5 NFL Teams Who Will Make A BIG LEAP In 2023… And 5 Who Will FALL APART
This past offseason has been quite a busy one… Teams were moving and shaking—in an attempt to position themselves for a successful run next year.
However, not all general managers and front offices are created equally… And while some teams seem to have made all the right moves to make some serious progress in 2023—there are also quite a few teams around the league that look to be in danger of having the wheels come off entirely.
Without further ado, let’s check out five NFL teams who will make a big leap this season—and five that will FALL APART!
LEAP – New York Jets
The New York Jets made one of the biggest flashes in the league this offseason with their acquisition of former NFL MVP—Aaron Rodgers.
Obviously, the longtime Packers quarterback is getting up there in age, as he is going to turn 40 during this season—and… he is coming off one of the worst seasons of his career.
That said, a down year for Rodgers would still be a MASSIVE improvement at the quarterback position for the Jets.
New York had one of the most exciting teams in the league last season, starting off the year with a seven and four record. They had young talent all over the field, but the Jets were ultimately grounded by their limitations under center—as the team lost its last six games and missed the postseason entirely.
Now that they’ve brought Rodgers into the fold, have Breece Hall returning from injury and have made key additions, both on the offensive side of the ball—by bringing in guys like Allen Lazard and Mecole Hardman—and the defensive side ball—a la defensive tackle Quinton Jefferson and defensive end Will McDonald IV out of Iowa State—it really might be New York’s year to make a BIG leap forward.
FALL APART – Green Bay Packers
They say that every action comes with a reaction—and the seismic shift that is Rodgers to the Jets may very well have the opposite effect on the Packers, who decided to part ways with arguably their best player in franchise history.
Granted, they’ve done this before with Brett Favre and that seemed to work out pretty well for the Pack… But I’m hard-pressed to believe that Jordan Love will be able to step in and fill Rodgers’ shoes.
They do have the good fortune of facing one of the softest schedules in the entire league this season… Just six of Green Bay’s 17 games will come against teams that made the postseason last year, but let’s face it—even if Love proves himself to be a legitimate option at quarterback, he and that offense are going to take some time to develop.
Beyond the quarterback position…
I’m not sold on the Lukas Van Ness draft pick at 13—and the Packers didn’t really do a whole lot to bolster the rest of the roster…
I would not be shocked to see the whole thing come undone for Green Bay this year—especially considering how competitive their division could be with the improvements that Chicago and Detroit have made.
LEAP – Pittsburgh Steelers
Granted, a lot of this prediction is contingent on the Steelers’ young quarterback, Kenny Pickett, taking another big step forward during year 2… But with the way that he played down the stretch in 2022—that looks VERY possible.
It wasn’t just Pickett that rallied during the second half of the season either… After a tough start to a transitional year that was also marred by injuries… the Steelers picked themselves up by their boot straps and finished the season nine and eight, extending their streak of consecutive non-losing campaigns to 20 straight years.
Pittsburgh had a really solid draft too—bringing in Georgia offensive tackle Broderick Jones to help protect Pickett—and cornerback Joey Porter Jr. out of Penn State.
Of course, the Steelers will also need their perennial Defensive Player of the Year candidate, TJ Watt, to stay healthy as well… But if he does—and Pickett continues to develop—Pittsburgh could very easily find themselves back in playoff contention and looking like one of the scarier teams around the league.
FALL APART – Tennessee Titans
2022 got ugly for the Titans down the stretch of the season, which ended with a seven game losing streak. And, well, cover your ears if you are in Music City… Because we very well might see this thing go from bad to worse in a HURRY.
King Henry is another year older—and has another year of miles on his legs. The three-headed quarterbacking monster of Ryan Tannehill, Malik Willis, and Will Levis isn’t exactly going to be invoking fear into the eyes of their opponents. And when the team is losing, the hard-nosed coaching style of a guy like Mike Vrabel could wear thin on his locker room very quickly.
If morale tanks—and they can’t find the stability needed at the quarterback position to revitalize an offense that was among the worst in the league last year—things could fall apart at the seams in dramatic fashion for Coach Vrabel and the rest of this Titans squad.
LEAP – Chicago Bears
It is crazy to say this coming off a year in which they were by the letter of the law quite literally the worst team in the NFL, but 2022 weirdly went about as well as it could’ve for the Chicago Bears, all things considered…
Justin Fields took a huge step forward—and showed enough progress that Bears fans have a legitimate reason to believe that he could be a bonafide franchise quarterback.
The Bears were not getting blown out on a week to week basis like many cellar dwellers. Instead, they found themselves regularly losing competitive games, while still racking up enough L’s to secure the number one overall pick, which they sold for a King’s Ransom to the Carolina Panthers.
Beyond the trade, the Bears did well to address some roster needs during the draft. Darnell Wright, the offensive tackle out of Tennessee, who they took at 10, should really be a shot in the arm to Chicago’s o-line—and Gervon Dexter, the defensive tackle out of Florida that they took in Round 2, was a high upside choice.
The fact of the matter is that Chicago is now lowkey set up for success in a way that was unimaginable just a couple of years back—and much of that is thanks to General Manager Ryan Poles and his staff, who have done some miracle work picking up the pieces from the Ryan Pace era.
