My May Power Rankings

I wouldn’t put too much money in there.

and playing in his best position (Mack not Buck ILB) then I think he can be as good as Willis is and could be the next LT? (jk)

He was an elite corner in our system last time around and its not as if he is old or anything.
And your case about the Ravens and Bungles can be true but let me remind you that Dennis Dixon nearly beat the Ravens last year in his only star ever without a good run game and a poor defense (by our standards).
Troy P should be fine, it wasn’t and ACL or anything it was his MCL that he hurt which is nowhere near as bad as ACL so should be fine, time will tell though.

Cause that’s what they did last year in the division. I think you are going a little overboard in saying that they will suck for so long, but I agree things will get worse before they get better. The Ravens did infuse talent, but the backbone of the defense is going to have to decline by the same logic that you used in your argument against the Steelers. I think it’s gonna be a wash there. The secondary is suspect as well. The offense did get more potent, so there is overall progress, but not by leaps and bounds IMO. The Browns are likely on thier way up, but it will take time to really climb. Should pass the Steelers next season, maybe even this year if both teams hit a sharper curve than expected.

I do have to ask, how you left the Bengals out of your analisys, they are the division champs and radically improved the passing game with 3 major upgrades (Gresham, Bryant and Shipley) respective to those positions last season and have good gambles in Jones, Simpson and Briscoe. One of those could likely be a HR, but they are all boom or bust type guys to varying degrees. They added depth to the #4 ranked defense and are getting the #6 pick from a year ago and top RT for the full season as well as the guy who was leading the league in sacks when he went down. Granted Odom might not be the same player, but a young core getting older coming off a division crown, huge needs filled and no mention?

I don’t see someone like that making an impact as a rookie.

I don’t think having a safety position w/ lack of depth and clear-cut playmakers along with no clearcut megastar at WR or QB would drop us to 31st.

Well for us last year. With no pass rush he did well.

Maybe not Cassell, I actually think he isn’t a bad player. But Freeman, yeah… miles ahead. Freeman has tools, but he needs another year or two. Right now he is one of the bottom five starters in the league, Garrard is at least in the top 16.

HUGE. Indy really didn’t have another good edge rusher and their interior guys aren’t so disruptive they can make up for that if they were only getting pressure from one side. Hughes will instantly be a much better rusher than Raheem Brock was. I liked Brock a lot, but he was a jack of all trades, not a standout at any single role, edge rusher certainly included.

If Freeney and Mathis stay healthy, he’ll make for some very scary defensive packages in obvious passing downs, but he won’t see the field enough to make a really major impact. Freeney and Mathis on the edges with Hughes wandering around ready to knife through some unknown gap (or maybe rush Freeney’s edge as Freeney works the spin move to the inside that PFF was recently commenting on as so deadly) I think they’ll be very very hard to convert long distances on with everyone healthy, but again, that’s not that many snaps. Hughes in my mind is insurance (that was desperately needed last year) and a building block for the future since Freeney and Mathis likely don’t have another long term deal of top production in them (but hopefully like Edge James they stick around for a bit longer than their deal on the Franchise Tag, then leave on good terms as someone else overpays for their decline).

Yea, I would not put the Raiders, Redskins, Bears or Seahawks ahead of you guys. You guys really only have one concern as of right now which is QB while those 4 teams I stated have multiple concerns. But I do not think it is too much to say that the Steelers are not a contender as of right now.

defend their team if they’re low, or praise the author if their high…at the end of the day these are my opinions, and i’ll take the criticism along with the praise as a man. I know I don’t know everything and don’t pretend to be knowledgeable on every team in the league.

I just posted it to get some discussion since its been a slow offseason haha. I can totally understand why some people hate this and some people love it, and all the comments here have valid points to them…i’d just like to think that I have some valid ideas as well

I don’t mean it to come off like that at all, but too many people are writing this team off for the wrong reasons, and most of the time it is the same idea.

Do you think your Browns are better than my Broncos? Where would you slot Denver at this point?

Marshall did become the focal point of the offense, but that was a bad thing. Teams are always more dangerous when they spread the ball around and the Broncos have rebuilt the receiving corps with a mind to do just that. I’d even add that Brandon is overrated by the use of traditional counting stats (receptions, yards, TD) alone and more accurately portrayed when used in conjuction with rate (YPC) and advanced (DYAR, DVOA) metrics. He’s definitely a #1 WR in the NFL, but he shouldn’t be in the conversation for the best in the league and I’d hesitate to put him in the top ten myself. BM will be missed at times, but his departure presents an opportunity as well as a challenge.

