Post-FA/Draft NFL Power Rankings: Defending Champs NOT on Top?

 For the first time since the actual NFL season, we are releasing a power rankings! Crazy! This is our first power rankings basically of the 2022-23 season as teams have pretty much taken their nearly final forms as most of the roster shuffling is finished for the remainder of the off-season (minus a couple of decent moves that might still be made). This is just to gouge where teams are at during this current moment and obviously so much can still change. Here we go.

1. Buffalo Bills

After their heartbreaking loss in the 2021 NFL playoffs, the Bills look to come back better than ever. I currently have them as my no. 1 team in the NFL! We all saw just how good they were last season, including in that game against the Chiefs that they probably should have won. Guess what? They got EVEN better! Josh Allen is going to have another year of development under his belt. They brought in a huge ticket free agent in future HOFer Von Miller. He solved their biggest need which was consistent juice off the edge. That signing is so much bigger than people will give credit for. They also had many great draft picks. CB Kaiir Elam will be an instant impact day 1 starter opposite of Tre White to sure up that DB room. RB James Cook is elusive as hell and could become the team's starter in the backfield. I also loved late round wideout Khalil Shakir who is a YAC monster and could put up big numbers with Josh Allen right away. The Bills are elite on both offense and defense and are poised to be the SB favorites. 

2. Los Angeles Rams

The defending champs do not take the top spot in our initial rankings for 2022. While they retained a lot of the key pieces from their championship run, I still feel like they got a ton of luck and the ball bouncing the right way for them throughout the playoffs to go on to win it all. The Bills are the best and most talented team but the defending champs do not fall far behind them in my opinion. The Matt Stafford/Cooper Kupp connection will be back in full force this year but instead of OBJ as the secondary receiving option it will now be big ticket FA add Allen Robinson who could flourish even greater than Beckham did (though he still could come back as well). I didn't love their draft, but then again, do they really care? F--$ them picks -Les Snead. 

3. Tampa Bay Buccaneers

After the most turbulent possible start to the off-season for Tampa, they righted they ship (lol) and now look to cruise into the 2022 season with the sails fully down and the cannons loaded. Tom Brady announced his retirement to open the off-season but quickly undid it which set the Bucs up beautifully for another Super Bowl aspiring season. While they lost pro bowl offensive pieces in guard Ali Marpet and TE Rob Gronkowski to retirement, they returned Ryan Jensen and added Patriot pro bowler Shaq Mason via trade. I liked their signing of WR Russell Gage who becomes one of, if not the very best third receivers in all of football. Overall the Bucs just spent the off-season retaining almost all of their key pieces as they look to make another run. 33rd pick in the draft DL Logan Hall will replace Ndamukong Suh and then some probably. He's a beast. While the Bucs won't look much different, they will be even better in my opinion and have virtually no competition inside the division aside from New Orleans.

4. Cincinnati Bengals

The main knock on Cinncy all of last season was their god awful offensive line. Pretty much a second after losing on the final drive of the Super Bowl this team was on the phones securing outside FA talent to improve that line. What a job they did. By bringing in two pro bowl level lineman in OT La'El Collins from Dallas and OG Alex Kappa from Tampa to the few decent starters they had in place, the Bengals now have one of the better OLs in the game after having the worst a year ago. That wasn't all they did either. They got one of the steals of the first round by taking versatile chess piece DB Daxton Hill with the 31st pick in the draft. He is going to be so fun to watch for them. He's another young stud who is going to fly around on that team. The Bengals are poised to win the division and potentially the AFC again with Joe Burrow, Ja'Marr Chase, and co only getting better. 

5. Los Angeles Chargers

This is where the off-season REALLY changed things. The Chargers (who didn't even make the playoffs in 2021) have now cracked the top 5. There's no way this team is going to be bad again this season. To be fair, they were great for most of 2021 but fell apart in some important games and missed out on the post-season. No longer. With Justin Herbert only getting better as well, this team is perfectly tailored around him to succeed. On offense the team re-signed his favorite deep threat Mike Williams a mega-extension, they drafted the best guard in the class in Zion Johnson at pick 17, and they brought in versatile TE Gerald Everett in FA as well. Defense is what held them back and boy does it look improved. JC Jackson was the crown jewel of this off-season. Somehow they snagged him for around just $16 million per year. He's a top 3 CB in the NFL who is just entering his prime, that number is a steal for them. He will make their secondary miles better. They also brought in tons of talent on the D-line, headlined by former DPOY Khalil Mack who is going to be a nightmare for teams to block opposite of Joey Bosa. With the Chiefs getting a little worse, I think the Chargers have ascended to the team to beat in the AFC West.

