Ranking the rosters of all 32 teams - ESPN Insider

[iowajerms]

Attached is .pdf file of the article with analysis of all the teams.

http://espn.go.com/nfl/insider/story/_/id/13046017/seattle-seahawks-top-ranking-rosters-all-32-teams-nfl
By Sam Monson

For the second year in a row, we are ranking the entire rosters of each team in the NFL for ESPN.

We got together PFF's analysts and ran through the data, composing a ranking that incorporated our grading as well as football evaluation for added context -- allowing us, for example, to reward teams that have an excellent quarterback situation but a relative hole along the defensive line when it came to run defense. We have collected the number of elite or high-quality players each team can count among its starters (for these purposes we gave each team a starting side of 12 on each side of the ball to reflect both base and nickel/third-down defense), and you will see those figures in the chart at the bottom of the page.

Here is our 1-32 ranking of every roster in the NFL. The team at the top remains the same from a year ago, but nearly every other franchise made moves up or down the list.

1. SEA - (2014: 1)
2. GB - (8)
3. BAL - (16)
4. NE- (6)
5. DEN - (3)
6. PHI - (5)
7. DET - (11)
8. MIN - (29)
9. CIN - (7)
10. NO - (4)

11. DAL - (18)
12. PIT - (27)
13. IND - (12)
14. CLE - (24)
15. BUF - (20)
16. CAR - (22)
17. SF - (2)
18. SD - (14)
19. KC - (10)
20. NYG - (19)

21. NYJ - (23)
22. STL - (32)
23. MIA - (13)
24. ARI - (9)
25. CHI - (15)
26. HOU - (25)
27. WAS - (26)
28. OAK - (28)
29. TB - (17)
30. TEN - (21)

31. ATL - (30)
32. JAX - (32)

 

[Scooby-Doo]

Might as well give up my season tix because according to ESPN, the Cards roster is awful.

ATL below TEN??
MIN goes from 29 - 8 in one year??

ESPN is such a joke.

 

[Money]

Might as well give up my season tix because according to ESPN, the Cards roster is awful.

ATL below TEN??
MIN goes from 29 - 8 in one year??

ESPN is such a joke.

Sure...if that's the kind of fan you are.

I'm also pretty sure it has more to do with PFF than ESPN.

 

[Scooby-Doo]

Sure...if that's the kind of fan you are.

I'm also pretty sure it has more to do with PFF than ESPN.

ESPN posted the data so....
What kind of fan are you implying I am?

 

[iowajerms]

Also, STL was 31st last year. That was a typo.

 

[iowajerms]

Here's an ESPN writer that disagrees with KC's ranking.

Kansas City Chiefs deserve better than 19th in NFL roster rankings - Kansas City Chiefs Blog - ESPN

 

[Money]

ESPN posted the data so....
What kind of fan are you implying I am?

Bandwagon...if your statement is accurate.

 

[iowajerms]

Bandwagon...if your statement is accurate.

That is not bandwagon. That is fair-weather fan.

 

[Scooby-Doo]

Bandwagon...if your statement is accurate.

Oh.. I get it. You took my season tix comment literally.

I figured most people would pick up that my entire post was full of sarcasm.

 

[Money]

That is not bandwagon. That is fair-weather fan.

You are correct...my bad.

 

[Money]

Oh.. I get it. You took my season tix comment literally.

I figured most people would pick up that my entire post was full of sarcasm.

I did. Not really being serious.

 

[Scooby-Doo]

That is not bandwagon. That is fair-weather fan.

You too? Geez. I guess I gotta tone it down. I've been a 20 year season ticket holder. The last think im gonna do is give up my season tix over an espn article.

 

[Money]

You too? Geez. I guess I gotta tone it down. I've been a 20 year season ticket holder. The last think im gonna do is give up my season tix over an espn article.

Too late. It's already in writing. Say goodbye to those tix...

 

[iowajerms]

You too? Geez. I guess I gotta tone it down. I've been a 20 year season ticket holder. The last think im gonna do is give up my season tix over an espn article.

Just correcting him. I couldn't care less what kind of fan you are.

 

[jarntt]

Of the top teams, Balt, Philly, Det and Minn all jump out at me for their respective rankings (all being way too high IMO). But all in all, I don't give a shit. If 100 people do these rankings you'll get 100 different lists...It's just June's version of Football talk

 

[jarntt]

Might as well give up my season tix because according to ESPN, the Cards roster is awful.

ATL below TEN??
MIN goes from 29 - 8 in one year??

ESPN is such a joke.

Wow. I didn't even look down that far. I tend to think AZ was way overrated last year, but 24 is just stupid.

 

[cdumler7]

Sure...if that's the kind of fan you are.

I'm also pretty sure it has more to do with PFF than ESPN.

Well PFF is going to struggle in the fact that with rosters having such turnover from one year to the next that it would be hard to grade how an actual roster fits together. Such as for the Broncos there is a good chance they have a couple of guys who have never actually taken a snap in an NFL game start. How do you actually figure a score for them?

PFF also is a very subjective grading scale as it is just 1-3 guys sitting in a room watching a snap and making a judgment on what a player did on that certain play. They have openly said that they do not know always the assignments of every player so what to them could be considered a negative play could be them just not knowing the assignment of the player. So yes it is a very flawed system.

Also this system doesn't account for the fact that every team will have varying degrees of injuries or also jumps in playing ability such as rookies from year one to year two usually see quite the jump. Can't really account for that.

So in reality this is like Power Rankings this early in the season in they have very little baring in how the season will finish. I mean just look at last year in San Fran was considered to have the 2nd best roster in the NFL yet they were average at best as a team. Just looking at last year's list only 2 of the top-5 teams even made the playoffs. So to say this list is something to get excited about is just not looking at the full picture of the NFL and how much it turns over from one year to the next. Looking at this list only about half of the teams they had in the top-10 made the playoffs. So it should show that evaluating talent from one year to the next is a fools game when it comes to the NFL.

 

[ducky]

Might as well give up my season tix because according to ESPN, the Cards roster is awful.

ATL below TEN??
MIN goes from 29 - 8 in one year??

ESPN is such a joke.

Getting a stud rookie LB (Anthony Barr looked like a young Lance Briggs when healthy last year) and a franchise QB (hopefully anyway in Teddy B) goes a LONG ways in changing perceptions. And their entire DL was a HUGE question mark (I was completely skeptical myself) went from question mark to looking like a really good unit.

That said....not even sure as a fan I would say the Vikes are top 10 in talent. These lists are IMPOSSIBLE to make really.

 

[ducky]

The one that jumps out to me as being the most off is New Olean's top 10? They were 7-9 last year, got worse this offseason and are an aging bunch to boot.

 

[Scooby-Doo]

Getting a stud rookie LB (Anthony Barr looked like a young Lance Briggs when healthy last year) and a franchise QB (hopefully anyway in Teddy B) goes a LONG ways in changing perceptions. And their entire DL was a HUGE question mark (I was completely skeptical myself) went from question mark to looking like a really good unit.

That said....not even sure as a fan I would say the Vikes are top 10 in talent. These lists are IMPOSSIBLE to make really.

Don't get me wrong, I think the Minn improved, but such a huge swing is crazy. ESPN is known for that crazy shit.