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NFL Power Rankings, Week 1: Chiefs, 49ers on top at kickoff
With the 2020 NFL season about to kick off, Dan Hanzus determines the league hierarchy in the Week 1 Power Rankings.
www.nfl.com
Read these lame summaries:
#2 San Fran whiners- They have no one to throw to but Kittle
We're all about giving Kyle Shanahan the benefit of the doubt, but the defending NFC champs will begin the season with serious issues at wide receiver. Let's recap where they're at: Deebo Samuel is working his way back from a broken foot. Richie James Jr. missed camp with a broken wrist. First-round pick Brandon Aiyuk is week-to-week with a hamstring injury. Jalen Hurd tore his ACL. Tavon Austin hit IR with his own knee issue. Emmanuel Sanders exited via free agency, and Travis Benjamin was a COVID-19 opt-out.
#7 Dallas Cowgirls- All they mention is the offensive weapons
In a mailbag on the Cowboys' official site, reporters Nick Eatman and Rob Phillips broke down the similarities in the training camps of first-round pick CeeDee Lamb and 2010 first-rounder Dez Bryant. Lamb has impressed this summer, and it makes you think how truly dangerous Dallas' offense has the potential to be if Lamb quickly develops the way Dez did a decade ago. This is a team that already has an alpha dog No. 1 WR in Amari Cooper and a dynamic Year 3 talent in Michael Gallup. They don't need Lamb to hit the ground running ... but if he does? If Dak Prescott has three receiving stars at his disposal plus Ezekiel Elliott? The 'Boys could field their best offense ever.
#8 Green Puke- Rogers, Rogers, Rogers
Aaron Rodgers told reporters last week he used this bizarre pandemic year of 2020 to "[find his] center a little bit." He said this period of isolation and self-introspection has provided him with an extremely healthy perspective on football and life. You could say this awakening comes at a pretty convenient time for Rodgers, who's about to enter the most pivotal year of his football life. He won't say it, but the 36-year-old Rodgers knows he has to do better than the efficient-but-not-special play he's put on tape the last two years. And if he's secretly harboring bitterness toward the Packers for their decision to draft a quarterback in the first round? There's no better way to stick it to the organization than to deliver a vintage season that makes their impending QB decision as agonizing as possible. Can't you see it?
#9 Seadicks- This is one of the worst, counting on Mr pot head
Josh Gordon is back in the building, adding another intriguing name to a wide receiver room that will do damage if Brian Schottenheimer lets Russell Wilson truly be unlimmmmmmittted. (I'm sorry.) We're not sure what Gordon has left in the tank at 29 with five drug-related bans (he remains suspended as of this writing), but he could provide value for a team in need of receiver depth. The Seahawks are set in their first two spots: Tyler Lockett was excellent last year stepping in for the retired Doug Baldwin, and D.K. Metcalf's gradual bloom as a playmaker was pretty much a best-case scenario for what you hope for out of a rookie wideout.
#14 Philadelphia Beagles-
Vulnerability continues to be a trait connected to the wide receivers room. Alshon Jeffery avoided the PUP list, but stands a good chance of missing the first month of the season as he recovers from foot surgery. The now obligatory summer praise aside, DeSean Jackson (33) has passed the stage where he can be trusted to stay on the field. First-round pick Jalen Reagor is sidelined after suffering a slight tear in his shoulder in the last week of camp. It will be on the likes of J.J. Arcega-Whiteside and Greg Ward to keep this group competent and allow Carson Wentz to make this offense go. We remain a tad skeptical.
#17 And this one is the worst; they only write about our QB and most of that is in a negative context
Jared Goff might be the Least Valuable Player on Hard Knocks (the man could put a rabid raccoon to sleep with his monotone delivery), but it feels like people have prematurely written him off as a quarterback who can be a difference-maker. Yes, last year was not pretty, and it's fair to wonder if Goff's statue-like presence in the pocket will continue to be an issue behind the Rams' suspect offensive line. But Goff is still just 25, and he's proven in the past he can light up defenses in Sean McVay's scheme. With Todd Gurley out of the picture, McVay (still one of the game's best minds, by the way) has had an offseason to cook up an attack that puts his QB in the best position to succeed. Cue the Goffaissance!
