It seems quite a few folks are putting out their first fan posts, and with just 3 days left in silly season I thought I'd try to squeeze in my first post as well. Fair warning: if staring at spreadsheet numbers isn't your thing, this might not be your favorite thread.
Matt Miller over at bleacher/report has finished ranking all position groups (with the possible exception of special teams) for all 32 teams. I thought that it would be interesting to combine all his rankings in order to get a pre-season power ranking by combining his position group rankings to get overall offense, overall defense, and overall team strength. Of course, this is just one man's opinion based on evaluation of the players from last season, FA moves, and pre-draft scouting, but it is nice because it is a much more objective look at the strengths of each area on each team. I disagree with a lot of his rankings, but they are at least based on watching film study for the majority of players on every single roster.
Of note, in making my table I've implicitly given equal weight to each position group, even though in reality that wouldn't necessarily be the case. Our RB group (for instance) is much less important than our O-line, QB, and receiving group in determining how successful we'll be as a team. However, lacking a good way to differentially weight the position groups, I just averaged them all together.
The combined rankings are presented below, with the three defensive categories (D line, linebackers secondary) presented first, followed by the combined defensive ranking, then the four offensive categories (O line, QBs, RBs, and "receivers" (WRs and TEs combined). Also, because I like to look at this stuff, I did divisional rankings at each position group (the AFC West has the best linebackers- who'd have thunk it?), so you can see that as well. One final note on how Miller handled his rankings: these are based on full depth within each position group, so for instance the Chicago Bears WR group or the New Orleans Saints QB group is ranked much lower than they'd be with just the starters, due to poor perceived depth behind the superstars.
|
Defense |
|
Offense |
|
Overall |
|||||||
|
DL |
LBs |
Secondary |
Total Def Rank |
|
OL |
QBs |
RBs |
Receivers |
Total Off Rank |
|
Tot Rank |
29 |
31 |
21 |
31 |
|
8 |
4 |
21 |
16 |
8 |
|
20 |
|
20 |
11 |
25 |
22 |
|
2 |
7 |
5 |
13 |
2 |
|
8 |
|
12 |
30 |
9 |
17 |
|
16 |
14 |
32 |
18 |
21 |
|
21 |
|
DC |
32 |
14 |
31 |
30 |
|
30 |
3 |
17 |
7 |
13 |
|
23 |
Bucs |
9 |
10 |
5 |
2 |
|
11 |
26 |
1 |
17 |
12 |
|
7 |
28 |
32 |
16 |
29 |
|
17 |
27 |
31 |
9 |
25 |
|
29 |
|
2 |
6 |
32 |
8 |
|
32 |
19 |
15 |
32 |
31 |
|
28 |
|
Saints |
18 |
19 |
4 |
10 |
|
19 |
13 |
13 |
4 |
8 |
|
9 |
Bears |
14 |
26 |
14 |
20 |
|
3 |
22 |
14 |
8 |
7 |
|
10 |
8 |
22 |
27 |
23 |
|
6 |
31 |
19 |
6 |
14 |
|
13 |
|
22 |
13 |
8 |
13 |
|
13 |
6 |
11 |
5 |
5 |
|
6 |
|
21 |
21 |
18 |
25 |
|
22 |
12 |
12 |
19 |
15 |
|
17 |
|
10 |
1 |
17 |
6 |
|
1 |
21 |
2 |
2 |
1 |
|
