LogFAQs > #978721440

NFC South

1. San Juan Orcas
2. Atlanta Falcons
3. Tampa Bay Buccaneers
4. Carolina Panthers

The Orcas looked fantastic on defense (ranked 3rd I believe), and everyone but the QB looked good on offense. The Orcas finished 7-9 and out of the playoffs thanks to said QB, Jameis Winston, who went from Super Bowl-winning, QB of the Year to someone who was arguably the worst first-half QB and finished with 21 INTs and a career-worst 57.2% completion. Perhaps he should have been given another chance since he has only two seasons as a starter, but the Orcas went ahead and drafted Tua Tagovailoa in the first round round. The team returns every other starter from last season, which is also nearly every starter from their SB-winning season. QBs are always so volatile, and we have no previous history for Tua, but if he is good from the start, we could be looking at more than just a division crown for the Orcas.

The Falcons have been neck-and-neck with the Orcas for a few seasons now, and they finally broke through with a division crown last season. They have some of the league's best at several positions, none more notable than RT Tony Ugoh and HB David Johnson, a match made in heaven. They've had really poor preseason injury look as of late. They only lost one starter to a season-ending injury this time, so they look to be in good shape for a repeat run to the top. There isn't a whole lot to say about to say about this time as they are simply a solid offensive and defensive team that does well to limit turnovers. They have their difficult games at home and more winnable matchups on the road, so that's good. Having their schedule be heavily fronted with home games and end the season with six straight road games is not ideal, but that's what they have to work with.

The Buccaneers had three top two picks in consecutive years. QB Trevor Largent was a bust, HB Alvin Kamara had a very ugly debut as the full-time starter with a sub-1000 yard season with 0 rushing TDs and 4 fumbles, so he could be a second bust. The other was OLB Bradley Chubb who has 402 tackles, 10 sacks, and 12 INTs in four seasons, so that's nice. I bring them up because after spending heavily on RFAs in earlier seasons, the team put their eggs in the baskets of these players as they could not be major players in free agency. It blew up, but things could be looking up this season. The OL still plays at a high level, the work on the defense looks good as they are now balanced with quality starters everywhere, and the pass-catchers remain an underrated bunch. Assuming the defense continues to make strides, it's really coming down to their QB and HB play again this season. I don't know about Kamara, but I have a good feeling that Justin Herbert will be better than Largent (it would be hard not to). In terms of win-loss record, they could be one of the most improved teams this season, and that could put them in the conversation to win the division.

After years of draft whiffs and grabbing the wrong free agents, everything came crashing down (again) last season. Due to financial reasons, they had to get worse this season to put them on a path of getting better. That being said, they look to have much better depth this season, so I think that they can still be competitive to a certain degree. They are currently running a 3-4 D this season. I don't think that the DEs are up to the task, but I suppose time will tell. This is a make-or-break season for several draft picks/free agent signings that haven't quite worked it out, so at the very least this should be an informative and interesting season for the team.