Gonzo Reads Magazines - Pro Football Weekly NFL Preview

by Gonzo on May 31, 2008 11:15 AM CDT in NFC North Comment 13 comments

Well, it's the last day of May, and you know what that means. Obviously, it means that the first NFL preview issues of the season are hitting a newsstand near you! Honestly, I keep joking about this happening earlier every single year, and yet every single year. . .it keeps happening earlier. But hey, it gives us something to discuss, so let's do that.

The first two magazines of the year are Lindy's Pro Football Preview, which I'll look at in a future post, and our subject for this discussion, the Pro Football Weekly NFL Preview issue. PFW grades each team in eight different categories, giving each position a letter grade on the school-style "A through F" scale. Let's take a look at where they've ranked the different units of the NFC North teams.

	Chicago	Detroit	Green Bay	Minnesota
Quarterbacks	C-	C-	C	D+
Running Backs	C-	D	B	A
Receivers	C-	B+	A-	C-
Offensive Line	C-	D+	B-	B
Defensive Line	B	C	B	A
Linebackers	A-	C-	B	B
Defensive Backs	B-	C	B	C
Special Teams	A	B	B	B
Predicted 2008 Record	7-9	5-11	9-7	8-8
Odds to Win Super Bowl	15-1	60-1	20-1	15-1

Honestly, I'm not sure if it's some sort of typo or what, but I'm not sure how PFW has the Vikings AND Bears listed with better odds to win the Super Bowl than Green Bay, yet still have Green Bay winning the division.

As you can see, when looking at the individual units, the Beloved Purple come out on top in 3 of the 8 categories, the Packers come out on top in 3 of the 8 categories, and the Bears take the other 2. . .sorry, Detroit. Overall, the only one of the rankings above that I can really argue with is the quarterback category. I discussed this with The Sports Guru and BigBlueShoe this past Tuesday on the SBNation Football Frenzy, and it still boggles my mind that so many football "experts" can be so completely sold on Aaron Rodgers and so completely convinced that Tarvaris Jackson will never be anything better than awful. On top of that, if we're looking at depth charts as a whole, I don't know how you can grade Green Bay's QBs any higher than Minnesota's.

For starters, comparing the two offenses, Green Bay's offense is much more dependent on the pass than Minnesota's is. Hell, Minnesota's offense isn't just a run-first offense. . .it's the run-first offense. Say what you will about Brett Favre. . .and I hate the guy as much as anybody. . .but Green Bay's running game got absolutely destroyed for the first half of 2007, and he carried that team during that time. Apparently, based on one whole half of football in a game against Dallas where he entered the game with his team losing by 17 points, some people think that Aaron Rodgers is capable of exactly the same thing. I, on the other hand, would beg to differ. Ryan Grant better hope he gets that big new contract here soon, because he's going to take a serious thumping in 2008.

As far as the rest of the depth chart. . .Aaron Rodgers has no NFL starting experience, and has played against largely prevent defenses in the games he has played. If he goes out and throws a boneheaded pass, he gets to go back to the bench, as most quarterbacks do, and discuss it with his backup. Oh, his backup just happens to be a rookie that's never seen an NFL defense before. And the guy that's backing up THAT rookie? Also a rookie. But, apparently, having three guys with a combined zero NFL starts and about 7 quarters of NFL game experience gives you a better quarterback situation than a team with guy that actually has 16 games of starting experience in the NFL and a 15-year NFL vet backing him up. Please. The Vikings might not have the best QB situation in the NFC North or anything, but it's certainly no worse than the team that, according to these rankings, has the best one.

Outside of that, as I said, the rankings appear to be pretty solid. Still scratching my head over the "Odds to Win the Super Bowl" stuff as it relates to record, but it's not my magazine. I'm just relaying what the nice people at PFW are printing.

PFW also has a feature that ranks the top players at each position, including a list of the Top 50 NFL players regardless of position. The ratings go on a 1.0 to 5.0 scale. Here are the NFC North players that are featured on the list and where they're ranked:

5) Jared Allen, DE, Minnesota - 4.55
16) Adrian Peterson, RB, Minnesota - 4.3
23) Brian Urlacher, MLB, Chicago - 4.2
25) Kevin Williams, DT, Minnesota - 4.2
46) Devin Hester, RS, Chicago - 4.0
47) Tommie Harris, DT, Chicago - 4.0

Allen is the highest-rated defensive player on the list. . .the four players ranked ahead of him are a few guys named Tom Brady, Peyton Manning, LaDanian Tomlinson, and Randy Moss (in that order). Pretty good stuff, I'd say.

