Football fans everywhere can officially rejoice: Training camp is actually almost here. The NFL offseason is finally almost over, teams are getting ready to report for work around the league, and football season will soon officially be upon us.
Throughout the course of the offseason, we've looked at every team in the NFL from about every possible angle, and this is looking like it might be the deepest we've seen the field of 32 teams around the league.
After last season, the AFC looks particularly loaded. The potential of the powerhouse teams bouncing back, breakout teams building on what they did in 2025, and even more breakout teams on the horizon...All of it adds up to the possibility of 12 or more teams being in the playoff mix into the final month of the season.
Our newest NFL Power Rankings are going to take another look at the loaded AFC entering training camp in 2026, ranking each team from worst to best.
NFL Power Rankings: Updated AFC team rankings before training camp in 2026
16. Miami Dolphins
It's clear at this point that the Miami Dolphins are rebuilding, and they're not really apologizing for it. They're also not exactly throwing in the towel, either.
The Dolphins made a rather substantial investment ($45 million guaranteed) in quarterback Malik Willis, who was outstanding as Jordan Love's backup the past couple of years in Green Bay. The brain trust of GM Jon-Eric Sullivan and head coach Jeff Hafley saw him work firsthand when they were with the Packers, and Willis is getting a well-deserved opportunity.
The biggest strength of the Dolphins this season might be their talent in the trenches. It might not bear fruit immediately, but the picks they've invested on the offensive and defensive lines the past few offseasons will be huge for their rebuilding efforts.
15. Cleveland Browns
If the Cleveland Browns had any more certainty at the quarterback position than they do at this particular moment, they might be one of the top candidates as a surprise team in the AFC this season. We just don't know what they're going to get out of Shedeur Sanders.
And yes, I'm saying it's going to be Sanders as the starting quarterback. This organization has nothing to gain by letting Deshaun Watson play for them. He'll compete with Sanders, hopefully get the best out of Sanders, and the team will evaluate.
But the rest of the roster has talent. Todd Monken is going to have a pretty nice-looking, revamped offensive line to work with, and even without Myles Garrett, that defense has talent at all three levels.
14. Las Vegas Raiders
The future isn't "now" with the Las Vegas Raiders, because Fernando Mendoza is expected to sit on the bench to start his NFL career. With that in mind, the Raiders clearly have a plan in place, and the pieces are exciting on paper.
Mendoza, Ashton Jeanty, and Brock Bowers are a fun core of young offensive players to build around, and the fact that the Raiders reeled in Klint Kubiak as their head coach gives them arguably the perfect coach to help the #1 overall pick along in his development.
But this roster is still very much a work in progress. The defensive line is one of the worst in the league (on paper), and the receiver position is full of unproven players. The youth is exciting, but also serves as a reminder that this team is still on the outside looking in of the rest of the AFC.
13. New York Jets
The New York Jets have not only assembled an impressive roster full of young, talented prospects, but the NFL Draft war chest for GM Darren Mougey remains the best in the league heading into the 2027 NFL Draft, what could be the best crop of prospects to come along in some time.
The biggest thing holding the Jets back from being a possible playoff team right now is the quarterback position. How far can Geno Smith realistically take them?
Smith has been a turnover machine the past couple of seasons, and he's going to have to make consistently better decisions to help this team get a clear evaluation on playmakers like AD Mitchell, Mason Taylor, Kenyon Sadiq, and Omar Cooper Jr.
The cupboard definitely isn't bare, but that quarterback question obviously looms large.
12. Tennessee Titans
The Tennessee Titans should be primed and ready to take the next step as a franchise in the 2026 season. They've got a new look (literally), a new head coach, and a much better supporting cast for their star second-year quarterback, Cam Ward.
Ward showed a ton of flashes during his rookie season with the Titans, even though the franchise obviously didn't have the stability it needed at the top. Now, Ward gets to work with Brian Daboll, who has done a great job with quarterbacks like Josh Allen and Jaxson Dart.
The Titans' roster is one of the most improved in the NFL this year overall. The upgrades they have made to the defensive line as well as the wide receiver position are substantial enough that this team could realistically make a run at a Wild Card spot.
