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NFL power rankings, 2026: Ranking every division approaching training camp

NFL Spin Zone · Jul 21, 2026 16:00 · 7 min read

NFL Power Rankings, 2026: Ranking every division approaching training camp — Seattle Seahawks wide receiver Cooper Kupp (10) and Los Angeles Rams wide receiver Puka Nacua (12) | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

There are a ton of competitive divisions in football. Let's rank all eight by this criteria as training camps across the league begin.

It's obvious that some divisions across the NFL are more competitive than others. In the 2025 NFL Season, we did see a division with zero winning teams, as the NFC South absolutely brought up the rear as the worst division in the league.

You almost never see a division winner in this league finishing with a losing record, but it happened in 2025. On the flip side, divisions like the NFC West are downright juggernauts, as three playoff teams came from the West, and the final two teams remaining in the NFC playoffs were both NFC West squads.

Not all divisions are created equally, so let's power-rank the eight divisions in the NFL ahead of training camps ramping up, simply using the overall team talent in each division as the basis for our rankings.

NFL Power Rankings: Ranking all eight divisions ahead of training camps for 2026

8. NFC South

This isn't up for debate in my opinion - the NFC South is the worst division in football. Every single team in the NFC South last year went 3-3 in the division, and all of Carolina, Tampa Bay, and Atlanta finished 8-8 with negative point differentials.

Not a single good team was in this division last year! Not one! While I am higher on teams like the Saints and Falcons, the ceiling for those two teams and even the Panthers and Buccaneers are low. We had seen Tampa own this division in recent years, but even they seem capped at 10 wins.

It's hard to see a team winning more than that in the South in 2026. Sure, there are arguments for all four teams, but none of them stick out or are Super Bowl contenders.

7. NFC East

The NFC East had one winning team in 2025, the Philadelphia Eagles, but even Philly had their flaws and won just 11 games, which wasn't an insane amount. While I do believe three of the teams all have a viable path to a winning record in 2026, all four teams have major concerns that might not go away when 2026 rolls around.

Whether it's Philly's offense without AJ Brown, the Dallas Cowboys' defense, Washington's suddenly injury-prone quarterback, or the New York Giants overall dysfunction, no team here really sticks out that much as a contender.

Sure, Philly, Dallas, and Washington could make the playoffs, as they've all done so in recent years, but what we saw from these squads lately doesn't inspire much confidence.

6. AFC North

The AFC North always has the potential to be a great division, as all four teams have made the playoffs in the semi-recent past. In 2025, though, the division wasn't that special, as all it took was a 10-7 season from the Pittsburgh Steelers, and had Tyler Loop made a field goal at the right time, it would have been the 9-8 Baltimore Ravens heading into the playoffs.

While all of Pittsburgh, Baltimore, and Cincinnati have been great at times, the 2025 season was rather forgettable. The Steelers ceiling is low and has been low for years, the Ravens struggled big-time with injuries and began the year 1-5, and the Bengals just cannot get out of their own way at times.

Cincy has missed the playoffs three years in a row, and quarterback Joe Burrow is also someone who struggles to stay on the field. If all three of these top teams are stable and playing at their best, the AFC North could again be a gauntlet, but it was far from the case in 2025.

And then you have the Cleveland Browns, arguably the worst team in the league and a franchise that could have one of the worst quarterback rooms in recent NFL history. Ideally for the sake of these rankings, Baltimore and Cincinnati both re-emerge as juggernauts as they have been in recent years and battle it out for the AFC North crown.

5. AFC East

The AFC East saw the New England Patriots finish 14-3 and capture the title. The Buffalo Bills had won the division each year between 2020 and 2024, so it ended a five-year reign atop the division for Josh Allen's Bills, but they still won 12 games and actually had a better home record and the same conference record as the Patriots.

The Miami Dolphins and New York Jets continue to be irrelevant, as both could end up being some of the very worst teams in the sport this year. This division could not be more of a two-horse race, and it will be entertaining to watch both New England and Buffalo figure out who is better when 2026 rolls around.

