North:
This division could be won by any of the teams in this division as the Packers
finally traded Aaron Rogers, the Vikings cut Dalvin Cook, the Bears added
weapons for QB Justin Fields and the Lions always seem to find a way to
lose. The Lions have the best chance to win the division as they had a
winning season last year but missed out on a wild card. They still have a top 5
offensive line to protect QB Jared Goff . With the continuity the team has with
head coach Dan Campbell and a nice trio of WRs in Amon-Ra St Brown, Marvin Jones and Jameson Williams- it stands out.
The only real change has been the
running back room as De'Andre Swift/Jamaal Williams are out and in is David Montgomery(from the Bears) and a rookie in Jahmyr Gibbs. Their defense is still bottom
tier outside of DE Aidan Hutchinson but said we need to improve so they added S CJ Gardner Johnson, CB Cameron Sutton and DB Emmanuel Moseley to name some.
The Vikings will not replicate last year’s
success of 13 wins in one score games plus losing a star RB and key players on
defense will have them take a step back. With an offensive head coach in Kevin O’Connell they will be in games due to the offense led by QB Kirk Cousins, WR Justin Jefferson, TE TJ Hockenson, and rookie WR in Jordan Addison.
Still
unsure about the defense as they got younger but hiring Brian Flores to mold
one of the worst defenses with new young guys and holdovers LB Danielle Hunter, LB Jordan Hicks and S Harrison Smith might work. Question will be how much of a run
game they will have as well. The Bears are
hoping to take that next step in year two of OC Luke Getsy/HC Matt Eberflus for
Fields with all the additions to the offense and fixing the defense that they
dismantled over the last two years. Getting DJ Moore to be your #1 WR to pair
with Darnell Mooney, Chase Claypool, TE Cole Kmet, and added Robert Tonyan as well
is an improvement, the question will be who replaces the Montgomery production
at RB.
They used their first round pick on the offensive line and drafted six
players on defense which is a sign they care about protecting Fields but also
they love always adding to the defense. The veterans they added in LB TJ Edwards, DE Yannick Ngakoue and LB Tremaine Edmunds will help out S Eddie Jackson to lead the
young defense. The Packers can either
be a wildcard team or a last place team because no one has any idea how good QB
Jordan Love can be because he hasn’t played at all and Rodgers would hide the
deficiencies with the defense, skill players and offensive line his whole time
there. Their defense is middle of the pack as CB Jaire Alexander and LB Preston Smith are the only big names and they lost some key players in free agency. Now they
still have a top RB in Aaron Jones and a top 10 offensive line but OT David Bakhtiari seems to never be healthy.
Also their draft was mostly heavy on skill
players but can Love make the rookie/sophomore skill players work out like
Rodgers did/will the line be as good with him behind it as well- too many
questions that will not be solved till December.
East:
The Eagles still have one of the
best rosters in all of football led by ascending QB Jalen Hurts, a trio of
weapons to throw to in AJ Brown, Devonta Smith, TE Dallas Goedert, and picked up two
RBs in D’Andre Swift and Rashaad Penny. They also still have the best
offensive line in football led by Jason Kelce and Lane Johnson.
While their
defense is led by DT Fletcher Cox, CBs Darius Slay and James Bradberry that also
retained DE Brandon Graham plus added S Terrell Edmunds/three Georgia defensive
stars in the draft to keep this as a top defense as well. They may take a step
back on how many wins they get only because it is very hard to lose both your
OC & DC in Shane Steichen and Jonathan Gannon so it will be on Nick Sirianni to step up as HC. The Cowboys still
have a good team but not a great team as someone needs to make the playoffs in
this weak NFC as they still have top a 10 defense and offensive line. If OT Tyron Smith and G Zack Martin are healthy that will be the key for the offensive line
but it’s a new day in the backfield as Ezekiel Elliott is gone with Tony Pollard as the lead back. They added WR Brandin Cooks to CeeDee Lamb and Michael Gallup so that helps QB Dak Prescott who hopes to have a healthy season. They
did add CB Stephon Gilmore to a defense led by CB Trevon Diggs, LB Leighton Vander Esch, LB Micah Parsons and DE Demarcus Lawrence. HC Mike McCarthy will be calling plays on
offense so all the pressure will be on him this season.
