Facilities are opening but the Chiefs and Ravens dominate our 2020 NFL Power Rankings still.
The 2020 NFL season is now less than 100 days from kicking off as a long, interesting offseason is slowly coming to an end. There were several storylines to keep an eye on this offseason as we had a lot of movement with the players as well as some off-field health concerns that changed draft plans and put the start of the year in question.
COVID-19 and the uncertainty around it forced the league to cancel the events surrounding the 2020 NFL Draft. Rather than have fans and players in attendance, the league held the draft virtually — which actually ended up being a fun event. It wasn’t the same for sure as players didn’t get to hug the commissioner on the big stage but we did get a quick glimpse into their personal lives as they were shown at home with loved ones when they got their respective calls.
It was also fun seeing the NFL executives and head coaches at their homes. Some coaches had their kids make an appearance and Mike Vrabel of the Tennessee Titans even apparently had some superheroes in his home (as well as someone answering the call of nature with a door wide open) as he helped his team decide which players they should select. We also learned that Bill Belichick’s kitchen looks exactly the way we all thought it would.
Outside of the draft being virtual, teams have also had to hold meetings this way as well. However, facilities have started to slowly open up as the league tries to navigate through this uncertainty.
With that news, we now look ahead to the coming season and point out how every team stands heading into the campaign with this 2020 NFL Power Rankings.
This is a team I really want to believe in, mainly because Gardner Minshew is so much fun to watch. A sixth-round pick out of Washington State, Minshew took over as the starter when Nick Foles was injured and he played much better than expected.
Jacksonville was 6-6 with Minshew under center last season and the rookie quarterback put up some respectable numbers. He finished with 3,271 yards with 21 touchdowns against just six picks. Minshew also boasted a respectable 60.6 completion percentage.
Even with all that being said, they just don’t seem like a team that will be headed in the right direction. They drafted well with C.J. Henderson and K’Lavon Chaisson as their top picks but they also shipped off a lot of their veteran talent, which included Calais Campbell and A.J. Bouye both being traded — and they also traded Jalen Ramsey last season.
There’s a belief that Jacksonville is tanking this season in an effort to get Trevor Lawrence, the Clemson quarterback who seems to be a sure bet to go No. 1 overall. In all honesty, they might not be trying to do that but they still won’t be better in 2020 than they were a season ago. And in the end, they probably will be drafting at No. 1.
Last season was tough for the Cincinnati Bengals. It was the first season for new head coach Zac Taylor and it went about as bad as possible. The Bengals were able to win just two games all season as they struggled on both sides of the ball as they were 30th in the league in scoring on offense and 25th in defensive scoring according to Pro Football Reference.
This led to them looking for a complete overhaul in the offseason and that started with the No. 1 overall pick, Joe Burrow. They tried to act as though they didn’t know he was going to be their selection in the first round, but everyone knew as soon as the first spot was locked up, they were building a game plan around Burrow.
They also added Tee Higgins in the draft, giving him a wide receiver in the same mold as A.J. Green, who should be back after missing all of the 2019 season. Green is still one of the better receivers in the game when healthy and he should be a great mentor for Higgins.
Cincinnati also made some noise in free agency as they added Trae Waynes, D.J. Reader, and Vonn Bell. It was a solid offseason overall but there’s still a lot of work to be done. And Burrow, who should be a star, will have his work cut out for him with this roster.
It was hard to find anyone who would have thought the off the wall moves from New York Giants general manager Dave Gettelman were going to work. He traded away Odell Beckham, Jr. in his prime as well as Olivier Vernon who was coming off a Pro Bowl campaign. He also used the No. 2 overall pick on a running back in Saquon Barkley and then this past season took Daniel Jones at No. 6 even though most people had the Duke quarterback going much later.
Considering they were 4-12 last season, it’s easy to say the moves haven’t worked. But they also haven’t been all bad. Barkley has proven to be a beast and Jones actually looked much better as a rookie than expected meaning he should have a bright future as their franchise quarterback.
New York also did well landing Jabrill Peppers and Dexter Lawrence as the key pieces in the OBJ trade. On top of that, they drafted well this year as they bring in Georgia offensive tackle Andrew Thomas and Alabama safety Xavier McKinney.
Of course, whether or not Gettelman is successful will depend on how the coaching staff he has put in charge. And that’s a major question in itself. Joe Judge was in charge of the Patriots wide receivers last season, and their group wasn’t exactly spectacular. They also added Jason Garrett as the offensive coordinator after leaving the Cowboys who refused to let him call plays. Right now, there are far too many questions for New York to consider them contenders.
