16. Indianapolis Colts
Out of all of the teams in the NFL, the one I struggled to place the most was the Indianapolis Colts.
For the first 10 games of last season, there were few teams in the NFL better than this one. The Colts liked what they saw last year enough to bring back Daniel Jones on a two-year deal, and also bringing back Alec Pierce in NFL Free Agency on a big-money contract.
They said goodbye to Michael Pittman Jr., but they still have Josh Downs and star second-year player Tyler Warren to feature in the passing game. And this year, expect Warren to be heavily featured. Jonathan Taylor is also still one of the best and maybe most underrated running backs in the game.
The Colts' 2026 season might hinge on a trade that was made during the 2025 season to acquire Sauce Gardner. They are banking on Gardner returning to the form we saw in his first couple of NFL seasons where he allowed virtually nothing to be completed into his coverage.
In a limited sample for the Colts last season (4 games), Gardner allowed a QB rating into his coverage of just 65.1, and only 8.5 yards per completion. Those numbers would have been better than his 1st-team All-Pro numbers he posted as a rookie.
The Colts have some exciting young players who need to take the leap this season on their defensive front. Rookie CJ Allen, the team's top pick, will be fun to watch at linebacker, and JT Tuimoloau entering his 2nd NFL season could be a breakout player off the edge opposite Laiatu Latu.
15. Los Angeles Chargers
The Chargers were the 7th seed in the AFC last season, so this ranking is really nothing to scoff at, but it's going to be taken in an offensive way by Chargers fans.
The Chargers have a veteran-laden defense and a really solid overall offense. But this roster might just be a better sum of its parts than a collection of individual parts overall.
Offensively, the Chargers are going to work to replace their leading receiver last year -- Keenan Allen. The fact that Allen came in off the couch to lead the team in receiving last year is a bit of a picture of this team's struggles at receiver, and why Mike McDaniel's first and foremost priority as offensive coordinator for this team is to get the ground game going.
Omarion Hampton had a solid overall rookie season, but he'll be expected to absolutely take off this year if the offensive line is healthy. And that's another major question mark. Though we assume both Joe Alt and Rashawn Slater will be back, will they be back at full strength?
The Chargers' pass rush is led by the extremely underrated Tuli Tuipulotu, but how much are they going to get out of the rest of that unit this year? They went out and added Miami's Akheem Mesidor with their top pick in the 2026 NFL Draft.
The floor feels rather high for this Chargers roster, but how high is the ceiling? The question marks at receiver, interior offensive line, and how the defensive pieces fit with a first-year defensive coordinator all loom large.
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