My Top 5 and Bottom 5 Desirable Roster Situations for Next Cycle
by damnlefty07 | 4 years ago | 1 Comments
Hello Redzone!
I thought I'd join in on all the fun and post an article here on DL and I thought I would start with my rankings of the top 5 and bottom 5 roster situations for next cycle, starting with the bottom 5. These are not necessaily MY rankings (otherwise those purple pansies would be #32) but what I feel like the opinions of the league as a whole might look like.
32.) Houston Texans
Everyone knows by now the disaster that this team self inflicted on themselves in the NFL offseason. Trading a top 3 WR in the entire league for a 2nd round pick and aging RB in David Johnson who had 2 good seasons in his career is awful no matter how you look at it. I get the fact that the rumors were that Hopkins wanted a new deal but he was under contract for 3 more seasons. Compound that with the fact they gave up 2 first round picks for LT Laremy Tunsil and then signed him to a deal that averages $22m per year and you have a terrible situation. Deshaun Watson is a nice QB to start the cycle with, and JJ Watt is still a beast but outside of those 2 what do you have going for you? Some speed at WR maybe with Fuller and Stills? Whoever takes this team is either a Texans fan, someone who enjoys puzzles and teambuilding, or the 32nd pick in the draft.
31.) New York Jets
Sorry moji, but this team is not good. Yes Sam Darnold is young but what does he have to work with? Their best WR left for Carolina, Leveon Bell is a shell of his old self after sitting out that season, they just signed 55 year old Frank Gore to split time in the backfield, and their OL is not very good either. Taking Mekhi Becton at #11 overall should help, but generally rookie OL don't come in and dominate right away so its yet to be seen how much of an upgrade he'll be initially. On the defensive side, rumors have been swirling for at least 2 months on trading away their best player in Jamal Adams. Should that happen before our cycle starts this team gets even worse. The only good thing this team has going for it is its a blank slate but they don't even have a ton of salary cap space as they have about $11m according to sportrac.
30.) Pittsburgh Steelers
Maybe an unpopular opinion here but I'm not sure where the Steelers are headed. They seem to be in the middle between a full on rebuild and going for a playoff run. Big Ben is old so you know whoever gets this team should be looking at QB early in the first draft of the cycle outside of JuJu Smith-Schuster (who is in the final year of his contract) what real offensive weapons are on this team? James Conner is nice, but he's not going to be a guy who is a threat to take it the distance everytime he touches the ball. Speed still kills in Madden and he's more of a power runner. Fortunately the offensive line is still solid with David DeCastro and Maurkice Pouncey anchoring the interior. The defense has some nice pieces in TJ Watt, Minkah Fitzpatrick, and Devin Bush but the CB situation is a nightmare and with the way RZ values the CB position you'll be paying an absolute premium to upgrade there. Like I said this is not an overall bad roster, but one stuck in the middle which is the worst possible spot you can be as we start the new cycle and not much salary cap space $5.6m accoring to sportrac.
29.) Jacksonville Jaguars
Wow did this team fall off fast. After making the AFC title game just 2 years ago (and some saying they maybe should have even won that game) this team completely fell on its face last season. They traded away Jalen Ramsey, Calais Campbell, and AJ Bouye already and are most likely trading away Yannick Ngakoue before we begin as well. Their defense was something to really build around and now, what is left? Myles Jack is the prototypical Madden ILB and they took CB CJ Henderson and K'Lavon Chaisson in the 1st round of the draft but its always a crapshoot on how Madden will rate the rookies and their dev traits. The offense has Minshew Mania at QB who showed flashes last season, but he won't be rated high so whoever gets this team will have to make a decision at the QB position early. The WR position though has some promise with DJ Chark, Dede Westboook, and Laviska Shenault, all are young and should be rated well enough to build around. But the OL is terrible so will Minshew even have time to find them? They do have the 9th most cap space according to Sportrac though so that is something to hold your hat on at least.
28.) LA Rams
Another team where everyone knows exactly the disaster they put themselves in. Trading away multiple picks in order to make a Super Bowl run but now they are paying the price. Gone are Todd Gurley and Brandin Cooks from the offense. Jared Goff got extended early so he's now making a fat load of cash, the offensive line is not good. Cooper Kupp is a nice slot WR and Robert Woods is not bad in his own right on the outside but other than them, there is not a lot to get excited about here. The defense does start with Aaron Donald and Jalen Ramsey though. Arguably 2 of the top 10 defensive players in the entire league are both here and a great starting point. But Ramsey will have to be paid the first season but in doing so, several other players will have to walk because this cap situation is the worst in the league. I wish good luck to the masochist who takes on this puzzle of a salary cap situation.
