Top 10 NFL Teams Most Likely to Improve in 2021

The Chargers were definitely a disappointment of a team in 2020. They have the talent to be a playoff team, but Anthony Lynn was such a horrible clock manager that it cost him his job. They seem to have found their long-term answer to replace Philip Rivers. Justin Herbert took the football world by notice, and he may be their long-term quarterback of the future. He has weapons and talent around him. I think with competent coaching, this team can be a dark horse, even with Kansas City in the division. There is no reason why they can't make the playoffs with the talent on this team.

Washington already has some pieces to like, mostly on the defensive side of football, with guys like Chase Young. The offense also has playmakers like Terry McLaurin and Antonio Gibson. This team did win the division, granted the NFC East was the worst division in football where all the teams sucked, but they were arguably the best in that division. They're not as far from being good as you may think.

They got rid of Dwayne Haskins, who is essentially a bust at this rate. Taylor Heinicke is a meh overall quarterback; I don't trust him and need to see more to form a full opinion on him. Alex Smith, while he had a nice comeback story, I don't think is the long-term answer at quarterback. He's kind of a liability.

The 49ers had high expectations going into 2020 after losing the Super Bowl. They were determined to get revenge; however, they were hit hard by injuries, which really derailed their season. Assuming everyone comes back healthy, this will once again be a dangerous team. The talent level of this team is capable of winning the NFC. They may be out for blood; I would definitely not want to face this team. Keep in mind that they were able to beat the Rams twice in 2020, and that was with a banged-up roster. If that isn't any indication that this team can redeem themselves in 2021, then I don't know what is.

The Jets were quite terrible last year, going 0-13 to start the year before winning just 2 games. They have already made progress in the right direction by firing their coach, Adam Gase. Now they have Robert Saleh, who seems to be the opposite of Adam Gase. The Jets do have a chance to land a quarterback in this draft and get him some help. Or who knows, they might get Deshaun Watson, even if it's a long shot. It will take years for them to be relevant again, but they are slowly making progress. Right now, they're taking baby steps first, but I could see them winning 4-5 games next year. They won't improve much, but they need to take baby steps first. It's a process.

Miami is on the right track. I was impressed with how they played; they should have made the playoffs, unfortunately, they didn't make it in via tiebreaker. Tua has potential, but to me, they need to develop him. Make sure you don't waste him. They are on the right track; they just need to keep it going, and they will make it to the playoffs next season.

Jacksonville will have an interesting season, to say the least. Urban Meyer is back into coaching again, and they have draft capital in this upcoming draft, including the first overall pick, and they are essentially a lock to draft Trevor Lawrence. They have cap space, and they have guys like DJ Chark, James Robinson, and Laviska Shenault. This is a more intriguing team than many people realize. They have a lot of raw talent that, with proper coaching, can be molded into a formidable team. And for the Jaguars, they hit rock bottom last year, where the only way to go is up.

Cincinnati has their quarterback in Joe Burrow; they just need him to get healthy. He missed out on most of the season. They have some weapons, but the major key will be the offensive line. They need reinforcements and significant improvement as soon as possible. We saw what happened when you have a bad offensive line. You ruin Joe Burrow's season. Don't make that same mistake again.

Carolina wasn't very good, but they were still mostly competitive. They have a young defense that can get better with more experience. They were without star running back Christian McCaffrey for a majority of the season. I don't believe that Teddy Bridgewater is the long-term answer for the Panthers. However, there is some hope here. I thought this would be a team that would be absolutely terrible, and despite what the record says about them, they were much more competitive than they would appear for a 5-11 team. If a couple of games went their way, we could be talking about maybe 8-8, which could have gotten them into the playoffs in the weak NFC. This team isn't far off.

Denver is another team that got hit hard by injuries, so they were a bit underwhelming. I feel like with everyone healthy, they can be a legitimate team with wild card upside. Drew Lock is okay, and his surrounding cast is okay, but not nearly enough. They need some more reinforcement, but if they can get it, they can maybe be a dark horse team.