Way Too Early 2020 Power Rankings
32. Jacksonville Jaguars
The year of 2020 will not be a fun one for the Jacksonville Jaguars. Just a few years ago, they had one of the top defenses in the league and were in the AFC Championship game. Since then, the great defense has been torn apart via trades or free agency and their offense lacks firepower. While Gardner Minshew is solid, he is not yet at the level to elevate a team like this to success. If the Jaguars win five games, I would be very surprised.
31. Washington Redskins
Even after picking up DE Chase Young in the draft and having a solid defensive line, the rest of this Redskins team has many holes, especially on the offensive side. QB Dwyane Haskins is a question mark, as is RB Derrius Guice. With Adrian Peterson getting old and nobody to complement WR Terry McLaurin on the outside, Washington is going to struggle to score points. With that being said, the addition of Ron Rivera as a coach will help, and if Dwyane Haskins can take a big step forward the Redskins may sneak up on some teams.
30. New York Giants
Like the Redskins, the Giants have a new head coach and are depending on a young quarterback to bring them to success. Defensively, they have not been good for a few years now, but they are still young enough to grow. There is no star on their defense to lead the way, so young players are going to have to take a major step forward to have success. Offensively, New York has some weapons in Darius Slayton and Sterling Shepard, Evan Engram, and of course Saquon Barkley. If Daniel Jones does not progress like expected, though, the team will not succeed. This should be another rebuilding year for the Giants as they continue to build for the future.
29. Cincinnati Bengals
Even though the Bengals only won two games in 2019, there is a lot to look forward to, especially the debut of first overall pick Joe Burrow. Cincinnati has some weapons on the offensive side like Joe Mixon, Tyler Boyd, A.J. Green and second round pick Tee Higgins to complement Burrow. Plus, they will add T Jonah Williams, a 2019 first-round draft pick who was hurt in 2019, to their offensive line. Their defense is a big question mark but should improve. With that being said, the Bengals are still a very young team with holes in the trenches. They just flat out don’t have the talent that some of the other teams in the AFC have, especially in their division.
28. Detroit Lions
This season is most likely do-or-die for coach Matt Patricia, because his time in Detroit has not been smooth sailing. In the two years he has been there, Patricia has combined for a record of 9-22-1 with no playoff appearances. Despite that, I would not be surprised if the Lions win eight games, because Matt Stafford was hurt half of the season last year, and the narrative may have been very different otherwise. Detroit has a solid core on the offense with Kenny Golladay, T.J. Hockenson, and newly drafted running back D’Andre Swift to complement Kerryon Johnson. The offensive line is young, and should improve in 2020. On the defensive side of the ball, they lost CB Darius Slay, but replaced him with the third overall pick in Jeff Okudah. The Lions have talent, but I still would not trust them to realistically win more than four games, especially with Patricia in leadership.
27. Carolina Panthers
After Cam Newton got hurt, Kyle Allen had Carolina at 5-3, only for him to come back to earth and finish the year 5-11 and last in the NFC South. 2020 will show a quarterback and coaching change in Carolina, with Matt Rhule taking over at coach and Teddy Bridgewater taking over at quarterback. With star running back Christian McCaffrey and a solid receiving core of Robby Anderson, D.J. Moore, and Curtis Samuel, there are definitely options in the offense. What is going to hurt them is the defensive side of the ball. With the retirement of Luke Kuechly and departure of James Bradberry, there just is not much left. In the draft, Carolina used all their picks on defense, headlined by DL Derrick Brown. Carolina can be a decent team if the defense can step up, but they won’t be good enough to hang with the Saints or Buccaneers.
26. Miami Dolphins
Miami, after only winning five games in 2019, had a very nice offseason. While he may not start right away, Tua Tagovailoa is the quarterback of the future for the Miami Dolphins. They also drafted LT Austin Jackson, and CB Noah Igbinoghene with their other two first-round picks. They grabbed LB Kyle Van Noy and CB Byron Jones to join CB Xavien Howard on the defense, and even upgraded their running back position, signing Jordan Howard and trading for Matt Breida. Even though they are in rebuild mode, Brady leaving New England opens the whole division. If Miami can gel fast, which I think they will under coach Brian Flores, success may be closer than you think. 2020 just won’t be that year.
