The NFL has put out estimates and statements with varying degrees of optimism regarding an on-time start to the 2020 season in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic. We don’t yet know how it will all shake out — hopefully with thoughts leaning in the direction of safety and responsibility above all — but whenever the season does get going, here’s how all 32 teams rank in terms of overall quality, and potential to excel. Here are Touchdown Wire’s summer NFL power rankings.
32. Cincinnati Bengals
The Bengals finished 2-14 in 2019, which gave them the first overall pick in 2020 and the right to select LSU’s Joe Burrow, who appears to have every attribute necessary for NFL success at the quarterback position. And the team did improve in free agency to a point, with the additions of former Vikings cornerbacks Trae Waynes and Mackenzie Alexander. The offensive line will get a bump with the addition of 2019 first-round left tackle Jonah Williams, who missed his entire rookie season due to a torn labrum. Now, if the Bengals are to get out of the NFL’s basement, it’ll be up to defensive coordinator Lou Anarumo to put together a series of packages for a squad that looked far too disjointed most of the time.
31. Washington Redskins
The Redskins (change the name, guys) are certainly hoping that second-year quarterback Dwayne Haskins can build on a December that saw him throw five touchdown passes to just one interception after looking pretty shaky earlier in his inaugural campaign. Haskins will have the benefit of receiver Terry McLaurin, another member of Washington’s 2019 rookie class, who has the potential to be one of the NFL’s top receivers. On defense, Ron Rivera’s squad has five first-round picks on its defensive line, including second overall pick Chase Young, but the secondary is very thin, and that could be the things that stops this team in its tracks in 2020.
30. New York Jets
Safety Jamal Adams is most likely the Jets’ best player, and it’s a problem when your best player is desperate to be traded. This speaks to a dysfunction that head coach Adam Gase has instilled, and that general manager Joe Douglas is trying to overcome. The Jets have a growing franchise quarterback in Sam Darnold, the receiver combination of Breshad Perriman and Denzel Mims could make some noise, and rookie left tackle Mekhi Becton looks like a star if he can get his pass sets in order, but this has been one of the least-talented rosters over the last few seasons, and it’s looking like it’s going to take a few more years — and possibly another head coach — to balance that out.
29. Jacksonville Jaguars
If you go back and look at the Jaguars defense that played the Patriots to a draw in the first half of the 2017 AFC Championship game, it’s both a tribute to what the franchise built to that point, and a scathing indictment of what’s happened since. Jalen Ramsey, A.J. Bouye, Calais Campbell, Malik Jackson… most of the big talent on that defense is gone, and the replacements haven’t quite lived up. Oh, and there’s the matter of edge-rusher Yannick Ngakoue, the best player left on that defense, wanting to be traded. The Jaguars have a possible star quarterback in Gardner Minshew, and a breakout star in receiver D.J. Chark, but the organization is now finding out that you can’t take elite talent for granted. Cornerback C.J. Henderson and EDGE defender K’Lavon Chaisson, the team’s top two draft picks, will help over time.
28. Carolina Panthers
Change has come to the Panthers, as both the quarterback and head coach that captained the team since 2011 — Cam Newton and Ron Rivera — were both cashiered. Now, it’s up to Teddy Bridgewater and Matt Rhule to bring the franchise back to the playoffs for the first time since 2017. Bridgewater is capable of doing that when he’s healthy, and Christian McCaffrey may be the most valuable running back in the NFL. First-round defensive tackle Derrick Brown will help what was the league’s worst run defense last season, but the Panthers are not quite where they need to be overall to compete in what will be a brutally competitive NFC South just yet.
27. New York Giants
The Giants came into the 2020 draft with a desperate need to protect Daniel Jones’ blind side, and they addressed that very well by selecting Georgia tackle Andrew Thomas with the fourth overall pick. Big Blue then stole Alabama safety Xavier McKinney, whose versatility will show up right away, in the second round. Signing former Panthers cornerback James Bradberry will help what may have been the NFL’s worst cornerback group after the team released Janoris Jenkins, and Jones is starting to look like a franchise quarterback, so there are reasons to be encouraged about the team’s future. Pass rush is still a problem, and Jones’ receivers are underwhelming, so the hope will be that the offense can be run around Saquon Barkley for the time being.
26. Detroit Lions
Head coach Matt Patricia’s strategy of late has mirrored what most former Bill Belichick assistants have done — get rid of your best players who talk too much, and fill the roster with as many Patriots castoffs as possible. Trading safety Quandre Diggs halfway through the 2019 season, and cornerback Darius Slay in the 2020 offseason, filled the first part of the paradigm. End Trey Flowers, linebacker Jamie Collins, and safety Duron Harmon fill the second part. It’s an iffy strategy that leaves Detroit’s defense in the lurch to a point, and the only way the Lions will ascend their 3-12-1 record in 2020 is for Matthew Stafford to return from his injury-shortened 2019 season and play at the career peak he was before a back injury limited him to just eight games.
25.Miami Dolphins
Since we’re all about making fun of former Bill Belichick assistants in the back half of these particular power rankings, it’s important to note that former Patriots linebackers coach Brian Flores engineered quite the turnaround in his first season as the Dolphins’ head coach. Miami started the season 0-7 in an obvious Tankapalooza with perhaps the league’s least-talented roster, but ended the 2019 campaign at 5-11, as Flores’ players showed belief in how he was running things. Now, with the additions of Tua Tagovailoa in the draft, and a massive free-agency haul that included ends Emmanuel Ogbah and Shaq Lawson, and cornerback Byron Jones, the Dolphins might just be sneaky contenders sooner than later.