As far as the individual positions, here's where NFC North players are ranked on the lists:

Quarterbacks - Jon Kitna #26, Rex Grossman #27, Tarvaris Jackson listed among "Top Veteran Prospects"
Running Backs - Adrian Peterson #3, Ryan Grant #20, Chester Taylor #29
Tight Ends - Greg Olsen #13, Donald Lee #16
Wide Receivers - Donald Driver #12, Roy Williams #17, Greg Jennings #22, Bernard Berrian #24, Calvin Johnson listed among "Top Veteran Prospects"
Centers - Olin Kreutz #3, Matt Birk #4 (huh?), Dominic Raiola #19
Guards - Steve Hutchinson #3, Daryn Colledge listed among "Top Veteran Prospects"
Tackles - Bryant McKinnie #7, Chad Clifton #9, John Tait #16, Mark Tauscher #17, Jeff Backus #24

Defensive Ends - Jared Allen #1, Aaron Kampman #6, Adewale Ogunleye #19, Dewayne White #28, Mark Anderson and Cullen Jenkins listed among "Top Veteran Prospects"
Defensive Tackles - Kevin Williams #2, Tommie Harris #3, Pat Williams #4, Cory Redding #19, Ryan Pickett #21, Johnny Jolly listed among "Top Veteran Prospects"
Inside Linebackers - Brian Urlacher #1, Nick Barnett #11, E.J. Henderson #19
Outside Linebackers - Lance Briggs #6, Ernie Sims #11, A.J. Hawk #16, Chad Greenway listed among "Top Veteran Prospects"
Cornerbacks - Antoine Winfield #10, Charles Woodson #11, Al Harris #12 (suck it, Woodson and Harris), Charles Tillman #18
Safeties - Darren Sharper #7, Madieu Williams #14, Atari Bigby #23, Dwight Smith #24, Gerald Alexander, Nick Collins, and Danieal Manning listed among "Top Veteran Prospects

Return Specialists - Devin Hester #1
Kicker - No NFCN players listed
Punter - No NFCN players listed

That's the inside scoop on what the NFC North looks like according to the good folks at Pro Football Weekly. Feel free to use the comment section to discuss these rankings, any agreements or disagreements, and just generally looking at the NFC North.

Not sure if there will be anything later on today or not. . .Mrs. Gonzo and I have plans for this afternoon, but I could possibly get something up here later on today. If not, be sure to check back tomorrow. Enjoy your Saturday, ladies and gentlemen!

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I don’t know if those rating are very accurate to be completely honest. For one, I agree with you that rating the Vikings quarterback situation a D+ and rating Green Bay’s a C is completely ridiculous. Your completely right, we have a starter who actually has STARTING experience, a backup who has been in the league for 15 years and a 3rd who some analysts had as the second best quarterback in the draft. Now call me a homer but I really like Tarvaris and think that he will be the best NFL North QB hands down. Two, I totally disagree with the rating our linebackers got, a B? I’m not saying that we should be above Green Bay, I think we should probably stay equal but I think they both deserve atleast a B+ or an A-. By no means do the Bears have the best LB’s in the North. Brian Urlacher is getting old and is now on the down slope of his career, Lance Briggs is a stud and Hillenmeyer is OK. Now look at both the Packers and the Vikings: Nick Barnett, AJ Hawk, Popinga, Greenway, Henderson and Leber. All six of those LB’s are either in or heading to their primes. Now the third category that I disagree with is our DB’s. A C? Ok I know the Vikes had one of the worst passing D’s in the league but did that not have anything to do with the lack of pass rush? How can we rated with a C when just a couple weeks ago we had the #1 safeties in the North. Now if we have the #1 safeties in the North, arguably the best tackling CB in the League in Antoine Winfield, how are we only rated with a C? It really makes no sense to me. But then again, the more I look at it and think about it, I think it’s probably better that we are rated lower at these positions because come the start of the season, we’ll see who is better. I guarrantee it will be the Vikes and I guarrantee when Tarvaris starts to be the quarterback we Minnesotans all know he can be, ALL the people that doubt him will jump on the bandwagon. So honestly, people can hate all they want because it will only motivate the Vikings to be that much better.

by JHerrera76 on May 31, 2008 12:50 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs

Ratings

With the press he’s received, rating TJ low is always an easy thing to do. I’m not surprised that PFW follows the herd with a D+ rating. I think he’ll do fine though and by the end of this year I expect he’d be graded as a B for the season.

