This season I’ll be doing my own power rankings, hopefully every week. The inaugural list is purely speculative. Here we go:

1. Philadelphia Eagles– The defending champs remain the team to beat.
2. Baltimore Ravens– The best team in the AFC, can they finally get it done in January?
3. Kansas City Chiefs– As long as Mahomes is under center, KC is a legit Super Bowl contender.
4. Buffalo Bills– Josh Allen carried them as far as he could last year, did they add enough to get them over the hump?
5. Green Bay Packers– The acquisition of Micah Parsons pushes them into the top five, but I’m not convinced Jordan Love is a franchise QB and the NFC North is a very tough division.
6. Denver Broncos– They have an elite defense and one of the best coaches in football, if Bo Nix can improve on a pretty good rookie season, they could be the team to dethrone KC in the AFC West.
7. Tampa Bay Buccaneers– They own their division and their offense is a good as anyone’s, do they have the defense to truly contend?
8. Detroit Lions– This might still be one of the best teams in the NFC, but they lost a significant amount of their coaching staff. I think there may be some bumps in the road.
9. Los Angeles Rams– I’d rank them higher if I had more confidence Matthew Stafford can make it through the season.
10. Washington Commanders– The Commanders & Jayden Daniels are legit, but they won’t take anyone by surprise this year.
11. Cincinnati Bengals– If they avoid another slow start, this is a playoff team. Their nearly complete lack of defense limits their ceiling, though.
12. Chicago Bears– There will be hiccups in year one of the Ben Johnson/ Caleb Williams era, but the talent is there to take a big step forward.
13. Houston Texans– If they can protect CJ Stroud, and he proves last year was just a sophomore slump, Houston could rise in these rankings.
14. Los Angeles Chargers– Until they actually win in January, I’m hesitant to rank them higher.
15. New York Jets– I believe in Justin Fields and Aaron Glenn, not quite enough to get them into the playoffs.
16. Jacksonville Jaguars– If Liam Coen can do for Trevor Lawrence what he did for Baker Mayfield, this team could really rise.
17. Arizona Cardinals– I like a lot of the pieces Arizona has, I just don’t trust Kyler Murray.
18. Seattle Seahawks– Sam Darnold is another QB I just don’t believe in and that drags Seattle down in my rankings.
19. Minnesota Vikings– JJ McCarthy is essentially a rookie QB & the NFC North is the toughest division in the NFL, so I think the Vikings might be relegated to the basement.
20. Las Vegas Raiders– Vegas also has the misfortune of playing in a tough division. They’ll show improvement, but the AFC West is a minefield.
21. Carolina Panthers– I think Carolina could be one of the surprise teams in the NFL this year.
22. Atlanta Falcons– Until they prove otherwise, I always expect the Falcons to come up short.
23. San Francisco 49ers– There’s just been too much attrition in San Fran to think they’ll be serious contenders.
24. New York Giants– Legit defense, just not sure they’ll get enough from their QBs to actually contend.
25. New England Patriots– Vrabel will make New England better, but they still don’t have enough talent to truly contend.
26. Cleveland Browns– Another legit defense that just won’t produce enough on offense to contend.
27. Pittsburgh Steelers– I just don’t think Aaron Rodgers has it anymore and I think Pittsburgh might implode.
28. Dallas Cowboys– I feel an implosion of epic proportions coming in Jerry World.
29. Indianapolis Colts– There is little reason for optimism when Daniel Jones is your QB1, ask Giants fans.
30. Miami Dolphins– Another team that I feel like is in for an epic implosion.
31. Tennessee Titans– I think Tennessee can rise much higher in these rankings, but until I see it on the field, I’ll rank them here.
32. New Orleans Saints– Right now, I think they’re the heavy favorite to land the first overall pick in the 2026 draft.