16. Tampa Bay Buccaneers:
Baker Mayfield was a fantastic story last season and impressed on a team that finally committed to him as their signal caller. Baker and the Bucs will still be good this year. Truthfully though, Tampa won the worst division in football at 8-10 and lost by over double to the Cowboys in the wildcard, they haven’t made any needle mover additions this offseason. Tampa Bay is a tough game on a schedule but not a legitimate contender.
15. New York Jets:
The Jets are a far more intriguing team that has the potential to go on a Super Bowl run with a Hall of Fame quarterback, elite weapons in Breece Hall and Garrett Wilson, a much improved offensive line, and a stellar defense at all levels. On paper the Jets look like a sure fire contender however they have some crucial questions holding them down these rankings for now. Practically every great player on the team has injury concerns whether it’s Breece, Garrett, Tyron Smith, CJ Mosely, or most importantly Aaron Rodgers. The Jets going 20 to 21 games of a season healthy seems like an impossible dream reality as of now. Rodgers may not even be the same player that we know after his injury last season, and we’re yet to see how Rodgers even plays on the Jets. This team is all projections and hopes, while the ceiling is as high as possible, the floor is catastrophic.
14. Los Angeles Rams:
I project the Rams to be a playoff team with fantastic young defenders and an electric offense. However the team lacks a star veteran defensive leader, and the offense has too many health concerns for me to believe the Rams are a legitimate contender. Matthew Stafford, Cooper Kupp, Kyren Williams, and the OLine have all dealt with multiple injuries and it’s hard to see them all being at full strength for the playoffs.
13. Cincinnati Bengals:
The Bengals are another team with extreme upside, which they will always have so long as Joe Burrow and Ja’Marr Chase are in the orange stripes. Joe Burrow and Ja’Marr Chase struggle to have a healthy season though. So while we all know what the Bengals are capable of in the event that it goes from Burrow and Chase to Jake Browning and Andrei Iosivas, the Bengals are no longer a threat. With tons of talent seemingly on the way out of Cincinnati, the Bengals may miss their window for a Super Bowl, especially if they can’t stay healthy.
12. Dallas Cowboys:
The Cowboys have failed to go on a Super Bowl run with super teams that dominate the regular season. This year is the least promising start of the year for Dallas in recent memory, losing key players such as Tony Pollard, Tyler Biadasz, and Tyron Smith with no major additions in the offseason. To make matters worse CeeDee Lamb, DaRon Bland, and Sam Williams are all entering the year with injuries and Dak Prescott could become a holdout situation as he’s an unrestricted free agent at the end of this year. The Cowboys will be a good team and are an extremely tough matchup for anyone, but it’s hard to see them getting it done this year.
11. Buffalo Bills:
Josh Allen will make this team a contender every year without a doubt, but the surrounding cast this year has massively declined. Buffalo lost Stefon Diggs, Gabe Davis, Tre’Davious White, Micah Hyde, and Jordan Poyer who were all extremely pivotal pieces on Buffalo. On top of that the captain of the Bills defense Matt Milano is already on injury reserve to start the year after tearing his bicep during practice. I don’t doubt Josh Allen’s abilities to lift up his team, but of recent years this seems to be the least likely season for the Bills to go on a Championship run.
10.
Green Bay Packers:
The Packers are one of the safest teams to believe they will not only repeat the success from last year, but also improve from it. The Bay had no substantial losses in the offseason and are an extremely young and healthy team only getting better. Jordan Love in his second year starting and the Packers should take a nice jump with improved weapons consisting of a progressing young receiver room highlighted by Jayden Reed and a new star workhorse running back in Josh Jacobs. Don’t sleep on the Cheeseheads!
9. Atlanta Falcons:
Kirk Cousins started off the season in 2023 playing at an MVP level before his achilles injury towards the end of week 8’s game. If Kirk finished the season at his pace through about 2 months, Kirk would have ended the year with a 70% completion percentage, 38 touchdowns, nearly FIVE THOUSAND passing yards, and 11 interceptions. If Kirk gets even close to where he was to start last year then Atlanta will be dangerous. This may be the best team Kirk has ever been a part of with an improving defense, a top 5 offensive line unit, and a multitude of star playmakers from Bijan Robinson, to Drake London, to Kyle Pitts. Kirk could truly turn Atlanta into a contender but the team needs to stay healthy and those offensive players need to finally click as all 3 of those star offensive weapons have arguably fallen short of expectations so far.
