Training camps are opening across the NFL, position battles are about to be waged, and jobs are about to be won and lost, which makes it the perfect time to take stock of the talent and the players primed to define the story of the 2026 season.

The NFC South features four teams, in a lot of ways, in the midst of very similar identity crises.

In New Orleans, a full-fledged rebuild is afoot, as is an evaluation of second-year quarterback Tyler Shough and his upside. The Falcons have built an exciting young core, loaded with talent across the roster but boast the kind of quarterback uncertainty that can cripple a franchise. Tampa Bay has excelled at evaluating and retaining young talent, but has struggled in recent seasons to get the defense and offense to pull the rope in the right direction consistently enough to contend. Meanwhile, the defending champion Panthers are all gas, no brakes in trying to fast-track building around Bryce Young while simultaneously still trying to decide if he is, in fact, a franchise quarterback.

Here is an in-depth breakdown of the top-five players in the AFC South, closing out our series, including the one non-quarterback that an NFL scout would choose first to build his roster around …

A swarming pass rush is fundamental to a dominant defense, and that is something that general manager Dan Morgan clearly understood, especially after watching Matthew Stafford carve up the Panthers’ secondary in the second half of an NFC Wild Card loss back in January.

Come March, the Panthers committed a market-disrupting $120 million, over four years, to Jaelan Phillips, stealing him out from underneath the Philadelphia Eagles and dropping him into a front seven alongside Devin Lloyd and behind emerging superstar Derrick Brown, as the centerpiece of a revamped pass rush.

Cynics and skeptics alike will point to Phillips’ deal as potentially misguided spending, but what the contract represents is a commitment to leveling up the talent at the most important positions on the field around a commitment to sustained contention.

Last season, Phillips posted seven sacks in Miami and Philadelphia, but his 73 quarterback pressures weren’t just ninth-most in the NFL at the position but frequently created sack opportunities for his teammates.

Phillips is the kind of player who makes the rest of the defense better, by forcing quarterbacks into mistakes, and the kind of acquisition with the potential to raise the ceiling for what the franchise can become as it keeps building over the next four years.

One of the premier offensive tackles in the sport, Wirfs is a stalwart in pass protection and a certified road grader in the ground game.

Arguably the most important player on the field for the Buccaneers’ offense, Wirfs’ reputation as one of the most well-rounded players at his position has been well earned.

According to Pro Football Focus, Wirfs was the second-highest-graded offensive tackle in the league last season, garnering an elite 92.7 overall grade, headlined by his dominant 91.6 mark as a run-blocker.

Perhaps most impressive, is that Wirfs was navigating toe and knee injuries at various times during the 2025 campaign, and his level of play never really trailed off as a result.

Allowing just two sacks and four quarterback hits in 778 offensive snaps, drawing a matchup against Wirfs was essentially pre-game nightmare fuel for opposing defensive ends and pass rushers.

Drake London is an ascending star who is already a focal point of the Falcons’ vertical passing game and climbing the ranks of the most prolific players at his position across the sport.

Despite wildly inconsistent quarterback play last season, London caught 68 passes for 919 yards and seven touchdowns, just one season removed from setting new career highs with a 100-catch, 1,271-yard, nine-touchdown 2025 campaign.

A field-stretcher who excels at the point of attack, London embodies what teams look for in modern receivers, as illustrated by Michael Penix and Kirk Cousins producing an elite 107.8 passer rating when targeting him and only dropping two passes in 104 targets.

London’s skill set makes it fair to wonder how much higher he’d be regarded, and how much more prolific he would be on the stat sheet, if he was playing in a situation with more consistently competent quarterback play. He’s also vital to what the Falcons hope to become, whether it’s Penix or Tua Tagovailoa who opens and ultimately finishes the season behind center.

A rangy, physically imposing, dominant force in the secondary, Winfield is a tone-setter for the Buccaneers’ defense.

Beyond the ability to man-to-man sideline-to-sideline deep in coverage, Winfield Jr.’s football IQ and ability to read and react are off the charts, which has helped him become one of head coach Todd Bowles’ most versatile and potent weapons deployed against opposing quarterbacks, whether it’s playing centerfield or throwing his weight around up near the line of scrimmage.

Winfield has averaged just over 58 tackles, while intercepting multiple passes in three of his first six seasons. Last fall, only three safeties broke more passes than Winfield’s six, and his 15 quarterback pressures ranking third in the league is a testament to the myriad ways he can alter the outcome of a play or even a game.

There’s a strong and compelling argument to be made that Robinson is both the prototype for modern running backs, and already the premier player at the position across the league.

As elusive in the open field as he is explosive through the mesh, as dangerous a runner as he is a pass catcher out of the backfield, Robinson is quickly becoming the centerpiece that the Falcons build their offense around and simultaneously the posterchild for not selecting a running back high in the draft until the rest of your roster is ready to maximize the impact of his production.

Underscoring that point, is the fact that Pro Football Focus points out Robinson forced a league-high 86 missed tackles, his 3.95 Yards After Contact were second-most in the NFL, and his 36 Explosive Runs ranked third.

Simply put, there isn’t an aspect of Robinson’s skill-set where he isn’t among the standard bearers at his position.

Robinson has become more consistently prolific in each of his first three seasons, before finishing as the NFL’s fourth-leading rusher last fall, posting a 1,478-yard and seven-touchdown campaign, while averaging a career-best 5.2 yards per carry.

If Robinson’s first three seasons are a harbinger of what’s to come, the Falcons are primed to field one of the most dangerous weapons in the NFL.