NFC South preseason power rankings: Saints already benefiting from talented rookies

The NFL has finished its first week of the 2024 preseason, so the league is one step closer to the start of the regular season. Unfortunately for all the anxious fans out there, we still have two more weeks of the preseason before the action gets serious and games actually count.

While the games don’t count towards a record right now, they are still important when it comes to evaluating teams. What better way to evaluate a team than comparing them to their division rivals.

In the NFC South, those rivalries are intense, even with the division being considered the worst division in the league in 2024. In the first week of the preseason, the NFC South went 2-2. Fittingly, the division’s top two teams from last season, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and New Orleans Saints, got the wins, and the bottom two teams from a year ago, the Atlanta Falcons and Carolina Panthers, both loss.

NFC South power rankings entering preseason Week 2

4. Carolina Panthers

The Panthers find themselves in a familiar spot after losing 17-3 to the New England Patriots, the bottom. In Carolina’s defense, though, the team didn’t play its starters. There has been optimism surrounding the team after an offseason that saw the franchise bring in Dave Canales as head coach, and acquire several players to support Bryce Young, but the Panthers will have to prove themselves on the field before they have any believers.

3. Atlanta Falcons

Like the Panthers, Atlanta didn’t play it’s starters, and it also lost, falling 20-13 to the Miami Dolphins. However, Falcons fans were impressed with what they saw from rookie quarterback Michael Penix. The first-round pick completed 9-of-16 passes for 104 yards.

With Kirk Cousins on the roster, Penix definitely isn’t going to open the season as the starter, but Atlanta fans believe their present is bright, and so is their future.

2. New Orleans Saints

New Orleans did play its starters, and also won its game 16-14 over the Arizona Cardinals. However, the Saints didn’t get much going offensively with the first unit, despite Arizona’s starters not playing. Because of that, New Orleans is only second in these rankings.

Fortunately, the Saints had several rookies with promising performances, and those rookies are the reason the team won. Taliese Fuaga and Kool-Aid McKinstry both started the game, showing why they were the team’s top two picks. However, it was Spencer Rattler and Charlie Smyth that finished the game with a two-minute drive and game-winning kick.

1. Tampa Bay Buccaneers

The Buccaneers, who won the division last season thanks to a tiebreaker, looked good in their first action of the season, winning 17-14 over the Cincinnati Bengals. However, Tampa didn’t play it’s starters. Instead, it was led by Kyle Trask and John Wolford, who each threw for more than 130 yards, and a strong rushing attack led by Sean Tucker, who had 68 rushing yards on just 10 carries.

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