The Washington Redskins were another of the NFC East teams that decided to make a coaching change ahead of 2020 — all but one did in the division with only Doug Pederson staying on with the Philadelphia Eagles. For Washington, they decided to go with Ron Rivera as their new head coach and it was a smart hire.
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Rivera has had a lot of success in the NFL, including a 15-1 campaign in 2015 with the Carolina Panthers. That season, he even took his club to the Super Bowl but they were unable to defeat the Denver Broncos and their ferocious defense.
One interesting fact about Rivera is that he never had back-to-back winning seasons despite the success he did find in Carolina. Even so, he’s a well-respected coach who understands how to build a strong defense. And in Washington, he has some great weapons to use with No. 2 overall pick Chase Young joining Montez Sweat and Ryan Kerrigan at edge rusher. They also had Jonathan Allen on the defensive line and Landon Collins in the secondary.
The veteran coach should be able to find success with that unit but whether or not the team is able to compete will fall on the shoulders of their offense. With a second-year quarterback in Dwayne Haskins, they do have some hope there. However, he has limited help at wide receiver and their running game is also a concern with Derrius Guice struggling to stay healthy and Adrian Peterson on the back nine of his career — although he still has had his moments where he looked brilliant.
There’s plenty to like about where this team is headed but it feels as though this season will be one where they are still building toward the future.
With the third overall pick in the 2020 NFL Draft, the Detroit Lions had a decision to make whether they wanted to admit it or not. They needed to take a long look at their team and decide if Matthew Stafford was the answer for them under center. While he was a No. 1 overall pick back in 2009, Stafford has only gotten the team to the postseason three times and they are 0-3 in that timeframe.
Fair or not, such a record always falls on the quarterback. However, the team obviously felt good about their guy so they skipped on Tua Tagovailoa and Justin Herbert, who were both available. Instead, they took Ohio State cornerback Jeff Okudah. While Okudah is about as sure of a prospect as you can find in the class, there’s not much chance he moves the needle for this team, especially since he will now just be taking over for Darius Slay who they traded to Philadelphia.
Detroit did land a great running back in the second round, picking up Georgia’s D’Andre Swift, which will be a huge addition for them. The Lions have struggled to field a good running game for decades and while Kerryon Johnson has looked the part, he has yet to prove he can stay healthy.
Swift’s addition could be huge for them as it would take a lot of pressure off Stafford — who has had to carry a lot of the weight in his career. That could also help the defense out as it would keep them from being on the field too long, something that has been an issue in the past. Still, we need to see them put it all together under Matt Patricia before we can truly buy into anything they’re doing.
Adam Gase gets a lot of heat for the way he comes across and it’s easy to see why — and that’s not just because of his weird press conference where he couldn’t keep his eyes inside his own head. Gase has also come across as a bit rough around the edges and there were several rumors of players not liking him while he was with Miami.
The way things ended with the Dolphins made it a bit of a surprise to see him latch on with the Jets so quickly. That feeling was magnified when he feuded with his general manager, then said there was no feud, only to see the GM fired. He then reportedly took issue with the signing of Le’Veon Bell and it all felt like Miami all over again.
But by the season’s end, it seemed as though Gase had some stuff going his way. The Jets were just 1-7 in the first half of the season but then went 6-2 in the second half. They were also 7-6 with Sam Darnold under center, meaning Gase could win when he had his starter.
Of course, Gase’s doubters could point to the teams they defeated in those games. The Jets beat the Giants, Redskins, Raiders, Dolphins, and Steelers down the stretch. Their only other win came in Week 5 over Dallas, meaning they had zero wins over winning teams until Week 17 when they beat the Buffalo Bills who were resting their starters.
Last season, the Miami Dolphins were expected to tank for Tua Tagovailoa, and they did a masterful job of getting rid of a lot of their talent. This isn’t to rip on them because they did set themselves up for the future with three first-round picks coming to them this season and another two on the way in 2021.
There was just one problem, the players don’t care about draft position. Despite all the talented members of the team that were traded away, the players left on the roster went out and gave it their all. In the end, the Dolphins went 5-11 which isn’t great but it was much better than expected.
The only problem was, they weren’t able to get the first overall pick in the 2020 NFL Draft. What they did still get though, was Tua Tagovailoa who ended up sliding to the No. 5 spot where Miami was waiting.
This happened due to Tua being leapfrogged by LSU quarterback Joe Burrow who had one of the best seasons in NCAA history. Of course, the Dolphins would have probably preferred Burrow after the way the season unfolded but they still got themselves a winner and quite possibly the best quarterback they have had since Dan Marino.
While Tua has everything you need in a quarterback, he does have some concerns with his durability. He’s also joining a team with a less than ideal roster, meaning the Dolphins should be better in 2020 but not by much.
