North: Anytime you bring back the same head coach (Dan Campbell), same offensive coordinator (Ben Johnson-who turned down offers to be a head coach) and the same QB you are set for another successful season.
The Lions extended QB Jared Goff, WR Amon-Ra-St. Brown and RT Penei Sewell so their Super Bowl window is wide open and because they almost got the Super Bowl last year losing in the conference game. With Sewell leading the way for their top ranked offensive line, St. Brown leading the receiving core that also has TE Sam LaPorta and a two headed monster at RB in David Montgomery and Jahmyr Gibbs, so they will put up a lot of points. The biggest question will be on defense which is why they went defense heavy in the draft like taking CB Terrion Arnold to fix the secondary so it’s not all on DE Aidan Hutchinson’s shoulders.
So QB Jordan Love surprised everyone by taking the Packers to the playoffs and the reason was because no one had tape on him so we didn’t know if he was good or bad. Something clicked in the second half under head coach Matt LaFleur which has set them up for a third straight franchise QB to lead them every season. They signed RB Josh Jacobs who can finally be on a good team and added FS Xavier McKinney to help out CB Jaire Alexander. They also drafted eleven players to keep adding to this young core that has a good stable of young skill players like Christian Watson and Romeo Doubs. The main question will be how good will their defense be with their improved secondary but also can Love repeat this performance now that there is tape on him?
Well the Vikings are starting a new era with Kirk Cousins going off to Atlanta with them signing Sam Darnold to be a bridge QB to JJ McCarthy.
The question will be how long Darnold is starting games before the rookie comes to see if they can win the prime time games. They still have one of the better receiving corps with Justin Jefferson and TE TJ Hockenson leading the way plus they upgraded at RB in getting divisional rival Aaron Jones. The final question will be how much a bigger step will this young defense take with another year of Brian Flores coaching them by drafting a few more young players and adding LB Andrew Van Ginkel to help FS Harrison Smith.
The Bears are in the same cycle they have been in for a while: keep a lame duck head coach (Matt Ebreflus now), get a new QB and then start over when it doesn’t work (Mitchell Trubisky-Justin Fields) by drafting Caleb Williams with the #1 overall pick.
Everyone will want to see how Williams fits into this team since they upgraded all over the roster by adding D’Andre Swift at RB, adding WRs Keenan Allen/Rome Odunze to WR DJ Moore, and adding TE Gerard Everett to TE Cole Kmet. Their offensive line which has been bad over the years is finally top 12, and they added FS Kevin Byard, re-signed CB Jaylon Johnson to help out DE Montez Sweat.
East: In spite of the season not going how they wanted for the Eagles they still made the playoffs despite all of the injuries and issues on defense. Their front office did it again by adding RB Saquon Barkley, drafting nine players with high draft grades and adding LB Devin White and S CJ Gardner-Johnson to their defense. Vic Fangio is now in as their defensive coordinator so they should improve with his coaching/their additions so it’s not all on CB Darius Slay or DT Jalen Carter.
QB Jalen Hurts will benefit from a healthy RB in Barkley to take pressure off him and his receiving corps of AJ Brown, DeVonta Smith and TE Dallas Goedert, plus their top three offensive line.
Hey Cowboys fans you won the division last year you should be happy but that happiness may not last with the potential last seasons for QB Dak Prescott, WR CeeDee Lamb and LB Micah Parsons all due for free agency or pay raises.
They lost their defensive coordinator Dan Quinn in the division so it will be interesting to see if they drop out of the top 10 for that even though they still have Parsons, DE DeMarcus Lawrence, CB Trevon Diggs and added LB Eric Kendricks. The other issue is they lost Tyron Smith, Tyler Biadasz from their offensive line, Dorrace Armstrong, Leighton Vander Esch and Tony Pollard. How will their offensive line recover with just G Zach Martin and having to reach on bringing back Ezekiel Elliott back into the fold? They hope their draft picks can help sooner rather than later if they want to be back in the playoffs.
The Giants had no choice financially but to stick with QB Daniel Jones hoping he is healthy. Head coach Brian Dabol could get the most of him like he did in year one together so they added pieces around him. They brought in RB Devin Singletary to fill some of Barkley’s departure and drafted WR Malik Nabers but still are in the bottom tier of the league and same goes for the offensive line even with OT Andrew Thomas leading it.
