Ranking The Chances For First Time Champions 21-19

I was sitting on my porch listening to the most recent podcast that Adel, Spencer, and Mayne Event did when I had an interesting thought. Why not do something that does not include the perennial winner or one-time fluke champion. Why not look at who has a legitimate chance to be a Redzone champion for the first time in their career. This will rank the chances of every active user in the league who has never won the big one. No matter how long you have been in the league, or how new you are. We will start with the least likely in my view to crack that ceiling and capture something we all play for but many of us have been unable to get for years. This ranking takes into account a historical view of how you have performed in the past combined with the potential of your new situation. We will rank and breakdown each situation based on what I think will happen over the entirety of the cycle.

Number 21 Coach Robo Green Bay Packers

Coach Robo has a limited history in the league but I ranked him here because he never put it together in either of his first two stops. The Jets team he had was really lacking talent, he even drafted quite well in the beginning. However, the failure to develop his players doomed the rest of outlook and eventual conclusion of his cycle. Robo is a fantastic addition to the league in the time he has been here but let’s shift to taking a look at his current situation. This Packers team is not in good cap shape, unless he comes out of the gates and proves to be one of the best users early on sticks skills wise I do not think this team is set up for it to last. I would not be shocked if he shopped Aaron Rodgers early on trying to get the best return he can for the future hall of famer. With huge cap numbers waiting in the shadows of season 78 for Green Bay I expect to see some huge moves made. Nearly thirty million for Bakhtiari, and twenty-four million for Kenny Clark. That is not to mention the twenty million a piece that Aaron Jones and Jaire Alexander are going to be on their new deals. Did I mention Rodgers has a thirty-one-million-dollar cap hit himself? That is a good majority of the Season 78 salary cap I just listed off for you. Robo will have to adapt or find himself floundering with no opportunity at climbing the mountain to Redzone immortality.

Number 20 Coach Theo New England Patriots

With this one let’s start right at the overall fit. I do not like the fit of Theo and the Patriots, this marriage seems destined to be lackluster for both parties. First I do not think Theo is the type of coach who is going to take a young Quarterback like Mac Jones and lift him higher. Much like Kad before him I see Theo shipping Mac out of town and starting over at the position if not immediately then eventually. The core of this roster is aging, and while most of the players are under contracts that most would consider to be team friendly in the next season or two those same deals for those same players may not looks a friendly. He is definitely going to need to rebuild that defense sooner rather than later if he is going to replicate any of the success he should see in season 77 with that unit. Theo is a great user to have in the league because he does show a great level of commitment when his personal life allows him to. Looking back on his previous stops in Green Bay and Pittsburgh he really struggled to gain any traction in Title town after taking over for a Lombardi like legend in his own right Coach Lefty. Theo however did fight hard in a division that everyone left him for dead in with other coaches like Adel and Moji in the same division. Theo’s successes came on the offensive side when he was able to move past the Big Ben lead offenses and cultivate an offense that fit his desires and scheme. If Theo wants any chance to do that he will need to break similar chains off of this Patriots offense to make this happen. I am not betting on it being the cycle for Theo (however if it is please screenshot this and remind me every day).

Number 19 Coach Longville Philadelphia Eagles

This is another curious fit from my perspective, it really comes down to the identity of the coach involved here. This team has spent more capital in the last five years on Wide Receivers than Al Davis in his Raider glory days. Enter a coach who is known for trying his best to control the clock on the ground and play good defense. The offensive line is quite arguably the best in the league as it stands now, however if you remember our good friend Coach Tauph’s tenure there we know that does not last as these guys will start retiring on him. The positive spin here is the Eagles just drafted two players in the first round of this past draft and they have the opportunity to do so again by owning the Saints pick in Season 77. The negative is Nick Chubb still plays for the Browns so the XFactor 99 overall I run over people running back won’t be something that can be used a crutch early on. The only real way I see Coach Longville making the jump here is totally reinventing himself and becoming comfortable with things I personally have seen him in the past shy away from. In other words, he will need to be a competent passer if he expects to be crowned a champion this cycle. Those Browns teams were much better top to bottom than the Eagles team he is taking on right now. Defense is surely not up to the level that he had in Cleveland. His offense here has the potential to be more explosive but once again that is going to rely on him coming out of his shell. Winning early will be the key because this roster will have to heavily feature players that Matt decides to draft in the end. I do not see the stripes changing on this one, and if he does manage to win I am throwing my life savings on a Powerball ticket that day.

Thanks for reading! Make sure you check back for 16-18 next time.