NFC Midseason Projections
NFC Midseason Projections

The second half of the NFL season gets underway this week. Here's a look at the top NFC players so far this season and what we project for the rest of the season

ARIZONA

QB CARSON PALMER leads the NFC with 20 touchdown passes and is on pace to set the club's single-season mark currently held by Kurt Warner (30 in 2008). Palmer also leads the conference with a 110.2 passer rating, which would be the best single-season mark in club history (Warner, 96.9 in 2008)

RB CHRIS JOHNSON has four 100-yard rushing games and can challenge Ottis Anderson's single-season team record of nine set in 1979

WR LARRY FITZGERALD has seven receiving touchdowns and looks to pass Sonny Randle's single-season club record of 15 set in 1960. Fitzgerald has 706 receiving yards and is on track for his seventh career 1,000-yard season, the most in franchise history

S RASHAD JOHNSON has four interceptions and can be the first Cardinal with 10 interceptions in a season since Pro Football Hall of Famer Larry Wilson (10) in 1966.

ATLANTA

RB DEVONTA FREEMAN leads the NFL with 1,141 scrimmage yards and 11 touchdowns. Freeman is aiming to set single-season franchise records in both categories held by William Andrews (2,176 scrimmage yards set in 1983) and Michael Turner (17 touchdowns set in 2008)

WR JULIO JONES leads the NFL with 80 receptions and can challenge the NFL single-season record held by Marvin Harrison (143 in 2002). Jones needs 50 catches to join Harrison as the only players with 130 receptions in a season. Jones is on pace for 1,829 receiving yards, which would surpass the team record he set last season (1,593)

QB MATT RYAN is on track for 4,803 passing yards, which would be the most in team history. He currently holds the club mark of 4,719 yards set in 2012 and owns the top four passing yardage seasons in team history.

CAROLINA

The Panthers are 8-0 for the first time in franchise history

QB CAM NEWTON has 1,820 passing yards and 343 rushing yards and can become the first player in NFL history to record at least 3,000 passing yards and 500 rushing yards in five consecutive seasons. He has 29 career games with a passing touchdown and a rushing touchdown, the second most in NFL history behind Pro Football Hall of Famer Steve Young (31)

TE GREG OLSEN leads the team with 584 receiving yards and five touchdown catches and can become the first Panther with at least 1,000 yards and 10 touchdowns since Steve Smith, Sr. in 2005

DT KAWANN SHORT has six sacks and can pass Kris Jenkins (seven in 2002) for the most sacks in a season by a DT in franchise history. LB THOMAS DAVIS leads the team with 65 tackles and is the only player in the NFL with at least three sacks and three interceptions this season.

CHICAGO

QB JAY CUTLER has thrown 139 touchdown passes with the Bears and passed Pro Football Hall of Famer Sid Luckman (137) for the most in franchise history. Cutler has 1,787 passing yards and is on pace for his third 3,500-yard season with Chicago. He is the only quarterback in team history to have multiple 3,500-yard passing seasons

WR ALSHON JEFFERY has recorded at least 100 receiving yards in three consecutive games, tied for the longest streak in club history

RB MATT FORTÉ has 767 scrimmage yards in seven games and is aiming to join Pro Football Hall of Famer Curtis Martin and LaDainian Tomlinson as the only players with at least 1,400 scrimmage yards in each of his first eight seasons to begin a career

TE MARTELLUS BENNETT leads the team with 45 receptions and is on track for his second consecutive 90-catch season.

DALLAS

TE JASON WITTEN leads the team with 44 receptions -- tied for the second-most by a TE this season -- and is on pace for his seventh career 80-catch season, which would be the second-most in NFL history (Tony Gonzalez, eight). Witten has 987 career receptions and needs 13 to join Gonzalez as the only TEs in league annals with 1,000 catches

WR DEZ BRYANT has 42 touchdown receptions since the start of the 2012 season, the most in the NFL during that span

RB DARREN MC FADDEN, who has rushed for 333 yards in his past three games, is aiming for his second career 1,000-yard rushing season (1,157 with Oakland in 2010)

K DAN BAILEY has converted 130 of 143 career field-goal attempts and his 90.9 conversion percentage is the highest in NFL history (minimum 100 made field goals). He has 64 points and is on pace for his fifth consecutive 100-point season.

