Category: Rankings

Markus Golden snubbed from pass rusher tiers

In PFF’s edge defender tiers, Golden, an underrated veteran, doesn’t get mentioned among the underrated veterans.

The Arizona Cardinals lost their franchise’s all-time leader in sacks this offseason as Chandler Jones left in free agency to sign with the Las Vegas Raiders. But the Cardinals still have their team’s leading pass rusher from 2021 on the roster in Markus Golden.

Golden had 11 sacks in 2021 to lead the Cardinals and has three double-digit sack seasons in his career.

However, in PFF’s edge defender tiers, he is not even mentioned.

The category of “underrated veterans” perfectly describes Golden.

There is a Cardinals player mentioned in the article, but it is J.J. Watt who get cast into the tier of “declining forces.” Watt is definitely in decline at this point in his career. However, he isn’t really an edge defender anymore. He played exclusively inside in 2021.

Golden will be the main edge threat the Cardinals rely on in 2022. Jones departed and the rest of the outside linebacker room is either unproven or a question mark.

Golden is clearly underrated. He isn’t even rated highly enough to get mentioned as underrated.

Ultimately, it doesn’t mean much. Golden can not make the list and keep on getting 10-12 sacks per year. The Cardinals won’t complain about that.

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Kyler Murray left out of PFF’s ‘shooting stars’ QB tier

PFF lists Kyler Murray as a polarizing quarterback, less than a young star.

The NFL offseason is the time for online publications and websites to create lists, rankings and tiers. We find player rankings, position rankings, power rankings and more.

PFF ranked NFL starting quarterbacks but did so by putting them in tiers.

Arizona Cardinals fans will be disappointed to see where they rank Kyler Murray.

Their first tier are the “golden oldies,” or the quarterbacks in their 30s or 40s who are still playing at a high level.

The next tier has “shooting stars,” players under 30 who are the best. One would think that Murray should be in this group, considering what he has accomplished in his three years in the league.

He is not.

He is included in the next tier — the most polarizing players. He is grouped with Derek Carr and Dak Prescott.

It is true that Murray’s seasons have been uneven because injuries have affected his performance late in seasons. He has not yet thrown for 30 touchdown passes in a season or reached 4,000 passing yards.

But he is at or near the top of many passing metrics and he has led the Cardinals from being a three-win team to an 11-win playoff team.

It feels like people find him polarizing more for his personality than for his play. his on-field play is dynamic but he isn’t the affable, fiery leader people expect him to be.

That doesn’t mean he isn’t great. He is not an elite player yet but he is certainly one of the league’s shooting stars.

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Great Eight: The No. 1 boxer in each of the original eight divisions

Great Eight: The No. 1 boxer in each of the original eight divisions.

Who are the best boxers in each of the original eight weight classes? Check out Boxing Junkie’s “Great Eight” feature.

***

The proliferation of titles makes it difficult for all but the most astute fans to determine the cream of the boxing crop.

That’s why Boxing Junkie came up with its “Great Eight” feature, which names the best fighter in each of the original eight weight classes –heavyweight, light heavyweight, middleweight, welterweight, lightweight, featherweight, bantamweight and flyweight.

Heavyweight includes cruiserweight (and the WBC’s bridgerweight), light heavyweight includes super middleweight and so on.

It was easy to make our selection in some divisions. For example, heavyweight, which will continue to be ruled by Tyson Fury until someone takes him down.

Other weight classes took more thought. And you’ll notice that several changes have been made since the last time we posted Great Eight.

Here are our current rankings.

 

HEAVYWEIGHT – Tyson Fury (32-0-1, 23 KOs): Who else?

LIGHT HEAVYWEIGHT – Dmitry Bivol (20-0, 11 KOs): The 175-pound champion delivered a break-through victory over Canelo Alvarez on May 7.

MIDDLEWEIGHT – Junior middleweight champion Jermell Charlo (35-1-1, 19 KOs) claimed this spot with his victory over Brian Castano last Saturday.

WELTERWEIGHT – Terence Crawford (38-0, 29 KOs): Crawford edges out Errol Spence Jr. Will they settle it in the ring?

LIGHTWEIGHT – George Kambosos (20-0, 10 KOs): The Aussie earned it with his stunning upset of former 135-pound king Teofimo Lopez.

FEATHERWEIGHT – Unified junior featherweight titleholder Stephen Fulton (20-0, 8 KOs) supplants Gary Russell Jr.

BANTAMWEIGHT – Bantamweight star Naoya Inoue (22-0, 19 KOs): The Japanese star might be the best of any weight.

FLYWEIGHT – Junto Nakatani (23-0, 18 KOs): The 112-pound titleholder takes over from Julio Cesar Martinez.

Great Eight: The No. 1 boxer in each of the original eight divisions

Great Eight: The No. 1 boxer in each of the original eight divisions.

Who are the best boxers in each of the original eight weight classes? Check out Boxing Junkie’s “Great Eight” feature.

***

The proliferation of titles makes it difficult for all but the most astute fans to determine the cream of the boxing crop.