But the Dolphins and Jets are both years away from competing with the top two teams, so they should quickly fall into irrelevance when the season gets underway. With all of that said, we did see the Patriots crumble against good competition in the playoffs, and the Bills even sometimes can't get out of their own way.

4. AFC South

The AFC South comes in at No. 4 in our power rankings. At one point, it seemed like all of Jacksonville, Houston, and Indianapolis were headed to the playoffs, but the Colts totally collapsed after an insane 7-1 start. As for the Texans, while this team did win 12 games, quarterback CJ Stroud has been rather average these past two seasons and does appear to be a legitimate weak link on this roster.

The Jaguars broke out big-time in 2025, winning 13 games and capturing the division title. At the moment, the Tennessee Titans aren't anything special, but second-year quarterback Cam Ward is absolutely a player to keep an eye out for headed into 2026, as he got better down the stretch and now has Brian Daboll calling the shots on offense, which is going to do wonders for his development.

At the moment, though, you really only look at Jacksonville and Houston as being the two legitimate teams, and even they both sport some roster flaws that could prevent them from advancing deep into the playoffs this coming season.

3. AFC West

The AFC West was quite the division in the 2026 season, coming in at No. 3 in our power rankings. The West featured a new face at the top for the first time since they last won it in 2015, as the Denver Broncos captured the division with multiple games to spare, winning 14 and also earning the top seed in the AFC playoffs.

For the second year in a row, the Los Angeles Chargers went a respectable 11-6, but they also got blown out in the Wild Card Round for the second year in a row, so this team's ceiling is in question. And even during a down year, the Kansas City Chiefs were still hanging around.

Patrick Mahomes' season-ending knee injury ended their season, but I am not sure anyone is looking at the Chiefs as being a dysfunctional team. The Las Vegas Raiders appear to be on the right track, as they landed Fernando Mendoza in the 2026 NFL Draft, but that squad could still be multiple years away.

Heading into 2026, it's a near-guarantee that both Denver and Los Angeles will each finish with double-digit wins and make the playoffs, as that has been the case over the last two seasons, and the Chiefs having a bounce back season would not shock a single soul.

2. NFC North

The NFC North comes in at No. 2 in our division power rankings as training camps get rolling. The North is loaded, but the 2025 season was not how many expected the division to finish. The Chicago Bears won it with just 11 wins, but all of Green Bay, Minnesota, and Detroit won nine games, and between the 2023 and 2024 seasons, the Lions won 27 regular season games.

Recent history also tells us that it takes more than 11 wins to win the division. As recently as 2024, the 14-win Vikings finished second in the division to the 15-win Lions, for example. Furthermore, the Vikings, perhaps the biggest question mark team here, did quietly win five games in a row to end the season and went from a bottom-5 quarterback room to Kyler Murray in the QB1 spot.

And with the Bears having made the leap they did, and the Packers and Lions both clearly knowing how to win a lot of football games, the NFC North is surely going to be tough in 2026, and with the NFL in a seven-team playoff format, it is possible for an entire division to make the playoffs, and the North might be the most likely division for that to happen this year.

1. NFC West

It's not often that a 12-5 team finishes in third place in a division, but it happened in 2025, as the NFC West was and clearly is the best division in football right now. The Seattle Seahawks won it all in 2025, sporting a league-best 14-3 record, tied with Denver and New England.

The Los Angeles Rams and San Francisco 49ers were both juggernauts as well, as each team finished with 12 wins. Furthermore, all three teams won at least five home or away games, won at least seven conference games, and both Los Angeles and Seattle had point differentials of +170, which is insane.

It's hard not to look at this division as being the best in the NFL ahead of 2026, as both Los Angeles and San Francisco both brought in significant upgrades this offseason as well. All three of these top teams have made a Super Bowl appearance since 2021, and I am not sure many would be shocked if any of these three teams were in the Super Bowl this year.

The Arizona Cardinals could not be more of a non-factor, but that does not take away from how loaded the rest of the division is.