Espn team rankings posted

[seanmac]

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Iceman88 said:
There is absolutley no way the Jets should be rated that low. Those ratings have some really bad picks IMO.

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Unfortunately, and I say this as a Jets fan, it's entirely possible that the Jets are rated that low. Going off of the Sporting News player personnel charts, the Jets grade out as the worst team in the AFC, worse than the Chargers, and one of the five worst teams in the league. I'd like to think that's not true, but you can make a very plausible case for it.

Actually, the ratings work pretty well with TSN's guide, not the prediction but the actual player grades.

[Acid]

I really don't think San Diego should be 2nd worst.

[seanmac]

For what it's worth, I'll post three different sets of team rankings and people can see where at least some of them have come from. The first one is ESPN. The second is the aggregate score for each team in the Sporting News guide. The third score is a grade based simply on the starters (so you can see which teams are deep and which ones have quality starting lineups but not a lot of depth). Here goes:

1. NE 1. Ten 1. Ten
2. Car 2. NE 2. Buf
3. Phi 3. Jax 3. Mia
4. TB 4. TB 4. Den
5. Min 5. Buf 5. NE
6. Oak 6. Oak 6. Bal
7. Bal 7. Den 7. Sea
8. KC 8. KC 8. TB
9. Ind 9. Hou 9. Jax
10. Buf 10. Car 10. Cin
11. Ten 11. Pit 11. Pit
12. Sea 12. Bal 12. Hou
13. Jax 13. Cin 13. KC
14. NO 14. Mia 14. Dal
15. Dal 15. Dal 15. Car
16. Atl 16. Was 16. StL
17. StL 17. Sea 17. Min
18. Mia 18. Ind 18. Oak
19. Den 19. Phi 19. Ind
20. Chi 20. NO 20. Was
21. Cin 21. StL 21. Det
22. SF 22. Chi 22. GB
23. GB 23. Cle 23. SF
24. Was 24. SD 24. Atl
25. Cle 25. Det 25. Phi
26. Det 26. Atl 26. SD
27. NYJ 27. NYJ 27. NYJ
28. Pit 28. Min 28. NO
29. Ari 29. NYG 29. NYG
30. Hou 30. SF 30. Cle
31. SD 31. GB 31. Chi
32. NYG 32. Ari 32. Ari

As you can see, there are a great many correlations between the ESPN rankings and the War Room personnel grades. The primary disagreements seem to be that ESPN ranks too many NFC teams highly, that Houston, Jacksonville , Tennessee and Pittsburgh are radically underrated, and that the Eagles, Colts and Panthers are radically overrated.

Sadly, no matter which way you slice it, the Jets grade out as a bottom five team.

[ForeverYoung]

I know VC is located in the bay area, but come on!
After releasing so many quality players the 49ers will be the worst team this season.
To quote one NFL season preview: The 49ers will win 10 games - over the next 5 seasons

They have no QB, no WR, no OL and a fumbling RB on Offense. In addition to an questionable D the best D-Player is holding out and will probably released in the next couple of weeks.
Add that to one of the worst (if not the worst) coaching staff an an owner which goal seems to be to destroy this once great dynasty and then move or sell the team to LA.

Man, I can't wait to take over this team in NFL2k5 and rebuild it.

[rudyjuly2]

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Acid said:
I really don't think San Diego should be 2nd worst.

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They should be the worst. Their defense won't be too bad (other than no pass rush) but other than LT, their offense is an embarrassment. I can't think of a worse group of OL or WRs in the NFL.

San Diego Rest of NFL

[seanmac]

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rudyjuly2 said:

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Acid said:
I really don't think San Diego should be 2nd worst.

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They should be the worst. Their defense won't be too bad (other than no pass rush) but other than LT, their offense is an embarrassment. I can't think of a worse group of OL or WRs in the NFL.

San Diego Rest of NFL

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The Chargers offense does indeed grade out as the worst starting unit in the NFL, but the defense has enough solid players to keep San Diego out of the bottom couple of slots.

[rudyjuly2]

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The Chargers offense does indeed grade out as the worst starting unit in the NFL, but the defense has enough solid players to keep San Diego out of the bottom couple of slots.

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Maybe so. They added Godrey and the DT in the draft but its very possible the offense will be even worse this year and they were the worst team last year. I think only SF can challenge them or possibly Arizona for the worst team. I think the Giants are a lot better than their 4-12 record and just don't see any other teams out there that would be as bad. Who do you think is worse than SD?

[seanmac]

Well, as I pointed out, the War Room graded the Chargers starting unit as 26th overall, ahead of the Jets, Saint, Giants, Browns, Bears and Cardinals.

Here's how they break down in terms of players-
SD's offense features two elite players (Tomlinson and Lorenzo Neal), four solid players, three adequate players and two fringe players. Hence, the worst aggregate starting unit in the league. On defense, though, they have two elite players (Jamal Williams and Donnie Edwards), five solid starters, and four adequate starters.

The Jets have elite offensive players at quarterback, wide receiver and center, as well as four solid starters, but they also have three adequate starters and a fringe starter at right guard. On defense, Shaun Ellis is the lone elite player, and there are only three other players who grade out as solid, while seven players are considered only adequate.

By assigning values to each type of player (3 to elite, 2 to solid, 1 to adequate and 0 to fringe), the San Diego offense grades out as 17 and the defense to 20, for a final grade of 37. The Jets offense grades out at 20, while the defense is a miserable 16, for a final grade of 36. That's not including depth and reserves, but unfortunately things don't get any better for the Jets once you throw those in, as their depth on the offensive line and on defense is appalling.

Now, do I think San Diego is better than the Jets? No, I don't. I'll take an elite player at quarterback over any other position, and I expect they have a few players who will outperform expectations like Jonathan Vilma, who I expect to have a Nick Barnett kind of year. But the point is that you can make the argument for the Chargers to be the better team.