The 2026 NFL season hasn't even started yet, but for a handful of teams in each conference, hopelessness is already about to set in.
Nobody can know with 100 percent certainty what is going to happen in a given NFL season. Teams go from "worst to first" all the time. But some teams have too many roster holes, quarterback issues, coaching issues, youth, or some combination of those factors that make their inevitable struggle a lot more obvious.
We're going to take a look at the top 3 teams in the AFC that already look hopeless ahead of the 2026 season, and may already have one eye drifting toward 2027.
3 AFC teams that look hopeless already ahead of the 2026 NFL season
3. Las Vegas Raiders
The Las Vegas Raiders got some good news regarding running back Ashton Jeanty after a scary injury scene at practice, but his absence -- however long that ends up being -- is still going to be significant enough to miss time into the regular season.
Jeanty has been expected to take a huge leap forward in his game for the Raiders this year, and with the team already desperate for help at receiver, having a weapon like Jeanty was essential for the offense's early success.
After finishing with the worst record in the NFL last season, it looks like the Raiders' best bet is to be a second-half breakthrough team, perhaps similar to the New Orleans Saints last year. The major question for the Raiders right now is whether they have the same type of defense as the Saints to be able to make some type of second-half surge happen.
This is a roster with some major flaws on the defensive line, a lot of youth in the secondary, and a rookie head coach taking over. The Raiders aren't hopeless for the long term with some of the pieces they have in place, but in the AFC West -- and with all of the looming questions combined with the Ashton Jeanty injury -- this team might be in evaluation mode for 2026 rather quickly.
2. Miami Dolphins
Nobody is going to be able to claim to be the first ones to say, "I told you so," regarding the 2026 Miami Dolphins. This is a team that was visibly blowing up the roster and resetting for the future from the moment GM Jon-Eric Sullivan and head coach Jeff Hafley took over.
Still, even with a revamped and reloaded roster, the Dolphins' approach to the preseason has been met with some serious skepticism from the fan base.
Head coach Jeff Hafley has only sent his starters out for one drive during the preseason, hoping to get as many of them to the regular season healthy as opposed to calloused. Some coaches around the league share that philosophy, others see the value in the preseason.
It's not really a make-or-break risk for Hafley, whose job security beyond 2026 should be pretty locked in. Anyone with any level of self-awareness in that organization has to know that this is a rebuilding year, so this season is going to be all about establishing culture.
But winning games? That might have to wait until next year, for the most part.
1. Cleveland Browns
The Cleveland Browns are making the decision to go with Deshaun Watson as their starting quarterback at the beginning of the 2026 season, cementing themselves as the most hopeless team in the AFC at the start of the year.
Maybe even the entire NFL as a whole.
I've said it before this offseason, and I'll have to admit that I was wrong about something: The Browns throwing Deshaun Watson out there as a starter makes zero sense for the organization. The only justification is if Watson gives you a better look at the young players at the skill positions than Shedeur Sanders does, and if that's the case, then Sanders' development has been shockingly horrible.
It speaks volumes that a player selected in the 3rd round last year -- Dillon Gabriel -- wasn't even a factor in the competition whatsoever.
This team has mismanaged the QB position badly, and even after ownership admitted that the whole Watson situation was a mistake on their part, the guy is now going to be starting for them on opening weekend.
It's rough, but maybe this is just the Browns' version of the night being darkest before the dawn.
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