The ability to turn things around from a bad situation to a good one is cherished. Our literature and movies are full of such turnarounds. We are drawn to such stories. Our religious hope echos this in the saying – Every saint has a past, and every sinner has a future.” This love of dramatic turnarounds is promised in the NFL with parity in the league allowing more teams to quickly turn a losing season into a winning one in a short time. Today we look at the teams that have done this and who the next one may be.
I defined a turnaround as having a win/loss percentage of 0.25 or less in one season and within 1, 2 or 3 seasons have a win loss percentage of 0.75 or better. In terms of wins this translated to having a maximum of 4 wins in a season to going to a season with a minimum of 10 wins. In the Super Bowl era 22 teams have done this at least once. The teams that have never done this in that timeframe are ARI, CLE, HOU, KAN, MIN, NOR, PHI, TAM and WAS.
Here is a table of teams that have accomplished this in 1-3 years. There are four teams that actually accomplished it and won the Super Bowl. Those are highlighted and marked SB. There are two teams that have accomplished it this season. The Patriots and Jaguars. Those are highlighted and marked Curr. Some teams had multiple 1, 2 or 3 year accomplishments. I have repeated those lines to show the two. The table shows the year span they accomplished the feat.
| Number | Team | 1 yr | 2yr | 3 yr |
| 3 | SFO | 18-19 | 79-81 – SB | |
| 3 | SFO | 99-01 | ||
| 2 | NWE | 24-25 – Curr | ||
| 2 | NWE | 75-76 | ||
| 2 | DAL | 15-16 | 89-92 – SB | |
| 2 | LAC | 03-04 | 15-18 | |
| 2 | LAR | 98-99 – SB | 16-18 | |
| 2 | CHI | 16-18 | 98-01 | |
| 2 | LVR | 14-16 | 97-00 | |
| 2 | DEN | 10-12 | ||
| 2 | DEN | 82-84 | ||
| 2 | ATL | 96-98 | 07-10 | |
| 2 | CIN | 79-81 | 19-22 | |
| 2 | DET | 21-24 | ||
| 2 | DET | 88-91 | ||
| 1 | JAX | 24-25 – Curr | ||
| 1 | IND | 98-99 | ||
| 1 | GNB | 05-07 | ||
| 1 | NYJ | 96-98 | ||
| 1 | BUF | 86-88 | ||
| 1 | BAL | 74-76 | ||
| 1 | MIA | 69-71 | ||
| 1 | CAR | 10-13 | ||
| 1 | TEN | 05-08 | ||
| 1 | NYG | 83-86 – SB | ||
| 1 | PIT | 69-72 |
I bolded years from 1996 on. This is basically a midpoint between 1966 and 2025 which is the Super Bowl era. It also shows a distinction as to when parity was introduced into the league. With the introduction of free agency in 1993 and the salary cap in 1994 the league became more equal among teams. This shows in the count with 23 turnarounds since 1996 and only 11 before.
The System – ’99 Rams
The only turnaround resulting in a Super Bowl victory in the modern era (1996 on) occurred with the Rams one year turnaround in 1998-1999. This team was referred to as the Greatest Show on Turf. The 1998 Rams offense ranked 27th in yards and 24th in points. In 1999 they brought in a new offensive coordinator with Mike Martz. They also brought in Al Saunders as Asst. Head Coach/Wide Receivers coach. With receivers Issac Bruce, first round draft pick Terry Holt, Az-Zahir Hakim the Rams were number one in passing yards. In 1999 they traded with the Colts for running back Marshall Faulk for two draft picks. In 1999 on the Rams Faulk was 5th in the league in rushing yards and number one in rushing yards per attempt. The 1999 Ram team had 17 players with an Approximate Value of 8+ which is a baseline of good. Running back Marshall Faulk was leading with an elite AV of 25. The previous season they had three with AV of 8+. Those 17 players included five that were undrafted free agents including quarterback Kurt Warner. In addition to those five there were eight players that were drafted by the Rams over the prior eight seasons. The remaing four players were the traded for Marshall Faulk and three free agent signings in 1998 and 1999.
