12. San Francisco 49ers
At this point, we all know the story with the San Francisco 49ers. This team is capable of getting to the Super Bowl - they have done it two times in the Kyle Shanahan era, 2019 and 2023. However, they always seem to be dealing with some form of injury, and that has continued to be the case this year.
All that really stands in the way of this team are those injuries, but with the rapid rise of Los Angeles and Seattle, it has kind of made the 49ers a bit of an afterthought. The 49ers do check many of the boxes needed to be a contender, but you'd ideally like them to be a bit more stout along the offensive line and not have to rely on so many aging players like Trent Williams, George Kittle, Christian McCaffrey, and now someone like Mike Evans.
All in all, the 49ers know how to win football games and could make a deep run if the health is in a good spot, but you already get the sense that health is going to be tough to achieve throughout 2026.
11. Jacksonville Jaguars
I am not a huge fan of the Jacksonville Jaguars this year, as losing Etienne and Devin Lloyd, two of their top players in free agency, is going to hurt. And even if those two were still in the picture, the roster would be looked at as being just OK.
The Jaguars arrived a year early in 2025, as this current regime is only in year two, so trying to undo the mistakes of the previous regime is still well underway. A slight regression is likely, but this team is still well-coached enough to reach double-digit wins and get into the playoffs as a Wild Card, which would still be a success.
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