6. Green Bay Packers

While everyone will cry about all of the bad moves the Packers made this off-season, they quietly actually had a great period. Don't get me wrong, losing Davante Adams HURTS! That is going to be a big adjustment. But virtually every other move they made was awesome. They found ways to re-sign Aaron Rodgers, De'Vondre Campbell and Rasul Douglas. Those are huge moves. They also got 3 high impact rookies from the draft. Georgia LB Quay Walker is going to be a monster in the middle of their D. Devonte Wyatt will feast next to Kenny Clark on the DL. Christian Watson will likely become the WR1 in this offense from the get go, and he's a perfect fit. While it might look somewhat different, the Packers that we all know them as are back for another year. It wouldn't shock me if they claimed the NFC's no. 1 seed again, the conference is weaker than ever and they are always a great regular season team...the playoffs are a different story on the other hand.

7. Kansas City Chiefs

This could be way too low of a ranking for the most consistent team right now in the NFL. I just really hate that they lost Tyreek Hill. Patrick Mahomes can make anyone work, but man their skill sets fit more perfectly together than any other duo in the sport. The Chiefs will be there though. They will aim to replace Hill with the three big-time wideouts they brought in. Juju Smith is elite when healthy, Marquez Valdes-Scantling has near game-breaking speed like Hill, and rookie second rounder Skyy Moore is a YAC machine and could become the WR1 in very short time. I'm not worried about this offense, especially with Kelce and Edwards-Helaire still in the fold. The defense is always a bit of a question mark for the Chiefs, but they got good talent there too. S Justin Reid is a younger and more explosive option than Tyrann Mathieu was. I LOVED the trade up for UW corner Trent McDuffie in round 1 of the draft. He has star written all over him. That's a day 1 high level boundary corner for this secondary that needs it. While the Chiefs are going to be different looking, they should be nearly as good as they were a year ago (a year where they led by 18 points at one point in the AFC title game)! 

8. Denver Broncos

It's so hard to rank these AFC West powerhouses. For now I've got Chargers, Chiefs, Broncos, Raiders, but you could put them in any order and convince me at the current moment. They are all THAT good. The Broncos may have had the craziest off-season of anyone. They traded away superstar QB Drew Lock! What are they doing?! All jokes aside, they did bring in a superstar QB for real. Russell Wilson has long been overlooked tucked away up in the Pacific Northwest, but now he's joining a team that is going to fully unleash him. Denver has never had a signal caller quite like Russ. New HC Nathan Hackett seems primed to succeed. He's a great offensive coach and an elite motivator. Around Russ will be their elite RB duo (Williams and Gordon), an ascending wideout duo (Jeudy/Sutton), and a rookie TE with a lot of potential (Dulcich) behind the best offensive line that Russell Wilson has ever had. While their defense was great last year and should still be (especially with the massive addition of DE Randy Gregory), the offense will finally go way over the hump and have these Broncos with a true shot at going back to the Super Bowl for the first time since Peyton Manning rode off into the sunset drinking Bud Light. 

9. Baltimore Ravens

More AFC love! The Ravens had a "down year" that was ravaged by injury and they still missed the post-season by one game. Now they return to full health and they added star player on star player on star player this off-season. Marcus Williams, Kyle Hamilton, Tyler Linderbaum, Travis Jones, Daniel Faalele, David Ojabo, and MORE were among the list of additions. While the trade of Marquise Brown to the Cardinals will hurt, this offense is in great hands with Lamar Jackson having his healthy stable of RBs at hand along with his favorite target Mark Andrews who is looking like potentially the best TE in football. This team knows its identity, is well coached, a great mix of veteran and young talent, and is going to win a lot of games in 2022. This is another team with legit Super Bowl aspirations.