RB Hearst suffered a serious injury at the end of 1998 and so the Rams traded for Faulk. The Rams drafted Torrey Holt to aid the implementation of a pass first offense. In 1997 they signed Kurt Warner in as a fourth quarterback practice squad quarterback. They saw potential in his arm and work ethic. In 1998 Rams quarterback Tony Banks had the sixth worst sack percentage. They signed free agent RG Adam Timmerman in free agency.
With a speedy talented receiving corp offensive coordinator, Mike Martz, and Al Saunders were able to very successfully implement the pass first type offense that was first promoted by Don Coryell. Head coach Dick Vermeil and Al Saunders in 2001 went to the Kansas City Chiefs. There they helped institute a top five offense for four years.
The Intangibles – ’19 49ers
From there we go to the 49ers who have three turnarounds including one for a Super Bowl championship. Their most recent turnaround was a one year turnaround in 2018-2019. After a 4-12 season in 2018, the 49ers went 13-3 in 2019 and lost in the Super Bowl. The team went from two players with 8+ AV in 2018 to twelve players in 2019. In 2018 the 49ers were 31st in defense opponent TD% and opponent passer rating. To correct this they drafted DE Nick Bosa who made defensive rookie of the year. In 2018 the 49ers top receiver had the less yards than the top receivers of all other teams. All but four other teams had higher multiple receivers. To fix this the 49ers drafted Deebo Samuel. Deebo was 35th among wide receivers in yards in 2019. Of the twelve players that had an AV of 8+, seven had been drafted by the 49ers over the preceding 8 seasons. CB Richard Sherman who had signed with the 49ers the 2018 season after being released by the Seahawks, made the Pro Bowl in 2019. The 49ers led the Chiefs in the Super Bowl 20-10 going into the 4th quarter. Then the Chiefs scored 21 unanswered points and won.
The 49ers built an aggressive defense that improved drastically in turnovers. Defensive coordinator Robert Saleh’s defensive philosophy centered on an aggressive, attacking scheme that prioritized speed, physicality, and disruption aiming to free players to use their natural athleticism and create turnovers through forced fumbles and aggressive play. To implement this scheme they acquired the following players shown here along with their 2019 turnover statistics.
drafted in 2015 DE Arik Armstead (2 FF, 1 FR)
drafted in 2016 DT DeForest Buckner (2 FF, 4 FR)
signed CB free agent Richard Sherman in 2018 (3 ints, 1 intTD),
drafted in 2018 LB Fred Warner (1 int, 1 intTD, 3 FF),
drafted in 2019 DE Nick Bosa (1 int, 1 FF, 2 FR).
In 2018 the 49ers were one of the all time worst team’s in turnovers. In the Super Bowl era their seven turnovers in 2018 are second only to the 2025 Jets in worst turnovers generated. In 2019 they were sixth in the league with 27 turnovers generated. They were second in the league with 14 regular season games with a turnover. This included nine games with two or more and one game with five. They were tie for first in the league with 23 forced fumbles. Robert Saleh’s phrase of “All gas, no brake” used in his Jets career was definitely in play during his 2019 49ers season.
The Offensive Line – ’22 Bengals
Next we look at the turnaround of the Cincinnati Bengals in 2019-2022. IN 2019 the Bengals were 2-14, an overall rank of 30th and had only three players with a 8+ AV. In the succeeding offseasons they kept their high level coaching staff in place. That staff was brought in in the 2019 offseason. They had the number one pick in the 2020 draft and chose quarterback Joe Burrow. They also selected wide receiver Tee Higgins and linebacker Logan Wilson with their next two picks. All three would be significant contributors to their successful 2022 season. In 2021 Joe Burrow had been sacked the most of any quarterback in the league that season. He was eighth in the most pressures and tie for ninth in the most quarterback hits. They drafted tackle Cordell Volson in the fourth round of the 2022 draft. Volson was in a three way tie in 2022 for rookie offensive linemen with the highest AV with 9. Cordell Volson started in every game as guard and was named the team’s offensive rookie of the year. They had picked left tackle Jonah Williams in the 2019 draft round 1. In the 2022 offseason they signed three offensive linemen free agents: La’el Collins, Alex Cappa and Ted Karras. In the 2022 season all five offensive linemen mentioned made an AV of 9+. The only team to have 5 offensive linemen at AV of 9+ since 2018. The Bengals added to their receiver corps which had featured 2016 second round draft pick Tyler Boyd. They drafted second round pick Tee Higgins in 2020 and first round pick Ja’Marr Chase in 2021. In 2022 they were in the top six in receptions, receiving yards, receiving touchdowns and receiving first downs. In 2019 they ranked 16th, 20th, 28th and 16th in those respectively.
