Tag: Worst to First

Worst to First: Ranking SEC football uniforms

Ranking SEC uniforms from worst to first:

When you flip the channels on any given Saturday in the fall, it’s the helmets and the uniforms that are first to catch your eye.

Branding is an intricate part of today’s business and college football follows suit with some of the nation’s most iconic brands. And when it comes to television, that helmet/uniform combo is maybe the program’s most important form of branding.

So, which SEC teams do the best job of forwarding their brand via their team’s uniform?

Below we rank our favorite SEC uniforms from worst to first:

Other SEC worst-to-first series: College towns | head coaching jobs | stadiums | helmets | logos | live mascots | traditions

Seahawks’ defense a lowly No. 22 in Touchdown Wire’s rankings

The Seattle Seahawks’ defense has landed at a lowly No. 22 in Touchdown Wire’s rankings of the worst to first defenses in the NFL.

It’s rare to see the Seattle Seahawks defensive rankings near the bottom of the pile after seasons of dominating on that side of the ball.

Touchdown Wire editor Doug Farrar recently took a look at all the defenses around the league and ranked each squad from worst to first. Seattle landed at just No. 22 on his list.

“The Seahawks’ Legion of Boom defenses of the early and mid-2010s are now a distant memory,” Farrar writes. “Seattle’s defenses that finished first overall in Football Outsiders’ Defensive DVOA metrics in 2013 and 2014 have finished fourth, fifth, fifth, 13th, 14th, and 18th since. Coaching changes and middling draft results over the last few years have made a formerly formidable unit league-average, and things don’t look to swing up in 2020.”

“There’s a noticeable lack of pass rush with the re-signing of Jadeveon Clowney looking unlikely, and while the mid-season trade for safety Quandre Diggs probably saved Seattle’s season, there aren’t the alphas there used to be,” Farrar continues. “Linebacker Bobby Wagner is still one of the best in the business, but he was drafted in 2012, and it’s tough to name a player from that defense of whom this could be said who joined the roster in recent years.”

For a look at how Touchdown Wire ranked the Seahawks’ offense – click here.

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Touchdown Wire ranks Seahawks’ offense 7th-best in NFL

USA TODAY’s Touchdown Wire has ranked the Seattle Seahawks’ offense the seventh-best in NFL heading into the 2020 regular season.

With the start of the 2020 NFL season slowly inching closer, Touchdown Wire’s Mark Schofield took a look at all 32 offenses around the league in order to rank the units from worst to first.

Taking each team’s moves during free agency and the NFL draft into consideration, Schofield slipped the Seahawks into the No. 7 spot.

Here are some of the statistics he used in determining the order:

Points Per Game: 25.3 (9th out of 32)

Yards Per Game: 374.4 (8th out of 32)

Yards Per Play: 5.7 (12th out of 32)

“On the offensive side of the football they have Russell Wilson, and that honestly might be enough,” Schofield explained. “In a quarterback-driven league he is one of the elite players, who can truly raise the level of play in those around him. But he does have a solid supporting cast. DK Metcalf avoided questions about a three-cone drill to become a dangerous threat on the outside, and Tyler Lockett remains a consistent option for Wilson at all levels of the field.”

 

“Adding Greg Olsen will give Wilson a solid tight end option, and honestly don’t sleep on seventh-round pick Stephen Sullivan from LSU,” Schofield continued. “He might have struggled to see playing time behind Thaddeus Moss after switching to tight end, but he could be a mismatch type of player in this offense.”

Wilson and company likely hope they’ll get the chance to take the field sooner than later and improve upon their rankings in 2020.

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PFF believes Lions have best chance to go from worst to first

Will the Detroit Lions be the latest team to rise from worst to first in their division? Pro Football Focus believes they have the best chances among the eligible teams next season.

Will the Detroit Lions be the latest team to rise from worst to first in their division? Pro Football Focus believes they have the best chances among the eligible teams next season.

PFF ranked the eight teams who finished at the bottom of their division in 2019 and named the Cincinnati Bengals the least likely to make the jump, followed by Washington, Carolina Panthers, Los Angeles Chargers, Arizona Cardinals, Miami Dolphins, and Jacksonville Jaguars, with the Lions finishing in the top spot.

“Prior to Matthew Stafford’s season-ending injury,” PFF’s Ben Linsey said, “the Lions were a competitive team at worst. Through that Week 9 game against the Oakland Raiders, the Lions were 3-4-1 with one-score losses to the Raiders, Kansas City Chiefs and Green Bay Packers. Stafford was a big reason for that, pushing the ball downfield and doing it well. He led the NFL with an average depth of target of 11.4 yards, and his 8.6 yards per attempt were fewer than only Ryan Tannehill among qualifiers. That all unraveled after Stafford’s injury, and the Lions proceeded to lose the rest of their games.”

It seems like a long time ago, but heading into Green Bay on “Monday Night Football” the Lions players and fans spirits were flying high. But things took a sharp turn when — as Barry Sanders commented — the Lions were “robbed” late in the game, and the downward spiral began, exposing problems with the roster.

“Getting a healthy Stafford back next season to get the ball into the hands of downfield playmakers Kenny Golladay and Marvin Jones Jr. should be a huge boost to this offense,” Linsey continued. “With a high draft slot and a decent amount of cap space to work with, there’s an opportunity for the defense to improve, as well. It’s not difficult to see the Green Bay Packers and Minnesota Vikings taking a step back next season, and that opens the door for Detroit to potentially host its first home playoff game since 1993.”

The Vikings, Packers, and Chicago Bears are among the bottom-10 teams when it comes to available cap space and draft pick slot entering the 2020 offseason.

The Packers have $23.7 million in cap space (10th worst) and their first draft pick is No. 30 overall.

The Bears have just $5 million in cap space (5th worst) and their first draft pick is No. 43 overall.

The Vikings are actually $11.3 million over the cap already (worst in NFL), meaning they will have to cut or restructure players just to get within cap compliance, and their first draft pick is No. 25 overall.

Meanwhile, the Lions have $45.8 million in cap space and hold the No. 3 draft pick overall — they also hold pick No. 35 meaning they are scheduled to select twice before the Bears get their first opportunity.