Peyton Manning isn’t the only NFL star who could come back strong

The Denver Broncos have a new quarterback.

The Oakland Raiders have a new attitude.

Seven teams have new coaches.

And, like every NFL season, we have a batch of new questions …

Never mind Most Valuable Player, which award is going to have the longest line of candidates this season?

Comeback player of the year. All eyes are on Denver’s Peyton Manning and his return from multiple neck surgeries, but he’s far from the only elite player returning from a devastating injury. Check out the running backs who saw their 2011 season cut short because of a gruesome twist or break: Minnesota’s Adrian Peterson, Oakland’s Darren McFadden, Buffalo’s Fred Jackson, Chicago’s Matt Forte, Dallas’ DeMarco Murray, Kansas City’s Jamaal Charles, Detroit’s Jahvid Best and Pittsburgh’s Rashard Mendenhall.

And don’t forget about Carolina linebacker Thomas Davis. He’s looking to become the only player in league history to come back three times from tears of the anterior cruciate ligament in the same knee.

Who will be coaching for his job right away?

San Diego’s Norv Turner. The Chargers were 8-8 last season and missed the playoffs for the second consecutive year. There’s no excuse for that, particularly for a talented team in what has been a lukewarm division. It’s one thing for Chargers owner Dean Spanos to be patient. It’s another to strap on the blinders and helplessly watch the window of opportunity close.

Yes, Philip Rivers loves Turner, and a lot of very accomplished players — Troy Aikman among them — hail the coach as an offensive mastermind. Obviously, something isn’t working. The Chargers finally got off to a strong start last season … then frittered away their 4-1 record by dropping six in a row. That’s unacceptable both for Turner, and for General Manager A.J. Smith, who hired him and has backed the coach at every turn.

What do Detroit’s Jim Schwartz and the New York Jets’ Rex Ryan have in common?

Of the 11 new head coaches hired in 2009, Schwartz and Ryan are the only ones to still have their jobs. Gone are Kansas City’s Todd Haley, Indianapolis’ Jim Caldwell, Cleveland’s Eric Mangini, Denver’s Josh McDaniels, Tampa Bay’s Rahim Morris, San Francisco’s Mike Singletary, Seattle’s Jim Mora, Oakland’s Tom Cable and St. Louis’ Steve Spagnuolo.

Remember the days when coaches talked about three-year rebuilding plans? Those have gone the way of leather helmets, hip pads and experienced officials.

Of all the new coaches, who has the best chance to put his stamp on the franchise?

Oakland’s Dennis Allen. He’s the first coach of the post-Al Davis era, and his workplace is much different from the one Davis ruled for five decades. With the hands-off Mark Davis taking over for his late father, the Raiders now have a true general manager in Reggie McKenzie, and a head coach entrusted to make decisions on his own, rather than living in fear of being overruled from the owner’s suite. As rich as the legacy of Al Davis is, the Raiders can now appreciate their past while not living in it.

How important is a head coach, anyway?

We’ll find out when the New Orleans Saints take the field. They’ll start the season with their third-stringer, Aaron Kromer, who will coach the first six games, until Joe Vitt is off suspension. Vitt, of course, is coaching in place of Sean Payton, who has been banned for the whole year because of the bounty scandal.

Drew Brees is a phenomenal quarterback, set the NFL record with 5,476 yards passing last season and is the quintessential “coach on the field.” But he will miss the second set of eyes that Payton provided. With the competitive balance in the league, when teams are separated by a margin tighter than a defensive tackle’s belt line, the slightest of changes can shift the balance. Taking Payton out of the equation is not the slightest of changes. The Saints will feel it.

What statistic best indicates that the NFL is an offense-driven league?

Half of the league’s teams dumped their offensive coordinators after last season.

Which franchise is primed for a letdown?

San Francisco. The 49ers won’t match what they did last season, going 13-3 and coming within an overtime turnover of a trip to the Super Bowl. Why? Because Alex Smith will come back to earth after throwing more than three times as many touchdowns (17) as interceptions (five). Outstanding as San Francisco’s defense is, it will be put to the test by each of the top five passers of 2011: Drew Brees, Tom Brady, Matthew Stafford, Eli Manning and Aaron Rodgers. That’s not to say the 49ers won’t contend for the division title — their defense and ground attack will keep them in most games — but last year wasn’t a prelude to a run of glory such as the club enjoyed in the 1980s and early ‘90s.