11. Pittsburgh Steelers
Not that we're expecting the Steelers to be a bad team, but it just feels like this team was hanging on by a thread before, and it's going to get worse before it gets better.
The Steelers have a good enough roster to win 8 or 9 games, but anything above that feels like it will be overachieving. Aaron Rodgers is still playing solid football at the age of 42 going on 43 this season, but this is a reigning Division Champion with Super Bowl aspirations.
With Mike Tomlin, the Steelers felt like they were consistently hiting a proverbial ceiling, as great of a coach as he was. Is Mike McCarthy the right coach to put them over the top? How will an older roster look in a division with such great quarterback play?
Again, the Steelers don't look like a bad team, or even a bad roster. I'm just not sure they have quite enough.
10. Kansas City Chiefs
At this stage, the Kansas City Chiefs are no longer the team that was the NFL's post-Patriots dynasty team. It's not that they can't get back to contending for a Super Bowl, but there are way more obstacles now than there were from 2018-2024.
Patrick Mahomes is coming off of a major injury. Travis Kelce is entering what will likely be his final NFL season. The Chiefs overhauled their secondary this offseason. The offensive line is a major question mark. The receiver position doesn't inspire much confidence.
The Chiefs are really banking on their established stars -- Andy Reid, Patrick Mahomes, Chris Jones, Travis Kelce -- to carry this team in big moments. How fast can the youth on this team step up? Sometimes young and hungry is dangerous, and with a QB like Mahomes, you just can't count the Chiefs out.
9. Indianapolis Colts
The Indianapolis Colts have one of the more underrated all-around rosters in the NFL right now. They have one of the best offensive weapons in the entire league in running back Jonathan Taylor, and head coach Shane Steichen knows how to maximize talent on that side of the ball.
This is a make-or-break year for the Colts. They took some risks this offseason, saying goodbye to some key veterans on both sides of the ball, but the core of this roster remains intact, and if Daniel Jones is healthy, we've seen the ceiling of this team.
The second half collapse by the Colts last season had everything to do with injuries, and even asking Philip Rivers to come back after 5 years away from the game, this team gave it a spirited shot at the end of the season.
This is a team that lacks hype, but probably deserves it.
8. Los Angeles Chargers
There are two opposing forces with the Los Angeles Chargers heading into the 2026 season.
On the offensive side of the ball, the Chargers hired Mike McDaniel as their new coordinator. He's going to be expected to come in and do what he does best: Set up an elite run scheme. The possibility of Justin Herbert taking that proverbial next step as a player has been a tension for the past three seasons. Maybe McDaniel can get it out of him.
On the defensive side of the ball, the loss of Jesse Minter to the Ravens is monumental. Thankfully, first-year defensive coordinator Chris O'Leary is going to have a veteran-laden defense to coach up. But Minter was a major needle-mover as a coordinator for the Chargers.
The optimism of a hire like McDaniel is only slightly overshadowed by the loss of Minter, but a more competitive ofense is precisely what the Chargers need to end their playoff woes.
7. Cincinnati Bengals
This is an aggressively optimistic ranking for the Cincinnati Bengals entering training camp in 2026, but I've been aggressively optimistic about them for most of the offseason.
Let's be real for just a moment: Joe Burrow hasn't played in a playoff game since the 2022 season. It's not that we don't know what he's capable of, but imagine telling Bengals fans after they nearly upset the Rams in the Super Bowl back in the 2021 season that they would only make the playoffs once in the next four years.
Two factors have played the biggest roles in that disappointment: Injuries and defense. The Bengals can't control the injuries, but the defensive personnel got a major upgrade this offseason. Dexter Lawrence, Jonathan Allen, and Boye Mafe are coming in to give the Bengals a really solid defensive front, and maybe a raised floor entering this upcoming season.
6. Baltimore Ravens
When Lamar Jackson is healthy and at his best, there are few players in the NFL more dangerous and/or dynamic.
Jackson is simply one of the rarest players we've ever seen. But he can't do everything on his own, either. The Ravens have plenty of talent around Jackson offensively, but for the first time since 2008, the Ravens' head coach will be someone other than John Harbaugh.
The arrival of Jesse Minter should mean an instant upgrade for the defense, and he's got a weapon off the edge after the Ravens stole Trey Hendrickson from Cincinnati.
