NFL Teams That Must Nail 2023 NFL Draft to Have Success Next Season
The 2023 NFL draft will be an important milestone in nearly every franchise's quest to win a title this year.
Teams can potentially gain massive advantages over the competition by shrewdly identifying areas of need and putting themselves in the best possible position to draft the top prospects who can fill these roster holes.
Some, like the Carolina Panthers, have already pulled off trades that will allow them the best shot at getting an elite talent at a spot of critical need. After going all-in to move up to No. 1 overall, they are clearly one of the handful of teams that must nail their 2023 class to find success this season.
There are other fringe contenders who also need to come away from this draft with an impressive haul if they are going to take the next step. These teams all showed varying levels of championship potential last year but either lost a slew of contributors or didn't have enough at the time to make a run.
That could all change with a few home run picks from April 27-29 in Kansas City, Missouri. With that in mind, here are the five franchises that can't afford a weak 2023 draft class.
Carolina Panthers
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No team should be feeling more pressure to nail its 2023 draft than the Panthers.
After giving up several assets to the Chicago Bears, including their 2024 first-rounder and a quality wideout in D.J. Moore, they cannot afford to whiff on the No. 1 selection.
While rumors have swirled regarding the exact player the club will choose after moving to the top of Round 1, it's all but a foregone conclusion that he will be a quarterback. Whether that signal-caller is Ohio State's C.J. Stroud or Alabama's Bryce Young—the top two favorites at DraftKings Sportsbook—or even a long shot like combine darling Anthony Richardson remains to be seen.
Regardless, there will be great expectations on the player to produce early in his career. Carolina did come to terms with veteran Andy Dalton, who could serve as a bridge quarterback in 2023, but an impressive rookie could lead this side to success in a way Dalton hasn't shown himself capable of in years.
The Panthers can use their remaining picks—especially Nos. 39 and 93 on Day 2—to shore up some of their other glaring holes. They would benefit from promising wideout prospect after giving up Moore, but they also need to unearth a quality edge-rusher as they prepare for a conversion to a base 3-4 defense under new defensive coordinator Ejiro Evero.
If the team leaves Kansas City with these pressing concerns addressed, it'll have a real chance to compete for its first playoff berth in a half-decade. If it doesn't—or worse, ends up with busts to fill these voids—it will be a rough start to the Frank Reich era in Carolina.
Detroit Lions
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The Detroit Lions came tantalizingly close to snapping a five-year playoff drought last season. The club shrugged off a 1-6 start to finish with a winning record and has itself set up nicely to improve on that in 2023.
Despite narrowly missing out on a first postseason appearance under head coach Dan Campbell, the Lions still have plenty of work to do if they wish to become a true Super Bowl contender. The defense was atrocious last year, ranking No. 30 in scoring and dead last in yardage allowed.
While the unit should improve slightly with young talents like 2022 No. 2 overall pick Aidan Hutchinson showing growth—plus free-agent additions like Cameron Sutton and Emmanuel Mosely shoring up the secondary—the team is holding a bevy of draft picks it will hopefully convert into on-field assets next month.
Detroit not only has its own pick to acquire a premium prospect with at No. 18, but it also owns the No. 6 overall selection from the Los Angeles Rams.
Most of the teams picking ahead of the Lions need a quarterback, which should give them their choice of this year's top defensive talents.
There's also a real chance Detroit will opt to select a signal-caller of its own, although team brass has consistently backed Jared Goff as the starter after his strong 2022 showing.
While the Lions may be better positioned for the long-term future by taking a passer if one falls to them, they will have a better shot at succeeding in 2023 if they bolster their defense near the top of the draft.
Regardless, Detroit has plenty more picks it can use on key pieces, like interior defensive linemen and a safety. The Lions boast a trio of Day 2 picks and three more selections on Day 3, giving them plenty of chances to land contributors who can help push them over the hump next season.
New England Patriots
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The New England Patriots may have had a trying 2022 campaign, but they have already begun making changes that could push them back into contention as early as next season.
The team made a disastrous choice to put Matt Patricia and Joe Judge in charge of the offense last year. The pair of failed head coaches weren't able to translate their former successes as defensive and special teams coordinators, respectively, into offensive production during their second stints with the Patriots.
With New England turning the keys over to Bill O'Brien, who is returning to New England for the first time since he was the club's offensive coordinator in 2011, the club has taken a major stride toward fixing its most glaring issue.
While the personnel changes will help, they won't mean much without the right players on the field.
