Milwaukee Journal Sentinel - Packer Plus
TEAM RANKINGS
Buccaneers move up list; but few surprises at top
Here’s how NFL teams rank this summer in terms of overall quality, and potential to excel, including overviews of the top 16 teams:
16. Philadelphia Eagles
Last season, the Eagles somehow won nine games and the NFC East despite an injury-ravaged receiver group that gave Carson Wentz very little to work with when the playoffs came around. The hope is that the return of DeSean Jackson and Alshon Jeffery, along with tight ends Zach Ertz and Dallas Goedert and first-round receiver Jalen Reagor from TCU, will give Wentz a compensatory wealth of targets. If that’s the case, aligning that with an above-average defense fortified with the presence of ex-Lions cornerback Darius Slay makes this a formidable team.
15. Arizona Cardinals
If 2018 was the year of Patrick Mahomes, and 2019 was the year of Lamar Jackson, it could be posited that 2020 will be the year of Kyler Murray. In his rookie season, Murray proved a perfect foil for first-year head coach Kliff Kingsbury’s offensive schemes, especially when Kingsbury started thinking outside his own box. Adding DeAndre Hopkins, as the Cardinals did as the latest team to fleece Bill O’Brien and the Texans, will certainly help, as will the selection of Houston offensive tackle Josh Jones in the third round of the draft — Murray caused a lot of his own league-leading 48 sacks, but an iffy offensive line didn’t help. On defense, first-round linebacker Isaiah Simmons comes in as the most versatile player in his draft class, able to play everywhere from the line of scrimmage to the slot to linebacker to safety. Arizona might not be quite ready to take the NFC West just yet, but this team will be must-see TV all season.
14. Los Angeles Chargers
The Chargers are heading into their first Philip Rivers-less season since 2004. New starter Tyrod Taylor is a good enough placeholder in Anthony Lynn’s offense; the two worked well together in Buffalo, and there’s enough skill position talent to make it go. But the real story of this Chargers team is a secondary that may be the NFL’s second-best behind New England’s, with safeties Derwin James and Nasir Adderley, and cornerbacks Chris Harris Jr., Casey Hayward, and the underrated Michael Davis.
13. Pittsburgh Steelers
Last season, with Ben Roethlisberger missing all but 95 snaps with an elbow injury, the Steelers managed an 8-8 record despite the NFL’s worst quarterback situation. How? With a ferocious defense that led the NFL in pressure rate, generating quarterback pressure on 30.5% of its snaps. In addition, only the Patriots picked off more passes than Pittsburgh’s 20, and the early-season trade with the Dolphins for defensive back Minkah Fitzpatrick gave the Steelers what they’ve desperately needed since Troy Polamalu’s retirement — a top-ticket free safety who could shut things down in the deep third.
12. Indianapolis Colts
Andrew Luck’s retirement took the NFL and the Colts by surprise before the 2019 season, leaving head coach Frank Reich with backup Jacoby Brissett and his decently efficient, but risk-averse, approach. Indy thought the step up from that was the addition of Philip Rivers, who spent most of 2019 throwing the ball to his opponents at the worst possible times. Reich has worked with Rivers before — he was the Chargers’ quarterback coach in 2013 and the offensive coordinator in 2014 and 2015 — so as much as any coach, he should be able to keep Rivers from his own worst tendencies. With the additions of first-round receiver Michael Pittman and second-round running back Jonathan Taylor, there’s certainly enough talent for Rivers to thrive — general manager Chris Ballard has assembled the kind of roster on both side of the ball that will save Rivers from having to do too much by himself, as Luck was often forced to do.
11. Seattle Seahawks
2019 was supposed to be a rebuilding season for the Seahawks, but Pete Carroll’s squad still managed to go 11-5, making the playoffs for the seventh time in the last eight years. As usual, the internal battle was between Russell Wilson, who carried the offense on his shoulders when he was allowed to, and Pete Carroll, who wants a balanced offense above all, no matter who his quarterback is. Wilson has expressed concerns regarding the limitations of that offense, and he’s got a point. Still, the key for Seattle to advance beyond the divisional round, which they haven’t done since their last Super Bowl season of 2014, is to rejuvenate a defense that featured one of the league’s weakest pass rushes and a secondary in transition.
10. Minnesota Vikings
Last season, the Vikings went 10-6 and made the playoffs despite an outside cornerback duo in Xavier Rhodes and Trae Waynes that allowed 10 touchdowns and picked off just one pass. Both are off the roster now, to be replaced by Mike Hughes and first-round pick Jeff Gladney out of TCU. Minnesota went receiver with their other first-round pick, which they acquired by trading Stefon Diggs to the Bills, taking LSU’s Justin Jefferson, an optimal slot target with outside potential. Other than that, this is a loaded roster that will go as far as quarterback Kirk Cousins can take it. That’s a mixed blessing, though the team was confident enough in Cousins’ production to give him a two-year, $66 million contract extension in March.
9. Dallas Cowboys
Jerry Jones and his crew are doing all they can to get Dak Prescott the best group of receivers in the league. Signing
Amari Cooper to a five-year, $100 million contract extension in March, and selecting Oklahoma receiver CeeDee Lamb with the 17th overall pick in the draft, were two very smart moves. The third of those triplets, Michael Gallup, would be a No. 1 receiver on many teams. The question is, will new head coach Mike McCarthy expand from the rudimentary playbook concepts that often hindered Aaron Rodgers’ brilliance when McCarthy was Green Bay’s head coach? It’s a question that was often asked of Jason Garrett, McCarthy’s predecessor in Dallas, and you’d like to think the Cowboys are smart enough to avoid throwing Prescott into a different disaster.