DETROIT

QB MATTHEW STAFFORD has 2,083 passing yards and is on pace for his fifth consecutive 4,000-yard passing season. Stafford's four 4,000-yard seasons are the most in franchise history. He owns four of the seven 4,000-yard passing seasons in club history

WR CALVIN JOHNSON reached 11,000 career receiving yards (11,064) in his 127th game, becoming the fastest player in NFL history to eclipse the 11,000-yard mark. Johnson is on pace for his seventh career 1,000-yard season and sixth such season in a row. He already holds team records in both categories

RB THEO RIDDICK has 42 receptions and is on track to become the first Lions running back with at least 80 receptions in a season

DE EZEKIEL ANSAH has seven sacks and looks to challenge Robert Porcher's single-season team record of 15 sacks set in 1999.

GREEN BAY

QB AARON RODGERS has a 108.2 passer rating and can extend his NFL-record streak to seven consecutive seasons with a 100+ passer rating. Rodgers has a 106.2 passer rating in his career, the highest mark in NFL history (minimum 1,500 attempts)

WR RANDALL COBB has 40 catches for 476 yards and five touchdowns and can join Sterling Sharpe (1992-94) and Antonio Freeman (1997-98) as the only Packers with at least 80 catches, 1,000 receiving yards and 10 touchdown catches in back-to-back seasons

WR JAMES JONES leads the team with six touchdown receptions and can become the first Packer to record at least 14 TD catches in two different seasons (14 in 2012)

LB JULIUS PEPPERS leads the team with 5.5 sacks and is on pace for his ninth career 10+ sack season, which would tie Pro Football Hall of Famer John Randle for the fourth-most in NFL history.

MINNESOTA

RB ADRIAN PETERSON has 758 rushing yards and is closing in on his seventh career 1,000-yard rushing season. Peterson reached 90 career rushing touchdowns and is tied with Pro Football Hall of Famers Eric Dickerson and Curtis Martin for 12th on the all-time list. Peterson has 17 career touchdown runs of at least 40 yards -- including two this season -- and ranks second in NFL history behind Hall of Famer Barry Sanders (20)

Rookie WR STEFON DIGGS has 461 receiving yards in his first five career games and looks to join Randy Moss (1,313 yards in 1998) as the only rookies in team history with 1,000+ receiving yards. Diggs became the first rookie in NFL history to record at least 85 receiving yards in each of his first four career games

QB TEDDY BRIDGEWATER has won six of his past seven starts and has 12 victories in his first 20 career starts.

NEW ORLEANS

QB DREW BREES leads the NFC with 2,763 yards and is on pace for his fifth 5,000-yard passing season. There have been eight 5,000-yard seasons in NFL history and Brees has four of them. He needs 1,204 passing yards to become the fourth player in NFL history with 60,000 yards, joining Brett Favre (71,838), Peyton Manning (71,836) and Pro Football Hall of Famer Dan Marino (61,361)

RB MARK INGRAM has 900 scrimmage yards and is on track for the most scrimmage yards in a season by a Saint since Deuce McAllister's team-record 2,157 yards in 2003. Ingram is on pace for 1,038 rushing yards, which would be the most by a Saint since 2006 (McAllister, 1,057)

WR WILLIE SNEAD (626), WR BRANDIN COOKS (603) and TE BENJAMIN WATSON (532) are aiming to become the first trio in franchise history to each record at least 1,000 receiving yards in the same season.

NEW YORK

QB ELI MANNING has 96 regular-season wins and 104 total victories as a starting quarterback and passed Phil Simms (95 and 101) for the most by a Giants quarterback in both categories. Manning, who has passed for 2,339 yards, is on pace for his team-record fifth 4,000-yard season. Manning has 19 touchdown passes and can pass Pro Football Hall of Famer Y.A. Tittle (two) for the most seasons with at least 30 touchdown passes by a Giant with three

WR ODELL BECKHAM JR. is on pace for 104 catches, 1,349 yards and 12 touchdowns. Beckham, who had 91 receptions for 1,305 yards and 12 touchdowns as a rookie last year, is aiming to set league records for the most catches (Marques Colston, 168), receiving yards (Randy Moss, 2,726) and touchdown receptions (Bill Groman, 29) in a player's first two seasons to begin a career.

PHILADELPHIA

RBs RYAN MATHEWS (409) and DE MARCO MURRAY (390) can become the first Eagles teammates to each rush for at least 800 yards in the same season. RB DARREN SPROLES has a punt-return touchdown and a rushing touchdown this season. He is the only player in NFL history with at least 25 receiving touchdowns (27), 15 rushing touchdowns (18) and five punt-return touchdowns (six) in a career

QB SAM BRADFORD has 2,061 passing yards and is on pace to be the first quarterback in franchise history to pass for at least 4,000 yards in a season

WR JORDAN MATTHEWS has 48 receptions and is on track to set the team record for the most catches in a season (Brian Westbrook, 90 in 2007)

DE FLETCHER COX leads the team with five sacks and is on pace to reach 10+ sacks for the first time in his career.

