Peter King's Power Rankings Suggest Browns Stink, Worse Than Last Year
Power rankings are generated in no small part to get fanbases upset, despite the fact they don't mean anything and are contrived. Well, it worked. Peter King released power rankings in his Football Morning in America column and he ranked the Cleveland Browns 24th, which is simply absurd, because relative to the rest of the league, that would mean the team has actually gotten worse this offseason.
There are plenty of reasons to be cautious with the Browns and why they might not make the playoffs, why they might struggle to get everything together coming out of the gate. Teams that have new head coaches, are installing new offensive or defensive systems are at an inherent disadvantage this season. On-field practices have already been impacted and while teams that make great use of virtual classrooms or zoom meetings can mitigate some of the impact and prepare in a different way, it's impossible to truly replace reps.
The Browns also play in a division with two of the teams in the league that might be impacted the least by COVID-19 and its ramifications in terms of on-field practices in the Baltimore Ravens and Pittsburgh Steelers. No coaching changes, no system changes and returning a significant amount of players from the teams they had this past year. Particularly the Ravens, they are mostly bringing back a team that went 14-2 and the Browns have to play them on the road in Baltimore to start the season.
Those are factors that could prevent the Browns from achieving a winning record and making the playoffs while still making substantial progress. It might be a process where they are still figuring themselves out a few weeks into the season and by the end of the year, they have rounded into form and look the part of the incredibly impressive roster that is ready to make a leap in 2021.
And given the hype the Browns had last year only to be 6-10, demanding they prove it is perfectly reasonable. But to be the 24th best team in the league?
Among the teams that King ranks ahead of the Browns include the San Diego Chargers at 23, who have Tyrod Taylor and rookie Justin Herbert at quarterback. Sam Tevi might be one of their starting tackles.
It's not difficult to understand the credibility that is given to Bill Belichick given his accomplishments in his career, but the Tom Brady-less New England Patriots with Jarrett Stidham are ranked higher than the Browns, despite the fact Stidham has yet to play an NFL snap.
The Miami Dolphins are ranked 19th. The Browns without Myles Garrett and Olivier Vernon had no problem taking care of the Dolphins. Sure, they've added talent and Brian Flores had an impressive first season under terrible circumstances, but the quarterback situation is a giant question mark as is the offensive line.
Most galling of all is the Las Vegas Raiders, who King has eighth. A 7-9 team that added a pair of linebackers in free agency, drafted a bunch of receivers. Eighth. Damarious Randall, who quit on the Browns, is projected to be a starting safety for the Raiders is apparently good enough to be the fourth best team in the AFC.
Nothing ventured, nothing gained, but it's really difficult to understand how the Browns got worse over the course of this offseason and the Raiders became a contender.
