The NFC South has been the most underwhelming division in football over the last several years. Last season, the Carolina Panthers won the division with a record of 8-9, marking the second time in four seasons a team has won the South while finishing under .500 (8-9 Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 2022). No one knows what to expect heading into 2026. It wouldn’t surprise anyone if the division was won with a record of 9-8 or even 8-9 like in years past. The NFC South is up for grabs yet again, and it will come down to which QB-RB-WR trio can emerge this season.
Best Trios in the NFC South
1. Tua Tagovailoa-Bijan Robinson-Drake London (Atlanta Falcons)
The Atlanta Falcons have yet to officially name a starting quarterback for the upcoming season, with the battle being between Tua Tagovailoa and Michael Penix Jr. For the sake of the article, Tagovailoa will take the QB1 spot due to being available throughout training camp and preseason, unlike his competition.
Tagovailoa comes in looking to turn his fortunes around after having a disastrous last two seasons in Miami. Getting back to his 2023 self would be the best-case scenario for the Falcons, when he threw for 4,624 yards and led the Dolphins to the best passing attack in the league.
Atlanta still views Penix Jr. as their future and has been cleared to compete for the starting job. If he’s named QB1, the Falcons would still have the best QB-RB-WR trio in the NFC South.
In the meantime, Atlanta was busy handing out big-time money to their primary weapons. One of them was Drake London, whose talent is better than the numbers show, and the Falcons agreed with that by giving him a four-year, $141M contract extension. He was on pace for a career year in 2025 before suffering a couple of injuries that limited him to 12 games. London has the talent to put up his best numbers yet this season.
The other one they paid was Bijan Robinson, who signed a three-year contract extension worth up to $75M with $51M guaranteed, which made him the highest-paid running back in NFL history until Jahmyr Gibbs signed his deal soon after. He’s coming off two straight seasons of 1,400+ yards rushing and seven-plus touchdowns, while also having 820 yards and four touchdowns through the air this past season, which helped him secure First-Team All-Pro honors. Robinson is an absolute stud and very well could be the best running back in football. Simply having the superstar running back at their disposal cements their number one spot in the NFC South.
2. Baker Mayfield-Bucky Irving-Emeka Egbuka (Tampa Bay Buccaneers)
Baker Mayfield bet on himself and revived his career in Tampa Bay with the best two-year stretch of his career in 2023 and 2024, including leading his team to one of the best offenses in the league in 2024. The overall offense took a pretty noticeable dip last season, ranking in the bottom half of the league.
Mayfield comes into the season in the final year of his contract, with talks breaking down between him and the team. That means Mayfield is betting on himself yet again to get another contract, whether it’s from Tampa Bay or not. As we’ve seen before, Mayfield plays his best ball in these situations, and a potential bounce back to his 2023 or 2024 form could be in play.
While he won’t have franchise legend Mike Evans to throw to anymore, Emeka Egbuka announced his presence early on last season and comes into the year as the WR1. His play did dip as the season went on, but the flashes of dominance were there, making year two a promising one as the main target for a motivated Mayfield.
The third piece of the puzzle is Bucky Irving, who has shown to be explosive and has given the offense a boost when on the field, as shown in the past, but suffered injury problems last season. With the circumstances of Mayfield and the potential of Egbuka to go along with a healthy Irving, this Buccaneers QB-RB-WR trio is one of the most intriguing in the league heading into 2026.
3. Tyler Shough-Travis Etienne-Chris Olave (New Orleans Saints)
An interesting season is ahead for the New Orleans Saints with their current QB-RB-WR trio. The team has been trying to find their long-term solution at quarterback since the retirement of Drew Brees in 2020 and just haven’t had any luck. Right now, they have Tyler Shough under center, whom they drafted in the second round of the 2025 NFL Draft. While it’s unclear whether he can be what the Saints have been looking for, the rookie showed some promising signs at the end of the season, winning three of their last four games and throwing for 300+ yards in two of those games.
Shough’s connection with Chris Olave really shined during that stretch as well. The former Ohio State wideout put together his best three-game stretch of the season, tallying 85, 148, and 119 yards with at least a touchdown in each game. It was no coincidence that he missed the last game of the season, which was a loss for the Saints. Olave has proven to be a difference maker, but his history of concussions is cause for concern when it comes to his ability to stay on the field. He did play 16 games last season, and the game he missed was a separate injury, so hopefully he can build on that.
The newcomer is running back Travis Etienne, who takes over the starting duties and is an upgrade over an aging Alvin Kamara, who will serve the backup role. While Etienne has been underwhelming, he is a 1,000-yard rusher who can get into the end zone.
Kellen Moore has an interesting mix of talent to work with at each position with his offensive mind, and with the division up for grabs seemingly every season, the Saints might have a chance at the NFC South crown if this trio can perform.
4. Bryce Young-Chuba Hubbard-Tetairoa McMillan (Carolina Panthers)
Even though the Panthers are the defending NFC South Champions, there’s not a lot of faith in parts of their QB-RB-WR trio heading into 2026.
Bryce Young is heading into his fourth season, facing massive pressure in a make-or-break year. Young was the Panthers’ first overall pick in 2025 but has yet to live up to his selection. He showed slight improvement in 2023, throwing for his first 3,000-yard season, but it was only by 11 yards. The Alabama product did throw for 23 touchdowns to 11 interceptions, by far the best touchdown-to-interception ratio in his three seasons. While he had his best season statistically, it wasn’t anything special to convince anyone that he’s the future in Carolina.
The 25-year-old quarterback knows he must perform to secure his future, and 2026 might be the best position he’s been put in yet. He’s got young, promising pass catchers to throw to like Jalen Coker and Xavier Legette, but his number one option is the second-year receiver, Tetairoa McMillan. McMillan showed a lot of promise in his rookie season, hauling in 70 catches for 1,014 yards and seven touchdowns, earning Offensive Rookie of the Year. His second-year bump should help his connection with Young. McMillan has the most promise in Carolina on offense.
Like Young, Chuba Hubbard hasn’t truly broken out either and has been uninspiring in the backfield. He even took a backseat to Rico Dowdle for much of last season and failed to win his job back, but now with Dowdle gone, Hubbard is RB1, unless he gets overtaken again, this time by a healthy Jonathan Brooks. This also could be a make-or-break season for Hubbard in Carolina as well.
More: AFC East | AFC West | AFC North | AFC South | NFC East | NFC West | NFC North
Main Image: Matthew Hinton-Imagn Images
