Preseason Power Rankings 22-18

By: Lucas Kochevar

22. Baltimore Ravens
      Many people are believing in the Ravens this year as they are waiting for them to get back to the playoffs. I'm not believing in them at all. I do not think that the Ravens are going to be that good. First of all, Joe Flacco is not elite. Just because he plays good when he makes the playoffs, does NOT mean he is good overall. He has not been good during a season since his Super Bowl run. Joe Flacco is losing his strength as he is getting older so his deep throws are not as deadly as they were. A problem for Flacco is that his offense is not all that as well. They added a few nice pieces like Jeremy Maclin along with Mike Wallace but they don't have a quality RB. The Ravens defense took a hit too with young stud Zach Orr retiring. They still have a solid secondary led by Eric Weedle. The Ravens will have a strange year and I still don't believe in them.

21. New Orleans Saints
      The Saints have a top 3 offense and its no debate on how great Drew Brees is. They have one of the best RB duos with Adrian Peterson and Mark Ingram. They have a solid O-Line with Max Unger at the Center position along with one of the rising receivers in the league with Michael Thomas. The defense is god awful though. They only have Cameron Jordan as a quality pass rusher and Delvin Breaux as a quality CB. The rest of the defense is not good. They have ranked last in league when it comes to total defense. They desperately rely on Drew Brees every year and when he goes this team will be god awful. Luckily, they still have him and he will lead them to their annual 7-9.

20. Washington Redskins
      The Washington Redskins have one of the most talented QBs in the league and some pretty other good players. I don't believe that they will be able to put it together as they are in one of the best  divisions with the Cowboys, Giants, and Eagles. I like that they picked up Terelle Pryor as a weapon since Pierre Garcon left. I don't think they have a good defense. Outside of Ryan Kerrigan, I don't think they are talented. They have a couple of young pieces, but they are not that good yet. I still don't believe that Josh Norman is good either. I think he just had a good year, on a good team. I think Washington will take a step back and they will not be very good. 

19. Miami Dolphins
       The Miami Dolphins were a playoff team last season as they had one of their better seasons in recent years. I believe that they crash back down to earth and they will be an average team. I like Jay Ajayi and Jarvis Landry but they need to have Ryan Tannehill produce at a good level in order to be a good team. I don't know if he can do that. I hope he can though as I believe he is an above average QB when he produces at a high level. The defense for the Dolphins have to hope that Ndamukong Suh can carry their D-Line with Cameron Wake getting older. I like the Dolphins but I think they will take a dip out of the playoffs this season. 

18. Carolina Panthers
       The Carolina Panthers made some nice moves over the offseason by getting Christian McCaffery and keeping Kawann Short. I believe there is an argument that they have one of the best front 7's in all of football. They have one of the best MLB in the league with Luke Kuechly. The Panthers have problems with consistency and they have a terrible secondary. Two years ago they had the best offense in football and an MVP QB. I believe that he just had a fluky year as I don't think Cam Newton is a good QB. He has a career average completion percentage of 59% and for a supposed 'MVP' QB, that is awful. He does not have the tools of an elite QB and he has no WR to throw to, unless you want to count Kelvin Benjamin. His best target is Greg Olsen and he is getting older. I think the Panthers are in for a bumpy year as they still need Cam Newton to actually become a great QB and they need their secondary to not get burnt by Julio Jones for 300 yards again.