Pre-2022 NFL season power rankings

Bottom tier - unlikely NFL teams

Atlanta Falcons v Carolina Panthers

And finally, I think after that previous tier there was a cut-off. These final four teams may have individual players or position groups of note, but simply don’t have the comprehensive ingredients to be competitive teams in the win-loss column. I don’t see any of them getting eight wins due to a combination of underwhelming roster build-ups, coaching staff, quarterback play, etc. With the offseason moves (or lack thereof) that they’ve made, they acknowledge which phase of their life cycle that they’re currently in.

#29. Atlanta Falcons, NFC South

Las Vegas Raiders v Atlanta Falcons

I still don’t quite understand how the Atlanta Falcons won seven games last season. They finished 26th in offensive points and 29th in yards, with those rankings flipped for their defense. They could not run the ball effectively (outside of a couple of explosives delivered by Cordarelle Patterson per week), had maybe two legitimate targets in the passing game and defensively they were tough to watch (unless you zeroed in on A.J. Terrell shutting down his receiver at an All-Pro level).

They now go from Matt Ryan to Marcus Mariota/rookie Desmond Ridder at quarterback, lost arguably their top play-maker on defense in Foyesade Oluokun and we should expect regression from their 7-2 record in one-score games last season. I like their ’22 draft class a lot and think they’re starting to put some pieces together for a new iteration of the team. But realistic expectations this year would be challenging for a top-five pick.

#30. Houston Texans, AFC South

Houston Texans v Detroit Lions

I’m actually on board with what the Houston Texans have done this offseason, especially putting together one of the best all-around classes in the entire league. They retained some key pieces and trimmed a lot of fat, in terms of clearing their books from replaceable veterans, and added some much-needed pieces on defense in particular. They really attacked their weaknesses throughout the draft.

After finishing dead-last in rushing yards (1422) and yards per attempt (3.4), they selected the biggest road-grader at guard in Texas A&M’s Kenyon Green and the most violent running back in Florida’s Dameon Pierce. The motto on defense is versatility, as they targeted LSU’s uber-talented corner Derek Stingley Jr. to orchestrate their coverages around and other names from big programs. I like the idea of Davis Mills coming into the offseason knowing he’s playing for a long-term job rather than being a backup third-rounder. But I’m just still not quite sure if they have the firepower or will gel quickly enough to put together extended winning stretches.

#31. Seattle Seahawks, NFC West

Detroit Lions v Seattle Seahawks

Talking about teams letting their long-term quarterback walk out of the building this offseason, this definitely hurts more for the Seattle Seahawks. Russell Wilson is still a top-ten guy in his position with potentially another decade in him. That wasn’t the only major loss by any means, with the forced retirement of Chris Carson, just straight-up cutting Bobby Wagner and watching another seven starters go.

Now, was this roster build somewhat flawed and they needed to regroup somehow? – Yes, and I don’t blame Wilson for not wanting to waste some of his best years in that situation, but man, the drop-off to Geno Smith or Drew Lock is massive. l loved their draft, potentially getting up to five quality starters out of it by this year, but those aren’t the only young guys they’d need to really step up to make much noise in 2022. I just believe they’ll be in contention to draft number one overall next year and finding the new kid under center.

#32. Chicago Bears, NFC North

Chicago Bears v Carolina Panthers

The reconstruction of the Chicago Bears may not appear as massive to casual NFL fans, mainly because they can identify with a star QB like Russell Wilson more easily. But new Bears general manager Ryan Poles completely tore this thing down to the ground. Just looking at their projected salary cap for 2023 at just over 100 million dollars – which is nearly double of the next-closest team – the organization rid themselves of nearly all future financial obligations.

They even went out of their way to pay out players the rest of their contracts to not be in the building anymore, leading to a whopping 60 million in dead money this year. These things reflect in their lineup, where outside of two guys I’ve hyped up the last two years – Darnell Mooney and Cole Kmet – they basically have no reliable pass targets. Their O-line is thrown together with veteran fill-ins, their interior D-line has seen basically the same changes and now Roquan Smith wants to re-set the linebacker market. The two things they can really hang their hats on are a secondary with several promising youngsters and whatever Justin Fields can show in year two – if he doesn’t get killed because of the protection.

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