25. Arizona Cardinals
Kingsbury got his guy in QB Kyler Murray, and now it is time to build towards a championship in Arizona. Arizona shocked the world when they traded for WR DeAndre Hopkins, and he will join Christian Kirk, Larry Fitzgerald, and Kenyan Drake as the weapons for Murray. On the defensive side of the ball, they have some big names like Chandler Jones, Budda Baker, Patrick Peterson, Jordan Hicks, and newly-drafted Isaiah Simmons. But even with all this star power, they still have a shot to struggle in 2020 because of the line. Even though they drafted Josh Jones to play right tackle, there is not much other help to protect Murray, and the Cardinals will obviously need to protect their franchise quarterback to have success this year..
24. Chicago Bears
The Chicago Bears are one of the tougher teams to get a read on in 2020. As bad as the offense played with Mitch Trubisky under center, they still found a way to go 8-8, which is not as bad as was perceived. It helps that the defense includes Eddie Jackson, Kyle Fuller, Khalil Mack, and Roquan Smith, so any type of good offensive play would have worked wonders for the Bears. Now, with Nick Foles in the picture, it is unclear who the quarterback is going to be. Whoever they go with does not need to be great, just solid. They need to get the running game going, hit their tight ends (Cole Kmet and Jimmy Graham) and go over the top to WR Allen Robinson when necessary. The defense will do enough to keep them in the game, but the quarterback play needs to be better in 2020 if they want to get back to the 12-4 team that they were two years ago.
23. New York Jets
The 2020 season will be Sam Darnold’s biggest. If he plays well, there is a good chance the Jets will win games. If not, who knows what can go wrong? Darnold had a decent year last year, but it started off rough after being diagnosed with mono. New York needs to start building around their quarterback, or he will go to waste. Denzel Mims and Breshad Perriman were nice pieces to add to the receiving core, and Mekhi Becton was a slam dunk in the draft to start protecting Darnold, but the offense needs to be run through Le’Veon Bell. If he plays well, it opens up the whole offense. As for the defense, they return good safeties in Jamal Adams and Marcus Maye to go with a now-healthy linebacking core featuring C.J. Mosley. The Jets need to start winning now, or else Adam Gase will be gone and it will be back to square one.
22. Los Angeles Chargers
In my opinion, the 2019 season was not who the Los Angeles Chargers really are. If you look up and down this roster, they are loaded with talent. Their defense features guys like Joey Bosa and Derwin James, and their offense features guys like Austin Ekeler, Keenan Allen, and Hunter Henry. What the 2020 season is going to come down to is their quarterback play, which is most likely going to end up being first round pick Justin Herbert. If Herbert plays well and within the offense, this team has a chance to win a lot of games. They showed it when Rivers was good, but also when he was bad, how their season would turn out. In my opinion, the ceiling is high for Herbert, but there is too much unknown at this point to put them any higher on this list.
21. Las Vegas Raiders
After starting off hot, the Raiders tailed off at the end of the season last year but should carry a lot of positives going into 2020. The Raiders return a star running back in Josh Jacobs, along with TE Darren Waller. Add Tyrell Williams and first round pick Henry Ruggs III, and Derek Carr has a lot of options. The defense is young, led by Maxx Crosby, but the addition of veterans like Cory Littleton and Damarious Randall may help this defense mature. The team is very complete, but very mediocre. Derek Carr is not a star, and there really isn’t a star on this team. That will limit their success against the better teams in the NFL.
20. Atlanta Falcons
After an awful start, the Falcons found a way to muster 7 wins on the 2019 campaign. It seems like every year the Falcons are underachieving because of injury. In 2020, they hope to change that narrative. On the defensive side of the ball, they will get a healthy Keanu Neal at free safety, plus rookie CB A.J. Terrell to help the secondary. Meanwhile, the linebacking core got stronger, too, with Dante Fowler Jr. signing to team up with Deion Jones. Of course, on the offense you have Matt Ryan and Julio Jones, but the addition of Todd Gurley could prove to be huge. Even with this talent, though, Atlanta can never seem to put a full season together. I wouldn’t get my hopes high if I were a Falcons fan, even though they have the talent to be a top team.
