6. Dallas Cowboys
Fire up the annual Dallas Cowboys hype train, I guess. I'm going to be getting suckered into the optimistic outcome for this team once again.
The Cowboys had to improve one of the league's worst defenses from last season, and they started by stealing Christian Parker as their new defensive coordinator from the Philadelphia Eagles. They followed that up by bringing in a host of new players to revamp that unit from the ground up. Rashan Gary and Malachi Lawrence will be huge additions on the defensive front. Dee Winters and Jaishawn Barham add athleticism and playmaking to the second level.
Safeties Jalen Thompson and 1st-round pick Caleb Downs are two really big upgrades in the defensive backfield. It just feels like the Cowboys' offense is going to be somewhere in the top 10, and if the defense can even be league average, they'll make a huge jump.
5. San Francisco 49ers
Make fun of the way they drafted all you want, but we all saw the job Kyle Shanahan and his staff did last year with an absolute shell of a roster. Even having to make last-minute and in-season adjustments, the 49ers were one of the best teams in the league all season.
It's hard to imagine this team not being one of the top 5 or 6 teams in the NFC if they can get some key pieces back healthy, and if they are proven right about even just a couple of their incoming rookies. Sure, it's a new era in a number of ways for the 49ers, but they still have a familiar cast of characters that can lead this team to the final four of the NFC playoff race, maybe further.
The 49ers added Mike Evans this offseason to add an experienced weapon on the outside and teach some of the young players, and they also brought back Dre Greenlaw to pair up with Fred Warner at linebacker again. Getting Osa Odighizuwa in a trade with the Cowboys was also an extremely underrated move.
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