The NFC South looks like the NFL's weakest division again in 2026, and that's okay! Some division has to be the worst, right? And when you have a division whose starting quarterbacks are Tua Tagovailoa, Bryce Young, Tyler Shough and Baker Mayfield, it's the obvious pick to be the worst one.
It's also a wide open division, though. I can see a reasonable scenario where any of the four teams wins it, which is more than you can say for most divisions in the league. What questions still need to be answered, though, for each team to have a shot at the NFC South crown?
Atlanta Falcons: Is the Michael Penix Jr. era over?
It is, right? The Atlanta Falcons signed Tua Tagovailoa this offseason, who is more than likely not the long-term answer, but that decision seems to speak volumes about how the team views former first-round pick Michael Penix Jr., yeah?
Penix tore his ACL in November, which factors into this, as the Falcons have a roster that can contend for an NFC South title with the right quarterback, and "guy who has struggled and is coming off a major knee injury" isn't guaranteed to be the right guy. But even beyond that, we saw how this was a completely different team with Kirk Cousins under center last season. The ACL injury may have accelerated the end of the Penix era, but it was probably happening regardless.
That injury may be a blessing in disguise for the Falcons. If Penix had finished the year out healthy and was good to go entering the offseason, would the Falcons sign a guy like Tua? Of course, the former Dolphin comes with his own injury concerns, which could ultimately still force Penix back into the lineup at some point. In that case, are the Falcons still looking at him as a potential part of the team going forward, or would having to play Penix again be viewed as a failure for a team with division title hopes?
Carolina Panthers: Can Jonathon Brooks finally see the field?
Injuries have killed Jonathon Brooks since the Carolina Panthers drafted him. In November 2023, an ACL tear ended his college career and cost him most of his rookie season. Once he returned, he quickly suffered another torn ACL, costing him all of the 2025 season.
Through two seasons, Brooks — a second-round pick despite having just come off knee surgery, which should tell you plenty about what teams thought of him at the time — has played in three games and has a total of nine carries.
Carolina let Rico Dowdle walk this offseason, which likey means Brooks is going to have a sizable role on the team behind Chuba Hubbard. He'll only be 23 years old this season and if he can come back from the knee injury at a level that's even close to his college self, the Panthers will be getting a serious weapon to help out Bryce Young.
But will he? And will he stay healthy? The knee injury is definitely concerning, and Draft Sharks gives him a 44 percent chance of injury in 2026 based on his injury history. This might end up as a major "what if" for the Panthers. Brooks could have been a true game-changer for the franchise. He still could be, but the chances are significantly worse now.
New Orleans Saints: Does Jordyn Tyson put this offense over the top?
I'll take a big L on this one: I really didn't think Tyler Shough was the answer for the New Orleans Saints. I was concerned about his late breakout age and figured that his draft hype was mostly about how weak the 2025 quarterback class was.
Instead, Shough went 5-4 as the Saints starter and completed 67.6 percent of his passes. He did this despite the team having a total lack of weapons outside of Chris Olave. I mean, Juwan Johnson was the team's second-best option, and Rashid Shaheed was traded during the season.
The team took a big swing at solving this issue by using its first-round pick on Arizona State wide receiver Jordyn Tyson, giving the Saints two very good outside receivers, though the team still has a need in the slot. The question now? Whether Tyson's addition is enough to put the Saints over the top.
The answer to that likely has less to do with Tyson and more to do with Shough. Was his rookie year proof that he's the long-term answer to the quarterback question in New Orleans? Do they finally have a real Drew Brees replacement? We'll find out this season. If Shough is as good as he was last season, Tyson's addition will help this team reach the next level, but those two things — Shough being good and Tyson being good — work in tandem. Without the first one, the second won't matter.
Tampa Bay Buccaneers: Will this defensive secondary hold up?
Even with Mike Evans gone, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers should be fine on offense. Baker Mayfield is still a solid quarterback and Emeka Egbuka looks set to be one of the great receivers of this era. It's the pass defense I'm worried about. The team addressed the pass rush this offseason, but not the secondary.
Zyon McCollum and Benjamin Morrison are set to be the team's starting outside corners. Neither ranked as a top-50 corner by PFF grade last season, with grading out especially bad as the 108th-ranked corner out of 112. The best corner by grade is slot corner Jacob Parrish, who is 31st.
Meanwhile, the situation behind those three is even more dire. Right now, it looks like Damarion Williams and Josh Hayes are your backup corners. Williams last took an NFL snap in 2023 as a special teamer for the Ravens, with his last defensive snaps coming in 2022. Hayes has spent three seasons in Tampa, but he exclusively played special teams last year, with 365 special teams snaps and zero defensive snaps.
Having Antoine Winfield Jr. at safety is great, but if he's the team's only reliable defensive back...yikes. He can't, like, guard the entire field, and it looks like the Buccaneers will struggle to stop opposing passing attacks. Is there anything they can do about this? Free agents still out there? Should they be busy during roster cutdowns? Just does not seem like a great spot to be in.
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