NFL.coms Dan Hanzus har i denne uge udgivet hans off-season power ranking. Og hvis den får ret, står New Orleans Saints til at genvinde NFC South titlen.

Hanzus har Los Angeles Rams som nummer 1, mens Jacksonville Jaguars igen vil have det første pick i 2023s draft.

Men hvordan med holdene i NFC South? Her kommer holdenes placering som Hanzus kommentarer.

New Orleans Saints (18. overall)

Drew Brees exited the building after 2020. Sean Payton followed the legendary QB out the door after 2021. The promotion of longtime defensive coordinator Dennis Allen to head coach lends a sense of internal stability for the team, but there’s no mistaking the fact that this is a time of immense transition for one of the most successfully run organizations of the past 15 years. New Orleans has an immediate decision to make at quarterback. Jameis Winston is recovering from reconstructive knee surgery and is slated for free agency, while Taysom Hill continues to operate as the team’s hypothetical Option B. The smart move might be an entirely fresh start at the position.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers (19. overall)

Tom Brady is walking the beaches of Costa Rica with his wife, enjoying the spoils of retirement after the conclusion of a legendary career. Good for TB12 … not so good for the Bucs, who find themselves right back in the QB wilderness after two years in the Garden of Eden. Speculation of a possible reunion with Jameis Winston tells you so much about how quickly things have changed. The good news? The Bucs still have a very strong roster with star players on both sides of the ball. Bruce Arians will return for another year on the sidelines. But the Bucs will be back to also-ran status if they can’t identify and land a legitimate successor to Brady.

Atlanta Falcons (26. overall)

The Falcons were a 7-10 team that mightily overachieved. With so much work to do on both sides of the ball it’s hard to know where they should start. The defense needs a major talent infusion, notably in the department of pass rush, while the offense has to figure out what it wants to be with the 36-year-old Matt Ryan still in the mix. Ryan’s contract, cap hit and sentimental importance to the franchise combine to form a recipe that likely keeps him in town, but he needs at least one more foundational piece on offense beyond Kyle Pitts, especially with Cordarrelle Patterson heading for free agency. Some clarity on the murky situation surrounding Calvin Ridley would be helpful.

Carolina Panthers (30. overall)

The Panthers loom as a major player in the quarterback market. Sam Darnold proved he wasn’t the guy on a fairly definitive level in his first season in Carolina, and owner David Tepper just watched his team’s No. 1 trade target last offseason hoist the Lombardi Trophy on Sunday night. It feels very possible that Tepper will go very hard to find this year’s version of Matthew Stafford — if such a player exists on this market. Deshaun Watson would make sense from a football perspective, and the apparent discord between the Cardinals and Kyler Murray is a situation one can imagine Matt Rhule and Co. are watching with lusty interest.

Link til Dan Hanzus power ranking.