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NFL Power Rankings: Redskins fall, NFC South on the rise after Preseason Week 1

By Jacob Camenker

LANDOVER, MD - DECEMBER 30: Head coach Jay Gruden of the Washington Redskins looks on during the first half against the Philadelphia Eagles at FedExField on December 30, 2018 in Landover, Maryland. (Photo by Will Newton/Getty Images)
LANDOVER, MD - DECEMBER 30: Head coach Jay Gruden of the Washington Redskins looks on during the first half against the Philadelphia Eagles at FedExField on December 30, 2018 in Landover, Maryland. (Photo by Will Newton/Getty Images) /
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PHILADELPHIA, PA – DECEMBER 26: Trent Williams #71 of the Washington Redskins walks off the field at the end of the first half against the Philadelphia Eagles on December 26, 2015 at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Mitchell Leff/Getty Images)
PHILADELPHIA, PA – DECEMBER 26: Trent Williams #71 of the Washington Redskins walks off the field at the end of the first half against the Philadelphia Eagles on December 26, 2015 at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Mitchell Leff/Getty Images) /

Average-at-best Teams

All of these squads have some solid aspects of their team, but they simply aren’t built for postseason success as currently constructed.

22. Denver Broncos. Denver has made some improvements to their offense, but not in the form of Joe Flacco. They fixed the right side of their offensive line by adding second-round pick Dalton Risner and former Miami Dolphin Ja’Wuan James to improve their blocking. That should help Flacco to stay upright a bit more than Case Keenum was able to last season, but the results should be similar.

On defense, the team improved their corner situation by signing Kareem Jackson and Bryce Callahan so that should strengthen the back end a bit. Von Miller will help to make this a potential top-tier unit, but they are a little thin elsewhere in the front-seven. Overall, the Broncos are a nice-looking team with a high floor but a low ceiling.

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    • 23. Buffalo Bills. The Bills entirely remade their offensive line this year and invested in many weapons for Josh Allen to target (Cole Beasley, John Brown). Now the question is, will he be up to the challenge? Allen flashed a cannon of an arm and great mobility last season, but he still needs to improve his accuracy. He has the tools around him to succeed and one of the league’s most underrated defenses helping his cause as well. But there could be growing pains for Allen this year, and he could limit the Bills until everything finally clicks for the Wyoming product.

    24. San Francisco 49ers. The common theme among the teams listed here are questionable-to-average quarterbacks. Jimmy Garoppolo falls into the former category. He has only started 10 career games and has been solid but at times, unspectacular. He has the raw abilities needed to be a franchise quarterback though, so the 49ers will be happy to have him this year. They did a good job of adding weapons to the offense in the form of Deebo Samuel and Tevin Coleman, but there are questions about their defense that will need to be answered. Dee Ford and Nick Bosa figure to help improve the edge rush, but both are nicked up now. If they can’t play, that could really hurt the 49ers’ top-end potential.

    25. Arizona Cardinals. Everyone is rightly excited about the potential of Kyler Murray, and he is the main reason that the Cardinals aren’t in the bottom of the barrel in these rankings. Kliff Kingsbury has provided him with a number of young weapons to grow with, but the team’s offensive line is still a nightmare outside of Marcus Gilbert. They made some veteran additions to the defense to pair with Chandler Jones and Patrick Peterson, including former Redskins safety D.J. Swearinger, but this squad is not quite ready to make a playoff push.

    26. Detroit Lions. Matt Patricia has stressed the importance of creating “Lions Culture” and has added a number of veterans in free agency, including big-money free-agent signing Trey Flowers. They have undoubtedly improved their roster, but it remains to be seen if it will all come together under Patricia.

    27. Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Bruce Arians should have a chance to continue the success Tampa Bay’s passing offense had under Todd Monken last year. But, he still was gifted with a poor offensive line and no running game. The team went defense-heavy in the draft, but they are still a developing unit switching to a 3-4 style under Todd Bowles. Eventually, Bowles will get them on track, but for the time being, the Bucs are a one-dimensional, pass-heavy team with major questions on the defensive side of the ball.

    28. Washington Redskins. I’m leaving the Redskins here for the time being because they have the potential to be a middle-of-the-pack team. However, their offensive line is a major problem with Trent Williams out. The unit we saw in the preseason opener didn’t feature any of the right-side starters, but the left side is so weak without Williams. If they can’t block, Case Keenum is going to have trouble quarterbacking the team, as evidenced when he was under pressure in the preseason opener.

    Keenum is favored to start at the moment because Dwayne Haskins didn’t look ready to start yet in his first preseason action. He showed flashes of potential, but the team may give him more time to develop moving forward before throwing him into game action. That could change in the next few preseason games, but for the time being, Haskins can’t be counted on as an X-factor for the team just yet.

    While the Redskins have talent on defense, their offense simply isn’t going to be able to score enough to consistently win. If Williams returns, that could certainly change. But without him or a viable replacement, they have to slip in the rankings.

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