Now on to the top 5 situations
5.) LA Chargers
I might be higher on this team than others but when I look at this team and what they did in the offseason it was tough to rank them any lower. You get a rookie QB in Justin Herbert to develop for the entire cycle. My guess is they won't make him unusable like they did with Daniel Jones last cycle. You get Austin Ekeler at RB who may not be a star, but certainly servicable in both the running and passing game. Keenan Allen, Mike Williams, and TE Hunter Henry has got to be one of the top trios in the league to throw to, and they added RT Bryan Bulaga in the offseason to shore up the OL. But the defense is really where the roster boner starts. We all saw what Joey Bosa did for astin this past cycle and even if (probably when) they nerf the pass rush he'll still be one of the better DE in the league. They added DT Linval Joseph to help against the run. They added Chris Harris Jr. out of Denver to play acros from Casey Hayward at CB to give them a better than average CB duo and Derwin James is back at safety to erase everything that gets to him. Plus they added ILB Kenneth Murray later in the first round who should at worst be an amazing Madden user LB. If that wasn't enough, they have the 8th most cap space according to Sportrac to work with as well. And even more! Those powder blue jerseys are nice to look at at worst 8 times a season.
4.) San Francisco 49ers
They obviously had a great season last year and really probably should have won the Super Bowl although blowing that lead to Patrick Mahomes might hurt, its nothing to be ashamed of. Because of that you know this team will get a nice ratings boost heading into this cycle. Mostert and Coleman at RB may not scare anyone indiviually but the duo will be more than servicable to begin with. Losing Emmanuel Sanders at WR hurts but Deebo Samuel showed promise last year and rookie Brandon Aiyuk should fit great with this offense with his run after catch ability. As much as astin and I give cave shit in the chat, TE George Kittle really is arguably the best TE in the league, at worst he's #3 so he'll be a great target for QB #10 as well. The defensive line will still be great despite losing DeForest Buckner in the trade with Indy with Nick Bosa, Solomon Thomas, and Arik Armstead still on the roster. We saw that DL really drive cave to 3 Super Bowl wins last cycle and they'll be just as good out of the box this cycle. the Lbers are nothing to write home about but that can be easily upgraded. The secondary will need some immediate help though as Richard Sherman is old and outside of him, none of the names really scare you. Overall this is a great team for someone like cave who loves to run the ball and play the short passing game on offense and just play sound on defense and let the DL eat.
3.) Dallas Cowboys
2.) Kansas City Chiefs
Maybe a surprise to some here and really they could be 1B to my #1 team but here are the Chiefs. They'll absolutely get a 99 overall Mahomes at QB out of the box and the track stars at WR in Tyreek Hill and Mecole Hardman. At TE is in my opinion the best TE i the league in Travis Kelce and they also add RB Clyde Edwards-Helaire at RB at the end of the 1st round (despite WG saying Damien Williams is a top RB in the league) so you'll have a versatile RB to develop for the majority of the cycle but lets be honest, whoever gets this team will be playing the typical "bombs away" offensive style that RZ loves and will do it well. The defense leaves a lot to be desired for my taste but Chris Jones at DT should be good out of the box and Tyrann Mathieu is a nice safety as well. But other than them, what does this unit really have? Frank Clark might be a nice piece at DE but does anyone really scheme around him? Whoever gets this team will first have to pay Mahomes about a billion dollar contract and then hope to hit in the draft to build up this defense. But luckily the offense is good enough to win most games 45-44 until that happens.
1.) Balitmore Ravens
Really this was an easy choice for me. You are going to get Lamar Jackson who coming off his MVP will be even more of a cheat code than what kad had last cycle. My guess is he'll be even more dangerous that Michael Vick was back in his Madden days. At RB Mark Ingram is coming off a great year and you add rookie J.K. Dobbins as well in the draft who was a stud at Ohio St and you really have something to work with there. WR needs some love as Marqise Brown is really the only one who scares you, but TE Mark Andrews is solid as a 2nd option. The retirment of RG Marshall Yanda is a huge loss but LT Ronnie Stanley is one of the best LT in the entire league and still young enough to have for a good majority of the cycle. On defense they traded for Calais Campbell to help on the DL, Matthew Judon is solid as a OLB pass rusher but the absolute best position group on this team is the secondary. Marlon Humphrey is a stud already, Marcus Peters could be the #1 CB on a good handful of teams, and Earl Thomas at safety is still as good as it gets there. With the way RZ loves to pass, this team is set up to defend it better than almost any other roster. The pass rush needs some love early but if one of the better running users in the league get this team, watch out because they will be deadly early and for a long time.
Well there it is, I hope you all enjoyed reading this and make sure to let me know if you agree or disagree on any of my rankings!
Thanks RZ!