The Giants peaked early last season due to
Brian Daboll’s offense with QB Daniel Jones which got him paid long term when he
has had questions his whole career but then franchise tagged the reason behind
their success in RB Saquon Barkley. They did draft a center in the second round
but still have one of the worst offensive lines which Barkley helps to hide how
bad it is. They drafted a corner in the 1st round but still have one
of the worst defenses with only LB Kayvon Thibodeaux a star on defense. They did
draft a WR in the draft but are towards the bottom for WR rooms but did add TE
Darren Waller but he hasn’t been healthy or good in two years. The Commanders will again finish is last
place because they have the worst QB in the division in Sam Howell and have a
new owner so the HC Ron Rivera and the GM are all on the hot seat. By having
one of the worst offensive lines with huge turnovers as well doesn’t help
develop Howell or not getting a TE, plus they did not draft a linebacker in the
draft as most say their draft was weak with reaches or good value with the
picks. What is going right for them is a top defensive line in DE Montez Sweat, DT Daron Payne, DE Jonathan Allen and DE Chase Young which is good but if you cannot
score that leaves pressure on the defense.
They still have a good RB duo of
Brian Robinson/Antonio Gibson and Terry McLaurin at WR but health is the issue
with these three which doesn’t help Howell find chemistry with them.
South:
Someone in this terrible division has to win it as the Panthers, Buccaneers and
the Falcons are starting over with a new QB/rookie QB/Sophomore QB with no
expectations outside of the Saints who got better. New Orleans added QB
Derek Carr to solve the revolving door since Drew Brees retired, added Jamaal Williams to help Alvin Kamara at RB and still have Michael Thomas and Chris Olave at WR plus the Swiss army knife in Tysom Hill.
Their HC Dennis Allen’s
strength is defense so they loaded up on it as they did lose four players but
retooled with two first round picks and DB Jonathan Abram amongst others to help DE Cameron Jordan, LB Demario Davis, Marshon Lattimore and S Tyrann Mathieu to form a
top 10 defense. The issue will be can the offensive line keep Carr upright as
it’s a lower tier line. The Falcons have some continuity with HC Arthur Smith and QB Desmond Ridder but who no one
knows if he is a franchise QB or not but still have one of the most productive
run games. They added RB Bijan Robinson in the draft to run with Cordarrelle Patterson and Tyler Allgeier plus still have WR Drake London and TE Kyle Pitts as the
other weapons.
What helps Ridder is having a top 10 offensive line which they
fortified with one of their first selections in the draft but what doesn’t help
him is having one of the worst defenses in football. They did everything they
could to fix it by adding S Jesse Bates, DE Calais Campbell, LB Bud Dupree, DT David Onyemata and CB Jeff Okudah plus a few in the draft. The Panthers are starting a new era with HC Frank Reich, trading up to
the 1st overall pick to draft QB Bryce Young, bringing RB Miles Sanders(who can be a real replacement for CMC), WRs Adam Thielen, DJ Chark and TE Hayden Hurst as veterans to help Young. They also brought in QB Andy Dalton to
mentor him as the backup QB.
The issue is their offensive line is still a work
in progress but went from almost the bottom to middle of the pack the last few
seasons which will help Young but their defense is still bottom tier even with CB Jaycee Horn, S Von Bell, DE Brian Burnes and LB Shaq Thompson leading it. The Buccaneers are in transition from
contending for the SB to rebuilding with QB Tom Brady retiring and other key
veterans gone. With Baker Mayfield, Kyle Trask and John Wolford at QB you know
defensive minded HC Todd Bowles is going to have a long season. Their offensive
line got weaker as they are relying on young players/new ones and their RB
room/TE room got weaker as well. They did draft heavily on defense to make up
for losing four key players and brought in a few veterans as well but still
have DT Vita Vea, LB Devin White, LB Lavonte David, LB Shaquil Barrett and S Antoine Winfield.