2019 was a frustrating season for the Los Angeles Chargers. They were fresh off a 12-win season which was their second-straight winning season since moving from San Diego to Los Angeles. They hadn’t been able to make a deep run in the postseason but with the way veteran quarterback Philip Rivers was dealing it, they had faith they could be in the mix once again last season.
Things couldn’t have gone much worse than they did though. Rivers struggled mightily to keep the ball as he threw 20 picks last season. They also had a contract negotiation go bad as running back Melvin Gordon held out and would end up playing in just 12 games and was less than effective himself.
Now both Rivers and Gordon are gone as the team will be turning to either Tyrod Taylor or rookie quarterback Justin Herbert under center and Austin Ekeler as the running back. Whichever way they decide to go, this season probably won’t be a whole lot better than the one before.
Taylor has had his shot before and while he’s a serviceable quarterback, he hasn’t been able to carry a team. As for Herbert, his ceiling is much higher but there could be a chance that the coaching staff will lean on the veteran, at least at first.
The move to Los Angeles was wildly criticized and so far, things haven’t been great for the Chargers — and that was while they were winning. It could get real ugly if they struggle this year, and it looks as though they might.
Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin deserves a lot of credit for what he has done with the Steelers. Yes, he is a Super Bowl winner and he has always been considered a great head coach who his players love. But still, none of us knew the extent of what he was dealing with behind the scenes with Antonio Brown — who went off the rails once he no longer had Tomlin as his leader.
He also proved last season that he can roll with a bad situation and still compete. Following the loss of Ben Roethlisberger to elbow surgery, Tomlin had to rely on Mason Rudolph as the starter and even turned to undrafted rookie Devlin Hodges for six games.
Tomlin was 5-3 with Rudolph as the starter and 3-3 with Hodges while going 8-8 overall. That .500 record might not sound like much, but doing so with so many changes under center is impressive.
Now looking forward to 2020, the expectation is for them to become a great team again now that Roethlisberger is back. The only problem is, Big Ben is now 38-years old and wasn’t looking like himself to start the season. So it’s hard to fully buy in to the Steelers at this point.
Having said that, their coach is one of the best in the NFL, so it wouldn’t be shocking at all to see them climb the ranks once the season begins.
One more Alabama player and two from Clemson join the Las Vegas Raiders as head coach Jon Gruden and general manager Mike Mayock continue to scout the two power programs they absolutely love. It’s hard to knock them for this approach since those two teams continually churn out NFL talent, but this draft it felt as though there were a few reaches for the Raiders.
With two selections in the first round of the 2020 NFL Draft, the Raiders took two players who weren’t the No. 1 option for their respective clubs at the collegiate level. With the No. 12 pick, they took Henry Ruggs, the wide receiver out of Alabama, and then followed that up with Damon Arnette, the Ohio State cornerback.
Both players have plenty of potential but Jerry Jeudy was still on the board and he was the top receiver for Bama. Of course, Ruggs’ deep speed clearly enticed Vegas but we will have to wait and see if they made the right call. For Arnette, he was the second cornerback as he worked with Jeff Okudah who was taken at No. 3. Arnette could end up being a great defensive back but he did have some concerns following his workout and most experts had him going much later than No. 19.
Still, the Raiders added some much-needed talent at receiver this offseason, and their defense should be better with Arnette. The question is whether it’s enough or if their seemingly never-ending rebuild will continue.
This offseason went very well for the Denver Broncos. They finished 2019 on a high note thanks to the performance of rookie quarterback Drew Lock who showed off a strong arm and impressive accuracy. He was able to connect often with his young weapons such as wide receiver Courtland Sutton and tight end Noah Fant.
Then in the draft, general manager John Elway made sure to focus on getting Lock more options in the offense. In the first round, they added Jerry Jeudy, giving them a perfect complement to Sutton. They weren’t done there as deep threat K.J. Hamler was also added as was Lock’s tight end from Missouri, Albert Okwuegbunam who could prove to be a steal as a fourth-round pick.
Denver also added another running back as they picked up Melvin Gordon, who they know well since they faced him twice per season while he was with the Los Angeles Chargers. They’re definitely crowded at the position now with Gordon joining Philip Lindsay and Royce Freeman already on the roster, but it’s hard to argue Gordon’s addition doesn’t make them better.
As long as their defense can be good, which should be the case with Von Miller, Bradley Chubb, and A.J. Bouye onboard, the Broncos could be a team to watch for this season.
It wasn’t too long ago when the Los Angeles Rams were the talk of the league. Sean McVay was hired ahead of the 2017 season and he found instant success. The youngest head coach in the league, McVay was an offensive innovator that turned Jared Goff from a potential bust to a quarterback starting in the Super Bowl following the 2018 season.