10. Las Vegas Raiders

Here's the WORST team in the AFC West. Isn't this crazy? Four teams in the same division inside the top of our power rankings. The Raiders very well could end up as the best team in football with how good their roster is looking and how they played to finish last season. Let's start with the obvious, how the team added All-Pro wideout Davante Adams and All-Pro rusher Chandler Jones. Those are two of the best players in all of football and you just added them in the SAME off-season. Adams bolsters this receiving core to give MVP candidate Derek Carr one of the best in the league. How do you cover Adams, Hunter Renfrow, AND Darren Waller? The defense is much improved as a whole and will be spearheaded with Jones off of one edge and Pro Bowler Maxx Crosby off the other. Crosby is one of the very best defensive players in the sport right now and has a big chance at DPOY with Jones helping him out now. With a great offensive head coach in place, this team is ready to soar. It's going to be so interesting to watch this division sort itself out. 

11. Indianapolis Colts

While there are over 10 teams in the AFC with legit Super Bowl aspirations, just 7 of them will even make the playoffs. While all of the hype goes out to the AFC West and also teams like the Bills and Bengals and Browns, the Colts feel like a lock to make the post-season. While there could be 7 better teams than them, a division winner from each division obviously gets in, and I'm very confident the Colts will represent the dumpster AFC South. I was super high on the Colts last season, and they shit the bed and missed out on the post-season with their epic week 18 meltdown in Jacksonville. They got right to work after that. The trade to bring in former MVP QB Matt Ryan is so underrated but is going to be so huge. Ryan is still a very very good QB and got way overlooked due to a rough situation in Atlanta. He joins an uber-talented Indy offense where he could have a bounce back year. Michael Pittman will be his favorite target, but rookie Alec Pierce is sure to be a major contributor as well. Jonathan Taylor will likely be back in the MVP race at RB. The Colts OL is one of the league's best. Frank Reich is an offensive genius. Oh yeah, the Colts also have one of the best defenses in football led by Darius Leonard and bolstered by big time FA signing CB Stephon Gillmore (former DPOY). The Colts are all-in on next season, and they are a real dark horse Super Bowl threat.

12. Philadelphia Eagles

The Eagles went into the off-season as my personal 3rd best team in the NFC East. They emerge from the off-season as my favorite to take the division. What an off-season they had. While everything still hinges on if Jalen Hurts can take it up a notch at QB this season, he has everything in place to do so. The Eagles crushed free agency. Edge Rusher Haason Reddick coming to town on a three year deal was one of my favorite moves of the entire off-season. He's just entering his prime and has had double digit sacks in two straight years. Huge add for the Philly D. During the draft, they executed highway robbery by bringing in superstar wideout AJ Brown for the 18th pick in the draft, while still snagging freak athlete DT Jordan Davis at 13. AJ Brown paired with Devonta Smith gives Hurts one of the best WR cores in football. In the third round, the Eagles somehow got first round talent LB Nakobe Dean who will be a day 1 starter at LB and should pretty quickly become one of their very best defensive players. This team is so improved and ready to take the next step this coming season. I like them over Dallas and Washington right now out of the East.

13. Dallas Cowboys

Things don't feel right in Dallas. That loss in the Wildcard round is going to haunt this team for a long time. Dallas did not have a huge off-season. They lost stars Amari Cooper and Randy Gregory and didn't bring in much talent either. I did like their first two picks in OT Tyler Smith (rd. 1) and DE Sam Williams (rd. 2) who should be instant impact starters, but aside from that, they are mostly running it back. On paper they are probably the best team in their division, but there are always weird vibes surrounding this squad, especially right now.

14. San Francisco 49ers

The team that made the NFC championship game this past season is a huge question mark heading into 2022. Aside from signing CB Charvarius Ward to a big deal, the Niners did not make many huge moves this off-season. I didn't really like what they did in the draft either. Reports are surfacing that QB Trey Lance has been wildly underwhelming in training which is bad bad news for SF. While it's seemed to have cooled down a bit in the past few days, things are still very very uncertain for do-it-all wideout Deebo Samuel who publicly requested a trade out. I'm not sure what this team will surely look like heading into week 1, but they always find ways to win, and if Jimmy G is the starter, we know he's capable of taking them far (even if it's not really thanks to him). 

