A new idea I had in order to help me go through the NFL team’s rosters and examine all the personnel and coaching changes, etc., one-by-one. I’m going to look at two teams head-to-head in seven key categories (my bias on what is ‘key’). The team that gets my vote in each category gets a ‘win’…the first team to 4 wins moves on to the next round. Just a quick, hopefully fun, way to take the temperature of each team heading into the 2023 preseason.
The seven categories…it’s actually six because one category is so important that it’s worth double:
1-2) The quarterbacks comparison…the winner of this gets 2 wins, or if too close to call it could be a 1-1 split.
3) O-Line -- Judging which team has the better O-Line…the most critical aspect of a team after the QB.
4) Cornerbacks -- After O-Line, I think the most critical position is shutdown corners (or not having any).
5) Head Coach/Organization -- A battle of which coaches will get in the way less, to some degree but also an edge given to teams that will attract free agents or be a desired destination in trades…and what teams are filling the stadium for home games, etc. Everything rolled into one judgment call.
6) Offensive Weapons -- Which team has the better, scarier RB-WR-TE group.
7) Kicker -- If it comes down to #7, of course the kicker should make the determination...as the kicker often determines the winner of a 59+ minute war prior with a last second make/miss.
As we lead into each category and tap a winner -- I’m also listing the major add/loss for each team in the offseason so far, just to eyeball it as a list.
Is this a brilliant way to judge teams over another? Who knows! But it struck me as something fun to do while studying each team this preseason, after the majority of offseason moves have been made.
CIN major adds: LT O. Brown, TE I. Smith, DE Murphy, CB Turner, SAF Battle, RB C. Brown
CIN major losses: SAF Bates, TE Hurst, SAF V. Bell, RB Perine
CLE major adds: OT Dawand Jones, WR Elijah Moore, LB Za’Darius Smith, QB D.T.R., SAF Thornhill, DT Ika, DE Okoronkwo
CLE major losses: SAF J. Johnson, LB Clowney
QB (2x): No contest here…the choice between Joe Burrow and Deshaun Watson. Easy win for Cincy.
Cincy takes a 2-0 lead.
O-Line: Cincy upgrades their O-Line this offseason, but still it is not as good as the Browns starting five…which is arguably one of the best OLs in the league, and that’s not considering Dawand Jones, who could be the draft steal of 2023 and if he is as good as I think -- he could help the Browns slip into the playoffs behind a dominant O-Line.
Cincy now leads (2-1).
CBs: Cincy gets Chidobe Awuzie back this year and he pairs with underrated slot CB Mike Hilton and shock 2022 rookie CB Cam Taylor-Britt to form a very under-the-radar great CB group with depth in 2nd-round pick D.J. Turner, last year’s 1st-round pick Dax Hill can play CB or SAF. This is a good group.
I thought this would be a slam dunk for Cincy, but the Browns have a pretty impressive CB trio as well. Denzel Ward, 2022 3rd-round rookie M.J. Emerson was impressive in spurts last year, and slot CB Greg Newsome is one of the best slot corners in the league already.
In a surprise (to me)…give the nod to the Browns, who have tied it up (2-2).
HC/Organization: The Bengals have not had the greatest organization over the years, but Cleveland has been the perpetual poster child for ‘bad organization’. Cincy has been knocking on the door of a Super Bowl title for two years, and players want to jump on board because they see title hopes…those same players don’t see that with the Browns. Players avoid Cleveland, where they don’t avoid Cincy anymore/right now. Edge to Zac Taylor and especially his D-C Lou Anarumo.
Cincy takes back the lead (3-2).
Weapons: The Bengals have the better WR group…easy call there. But the Browns have a better RB group. Also, edge to the Browns at TE. Let’s say Ja’Marr Chase and Nick Chubb cancel each other out…would I rather have Higgins-Boyd-Mixon-Irv Smith or Amari-Peoples-Jones-I.Moore-Njoku? So close, but I lean dynamic pass game weapons over run game, personally, so the narrowest of wins for Cincy.
And with that, in a much closer matchup than I expected…Cincy wins the series (4-2).
Kicker: McPherson and York are both great young kicking prospects, but McPherson has proven himself on bigger stages…so lean McPherson.
Cincy ends it with a (5-2) spread/win, but it was closer than the spread looks.