The one rating that jumps out at me is the receivers. The Vikes and the Bears both get a C-?? The bears have better receiving out of their tight end position than we do (although that may change this year), but I sure don’t see any quality when I look at the wide receivers on their roster. Marty Booker’s best years are so far back in the rear view mirror that they’re becoming specks on the horizon, and none of their other receivers have accomplished anything. What am I missing?

For the Vikes, Sidney Rice’s rookie year was his learning year. As a veteran, there’s every reason to believe his production will go up dramatically. Berrian won’t make anyone’s lists of elite receivers (yet), but after watching game replays on nfl network in the past month or so, I think we picked up a high quality receiver.

Wade and Ferguson? I’d take them over ANY of the bears wideouts (ignoring Hester for his return abilities).

by Skywatcher on May 31, 2008 1:52 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs

DB's

We have the top rated CB and the top two safeties and then get a C; below both Chi. & GB? That makes about as much sense as the odds Gonzo stated in the blog. A real head scratcher. Maybe PFW needs an editor with a math/statiisical background.

by Odin on May 31, 2008 10:36 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs

You Know. . .

I never thought to look at it that way, but that’s a damn fine point.

Green Bay might have the superior CB tandem, but Minnesota’s safeties are so much better than Green Bay’s that it’s ridiculous. The Pack’s safeties are a joke, and have been ever since Sharper left town. Atari Bigby is great. . .as long as he can get you lined up and hit you really hard (if the guy doesn’t put a move on him), and as long as you ignore the fact that he can’t actually, you know, cover anybody. I’ve also been hearing about how great Nick Collins allegedly is for years, but I sure as hell haven’t seen anything that would actually indicate that.

Eh. . .after the pass rush our team’s going to get this year, I’m sure the grade for our DBs in PFW’s 2009 Preview will be significantly higher.

The Daily Norseman - The greatest Vikings' site on the Internet!

by Gonzo on Jun 1, 2008 12:09 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

I know he had an off year...

But Roy Williams not ranked in the WRs is a joke.

by The Heat on Jun 1, 2008 12:15 AM CDT reply actions 0 recs

That's My Mistake. . .

Because Roy Williams was listed. I’ve corrected the error, and apologize for making it.

The Daily Norseman - The greatest Vikings' site on the Internet!

by Gonzo on Jun 1, 2008 11:23 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

I think the "experts" really underestimate Tavarius Jackson as a viable QB.

I can’t believe they gave Aaron Rodgers a better grade…that is laughable.

If God is not a Bronco fan, then WHY are sunsets Blue and Orange? - Jon Tollerud 5/22/08
The Quest ~ TSG 5/19/08

by Tim Lynch on Jun 1, 2008 11:54 AM CDT reply actions 0 recs

I hate to say it...

But I think you wasted your money on that mag.

by Robert Rence on Jun 1, 2008 12:57 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs

The media me thinks will be eating a massive load

of crow after this season regarding T-Jack. Now I’m not saying he’s going to light it up, but to think the kid has no chance to get better and to just write him off is going to make a lot of people look foolish.

VikeGuru is a doofus!!

by Unclebillybonz on Jun 1, 2008 6:15 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs

Thank Heaven for Illogical Sports Writers

A key to a great Viking 2008 season is getting a jump in those first two regular games. Fortunately, most sports writers can’t read the writing on the wall well enough to see that when it comes to ranking the Vikes, the key thing is the past is over. This element of surprise this sets up is just like an early Christmas gift for Tarvaris. So, Aaron and Peyton, it’s all true; don’t practice too hard, guys. The Vikings aren’t that good. (Would I lie?)

by Elgar on Jun 1, 2008 10:59 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs

Odds to win the Super Bowl...

I think the odds in the magazine reflect the actual odds to win the super bowl according to Las Vegas. I don’t think I’ve ever seen PFW give out their own odds.

by alx420 on Jun 2, 2008 5:20 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs

Get real

If it weren’t for the Bears being completely inept, the Vikings would have the worst qb trio in the league (the Bears can’t even field 3 bad qbs). What other team would tjok start for in the league?
Not only is he a sub par qb, who does he have catching the ball? His best receiver is a cast off from the worst offense in the NFL.
Rodgers might be an average qb, but atleast he has an excellent receiving corp to make plays for him.

by packfan on Jun 15, 2008 3:35 AM CDT reply actions 0 recs