Grading 8 NFL Teams That Could Climb Up the Divisional Ladder This Season

While 32 teams represent the entire NFL, there are currently eight NFL teams the league projects will climb from worst to first in their divisions. These eight teams were among the worst of the worst in 2025. One was so bad that they were lucky enough to bring back their head coach for a second season.

Nevertheless, these eight NFL teams pretty much have to go from worst to first, given a lack of fan patience, too much organizational patience, and a team that just needs to end its 16-year playoff drought.

Let’s take a look at the 8 NFL Teams That Could Climb up the Divisional Ladder This Season.

8 NFL Teams That Could Climb up the Divisional Ladder This Season

8. Arizona Cardinals

If you were to describe your reactions to the Arizona Cardinals going from worst to first using mid-late 1990s slang, you would say, “As if”, the Arizona Cardinals are possibly going to be starting Carson Beck on opening day.

But their 2025 season was closer to counting in horseshoes. The Cardinals were in a lot of close games; they were just on the wrong side. Going 2-8 with Kyler Murray, who couldn’t even see over the offensive line as their quarterback.

They were also hit by the dreaded injury bug. And by inconsistent play from young wideout Marvin Harrison Jr. Plus, with the Beck thing, he isn’t Jacoby Brissett, who’s holding out for a payday for some odd reason.

Nonetheless, at least he and Brissett are 6-4 and 6-5, respectively, which means they can see over the offensive line and throw the ball accurately into Harrison Jr.’s hands.

Additionally, if the Cardinals can win at least three more of those one-score games under new head coach Mike LaFleur and his creative offensive mind, they could win the NFC West. But it’s tough sledding to ask this team to pass Seattle and the LA Rams this year.

7. Cleveland Browns

After starting his tenure as the Browns’ General Manager on the wrong foot by letting Baker Mayfield go and then trading three first-round picks for Deshaun Watson, Andrew Berry has, as of late, made up for those horrendous decisions.

His 2025 draft saw many rookies earn early playing time at the end of a 5-12 season. In which Myles Garrett set the NFL sack record. Then, he added another solid 2026 draft class on paper. That should see a lot of early action, along with the 2025 class, setting the Browns up with a great mix of young talent in both quantity and quality. The issue, though, is who will be the starting quarterback: Shadeur Sanders or Watson?

Suddenly, this becomes a challenge for new head coach Todd Monken. Whom most thought was a good hire for them after multiple candidates had turned down the job. But luckily, the Browns are in a competitive AFC North Division where the only head coach returning is Zac Taylor.

Whatever shortcomings the Browns have had in the past, they want to slowly put a winning product on the field. Before they move into their new multibillion-dollar suburb stadium in Brook Park, Ohio, in 2029.

6. Tennessee Titans

With the 2025 No. 1 overall pick under center in quarterback Cam Ward, he will look to build on the tasks he was successful at last year. The 3-14 Tennessee Titans have nowhere to go but up this season. If Ward can learn to play under center as well as he has from the shotgun, they have a chance to improve their record.

With a new coaching staff led by Robert Saleh as head coach, he has brought in the reputable offensive mind Brian Daboll to be his offensive coordinator. Daboll’s past experience as an offensive coordinator for the Bills helps him well. He was responsible for developing superstar quarterback Josh Allen and improving his mechanics.

Additionally, he spent five seasons as the head coach of the New York Giants. His first season saw the Giants’ Daniel Jones go 9-8 in 2022. It included a road playoff upset over the Minnesota Vikings. Despite being fired after going 2-8 in 10 games in 2025, he did begin developing fellow second-year quarterback Jaxon Dart.

Daboll should be able to help Ward fix his mechanics, as he already has a strong arm. But at times he struggles to plant his feet when throwing in the pocket in 12- and 13-personnel situations.

On paper, the Titans’ defense should see an immediate improvement, given Saleh’s track record as a defensive guru. So if Daboll can be the offensive genius he’s been in the past, Ward and this Titans team could give other teams headaches in 2026.

