ESPN NFL

Posted by ESPN.com's Mike Sando

Matt Williamson of Scouts Inc. likes the Seahawks' chances in the NFC West because he thinks there's no way injuries will strike Seattle as hard this season. He ranked the defending NFC champion Cardinals 12th, one spot below Seattle, because he thinks the Cardinals were unusually healthy last season.

Williamson: I don't love the chances of Kurt Warner playing 16 games. I almost give Matt Hasselbeck a better chance of playing 16. The Seahawks and Cardinals are sort of the opposite. Seattle got crushed by injuries last season. With Arizona, besides Anquan Boldin, who really got hurt on that team? The offensive line was intact all year. I don't know if those things can repeat themselves.

Beanie Wells was a nice pickup, but is he a great fit there? He's a big back, but he doesn't run like a big back. He is not a big Russ Grimm, Ken Whisenhunt, Steelers-type guy. I think he is questionable in protection, has questionable hands, limited experience in the passing game and is not a good route-runner. He was too good to pass up as a runner. If they are going to throw a high percentage, I don't know how effective he'll be.

If they are going to pound it out, and you look at their moves ... big offensive linemen, Herman Johnson from LSU ... deep down, Whisenhunt and Grimm want to be a run-first team. But they have Larry Fitzgerald and Boldin. Wells is not another Jerome Bettis. He is not going to move the pile consistently.

Defenseively, I like them. Their secondary is excellent and vastly improved. Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie is a year older. Antrel Rolle will have another year at safety. The Bryant McFadden pickup went under the radar, but he will really help them.

In the front seven, no one really distinguishes himself. Karlos Dansby and Darnell Dockett are good. I would like for them to get an edge rusher.

One thing I noticed in updating projected starting lineups for all 32 teams this week: Based on those projections, the Cardinals would have the oldest backups in the league on average.

Age breakdowns are a little skewed this time of year because some teams are carrying more rookie free agents than other teams. But based on the same lineup projections, which placed Gabe Watson in the lineup ahead of 34-year-old Bryan Robinson and Dan Kreider, 32, in the lineup at fullback, the Cardinals had six backups in their 30s. That was nearly double the NFL average (3.4) and fourth-most in the league behind the Saints (12), Browns (9) and Patriots (8). Special-teams players did not count in the calculations.

This isn't necessarily a bad thing for Arizona. Veteran backups such as Ralph Brown and Bertrand Berry helped the team reach Super Bowl XLIII. I would rather have Berry on my team than a 25-year-old without his skills. But if older players are more vulnerable to injuries and the Cardinals were indeed fortunate last season, Williamson could be on the right track.