The real hope is the defense gets better by trading for LB Brian Burns to help DT Dexter Lawrence and LB Kayvon Thibodeaux upfront but the secondary is highly inexperienced so there might be growing pains.
Well Washington you have started over completely with new ownership, new front office, a new head coach in Dan Quinn to fix the league’s worst defense and drafted a new franchise QB in Jayden Daniels. They gave Daniels a new RB in Austin Ekeler to pair with Brian Robinson, added TE Zach Ertz to the receiving corps to help WR Terry McLaurin and got a new center in Dallas’s Tyler Biadasz. Plus QB Marcus Mariota will be his backup and mentor.
With Quinn in charge they are not going to be as good as Dallas based on the roster but added DE Dorance Armstrong, LBs Dante Fowler, Frankie Luvu, DE Clelin Ferrell, S Jeremy Chinn and LB Bobby Wagner to help out DE Jonathan Allen.
South: This season has to be a good one for the Saints or they will have to fire head coach Dennis Allen because this is one of the worst divisions and they had the same record as Tampa Bay but were home watching the playoffs.
The point of them having QB Derek Carr was to stabilize the QB room since Drew Brees’ retirement, but they are doing what the Raiders are doing, setting him up to fail with the worst offensive line, but still have RB Alvin Kamara and WR Chris Olave. They will still have one of the best defenses because of DE Cameron Jordan, LB DeMario Davis, CB Marshon Lattimore, S Tyrann Mathieu and added the likes of DE Chase Young and LB Willie Gay this offseason.
The Buccaneers surprised everyone by not being bad last year without QB Tom Brady and other players being injured/retired or leaving them because QB Baker Mayfield played out of his mind to lead them to the playoffs.
They did re-sign Mayfield and WR Mike Evans to keep the trio going with Chris Godwin and also re-signed LB Lavonte David and S Antoine Winfield. They did let three key defensive players leave in Shaq Barrett, Devin White and Carlton Davis so they might drop down due to that. But at least they have a mid-tier offensive line with OTs Tristian Wirfs and Luke Goedeke plus their first round pick C Graham Barton.
The Falcons cleaned house by getting a new head coach in Raheem Morris who has been there before to help improve a horrible defense and got a new QB in Kirk Cousins. The thing that confused everyone was that they had huge holes on defense but decided to use their first round pick on a QB in Michael Penix Jr despite giving Cousins all that money. Then compounded it by having a below average draft reaching on defense.
The positives for Cousins will be having a top 10 offensive line led by OT Jake Matthews and having a stable of skill players like RB Bijan Robinson, Tyler Allgeier, WRs Drake London, added Darnell Mooney and TE Kyle Pitts. Plus, they have one of the best kickers in Younghoe Koo.
The Panthers hit the panic button last year firing their head coach mid-season despite giving him a long term deal and trading up to draft a QB with the first pick in Bryce Young but it didn’t go well either.
They hired a new head coach in Dave Canales, added WR Dionte Johnson to help WR Adam Thielen and added LB Jadeveon Clowney. Despite a bottom tier defense they still have CB Jaycee Horn, S Xavier Woods and LB Shaq Thompson but lost Brian Burns, Jeremy Chinn and Frankie Luvu. They still don’t have a starting running back, TE, have a bottom tier offensive line and reached in the draft like trading back into the first round for a WR.
West: The 49ers will keep being a Super Bowl contender because of their stacked roster and good head coach but the question will be will they ever actually win the entire thing?
Anytime you still have Kyle Shanahan calling players for QB Brock Purdy, RB Christian McCaffrey, WRs Deebo Samuel, Brandon Aiyuk, TE George Kittle and FB Kyle Juszcyk they will continue to put up points and be a contender. They did lose Arik Armstead/Javon Kinlaw on defense but added DEs Leonard Floyd, Yetur Gross Matos and DT Jordan Elliott to fill those holes, but still have NT Javon Hargrave, LB Dre Greenlaw, DE Nick Bosa, LB Fred Warner and CB Charvarius Ward to form a top five defense. The only issue for this team is their offensive line despite having a future Hall of Fame tackle in OT Trent Williams, but the rest of the offensive line is bottom tier.
