NFL power rankings: Where all teams stand approaching Week 1 of 2024 season

22. Seattle Seahawks

The Seattle Seahawks parted ways with former head coach Pete Carroll and hired a younger coach in Mike Macdonald, who may be the best defensive mind in the NFL.  His Ravens defenses were flat-out excellent, so he hopes to get his new Seahawks defense playing up to their potential.  To me, the 2024 NFL Season for this team is an evaluation year, as it’s easy to see that Geno Smith is not their long-term option.

The way I see it is the team could hover around being average in 2024, but they’ll be good enough for Macdonald and GM John Schneider to get a good feeling about who they want to keep around for the long-term.  I can see the Seahawks being aggressive for a QB when the 2025 NFL Draft rolls around.

They did trade for QB Sam Howell, so it would not surprise me if Howell got some starts this season.

21. Denver Broncos

The Denver Broncos will be better than most think in the 2024 NFL Season, and I struggle to see how that is a controversial take.  They had a bottom-10 QB in Russell Wilson, and for a majority of the season, fielded a bottom-5 defense as well.  Not only did they add some much-needed help along the defensive line, but they found a better fit at QB in Bo Nix.

The 2024 Denver Broncos do have some 2023 Houston Texans to them, and I have maintained that Denver’s ceiling in 2024 is what Houston did in 2023.  No, the Broncos aren’t winning the division, but a nine or even 10-win season is not at all as crazy as it sounds.  You also have to consider that head coach Sean Payton has never won fewer than seven games in a season in his NFL career.

There is a lot to like about this sneaky Denver Broncos team as we race into the 2024 NFL Season.