Welcome to my 2025-26 NFL Record Predictions.

Last year around, I only managed to do one division but this year around I plan on getting to all eight if possible. The fun thing about these predictions is that more often than not they are wildly wrong for a number of reasons. That could be a team suffering a case of the injury bugs; a “random” breakout star completely transforms one side of the ball or complete luck falls their way.

Speaking of breakout stars, I will be choosing a player for each team. To make things a little harder on myself, the player cannot be a quarterback (QB) or a rookie.

I mention this to show how unpredictable the season can be and while I hope mine can be spot on, do know that I am guaranteed to get over 75% of these wrongs. Without further ado, let us dive into the first division.  

After the Buccaneers won back to back NFC South titles, will they be able to repeat again with two young rising QBs and teams?

Carolina Panthers

Well while the Panthers 2024-25 season was not the year they were hoping for, the future seems all but bright for them. 

QB Byrce Young went through a roller coaster of a season from a horrible start and being benched to earning the role back and finishing on a very high note. In that final stretch, Young looked like the QB we saw at Alabama and the reason why the Panthers took him number one overall in the 2023 NFL Draft. That is not to say Young will not have more growing pains in 2025 but there is a lot to look forward to. 

What better way to show you have trust in your QB than to go out and grab him another weapon to work with by drafting Arizona wide receiver (WR) Tetairoa McMillan at the eighth overall pick in the 2025 NFL Draft. They also went out and grabbed veteran slot and former Raiders WR Hunter Renfrow, who will be making his first NFL debut since December 25, 2023. 

Now that we have talked about the offense, what about the defense? As a whole there were very few “shining stars” last season. It did not help either that superstar defensive tackle (DT) Derrick Brown missed the entire season due to a bad knee injury suffered in week one. To take some pressure off of Brown, the Panthers went out and drafted not one but two edge rushers (EDGE) in the first three rounds. Nic Scourton and Princely Umanmielen will add some much needed pass rush help and youth to a struggling defense. 

After some back and forth thought, I have the Panthers making the playoffs for the first time since the 2017 season by earning the number four seed in the NFC with an overall record of 10-7 and 5-1 record in the division. 

Breakout Star Pick: Year Two | Wide Receiver | Jalen Coker

Atlanta Falcons

Again, another team that faced a disaster of a 2024-25 season. 

In the 2024 offseason, the Falcons signed former Vikings QB Kirk Cousins to a four year, $180 million contract with $100 million guaranteed. They turned around a month later and drafted Washington QB Michael Penix Jr. at the eighth overall pick. Many were stunned by this move and would believe it would backfire on the Falcons either way.

As it currently stands, the move has backfired majorly and now Cousins sits as the most expensive backup QB in NFL history. Cousins started off the season well but after a bad stretch of games with multiple interceptions thrown, he was benched in favor of the rookie. On a positive note, Penix showed a lot of promise in the final game of the season against the Panthers though they lost the game. 

The offense was not the issue though last season. The defense’s lack of pressure at times with the second to worst team sack total at 31. The last time the Falcons had a player with double digit sacks was EDGE Vic Beasley at 15.5 in 2016. No player since has had 10 or more. On top of the lack of pass rush, the defensive back (DB) depth also killed this defense. 

The Falcons addressed these issues by drafting all defensive players until their last pick. They drafted Georgia EDGE Jalon Walker at 15; traded back into the first to draft another EDGE in Tennessee’s James Pearce Jr.; then in the third, drafted Notre Dame safety (S) Xavier Watts and finished things off by adding a versatile DB in Oklahoma’s Billy Bowman. It will be interesting to see how Walker plays as most consider him a hybrid style player who can also play off-ball if needed. I would expect a lot of blitzes up the middle from him. 

With what should be an easy schedule for the Falcons, I think Penix has some “rookie” struggles and that will cost the Falcons a few games along with the defense taking a second to adjust. I have the Falcons finishing at a record of 9-8 overall, 4-2 in the division and 10 seed in the NFC, missing the playoffs for the eighth straight season. 

Breakout Star Pick: Year Two | Nose Tackle | Ruke Orhorhoro

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Little fun fact, the Buccaneers are the only team in the NFC that have made the playoffs for the past five seasons.