As for Champ and others getting up there in age, that’s certainly true, but there is skill throughout the veterans and youth in depth. The secondary is stacked and acquitted itself quite well last year. The defensive line is refurbished with quality veterans to the point of having last year’s starters as depth. There are no age concerns in the linebackers, a unit that may yet turn out to be the strength of that defense.

Look, I get that people are going to be down on a team that traded away a guy like Marshall. I think your guess of 7-9 is perfectly fair and, in fact, lies within my expected range. That said, virtually everyone is slotting them in the bottom ten and far too many of those have pushed them down into the bottom five. Unless something catastrophic happens, this team isn’t going to win four games like the OP postulated and others defended. I know you understand, what with being a Jags fan…

that’s what you call “Pro Bowl” caliber

Jairus Byrd had 10 ints last season and didn’t even make the pro bowl.

I disagree about McCluster. He wasn’t very good at WR in college.

Only problem with a Chiefs resurgence, of course, is that both the Raiders and the Chargers will be good teams next year.

You play in a weak division. Don’t complain.

I appreciate that you obviously put some thought into the Broncos ranking and aren’t simply slotting them down there because of the negative publicity around the team these past two offseasons, but I disagree with your assesment. In your conclussion, you list QB, WR, TE, OLB and NT as disconcerting question marks, so let me allay some of those concerns.

First of all, Kyle Orton is our starting QB, so don’t get bogged down in Quinn and Tebow. Orton had a QB rating of 86.8 last year, has a track record of improving that number every single season that he plays and will be entering the pivotal second year in a complex new system. If either of his competitors get the starting job away from him in 2010, then they earned it because that’s just the way Josh McDaniels operates. As for his targets, the loss of Brandon Marshall’s talent is obvious. That said, his production was prolific, but not efficient. His numbers were a product of the focus on him in the offense and that wasn’t necessarily a good thing nor is he irreplaceable as such. Note that his best three performances (accounting for 37 catches, 446 yards and 4 TD) all came in losses and that Jabar Gaffney put up 14 catches for 214 yards in the season finale playing in Marshall’s place. You mentioned your disappointment in Eddie Royal’s lack of production last year: he’ll be one of the beneficiaries of the freed up targets and he’s already shown what he can do when given the chance. Moreover, this passing offense is predicated on spreading the defense out, creating and taking advantage of mismatches, and that means balace is better. As for Scheffler, he only accounted for 31 catches, 416 yards and 2 TD in ‘09, so he’s hardly a big loss. Daniel Graham has been and will continue to be our primary TE because of his blocking ability. In fact, TE’s are not really utilized in the passing game all that much in our offense and even Tony got much of his production lined up out wide, so you really shouldn’t be worried about that position because of his departure. You also don’t consider the benefit of extracting those two locker room cancers before it was too late.

As for the defensive positions that you list, I beg you to consider who those new starters are replacing. Robert Ayers effectively replaces Andre Davis in the starting line-up, with Mario Haggan moving inside from the outside last year. Davis was productive because of his position’s role on the team, but his performance was never that great and really declined as the season wore on. As for Jamal Williams, even if he isn’t 100%, it’s not like last year’s starter Ronnie Fields would be that much better… and, if he was, he’s still on the roster fighting to get his job back! You mention some concerns about the age of our stars in the secondary, but they were still all that just last year and I don’t expect them to fall off a cliff just one season later. Quality guys like Andre Goodman and Renaldo Hill rounding out the secondary helps and the quality youth in depth throughout is an added bonus.

One last thing: you mention the rest of the division catching up to us, but fail to consider the fact that we went 3-3 in the AFC West last year. Even if we were to get swept, that would not account for the drop your rankings forecast. Even you have to agree that 3-3, give or take a game, still feels right as a projection for the Broncos in their division. I reiterate: Denver is an 8-8 team, give or take a game, just like they have been in recent memory. Personally, I’m leaning towards 9-7, but I understand and respect those who argue for 7-9. Four wins, however, is indefensible.

I believe the Broncos will win more games than the Raiders in 2010. We could make a gentlemen’s wager on that, if you’d like. I recall making such bets last season, correctly predicting that the Broncos would win more games than the Bears, Seahawks and Rams (I also said that the Niners would win more games than the Rams). Interested?