A 2020 preseason PFF ranking of team linebacker corps put the Bengals at 30th. The 2020 article stated that the Bengals linebacking corps has the lowest grade in the NFL over the last two years, and they have heavily addressed the position in the draft over that span. They had drafted LB Germaine Pratt in the third round of the 2019 draft and Logan Wilson in the third round of the 2020 draft. Those investments paid off in 2022 when they earned an AV of 9 and 8 respectively.
The defense got some of their best seasons in 2022 out of the following players: DE Trey Hendrickson, DT B.J. Hill, FS Jessie Bates III, SS Vonn Bell and DE Sam Hubbard. A contributor to that may have included bringing in new position coaches of linebackers James Bettcher and defensive backs Charles Burks in2022.
The Coaches – ’25 Jaguars
The 2025 Jaguars from the 2024 organization had a massive change in its organization and staff. Here is a list of new coaches and new positions (italicized)
| Executive vice president of football operations – Tony Boselli |
| General manager – James Gladstone |
| Senior Advisor to the General Manager/Personnel Strategist – Brian Xanders |
| Senior Advisor to the General Manager/Personnel Strategist – JW Jordan |
| Director of college scouting – Brian Hill |
| Senior vice president of football analytics – Jake Temme |
| Director of pro scouting – DeJuan Polk |
| Senior director of football strategy and game management – Jon Dykema |
| Chief football strategy officer – Tony Khan |
| Head coach – Liam Coen |
| Offensive coordinator – Grant Udinski |
| Pass game coordinator – Shane Waldron |
| Quarterbacks – Spencer Whipple |
| Running backs – Chad Morton |
| Wide receivers – Edgar Bennett |
| Offensive line – Shaun Sarrett |
| Assistant offensive line / run game specialist – Keli’i Kekuewa |
| Pass game specialist – John Van Dam |
| Offensive assistant – Trevor Mendelson |
| Offensive assistant – Fred Walker |
| Defensive coordinator – Anthony Campanile |
| Defensive line – Matt Edwards |
| Assistant defensive line – Derrick LeBlanc |
| Linebackers – Tem Lukabu |
| Assistant linebackers – Kevin Wilkins |
| Secondary – Ron Milus |
| Defensive backs – Anthony Perkins |
| Assistant defensive backs coach – Drew Lascari |
| Senior defensive assistant – Bill Sheridan |
| Defensive assistant – Mario Jeberaeel |
| Head strength and conditioning coach – Eric Ciano |
| Assistant strength and conditioning coach – Paul Jackson |
| Assistant strength and conditioning coach – Lanier Coleman |
Comparitively the team did not change nearly as much. Here is a list of the players that played more than 25% of the offensive or defensive snaps. The players that were on the team in 2024 are bolded and in green background. The new players are not bolded and in yellow backgeound. The lists are sorted by percent of snaps.