The thing that catches my eye the most about this team is how strong their offense is and how it can and could take over any game at any moment. Even with the troubles of WR injuries in Chris Godwin missing about half of the 2024 season and Mike Evans missing a few games, QB Baker Mayfield and company kept the offense’s cannons firing. To help out with those injuries the Buccaneers did something surprising by drafting Ohio State WR Emeka Egbuka at pick 19 of the 2025 NFL Draft. 

While Mayfield gets most of the credit, two 2024 rookies played a major reason in the team’s success as well. WR Jalen McMillan and tailback (RB) Bucky Irving both held their own with Irving going over a thousand rushing yards. The 2024 offense marked the first time in NFL history a team finished with an overall pass completion percentage of 70% and averaged five yards a carry. 

With all of that offensive boasting being said, I have my worries for this team still. They will be going on their third offensive coordinator in three seasons due to both former coordinators leaving for head coaching (HC) jobs; the Panthers hiring Dave Canales in 2024 and Jaguars hiring Liam Coen in 2025. Mayfield has shown though he can make it through coordinator change after actually improving from 24 to 25. 

What truly worries me is HC Todd Bowles. I just do not believe he has what it takes as a HC to make this team great. He is a good enough defensive playcaller but the defense has regressed since he took over from former HC Bruce Arians. While technically in the box stat area the defense improved going from fifth to fourth in rushing yards allowed, they stayed at their horrible ranking of 29th against the pass. 

What did they do to improve that? Not much. They added a pass rusher in former Jet Haason Reddick in free agency and drafted Notre Dame CB Benjamin Morrison in the second round of the 2025 NFL Draft. Note, Morrison is coming off a hip injury and surgery but has been a full participant in OTAs and rookie minicamp. I just thought they would have added more to the secondary considering that was the big issue last season. 

The Buccaneers were a good but not great team last season and I believe that same tale plays out again. Though this time around, it will cost them a few times to not be great. Due to my defensive worries I have the Buccaneers missing the playoffs at an overall record of 8-9, 2-4 in the division and sitting at the 12 seed in the NFC, breaking their playoff streak. 

Breakout Star Pick: Year Two | Nickel Back | Tykee Smith

New Orleans Saints

This is gonna be a rough one for Saints fans.

Last and least, we have the Saints who are in a very interesting situation to say the least. After bringing in Eagles OC Kellen Moore as their OC, one may have thought this team should not be too bad, probably somewhere in the five to eight win range. Then a bombshell drops with the news of veteran QB Derek Carr calling it a career. That now leaves them with a QB room of second round draft pick rookie Tyler Shough and two second year players in Spencer Rattler and Jake Haener. Really rough group to say the least. 

Shough could show promise but his college career was filled with bad injury luck. Rattler showed little to none in the 24 season. Haener is kinda just there. I firmly believe the Saints will be drafting a QB in the first come the 2026 NFL Draft. 

Ok well maybe the rest of the offense is not too bad right? The WR room is a mess as well. Chris Olave considered retirement this offseason due to concussions. Brandon Cooks is a nice veteran but nothing crazy. Rashid Shaheed is a speed demon but is coming off a pretty big injury. The RB room is a mess if Alvin Kamara goes down with injury. The one bright spot on this offense is the offensive line is young and shows promise from number nine overall pick tackle Kelvin Banks Jr. and second year tackle Taliese Fuaga. 

On a better note, the defense should be solid. There is a nice pass rush crew with Cam Jordan, Byran Breese, Carl Granderson and Chase Young. The secondary has two veteran safeties alone with a young CB room. On top of that the LB room should be solid with long-time veteran LB Demario Davis who seems to get better with age; 2021 second round pick Pete Werner, who has been solid for the past two seasons and 2025 second round pick out of Okohlama, Danny Stutsman.

All of this being said, I just have zero faith in this offense to justify them being a good team. Sadly, I have Saints fans in for a rough season with the team going 4-13 overall, 1-5 in the division and finishing as the 15 seed in the NFC.

Breakout Star Pick: Year Two | Cornerback | Kool-Aid McKinstry