8. Houston Texans:
CJ Stroud was my top quarterback prospect and he’s certainly proven to be as good as anticipated. The Texans went on a historic run and even went on to win a playoff game. The Texans made some nice additions as well in Stefon Diggs, Danielle Hunter, and Joe Mixon. Based on how the Texans outperformed expectations last year many may see Houston as an immediate Super Bowl favorite, I disagree. The Texans had the easiest ranked schedule in the entire league last year, this year they have one of the 5 toughest. The Texans are without a doubt going to improve this season and are a sure-fire playoff team, however win wise I believe they will end in about the same spot they were last season. The Texans were gifted the division by a catastrophic end to the Jaguars season which was derailed by injuries, winning the division with a 10-7 record. Houston has an extremely talented team, but I believe people’s expectations are now too high.
7. Miami Dolphins:
The Dolphins offense is one of the best in the entire league with explosive weapons everywhere you look. Tua, his running backs, and his receivers have the ability to carry a team to a Championship however the team still has concerns. The defense lost a multitude of fantastic players such as Christian Wilkins and Jerome Baker, the offensive line is very questionable, and the health of players such as Tua and Achane are in jeopardy especially with a declining OLine.
6. Jacksonville Jaguars
This is an extremely controversial take that will more than shock readers, but be open to listen. Last year the Jaguars were momentarily the 1st seed in the AFC before a plethora of injuries to star players in week 13 against Cincinnati, ruining Jacksonville’s season. The Texans are now dealing with the toughest opponents the league has to offer, and Jacksonville has quite a softer schedule. The Jaguars have added tons of talent on both sides of the ball highlighted by Arik Armstead, Gabe Davis, Ronald Darby, and rookies Brian Thomas Jr. and Maason Smith. This offseason Trevor Lawrence and the Jaguars have looked more dominant than maybe ever before. I expect the Jaguars offense to take massive strides with a hungry and healthy Trevor and his new top weapon in BTJ. This was a team that looked like a legitimate contender before the team’s fall apart, and it looks like they will thrive from the benefits given to them this past offseason for missing the playoffs.
5. Baltimore Ravens:
This is a team that looks just about the same as last year except they added the King, Derrick Henry. Lamar and Henry could create a backfield that’s simply impossible to stop behind a good OLine. Especially when considering the Ravens incredible defense, Baltimore is a sure fire competitor. The reason they’re down at 5 is for just 2 reasons. I have some injury concerns of the offense that could potentially derail their year, and I have some questions about their receiver room still as Zay Flowers and Mark Andrews are the only reliable weapons.
4. Philadelphia Eagles:
The Eagles have a super team even with the departure of Jason Kelce. The Eagles truly have no weakness and still find ways to get better with an extremely strong rookie class, new star defenders, and even trading for projected breakout receiver Jahan Dotson. If Jalen Hurts returns to his 2022 self then the Eagles are no doubt a top tier contender with more depth than you could possibly ask for incase of injury.
3. San Francisco 49ers:
If I was writing this a month ago then I probably would have had the 49ers as the 1st team in the power rankings due to their abundance of elite talent and hunger to get back in the Championship game. Since then the 49ers have dealt with nearly 30 injuries before even the start of the regular season. This list doesn’t exclude the team’s star talent either as Christian McCaffrey, Trent Williams, Fred Warner, Dre Greenlaw, Talanoa Hufanga, and Leonard Floyd are all dealing with injuries before week 1. On top of these injuries there’s ofcourse the long drawn out Aiyuk situation that could cause problems for the 49ers. If healthy this is no doubt arguably the best team in the league, but too much has gone South before even the start of the year for San Fran to be any higher.
2. Detroit Lions:
The Lions have one of the best young offenses in the league and are only getting better as Amon Ra St. Brown, Jahmyr Gibbs, Sam LaPorta, Penei Sewell, etc. continue to develop and dominate. This team is loaded up with playmakers, a reliable consistent signal caller in Jarred Goff, and a fantastic offensive line. The massive improvements to Detroit’s defense is what really sets them apart from last year though adding DJ Reader, Carlton Davis, Terrion Arnold, and Ennis Rakestraw Jr. This Detroit team has a genuine chance to be Super Bowl champions and I was even tempted to put the Lions at 1.
1. Kansas City Chiefs:
It’s too hard to not put KC at the top. Patrick Mahomes is this generation’s Tom Brady, Mahomes is the undefeated best right now and no one is close to topping him. There’s no signs of the Chiefs slowing down either as they have an elite offensive line, a tough young running back, the most experienced tight end in the league, and an extremely promising receiving core now. The additions of Hollywood Brown and especially Xavier Worthy might make this Chiefs offense unstoppable as Worthy looks like he could even be a rookie of the year contender. Of course the defense is still very good as well, but it’s always been the Mahomes show. The Chiefs are looking to repeat and they’re without a doubt still the team to beat as it doesn’t look like they’re going anywhere this year or anytime soon.