NFL "Hard Knocks" Power Rankings

Last week we did a first look at how I would rank the Top 25 teams in college football. Now that week three of the preseason is complete, let’s stick with the rankings theme and do a first look at my NFL Power Rankings entering the 2010 NFL season. We’ll get to the Hard Knocks part in just a bit…

1. Indianapolis Colts – the Colts have looked terrible in the preseason so far, but what else is new. Say we had 44 random NFL players at each position to pick two football teams from, if I can have Peyton Manning with the first pick I will give you the next 22 and I would still feel pretty good about my chances of winning. The Colts have won 12 or more games per year for the last seven seasons for a reason.

2. New Orleans Saints – the Saints are going to be hard-pressed to duplicate the amount of turnovers they forced last season, but there is too much to love about this offense, especially with Sean Payton doing the game planning.

3. Dallas Cowboys – arguably the most talented team in the league position-by-position, this team still lacks an identity that great football teams need, unless you count their inability to win a big game as their identity. It is time this team takes the next step, or we could very well see Bill Cowher manning the Cowboys sidelines next year.

4. New England Patriots – Tom Brady fully recovered from his knee injury plus Randy Moss in a contract year equals big things for the New England offense. The question becomes whether Belichick can return this defense to its former glory days.

5. Baltimore Ravens – This could be a new era Ravens team where the offense leads the way but if Ed Reed can get healthy, the Ravens are as good as anyone in the AFC.

6. San Diego Chargers – Philip Rivers is obviously the real deal but it remains to be seen how much the absence of Vincent Jackson will affect this offense and if the Chargers can get him signed at all. Rivers is still the only QB of the 2004 draft class (not named J.P. Losman of course) yet to win a Super Bowl. Have to imagine that is driving him crazy at this point.

7. Minnesota Vikings – I flip-flopped a few times between the six, seven and eight teams on this list before ultimately settling on the current order. The Vikings were one boneheaded Brett Favre throw away from being in the Super Bowl last year and should be right in contention again. They will need a healthy return from star WR Sidney Rice and Favre to remain healthy, but this team remains loaded with talent.

8. Green Bay Packers – I mentioned to a couple of people the other day that it is not far-fetched to believe Aaron Rodgers will be the best quarterback in the NFL within the next 3-4 years as Manning and Brady age. Rodgers has all the physical ability in the world and looks to have the right mental ability and instincts as well. The defense will need to find a way to pressure the quarterback better than it did last year for this team to make that next step into the NFL elite.

9. Pittsburgh Steelers – I was tempted to rank the Steelers much higher than this because I believe their potential is on par with any team in the NFL. The total uncertainty of how this team will perform without Roethlisberger and the fact that the defense is aging a bit and seems susceptible to injury forced me to drop them a few spots. If this defense can stay healthy and the team holds its own without Roethlisberger (which I think it will by the way), I fully expect the Steelers to be a Super Bowl contender.

10. New York Giants – I think people are ignoring the number of injuries the G-Men had last year and are severely underestimating the potential with this Giants team. Eli Manning has a great corps of young WRs, a stable of RBs and a solid offensive line that should make this offense pretty dynamic. With their health restored, this Giants defense should be able to get back to their ways of pressuring quarterbacks and limiting big plays, something that killed them last year.

11. Cincinnati Bengals – This could be the make or break year for Carson Palmer who hasn’t looked the same since his knee injury. I do not mean make or break in the sense that he should no longer be the starter, but the jury is definitely out on whether he remains an elite NFL quarterback or just another average starter. There are a ton of familiar names and personalities on this roster, should be interesting to watch how it comes together, or falls apart.

12. New York Jets – People seem to be getting on this bandwagon just a bit too much in my opinion. My first column I wrote for this website was named “A Quarterback League” and I for one, am far from sold on Mark Sanchez. Throw in the number of egos this team has seemed to accumulate and the absence of Revis Island and this team has as much potential to miss the playoffs as it does to make the Super Bowl. If the “Hard Knocks” portrayal of Sanchez and his lack of confidence is true, my doubts about him are just magnified.

Speaking of “Hard Knocks”, I hope everyone out there has been watching HBO’s special this year on training camp with the New York Jets. If you have not been following, watch them on-demand, record the past episodes on your DVR when they are repeated during the week, download them on the internet, do something to catch up. The three episodes so far have been great, and since we are in the rankings mood, let’s take a quick break from the NFL Power Rankings and rank my top five “Hard Knocks” moments so far this season:

1. My favorite part of this show, just like every season in the past, is the beginning of the first episode when the opening music is playing and highlights of the guys lacing up their pads for the first time, walking onto the practice field, and the first hitting drills are shown. Gives me the chills everytime, and I am sure it makes anyone who has ever played football in the past want to lace them up one more time (side note: when the players are complaining and looked tired and bored after the first few days of camp, you remember why you don’t miss playing as well).

2. Sure, Rex Ryan likes to use the f-bomb and his language on the show started a dumb media confrontation between him and Tony Dungy, but the thing I have taken most from this show about the coach is his passion for football. How many other head coaches are drilling 5th string linebackers on defensive formations, or teaching defensive linemen proper technique, or having punt catching contests with their general managers, or celebrating like a player on every big hit? Think what you want about Sexy Rexy, but his players seem to love playing for him and so would I.