That led to teams everywhere looking for the next McVay and some of his former assistants — such as Matt LaFleur and Zac Taylor — found themselves landing head coaching jobs. Unfortunately for the Rams, they took a major step backward in 2019. They were still 9-7 but the offense wasn’t the same and their defense, while full of star power, never seemed to be able to make the stops when needed.
Now, they find themselves in danger of falling back even more as they were unable to bring in very much talent this offseason. Already paying a lot of money for some of their big stars, the Rams lost Nickell Robey-Coleman, Dante Fowler, and Clay Matthews on defense. On offense, they released Todd Gurley and traded wide receiver Brandin Cooks. And with most of their premier draft picks already traded away, they won’t have a lot of youth infusion to replace their losses.
Should they still be able to find success in 2020, McVay might again become the hottest name in coaching. If not, it will be interesting to see how patient the ownership stays with McVay and general manager Les Snead who mortgaged their future to win now.
This offseason was full of change for the Carolina Panthers. They moved on from Ron Rivera who has been the head coach for them since 2011. Rivera was 76-63-1 but never had back-to-back winning seasons. Following losing seasons in 2018 and 2019, Carolina moved on and selected former Baylor and Temple head coach Matt Rhule as the replacement.
With Rhule on the staff, they made another tough call as they decided to part with Cam Newton, the No. 1 overall pick in 2011 when Rivera first joined the team. Newton has an MVP trophy under his belt and led the team to a Super Bowl but he never won it all and had struggled to stay healthy over the past two seasons.
In his place, the Panthers will be turning to Teddy Bridgewater who revived his career with the New Orleans Saints as the backup to Drew Brees. Bridgewater might not be as explosive a player as Newton but he’s a great fit for an offense that will lean heavily on Christian McCaffrey and needs an accurate quarterback that handles pressure well and doesn’t make mistakes.
For the Panthers, this season could be better than many expect due to their addition of Bridgewater. Having said that, they do play in one of the tougher divisions in the league and have a lot to prove before anyone can truly buy into what Rhule is selling.
Another team that was in the Super Bowl not too long ago but has gone in the wrong direction since then is the Atlanta Falcons. With Kyle Shanahan as their offensive coordinator, they were nearly unstoppable on offense. Devonta Freeman and Tevin Coleman were a force out of the backfield and Matt Ryan won the MVP in 2016 while throwing to Julio Jones, Mohamed Sanu, and Taylor Gabriel.
Since Shanahan left to take the head coaching job in San Francisco, the offense regressed. Matt Ryan looks a lot like the Matt Ryan we saw before Shanahan, which isn’t good. Sanu and Gabriel are gone as are both the running backs.
They’re hopeful that they found some help in the form of Todd Gurley, the former Georgia star who developed into one of the best backs in the NFL with the Rams. It’s a risk though as Gurley has declined due to some lingering knee issues. Should he be able to play 16 games, it could work out, but there’s a big “if” at this point.
Atlanta is also hoping for their defense to improve. Head coach Dan Quinn had this side of the ball playing well in 2016 but since then, it’s been an issue. Right now, there are more questions than answers and they don’t seem ready to compete in the NFC South.
It feels like things are going to go either really bad or really good for the Chicago Bears this season. It was just a couple of seasons ago when they were 12-4 and the top team in the NFC North. Then, they followed that up with an 8-8 campaign where they fell from first to third place in their division.
Now, they tried to reload their roster and see if they can get things back on track. They added Robert Quinn in free agency, which gives them a dominant pass-rushing duo with him and Khalil Mack working together.
They also added Tedd Ginn at receiver and while he’s not the player he used to be, he can still make some splashy plays.
The biggest news tough centers around their quarterback. Mitchell Trubisky has had some good moments for the Bears but his consistency, or lack thereof, has been a concern. For that reason, the Bears went out and traded for Nick Foles, who won the Super Bowl following the 2017 season with the Philadelphia Eagles.
Foles was in Jacksonville last season but lost his job to Gardner Minshew who filled in when Foles was injured. Now in Chicago, there could be a battle between Foles and Trubisky. Either things could fall apart or they can push one another to finally succeed. Either way, this is a very important season for head coach Matt Nagy and the Bears.
It’s hard to figure out what is going on with Bill O’Brien. The Houston Texans head coach has more power than just about any other head coach in the NFL. The weird thing about it is he doesn’t have a ton of success to match the power he has been given. While he does have plenty of winning seasons, he’s just 2-4 in the postseason. But what’s more confusing about his ability to make all decisions is the way he has performed as the general manager.