2 |
|
6 |
28 |
6 |
8 |
|
29 |
17 |
26 |
15 |
26 |
|
19 |
|
1 |
18 |
22 |
10 |
|
10 |
24 |
23 |
26 |
23 |
|
16 |
|
5 |
9 |
1 |
1 |
|
9 |
5 |
8 |
10 |
3 |
|
1 |
|
3 |
29 |
10 |
12 |
|
18 |
30 |
6 |
25 |
20 |
|
15 |
|
7 |
23 |
15 |
14 |
|
23 |
20 |
27 |
21 |
28 |
|
24 |
|
4 |
25 |
24 |
18 |
|
26 |
18 |
16 |
23 |
23 |
|
24 |
|
17 |
5 |
2 |
2 |
|
5 |
1 |
7 |
24 |
6 |
|
4 |
|
30 |
16 |
20 |
27 |
|
28 |
10 |
30 |
3 |
19 |
|
27 |
|
Jags |
31 |
27 |
26 |
32 |
|
31 |
29 |
29 |
28 |
32 |
|
32 |
13 |
3 |
23 |
7 |
|
21 |
32 |
20 |
20 |
29 |
|
22 |
|
19 |
15 |
29 |
26 |
|
14 |
25 |
28 |
30 |
30 |
|
29 |
|
16 |
24 |
13 |
18 |
|
15 |
16 |
9 |
12 |
11 |
|
11 |
|
27 |
20 |
7 |
20 |
|
7 |
28 |
18 |
29 |
22 |
|
24 |
|
11 |
4 |
11 |
5 |
|
12 |
23 |
3 |
11 |
8 |
|
5 |
|
23 |
8 |
28 |
24 |
|
20 |
15 |
10 |
22 |
16 |
|
18 |
|
15 |
7 |
3 |
4 |
|
4 |
2 |
25 |
1 |
3 |
|
3 |
|
25 |
12 |
12 |
16 |
|
25 |
9 |
22 |
14 |
18 |
|
13 |
|
26 |
2 |
19 |
15 |
|
24 |
8 |
4 |
31 |
16 |
|
12 |
|
24 |
17 |
30 |
28 |
|
27 |
11 |
24 |
27 |
27 |
|
29 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
NFC East |
23.25 |
21.5 |
21.5 |
8 |
|
14 |
7 |
18.75 |
13.5 |
2 |
|
7 |
NFC South |
14.25 |
16.75 |
14.25 |
3 |
|
19.75 |
21.25 |
15 |
15.5 |
6 |
|
6 |
NFC North |
16.25 |
20.5 |
16.75 |
6 |
|
11 |
17.75 |
14 |
9.5 |
1 |
|
2 |
NFC West |
5.5 |
14 |
11.5 |
1 |
|
12.25 |
16.75 |
14.75 |
13.25 |
3 |
|
1 |
AFC East |
7.75 |
20.5 |
12.75 |
2 |
|
18 |
17.25 |
14 |
23.25 |
7 |
|
5 |
AFC South |
23.25 |
15.25 |
24.5 |
7 |
|
23.5 |
24 |
26.75 |
20.25 |
8 |
|
8 |
AFC North |
19.25 |
14 |
14.75 |
4 |
|
13.5 |
20.5 |
10 |
18.5 |
4 |
|
3 |
AFC West |
22.5 |
9.5 |
16 |
4 |
|
20 |
7.5 |
18.75 |
18.25 |
5 |
|
4 |
Some takeaways from this:
First off, the Broncos are ranked quite highly! We're the #4 overall ranked defense (yay, return to elite D!) and the #3 overall ranked offense (wait, what?), behind only Philly and SF and tied with Seattle (seriously, what?!?). We're ranked in the elite (top 5) in the secondary, offensive line, pass catching (includes TEs and WRs), and QB groups. We're in the top 10 for all skill groups excepting defensive line and running backs. In fact, until I remembered that running back was a group, I had us ranked as the #1 overall roster in the league without even counting the QB position! A note about the DL score- Miller pointed out in his rankings that our (relatively) low score on defensive line was based purely on uncertainty surrounding the health of DeMarcus Ware, and that if Ware's back, the Broncos will "soar up the board", so take that for what it's worth.
While I'm mostly interested in the Broncos, it's fun to look for potential surprises in the list. For instance, I know the bandwagon is loading up for the Bucs, but I never suspected that an objective observer would rank their personnel as the best in the NFC South.
What do you all think of Miller's rankings- is he out of his gourd, onto some interesting insights, or just wasting time until the season finally starts?