Whoever is the starting QB for most of the season will still have WRs Mike Evans
and Chris Godwin to throw to unless they get traded.
West:
The 49ers will still be the best team
from top to bottom in this conference but QB is still the answer of course as
they bowed out in the playoffs after they lost all of their QBS. QB Brock Purdry will hopefully be fully healthy to resume where he left off last year
and having Sam Darnold as a capable backup in case of injuries as a good pick
up and it will be a full season of RB Christian McCaffrey as well. Their other
skill players are also top tier in TE George Kittle, FB Kyle Juszcyzk, WRs Deebo Samuel, Brandon Aiyuk and RB Elijah Mitchell, plus have a middle tier offensive
line led by future hall of famer OT Trent Williams.
They went heavy on defense in
the draft to help plug holes left by Jimmie Ward amongst others but added NT Javon Hargrave and DE Clelin Ferrell. Their defense is still the best if not close to it
led by DE Nick Bosa, LB Fred Warner, S Talanoa Hufanga, LB Dre Greenlaw and S Tashaun Gipson. It will be a new era at kicker with Robbie
Gould gone and a rookie in Jake Moody taking over. The Seahawks surprised everyone last season because if you trade QB
Russell Wilson and start his backup Geno Smith you don’t have expectations but
he had a pro-bowl season and they made the playoffs. He was rewarded with a
contract extension, a top WR & CB in the draft, a good complimentary back
in the draft and many new pieces added to the defense. His skill players are
still the same with WRs DK Metcalf, Tyler Lockett, TE Noah Fant and RB Kenneth Walker but will still have to overcome a bottom tier offensive line.
The major
additions on defense which is HC Pete Carroll’s strength by bringing back LBs Bobby Wagner, Devin Bush, S Julian Love, DTs Jarran Reed and Dre’Mont Jones which will help
a middling defense. The Rams fell
apart last season physically as the offensive line was injured/bad, the defense
got worse, WR Cooper Kupp wasn’t healthy, QB Matthew Stafford wasn’t healthy,
the RBs didn’t produce and the Allen Robinson move did not work out. Give them
credit they went all in on the SB and won but now we are seeing the after
effects of not having a first round pick, but if the offensive line isn’t fixed
with two of their draft picks how are they going to produce in the run game and
keep Stafford up right (they tried to trade him). Hopefully Kupp/Van Jefferson are healthy and the skill players they drafted or signed step up or
it will be another long season of bad offense for HC Sean McVay which is his
forte that he might just retire for real. The defense also has fallen from
grace as they are also bottom tier even with DL Aaron Donald as they lost Jalen
Ramsey, Leonard Floyd and Bobby Wagner amongst the six players who are gone.
They drafted six players in the draft which is just trying to fill the holes
they have but will not make up for it right away plus their special teams isn’t
top tier anymore.
The Cardinals will
not be trying this year as they will be without QB Kyle Murray who tore his ACL
as there is no reason to even play him if you’re going to be one of the worst
teams in football. They also hired a new
HC in Jonathan Gannon whose forte is defense so he will probably want his own
QB which they will have a chance to draft since they will be so bad plus they
cut their best skill player in DeAndre Hopkins too.
They have one of the worst
offensive lines so they hope two of their draft picks help improve that before
next season but as most draft experts said it was quantity over quality in the
draft and have one of the worst defenses too. Gannon will have to improve this
defense going forward as JJ Watt, Zach Allen and Byron Murphy left plus S Budda Baker wants out.
North: The Bengals will
again be the best team in this tough division based on having the best QB in
Joe Burrow to pair with offensive minded HC Zac Taylor, plus will have the same
set of talented skill players in WRs in JaMarr Chase, Tyler Boyd, Tee Higgins
and RB Joe Mixon plus added Irv Smith at TE. Their offensive line every year
seems to be getting better to protect Burrow by adding OT Orlando Brown to the
team to move up from bottom tier to middle tear.