| 2025 | Off. | Def | ||||||
| Player | Pos | Num | Pct | Pos | Num | Pct | ||
| Trevor Lawrence | QB | 1114 | 96.87% | Foyesade Oluokun | LB | 1036 | 94.53% | |
| Ezra Cleveland | OL | 1059 | 92.09% | Andrew Wingard | S | 961 | 87.68% | |
| Anton Harrison | OL | 973 | 84.61% | Josh Hines-Allen | DE | 845 | 77.10% | |
| Walker Little | OL | 969 | 84.26% | Montaric Brown | CB | 735 | 67.06% | |
| Robert Hainsey | OL | 950 | 82.61% | Devin Lloyd | LB | 706 | 64.42% | |
| Patrick Mekari | OL | 871 | 75.74% | Antonio Johnson | S | 659 | 60.13% | |
| Brian Thomas | WR | 741 | 64.43% | Arik Armstead | DT | 619 | 56.48% | |
| Travis Etienne | RB | 691 | 60.09% | Jourdan Lewis | CB | 612 | 55.84% | |
| Parker Washington | WR | 672 | 58.43% | Eric Murray | S | 602 | 54.93% | |
| Cole Van Lanen | OL | 632 | 54.96% | Travon Walker | DE | 525 | 47.90% | |
| Brenton Strange | TE | 591 | 51.39% | Jarrian Jones | CB | 516 | 47.08% | |
| Jakobi Meyers | WR | 463 | 40.26% | DaVon Hamilton | DT | 486 | 44.34% | |
| Johnny Mundt | TE | 389 | 33.83% | Greg Newsome II | CB | 462 | 42.15% | |
| Dyami Brown | WR | 356 | 30.96% | Dawuane Smoot | DE | 450 | 41.06% | |
| Tim Patrick | WR | 336 | 29.22% | Dennis Gardeck | LB | 423 | 38.59% | |
| Travis Hunter | WR | 324 | 28.17% | Tyson Campbell | CB | 324 | 29.56% | |
| Emmanuel Ogbah | DL | 323 | 29.47% | |||||
| Maason Smith | DT | 311 | 28.38% | |||||
On offense only two new players played more than 41% of the snaps. On defense only two new players played more than 43% of the snaps. The team went from 4-13 in 2024 to 13-4 in 2025 and in the playoffs.
The creation of multiple new positions to help analyze and improve various aspects of the team is an encouraging development. Owner Shahid Khan elevated Hall of Fame left tackle Tony Boselli1 from a team ambassador to a more prominent role to be the new executive vice president of football operations. Under Boselli’s direction, the Jaguars hired Liam Coen, who then helped find James Gladstone, Anthony Campanile, and Grant Udinski. Head coach Liam Cohen says that teaching and coaching go hand in hand. He comes from parents that were a teacher and a coach. He looks to coaching to help his players improve and praises the toughness of quarterback Trevor Lawrence. Lawrence was fourth in game winning drives in 2025 with five. Liam Cohen led the only offense in the NFL to finish in the top five in yards per game, scoring, passing yards per game, and rushing yards per game in his single season as offensive coordinator for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 2024.
The Quarterback Support – ’25 Patriots
The Patriots went from 4-13 in 2024 to 14-3 in 2025 and made the playoffs. In 2024 rookie quarterback Drake Maye was 3-9. Maye had the fifth highest sack percentage. He was 29th in pocket time, 7th highest interception percentage. He was 31st in NY/A and 30th in ANY/A. In 2024 the highest receiver in yards on the Patriots was tight end Hunter Henry, who came in 53rd in the league with 674 yards. Kayshon Boutte was their best receiver in yards per target with 8.7 which was 50th in the league. In passer rating when targeted the best receiver was tight end Austin Hooper with a 102 which was 76th in the league. PPF’s offensive line rankings ahead of week 14 in 2024 had the Patriots dead last at 32. In play action passing yards Drake Maye came in 32nd. Rhamondre Stevenson was the best Patriot in rushing first downs with 40 which was only 31st in the league. In spite of a poor support structure, Drake Maye still made the Pro Bowl his rookie season.
In the 2025 offseason the Patriots signed free agents of wide receiver Stefon Diggs, offensive tackle Morgan Moses and center Garrett Bradbury. They then drafted offensive tackle Will Campbell with the 4th pick and running back TreVeyon Henderson in round two. Each one of those players contributed significantly to the 2025 turnaround and all had a Pro Football Reference AV of 8+ in 2025. The PFF offensive line rankings for 2025 moved the Patriots line up to 11th. They had this to say – Perhaps no offensive line improved more year over year than New England’s. Stefon Diggs came in ranked by PFF as the seventh ranked wide receiver. In addition Patriot Demario Douglas made the list at 17. Stefon Diggs was 16th in the league in receiving yards and tenth in receiving first downs. The site NFL.com had rookie running back TreVeyon Henderson as 25th. Per NFL.com – the rookie led the team in carries, rush yards, rush TDs and scrimmage yards (1,132), and his success was highlighted by his explosiveness. Henderson posted four rush touchdowns of 50-plus yards in 2025, tied for the most by a rookie in NFL history. Henderson was tenth in rushing yards per attempt. These additions were a huge increase in offensive talent and a strong support system for Drake Maye.