19. New England Patriots
For the first time in a while, the New England Patriots are not considered one of the best teams in the NFL. Tom Brady leaving leaves a massive hole, and there is too much unknown with QB Jarrett Stidham to get a true read on this team. What I do know about New England is that they lost a lot of pieces on their defense, such as linebackers Kyle Van Noy and Jamie Collins. Even though they were 12-4 with a weak offense last year, their defense took massive hits at the linebacker position, so unless Stidham has a ridiculous year, I can’t see Belichick having more than eight or nine wins at most.
18. Pittsburgh Steelers
As bad as the quarterback play was in 2019, Mike Tomlin found a way to get his team to 8-8. A lot of that goes to the defense, which was one of the best in the league last year. For the Steelers to make a push at the Ravens though, they need their main weapons in QB Ben Roethlisberger, RB James Conner and WR JuJu Smith-Schuster to stay healthy. Without them, there is very little star power on the offensive side of the ball. They have nice role players like WR Diontae Johnson and TE Eric Ebron, but they are not at the level to carry an offense. The defense, led by LB T.J. Watt, will be once again excellent if they play even close to last year. The problem is not the defense, it’s the offense. If healthy, the Steelers can be a force in the AFC. But that’s a big if.
17. Denver Broncos
Denver is one team that can make a huge jump in 2020. After starting the year with Joe Flacco and Brandon Allen at quarterback, second-round pick Drew Lock finally took over and promptly went 4-1. The future is bright for him, especially with the offense he has, including receivers like Jerry Jeudy and Courtland Sutton, or the running back tandem of Melvin Gordon and Phillip Lindsay. You can even throw TE Noah Fant into that mix. They’re loaded on defense, too, and are led by LB Von Miller. They added CB A.J. Buoye and DT Jurrell Casey, plus they get a healthy Bradley Chubb back at linebacker. Everywhere you look there is star power. The most important thing will be keeping Lock upright. If they can do that, the AFC should really watch out, because the young quarterback is going to take the league by storm.
16. Indianapolis Colts
In 2019, the Colts had Jacoby Brissett, decent but not extraordinary, at quarterback. This year, they will have Phillip Rivers instead, who is coming off his worst year of his career. Luckily, he is in a very good situation, because the Colts are well-run and are built very nicely with a good offensive line and a solid defense that just added DT DeForest Buckner. The Colts have decent receivers on offense, but are most likely going to run the ball a lot with Marlon Mack and Jonathan Taylor in an attempt to help Rivers open up the passing game. The Colts can be really good, but they need Rivers to take care of the rock or else they are going to become very one-dimensional.
15. Los Angeles Rams
It’s amazing how a team can go from NFC champions to almost a complete tear down. This offseason, the Rams cut bait with WR Brandin Cooks, linebackers Clay Matthews, Cory Littleton, Dante Fowler and of course RB Todd Gurley, all impact players on this team. All of these players needed to be cut; they weren’t going to help LA moving forward. But it is now or never for the Rams, because they had no high draft picks this year and QB Jared Goff’s contract, which looks worse every day, hamstrings this team. With that being said, the Rams still have a lot of talent on their roster with guys like DT Aaron Donald and WR Cooper Kupp. Besides, Sean McVay is still an excellent coach. The Rams need to get back to their identity of running the ball with their committee of Darrell Henderson Jr., Cam Akers and Malcolm Brown to take the pressure off Goff. If Goff performs at a high level, so does the team. I think the Rams will be better than 2019, but still not at the level of Seattle or San Francisco.
14. Cleveland Browns
To say the Cleveland Browns failed expectations in 2019 would be an understatement, but expect better in 2020. Cleveland revamped its offensive line with the drafting of LT Jedrick Wills Jr. and signing of RT Jack Conklin in effort to protect QB Baker Mayfield, who needs to have a good year. In 2019, Baker struggled, throwing 22 touchdowns and 21 interceptions. With that year over, he needs to play well, and I think with more help around him plus a year of maturity, he will. Cleveland has a talented roster and I would expect big things from them in 2020.
