3 dark-horse Super Bowls teams emerge after the 2024 NFL Draft
We've seen just how big of an impact that a rookie class can have. With the 2024 NFL Draft over, can we identify a few dark-horse Super Bowl teams? Rookies do contribute in year one and have contributed to Super Bowl-winning teams. Rashee Rice, a rookie during the 2023 NFL Season, was the Kansas City Chiefs best WR during their third Super Bowl win in five seasons.
It's not uncommon, and during the NFL draft, there were a few teams that came into vision as being some quiet, dark-horse Super Bowl contenders for 2024. Let's look at them.
3 dark-horse Super Bowls teams emerge after the 2024 NFL Draft
1. Indianapolis Colts
The Indianapolis Colts have quietly put together a squad. In 2023, their first year with Shane Steichen as the head coach, Indy scrapped together nine wins with Gardner Minshew playing most of the snaps, as 2023 rookie Anthony Richardson was out with a shoulder injury. Second-year QBs have broken out and led their teams to the Super Bowl.
Joe Burrow did it in 2021 with the Cincinnati Bengals, and second-year QB Brock Purdy helped lead the San Francisco 49ers to the Super this past season. So, could the Colts with Anthony Richardson and an underrated roster do the same thing in 2024?
2. Los Angeles Rams
The young and savvy Rams surprised many in 2023, winning 10 games and making their lone postseason game interesting. The neat thin with the LA Rams is that they have a ton of battled-tested veteran players like Matthew Stafford Cooper Kupp, Rob Havenstein, and others. They also have very talented players on their rookie seasons.
It's not crazy to think that the 10-win Rams from 2023 can build on that and go on another Super Bowl run. QB Matthew Stafford was very good in 2023 and didn't show any signs of a decline in any form.
3. Cleveland Browns
The Cleveland Browns can most certainly be a Super Bowl team in 2024. Deshaun Watson has not panned out for the Browns thus far, but when he was still with the Houston Texans, he was among the best and most electric QBs in the NFL. If, and it is a big if, Watson can return to his Texans form, who would stop this Browns team?
Their defense finally reached their potential with Jim Schwartz at the DC helm in 2023, so that unit is solid. The offense will again feature a top OL, and Watson now has another weapon to use in WR Jerry Jeudy, who came over from the Denver Broncos. The AFC is crowded, but the Browns are going to have something to say in 2024.