Power rankings don’t exactly mean much, teams across the NFL have to prove it on the field and it seems like each season at least one team goes from worst to first, anyway.
But they’re still a fun offseason and weekly topic, and the latest national ranking list actually was a bit tougher on the Bills than most others. NBC Sports’ Peter King ranked his NFL teams, and the Bills only landed at No. 13 overall.
In plenty of polls, the Bills land in the top-10, even the top-five. But here’s part of how King describes the Bills in his list:
(Bills general manager Brandon Beane) dealt first, fifth and sixth-round picks this year and a fourth next year for Stefon Diggs (three-year average: 76 catches, 1,000 yards, eight TDs) and a seven, which is a heavy price, particularly in a year with such strong receiving stock in the draft. Diggs will be judged on whether he can lift an offense in a slumber. But if any of the receivers available with the 22nd pick that Buffalo deal to the Vikes—Justin Jefferson, Brandon Aiyuk, Tee Higgins, Michael Pittman—turn into stars, Diggs had better be one in Buffalo. He’s a good fit for the strong-armed Josh Allen; Diggs had a league-best eight catches of 40-plus yards last year. Another good Beane add was Utah running back Zack Moss, the 86th pick in April, to team with Devin Singletary for what could be the best run game in the division.
I think Buffalo’s the best team in the division with one proviso: Allen must be better. Last year, of the 27 quarterbacks who started at least 12 games in the NFL, Allen was 27th in passing yards per game, with 193.1. That’s 40 yards worse than Gardner Minshew. So that’s a pretty big proviso. But I’m counting on the weaponry around Allen and what’s going to be a top five D to be the difference. There’s a reason the NFL made the Bills a prime-time team this year, with four night games—three coming in the last five weeks. The league thinks the Bills will be in the pennant race all season, as do I.
In terms of King’s belief that the Bills are the favorite in the AFC East, he proves that he really thinks that. While close to the middle of the pack in the league, the Bills do outrank the Dolphins (19), Patriots (21) and Jets (28).
Overall, the Bills are also only the sixth-best team in the AFC in the poll. The Chiefs (1 – West), Ravens (2 – North), and Titans (7 – South), would be their respective divisional favorites, all ahead of Buffalo’s standing. Interestingly, the Raiders (8) and Steelers (10) are also both ahead of the Bills in terms of the AFC.
Having said all of that, King lines up his description of the Bills solely on Allen. If the Bills offense and Allen closes the gap between them and the team’s already stout defense, one can easily envision King shooting Buffalo up his chart.
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