The Rams surprised many by making the playoffs and they still have a chance to make it again because head coach Sean McVay is still there calling plays for QB Matthew Stafford and WR Cooper Kupp will be back healthy. Alongside Kupp they still have breakout players WRs Puka Nacua and Demarcus Robinson plus TE Tyler Higbee and RB Kyren Williams. They did lose Aaron Donald to retirement but had a nice draft adding five defensive players especially with their first two picks in LB Jared Verse and DT Braden Fiske. They also added Tre’Davious White, DB Darious Williams and S Karmen Curl to the defense. Their offensive line keeps getting better after a post Super Bowl drop off by adding G Jonah Jackson to help out G Kevin Dotson to be a mid-tier line.
The Seahawks took a step back last year after a surprise playoff appearance the previous season and have a new regime in Seattle with Pete Carroll gone as they brought in defensive coordinator Mike MacDonald. That defense is led by CB Devon Witherspoon and LB Leonard Williams plus they used some of their top picks on defense.
Their offensive line is still almost the worst and hope some of their draft picks help out. Geno Smith is still their QB as they didn’t draft one so they hope to keep continuity there with RB Kenneth Walker as well, but still have one of the best receiving corps in Tyler Lockett, DK Metcalf and Jaxon Smith-Njigba.
The Cardinals will have a full season of QB Kyler Murray after they didn’t trade him/draft a new QB. They drafted the top receiver in the draft in Marvin Harrison Jr. and drafted another RB to help out James Conner.
The issues for Murray going forward will be a terrible offensive line being able to protect him/keep him up right. The defense also is one of the worst, allowing the second most points last season which doesn’t look good for their head coach Jonathan Gannon since that is his specialty. It still has S Budda Baker leading it and added CB Sean Murphy Bunting along with their second and third picks in the draft but will be a long term project.
North: This division is one of the best and most difficult due to how good all four teams are. It will all come down to the health of the two best quarterbacks in Joe Burrow and Lamar Jackson.
The Ravens have one of the most complete teams and they got better by adding RB Derrick Henry to their backfield to give them a healthy running tandem. They have a good receiving corps of TE Mark Andrews, Zay Flowers, Rashod Bateman, Nelson Agholor and FB Patrick Ricard. Despite losing their defensive coordinator Mike McDonald they still have a top tier unit with LBs Roquan Smith, Kyle Van Noy, CB Marlon Humphrey, S Eddie Jackson and DT Justin Madibike. They had a great draft filling some holes on the offensive line created by some offseason departures and filling some holes on defense too. Remember they still have the best kicker in Justin Tucker too but the offensive line will be the question with so many backups and young players.
The Bengals didn’t have the season they wanted with Burrow getting hurt and missed a huge chunk of the season.
With him back healthy and keeping both of their top receivers in Tee Higgins and JaMarr Chase, but also adding TE Mike Gesicki and signed Zack Moss to replace Joe Mixon, they should put up points. They still have a good offensive line led by OT Orlando Brown, C Ted Karras and signing OT Trent Brown/used their first round pick on the offensive line, so it should be better. Their defense should also improve by adding DT Sheldon Rankins, S Geno Stone and S Vonn Bell to the core of DEs Trey Hendrickson and Sam Hubbard.
The Steelers are that team that is good as a whole because the team is structured on defense and running. They have running back duo of Najee Harris–Jaylen Warren plus picked up Cordarrelle Patterson and their defense is top three by having it led by LB TJ Watt, FS Minkah Fitzpatrick and DT Cameron Hayward.
They also added LB Patrick Queen, drafted some more depth and hope for a good second year out of CB Joey Porter Jr. They improved their offensive line by drafting both a tackle and a center with their first two picks and hope last year’s free agent signee G Isaac Seumalo keeps improving. Now onto the skill players- they always draft well at WR like George Pickens but traded away Dionte Johnson because he was being wasted and have TE Pat Freiermruth. The hope is to not waste their talent as they signed Russell Wilson and traded for Justin Fields saying goodbye to Mason Rudolph and Kenny Pickett, hoping one of those two will make a difference. Hopefully Mike Tomlin can figure it out or they might not have another winning season.
