Posts by @Mason Thompson

The Green Bay Packers certainly overachieved last year by going 13-3. With a new head coach, Green Bay’s offense endured quite a few growing pains behind Matt LaFleur. Being a game away from the Super Bowl, many thought Green Bay would go all-in during the draft. Instead, the Packers looked to the future, taking a major blow to their current status. With a roster that was ready to win, they didn’t do anything to push themselves to the top of the NFC, while also making Aaron Rodgers not very happy.

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers went from a middling team to a Super Bowl candidate with two signings. Tampa Bay signed Tom Brady and Brady managed to get Rob Gronkowski out of retirement. The defense was vastly improved in the latter half of the season and Todd Bowles was never given enough credit. The Buccaneers have a mix of young and aging players and are in win-now mode with Brady and the supporting cast around him still intact.

Even with the Dallas Cowboys having the best offensive line in the league, a budding star at quarterback, and an All-Pro at receiver, Jason Garrett could never get the Cowboys as far as many thought they would go. Garrett is now gone and replaced by former Packers head coach, Mike McCarthy. Dallas is in salary cap hell and will now have to attempt to pay Dak Prescott after this year. It will be interesting to see if McCarthy can make the most of his opportunity with a great offense or if he’ll sputter his way out of Dallas as well.

With Tom Brady out of the door and now in Tampa Bay, the Patriots are in a transitional phase. The defense is still one of the best in the league, but the offense still has some holes, even at quarterback potentially. The defense though lost a ton of talent as Jamie Collins, Danny Shelton, Kyle Van Noy, and Elandon Roberts have gone elsewhere. Jarrett Stidham and newly-signed Cam Newton will battle for the starting role to replace Brady. There have been some major changes in New England and it could impact the entire league.

Last year, I had the Indianapolis Colts as my fifth-ranked team in these power rankings. Ready to battle with Andrew Luck and a young core, the team was poised to make a Super Bowl run. As we know now, that wouldn’t happen. Even with Luck’s surprising retirement, the Colts made the most of the season, seeing what they had in Jacoby Brissett and many other players. The Colts went big in free agency, getting a new starting quarterback, cornerback, and trading their first-round pick for a defensive superstar. At 25-1 odds to win the Super Bowl, I would take that bet and run with it.

The Seattle Seahawks are one of the most intriguing teams in the league today. Following their two Super Bowl runs in 2014 and 2015, Seattle has lost a ton of talent. Russell Wilson is one of the best quarterbacks in the league and the front office has done little to nothing to surround him with talent, especially on the offensive line. Wilson and a handful of other players is the main reason Seattle even ranks this high, and imagine what would happen if Wilson wasn’t on this team.

he Denver Broncos come into this offseason with a ton of hype, and deservedly so. Denver has a second-year quarterback who showed a ton of promise last year in limited action, going 4-1 in his five starts. The Broncos front office double-downed on their franchise quarterback by giving him a ton of new weapons and a new offensive lineman added to an already stellar defense, which also got upgraded. Denver comes in 13th in overall and 6th in the AFC Power Rankings.

The Cleveland Browns came into the 2019 season with a ton of promise. A new bright head coach, a young quarterback coming off a solid

What once was a quiet Sunday afternoon burst into flames a little before eight eastern. The Patriots were seemingly standing pat with 2019 fourth-round pick, Jarrett Stidham and journeyman, Brian Hoyer at the quarterback spot for the 2020 season. There had been rumors that New England was the ideal landing spot for Cam Newton, but New England and certainly Bill Belichick had made up their minds that Stidham was the future of the Patriots and was the heir to Tom Brady. With Newton’s signing, that is now up in the air.

The Buffalo Bills have a strong coaching staff and one of the most electric fan bases in the entire league. Buffalo made it to the playoffs last year and was eliminated in the wild card round by Houston. The Bills made a bold decision, led by General Manager, Brandon Beane, by acquiring Minnesota’s star receiver, Stefon Diggs. The defense is one of the best in the league and also has one of the best secondaries in the league. With another year under Josh Allen’s belt, the Bills could be a dark horse to make a deep run into the postseason.

Tennessee comes in at the 16th spot, ahead of Minnesota in 17th by .03, and behind the 14th spot by .51. The Titans made it to the AFC title game last year behind a revamped Ryan Tannehill and pounding the rock with Derick Henry. Most of the team remains the same besides the loss of Jack Conklin and the trade of Jurrell Casey. Tennessee is still a good team, but it’s unknown if last year’s success will translate to this year.

Minnesota comes in as the 17th ranked team in my power rankings, meaning we are halfway through these rankings. Minnesota comes in .014 ahead of Arizona at 18, and .405 ahead of Houston at 19. Teams 19-14 are separated by .945 points, so these are the closest batches of teams, and they can be ordered really anyway. Minnesota had an awkward offseason, stripping most of their secondary and their star receiver is now in Buffalo. The Vikings retooled their roster, making an astronomical 15 selections in April’s draft, taking a player at almost every spot other than running back and tight end, two of their best positions.