very hard to replace such a solid left tackle. If Roos were to go down, that would be a glaring hole that would effect the entire offense.
Robert Griffin III burst on to the scene in 2012 with an impressive Rookie of the Year season. The Washington Redskins gave up a ton in order to trade up for the star QB out of Baylor. Even though fellow rookie Kirk Cousins filled in admirably in his absence, RGIII is no doubt the most important player for Washington. He simply takes this team to another level. He is known as an explosive runner, but I think he is very underrated as a passer. This guy would make it in the NFL without his wheels. He is an elite passer and elite runner, that combination of skills does not come around very often.
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