NFL Power Rankings: Training Camp Edition

Posted by: nflmocks

Now that both Peyton and Eli Manning have won their Super Bowl rings the NFL’s attention will swap to a new cast of players that have not yet reached and then won the big game. Peyton was said to fold under pressure early into his NFL career, but broke free last season when the Colts beat the Bears in the Super Bowl. Eli led his Giants past the NFC’s best, Dallas and Green Bay, before beating a team that many thought was unbeatable.

So who’s feeling the heat now?

How about a man named Tony Romo? We all remember last season in the wildcard playoffs when Romo dropped the snap on a game winning field goal attempt and Dallas lost to Seattle 21-20. This past season Dallas won the NFC and the right to have homefield advantage throughout the playoffs. That didn’t do them any good, because they lost to New York (a team they had already won twice against) at home 17-14.

Tony Romo and the Cowboys have not won a playoff game in a decade.

Donovan McNabb is another guy on the hot seat. A lot of people want him out of Philadelphia anyways and he still hasn’t won a Super Bowl after leading the Eagles to the NFC Championship four straight seasons.

Drew Brees and Phillip Rivers have both been very good during their NFL careers, Brees more than Rivers, but neither has played in a Super Bowl. Both have played in championship games, Brees in the 07 NFC Championship game and Rivers in the 08 AFC Championship game.

Then there’s the question of when the pressure starts to mount for guys like Derek Anderson. Anderson had his breakout season in Cleveland last year but is still probably closer to losing his starting spot to Brady Quinn than competing for a Super Bowl.

Does all this talk affect our power rankings? Not much, but if you are interested in seeing a NFL quarterback hot seat chart let me know and I will make one up for the site.

Now onto the rankings:

#	Team	Comment
1	Indianapolis Colts	The Colts over the Patriots, I’m sure I will get some flack for that. San Diego put them out in the playoffs but you have to figure Manning will lead them back.
2	New England Patriots	18-1 last season, but now they have to face something they’ve never faced before. Losing a Super Bowl, can the Patriots recover mentally?
3	Dallas Cowboys	If Tony Romo can perform in the postseason like he does in the regular season then Dallas will be playing for the Super Bowl.
4	San Diego Chargers	They are loaded with talent but when you play in the same conference as Indy and NE talent just isn’t enough.
5	Pittsburgh Steelers	Big Ben knows how to get to the Super Bowl. If he hopes to get back Santonio Holmes is going to have to continue developing into a top receiver.
6	Jacksonville Jaguars	If only this team didn’t play in the AFC South. The Jaguars have become one of the NFL’s most consistent franchises.
7	New York Giants	I’ve never had a Super Bowl champion ranked this low but the NFC is weak and top to bottom the Cowboys are just better than the Giants.
8	New Orleans Saints	Drew Brees is one of the NFL’s première QBs but he can’t do it alone. The Saints need their defense to improve in a hurry to get back to the top of the NFC.
9	Philadelphia Eagles	A lot of experts like this team to make the playoffs after missing them last season. I agree with that statement, they just have too much talent.
10	Seattle Seahawks	Not sure what to expect from the Seahawks this year. No Shaun Alexander but still enough talent to be the overwhelming favorite in the NFC West division.
11	Washington Redskins	How good is the NFC East? I have the four teams ranked 3-11. This is partly because the NFC is the weaker conference and partly because of the division’s strength.
12	Green Bay Packers	The Packers begin their first season without Brett Favre in the time I’ve been alive, and they fall to #12 because of it.
13	Cleveland Browns	The Browns came just one game from the playoffs last season and look to compete for them this season. I expect them to go around 8-8.
14	Tennessee Titans	This is really a huge year for Vince Young and his time to develop into a passer. If Tennessee is ever going to win with him then his time is now.
15	Tampa Bay Buccaneers	Can the Bucs win the NFC South again? Jon Gruden hopes he can find his QB and that whoever that guy is can lead his team. Good luck.
16	Arizona Cardinals	Shhh…..don’t say it too loudly but I actually like Arizona to win the NFC West this year.
17	Denver Broncos	Denver always finds a way to field a winning football team. Playing the Chiefs and Raiders four times it shouldn’t be hard to win 8-10 games again.
18	Houston Texans	If Houston played in the NFC then they’d probably be a playoff team every season. In the AFC South 8-8 is good enough for the cellar.
19	Minnesota Vikings	It look Adrian Peterson just one season to become the NFL’s best running back. Now if he could only find the QB to make the Vikings real contenders.
20	Cincinnati Bengals	The offense is still explosive. The defense is still the problem here. Can Cincy turn it around in time to become contenders in the AFC?
21	Chicago Bears	We’ve been saying the same stuff about the Bears for years and it’s still the problem in Chicago. Can Rex Grossman finally become the answer at QB? Probably not. The guy has had three years.
22	Detroit Lions	Jon Kitna is guaranteeing that the Lions will win 10 games again this year. Good luck Jon.
23	Buffalo Bills	Trent Edwards will begin the season as the starter for Buffalo. His development will show the Bills success.
24	Carolina Panthers	Steve Smith needs to get back to the top of his game. Of course that means Jake Delhomme will have to get the ball to him.
25	St. Louis Rams	The Rams have too much talent to limp through another season.
26	San Francisco 49ers	Alex Smith is probably looking at his last opportunity to show he is a NFL caliber quarterback.
27	Baltimore Ravens	If Joe Flacco doesn’t turn their offense around then Baltimore is in trouble. Another four years waiting for another QB to develop…well that would be terrible.
28	Oakland Raiders	JaMarcus Russell handing off to Darren McFadden. If both become what Oakland believes they can then the Raiders are an up and coming franchise.
29	New York Jets	The Jets have to find their quarterback before they can even get a sniff at the postseason.
30	Kansas City Chiefs	Living in Alabama I will be the first to tell you that Brodie Croyle is not the longterm answer at QB for the Chiefs.
31	Miami Dolphins	Yes the 1-15 team from last year isn’t even last in my power rankings. Bill Parcells will turn them around, and they start one spot at a time.
32	Atlanta Falcons	I love the pick of Matt Ryan. Michael Vick is no longer the face of their franchise. A great first step.

