NFC South preseason power rankings: Saints have their work cut out for them

The New Orleans Saints are entering Year 3 of the Dennis Allen era and are hoping that the saying "Third time's a charm" is the case for them. The Saints finished the 2024 season with a 9-8 record but narrowly missed out on the playoffs despite sitting with the same record as the NFC South champion Buccaneers.

With the Bucs proving that they're still formidable without Tom Brady, the Falcons adding talent to try and capture their first division title since 2016, and the Panthers attempting to simply stay afloat, how do the NFC South rankings look as we enter the preseason?

4. Carolina Panthers

I'd hear any argument for the top three spots but the Panthers are easily the worst team in the NFC South. It looked like they might be onto something by bringing Frank Reich in to lead the team last year but that failed epically and now they're onto the Dave Canales experiment to see if he can help Bryce Young become a reliable NFL quarterback.

The Panthers won just two games in 2023 and didn't even get to benefit off having the worst record considering they'd traded that pick to the Bears. If Canales is the right hire and can fix Young, the Panthers might be able to slowly climb back to relevancy but it's going to take some time. If not, they'll stay down here for a few years.

3. New Orleans Saints

I didn't want to put the Saints third on these rankings but they didn't really give me much of a choice. They've been very up and down since Dennis Allen took over two years ago and the offensive line has also been a massive problem. Until the o-line is fixed, no quarterback is going to have success running the offense in the Big Easy.

Allen has been underwhelming as a head coach to this point and Derek Carr played mostly uninspired football during his inaugural year with the Saints. With that said, the Saints offense did look better down the stretch in 2023 so if they can pick up where they left off, there's a chance for them to be better than people think.

2. Tampa Bay Buccaneers

This time last year, no one was giving the Buccaneers a chance to be competitive. They were entering the first year of life without Tom Brady, were coming off a losing record (that was still good enough to the measly NFC South), and decided to roll with Baker Mayfield as their new starting quarterback.

Well, the Bucs proved everyone wrong, winning the division for a third straight season. Mayfield looked great in a bounce-back year and the team was able to beat the Eagles in the first round of the playoffs and nearly made the NFC title game. They brought back a lot of their big names in the offseason and now will look to win their fourth straight division title.

The problem is that now everyone knows what Tampa is capable of and it's not going to be as easy for the Bucs to slide under the radar.

1. Atlanta Falcons

The Falcons were aggressive in the offseason, adding Kirk Cousins to a massive contract in the hopes that he'll be enough to propel them to their first division title in eight years. Cousins is a decent quarterback but this is a big gamble by the Falcons considering that he'll turn 36 before the season begins and is recovering from an Achilles injury he suffered last season.

If Cousins is the same guy he was before the injury, the Falcons could be dangerous. They have Bijan Robinson, Kyle Pitts, and Drake London as weapons for Cousins and he'll have the best offensive line he's played behind in his career, which could help make Atlanta a dangerous team.

The defense struggled in 2023 but with defensive-minded head coach Raheem Morris at the helm, that shouldn't be an excuse for Atlanta this year. There's a lot of hype surrounding the Falcons in 2024 and Saints fans are hoping the team falls flat on its face.