15. New Orleans Saints

I'm not sure why more people aren't talking about the Saints. They had a great off-season and look like one of the better teams in the much weakened NFC. While Sean Payton is gone, new HC Dennis Allen is going to be ready to win. He's been the DC of this team's dominant defense over the past few years and has spent the off-season building up a squad ready to compete for the NFC South with Tampa Bay (whom they swept last season). Jameis Winston is back, and I love it! Winston was great for the Saints before the injury last year and is a well above average QB that can win big with this team. Chris Olave was the perfect first round wideout for this team as he's the ultimate deep speed deep threat for Winston's big arm. The team also revamped its secondary bringing in stud S Marcus Maye and the Honey Badger from KC. Both will be HUGE contributors. While he's no Terron Armstead, OT Trevor Penning who the team took at 19 in the draft has franchise OT potential and should be great right out of the gate. These Saints have the look of a real playoff contender, and could push Tampa for the division if last year was any indicator. 

16. Cleveland Browns

Definitely the hardest team to rank on here. The Browns have Super Bowl winning upside if Deshaun Watson can play most of to all of the season, but we have no idea if he will. A potentially large suspension may loom for Watson and could turn this Browns season upside down. Baker Mayfield or Jacoby Brissett is clearly not enough to take even a roster this good to the post-season. If Watson misses most of the year, it will be another down year in Cleveland. If Watson is able to play most of the season, the Browns are set to win big. This is an unreal roster around him and he is capable of making everyone around him better. Certainly a team to watch closely heading up to the season.

17. Washington Commanders

Just like the Saints, I think people are a lot lower on Washington than they should be. This might be me as a Carson Wentz believer, but this team could be really good. Injuries were a big issue for this team in 2021 and they return everyone healthy. They also added a much better QB (Wentz) and a stud first round wideout in Jahan Dotson as well. Wentz will have probably the best supporting cast he's had yet with Dotson, Terry McLaurin, Antonio Gibson, JD McKissic, and a great offensive line. People forget Wentz had one of the league's best TD to INT ratios. He is set to succeed in Washington. The real story of this team is their defense, led by Chase Young, Da'Ron Payne, Jonathan Allen, and more, they will be the identity of this team. While the offense is going to improve a lot, the defense will be the strength of the team. Combined with one another, I think this a playoff team that could also very win this toss-up division. 

18. Arizona Cardinals

This is another tough team to judge right now. While we all know this squad has elite upside, they rarely ever put it together. Kyler Murray and this team was on a tear as they started 8-0 last season before falling apart down the stretch and getting blown out in the first round of the playoffs. While they had a decent off-season, they will now have to play their first 6 games without superstar DeAndre Hopkins on the field (suspension). Still, I have faith that this team is going to be good this season. Murray is an elite QB getting better by the year. James Conner proved he can be an elite RB1 option for them. They traded for Murray's top college target Hollywood Brown who should have a monster first 6 games and then be an elite WR2 option opposite Hopkins. I love rookie second round TE Trey McBride who they added. Also, even with losing Chandler Jones, this defense is mad underrated. The Cardinals will be decent at worst in '22. 

19. New England Patriots

While I didn't like their off-season, the Patriots are a known entity. With so much elite talent in the AFC now, I don't have them making the playoffs at the current moment, but I feel like they will find their way in like always. JC Jackson & Shaq Mason leaving are two HUGE losses. Bill Belichick always tries to replace his losses with mid round draft picks and budget FA signings and while it works sometimes, it's going to be hard to work for those two stars. I was disappointed to see New England only add WR Tyquan Thornton this off-season. I thought they were poised to go after someone like Davante Adams or Amari Cooper to aid Mac Jones. While this team is mostly average on paper, they were a playoff team in 2021 and are still coached by the best to ever do it so I can't drop them too far. 

