Pro Football Focus stacks the most complete rosters from top to bottom, with Super Bowl contenders leading the way.
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Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Biggest strength: The Buccaneers lost a quality starter at right guard in Alex Cappa and still managed to improve at the position by trading for Shaq Mason. The right side of their offensive line has a strong case for best in the NFL. Tristan Wirfs and Mason are both top-three players at their position in PFF's wins above replacement (WAR) metric over the past two seasons. Add in Ryan Jensen 's return at center and the strides made by Donovan Smith at left tackle, and Tom Brady once again will have one of the best offensive lines in the league entering 2022.
Biggest weakness: You have to poke around to find weaknesses on a roster as strong as Tampa Bay's. The Bucs have lost some veteran depth at a couple of spots and will be relying on younger, more inexperienced players to step up. That's the case on the defensive front, where recent draft picks such as Joe Tryon-Shoyinka and Logan Hall will be asked to fill roles held by Jason Pierre-Paul and Ndamukong Suh, though the recent addition of Akiem Hicks certainly helps. On offense, the same can be said for rookie tight end Cade Otton filling the void left by O.J. Howard and Rob Gronkowski.
X factor for 2022: Tryon-Shoyinka, Tampa Bay's first-round selection in the 2021 NFL draft, played 608 defensive snaps while working behind Shaquil Barrett and Pierre-Paul in 2021. He wasn't able to generate consistent pressure (9.8% pressure rate) in his time on the field, but he'll be counted on to make an impact as a starter in 2022. The physical tools are there for him to make that second-year leap.
New Orleans Saints
Biggest strength: New Orleans' defense ranked second in EPA per play during the 2021 regular season, behind only the Bills. The Saints are running largely the same group back in 2022 outside of safety, where Tyrann Mathieu and Marcus Maye are replacing Marcus Williams and Malcolm Jenkins. Impact players at all three levels should make it one of the stingier defenses in the league again this season, particularly against the run. The only team to allow fewer yards per run play than the Saints since 2019 is Tampa Bay.
Biggest weakness: The Saints locked in their left tackle of the future, Trevor Penning, in the 2022 NFL draft, but there could be some growing pains when it comes to replacing Terron Armstead. Penning was a dominant run blocker in his final season at Northern Iowa in 2021, earning a 99.9 run-blocking grade. However, he'll be making the jump from FCS to NFL competition as a rookie and had trouble with penalties at the college level. Whether it's Penning or James Hurst starting the season on the left side, New Orleans can expect a step back at the position.
X factor for 2022: Michael Thomas set the single-season receptions record with 149 catches in 2019. Since that point, he has played fewer than 500 offensive snaps and caught just 40 regular-season passes in two campaigns. The Saints did a good job of bolstering what profiled as one of the weaker receiving corps in the league entering this offseason with the Chris Olave and Jarvis Landry additions, but they need Thomas to get back to the level he was playing at prior to 2020 in order to really flourish as a unit.
Atlanta Falcons
Biggest strength: The cornerback duo of A.J. Terrell and Casey Hayward Jr. could be one saving grace on a roster with a whole lot of question marks. Sixty-five cornerbacks played at least 400 coverage snaps during the 2021 regular season, and no two players in that group allowed fewer receiving yards per game than Terrell (12.5) and Hayward (22.8). Another season like that from Terrell would further cement his status as one of the league's top corners at just 24 years old.
Biggest weakness: The Falcons' defensive line is in a better spot than it was a season ago. However, it still has the potential to be Grady Jarrett and a bunch of other guys if second-round pick Arnold Ebiketie doesn't hit the ground running. Even Jarrett wasn't quite as effective last season as he has been throughout much of his career. Jarrett's 67.6 PFF grade in 2021 was his first sub-80 grade since the 2016 season (62.7).
X factor for 2022: There's a reason that the Falcons were repeatedly linked to wide receivers leading up to the 2022 draft. They were in desperate need of playmakers to complement Kyle Pitts after losing Julio Jones, Calvin Ridley and Russell Gage over the past few seasons. Drake London was billed as a contested-catch receiver, but that's not all he can do. He was the only wide receiver in the 2022 draft class with top-five marks in contested catches (19) and missed tackles forced after the catch (22) last season -- and he did it in just eight games.
Carolina Panthers
Biggest strength: The only real question about the Panthers' supporting cast on offense was their offensive line, and the Ikem Ekwonu, Bradley Bozeman and Austin Corbett additions should go a long way toward putting that unit on the right track. A receiving corps consisting of DJ Moore, Robbie Anderson, Terrace Marshall Jr., Rashard Higgins and Christian McCaffrey has potential with better quarterback play. Moore ranks 17th among all wide receivers in PFF's wins above replacement metric since 2019.
Biggest weakness: Carolina has, without a doubt, one of the worst quarterback situations in the NFL entering the 2022 season. The first few weeks of the 2021 season teased Sam Darnold potentially turning the corner, but that quickly came crashing down as the season progressed. No quarterback has earned a lower PFF grade since entering the league in 2018 than Darnold. There was no better landing spot than Carolina for a third-round rookie such as Matt Corral to potentially earn a starting job.
X factor for 2022: The Panthers lost Haason Reddick and his 44 quarterback pressures from 2021 in free agency without making a big splash on the edge to replace him. That puts more pressure on third-year edge rusher Yetur Gross-Matos to pick up some of the slack after playing fewer than 400 defensive snaps in each of his first two seasons. Gross-Matos looks the part of an impact player at the position, but the high-end production has never been there. He has just one season with a PFF pass-rushing grade above 70.0 at the NFL or college level (his final season at Penn State in 2019).
