ESPN "Future" Power Rankings/Ratings

[kungfoodude]

40 minutes ago, MasterAwesome said:

Meh I can't foresee any scenario where he'd be cut after the season.  Even if we draft a QB in the top 5 next year with a brand new coaching staff, he'd still be easily worth one of our 2-3 roster spots at QB.  I suspect this will largely be a redshirt year for him.  I think the Baker signing essentially confirmed that he isn't expected to be an instant impact guy and that we're prioritizing his development this year (for better or worse, TBD).

That completely depends on what happens. In a scenario where an all new coaching staff and/or new GM are in place, who can say? Not saying it's likely but given the level of uncertainty in our short term, it's definitely not impossible. 

 

30 minutes ago, Tr3ach said:

I also, for whatever reason, am just not quite as negative and doom and gloom as most people are with the team right now, I still see potential growth and improvement.  Which kind of surprises me because I can be a pretty pessimistic fan sometimes

My general pessimism is largely rooted in the fact that Rhule is indeed the worst coach in the NFL(that I agree with ESPN on). It's very, very, very rare to see a turnaround from a team after two years as bad as Rhule has had. It's not impossible but I'd say it's highly improbable. 

I am also not sure how much talent the roster has at the moment. I'd on the edge of "bottom 10 in the NFL" or "top 12 in the NFL." That's sort of to be expected when the guys you are pinning your future hopes on are largely all players with less than 3 years in the league. That could go either way. 

The interesting thing will be to see if Tepper is so convinced of the current path that we stay the course, even if the outcome in 2022 is a poor one. That's going to be the real intrigue, IMO.

[T-Wazzle]

8 hours ago, MasterAwesome said:

Nice.

[Luciu5]

9 hours ago, kungfoodude said:

CATEGORY	SCORE	NFL RANK
Overall roster (minus QB)	73.8	26

This is not the worst roster in the league. Far from it.

So 6th from the bottom is far from it? Just for the record, I think we are not the 26th worst roster in the league (minus QB), and it sounds like the writers of the article doesn't think so either, but that's the rank they give.

I feel like these preseason rankings are basically just the previous April's draft order with some shakeups based on QB movement - like the Seahawks.

[amcoolio]

Our roster is way, way better than the Packers minus QB. Where did they rank?

[Khyber53]

Well, we've just got to prove them wrong somehow.

Rhule has backed himself into this corner, can he fight his way out? If so, he'll rightly deserve the praise and adulation he'll get -- I'll be first in line to say I've been wrong.

If he can't, well, that's kind of what we are all expecting to happen anyway. But as I said when Rivera was canned, the answer we will get might well be worse than the problem we are losing. 

[LinvilleGorge]

I disagree with them on our overall roster minus QB. I honestly think we're pretty strong there. 

[Jon Snow]

I cannot say I disagree with them. 

[dugbug]

I’d have thought the black helmets would have helped

[poundaway]

1 hour ago, Khyber53 said:

Well, we've just got to prove them wrong somehow.

Rhule has backed himself into this corner, can he fight his way out? If so, he'll rightly deserve the praise and adulation he'll get -- I'll be first in line to say I've been wrong.

If he can't, well, that's kind of what we are all expecting to happen anyway. But as I said when Rivera was canned, the answer we will get might well be worse than the problem we are losing. 

I agree. 

So many pieces that haven't shown consistent performance would have to gel in one season to make the playoffs...it just seems very unlikely.

Mayfield, CMC, TMJ, Robbie, Icky, whoever plays LG, Thomas, Tremble, McAdoo, Shaq, Donte, Horn, Wilson, Littleton, Henderson, YGM, Hanes, Brown and Snow  are all wildcards.  They either are up and down, can't stay healthy or haven't shown that much or anything in the NFL yet.  That's a lot of cylinders to get to fire.

If I was opposing teams, I'd run the ball and  target Henderson and Wilson on passing downs.  On D, I'd focus on DJ and CMC.

[kungfoodude]

9 minutes ago, poundaway said:

I agree. 

So many pieces that haven't shown consistent performance would have to gel in one season to make the playoffs...it just seems very unlikely.

Mayfield, CMC, TMJ, Robbie, Icky, whoever plays LG, Thomas, Tremble, McAdoo, Shaq, Donte, Horn, Wilson, Littleton, Henderson, YGM, Hanes, Brown and Snow  are all wildcards.  They either are up and down, can't stay healthy or haven't shown that much or anything in the NFL yet.  That's a lot of cylinders to get to fire.

If I was opposing teams, I'd run the ball and  target Henderson and Wilson on passing downs.  On D, I'd focus on DJ and CMC.

Yeah, our path to success isn't things being maintained at their former levels. It's a lot of players having breakout years or figuring out how to become good NFL starters/rotational guys. And most if not all of that having to happen in 2022 if Rhule is still gonna be around.

That's why I can't get on board the "Oh we are right there" bandwagon. We MIGHT be close to being a playoff caliber roster, IF a LOT of things go well in 2022.

Our roster has a lot more questions than it does answers.

[poundaway]

1 minute ago, kungfoodude said:

Yeah, our path to success isn't things being maintained at their former levels. It's a lot of players having breakout years or figuring out how to become good NFL starters/rotational guys. And most if not all of that having to happen in 2022 if Rhule is still gonna be around.

That's why I can't get on board the "Oh we are right there" bandwagon. We MIGHT be close to being a playoff caliber roster, IF a LOT of things go well in 2022.

Our roster has a lot more questions than it does answers.

If Rhule is the screwup so many think he is, and HC is as important as is often touted here,  its certain to fail.  Its a tall order, even for an "average" coach.

W's fix everything. 

[kungfoodude]

5 minutes ago, poundaway said:

If Rhule is the screwup so many think he is, and HC is as important as is often touted here,  its certain to fail.  Its a tall order, even for an "average" coach.

W's fix everything. 

Yeah, that's another thing. Maybe when Rhule is gone these players all perform better. Could be that he is such a disaster as a coach that he is dragging everything down.

Or maybe his players are so bad that it's making him look bad. Which, he did pick most of them so that's kind of also on him.

Or(most likely) it's some of both.

Edited July 21, 2022 by kungfoodude

[Panthercougar68]

2020 coaches ain’t doing too hot…I fully believe that McCarthy is on his way out because Jerrah wants Sean.

Stefanski will be the last one standing and even he’s got some flack his way.

[TheCasillas]

33 minutes ago, poundaway said:

If I was opposing teams, I'd run the ball and target Henderson and Wilson on passing downs.  On D, I'd focus on DJ and CMC.

Wilson will not be in the game on passing downs. It will be Littleton and Shaq. They are both above average borderline great coverage backers.