What's the biggest weakness remaining on each NFC South roster?

Matt Williamson is a former scout for the Cleveland Browns and spent the last 10 years at ESPN as a scout and co-host of "The Football Today Podcast."

The time between the end of the draft and the start of training camp is one for eternal optimism among NFL fans. Their favorite team is going to be so much better in the coming season. That club fixed its problems through free agency and the draft. Its incoming crop of rookies will all work out wonderfully. Injured players from the year before will return better than ever. No one will get hurt in 2017. You get the idea.

Unfortunately, this is most likely the best your favorite team's roster will look all season. Much will happen between now and the Super Bowl, and much of it will be negative. With that in mind, this is a divisional series highlighting the biggest area of concern for each team right now. Here is the NFC South.

Falcons - Guard

Chris Chester was the weakest link in an otherwise fantastic Falcons offense last season. Chester has now retired, and Atlanta hasn't done much to address that area of need.

Compounding matters is that Atlanta was extremely fortunate to have started the same five linemen in every game last season. That is very unlikely to happen again, and the Falcons' suspect offensive line depth could be called into play much more in 2017.

Andy Levitre is solid at left guard, but he certainly isn’t a superstar. The Falcons hope that fourth-round pick Sean Harlow steps up in his rookie season and owns the right guard job, but that might be asking a lot. And there really aren’t many other current options besides last year’s sixth-round choice Wes Schweitzer, who was inactive for his entire rookie season.

The chances are good that Atlanta’s offensive line will not be as strong in 2017 as it was last year.

Panthers - Offensive Tackle

The Panthers don’t have glaring holes on their roster - and likely don't believe that tackle is a problem area at all after spending big money on Matt Kalil in free agency and using a second-round pick on Taylor Moton.

The Panthers still have options with Daryl Williams and Michael Oher on the roster, though Oher’s concussion history may derail his career. The real worry here, though, is that Kalil’s contract could come back to bite them.

While the thought of pairing him with his brother Ryan is tempting, Matt Kalil’s past few years in Minnesota are hard to watch on tape. Carolina is paying him like a high-end starting left tackle, which he certainly isn't upon last viewing.

It's possible that Kalil is ready to put his injury issues behind him. If that's the case, the fourth overall pick in 2012 might just resume what initially looked like a promising NFL career. But ignoring his poor play the past few years seems foolhardy. Meanwhile, Moton is an impressive prospect, but many see him as more of a guard rather than edge protector at tackle.

Saints - Edge

The Saints' secondary got some talented reinforcements this offseason, which should certainly improve the leaky pass defense. Yet, while the selection of Trey Hendrickson in the third round could pay off handsomely, not enough was done otherwise to help the edge pass rush.

Cameron Jordan is a good football player, but he isn’t a speed rusher or twitchy edge bender. The Saints should be set up the middle though with Sheldon Rankins and Nick Fairley; Rankins could be primed for a breakout sophomore season. But the other edge pass-rushers of consequence - Alex Okafor, Darryl Tapp, and Hau’oli Kikaha - are hardly an impressive group.

Maybe Hendrickson, who was highly productive in college, becomes an immediate contributor, but most likely, the Saints' front is one quality edge player short of where it needs to be.

Buccaneers - Offensive Line

The Buccaneers were truly terrible at the safety position a year ago, but have upgraded both through the draft (Justin Evans) and free agency (J.J. Wilcox). Yet, even though Tampa Bay was very active overall this offseason, little attention was paid to the offensive line.

From left to right, Tampa Bay’s front five features Donovan Smith, J.R. Sweezy, Joe Hawley, Ali Marpet, and Demar Dotson. Marpet is very promising and Dotson has played quite well at times in this league, and clearly the Buccaneers are high enough on Smith, Sweezy, and Hawley to trust them with starting duties. Sweezy didn’t play a snap last year after being signed from the Seattle Seahawks, where he had a topsy-turvy start to his career.

Smith hasn’t come close to playing up to his ability and is at a make-or-break stage of his career. Hawley is a below average center with journeyman-like traits. Depth here is also a huge concern and the Buccaneers have only used one fifth-round pick worth of draft capital in the past two draft classes on offensive linemen.

There is a lot to get excited about with this team and offense led by quarterback Jameis Winston, but the front five could derail its aspirations.

Biggest Weakness Remaining

• AFC East
• NFC East
• AFC North
• NFC North
• AFC South
• AFC West
• NFC West