Their defense did lose both
safeties Jessie Bates/Von Bell and CB Eli Apple, but drafted a few key
defensive players for the secondary and DE Myles Murphy(their first pick) which
will help DEs Sam Hubbard and Trey Hendrickson to be close to top 10. The Ravens locked up QB Lamar Jackson for
another five years and gave him a new offensive coordinator in Todd Monken
which could make Jackson happier. What will make him happier is they got him
some more weapons in WRs in Odell Beckham Jr, Nelson Agholor, Zay Flowers in
the draft and Rashod Bateman/RB JK Dobbins coming back from injury will definitely
help out TE Mark Andrews.
With OT Ronnie Stanley back from injuries and adding Ben Cleveland they will be a top 5 offensive line as they were the least penalized
line last season. They did lose Calais Campbell/Justin Houston but added CB Rock Ya-Sin and drafted two key players to play with LB Roquan Smith, DT Michael Pierce and CB Marlon Humphrey to be a top five defense as well which is why they survived
without Jackson/any RBs last season. HC Jon Harbaugh who was STC also has a top
unit with the best kicker in Justin Tucker and Devin Duvernay as the return
man.
When you never have a losing record in your career has a HC of the Steelers Mike Tomlin you are doing
something right as QB Kenny Pickett played a huge amount of games as a rookie
and the team played better when he started so year two will be hopefully more
ups. They improved their offensive line in free agency/draft in G Isaac Seumalo/OT Broderick Jones as their overall draft received high grades for all of
their picks being great value like CB Joey Porter Jr/ DT Keeanu Benton fill holes on
defense. They added WR Allen Robinson for nothing to help WRs Diontae Johnson/George Pickens/TE Pat Freiermuth and RB Najee Harris for the skill
players.
As previously mentioned they lost key players on defense like Devin
Bush/Terrell Edmunds to name some but with the draft, signing CB Patrick Peterson/LB Cole Holcolmb and a healthy season from LB TJ Watt helps S Minkah Fitzpatrick and DT Cameron Heyward to still be a top ten defense. The Browns have the unfortunate situation of
being in a tough division in spite of having a top tier defense and offensive
line plus had a good offseason/draft as well. HC Kevin Stefanski gets a full
offseason/season with QB Deshaun Watson in hopes he rebounds since he didn’t play
for a long time till midpoint last season and they added Elijah Moore/Marquise Goodwin to pair with Amari Cooper and TE David Njoku to catch the ball. They
return with the same offensive line that ranked as top 5 led by G Joel Bitonio and still have Nick Chubb at RB.
They have a chance to be a top defense led by
Myles Garrett where he doesn’t have to do it all alone with Jim Schwartz being
hired as their new DC, plus drafted some key players on defense and got DEs Dalvin Thompson, Za’Darius Smith and Ogbo Okorknwko to help CB Denzel Ward on defense
too. East:
It doesn’t matter about their postseason failures or friction between WR Stefon Diggs and the
team,
or Leslie Frazier, their DC who resigned, as long as they have QB Josh Allen.
The Bills are
still
the team to beat in this division as they improved their offensive line by
drafting a G and
signed
Connor McGovern to improve it, plus added S Taylor Rapp/ DT Poona Ford to their
defense.
They
drafted TE Dalton Kincaid with their 1st pick despite having Dawson Knox but
gives Allenanother
weapon to throw it outside of Diggs, Gabe Davis and Deonte Harty. The question
will
be
who is the lead RB between four guys(James Cook, Damien Harris, Latavius Murray,
Nyheim
Hines).
When LB Von Miller comes back from injury to pair with DT Ed Oliver, LB Matt Milano, Tre'Davious White, S Jordan Poyer and S Micah Hyde they will have a top 5 defense.
The Dolphins are
one of the most talented teams in all of football because they have the stable
of WRs in Tyreek Hill, Jalen Waddle, one of the best secondaries in Xavien Howard, DeShon Elliott, Jalen Ramsey(in
a trade), and drafting Cam Smith as well.
