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.
TB major adds: QB Baker Mayfield, DT Gaines, PK McLaughlin, DL Kancey. OG Mauch, DE Diaby
TB major losses: QB Tom Brady, DT Nunez-Roches, CB Bunting, OT Donv. Smith, SAF Edwards, PK Succop, RB Fournette, OG S. Mason
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NO major adds: QB Carr, DE Shepherd, DT K Sanders, TE Moreau, RB J. Williams, WR Harty, DT Breese, DE Foskey, OG Saldiveri, WR A.T. Perry
NO major losses: LB Elliss, DT Onyemata, DT Tuttle, DE Davenport, TE Trautman,
QB (2x): Baker Mayfield vs. Derek Carr. Both guys had their coaches quit on them in 2022…so, they have that in common. Baker has won a playoff game…Carr has not. There’s really no clear winner here, so it’s a draw.
We begin at a (1-1) tie.
O-Line: Tampa has talent on the O-Line, but they are coming off a disastrous 2022 performance. The Saints have more talent and are coming off an OK performance in 2022. Edge to the Saints, for now.
Saints take the (2-1) lead.
CBs: Tampa Bay has a sneaky good CB group with Davis-Dean on the outside, but the Saints have one of the best CB trios in the entire league with Lattimore-Taylor-Adebo.
Saints extend the lead to (3-1).
HC/Organization: The Saints are a team/city/stadium/locale players would like to play for, but Tampa is more desired landing spot in every way. The coaching matchup is a draw, I guess…both have done nothing impressive as HCs and both are on the hot seat. I guess the lean goes to Tampa…recent Super Bowl winners and 3x division winners in-a-row.
Saints hold a (3-2) lead.
Weapons: I’ll take the Bucs backfield for ace RB Rachaad White. I’ll take the Bucs WR group for sure. Saints have the edge at TE, but not big enough to overcome all the other TB advantages here.
The Bucs tie it up (3-3)…and it comes down to the kickers…
Kicker: If I judged this on the 2022 season…then McLaughlin wins…he had a really nice 2022 season. But judging them over time/a body of work and both still in prime shape right now -- I have to give the nod to Lutz…long-time better and much better on kickoffs.
The Saints survive and win this series (4-3) and move on to the NFC Final Four.
Upcoming Matchups (next round):
MIA v. CIN in the AFC Final Four
JAX v. KC in the AFC Final Four
PHI v. MIN in the NFC Final Four
NO plays the winner of the SF v. SEA for the NFC West matchup.