The Browns have a good combination of head coach Kevin Stefanski and QB Deshaun Watson/top tier offensive line. However, due to suspension and injury it hasn’t worked out just yet for them until last season when Joe Flacco came off the couch to help them make the playoffs.
They lost RB Nick Chubb for most of the season so they hoped to get him back and added QB Jameis Winston to backup Watson. They still have a good receiving crew with Amari Cooper, TE David Njoku and traded for Jerry Jeudy. Their defense allowed the fewest yards in the NFL last season, while also finishing sixth in sacks so they will be better with more consistent QB play as they are led by DEs Myles Garrett, ZaDarius Smith, LB Devin Bush, CBs Denzel Ward and Greg Newsome, plus added LB Jordan Hicks.
East: The Bills will continue to be the favorite for the division as long as they have QB Josh Allen even with their playoff failures.
But they got worse by losing both receivers Stefon Diggs, Gabe Davis, on defense Tredavious White, Jordan Poyner and C Mitch Morse. They do still have DT Ed Oliver, LB Matt Milano and S Damar Hamlin but it will be hard to overcome all those losses. Also interesting to see how a top 10 offensive line can handle losing their center but also hope by drafting ten players they may fill some of the holes. Outside of RB James Cook and their two headed monster at TE of Dawson Knox–Dalton Kincaid it is not the best receiving core.
The Dolphins had the same record as Buffalo/made the playoffs so because of that they locked up QB Tua Tagovailoa long term hoping they could do it again.
They added WR Odell Beckham Jr. to the great group of WRs Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle plus added Jonnu Smith at TE. Their offensive line lost a few players this offseason and the health of OT Terron Armstead is an issue. They did lose Andrew Van Ginkel, Christian Wilkins, Robert Hunt on defense but added S Jordan Poyner, CB Kendall Fuller and LB Jordyn Brooks to make up for it. They also still have CB Jalen Ramsey and the biggest signing was DE Calais Campbell to their defense too.
The Jets again will have a great defense like CB Sauce Gardner, LB CJ Mosley and DT Quinnen Williams plus traded for LB Hasson Reddick. They still have a good offensive line but got better by adding OTs Tyron Smith, Morgan Moses, and G John Simpson plus get G Alijah Vera-Tucker back from injury. They added WR Mike Williams to help out Garrett Wilson and still have Breece Hall at RB plus drafted some more skill players.
What it all will come down to them having a bad season when the head coach gets fired and they clean house or make the playoffs if Aaron Rodgers can come off the Achilles injury he suffered in game one last year. Plan B is better than last year’s mess by getting QB Tyrod Taylor to backup.
The Patriots will still be bad but it was a regime change with Bill Belchick out and Jarod Mayo in as head coach plus a fresh new QB room of Drake Maye and semi new Jacoby Brissett. They added WR KJ Osborn, TE Austin Hooper and re-signed TE Hunter Henry to improve on having one of the worst set of skill players outside of RB Rhamondre Stevenson plus added RB Antonio Gibson.
Going from one defensive minded coach to another they will still have a good defense since they re-signed S Kyle Dugger and have Jabril Peppers. Their offensive line might be an issue as they are rebuilding it from the draft outside of G Mike Onwenu.
South: Last season rookie QB CJ Stroud and rookie head coach DeMeco Ryans propelled the Texans from the bottom to winning the division.
They traded for RB Joe Mixon to help Dameon Pierce but most importantly traded for WR Stefon Diggs to lead the young core of receivers in Nico Collins, Tank Dell and Noah Brown, plus veterans WR Robert Woods and TE Dalton Schultz. Despite having G Shaq Mason and OT Laremy Tunsil on the offensive line it is one of the lower tier lines. They did make some splashes on defense by adding DE Danielle Hunter, LB Azeez Al-Shaair, CB Jeff Okudah, DTs Denico Autry and Foley Fatukasi. Their defense already had DE Will Anderson, S Jimmie Ward and DB Desmond King plus drafted five defensive players.
The Jaguars fell back down to earth after a great previous season but this was due to his injuries to QB Trevor Lawrence that cost him some games but also because he played behind one of the worst offensive lines.