O’Brien gave up a third-round pick last season for a third-down back in Duke Johnson and then overpaid for Laremy Tunsil. Even more bewildering was the move he made this offseason where he gave up DeAndre Hopkins in exchange for a second-round pick and running back David Johnson.
They did land Brandin Cooks, but that also cost them a second-round pick, and Randall Cobb in free agency. Of course, this is nowhere near the firepower they had with Hopkins who has arguably been one of the top-three wideouts in the entire league.
With other teams in the division improving, things could get tough for O’Brien. He’s had the benefit of playing against some struggling franchises and if that’s gone, so too could be his consecutive winning seasons.
The Indianapolis Colts have improved their roster quite a bit this offseason, with the biggest move coming under center. Philip Rivers had been with the Los Angeles Chargers since 2004 — which was the same draft that saw Eli Manning and Ben Roethlisberger join the league. He now moves to Indy, where he could have a nice final act to his career as he plays inside a dome, which will help the gunslinger be able to air it out.
For the Colts, their problem has been lack of firepower on offense and they hope to have addressed that this offseason. They drafted wide receiver Michael Pittman, Jr. out of USC and then took Jonathan Taylor, the powerful running back from Wisconsin. Pairing Taylor with Marlon Mack gives the Colts a great one-two punch in the offensive backfield which will only help Rivers in his transition to a new team.
Defensively, the Colts have been improving a lot the past couple of seasons. They landed Darius Leonard and Kemoko Turay in the draft while signing Justin Houston as an edge rusher. This year, they continued to bolster the defense with the underrated signings of T.J. Carrie and Xavier Rhodes while also trading for defensive tackle DeForest Buckner.
The AFC South has been a tough division as the teams don’t have a lot of separation from one another. That means it won’t take a lot for Indy to be competitive, and this season, they should be right in the mix for the South.
It feels like deja vu with the Cleveland Browns. Last season, they had made some bold moves which included adding Odell Beckham, Jr. Putting him with Baker Mayfield, Nick Chubb, and Jarvis Landry gave them an explosive offense and their new head coach Freddie Kitchens was just the man to get the most out of the talent.
As we all know, Kitchens struggled mightily in his rookie season and is now back to being a position coach with the New York Giants. As for the Browns, they again have a new coach in Kevin Stefanski and have once again added a lot of firepower — on both sides of the ball.
In free agency, they signed tight end Austin Hooper and safety Karl Joseph. They also tried to fix the offensive line as they signed Jack Conklin and rookie Jedrick Wills. Understanding how bad the line was last season, these moves will be the most important as they absolutely have to keep Mayfield comfortable in the pocket if they hope to have any success.
Overall, the roster is good enough to compete with anyone in the league but the Browns have always been their own biggest enemy. For that reason, we’re going to need to see them get it done on the field before truly being able to believe in them.
The past two offseasons have been pretty good for the Arizona Cardinals. They hired Kliff Kingsbury as their head coach, which was a controversial move considering he was coming off a losing season with the Texas Tech Red Raiders. Even so, he was considered a great quarterback coach and that made it even more interesting when he drafted Kyler Murray.
As a rookie, Murray showed off his talent but the team clearly needed more help around him. They got that this offseason as the Cardinals traded for DeAndre Hopkins which they got for a steal as it mostly cost them just a second-round pick and running back David Johnson — who had an albatross of a contract and they were reportedly set to release anyway.
Hopkins’ addition gives Murray another young star to work with and they still landed a good offensive tackle in the draft when Josh Jones fell to them in the third round. Should Jones end up being a starter, it could help the offensive line improve — and if that happens, the tea can probably start to see Murray really take off as a player.
As for the rest of the team, they need to improve on defense to be taken seriously and they’re hopeful the addition of Isaiah Simmons out of Clemson can help them in that regard. If so, they could eventually be a team to watch for.
There’s going to be a lot of change to get used to with the New England Patriots. It’s not that there were a lot of players leaving, but the most recognizable face they have ever had is gone. Of course, fans always knew Tom Brady wasn’t going to play forever but the last thing they expected was to see him leave and play elsewhere. Instead, it always felt like No. 12 was going to retire with the team that drafted him way back in 2000.
That ended up not being the case as Brady and the Patriots were unable to come to terms on a new contract and he wound up signing with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Then after some speculation about who was going to take his place, the Pats shocked everyone by doing very little in the offseason.
Brian Hoyer returned to the team and they will have him and second-year player Jarrett Stidham compete for the job and it wouldn’t be a shock at all to see Stidham win the job. Head coach Bill Belichick seems to really like the former Auburn quarterback and if he believes he can get the job done, chances are he probably will.
The Patriots are right on the edge of the playoffs here in this 2020 NFL Power Rankings and it’s going to be hard to count them out as long as Belichick is still the coach.