3. How many kids does Antonio Cromartie have? By my count, it was seven children with five different women, and about five of those children were three years-old. Cromartie must have been a busy man in 2006-2007.

4. Bart Scott has been somewhat of a star on the show, having an outgoing personality and one that jells perfectly with head coach Rex Ryan. His best line so far had to be the one about Joe McKnight taking a pay cut from playing at USC to joining the Jets. The guys around him didn’t seem to know if they should laugh or not…

5. Ok, there are too many more parts of the show that have been great to limit this to only five spots but the special teams’ coach Mike Westhoff’s story was a great one, nose tackle Kris Jenkins has some great lines including leading the hazing of rookie Brian Jackson by tying him to the goalpost, and of course the mandatory appearance of Joe Namath who cared a little too much about the way the quarterbacks were taking snaps. If you have not seen the show yet, do yourself a favor and catch up.

Back to the NFL Rankings…

13. Philadelphia Eagles – Green Bay’s decision to make the move to Aaron Rodgers and away from Favre was a great decision a couple years back, we’ll have to see if Andy Reid’s decision to move out Donovan McNabb for 4th-year pro Kevin Kolb was just as wise. The Eagles certainly have some talent on both sides of the ball, but with that division, the season ultimately rests on Kolb’s right shoulder.

14. Tennessee Titans – The Titans are only one year removed from a 13-3 season and Vince Young looks like he has revived his career once again. The one-two punch of VY and Chris Johnson makes the Titans’ offense dangerous and we always know that Jeff Fisher will have a defense that is ready to play.

15. San Francisco 49ers – This team has drafted very well the past couple of seasons and will look to put all the accumulated pieces together this year. I like the 49ers to win the NFC West, and that is enough to get into the top half of the league.

16. Miami Dolphins – Brandon Marshall and Anquan Boldin were in a battle to become the highest paid possession receiver in the league and Marshall won that battle, so he gets the title of most overpaid WR. The Dolphins certainly have some pieces on both sides of the ball, but there are plenty of missing pieces as well.

17. Atlanta Falcons – Matt Ryan seemed to take a step back from his phenomenal rookie year and Michael Turner got hurt after going over the dreaded 370 carry mark. Can the two of them bounce back and bring the Falcons back to the playoffs?

18. Houston Texans – Matt Schaub and Andre Johnson might just be the best passing combo in the league at this point, but the Texans lack of a RB and holes on the offensive line has made this team inconsistent week to week in the past, don’t see much changing this year.

19. Washington Redskins – I am a believer in McNabb, he has won every year of his career. Mike Shanahan hasn’t done too bad himself. This team should be competitive, but will be in for a tough fight in the NFC East.

20. Denver Broncos – The Broncos struggled at times last year applying pressure on the QB and have now lost sackmaster Elvis Dumervil for an extended period of time. That, and the lack of playmaker on offense, does not bode well for Josh McDaniels and company.

21. Carolina Panthers – The Panthers have a good offensive line, a great running-back combo and a desperate coach trying to save his job in John Fox. That could translate into some success, but that all depends on the play of QB Matt Moore. If Moore struggles, expect to see rookie Jimmy Clausen in a hurry.

22. Chicago Bears – Time to find out if the mad-offensive genius that is Mike Martz can save Jake Cutler. I certainly have my doubts.

23. Arizona Cardinals – When you are benching your starting quarterback in the preseason for the artist formally known as Derek Anderson, you could be in for a long year. If Leinart can become anything close to what the Cardinals had hoped when they drafted him, they could still contend for the weak NFC West.

24. Seattle Seahawks – The Pete Carroll era begins with some uncertainty on the defensive side of the ball and a reliance on the health of Matt Hasselbeck at quarterback. I don’t think Carroll has the welcome back party he is hoping for, but I think he will eventually do a much better job this time around.

25. Oakland Raiders – The Raiders should be one of the more improved teams this year under head coach Tom Cable with the acquisition of QB Jason Campbell. That improvement probably doesn’t mean more than 6 or 7 wins, however.

26. Kansas City Chiefs – Jamal Charles was a stud in the second half of the season last year and the Chiefs’ offense should be improved under Charlie Weis. Much like the Raiders, however, improvement this year may not translate into the wins column.

27. Jacksonville Jaguars – MJD is one of my favorite players in the NFL to watch. It is too bad there are not many residents in Jacksonville who feel the same way.

28. Detroit Lions – The offense might not be half-bad with the expected improvement from second year QB Matt Stafford along with Jahvid Best in the backfield and Calvin Johnson on the outside. The defense is a whole other story.

29. Cleveland Browns – Jake Delhomme is the starting quarterback in Cleveland. Not sure I have to say much more than that to justify this ranking.

30. St. Louis Rams – I really like Sam Bradford as a quarterback prospect and Steven Jackson is a beast. Not much else to like here.

31. Buffalo Bills – Three-headed monster at running back and a whole lot of nothing.

32. Tampa Bay Buccaneers – I dare you to try and name five Bucs’ starters; I will even spot you Cadillac Williams and Ronde Barber. Unless you play in the deepest of fantasy football leagues, I’m guessing point proven.