Most Improved NFL Teams 2017

Updated: March 18, 2025

2017’s Most Improved NFL Teams

It usually happens every year. An NFL team rises from its failures the previous season, turns things around, and makes great improvements. A year ago, one of those teams was the Oakland Raiders. After going 7-9 in 2015, the Raiders improved to 12-4 and qualified for the postseason. The Miami Dolphins turned their 6-10 record in 2015 into a 10-6 campaign in 2016 and earned a wild card berth. Somewhere, there is a team entering training camp right now that is not expected to win in 2017, but will do so anyway. Here are three that could end 2017 as the most improved NFL teams.

NEW ORLEANS SAINTS

After four trips to the postseason – including a Super Bowl title – in five years, the New Orleans Saints have recorded three straight 7-9 seasons. In each of those three seasons, quarterback Drew Brees has led the NFL in passing yards. The offense is definitely not the problem. The Saints led the entire NFL in total offense in two of the past three seasons. The one where they didn’t finish first? They finished second. For New Orleans, improvement in the win column starts with improvement on defense. [su_quote]The Saints were 27th in the league last season in total defense giving up 375.4 yards per game. That is actually an improvement over the previous two seasons in which New Orleans finished 31st in both 2015 and 2014. The Saints used free agency and the draft to address some needs and if they pay off, the Saints could be looking at a Raiders-esque type turnaround.[/su_quote] New Orleans picked up edge rusher Alex Okafor from the Arizona Cardinals. Okafor, a fourth round draft choice in 2013, played 13 games with the Cardinals last season and recorded eight sacks. Manti Te’o was signed after beginning his career in San Diego. Te’o missed most of last season with a torn Achilles tendon. Both Te’o and Okafor will be counted on to help improve the Saints defense which might be without its biggest acquisition prior to last season, DT Nick Fairley. The 6-foot-4, 308-pound Fairley was diagnosed with a heart condition that could end his pro football career. The Saints addressed their needs in the defensive backfield by taking former Ohio State star Marshon Lattimore in the first round. Lattimore is a 6-foot, 195-pounder with 4.3 speed who can match up with any receiver. New Orleans also took safety Marcus Williams out of Utah in the second round. Both Lattimore and Williams could play big roles in a New Orleans defense that was dead last against the pass last season.

ARIZONA CARDINALS

Two straight trips to postseason and a berth in the NFC Championship game had Arizona entering the 2016 season with high expectations. Head coach Bruce Arians and the Cardinals started 1-3 right out of the gate and won just three games in the first half of the season. They won their last two games and still had a shot at the playoffs late in the season despite finishing 7-8-1. Arians and company should be much better in 2017. [su_quote]The Cardinals offense will once again be led by Carson Palmer, now 37 years of age. Palmer threw for 4,233 yards and 26 touchdowns last year and was the No. 4 passer in the league over the second half of the season. Palmer has a veteran receiving corps led by future Hall of Famer Larry Fitzgerald (107 rec., 1,023 yds.). Last year, running back David Johnson emerged as one of the league’s best talents in the backfield. In addition to his 1,239 yards rushing, Johnson also caught 80 passes for 879 yards.[/su_quote] Like New Orleans, the Cardinals are pretty good offensively. The Cardinals need players like defensive lineman Robert Nkemdiche to improve. Arians and the Cardinals went heavy on defense in the draft selecting former Temple linebacker Haason Reddick with their first pick. Reddick played defensive end at Temple where, ironically, Arians served as a head coach in the 1980s. The Cards also picked up a very good safety in former Washington Huskie Budda Baker (5-10, 195).

JACKSONVILLE JAGUARS

The Jaguars haven’t had a winning season since 2007, which was also the last time they made the postseason. In each of the past few seasons, it appeared as if Jacksonville was on the verge of turning things around. Two years ago, it was young quarterback Blake Bortles and his receiving tandem of Allen Robinson and Allen Hurns. Robinson had 80 receptions for 1,400 yards and 14 TDs. Hurns caught 64 balls for 1,031 yards and 10 touchdowns. Their production fell off heavily last season with Robinson getting 73 catches for 883 and Hurns just 35 receptions and 477 yards. As a pair, the two receivers combined for just nine touchdowns in 2016. That has to change in 2017. Bortles is still one of the better young quarterbacks in the league. He threw for 3,905 yards and 23 touchdowns last season, but his quarterback rating of 48.9 is a concern. Bortles tossed 16 interceptions last year, a career low, but his yards per attempt fell from 7.31 in 2016 to 6.25 last year. Jacksonville added another piece to the offense’s puzzle when they selected RB Leonard Fournette with the fourth pick in this year’s draft. They also addressed the offensive line by taking Alabama offensive tackle Cam Robinson in the second round and signing former Dolphins OT Branden Albert in March. The Jags need to get better on defense, not so much physically but mentally. Last year, Jacksonville was sixth in the NFL in total defense giving up 321.7 yards per game, but the unit gave up 25 points per game which was 25^th in the league. Jacksonville signed CB A.J. Bouye from Houston to add him to a stingy secondary. The Jags also added a solid veteran defensive end in Calais Campbell who came over from Arizona. Campbell, Malik Jackson, and Yannick Ngakoue should be able to produce pressure on opposing quarterbacks. The Jags will need to do something to help their secondary. [su_quote]Jacksonville had just seven interceptions during the 2016 season. Regardless, the Jaguars should be better than last year’s 3-13.[/su_quote]

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