The Minnesota Vikings offense took a hit this offseason when they lost offensive coordinator Kevin Stefanski, who signed with the Cleveland Browns as their new head coach. Stefanski was the coordinator for just over one season, but he had been with the team in some capacity since the 2006 season.
They will be able to turn to Gary Kubiak who worked closely with Stefanski, so there shouldn’t bee too drastic of a change, but they did still lose an up and coming star in the NFL. Of course, their bigger loss came with the departure of Stefon Diggs, but they did well in drafting Justin Jefferson as a replacement with the pick they acquired in exchange for Diggs.
Having said all that, their offense isn’t where the concern will come in for Minnesota this season as, for a change, their defense could have some problems.
Minnesota saw several big names leave in the offseason as they released defensive end Everson Griffen, cornerback Xavier Rhodes, and defensive tackle Linval Joseph. They also saw cornerbacks Trae Waynes and Mackensie Alexander both join the Cincinnati Bengals in free agency.
Head coach Mike Zimmer has always been a well-respected defensive mind, so the Vikings will likely still find a way to get things done on defense, but there could be a bit of a learning curve as they all get acclimated to the changes. Still, they should be in the NFC North mix when the season nears completion.
Some eyebrows were raised during the 2020 NFL Draft when the Philadelphia Eagles used the No. 53 overall selection on Oklahoma quarterback Jalen Hurts. A Heisman Trophy candidate for the Sooners, and former National Champion with the Alabama Crimson Tide before that, Hurts being selected at that spot didn’t surprise. Instead, it was the fact that the Eagles made the pick.
That’s because Philly was less than one calendar year away from paying Carson Wentz a whole lot of money to be their quarterback. In June of 2019, they had given the former No. 2 overall pick a contract extension worth $128 million over four seasons, with $107 million of that guaranteed. That’s a lot of money to dedicate to a guy only to draft someone else at the position 10 months later.
One thought has been that Hurts will be used as a sort of gadget player, much in the same way New Orleans uses Taysom Hill. Anyone who has watched Hurts and Hill should realize this makes little to no sense. Hurts is a quarterback, not a tight end and not an H-back. And he sure won’t be blocking punts the way Hill does.
In fact, there are pretty much no similarities to how Hill and Hurts play the game. Like at all.
On top of that, you would be hard-pressed to find a time when a gadget player actually put a team over the top, including Hill who has never won a title with the Saints — meaning looking for the “next Taysom Hill” is a pretty odd concept in itself.
Philadelphia is still a good team but the draft was odd for them.
If the Seattle Seahawks could ever hit on their first-round picks, this team could be deadly. For whatever reason, they continue to reach in the opening round of the draft. They went without a pick in Round 1 from 2013 through 2015 and then in 2016, they took Germain Ifedi before sitting out the first round of the 2017 draft. Then, the reaches began.
2018 saw them take San Diego State running back Rashaad Penny, who they still don’t start ahead of Chris Carson. In 2019, they took L.J. Collier, a defensive end from TCU who had three tackles in his rookie season. This season, they went with linebacker Jordyn Brooks out of Texas Tech. He could end up being the best of those three but there were very few, if any, draft pundits that had him going in the first round.
Thankfully for them, they have been great outside of that round. Russell Wilson was a third-round pick and has become an absolute stud. He’s a Super Bowl winner and continually proves to be one of the better quarterbacks in the entire NFL.
Seattle also landed wide receiver D.K. Metcalf late in the second round of the 2018 NFL Draft and after one season, he already appears to be a star in the making. He joins Tyler Lockett, who was a third-round pick in 2015 and is coming off his first 1,000-yard receiving season.
Their ability to hit outside the first round keeps them in contention year after year. But once they start hitting on those, they could become perennial favorites.
One of the biggest surprises in 2019 was the way the Tennessee Titans nearly made it to the Super Bowl. One of the more surprising playoff entrants, the Titans went on a roll as running back Derrick Henry bowled over defenders at a record pace as the NFL rushing leader carried the Titans past the New England Patriots and Baltimore Ravens.
Henry was spectacular but he wasn’t doing it alone. The Titans also had a great defense that could make life miserable for anyone they faced. In their first round of the playoffs, they held Tom Brady and the Pats to just 13 points. As if that wasn’t impressive enough, they then went into Baltimore and snapped their 12-game winning streak while holding them to just 12 points.
They ended up losing to the Chiefs but they return practically the same roster this year after franchise tagging Henry and then giving Ryan Tannehill a massive contract. That, however, is the one major question this team faces in 2020. Tannehill was clearly an upgrade over Marcus Mariota but they were at their best when he didn’t have the ball.