Plus the offensive mind from Mike McDaniel at HC and they have Vic Fangio as their DC who is familiar with Bradley Chubb leading
the LBs. QB Tua Tagovailoa has all the talent in the world to be a good QB but
with a bottom
tier offensive line/RB by committee of 49ers rejects in Jeff Wilson/Raheem Mostert, it doesn’t
help keep him healthy. If he gets hurt again which we all know is if he gets
concussed they
will not be a playoff team and maybe they should force him to retire to avoid
further brain damage. The Jets haven’t made the playoffs in 12 seasons the longest in all four
professional team
sports so they are banking high on the addition of QB Aaron Rodgers because if
it doesn’t work
out the GM/HC and many others will be gone. Robert Salah’s defense is still top
5 with CB Sauce Gardner(defensive rookie of the year), DT Quinnen Williams, DE John Franklin-Myers, S Jordan Whitehead, S Adrian Amos, LB CJ Mosley,DE Carl Lawson, added S Chuck Clark and drafted DE Will McDonald
which means Rogers will not be playing from behind a lot.
His skill players are also
talented with WR Garrett Wilson(offensive rookie of the year), TE Tyler Conklin, RB Breece Hall and they
also added some of Rogers friends like WRs Allen Lazard and Randall Cobb plus
Mecole Hardman,
but getting RB Dalvin Cook will take some pressure off Rogers. The main issue will
be his offensive
line which isn’t as good as it was in GB as two of their lineman can’t stay
healthy and the other is almost 40. The Patriots will be a last team for
awhile until HC Bill Belichick figures out you need offense to win in this
league as they have one of the worst set of skill players in this division/the
worst QB in this division. We all do not know why he had his DC/STC coach the offense
least year ruining the development of QB Mac Jones so having Bill O’Brien calling plays
will help but all they did was add RB Ezekiel Elliott, WR Juju Smith Schuster and TE Mike Gesicki
to their skill players of TE Hunter Henry, WRs Devante Parker, Kendrick Bourne and RB Rhamondre Stevenson
as none jumped out except Stevenson.
They always seem to be a top 15 offensive
line led
by Trent Brown and have a top 10 defense led by Matthew Judon but lost Devin
McCorurty to
retirement, so they used the draft heavily to fill the holes on defense but
took a kicker and a punter
in the draft.South:
The Jaguars will be leading this division for a very long time as they
are the only team in the
South that found their franchise QB in Trevor Lawrence while the rest of the division
is hoping they have it with their rookie QBS and just like the NFC South
division it is a terrible division.
HC Doug Pederson will have to keep the
progression going for Lawrence because they still have a lower tier offensive
line as they lost their best player so had to draft one using the 1st pick but
will get WR Calvin Ridley back from his suspension to pair with Christian Kirk,
Zay Jones and TE Evan Engram. Having RB Travis Etienne having another healthy season
will take pressure of Lawrence plus they added D’Ernest Johsnon/Tank Bigbsy for
depth. LBs Josh Allen/ Devin Lloyd lead this young defense so their hoping Travon Walker from last year’s draft/this year’s pick Ventrell Miller also tries to
improve the defense. The Titans have no idea if they want to be a wild
card team or a full rebuild mode as they still have RB Derrick Henry, added WR
DeAndre Hopkins and still have S Kevin Byard leading the defense. QB Ryan Tannehill is still there but was hurt last year, they drafted Malik Willis last
year and this year drafted Will Levis so there is no clarity.
Their offensive
line is still ranked the worst despite adding OT Andre Dillard and used two of
their picks to address it. Their defense lost four players like Bud Dupree, had
one of the worst pass defenses, the players they did add were to replace those lost
but Sean Murphy-Bunting can help a bit and didn’t draft any defensive players. The Colts will be on their 7th starting QB to start the season since QB
Andrew Luck abruptly retired with rookie QB Anthony Richardson so they hope he
is the franchise QB but he is very raw compared to other rookie QBS but rookie
HC Shane Steichen has an offensive background. He is set up well because since Luck they
have made
sure their offensive line is top tier with G Quenton Nelson and C Ryan Kelly leading the crew to
be top 10 and have RB Jonathan Taylor.