That’s why Boxing Junkie came up with its “Great Eight” feature, which names the best fighter in each of the original eight weight classes –heavyweight, light heavyweight, middleweight, welterweight, lightweight, featherweight, bantamweight and flyweight.

Heavyweight includes cruiserweight (and the WBC’s bridgerweight), light heavyweight includes super middleweight and so on.

It was easy to make our selection in some divisions. For example, heavyweight, which will continue to be ruled by Tyson Fury until someone takes him down.

Other weight classes took more thought. And you’ll notice that several changes have been made since the last time we posted Great Eight.

Here are our current rankings.

 

HEAVYWEIGHT – Tyson Fury (32-0-1, 23 KOs): Who else?

LIGHT HEAVYWEIGHT – Dmitry Bivol (20-0, 11 KOs): The 175-pound champion delivered a break-through victory over Canelo Alvarez on May 7.

MIDDLEWEIGHT – Junior middleweight champion Jermell Charlo (35-1-1, 19 KOs) claimed this spot with his victory over Brian Castano last Saturday.

WELTERWEIGHT – Terence Crawford (38-0, 29 KOs): Crawford edges out Errol Spence Jr. Will they settle it in the ring?

LIGHTWEIGHT – George Kambosos (20-0, 10 KOs): The Aussie earned it with his stunning upset of former 135-pound king Teofimo Lopez.

FEATHERWEIGHT – Unified junior featherweight titleholder Stephen Fulton (20-0, 8 KOs) supplants Gary Russell Jr.

BANTAMWEIGHT – Bantamweight star Naoya Inoue (22-0, 19 KOs): The Japanese star might be the best of any weight.

FLYWEIGHT – Junto Nakatani (23-0, 18 KOs): The 112-pound titleholder takes over from Julio Cesar Martinez.

LOOK: Offseason power rankings after NFL draft

Check out where your favorite team ranks in these power rankings from Touchdown Wire.

OTAs and minicamps are beginning around the NFL this month, giving us the next step towards to the regular season.

How do we see the 32 NFL teams right now?

Touchdown Wire’s Nick Wojton put together some offseason power rankings. The results are below. Read the full post for his reasons for the rankings.

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Cardinals rank in the middle of new offseason power rankings

Touchdown Wire’s latest offseason power rankings has the Cardinals ranked No. 15 overall but sixth in the NFC, which means being a playoff team.

We have reached another stage in the offseason. Free agency is basically over, with only minor moves left to be made by teams. The draft is over. OTAs and minicamps are just around the corner.

We have a better picture of how teams will look this coming season.

For that reason, Touchdown Wire’s Nick Wojton put together new offseason power rankings.

Where do the Arizona Cardinals rank?

They come in at No. 15 overall.

A bit of an uncertain future ahead for the Cardinals. QB Kyler Murray is going to remain, but can trading for Hollywood Brown keep this team afloat while DeAndre Hopkins serves his suspension? One thing we seem to overlook with Arizona, even though they ended 2021 poorly, this team did win 11 games.

A quick look at the No. 15 team would suggest that the writer believes the Cardinals are not a  playoff team, as there are 14 teams who make the postseason.

However, the Cardinals actually rank No. 6 among NFC teams. In the top 15, there are only six NFC teams — The Rams, Buccaneers, Packers, 49ers, Cowboys and Cardinals.

Of those five NFC teams ranked higher than the Cardinals, only the 49ers is a questionable one. If Jimmy Garoppolo were going to be the starter, I could see it perhaps. However, Trey Lance appears to be the starting quarterback moving forward and he is a big question mark.

The Cardinals beat the 49ers twice last season with a team that looked a lot like the team they are now. The Cardinals finished ahead of the 49ers in the standings last year.

Based on Hopkins’ suspension and some uncertainty about replacing the sack production of Chandler Jones, projecting the Cardinals as a wild card team right now is perfectly reasonable.

That isn’t always something you can say about power rankings.

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Cardinals tumble in offseason power rankings following free agency

A quiet free agency period for the Cardinals gives the perception that they have taken a big step backward.

The Arizona Cardinals have not been super active in free agency. Aside from re-signing a number of their own players from last season, they have added only two free agents from other teams. They signed cornerback Jeff Gladney to a two-year deal and offensive lineman Will Hernandez to a small one-year contract.

Christian Kirk, Chandler Jones, Chase Edmonds and Jordan Hicks all have found new teams.

It doesn’t feel like they have improved after an 11-win season and that is reflected in the latest NFL power rankings from USA TODAY’s Nate Davis.

In his last power rankings, Arizona was 10th. After free agency, they fall all the way to No. 20.

They lost seven of their final 11 games, including an embarrassing playoff loss to the Rams, have an unhappy quarterback and hemorrhaged talent in free agency. Otherwise, no issues.

The first two statements are true. Murray wants a contract extension, but it doesn’t appear that he is unhappy. And as for the “hemorrhaging” of talent, they lost a receiver whose replacement they drafted last year and a 32-year-old pass rusher who had 5.5 sacks after Week 1. The loss of Jones will be felt, that’s for sure.

