5 teams who may look to tank in 2022 NFL season
The 2022 NFL season is set to be one of the most exciting yet, given the sheer amount of offensive power available across the league.
Yet, despite several teams gearing up for a run at reaching the Super Bowl, there are just as many teams who know going into the campaign that they are going to struggle.
Teams usually have their eyes firmly set on improving year by year. However, in some cases, some teams are right at the beginning of their rebuilding phase ahead of the 2022 NFL season.
Many of these teams don't' have a franchise quarterback in place, and after seeing how weak the class of 2022 was in the NFL Draft, they elected not to take a chance on one of the players available.
Instead, they will look to take advantage of a quarterback class in 2023 that looks exceptional. However, this means that several teams could elect to tank in 2022.
Doing so will ensure they have a chance to pick at the top of the order and secure one of the genuinely talented quarterbacks.
Who are the 5 NFL teams that could tank in 2022?
#1 – Houston Texans
The Houston Texans have the worst roster in the NFL going into the 2022 season.
After trading Deshaun Watson to the Cleveland Browns, Houston will rely on Davis Mills to start the 2022 season.
However, Mills doesn't' exactly fill fans with confidence about being a franchise signal-caller, and with Watson's trade, it very much seems as if the Texans were waving the white flag regarding the new season.
So vast in quality is the 2023 quarterback class the Texans will feel that the answer to their problems will be embedded within the NFL Draft rather than by persisting with Mills.
The pieces around him also lack quality, while the defense saw Jacob Martin and Justin Reid depart this offseason.
Having accumulated a lot of draft capital in the Watson trade, the Texans are looking beyond 2022 and expect to be the lowest-ranked team in the NFL by the end of the campaign.
#2 – Atlanta Falcons
Replacing an aging quarterback is always a decision that you can't' exactly time right. Only the Green Bay Packers have consistently been able to draft a young quarterback and have them sit and wait for the throne to be vacated for them.
The Atlanta Falcons didn't' have such a luxury. Matt Ryan was traded to the Indianapolis Colts in the offseason with the former MVP of the league looking for one last run at the title, and the Falcons did not want to pay a player who couldn't make up for the lack of quality on the Atlanta roster all on his own.
Based on some of the rhetoric you’ll see #onhere about the #Falcons this year, it’s clear some fans think their rebuild is like 70%+ finished, while I think in reality it’s probably half that number.
The Falcons know they are at the start of a rebuilding process ahead of the 2022 NFL season and thus could look to tank and ensure they get a shot at either CJ Stroud or Bryce Young: the two outstanding quarterback candidates in the 2023 NFL Draft.
Marcus Mariota and Desmond Ridder aren't' the long-term answers, and winning games with them will be hard enough this season. On defense, Dante Fowler Jr'sJr's departure hurts them too.