Outside of WR Michael Pittman it is weak
set of skill players
as the rest of them are unknowns or rookies. The defense lost five key players
like Ngakoue/Gillmore
but used the draft to get six players and signed DE Samson Ebukam plus still have DeForest Buckner, LB Shaq Leonard and S Kenny Moore still leading. The Texans
were of the worst
teams last year and will probably will be again but they improved by giving
DeMeco Ryans
a long term deal at HC to fix the culture/defense that brought in S Jimmie Ward, DT Sheldon Rankins, LBs Denzel Perryman and Corey Littleton to name some plus drafted DE Will Anderson.
They used
their other first round pick on QB CJ Stroud in hopes he will be their
franchise QB but his offensive
line is still lower tier even with OT Laremy Tunsil and G Shaq Mason leading it.
He
will have
some weapons in RBs Damien Pierce, Devin Singletary, WR Robert Woods and TE Dalton Schultz.West:
The Chiefs may not win back to back Super Bowls but have been to three
of them and five
consecutive
AFC championship games since QB Patrick Mahomes took the reins at QB with HC
Andy Reid calling the plays and that will not change anytime soon.
They still have
TE Travis Kelce,
a top tier offensive line led by G Joe Thuney and Creed Humphrey plus a stable
of RBs in Isiah Pacheco, Jerick McKinnon and Clyde Edwards Helaire(they also didn’t miss Hill).
They did
lose Frank Clark among some players but added DE Charles Omenihu/S Mike Edwards,
drafted DE Felix Anudike-Uzomah, with defense depth in the draft with some of the other picks
and will still
be led by DE Chris Jones, LB Willie Gay and NT Derrick Nnadi. With the Chargers having QB Justin Herbert
at QB they will be a playoff team for awhile, but the question will be is HC
Brandon Staley
the guy for him? They will be getting OT Rashawn Slater back from injury to put
this offensive
line back to being a top 10 and still have RB Austin Ekeler.
The skill players
are still talented
in WRs Keenan Allen, Mike Williams, Josh Palmer, and TE Gerard Everett and drafted a
few receivers.
They did lose Kyle Van Noy among some players but added LB Eric Kendricks and drafted
three defensive players like LB Daiyan Henley to help out Joey Bosa, DB JC Jackson, LB Khalil Mack, S Derwin James, LB Kenneth Murray and CB Asante Samuel Jr to be a top tier defense. The Broncos
cleaned
house out after last year’s flop with Nathaniel Hackett at HC and a bad season
from
QB Russell Wilson as they invested heavily in the offensive line that could be
top 15 and
brought
in SB winning HC Sean Payton to fix the team but mostly to fix the offense.
Wilson will
get
RB Javonte Williams back from injury, has WRs Jerry Jeudy, Courtland Sutton and
drafted Marvin
Mims
plus have TE Adam Trautman.
Their defense will be run by Vance Joseph which is awkward
because he was the head coach at one point before being fired a few coaches ago
but have CB Pat Surtain, LB Randy Gregory, S Kareem Jackson, S Justin Simmons, added DE Zach Allen, LB
Frank Clark
and drafted a few key players on defense to make them a top tier defense. The Raiders decided
that franchise QB Derek Carr was the issue so they signed Jimmy Garoppolo who
no one
knows if he will ever be healthy for a full season. Does HC Josh McDaniels
realize the QB position
wasn’t the issue when it is the division you’re in, having a bad offensive line
and a bad defense?
The offensive line is towards the bottom despite keeping the same crew, the
defense is still
bottom tier despite adding six veterans like S Marcus Epps/CB David Long, drafted
six players like DE Tyree Wilson but lost two key players. That is a lot of pressure on DEs Maxx Crosby/Chandler Jones/CB Marcus Peters to incorporate new players, veterans, or rookie.
RB Josh Jacobs didn’t
get the pay raise just a franchise tag to have to carry this offense as he did
last year but maybe Garoppolo
can use WRs Davante Adams, Hunter Renfrow and Jakobi Meyers/TE Austin Hooper to be better
offensively.