For example, Tannehill threw 29 passes combined in their wins over New England and Baltimore and had 72 yards and 88 yards respectively. When they lost to Kansas City, he had 31 passing attempts and 209 yards. He wasn’t bad but the question is why they would give nearly $30 million to someone they obviously thought of as a game manager. Time will tell if this was the wise move, but they’re still a team to watch after that finish to 2019.
A lot of drama surrounded the Green Bay Packers during the offseason ahead of 2019. New head coach Matt LaFleur had a tough task ahead of him as he needed to convince veteran quarterback Aaron Rodgers that he knew what he was doing — and that he could be in command.
And Rodgers didn’t make it easy. The sure-fire Hall of Fame quarterback called LaFleur out more than once before the season began. One issue was Rodgers’ ability to call audibles and the other was LaFleur having the team practice kickoffs. The coach took a back seat and even said Rodgers was right when asked about the issues raised by No. 12.
Everything seemed fine and they even won 13 games. Then, things got really interesting.
During the 2020 NFL Draft, the Packers moved up in the first round and took Utah State quarterback Jordan Love, clearly indicating Rodgers’ days were numbered. They also added A.J. Dillon in the second, which was telling for Aaron Jones, the running back who had a career-year.
It seems apparent LaFleur wants to build his team long-term. He has his quarterback of the future and is setting himself up in case Jones demands a lot of money when his rookie deal is done. He’s done this without hurting their chances this year, which is pretty impressive. He just has to hope Rodgers doesn’t bring even more drama because of it.
Last year was a good one for the Buffalo Bills who won 10 games and made it to the playoffs. They weren’t able to get a win in the postseason, but they should feel good about what they accomplished. Led by a stout defense, the Bills were able to stifle opponents week in and week out.
Their secondary was one of the best in the league led by Tre’Davoious White and while they did lose Kevin Johnson in free agency, they remain strong there — and they feel like they could potentially even improve with the signing of veteran Josh Norman.
As for their front-seven, the Bills lost Shaq Lawson as well in free agency but landed A.J. Epenesa with their first pick in the draft, which happened to come in Round 2. Buffalo had to be thrilled to see Epenesa still on the board considering he was a first-round talent on many boards, and they had traded their first pick away ahead of the draft.
Wanting to get a true No. 1 receiver for quarterback Josh Allen, they traded the No. 22 pick to the Minnesota Vikings for Stefon Diggs. It was a smart move as they decided it was better to get someone who has gotten it done at the pro level, rather than taking a chance on a rookie and waiting for him to develop.
This way, they can get an accurate gauge on Allen. If he truly is their guy, he should be able to get it done with Diggs, Cole Beasley, and John Brown. If not, that will show as well.
A 3-0 start last season had people buying into the Dallas Cowboys, but then they did what they always did in the Jason Garrett era — they took their foot off the gas. Feeling as though the hot start guaranteed them the NFC East, the Cowboys shrugged off loss after loss, constantly talking about how the next game was the one that really mattered.
For whatever reason, that was how Garrett faced things. No drive, no play, no game ever had any feeling of urgency to it. Instead, the team stayed even keel all the time much like the dog in the famous meme with flames all around him saying things are fine.
Eventually, the powers that be caught on and let Garrett’s contract run out. And in his place is Mike McCarthy, who has much more clout than Garrett. He also should be more understanding of how every game actually matters — considering he spent last season out of the league after being fired late in 2018 by the Green Bay Packers.
As for the roster, Dallas has as good a team as there is in the league. They added Gerald McCoy, Dontari Poe, and Ha Ha Clinton-Dix in free agency then dominated the draft with CeeDee Lamb, Trevon Diggs, and Neville Gallimore being their top three picks.
All that adds up to them being the favorite in their division and one of the better teams in the NFC. They have been here before in the offseason though. The question is if they can stay here as the year plays out.
You might have heard, but the Tampa Bay Buccaneers have a new starting quarterback. A year after watching Jameis Winston become the first quarterback to ever throw 30 touchdowns and 20 interceptions in the same season, they signed former New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady.
After spending the past two decades with New England, and winning six Super Bowls with them, the soon-to-be 43-year-old is taking over a completely new offense with Bruce Arians in Tampa Bay.
Brady has more rings than any other player and his titles match that of any franchise in league history. And now in Tampa Bay, he hopes to be the missing piece for a team that hasn’t been to the postseason since 2007. The good news is, he has more than enough weapons to get into the postseason with his new club.
At wide receiver, the Bucs have Mike Evans and Chris Godwin then at tight end they have O.J. Howard, Cameron Brate, and newly acquired Rob Gronkowski who was a star for the Patriots along with Brady before retiring ahead of last season. He un-retired to rejoin his friend in Florida and they’re now part of a team that should be able to contend for the NFC South title.