With increased talent surrounding him, Maye led the league in completion percent, passing yards/attempt, adjusted yards/attempt, passer rating, QBR, net yards/attempt and adjusted net yards/attempt. A good run game opens up the play action pass. In 2025 Maye was fifth in play action pass yards with 1,049.
Who Might Be Next?
These were a sample of some case studies at a high level of relatively recent teams that were able to have drastic turnarounds in one to three years. What candidates are out there in 2025 for the next turnarounds? For that lets first look at teams that have had a win percentage of less than 25% within the last three years and have not had that drastic turnaround.
| Season | Team | W | L | W-L% | Pts | PtsO | PtDif |
| 2023 | CAR | 2 | 15 | 0.118 | 236 | 416 | -180 |
| 2023 | WAS | 4 | 13 | 0.235 | 329 | 518 | -189 |
| 2024 | CLE | 3 | 14 | 0.176 | 258 | 435 | -177 |
| 2025 | ARI | 3 | 14 | 0.176 | 355 | 488 | -133 |
| 2025 | LVR | 3 | 14 | 0.176 | 241 | 432 | -191 |
| 2025 | NYG | 4 | 13 | 0.235 | 381 | 439 | -58 |
| 2025 | NYJ | 3 | 14 | 0.176 | 300 | 503 | -203 |
| 2025 | TEN | 3 | 14 | 0.176 | 284 | 478 | -194 |
The Panthers have one year left to make this drastic turnaround. However they are on the way. Since their 2-15 2023 season, the have gone 5-12 and then 8-9 in 2025 and made the playoffs. In the playoffs they lost in the Wild Card round in a close game of 34-31 to a very good Rams team. Out of the twelve quarterbacks that played in Wild Card weekend, Panthers QB Bryce Young had the third best QBR for those games. The Panthers have one more year to make the drastic turnaround.
The 2023 season was the rookie season of quarterback Bryce Young. Young has improved in almost every quarterback statistic each year since then. He has shown a quarterback ‘clutch’ attribute in ranking tied for fourth in game-winning drives for all quarterbacks over their first three seasons. For that same quarterbck timeframe he is tied at 18th in 4th quarter comebacks. Young’s QBR and passer rating in 2025 is still slightly below the league average. To help Young they drafted wide receiver Tetairoa McMillan in 2025. McMillan had over 1000 receiving yards his rookie season. Their second year caoch, Dave Canales, has a reputation for revitalizing quarterback careers, helping Russell Wilson, Geno Smith (who won Comeback Player of the Year), and Baker Mayfield all achieve career-high statistics in various categories. Defensively the Panthers were 31st in opponent quarterback pressure percentage, 3rd down conversion percentage and average drive time.
The Washington Commanders in 2024 went 12-5 or 0.706. That was just short of the higher turnaround cutoff I picked of 0.75. The 2024 Commanders made the NFC Championship game but lost 23-55 to the Eagles. That is a pretty big margin so maybe the Commanders were not quite there yet. The 2025 team went 5-12 with their new star quarterback, Jayden Daniels, injured and only starting seven games. The Commanders have one more year to make the drastic turnaround.
In 2023 the old owner, Dan Snyder, sold the Washington organization to a Josh Harris led investment group. After the 4-13 2023 season the coaching staff had near total overhaul. The new general manager and assistant general manager bring a welth of experience. GM Adam Peters has been part of three Super Bowl-winning teams during his time in the front office with the New England Patriots (two wins) and the Denver Broncos (one win). Assistant general manager, Lance Newmark, worked for the Detroit Lions for 26 seasons in various scouting and personnel roles. Their first two drafts on the Commanders have been good drafting QB Jayden Daniels, LT Brandon Coleman, OT Josh Conerly and RB Jacory Croskey-Merritt.
