25. Atlanta Falcons
The Atlanta Falcons have brought in Taylor Heinicke after a year of Marcus Mariota, which was oddly rather successful when you look back on it. I think Arthur Smith put a good infrastructure in place, and now the Falcons have Heinicke as their bridge guy to whatever is going to come next. And what is coming next? Anthony Richardson might be just what this team needs at QB.
26. Cleveland Browns
Call me skeptical all you want, I just want to see things actually work out on the field with Deshaun Watson and the Browns before calling this team one of the best in the league. I think Jacoby Brissett did a good job last season holding down the fort but the Browns are going to need Watson to be the $230 million man they paid for. He has to elevate that offense to top-10 heights or this team is going to be stuck in NFL Draft purgatory — too bad to make the playoffs but too good to be picking in the top 10.
27. Chicago Bears
The Chicago Bears were the worst team in the league last year record-wise, but they have added some pieces of late and the franchise has some renewed excitement. The team is going all-in on Justin Fields despite the GM and head coach having nothing to do with drafting him in 2021. They moved out of the top pick in the 2023 NFL Draft and acquired DJ Moore in the process. Now, the Bears need to continue to make splashes in free agency and this team could more than double its win total from last season.
28. Tennessee Titans
The Titans seem to be blowing it up in year one of the Ran Carthon (Titans new GM) era. That’s totally fine, but this team could struggle badly this coming season. I am way lower on the Titans than I probably should be here, but this team is one in transition and it wouldn’t surprise me to see them hit a bit of a low in 2023. With that said, Mike Vrabel usually has his guys ready to go on Sundays, so maybe putting them this low will come back to haunt me.