8. Tennessee Titans
After six decent seasons with the Dolphins, Ryan Tannehill did something most quarterbacks don’t do — he got better in his early thirties with a different team. Like, a lot better. Tannehill led the NFL in passer rating, yards per attempt, yards per completion, Adjusted Yards gained per Pass Attempt, Net Adjusted Net Yards per Pass Attempt, and he was the league’s most efficient passer on more different kinds of throws than anyone else. Tannehill got a new four-year, $118 million contract, and justifiably so. The question for the team that lost to the Chiefs in the AFC championship game is how the Titans will overcome the retirement of defensive coordinator Dean Pees. If they’re able to do so, a Super Bowl appearance is not out of the question.
7. Green Bay Packers
The Packers went 13-3 and made it to the NFC championship game despite a receiver corps that was, outside of Davante Adams, less than complete. Running backs Aaron Jones and Jamaal Williams were Aaron Rodgers’ second and third-most found targets, and the fourth guy was now-departed tight end Jimmy Graham. The front office responded to this deficit by signing Devin Funchess to a one-year, $2.5 million deal, and selecting precisely zero wide receivers with their nine draft picks. The Packers did move up in the first round to select Utah State quarterback Jordan Love, which did not make their franchise player very happy — as one might imagine. If the idea is to try and create dynamic tension in the room, this could backfire in a hurry. If Rodgers is able to shake it off and continue his development in head coach Matt LaFleur’s offense, another deep playoff run is not out of the question. But why not fortify one of the best quarterbacks of his generation?
6. Buffalo Bills
Right now, the Bills are a better version of the Bears in that they have everything required to compete at the highest level, with the exception of a quarterback they can trust. In his second NFL season, Josh Allen was able to put together some decent moments, but the erratic nature of his overall game really showed up in a wild-card loss to the Texans. The AFC East is ripe for the picking in ways it hasn’t been in two decades if Allen can make inroads in 2020; if not, it’ll be a seriously missed opportunity.
5. Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Yes, the additions of Tom Brady and (a hopefully healthy) Rob Gronkowski to a Bucs offense that already has receivers Mike Evans and Chris Godwin and tight ends O.J. Howard and Cameron Brate… well, it’s a big deal. And if Brady is able to align his genius to Bruce Arians’ “no riskit, no biscuit” playbook, this Buccaneers offense could be uniquely fierce. But the real reason we need to consider Arians’ team as favorites to turn things up in the NFC all season is a defense that, under Todd Bowles, went from dead last in DVOA in 2018 to fifth in 2019, and added deep safety Antoine Winfield Jr. in the draft. The Bucs have just one winning season since 2010, they haven’t made the playoffs since 2007, and they haven’t won a playoff game since the franchise won Super Bowl XXXVII at the end of the 2002 season, but at least some of those negative factors may change very quickly.
4. New Orleans Saints
Drew Brees signed a two-year, $50 million contract in March which takes him through the 2023 season if he wants to, and has voidable years in 2022 and 2023 if he doesn’t — or if the Saints are ready to move on. They signed Jameis Winston to replace Teddy Bridgewater as Brees’ backup, and the plan still seems to be Operation Taysom Hill when Brees does decide to hang ’em up. In the short term, the Saints, who have undergone more than their share of bizarre postseason heartbreak, are very well set to push beyond that. Two acquisitions makes them stronger, one on each side of the ball — receiver Emmanuel Sanders, who signed a two-year, $16 million deal to bolster a receiver group that had been Michael Thomas and the Pips, and cornerback Janoris Jenkins, who excelled in New Orleans after the Giants released him last December. Jenkins got a new two-year deal of his own to bring in the Saints’ secondary.
3. San Francisco 49ers
The 49ers recently tore up Kyle Shanahan’s old six-year contract and gave him a new six-year contract that keeps him with the team through 2025 and makes him one of the five highest-paid coaches in the NFL. Hard to argue against it — though Shanahan has taken his share of slings and arrows for San Francisco’s late collapse in Super Bowl LIV, there’s no better offensive play designer in the league, and when you combine that with Robert Saleh’s top-three defense, it’s easy to assume that Shanahan could get a shot at Super Bowl redemption in early 2021. The only thing standing in the way, as has been discussed ad nauseam, is Shanahan’s ability to take quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo beyond his own limitations.
2. Baltimore Ravens
If there’s a team with a deeper roster on both sides of the ball than the Ravens, it’d be hard to find. And if there’s a team better-suited to wind up with the Lombardi Trophy at the end of the 2020 season…
well, there’s just one, which is why Baltimore ranks second in these power rankings. The only real question that John Harbaugh’s team has at this point is Lamar Jackson’s ability to work his magic in the postseason. The second unanimous MVP in league history crushed his opponents in the regular season, but in two playoff games (and two playoff losses), he’s completed 51.1% of his passes, thrown three touchdown passes and three interceptions, taken 11 sacks and looked overwhelmed against the defenses of the Chargers (in the 2018 postseason) and the Titans (in the 2019 postseason), when he was shown new looks.
1. Kansas City Chiefs
If you thought the Chiefs were content with their first Super Bowl win in 50 years, think again. An offense that was already near-unstoppable when Patrick Mahomes is healthy has been rendered that much closer to perfect with the addition of first-round running back Clyde Edwards-Helaire out of LSU, who perfectly fits Andy Reid’s positional paradigm and will give Mahomes the outlet target he didn’t always have in 2019. And under Steve Spagnuolo for a second season in 2020, a defense that started to put things together at the right time last season could move from leagueaverage to formidable. As much as any defending champ, this Chiefs team has what it takes to be the first repeat Super Bowl winner since the 2003-2004 Patriots.