Jayden Daniels is one of only seventeen quarterbacks that in their first two seasons had a passer rating of 90+, Passing touchdown percentage of 4.9+ and a total touchdowns responsible for of 20+. Since 2018 there are only three quarterbacks that have in their first two seasons passed for 2000+ yards and were in the top five in both Bad Throw % and On Target %. They are Drake Maye, Jayden Daniels and Joe Burrow. Daniels is one of only seven quarterbacks in the Super Bowl era that in their rookie seasons had above average indices for all of the following: Cmp%, Y/A, TD%, Int%, Rate, AY/A, NY/A and ANY/A.
Defensively the Commanders ranked dead last in points and yards in 2023. They improved in 2024 to average. However in 2025 they again sank to 27th and 32nd in points and yards respectively. In 2025 they had only one player with an AV of 8+ and that was rookie OT Josh Conerly. They hired Dan Quinn as head coach and Quin has previously been a defensive coordinator on the Seahawks in 2013-2014 and the Cowboys in 2021-2024. On the Seahawks his team was ranked number one in defense both seasons. On the Cowboys during his tenure defensively in points they ranked from 7th his first year to 5th his last two years. In yards they went from a rank of 19 to 12th to 5th.
The Cleveland Browns went 3-14 in 2024. This was followed by 5-12 in 2025. They have two more seasons to make a drastic turnaround. Cleveland has a very good defense. In 2025 DE Myles Garrett tied the all time sack count for a season with 23 sacks. The team was fouth in yards defense and third in passing yards allowed. PFF designated the Browns’ defensive line as the best in the 2025 season and the best pass rush unit. In 2025 rookie linebacker Carson Schwesinger had 156 combined tackles which was good for fifth best by a rookie since 1987. Fellow rookie DT Mason Graham made the PFF all rookie team. Over the final nine weeks of the regular season, per Next Gen Stats, Graham ranked third among all rookies in run stops and QB pressures. No other rookie defensive tackle came close to his production in either category during that span. The Browns signed free agent LB Devin Bush in 2024. In 2024 Bush had 3 interceptions, led the league in interception yards and interceptions returned for a touchdown with two. Bush joined Schwesinger to make the Browns the only team besides Miami to have two linebackers with 2+ Sacks, 5+ Tackles For Loss, 125+ Tackles Combined and 60+ Tackles Solo. In total there were only 11 linebackers in the league in 2025 that met those metrics. In addition to his interceptions and tackles, Devin Bush had 2 forced fumbles and 1 recovered. In addition the Browns have CB Denzel Ward whom they drafted at number 4 in 2018. According to PFF Ward’s 2024 stats included 91.3 PFF grade (1st) and 15 forced incompletions (1st). Then his 2025 stats entering week 18 include 0 receptions allowed, 2 forced incompletions and a 39.6 passer rating allowed. This is a wicked defense that aside from Devin Bush have the other players mentioned here on extended contracts.
The offense will most likely be the team’s focus in the upcoming free agency and draft. The offense ranks 31st in points and 30th in yards for the 2025 season.
The Arizona Cardinals and the remaining teams on this list have three seasons to make a dramatic turnaround. In 2025 the Cardinals went 3-14. Since the 2025 regular season ended the Cardinals have fired head coach Jonathan Gannon. The Athletic’s Saad Yousuf ranked the Cardinals as the most miserable team entering the 2026 NFL offseason. From an AV viewpoint the 2025 Cardinals had three players with an AV of 8+. They are backup quarterback Jacoby Brissett, tight end Trey McBride and wide receiver Michael Wilson. Quarterback Kyler Murray is on IR with a foot injury. The Cardinals have the third pick in the 2026 NFL draft.
During Jonathon Gannon’s head coaching tenure (2023-2025) the Cardinals lost the most games by 7 points or less with 18 out of 51. Offensively the Cardinals have enough talent to put together a competitive 11 offense with
| Position | Player | Age |
| OL | Hjalte Froholdt | 29 |
| RB | James Conner | 30 |
| QB | Kyler Murray | 28 |
| WR | Marvin Harrison Jr. | 23 |
| WR | Michael Wilson | 25 |
| OL | Paris Johnson | 24 |
| TE | Trey McBride | 26 |
Defensively they have a good defensive line with
| Position | Player | Age |
| OLB | Josh Sweat | 28 |
| DL | Calais Campbell | 39 |
| DL | Walter Nolen | 22 |
| OLB | Zaven Collins | 26 |
In the offseason they could use additions at the offensive line, linebackers and secondary. Their plan with quarterback Kyler Murray needs to be resolved. Drafting a quarterback on day two or three may be worth pursuing.