ST. LOUIS

Rookie RB TODD GURLEY ranks fourth in the NFL with 664 rushing yards and is averaging a league-best 110.7 rushing yards per game. Gurley is the only rookie in NFL history to rush for at least 125 yards in four consecutive games and he and Adrian Peterson (2007) are the only players in league annals to rush for at least 100 yards in four of their first five career games

WR-PR TAVON AUSTIN leads the team with seven touchdowns (four receiving, two rushing, one punt return) and has 16 career TDs (eight receiving, five rushing, three punt returns). He is the only player in NFL history with a 75+ yard punt-return touchdown in each of his first three seasons

DT AARON DONALD has 4.5 sacks and can be the first DT in team history to record at least nine sacks in back-to-back seasons. DE ROBERT QUINN has five sacks in seven games and is on track for his fourth consecutive 10+ sack season.

SAN FRANCISCO

WR ANQUAN BOLDIN is aiming for his 12th 800-yard season in his 13-year career. Boldin has recorded at least 800 receiving yards -- with seven 1,000-yard performances -- in 11 of his first 12 career seasons, including 10 in a row. Boldin has 971 career receptions and needs 29 to reach 1,000. Only 10 players in NFL history have reached 1,000 career catches. WR TORREY SMITH is averaging 21.4 yards per catch. Since entering the NFL in 2011, his 17.2-yard average is the highest in the league (minimum 200 catches)

LB AARON LYNCH leads the team with six sacks and is the third 49ers player since 2000 with at least six sacks in each of his first two seasons (Aldon Smith, Andre Carter)

K PHIL DAWSON has scored 52 points and is aiming for his fourth consecutive 100-point season and the ninth such season of his career.

SEATTLE

In his fourth season, QB RUSSELL WILSON has a career 46-18 (.719) record, including the playoffs. He has a 95.0 passer rating in 2015, which would be his fourth consecutive season with a 95.0+ mark. Wilson is on pace for his fourth consecutive 3,000-yard season and a career-high 3,756 passing yards

Since 2011, RB MARSHAWN LYNCH has 5,732 rushing yards and 50 rushing touchdowns, which are both the top marks in the NFL

TE JIMMY GRAHAM, in his first year with the Seahawks, is on pace for 76 catches and 900 receiving yards, which would both be team records for a TE

Since entering the league in 2011, CB RICHARD SHERMAN has 24 interceptions, the most in the NFL

DE MICHAEL BENNETT has 6.5 sacks and can be the third Seahawk with at least 15 sacks in a season, joining Michael Sinclair (16.5 in 1998) and Jacob Green (16 in 1983).

TAMPA BAY

Rookie QB JAMEIS WINSTON has passed for 1,897 yards and can join Andrew Luck (4,374 in 2012) and Cam Newton (4,051 in 2011) as the only rookie quarterbacks in NFL history with at least 4,000 passing yards

RB DOUG MARTIN has 791 scrimmage yards and is on target to join James Wilder (1984-85) as the only players in team history with multiple 1,500-yard seasons

WR MIKE EVANS leads the team with 538 receiving yards and is on pace to become the first Buccaneer to record at least 1,000 receiving yards in each of his first two seasons to begin a career

DT GERALD MC COY has 4.5 sacks and is on track for his third consecutive season with at least 8.5 sacks. McCoy would join Pro Football Hall of Famer Warren Sapp (four) as the only DTs in club history to have three such seasons and McCoy would be the first to do it three years in a row.

WASHINGTON

QB KIRK COUSINS has passed for 1,954 yards and is aiming to become the third quarterback in franchise history with 4,000 passing yards in a season. He would join Jay Schroeder (4,109 in 1986) and Brad Johnson (4,005 in 1999) as the only Redskins QBs to do so

TE JORDAN REED has 38 catches in six games played and is looking to set a franchise single-season record for the most receptions by a TE (Chris Cooley, 83 in 2008). Reed is on track to become the first TE in team history with at least 850 receiving yards in a season

LB RYAN KERRIGAN ties for the club lead with 3.5 sacks. Since entering the NFL in 2011, Kerrigan is the only player in the league with at least 40 sacks (41.5), 15 forced fumbles (16) and two interception-return touchdowns (two).

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