This entry was posted on Thursday, June 12th, 2008 at 10:32 pm and is filed under NFL News, NFL Power Rankings. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

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7 Responses to “NFL Power Rankings: Training Camp Edition”

1. NFL Mocks Says:

I have been trying to tell my Chiefs fans that Brodie is not the answer too!
June 13th, 2008 at 12:35 am
2. Daniel Evans Says:

I watched him at Alabama for four years. All they talk about on the news is Alabama football and Croyle was constantly in the limelight. I watched him play in person many times, and although he killed my Gators 31-3 (probably the worst day of my life, I can still hear the chants of OVERRATED!) he was still way overrated. I just don’t think he is a starting NFL quarterback. He might be a decent backup but I honestly don’t see how.
June 13th, 2008 at 7:37 am
3. NFL Mocks Says:

I dont see the physical and mental toughness in him that it takes to be a good NFL QB…
June 13th, 2008 at 8:26 am
4. svduran1 Says:

Broncos over the Raiders this year? Don’t they have radio in your state? Patriots number two, are you the kind of guy that has a seat belt on your office chair? Talk about playing it safe? Hey and Cleveland going 8-8, didn’t you just copy these from last years Sports Illustrated page. Ok, just for starters, the Raiders are going to sweep the Broncos, the Patriots are going to fall to 9-7 and if they lose to the Raiders will miss the playoffs. Cleveland will come up big this year winning 11 or 12 games. See your suppose to estimate how many wins based on a teams collective strength. The irrelevant picks about qualify you as a Shark Jumper or cake decorator. Good luck in your new pursuits.
June 15th, 2008 at 9:59 am
5. Daniel Evans Says:

Oakland has won 19 games the last five years combined svudran1. Amazingly during that same span Denver has won 29 games in just THREE years. With a young unproven QB in Russell and a young unproven RB in McFadden, who I believe will be great, why should I have Oakland above a Denver team is consistently a contender year in and year out? Cleveland is very talented but 11 or 12 wins? Wow, that’s quite a prediction. I will hold you to that in Janunary.
June 15th, 2008 at 10:24 am
6. NFL Mocks Says:

Oakland made Javon Walker and Tommy Kelly some of the highest paid players in the NFL. Do you really think they are going to have any motivation? The Raiders are going to blow their wad like they do ever year.

Also saying the Patriots are going to be 9-7 when they still have Brady and Moss is a bold prediction. Good luck with that…
June 15th, 2008 at 4:01 pm
7. Matthew Thomas Says:

Cleveland 8-8 are you mad? I see the Browns taking Pittsburg home and away next year, Pittsburg has been idle in the offseason and failed again to improve their O-line, Big Ben better look out.

I would personally rate San Diego on top of the field many due to their catchy theme song. Or possibly do to the fact that they have a way of killing Indy’s postseason.
July 16th, 2008 at 6:01 pm