However, with a healthy DeAndre Hopkins and J.J. Watt, this team was the best in the league a year ago. The front office certainly seems to be working on that assumption, so maybe they won’t be as bad off as it looks now.

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Cardinals crack top 10 of way-too-early 2022 power rankings

Despite a rough end to the 2021 season, Touchdown Wire’s way-too-early power rankings have Arizona coming in at No. 10 to start the offseason.

The 2021 season is complete with the Los Angeles Rams having won the Super Bowl. Now we look ahead to the 2022 season. Free agency has not yet begun and the NFL draft has not taken place, but Touchdown Wire’s Nick Wojton already has put together new power rankings with an eye looking forward to the 2022 season.

Essentially, how do NFL teams look comparatively moving forward, even before the new league year begins?

The Arizona Cardinals, who started the season 7-0 and finished 11-6 and then lost in the first round of the playoffs to the eventual champions, come in at No. 10 in the way-too-early rankings.

An 11-6 record, yes, but the Cardinals ended last year on a big downhill ride. Few in Arizona need reminding of that. To quell those worries, the team needs to make sure QB Kyler Murray is all in after the weird start he has had to the offseason. A next step might be improving the secondary in the desert.

If Murray is playing the way he did most of the season, the Cardinals should be perennial playoff contenders and put them in play for the NFC West lead, which makes this ranking reasonable.

However, this offseason brings many questions. They have a lot of holes to fill on their roster. Six of their key offensive skill players from 2021 are scheduled to hit free agency next month. They are over the salary cap for 2022.

That will get resolved before free agency begins, but this is an optimistic view of a team that was the best in the league for half the season and then looked lost to end it.

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Cardinals climb into top 5 of latest TD Wire power rankings after win over Cowbwoys

Their three-game losing streak was snapped and their tumble down Touchdown Wire’s rankings also ended.

The Arizona Cardinals reestablished themselves as a threat in the NFC with their 25-22 win over the Dallas Cowboys on the road. It snapped a three-game losing streak and it appeared that their offense and defense both got right.

After dipping in Touchdown Wire’s power rankings over the last three weeks, they went back in the right direction entering Week 18.

Touchdown Wire’s Nick Wojton had the Cardinals moving up from No. 7 to No. 5 in his latest rankings.

Finally the disastrously run for Arizona is gone… at least for now. The Cardinals held off the Cowboys in a 25-22 matchup between NFC playoff teams. Cards QB Kyler Murray had a pair of TDs to WR Antonie Wesley and extended drives just enough to stay undefeated at Dallas in his lifetime.

The Kansas City Chiefs are the only AFC team ahead of them, while the only NFC squads ahead of them are the Green Bay Packers, Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Los Angeles Rams.

With a win in Week 18 over the 25th-ranked Seattle Seahawks and a win by the 13th-ranked San Francisco 49ers over the third-ranked Rams, and the Cardinals will have a division title.

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Listen to the latest from Cards Wire’s Jess Root on his podcast, Rise Up, See Red. Subscribe on Apple podcasts or Spotify.

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Great Eight: The No. 1 boxer in each of the original eight divisions

Great Eight: The No. 1 boxer in each of the original eight divisions.

Who are the best boxers in each of the original eight weight classes? Check out Boxing Junkie’s new “Great Eight” feature.

***

The proliferation of titles makes it difficult for all but the most astute fans to determine the cream of the boxing crop.

That’s why Boxing Junkie came up with its “Great Eight” feature, which names the best fighter in each of the original eight weight classes –heavyweight, light heavyweight, middleweight, welterweight, lightweight, featherweight, bantamweight and flyweight.

Heavyweight includes cruiserweight (and the WBC’s bridgerweight), light heavyweight includes super middleweight and so on.

It was easy to make our selection in some divisions. For example, heavyweight, which will continue to be ruled by Tyson Fury until someone takes him down.

Other weight classes took more thought.

Here are our final rankings of 2021.

 

HEAVYWEIGHT – Tyson Fury (31-0-1, 22 KOs): Who else?

LIGHT HEAVYWEIGHT – Canelo Alvarez (57-1-2, 39 KOs): The Mexican is by far the most accomplished among 168- and 175-pounders.

MIDDLEWEIGHT – Gennadiy Golovkin (41-1-1, 36 KOs): Triple-G is still the highest-ranked 154- or 160-pounder on our pound-for-pound list. Jermall Charlo, Demetrius Andrade, Jermell Charlo and Brian Castano lurk.

WELTERWEIGHT – Terence Crawford (38-0, 29 KOs): Crawford edges out Errol Spence Jr. Will they settle it in the ring?

LIGHTWEIGHT – George Kambosos (20-0, 10 KOs): The Aussie earned it with his stunning upset of former 135-pound king Teofimo Lopez.

FEATHERWEIGHT – Gary Russell Jr. (31-1, 18 KOs): Talented Stephen Fulton is closing in on the quick-handed veteran.

BANTAMWEIGHT – Naoya Inoue (22-0, 19 KOs): The Japanese star might be the best of any weight.

FLYWEIGHT – Julio Cesar Martinez (18-1, 14 KOs): The Mexican is hot little fighter.