Their skill players did improve by adding WRs Gabe Davis, Devin Duvernay to pair with TE Evan Engram and WR Christian Kirk but let Calvin Ridley leave so it might be a wash. They did add QB Mac Jones to be their backup in case Lawrence misses time again. Josh Allen the DE might be on the brink of stardom so he might keep elevating this defense, plus they added DE Arik Armstead to help CB Ronald Darby.
The Colts found their quarterback in Anthony Richardson but the question will be how they will keep him healthy with his style of play. They still have a top three offensive line led by C Ryan Kelly and Quenton Nelson plus drafted some more offensive linemen.
A full season of RB Jonathan Taylor should be a great season from him and they re-signed WR Michael Pittman but are weak at the rest of the receiving core as they are relying on a rookie to be their second WR. Everyone is praising them for their excellent draft with nine picks including taking DE Laiatu Latu with their first pick and keeping CB Kenny Moore, DT Grover Stewart and LB Zaire Franklin to help DT DeForest Buckner.
Well the Titans stopped “Tightening up” as QB Ryan Tannehill missed time with injury-then cut RB Derrick Henry who left in free agency plus they fired Mike Vrabel. Brian Callahan is now the head coach, who knows offense, stole WR Calvin Ridley from the Jaguars, and added RB Tony Pollard and WR Tyler Boyd to pair with WR DeAndre Hopkins.
It is now QB Will Levis’ job in this rebuild and has QB Mason Rudolph backing him up, but has one of the worst offensive lines even with their first round pick from the offensive line. Their defense is ranked towards the bottom but will get better by adding CBs L’Jarius Sneed, Chidobe Awuzie and drafted DT T’Vondre Sweat to help S Amani Hooker, S Quandre Diggs and DT Jeffery Simmons.
West: It is very hard to three-peat the last time it was the Patriots so it will be hard but if you are head coach Andy Reid calling plays, QB Patrick Mahomes behind center, and TE Travis Kelce, plus they kept DE Chris Jones on defense it’s definitely possible.
The Chiefs added WR Hollywood Brown to help WR Rashee Rice and RB Isiah Pacheco. They also have one the best offensive lines thanks to G Joe Thuney, C Creed Humphrey and G Trey Smith leading it. They did lose a few stars on defense but still have CB Trent McDuffie and S Justin Reid. Lastly their draft just added more depth to their offensive line/set of skill players plus the new backup QB is Carson Wentz.
Last season didn’t go the way the Chargers wanted by finishing last and losing QB Justin Herbert for a huge chunk of time and looking lost on offense.
They accomplished everything they wanted in the offseason by signing Jim Harbaugh to be their head coach, added two running backs in JK Dobbins/Gus Edwards to replace Austin Ekeler, added WR DJ Chark, TE’s Will Dissly and Hayden Hurst to their receiving corps. They signed C Brandley Bozeman to replace Corey Linsley and drafted a tackle with their first pick to help OT Rashawn Slater to form a good offensive line. Some of their issues have been great defense on paper but no results as they have LBs Joey Bosa, Khalil Mack, Denzel Perryman, CB Asante Samuel Jr and S Derwin James. The only real weakness is their wide receiving core losing both Mike Williams and Keenan Allen.
Hopefully HC Sean Payton can turn around the Broncos now that Russell Wilson is gone and he got to draft his own QB choice in Bo Nix, but will it happen in Nix’s rookie year since his two backup options are Jarrett Stidham and Zach Wilson.
Denver traded Jeudy but drafted a WR in the draft to pair with Courtland Sutton and Marvin Mims but have RB Javonte Williams. The Broncos do have a mid tier offensive line but that is good enough to help Nix out. The real weakness was their defense which was terrible last season even with CB Pat Surtain so they invested heavily in the draft to fix that with two picks.
We don’t have any idea what the Raiders are doing as they let Derek Carr go last offseason and had a hole at QB and this offseason let Josh Jacobs. They brought QB Gardner Minshew in who is nice but not long term, RB Alexander Mattison who is more of a backup, but brought in DT Christian Wilkins for their defense to help DE Maxx Crosby.
At least their offensive line is improving slowly every year and they used two of their first three picks on it, plus the first pick was a TE in Brock Bowers. With Crosby/Wilkins leading the defense under new head coach Antonio Pierce it too will improve as well leaving the pressure on the offense to score outside of WR Davante Adams.