Which team will be better than most people expect?

St. Louis. OK, so the Rams have set the bar low in recent years, winning three, two, one, seven and two games over the last five seasons. But with Jeff Fisher at coach, Sam Bradford primed for a bounce-back year, and a bushel of prime draft picks Washington gave up for Robert Griffin III, St. Louis is in line for a rebirth. Question is, will the team still be around for the fans to savor it?

Speaking of the Rams, aren’t they eyeing a move back to Los Angeles?

Put them in the mix with the Raiders and Chargers as the three teams most likely to relocate. There won’t be a team in Los Angeles next season, though, and it wouldn’t be shocking if the nation’s second-largest market went five more years without one.

Will fans notice that replacement officials are working games instead of the regulars?

Not really. Until a boneheaded call costs their team a game.

Which sophomore quarterback slumps first, Carolina’s Cam Newton or Cincinnati’s Andy Dalton?

Dalton will slump first. The Bengals, who were 9-7 last season, haven’t had consecutive winning seasons since 1975-76, 11 years before their current quarterback was born. Dalton has struggled this summer, and in the third preseason game — often the most telling because that’s when the starters log their most exhibition minutes — he completed only five of 17 passes for 40 yards against Green Bay.

As for the Panthers, they’re going to try to be more run-pass balanced this season, because that’s when they had the most success last season. They wound up losing games in which Newton put up gaudy passing numbers, including outings of 422, 432 and 374 yards passing in the first four weeks. If his team asks less of him this season, and his teammates pick up the slack, the shifty Newton might just dodge the slump altogether.

When will it be Tebow Time with the Jets?

Tony Sparano, the team’s new offensive coordinator, unveiled the wildcat to great success in Miami and triggered an NFL-wide trend that has faded as defenses caught on to the scheme. The Jets remain convinced it will work, and they’re weaving the system into their offense, if only as a decoy to keep opposing defensive coordinators guessing.

That said, trading for Tebow was a head-scratcher for a team that had just extended the contract of Mark Sanchez and was trying to fix the fissures in its divided locker room. If John Elway couldn’t tune out Tebow fans in Denver, imagine how those chants will ring in the ears of Sanchez.

Which backup quarterback will get the starting nod first?

There are a lot of capable ones, and certainly the Jets are going to find some creative ways to get Tebow on the field. But watch for Matt Hasselbeck to resurface as the starter in Tennessee, even though the plan calls for Jake Locker to have the job long-term. But just think: If the Titans really believed Locker was completely ready, would they have made such a hard push for Peyton Manning this off-season? And in that division — with two shaky teams in Indianapolis and Jacksonville, and an oft-injured quarterback in Houston — the Titans need to take a seize-the-moment approach. In that case, Hasselbeck is better-suited to win games.

RG3 or Andrew Luck, who has the better season?

Although it’s tempting to say Griffin will have the better year because he’s on an all-around better team, the offensive line he’s playing behind is horrible. He could be running for his life on every snap. His receivers are good but not great.

The expectations are so low for Luck, meanwhile, that he’s in a strong position to exceed them. He can always fall back on the precedent that Peyton Manning quarterbacked a 3-13 team as a rookie and had 28 interceptions. Luck has Reggie Wayne and Austin Collie, his go-to tight end at Stanford, Coby Fleener, and plays in a division that’s less competitive than Griffin’s NFC East.

In short, Griffin might win more games as a rookie, but it will be Luck who under-promises and over-delivers.

Aside from the quarterbacks, which rookie makes the biggest splash?

Chargers outside linebacker Melvin Ingram. The South Carolina standout gives San Diego the pass rusher the team has sorely lacked. Maybe Ingram can pick up all the shards of potential Shawne Merriman left scattered on the field.

Michael Vick said the Eagles can be a dynasty. Was that as ill-advised as Vince Young calling them the Dream Team last season?

Yes. Zero Lombardi trophies does not a dynasty make, and the Eagles are the only NFC East team without that hardware. Philadelphia, in fact, hasn’t won a playoff game since 2008.

Besides, Vick needs to first worry about playing a complete season, something he has done only once in his career. As for playoff games, Vick has been on the victorious team twice in five tries. Sounds as if somebody’s dreaming.

Eli or Peyton, which Manning do you take?

Two-ring Eli on Sunday afternoon. One-ring Peyton on Saturday Night … Live.

sam.farmer@latimes.com

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