Our Frank Schwab counts down his NFL power rankings, grades every crew’s offseason, solicits fantasy soccer recommendation and previews what the 2024 season might need in retailer for every crew.
We’ll attain our No. 1 crew on July 31, at some point earlier than the Hall of Fame Game kicks off the preseason when the Chicago Bears face the Houston Texans.
You can dive deeper with Schwab by clicking on the crew’s identify.
The Panthers employed a brand new head coach, Dave Canales, coming off an excellent season as Tampa Bay’s offensive coordinator. He did wonders for Baker Mayfield’s profession, which needed to catch the Panthers’ curiosity. Carolina spent $153 million on guards Robert Hunt and Damien Lewis, traded for receiver Diontae Johnson and drafted receiver Xavier Legette, operating again Jonathon Brooks and tight finish Ja’Tavion Sanders. Those have been the primary steps in serving to QB Bryce Young attain his potential.
It’s not just like the darkish cloud is gone. Team proprietor David Tepper continues to be round, bothering bar house owners who take a shot at him, able to make the Panthers U-turn all their plans when he will get impatient with shedding once more. Young has an extended solution to go and he may by no means come near Stroud as a participant or to paying off what the Panthers gave up in that commerce. The roster nonetheless has huge holes on either side of the ball.
The Patriots drafted North Carolina quarterback Drake Maye, who together with head coach Jerod Mayo will lead the Patriots right into a model new period. The incontrovertible fact that a number of groups, together with the Giants and Vikings, have been very excited to commerce up for that third general decide ought to inform the Patriots that staying put and drafting Maye was the appropriate factor to do. The Patriots have to restock the roster, however you do not flip down a possible franchise quarterback. New England’s rebuild will get loads simpler if Maye is a success.
Maye had lots of buzz. He was the QB1 on this draft class for Yahoo Sports’ Nate Tice. He has the whole bundle of expertise to succeed, so long as his aggressive nature does not turn out to be an enormous drawback with turnovers. One difficulty is the Patriots nonetheless did not do a lot to enhance the offense round him. They tried to get free-agent receiver Calvin Ridley, and whereas crew proprietor Robert Kraft mentioned Ridley selected the Tennessee Titans as a result of his girlfriend needed to be within the South, Kraft’s remark that “Part of it might be the quarterback situation as well” was in all probability extra correct. The Patriots aren’t a vacation spot but. That will take time. The first step must be Maye changing into the sort of QB different gamers need to be part of forces with.
Rookie Bo Nix is not assured to start out Week 1, however he’ll begin quickly. The drawback is there is not a lot round him. Patrick Surtain II is one of the most effective cornerbacks within the NFL, the offensive line is not horrible, receiver Courtland Sutton scored 10 touchdowns final season and … nicely, that is about it. It’s not a crew that’s outfitted to win quickly, even when the QB6 on this draft class is a success instantly. That’s what occurs whenever you pay a heavy worth for Russell Wilson and Sean Payton in trades. The Broncos someway went 8-9 final season as a result of Payton continues to be a wonderful head coach however it should be a problem this season, subsequent season and possibly 2026 as nicely.
None of this could have been a shock. When Payton got here aboard, everybody knew {that a} whole teardown because the crew suffered via the results of reducing Wilson was seemingly. One of lately, there might be one thing for Broncos followers to cheer about aside from dusty reminiscences of Peyton Manning and that 2015 crew.
Grabbing a coach who was in demand, a GM everybody needed and a quarterback who virtually everybody ranked second within the draft class is an effective offseason. That’s the sort of nucleus that may flip round a franchise very quick.
The drawback with utilizing the Texans for example of a fast turnaround is that they hit an unprecedented quantity of inexperienced lights. They employed an incredible head coach in DeMeco Ryans who in all probability wouldn’t have regarded their manner if he was drafted by one other crew manner again when. They did not have the primary decide of the draft however C.J. Stroud fell to them at No. 2 and ended up being maybe the best rookie quarterback in NFL historical past. Many younger gamers broke out on the identical time. It’s onerous to copy all of that.