20. Miami Dolphins

Tyreek Hill. Terron Armstead. Raheem Mostert. The list even goes on. What a job new HC Mike McDaniel did bringing in elite talent to his team. The priority was clearly to build up the offense around struggling third year QB Tua Tagovailoa and they sure did so. The Dolphins already have an elite defense that is set to be great again in 2022, but the offense is what is holding them back big time. With a great offensive coach, Tyreek freakin' Hill, Jaylen Waddle, Mike Gesicki, Raheem Mostert, Cedrick Wilson, Chase Edmonds, Sony Michel, and now a great offensive line in place, Tua has ZERO excuses. If he can't do amazing this year, the team is poised to move on an insert another QB who will soar with this elite supporting cast. I'm not sure what to make of this star studded Dolphin roster right now with so much uncertainty with QB performance right now. We will know a lot about the future of this team within the first few weeks of the new season.

21. Tennessee Titans

Bad vibes out of Tennessee. Somehow they botched the AJ Brown situation by lowballing him so badly he wanted out and then moving him for poor value. I like Treylon Burks but the pressure is going to be on him big time right out of the gate to be what AJ Brown was and those are massive shoes to fill. This team also traded up in the third round for QB Malik Willis who isn't close to NFL ready but is a big name and already has embattled QB Ryan Tannehill stressing, I know this team has Derrick Henry, but he's not enough to carry this team all the way. Things feel like they are trending in the wrong direction and this season could be an epic flop for Tennessee.
On another note, I liked their trade for WR Robert Woods :) ! 

22. Minnesota Vikings

With the NFC very barren all of the sudden, the Vikings are poised to benefit. Long have they been a team right on the edge of playoff contention. This feels like the year where they have a great chance of getting into the post-season and trying to make a run. While there weren't many huge moves made this off-season, the roster they already have is quite solid. Their only big time add was pro bowl edge rusher Za'Darius Smith who will be elite opposite of Danielle Hunter. This team is just solid enough to win 10+ games and get in. Justin Jefferson and Dalvin Cook will will this team into the post-season. They have to start manifesting that with a low ceiling QB like Kirk Cousins still under center.

23. Pittsburgh Steelers

In the NFC this could be a wildcard team. Mike Tomlin has never had a losing season with Pittsburgh and the moves they made this off-season reflect that. With Big Ben retiring, Tomlin instantly signed Mitch Trubisky at QB to ensure they at least had someone to bridge the gap but then the team lucked out as their prized QB prospect Kenny Pickett fell to them at pick 20 in the draft. Pittsburgh still has its elite D to fall back on, led by reigning DPOY TJ Watt among other awesome talent. Pickett will likely be the week 1 starter and could have Mac Jones-level success right away. They have such a great receiving core headlined by Diontae Johnson and Chase Claypool for him to go to but also high potential rookies George Pickens and Calvin Austin III. The Steelers are probably another year away from being back in playoff contention, but they should be excited about a year with no one expecting much of them despite a playoff berth last season.

24. Seattle Seahawks

As a fan of the team, I cannot decide what I want this team to be this coming season. In a weak NFC, if this team pounds the football and gets back to playing great defense, they could be a fringe playoff team. If they tank, they will have an opportunity to get one of the top franchise QB prospects in a loaded 2023 draft. It's all up to Pete Carroll. While the team had a wildly eventful off-season, it's now pretty quiet on the front in Seattle. There isn't much expectation for them which is where they like to be. I loved their draft class and am excited to see how rookies Charles Cross, Ken Walker, Boye Mafe, Tariq Woolen, Abe Lucas, and Coby Bryant contribute right away in year 1. There will be a lot of snaps available for young players. This is one of the most interesting rebuilds/retools in the league and could be a fringe playoff team while at the same time could be a dumpster fire. Drew Lock time baby! 

25. New York Jets

This feels like the highest I've put the Jets in years! That shows the optimism there is in New York after an awesome off-season. While they weren't overly active in FA, they still brought in some nice talent like TE CJ Uzomah and CB DJ Reed. The draft is where they killed it, getting three of the best prospects in the class with three first round picks (Sauce Gardner, Garrett Wilson, Jermaine Johnson). It continued in round 2 when they snagged arguably the best RB in the class in Breece Hall as well. With a great young roster being molded around second year QB Zach Wilson, the pressure is on in 2022 for him to at least take a decent step forward and show that he is the future for the team. 