The 3-14 Las Vegas Raiders have already gotten rid of their one year offensive coordinator, Chip Kelly, and one year head caoch, Pete Carroll. The 2025 team was dead last in offensive yards and points.The only 2025 player that had an AV of 8+ was DE Maxx Crosby. Crosby has made the Pro Bowl in each of his last five seasons on the Raiders. Tight end Brock Bowers is another talent that was injured in 2025 but had an AV of 9 his rookie year in 2024 and was an All Pro.
The Raiders offensive line was ranked dead last for the 2025 season. They gave up a total of 64 sacks, the most in the league. Their run game had 3.6 yards per attempt, the worst in the league. Their 1.6 rushing yards before contact was worst in the league. Their quarterback, Geno Smith, is 35 years old and ranks below average in 2025 in TD%, Int%, NY/A, ANY/A, and QBR. The Raiders own the top pick in the draft and in all likelihood will choose quarterback Fernando Mendoza. Mendoza has been extremely efficiant in the red zone. In 2025 he has had 27 red zone touchdowns and zero interceptions. Other quarterbacks in college that were good in the red zone include Jow Burrow who had 34 TDs with 0 interceptions anf Baker Mayfield who had 24 with 2 interceptions. With Mendoza and some offensive line help this could be turned around quickly.
The New York Giants have hired a new head coach, John Harbaugh, following their dismal 2025 season. Harbaugh is one of just five head coaches in NFL history to lead his team to the playoffs at least 12 times over his first full 17 seasons, and he is the only head coach ever to win a playoff game in each of his first five seasons. Throughout Harbaugh’s 18 seasons in Baltimore, the Ravens allowed the fewest touchdowns, points, rushing first downs, rushing yards, and third-down conversions in the NFL. They also allowed the second-fewest first downs and total yards in the league during that time.
Out of the teams listed in the above table of potential turnarounds, the Giants have the lowest Points differential. This is by a large difference at only -58. This speaks well of the Giants in this group. They have a relatively talented team. Over the last four seasons players that have achieved an 8+ AV on the team are listed in the following table. You could also add RB Cam Skattebo to that list. He did not earn a high AV due to his injury but he has still made the PFF 2025 Rookie Team of the Year.
| Player | Age | Pos |
| Jaxson Dart | 22 | QB |
| Dexter Lawrence | 28 | DL |
| Tyrone Tracy Jr. | 26 | RB |
| Malik Nabers | 22 | WR |
| Brian Burns | 27 | LOLB |
| Kayvon Thibodeaux | 25 | OLB |
| Micah McFadden | 25 | LB |
| Andrew Thomas | 26 | LT |
| Wan’Dale Robinson | 24 | WR |
| Bobby Okereke | 29 | LILB |
The active New York Jets that have earned an 8+ AV in the last four seasons are
| Player | Age | Pos |
| Breece Hall | 24 | RB |
| Garrett Wilson | 25 | WR |
| Quincy Williams | 29 | LB |
| Jermaine Johnson II | 26 | LB |
Due to age and a decline in performance the Jets will in all likelihood not resign free agent Quincy Williams. The Jets pick number two in the 2026 draft. At quarterback Justin Fields does not appear to be the answer. PFF has the Jets offensive line ranked at 22nd and the defensive line at 28th.
The active Tennessee Titans that have earned an 8+ AV in the last four seasons are
| Player | Age | Pos |
| Jeffery Simmons | 28 | DT |
| Calvin Ridley | 31 | WR |
On October 13, 2025, head coach Brian Callahan was fired by the Titans following a 1–5 start to the season for the second consecutive year.
What do you think?
Feature image: Scrooge and Bob Cratchit celebrate Christmas with smoking bishop.
1 An interesting note on Tony Boselli is that he was the Jaguars first ever draft pick and first and only Jaguar to enter the Hall of Fame.