13. Houston Texans
If you look at the Houston Texans roster, it is not all that impressive, especially with WR DeAndre Hopkins gone. Even after the additions of WR Brandin Cooks and RB David Johnson, dominant weapons are sparse. The same goes for the defense, as DE J.J. Watt is great but is starting to get old, and there is no true difference maker. Despite all of that, though, Deshaun Watson is still the quarterback, and will continue to find ways to win games. Bill O’Brien has proven to be a below average GM, but he finds ways to get his team into the playoffs every year as a coach. The Texans will be in the mix at the end, but too much is on Watson’s plate to make a deep playoff run.
12. Philadelphia Eagles
The Eagles made the playoffs in 2019, but their 9-7 record benefitted from a bad division that backed them in. This does not make the Eagles a bad team, but one that has underachieved because of injury. Wide receivers Alshon Jeffery and Desean Jackson were both hurt for most of the season, and the guys that stepped in did the best they could. The healthy receiving corps is back, has added Jalen Reagor to the mix, and still has the tight end duo of Zach Ertz and Dallas Goedert. Better yet, RB Miles Sanders is in the backfield and an elite defense just added CB Darius Slay. The Eagles should be dominant. The question is whether QB Carson Wentz can stay healthy. He needs to for this team to win more than nine games in a season, and he needs to prove he can stay on the field. If he is healthy, the Eagles will be right up there with the Cowboys battling for the NFC East title.
11. Tampa Bay Buccaneers
For the first time in almost two decades, the Buccaneers are going to be relevant after they shockingly added both QB Tom Brady and TE Rob Gronkowski. If you look at the roster up and down, Tampa Bay has built a very good team, but QB Jameis Winston was holding them back. They should dominate, but a few questions still exist: Brady is in his 40s and Gronk hasn’t played in a year, so their production is unknown. Also, the running game is not as effective as the Patriots, and obviously Bill Belichick is not the coach anymore. They should be fine, but I think the Buccaneers will win 10 games at most in 2020.
10. Green Bay Packers
Probably the most controversial team in the NFL Draft this year is the Green Bay Packers, who traded up for QB Jordan Love in the first round this year. This pick was questioned by many, especially because Rodgers still has a few years left and the Packers are only a few pieces away from becoming a Super Bowl caliber team. There is talent up and down the roster, but many holes too. Besides WR Davante Adams and RB Aaron Jones, there aren’t many offensive weapons that Rodgers can work with. There are some big names on defense, but not enough to take over a game and win games. Aaron Rodgers is going to do Aaron Rodgers things, but I expect Green Bay to take a little step back in 2020 while staying in the playoff hunt.
9. Dallas Cowboys
If you told the Cowboys WR CeeDee Lamb was going to be there at number 17, they would have called you crazy. Crazy enough, Lamb is now a Dallas Cowboy on a loaded offense. If QB Dak Prescott gets his contract situation handled, which I think he will, he will have some options, as Lamb will team up with receivers Amari Cooper and Michael Gallup to create a devastating combination. If the defense is guarding the pass, Dak can turn around and hand it to one of the top runners in the game in Ezekiel Elliott. The defense has had some struggles, but Dallas added veteran leadership with the signing of defensive tackles Gerald McCoy and Dontari Poe to bolster the line. With new head coach Mike McCarthy at the helm, expect Dallas to light up the scoreboard and produce many wins in 2020.
8. Minnesota Vikings
I think the Minnesota Vikings will win the NFC North, but I am not completely sold on them. They lost WR Stefon Diggs, who was one of their best receivers, and DE Everson Griffen, a defensive end. The Vikings replaced Diggs by drafting LSU wideout Justin Jefferson, who will help QB Kirk Cousins move the ball down the field. But the Vikings need to keep their identity and run the ball with RB Dalvin Cook and let Cousins work from the play action. They should be fine defensively, though; they are good from top to bottom. Cousins got a playoff win last year, can he move his team into elite territory?
