18. Kansas City Chiefs
I believe we need to pump the brakes with the Kansas City Chiefs. Sure, this team landed Kenneth Walker III in free agency, but overpaying for a mostly average running back is not going to fix all the issues this team had in 2025, and continue to have on paper heading into the regular season.
The wide receiver room, at the moment, is a massive question mark, as the front office wasn't even able to sign Stefon Diggs, for example. The tight end room is also a question mark, as Travis Kelce is old and isn't going to be getting any better.
Left tackle Josh Simmons hasn't practiced in weeks, and we haven't even begun to mention that the secondary is missing three good starters from last year. The pass rush feels unknown beyond Chris Jones, who is also getting up there in age, and to top it all off, Patrick Mahomes is coming off a major knee injury.
I totally understand why people could be optimistic about the Chiefs - this team does tend to suck you back in after feeling like they're down and out, but this roster is, comfortably, the third-best in the AFC West, even if Mahomes and Simmons come back and are 100 percent.
With serious roster issues and coming off a 6-11 season in 2025, the Chiefs take the No. 18 spot.
17. Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Perhaps the most average team in the NFL, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers are really only getting the benefit of the doubt in the NFC South because they have won the division more than other teams in recent years, and while Tampa is far from a contender, they should be good enough to rebound in 2026, especially now that Zac Robinson is running the show on offense - he has Sean McVay-tree ties, which is also a similar situation to when Liam Coen arrived as the offensive coordinator in 2024, Baker Mayfield's best season.
Add us as a preferred source on Google