14. Washington Commanders
How could the Washington Commanders possibly rank even as high on a list like this after such a disappointing 2025 season? They were one of the worst teams against both the run and pass, allowed the 6th-most points in the league, and they were 31st in the NFL in takeaways.
The Commanders spent money and draft capital on defense in a big way, going after Odafe Oweh and K'Lavon Chaisson to upgrade their pass rush. They somehow landed Sonny Styles with the 7th overall pick, and stole a couple of underrated players from the Chiefs in linebacker Leo Chenal and defensive end Charles Omenihu.
Like we mentioned before, a large portion of these rankings are based on the moves teams have made and how they look on paper, not just based on how things went last season. And based on last year, the Commanders will be pretty much unrecognizable on the defensive side of the ball.
The one area of concern remains the secondary, but the Commanders made big moves to turn things around in the trenches.
13. Atlanta Falcons
The Falcons were one of the teams I struggled with the most on this list. Yes, the Atlanta defense was one of the most improved last year, but what is the status of star rookie James Pearce Jr. going to be this season?
The Falcons made a point to keep defensive coordinator Jeff Ulbrich around, so continuity on that side of the ball should help. Ulbrich's defense finished with some sneaky-good numbers last season, ranking 4th in the NFL in total tackles for loss and with the 4th-highest sack percentage in the NFL.
The addition of top pick (2nd-rounder) Avieon Terrell upgrades the secondary, and the Falcons made a really intriguing trade to acquire Maason Smith as an upside play on the defensive front. There's still plenty of work to be done, but the arrow is pointing up from what we saw last season.
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