3 teams that are a solid draft away from being Super Bowl contenders

Every season, a handful of teams jump from the good-but-not-quite-there-yet category to full-blown Super Bowl contenders.

These teams are often hard to predict, with the Atlanta Falcons last year being the latest example.

However, three particular franchises showed signs in 2016 that they were ready to take the next step, and they may need just one good haul of rookies to push them over the top.

Buccaneers

From Weeks 10-14 last season, the high-flying Bucs rattled off five straight wins. They were able to win hard-fought defensive battles and shootouts in equally impressive fashion, and were one of the teams no one wanted to face in the playoffs.

Then, Tampa Bay lost back-to-back close games against Dallas and New Orleans and dropped out of the playoff picture, with many labeling the Bucs a young team that needed to learn how to win the big games.

Tampa has already significantly improved due to the offseason addition of DeSean Jackson, who should put the already-scary offense over the top. The speedy veteran's presence should help Jameis Winston take the third-year leap that many quarterbacks experience.

The defense is much better than its 26th ranking suggests, with a solid mix of stars like Gerald McCoy and Lavonte David and up-and-coming youngsters like Noah Spence and Vernon Hargreaves. The safety position is the biggest weakness, so that should be the priority at the top of draft, and adding another pass-rusher won't hurt, either.

The Bucs do need an answer at running back. They've been non-committal on Doug Martin's future after he left the team at the end of last season to enter a drug treatment plan. He's suspended for the first three games of 2017, and the Bucs could move on with no financial ramifications.

If Tampa can draft a starting safety, a mid-round RB who can take over if Martin is cut, and another difference-maker on the front seven, it likely won't falter at the finish line again.

Titans

First of all, nothing else matters unless Marcus Mariota is sufficiently recovered from the broken leg suffered at the end of last season. The Titans' roster is much improved from where it was when the young quarterback was drafted two years ago, but he's still the driving force of this team, along with its dominant ground game.

By moving forward under the assumption that Mariota will be 100 percent healthy by Week 1, and that he'll continue developing at a rate few predicted, Tennessee could surprise people. The AFC South is as weak as ever, and the Titans might have the division's best overall roster (the Texans' lack of a quarterback drags down the rest of the team), so their road to the playoffs should be easier than most.

The offensive line became one of the league's best last season, and will only get better with young talents like Jack Conklin and Taylor Lewan continuing to grow. If the OL improves, so will the third-ranked ground game. DeMarco Murray has at least one elite year left in the tank, and even if he drops off, Derrick Henry looks ready to take the league by storm.

Thanks to general manager Jon Robinson's shrewd trades over the past year or so, the Titans have more than enough ammunition to knock this year's draft out of the park, including two first-round picks.

If the Titans come away with, say, cornerback Marshon Lattimore and an offensive weapon like tight end David Njoku or wide receiver Corey Davis in the first, everything else will be icing on the cake.

Lions

The Lions, like the Bucs, looked like a borderline Super Bowl contender three quarters of the way through the 2016 season. But also like the Bucs, the Lions fell at the final hurdle.

It's possible Detroit more resembles the team that started the season 1-4 and finished it 0-3, rather than the one that won eight of nine games in between, but we're willing to bet last season's inconsistencies can be at least partially fixed by adding one more solid draft class to the roster.

On offense, the Lions are pretty much set, with only a need to fortify positions by adding depth. Matthew Stafford played like an MVP for most of the year before regressing late, likely caused by a finger injury. He's one of the more divisive quarterbacks in the NFL, but is finally in the perfect offensive system for him, and there should be little remaining doubt about his ability to play at the level needed to compete for a championship.

The Lions' defense is literally just below average, ranking 18th overall last season. Detroit's linebacking corps is its most significant weakness, followed by defensive end, though the latter would be greatly improved by a bounce-back year from Ziggy Ansah.

It's hard to have faith in the Lions after years of either abject misery or painful mediocrity. But the offense will only be better, partly due to improvements made to the offensive line in free agency, and the draft can be used heavily to reinforce the defense.

If the Lions hit on some instant-impact defenders who can do a better job of backing up Stafford and Co., they'll have a great shot at winning their first playoff game since the 1991 season, and possibly going even further.

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