3 NFL teams most likely to stay in last place for 2023 season
This is the time of year for every NFL team and their fan base deserves to be leaning heavily on the “optimistic” side. There are certainly teams that need to be a bit more realistic than others and there are some clear barriers for teams trying to become contenders or even relevant.
Unfortunately, sometimes you can see the future coming from a mile away. Although anything is possible, there are a few NFL teams that look destined to repeat in 2023, and not in a good way. There are teams that look like they are poised to repeat as last-place teams based on what we saw transpire in the offseason or how good the teams are around them.
Which NFL teams are the most likely to stay in last place for the 2023 season?
3 NFL teams most likely to stay in last place in 2023
3. Atlanta Falcons, NFC South
Sorry, Atlanta Falcons fans. Despite an improved roster this offseason, when you look across the NFL landscape, it just feels like this is a team that is more likely than others to stay in last place.
There is really one primary reason for that, and it’s the unknown with Desmond Ridder.
To the Falcons’ credit, they qualify as a “last place” team but out of all the teams that finished last place last season, not many were in the thick of the division race to the very end. For good stretches of the 2022 season, the Falcons actually had one of the better offenses in the league.
Will the addition of guys like Jessie Bates III and Jeff Okudah to the secondary be enough to take this team to the next level?
Again, I think way too much of the projection for this team depends on what’s going to unfold with Ridder. Ridder is really the one that will either push this team forward or hold them back. I was a big fan of his coming out of Cincinnati but I also just don’t know how he’s going to translate as a full-time starter in the NFL.
Even with that in mind, I think the Falcons could find their way out of last place simply by way of the Bucs’ quarterback situation going even further south than their own. It’s not a strong conviction, but out of the eight teams that finished in last place last season, I think the Falcons are one of the top three most likely to repeat.