Redskins #14 in ESPN Offseason Power Rankings

[Paintrain]

ESPN - NFL Power Rankings - National Football League

Of course there's nothing much more meaningless than offseason power rankings but it's something to discuss..

We're #14 overall, #8 in the NFC and #4 in the NFC East..

I think we're going to finish better than the Eagles and Giants in the division and be the #5 seed overall in the NFC. Among the teams ranked ahead of us I disagree with are the Eagles, Giants, Saints, Packers and Vikings..

Discuss.

[bertoskins2]

way to early, maybe too high for us considering our adjustment to the new offense. though our OL is looking much healthier in the first camp and OTA's

[freddyg12]

I saw this earlier in the day & I must say that I agree w/it & w/M.Schlereth's pick of us at 8-8. I agree w/the statement that we're a tough "read," and I respect them for putting us in the middle rather than going up or down.

I think due to recent progress by the team & the use of 10 draft picks, there is greater respect for the skins. A few years ago, if all other things were the same we'd have been put towards the bottom.

I think the Giants are in for a rough season & the iggles will be really tough. Dallas, hate to say, is still the team to beat for the nfc east title.

[MTK]

#14 isn't too bad, I thought they would place them much lower because Zorn is such an unknown at this point.

[Redskin Warrior]

Originally Posted by Mattyk72

#14 isn't too bad, I thought they would place them much lower because Zorn is such an unknown at this point.

I thought we would be in the upper 20's myself but #14 is pretty good considering the circumstances.

[Dirtbag59]

Originally Posted by Mattyk72

#14 isn't too bad, I thought they would place them much lower because Zorn is such an unknown at this point.

Lol, I've come to think that with predictions the more speculation surrounding you the better, in terms of harvesting favorable predictions.

For example in the NFL Draft it seems like more often then not, juniors and red shirt softmores that come out early, and in turn have less film available, are rated higher then seniors, even though theres considerably less information available on the potential pro prospects. So with that it seems to me that uncertainty turns into upside.

While with seniors that go back to school, usually that gives scouts more chances to find blemishes that in reality 99.9% of pro prospects have in some way, shape, or form.

My two main examples of prospects that underwent this are Matt Leinart and Jokim Noah, both projected to be top overall picks if they came out early, where following their senior years they both droped 6 and 8 spots to 7th and 9th overall in their respective sports. Same prospect, in fact probably even better prospects since they had another year of experience under their belts, but because scouts had more tape to look at they became uneasy, in part because they were "exposed."

So what happens? In the NFL junior QB Vince Young comes out and gets selected ahead of Leinart, and in the NBA Jokim Noah is passed up after the big 2 get selected for his teammate Al Horford (which wasn't exactly a bad pick, but still the point of being hurt for staying an extra year is made).

On a side note, I pray that Devin Thomas is an Al Horford instead of Jokim Noah.

[prinzeofmoval]

Originally Posted by Mattyk72

#14 isn't too bad, I thought they would place them much lower because Zorn is such an unknown at this point.

I rather be out of the national spotlight anyway. Whenever the media had low expectations for us we rocked and surprised teams we normally wouldn't have. Yet when they expect us to win the division we don't measure up. I like where we sit. i think its not high enough where i would like but respectful enough not to go 20th and down because of our rich history.

[Scott]

If we win in week 1 against the Giants we'll be ranked in the top 5 and if we lose we'll be ranked 32 and Dan Snyder will be blamed.

[Schneed10]

It's a testament to our division that we're the 4th team listed from our division, yet we're still listed in the top half of the NFL.

Gotta love the NFC East. It's so much fun to be a part of.

[jbcjr14]

Yes, the East is going to be very good this year and it will be fun to watch. Rankings right now are just about as unreliable as someone mocking the 2009 draft already!

[skinsfan69]

Originally Posted by Paintrain

ESPN - NFL Power Rankings - National Football League

Of course there's nothing much more meaningless than offseason power rankings but it's something to discuss..

We're #14 overall, #8 in the NFC and #4 in the NFC East..

I think we're going to finish better than the Eagles and Giants in the division and be the #5 seed overall in the NFC. Among the teams ranked ahead of us I disagree with are the Eagles, Giants, Saints, Packers and Vikings..

Discuss.

To be honest. The Saints and Minn have had a very good off seasons and they should be slightly ahead of us IMO. The Giants are the defending SB champs so why wouldn't they be ahead of us?? Makes sense. Right? I can see why GB is ahead of us cause they went 14-2 or 13-3. The only team I can disagree with is Philly.

[Schneed10]

Originally Posted by skinsfan69

To be honest. The Saints and Minn have had a very good off seasons and they should be slightly ahead of us IMO. The Giants are the defending SB champs so why wouldn't they be ahead of us?? Makes sense. Right? I can see why GB is ahead of us cause they went 14-2 or 13-3. The only team I can disagree with is Philly.

I'd agree with this. We've had a coaching change. If you're struggling to rank a couple teams who are close (like us, the Saints, and the Vikes), put the one with the coaching change further down the rankings.

I could see us going 5-11 just as easily as I could 11-5. I've got no clue what to expect this year. Should make it exciting.

[redsk1]

Originally Posted by Schneed10

I'd agree with this. We've had a coaching change. If you're struggling to rank a couple teams who are close (like us, the Saints, and the Vikes), put the one with the coaching change further down the rankings.

I could see us going 5-11 just as easily as I could 11-5. I've got no clue what to expect this year. Should make it exciting.

It seems this way every year. As fans we're optimistic but i think most skins fans are realistic too. I too could see them as being a very good team and a very bad team if some things don't work out. I'm really unsure of what to expect this year. I can agree w/ being 14th (FWIW) right now.

In short, some reasons we could be very good:
JC has shown very good improvement every offseason
Our O line is getting healthy again
RB depth
Some added WR depth
Same D w/ more experience
A more aggressive approach offensively...we're not going to "sit" on leads and lose games that way

In short, some reasons we could be pretty bad:
New coaches, offensive system
O-line age and ability to stay healthy/lack of oline depth
Our WR depth is young, real young
Gregg Williams is gone. I think we might realize what a good D coord GW was.
We have a 1st year coach w/ no coord experience/coaching experience...Will the players have faith in Zorn if we go thru early problems?
If JC regresses/doesn't improve


Should make for an interesting year.

[Paintrain]

Originally Posted by skinsfan69

To be honest. The Saints and Minn have had a very good off seasons and they should be slightly ahead of us IMO. The Giants are the defending SB champs so why wouldn't they be ahead of us?? Makes sense. Right? I can see why GB is ahead of us cause they went 14-2 or 13-3. The only team I can disagree with is Philly.

I probably should have been clearer in my statements, I don't think the Power Rankings should reflect us being ahead of all of those teams now, but I think we are better than they are and the season will bear that out.

[chrisl4064]

Jets at 21, hmmm gonna have to disagree with that one. Also the Browns, and im not just hating on them because they are the Browns. I just dont see them there at the end of the season. As for us, respectable. I think Philly upgraded their D but didnt do much to the O-line imo. Even a healthy Mcnabb could have problems (as usual).