26. Detroit Lions

This ALSO feels like the highest I've put the Lions in years! This team is fully prepared to try and win but won't be ashamed if that doesn't happen. With many high draft picks, the Lions elected to pass on Malik Willis and the other QBs a multitude of times to show they will ride with Jared Goff for at least another year. Detroit added some real talent for the future this off-season. They got arguably the best player in the draft with DE Aidan Hutchinson at no. 2 overall and then traded back in for my top wideout in the class in Jameson Williams. They also signed big play threat DJ Chark from the Jags which I loved. While this team could be very bad, it has an intriguing offense with Chark, Amon-Ra St. Brown, Williams, D'Andre Swift, and Jamaal Williams around Goff (and a budding offensive line). I wouldn't be shocked to see this team double or triple its 2021 win total (not a high bar though).

27. New York Giants

New GM Joe Schoen has done a great job during his first off-season as the Giants' decision maker. He's been decisive and is playing by his own philosophy. While I don't think the Giants will be good this season, he's setting up the roster nicely for the future. Daniel Jones will get a final look this year, make or break for him. The roster is much better around him to do so. While the WR core is still nothing great, Schoen added Kentucky WR Wan'Dale Robinson in R2 to add to Kenny Golladay, Darius Slayton, and Kadarius Toney. Saquon Barkley will be back as well. Still, Schoen got both Kayvon Thibodeaux and Evan Neal in the draft (two of the 6-7 best players in the class). Those two will be stars in New York for a long time to come. 

28. Jacksonville Jaguars

An eventful off-season in Duval. The Jags hired a new HC in Doug Pederson and made a flurry of big time FA signings. Christian Kirk and Foye Oluokun were the two largest, and they will have big impacts right away. In the draft, they selected Georgia freak athlete Travon Walker no. 1 overall, I wouldn't have done that, but he could become a stud if he realizes his potential. Trevor Lawrence will be looking to take a big step in year 2 to continue to prove he's the franchise savior for this team. I don't expect much from this team in 2022, but a few extra wins would show they are moving in the right direction.

29. Houston Texans

The Lovie Smith era began in Houston this off-season, and I actually liked what they did. They masterfully negotiated the Deshaun Watson trade to get probably the biggest haul we've ever seen for a player. This team is stacked with picks for years to come. With some of their large draft capital this off-season, they added potential CB1 of the future Derek Stingley at no. 3 overall and then versatile OL Kenyon Green at 15. Those two have potential to be fixtures for this squad over the next decade. All of the moves they made this off-season have signaled to us that they really believe promising second year QB Davis Mills could be their franchise guy. This will likely be his year audition, but the team likes what they have with him. Still, don't expect much in H-town this season.

30. Atlanta Falcons

We are really getting to the bottom here. These teams are the worst of the worst. The Falcons know they will not be good for a bit. Their defense is so incredibly bad that it's going to take years for it to be able to turn around. On the opposite side of the ball, they are slowly building a high flying offense. Kyle Pitts was a smash hit pick last year and will look to improve in 2022 even more and now they've added another huge target in Drake London (8th overall pick) to play next to him. While Marcus Mariota (or rookie 3rd rounder Desmond Ridder) will be throwing to them, they are the future of this offense and need the reps.

31. Chicago Bears

I was excited when the Bears brought in Ryan Poles from KC to be their next GM. So far I have been disappointed. However, I understand his vision. He's really completely tearing down this roster before trying to build it back up starting in the 2023 off-season when the Bears will have a historic amount of cap space. With few draft picks, I didn't love what Poles did. He reached on Kyler Gordon in round 2 and then waited until later to take a receiver in which Velus Jones doesn't feel like was a good fit. Justin Fields has potential to be a franchise QB, but it's not setting up nicely for him to prove it this year. He better hope Poles and defensive minded HC Matt Eberflus will give him a lot of leeway.

32. Carolina Panthers

They plan on starting Sam Darnold in 2022...