| Rnk | LY* | Team | 2015 Record | Comments |
| 1. | 8. | Seattle Seahawks | 10-6 | Hurt by a slow start last season. Still have the talent to be dominant. |
| 2. | 1. | Carolina Panthers | 15-1 | Reigning MVP Newton needs to avoid hangover from Super Bowl loss. |
| 3. | 2. | Arizona Cardinals | 13-3 | A lot riding on health, rebound from turnover laden finish to '15 season of 36 year old Palmer. |
| 4. | 11. | Green Bay Packers | 10-6 | Rodgers welcomes back Nelson with open arms. |
| 5. | 6. | New England Patriots | 12-4 | How will Garoppolo perform? Brady in last 12 weeks likely to make results of first 4 weeks relatively meaningless. |
| 6. | 9. | Pittsburgh Steelers | 10-6 | Need Roethlisberger/Brown to carry them on their backs at least until Bell returns. Pass rush and secondary remain major weaknesses to put it mildly. |
| 7. | 4. | Denver Broncos | 12-4 | Siemian probably won't put up worse raw stats than Peyton. Can defense dominate to the same level? |
| 8. | 5. | Cincinnati Bengals | 12-4 | Lewis still has not won a post season game after Burfict meltdown cost them dearly in last year's playoffs. |
| 9. | 3. | Kansas City Chiefs | 11-5 | Won their final 10 regular season games in '15 after starting 1-5. |
| 10. | 13. | Houston Texans | 9-7 | Osweiler has looked good so far. Adding L. Miller, B. Miller and Fuller to Hopkins certainly doesn't hurt. May not matter if Watt can't get, stay healthy. |
| 11. | 7. | Minnesota Vikings | 11-5 | Somewhat understandably panicked and traded a first rounder plus for Bradford after gruesome Bridgewater injury. Couldn't go into the season with Hill as starting QB. |
| 12. | 10. | New York Jets | 10-6 | Resigned Fitzpatrick after contentious negotiations out of necessity. Can he repeat last season's success or will he revert to the turnover machine he was in the finale against the Bills which cost them a playoff spot? |
| 13. | 14. | Indianapolis Colts | 8-8 | Luck needs to stay healthy, stop turning the ball over so frequently. |
| 14. | 21. | Oakland Raiders | 7-9 | McKenzie has done a solid job accumulating talent. Can they take the next step on the field? |
| 15. | 24. | New York Giants | 6-10 | Spent off season acquiring high priced defensive talent. Can they gel? In any case former coach Coughlin can't be happy GM Reese decided to open up the pocketbook after he left. |
| 16. | 12. | Washington Redskins | 9-7 | Unusually quiet off season with nary a word from meddlesome Snyder clearly a good thing. |
| 17. | 25. | Tampa Bay Buccaneers | 6-10 | Gambled big time replacing veteran head man Lovie with more mercurial former offensive coordinator Koetter. |
| 18. | 27. | Baltimore Ravens | 5-11 | Can Harbaugh bounce back from his first losing season as a head coach? |
| 19. | 28. | Jacksonville Jaguars | 5-11 | Living up to elevated expectations won't be easy. Offensive skill position talent in place. |
| 20. | 30. | Dallas Cowboys | 4-12 | Can fourth rounder Prescott mimic rookie success of Wilson in Seattle? Running game should help. |
| 21. | 15. | Buffalo Bills | 8-8 | Ryan brothers need to make the playoffs to save their jobs. |
| 22. | 18. | New Orleans Saints | 7-9 | Hard to envision much improvement from moribund defense. First rounder Rankins being placed on IR obviously doesn't help. |
| 23. | 16. | Atlanta Falcons | 8-8 | Opening last season with 5 straight wins proved to be a mirage. Doesn't seem like anything has changed from '15. |
| 24. | 22. | Miami Dolphins | 6-10 | Desperately need Tannehill to take a step forward under Gase. |
| 25. | 20. | St. Louis Rams | 7-9 | After a horrible spring, summer #1 pick Goff will begin his career as a healthy scratch behind Keenum, Mannion. |
| 26. | 17. | Detriot Lions | 7-9 | Post Megatron era begins. Apparent lack of true go-to receiver or running back will make life difficult on Stafford. |
| 27. | 23. | Chicago Bears | 6-10 | Improved defensive front 7 in off season. Offense remains stagnant around uninspiring, error prone Cutler. |
| 28. | 29. | San Diego Chargers | 4-12 | Should have cut Rivers a break, traded him and started over. |
| 29. | 31. | Tennessee Titans | 3-13 | Treading water with uninspiring hiring of Mullarkey as Adams' heirs reportedly look to sell the team. |
| 30. | 19. | Philadelphia Eagles | 7-9 | The future is now. Take a necessary step back with Wentz in the short term in the hopes of speeding his development. Trade of Bradford for a first rounder and more was a no brainer. |
| 31. | 26. | San Francisco 49ers | 5-11 | Lack of talent appalling, especially in the passing game. How Baalke is still employed a mystery. |
| 32. | 32. | Cleveland Browns | 3-13 | Starting over focusing on analytics. Offseason was more about the future than the present which given the state of the franchise makes sense. |
*Last year's final regular season ranking