The most notable hole is along the offensive line. This was a huge weakness in 2022 and hasn't seen much change during the offseason. While veteran tackle Riley Reiff should slot in as a starter after he signed a one-year deal, the Pats need plenty more help in the trenches.
The most pressing issue on defense is the secondary. The team managed to retain a homegrown corner in Jonathan Jones following his quality campaign, but it still must unearth starting-caliber talent in the draft to feel good about this group.
Although the Patriots are only armed with one pick in each of the first three rounds, they are loaded with Day 3 selections. The club has a trio of fourth-rounders, four sixth-rounders and a seventh-rounder—picks that head coach Bill Belichick will almost assuredly use to move around the board with his usual style of draft-day trading.
Once the dust settles, New England could wind up with nearly everything it needs to make a playoff push next season.
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Philadelphia Eagles
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It may be surprising that a team coming off a Super Bowl appearance would need to lean so heavily on a draft class to stay competitive, but that's the situation the Philadelphia Eagles find themselves in.
They relied on a mix of youthful contributors and aging veterans to navigate through the NFC and come close to winning a Lombardi Trophy last year. But they didn't retain several key pieces from the latter group, and others will naturally regress as they fade into the twilight of their careers.
While the secondary isn't going to need a complete overhaul after Philadelphia's brass managed to keep starting corners James Bradberry and Darius Slay, the safety position was pilfered, with both C.J. Gardner-Johnson and Marcus Epps signing elsewhere in free agency.
Reed Blankenship has a real shot to take over one of those vacancies after joining the team as an undrafted free agent last year, and Terrell Edmunds could man the other after he was plucked from the open market. But there's more questions than answers right now.
Defensive tackle could be a spot where the Eagles use one of their two first-rounders. The team managed to keep a foundational piece in Fletcher Cox, but the 32-year-old could use some help and an eventual successor in the interior of the defensive trenches. While 2022 first-rounder Jordan Davis should only get better, Javon Hargrave is now gone, and aging vets like Ndamukong Suh (36) and Linval Joseph (34) remain unsigned.
The linebacker position also saw departures, with T.J. Edwards and Kyzir White both signing deals outside of the City of Brotherly Love following solid campaigns. The club will have to hope that Nakobe Dean has shown enough growth to take over as a starter, but it wouldn't be a shock to see the Eagles use some draft capital here.
With starting running back Miles Sanders out of the picture, Philadelphia may also want to shore up the backfield. The organization did sign Rashaad Penny, but the oft-injured veteran has not proved he's able to shoulder a major load over the course of a full season.
Incumbent backup Kenneth Gainwell has flashed plenty of potential, but he's not built like a lead back (5'9", 200 lbs) and will likely see more situational use rather than work a three-down role.
Given that four of Philadelphia's six total selections fall within the top 94, the club will have adequate chances to shore up its major needs. Hitting on most of these picks could be the boost the Eagles need to run it back and win the Super Bowl this time around.
Pittsburgh Steelers
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The Pittsburgh Steelers managed to outperform expectations last year, pushing head coach Mike Tomlin's streak of consecutive non-losing seasons to 16.
While the club also checked off the biggest item on its to-do list in the post-Ben Roethlisberger era by securing a franchise quarterback in Kenny Pickett, it still has plenty left to accomplish before it becomes a true playoff threat.
The draft is the best chance for the Steelers to shore up weaknesses that they didn't address in free agency, as they hold four picks in the top 80, including the No. 17 overall selection.
The offensive line should see an injection of rookie talent. While the team earned the No. 16 spot in Pro Football Focus' end-of-season rankings (h/t Josh Carney of Steelers Depot) and had uncanny stability, with the same five starters for all 17 games, there were some consistency issues with the protection and a glaring lack of an anchor the team can build around in the trenches.
If a highly regarded offensive tackle falls to Pittsburgh in the first round, it could improve the offense more than any other selection in the upcoming draft.
The other side of the trenches may also get an upgrade with one of Pittsburgh's Day 1 or 2 picks. With many of the team's top defensive linemen starting to get up there in years—such as Cameron Heyward, who is entering his age-34 season—it could be a boon to bring in younger talent.
Cornerback should also be a spot the Steelers look to early. They managed to replace Cameron Sutton with Patrick Peterson, but the soon-to-be 33-year-old defensive back doesn't have much tread left on his tires. Getting a contributor here could help a bit in 2023 and plenty more in 2024 and beyond.
The Steelers are in decent shape to compete for a playoff spot next season, but nailing the 2023 draft will greatly aid them in that quest and help keep them in the spotlight for years to come.
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