Although they're the new-look Ravens in multiple ways, this is a team we've come to simply expect to be there among the best in the AFC, and that's where I think they'll return this upcoming season.
5. Jacksonville Jaguars
How will the Jacksonville Jaguars follow up their breakthrough year in 2025?
The first year under head coach Liam Coen was a resounding success, as the Jaguars went from the 5th-worst record in the entire league to being one of the hottest teams in the entire NFL down the stretch last season.
Unfortunately, they couldn't get the job done against the Bills -- at home -- in the playoffs. The offseason wasn't overly kind to the AFC's newest contender, either. They let running back Travis Etienne and linebacker Devin Lloyd walk to NFC South teams in free agency, and they didn't do much to replace them.
The in-house talent is going to have to continue to develop, which means Coen is going to have to keep flexing his abilities as a head coach and talent developer.
4. New England Patriots
How do we weigh the Patriots' regular season success last season against their struggles (offensively, at least) in the playoffs? This was a team that had the worst sack differential in the NFL (sacks allowed offensively vs. sacks defensively) last season.
They went out this offseason and got some upgrades for Drake Maye in the weapons department, trading for AJ Brown and signing Romeo Doubs in NFL Free Agency. The Patriots also added Kevin Byard to a secondary that was already tough to throw on most of last season.
They've got the chance to be even better this year than they were in 2025, but it might not result in as many wins, or maybe even a division title. The Patriots' offensive line is still a question mark, even with the selection of Caleb Lomu in the 1st round of this year's Draft. And the way Drake Maye played in the postseason -- especially in the Super Bowl -- was eye-opening, to say the least.
3. Houston Texans
Other than some areas being question marks with young players in the starting lineup, this is a pretty flawless looking lineup for the Houston Texans.
We know the Texans have an elite defense. Maybe the best defense in the entire NFL right now. They have an elite pass rush, an elite secondary, and it's so strange to be talking about the biggest question mark on this team actually being quarterback CJ Stroud.
Stroud has simply not been able to recapture the same level of play we saw from him back in his rookie season (2023), but he's still dangerous and capable of leading this team deep into the postseason. He's proven he's got ice in his veins during big games, winning three playoff games in three seasons, but he crumbled badly in the playoffs this past year.
Even with the weather and conditions considered, throwing 5 total interceptions and fumbling 5 times against the Steelers required herculean efforts from the defense just to stay involved in the game. He needs to find a way to step it up, or we've likely seen Houston's ceiling.
2. Buffalo Bills
With Josh Allen at the quarterback position, an elite running game, and an elite pass defense, the Buffalo Bills have all the makings of a Super Bowl team in 2026.
So what's the issue?
Especially after the addition of wide receiver DJ Moore, it's hard to really find many. The Bills look like one of the most complete overall teams in the league, but the biggest questions might be on their coaching staff.
After firing Sean McDermott after the playoff loss in Denver, the Bills hired Joe Brady as a rookie head coach, and he brought in Jim Leonhard as a rookie defensive coordinator. Young coaches can get it done, as many others have proven, but this is such an important window for this franchise with Josh Allen already entering his 9th NFL season, and not even a Super Bowl appearance at this point.
With an MVP and truly generational type of athlete at the position like Allen, anything short of Super Bowl(s) is unacceptable.
1. Denver Broncos
If it wasn't for Bo Nix suffering a fracture in his ankle during the Divisional Round win over Buffalo, the Denver Broncos probably represented the AFC in the Super Bowl this past season. And it's hard to think, with the way they played against the Bills, that they wouldn't have at least given the Seahawks a better game than the Patriots did.
We'll never know.
The Broncos have found the key to rare continuity in the NFL, maybe even pro sports overall. They are bringing back 94 percent of their snaps this coming season, unprecedented roster continuity in the salary cap era. They added Jaylen Waddle to be Bo Nix's favorite new target, and he's already impressed a ton at OTAs and minicamp.
With a championship-ready defense, the Broncos really need their offense to get up to speed. They were clutch offensively last season, but this team is capable of blowing teams out, and they didn't show it. Davis Webb is taking over play-calling from Sean Payton, and the operation is expected to really take flight.