NFL Team Needs: Prioritizing Every Roster’s Biggest Weaknesses Before 2024 Preseason

The 2024 NFL offseason was full of player movement as teams look to put themselves in the best position to make a run at Super Bowl 54 and unseat the defending champion Kansas City Chiefs.

Every week of the season, we’ll assess the state of each roster with a particular focus on its weaknesses. By the end of the campaign, we’ll have built a big board for every team based on its biggest needs and wants. Everything from immediate holes to fill to the offseason player carousel of free agency and the 2024 NFL draft is taken into account.

The weaknesses here won’t be just knee-jerk reactions to the weekend’s games during the season, but more an overarching assessment with both present and future roster-building in mind.

 

All AFC teams are scouted by Alex Ballentine, and all NFC teams are scouted by Matt Holder.

Further analysis of every NFL roster will publish each Monday beginning August 12 and run throughout the regular season.

While the Arizona Cardinals’ defense still needs some work, the Cardinals might be a sneaky team to watch this season now that Kyler Murray is healthy and has a dangerous weapon to throw to in Marvin Harrison Jr. Don’t be surprised if they pull off a few upsets in the fall, similar to what they did at the end of last season with wins over the Eagles and Steelers.

Arizona is pretty young at cornerback as rookie second-round pick Max Melton is expected to start on the outside and second-year pro Garrett Williams will man the nickel spot. So, the defense could use a veteran who can fill in at either position and Jackson fits that mold.

 

Granted, the seven-year pro has struggled to stay healthy and is coming off a down year, but he did manage to post an 85.3 passer rating when targeted and a 71.5 coverage grade from Pro Football Focus in 2022.