It seemed recently as though there were going to be some issues for the New Orleans Saints as Drew Brees upset many of his teammates with recent comments about the American flag and the protests going on in our nation. Brees admitted to being insensitive with his comments and it seems as though his teammates have forgiven him. That’s good because the harmony this team has on offense has a lot to do with their success.
Brees, who might not have many more years left in the league, is still able to get the job done even though it’s easy to see he’s lost some of the zip on his passes. They did a great job of protecting themselves as they landed Jameis Winston to serve as his backup. Winston might not have been the answer in Tampa Bay but he immediately becomes one of the best No. 2 quarterbacks in the game and gives them the same kind of security they had with Teddy Bridgewater the past two seasons.
They’ve also bolstered their already impressive offensive line with the addition of Cesar Ruiz in the draft. Speaking of the draft, their third-round pick was a steal as Zack Baun had no business being there that late. Those moves have kept New Orleans as one of the better teams in the NFC heading into the 2020 season.
The San Francisco 49ers represented the NFC in the Super Bowl this past season and while they ended up losing to the Kansas City Chiefs, they remain the best team in the NFC to kick off this season. The reason for that is that their depth chart is largely unchanged from a season ago as the majority of their star players were retained — and those who left were adequately replaced.
One example is at defensive tackle where the team traded away DeForest Buckner and received the No. 13 overall pick in exchange from the Indianapolis Colts. They then dropped down in the draft to add more picks and landed South Carolina defensive tackle Javon Kinlaw who can start right away in Buckner’s place ‚— while also saving the team money against the cap.
They also lost Emmanuel Sanders who they added in a trade last season while making a run at the title. In his place will be ASU wideout Brandon Aiyuk, who was their second pick in the opening round. Also during the draft, they made a trade with the Redksins to acquire Trent Williams, a former All-Pro left tackle. Williams will replace Joe Staley who retired that same weekend.
All that being said, the 49ers are still a team led by a dominant defense with an offense that can put up just enough points to find themselves victorious in the majority of their games. Their arrow is still pointing up and they’re one of the top contenders in 2020.
The 2020 regular season was absolutely dominated by the Baltimore Ravens. They struggled out of the gates and after four weeks, they were tied with the Cleveland Browns with a 2-2 record — and had just been beaten badly by Cleveland. They didn’t let that loss define them though, as they instead seemed to use it to fuel an amazing run of 12-straight wins.
Lamar Jackson continues to make his doubters look foolish as he has not only become an amazing threat both in the passing and running game, but he also won the 2019 NFL MVP for his work during his second season in the league. The funny thing is Jackson was the fifth quarterback taken in the first round of the 2018 NFL Draft and he has far and away exceeded Baker Mayfield, Sam Darnold, Josh Allen, and Josh Rosen.
Unfortunately for Jackson and the Ravens, they haven’t been able to find success in the postseason. While he owns an unbelievable 19-3 mark in the regular season as a starter, Jackson is now 0-for-2 in the playoffs.
Baltimore hopes to have added enough talent around him to help alleviate that issue as they hit several home runs in the 2020 NFL Draft. Their top three picks of Patrick Queen, J.K. Dobbins, and Justin Madubuile were great but they also found some potential steals with Devin Duvernay, James Proche, and Ben Bredeson.
A solid roster only got better this offseason and that makes the Ravens one of the few teams capable of knocking off the No. 1 team in these 2020 NFL Power Rankings.
It’s hard to unseat the champs. The Kansas City Chiefs have been the most fearsome team in the NFL over the past two seasons. Once they turned the starting quarterback job over to Patrick Mahomes, their offense took flight and no one can keep up.
They made it all the way to the AFC Championship Game in his first season as a starter and had they won the coin flip, they most likely would have marched down the field and won the game, much like Tom Brady and the Patriots did to them.
That loss stung but the Chiefs used it to help them become a better team. Kansas City added a lot of talent to their defense as they realized they needed to improve on that side of the ball in order to win it all. They didn’t need to be elite, but they had to be situationally good — which they are. Pair that with an unstoppable offense and you win titles, which they did in 2019.
And now heading into 2020, there’s no reason to think they won’t be even better. The biggest offseason loss for them was Emmanuel Ogbah, who is an underrated player but he was absent from their title run with an injury. As for additions, they added a running back who fits their offense perfectly in Clyde Edwards-Helaire and improved the depth on their offensive line.
They’re the best team in the NFL right now and they will remain No. 1 in these 2020 NFL Power Rankings until someone came come out and prove they’ve taken a step back.