5. New York Jets

The Jets get a participation trophy here, as they will not finish last in the AFC East. That will be going to the Miami Dolphins. Let’s face it, the Jets’ season was horrendous, but the silver lining was that head coach Aaron Glenn reset the culture by getting rid of that toxic Hall of Fame quarterback, Aaron Rodgers.

Even though Justin Fields was worse than Rodgers, it at least sets the Jets up to likely play undrafted free agent Brady Cook under center. He will be returning for his second season in Gang Green.

And if that doesn’t work, they will be able to play fourth-round rookie Cade Klubnick. It means we may finally see the Jets offense run their own version of the tush push that Clemson ran with Klubnick last season.

The one issue Glenn must fix is their defense. While it is his specialty, the Jets defense did not record a pick in 2025.

If the Jets’ defense can finally record at least one interception and Cook or Klubnick can make this offense NFL-ready, the Jets may win a few more games than expected. They would then have to decide whether to keep Glenn for year three or fire him so he could return to being a defensive coordinator for a playoff contender.

4. Las Vegas Raiders

The Raiders are for sure looking for a culture change after last year’s dismal 3-14 season. The team fired Pete Carroll after one season. While there may be some positives to take from the season, Raiders part-owner Tom Brady indicated that no one on the team was good last year.

With the hiring of last year’s Super Bowl-winning offensive coordinator, Klint Kubiak, the team should be looking for an offensive turnaround. With two very different quarterbacks to work with, Kubiak will be very busy at training camp.

Both 4th-round draft pick Kirk Cousins and No. 1 overall pick Fernando Mendoza will be at camp. They will be learning Kubiak’s system through precise strategies.

And don’t forget to look for Maxx Crosby to be a fighting force on defense once again.

3. New York Giants

It looks like the Giants decided to fire their head coach, Brian Daboll, only to go with continuity in the front office. After the team hired John Harbaugh, who was fired by the Baltimore Ravens after 18 seasons, they decided to extend general manager Joe Schoen. After a dismal 22-45-1 record over four seasons as GM, he did have one playoff win in 2022 when the Giants upset the Minnesota Vikings in the NFC Wild Card Round.

2025 showed that the Giants’ trajectory is only going up from here. With the development of prominent young players such as quarterback Jaxson Dart and running back Cam Skattebo.

Overall, Schoen has definitely assembled the players needed to trend toward winning. They are putting their faith in Harbaugh, a well-respected, winning head coach, to put that talent together and compete for either a wild card spot or an NFC East Title.

It’s all going to depend on if Dart and Skattebo can stay healthy for 17 games and if Harbaugh can get his new team to buy into his “Who’s got it better than us?” family motto.

2. New Orleans Saints

The Saints are in a similar position to the Giants, with their trajectory towards winning continuing to rise. They, too, have this prediction after the development of their young quarterback, Tyler Shough. He looks to have a stranglehold on the starter role in year 2.

Also, head coach Kellen Moore had this team coming together at the end of year 1. The team finished with a promising 6-11 season in a struggling NFC South.

The Saints can finish anywhere from first place to basically last, as these teams are all likely to be average in this division. If the Saints can win at least one game against either Carolina or Tampa Bay, they can expect to finish second or win this division. If not, they will most likely finish last, and nobody in this division even projects to make the Super Bowl.

1. Detroit Lions

The Detroit Lions are also another team trending up in 2026 after finishing 9-8 in 2025. They have a harder feat to pull off: going from worst to first. Unlike the NFC South, the worst division in the NFL, the NFC North has been at the top since COVID ended.

They still have the consistent and reliable Jared Goff under center, but their No. 2 running-back room is different. Isaiah Pacheco replaces former Lion David Montgomery, and starter Jahmyr Gibbs will have a heavier workload as the feature back.

While he still has Pacheco behind him, it will be tough to replace a rock like Montgomery. A bruising back, with Gibbs, the speed back. With that said, the Lions’ offensive line should be much improved this year. And once again, they can finish anywhere in this division, as long as the cards fall where they may.

Time will tell if these 8 NFL teams can prove the doubters wrong by going from worst to first. But they are in competitive divisions where there is a fine line between finishing first or last.

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