7. Buffalo Bills
2019 may be a fluke in people’s eyes, but the Buffalo Bills are legit. To start off, their defense is complete, elite, and one of the best in the AFC that is only getting better with the draft pick of A.J. Epenesa, a defensive end out of Iowa. On the offensive side of the ball, QB Josh Allen and crew were good, but not great. In 2020, they will now have WR Stefon Diggs on the outside, who is one of the best receivers in the NFL. And Allen is only getting better. With QB Tom Brady leaving the division, the AFC East is now the Bills to lose, but I wouldn’t expect them to let this division even become close.
6. Tennessee Titans
The Titans have been stuck in mediocrity for a very long time and were approaching it last year until QB Ryan Tannehill took over. All he did was go 7-3 with a completion percentage of 70.3% and a passer rating of 117.5, which led the entire NFL. To top that off, Tannehill’s Titan’s got to the AFC Championship game against the Kansas City Chiefs, who won the Super Bowl. Many people are not high on the quarterback, but I am sold, especially with RB Derrick Henry. There are not many star players on this team besides Henry, but every player is very good, from the trenches and up. Plus, coach Mike Vrabel does a very good job of getting a sum greater than his parts. In a division with a lot of unknown, I expect the Titans to be atop the AFC South in 2020.
5. Seattle Seahawks
If it was not for QB Russell Wilson, I don’t know where the Seahawks would be, but they are fortunate to have this Hall of Fame-caliber QB leading the way. The offense consists of a solid run game and good receivers, but nobody can change a game like Wilson. The addition of Greg Olsen is one of the more underrated moves of the offseason, adding him to a stacked tight end group of Will Dissly and Jacob Hollister. Wilson loves throwing to his tight ends, so good job to Seattle for adding guys that fit their scheme. On the other hand, the defense is a major question mark besides LB Bobby Wagner. Generating a pass rush has been an issue for Seattle over the last few years, and might be what holds them back from dethroning the San Francisco 49ers in the NFC West. Nonetheless, Seattle is going to win 11 or 12 games from Russell Wilson and Pete Carroll alone.
4. San Francisco 49ers
It’s amazing how a team can make it to the Super Bowl and still have so much uncertainty. If you look at the roster, there is talent at every position, headlined by TE George Kittle and DE Nick Bosa. With Kittle comes a group of fast receivers and one of the top running games in the league, led by Raheem Mostert. Surrounding Bosa is one of the most dominant defenses we have seen since the Legion of Boom in Seattle. With all this, why all the uncertainty? Many feel that QB Jimmy Garoppolo is not good enough to lead this team to the Super Bowl. If you look at his numbers and the fact that him and the 49ers won the NFC, I think that he deserves more credit. Does he have the best arm talent in the world? No. But he does not need to. If he improves on his deep ball accuracy just a little bit, the 49ers will be even scarier than they were in 2019.
3. New Orleans Saints
On paper, the New Orleans Saints have arguably the best roster in the NFL from top to bottom. Led by QB Drew Brees, the Saints have had a high seed in the playoffs year in and year out, but have failed to even appear in a Super Bowl in years. It would be a shame for the amount of talent they have would go to waste with no Super Bowls to show for it. The Saints have the team to do it, now they just must go out and win.
2. Baltimore Ravens
Like the Saints, the Ravens have proven that they can get it done in the regular season the last two seasons. In the postseason, the rushing attack got exposed, and QB Lamar Jackson was forced to throw the ball. As dominant as Jackson and the Ravens are at running the ball, the reigning MVP needs to get better throwing for them to take the next step. With that said, the team is still loaded on both sides of the ball. Defensively, there should not be a problem at any level, especially with the addition of DE Calais Campbell. The Ravens will be there in the end, but Jackson is going to need to adjust if he wants to build off his MVP season and win the Super Bowl.
1. Kansas City Chiefs
It is hard to put anyone besides the team that won the Super Bowl at number one, which is why the Kansas City Chiefs will top off this list. Led by QB Patrick Mahomes and coach Andy Reid, the Chiefs high-flying offense and sneaky-good defense got to the top in 2019 and will look to repeat it in 2020. The chances of this happening are not crazy either. The Chiefs return 20 of 22 starters, added Clyde Edwards-Helaire for depth at the running back position and are about to sign Mahomes to a long-term extension. If you are a Chiefs fan, I would expect a lot of good moments in the next few years.
Roster info from espn.com
stats from profootballreference.com
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