FALL APART – Cleveland Browns
Because of the extenuating circumstances surrounding the controversial Deshaun Watson acquisition, expectations were not nearly as high for the Browns in 2022 as they otherwise would’ve been when bringing in a quarterback of Watson’s caliber.
But now that he has served his suspension and at least got his feet wet in terms of playing NFL football again down the stretch of the 2022 season—all of that is about to change.
If Deshaun continues to struggle in his attempts to return to form—which, would really be a crying shame, I might add (sarcasm)—things could unravel in The Land very quickly.
After all, I’m sure there were more than a couple of people in the locker room and in that organization as a whole that were none too keen on bringing Watson into town… even more so once they saw the terms of his insane fully guaranteed contract.
They are also playing in what will be an extremely competitive AFC North… Lamar should be back healthy with something to prove in Baltimore, Pittsburgh is on the rise, and as long as the Bengals have Joe Burrow—they should be feared.
Don’t be surprised if an early season stumble causes the Browns to completely crumble next year!
LEAP – Carolina Panthers
The NFC South is wideee open this year. Tom Brady is gone from Tampa, the Saints picked up Derek Carr, but they still have work to do, and the Falcons are pretty far off from any real form of contention.
The Panthers have as good a chance as anyone to make a run at the Division crown. And once you get into the playoffs, anything can happen.
Of course, a lot of this is contingent on their first-round pick—and the number one overall pick in the draft, Bryce Young—and how quickly he is ready to make the leap required to excel in the professional ranks…
But with a new quarterback and a new head coach in Frank Reich, Carolina could shock a lot of people with their 2023 output—and really improve upon an extremely meh, seven and 10 campaign from last year.
FALL APART – Tampa Bay Buccaneers
With Tom Brady drifting off into the sunset—the proverbial glass slipper has fallen off, the clock has struck midnight, and come 2023—we may very well see the Bucs turn right back into the pumpkin that we had come to expect before number 12 landed in Tampa.
Now, instead of having the undisputed goat under center, it is looking like they will either have Baker Mayfield or Kyle Trask, whoever wins the job.
Both guys will be in a decent position to succeed, considering the offensive weapons that Tampa still has… But neither really inspires a lot of hope in what can only be a rather deflated fan base.
And bad could turn to worse very quickly if Todd Bowles and his staff can’t get more out of their offensive line this year.
Last season wasn’t pretty and that was with Brady doing everything under the sun to try and mask the systematic issues they had offensively… If they aren’t able to improve that significantly, then it won’t matter how many talented skill players the Bucs have on offense, because Mayfield and Trask won’t be able to get them the ball!
This will likely be a particularly frustrating season for the Bucs, too—because the NFC South is still so winnable, yet they really have no choice but to attempt to rebuild this year.
It’s the right long term move, no doubt. But man, this could get painful for Tampa Bay in the short term…
LEAP – Denver Broncos
Last year went about as poorly as it possibly could’ve for the Denver Broncos… They entered the season with sky high expectations after “winning” the Russell Wilson sweepstakes, only to find out that it wasn’t a sweepstakes at all!
And that they seemed to have gotten dealt a lemon!
That said, Denver did have one of the top defenses in the year all season long, so much so that with even an average offensive unit—they would’ve made the playoffs easily.
So, assuming that group can maintain that level—or even 80 to 85 percent of that level, they should be in a good position to succeed this year, now that the Broncos have brought in Sean Payton.
After seeing the way that Payton picked up the pieces of Drew Brees’ career when he got down to New Orleans, there is legitimate reason to believe that he could do the same with Wilson in Denver.
Granted, Russ is a little bit older… but he is also way more accomplished than Brees was when Payton got his hands on him.
If Wilson can quiet his ego and actually allow Payton to coach, we could see that offense turn things around in a hurry this season. And if they do… Watch out! Because we could end up seeing an extremely well-balanced and dangerous Broncos team…
Kinda like what we were expecting to see out of them last year!
FALL APART – New York Giants
Finding success in the NFL is hard… But maintaining it—that is an even more daunting task. And that is exactly what Giants head coach, Brian Daboll is going to be up against this year, heading into his second season leading the organization.
And this year will come with a slew of new challenges, including managing the locker room after seeing Daniel Jones get a nice big contract extension this year.
He will also need to find a way to ensure that Jones is able to maintain his level of play from last season… and more so—build on it. Because while he did well to protect the ball and manage the game in 2022, the Giants are going to be heading into this season with increased expectations and a whole new air around the team.
If Daboll can’t find the right balance early in the year—this thing could go south FAST…. especially in what’s expected to be an awfully tough NFC East.
With five of their first six games against the likes of Dallas, San Francisco, Seattle, Miami and Buffalo, the Giants’ playoff hopes could be dashed before we even get to November.
Which NFL team do you think is poised to make a big leap in 2023—and which team is going to fall apart? Did we miss anyone?
5 NFL Teams Who Will Make A BIG LEAP In 2023… And 5 Who Will FALL APART
News Daily Reports
No comments: