# #1: Cowboys rising after defensive makeover; Bears drop out of top 10

An episode of [NFL: The Insiders](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/podcast/1543090622), 9 Sep 2026, 25 min.

Audio: https://podtrac.com/pts/redirect.mp3/traffic.omny.fm/d/clips/e73c998e-6e60-432f-8610-ae210140c5b1/f657ddcd-6c20-4af8-bbd7-aed70108edb8/0213ee86-558f-40d5-aaf4-b4c000b80da5/audio.mp3?utm_source=Podcast&in_playlist=3e412703-0644-468e-9001-ae390070e4db

The NFL season kicks off on Wednesday night and Mike Yam and Nick Shook are here to deliver the latest NFL power rankings. Where should the Ravens rank after a head coaching change? Are Nick's major doubts about Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs fair? Which team leads the way and who's DFL? See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

## Transcript

[0:04] Speaker 1: NFL Power Rankings is a production of the NFL in
[0:07] Speaker 1: partnership with iHeart Radio.
[0:13] Speaker 2: Oh, we could not be more excited to bring you
[0:16] Speaker 2: episode number one of Power Rankings. We are presented by Energizer,
[0:21] Speaker 2: along with Nick Shook, Mikey, I'm with you. Live in
[0:24] Speaker 2: the flesh, the man who is supposed to make all
[0:26] Speaker 2: 32 fan bases absolutely smile every single week when.
[0:29] Speaker 3: We do this show.
[0:29] Speaker 4: Yeah, and hopefully, you know, not get too many angry
[0:32] Speaker 4: comments in the Twitter mentions and social media and everything else.
[0:35] Speaker 4: It's going to happen. It's the nature of power rankings.
[0:37] Speaker 4: But we've got to sort all this out, and we're
[0:39] Speaker 4: going to start right now.
[0:39] Speaker 2: It is a thankless job that we ask you to
[0:42] Speaker 2: accomplish every single week. And even before the season starts,
[0:45] Speaker 2: I would argue not even the easiest of weeks to
[0:48] Speaker 2: do it, because we don't.
[0:49] Speaker 3: Even have a sample size right now.
[0:51] Speaker 2: I was going through your rankings last night. I would
[0:53] Speaker 2: say there was a couple of selections where I went, ooh,
[0:56] Speaker 2: Nick likes them this high. Let's show you exactly how
[0:59] Speaker 2: it looks. One through eight, the Los Angeles Rams sitting
[1:03] Speaker 2: in that top spot. The Denver Broncos follow them.
[1:05] Speaker 3: The champs are here at number three. Buffalo at number four.
[1:09] Speaker 3: We got the Eagles at five.
[1:10] Speaker 2: That one gave me a little bit of pause as well.
[1:12] Speaker 2: The Ravens with the new head coach, like the Buffalo Bills,
[1:15] Speaker 2: I should say. The Ravens sitting at number six. Cincinnati,
[1:19] Speaker 2: you are very high on this squad. Checking in at
[1:21] Speaker 2: number seven, we'll talk about them, not to mention the
[1:24] Speaker 2: Dallas Cowboys next.
[1:25] Speaker 3: At number eight. All right, the Rams at number one.
[1:28] Speaker 3: I would make an argument.
[1:29] Speaker 2: This is probably the least surprising thing on the entire
[1:32] Speaker 2: list considering some of the additions that they had. But
[1:34] Speaker 2: sell me on this team because the reality is I
[1:36] Speaker 2: don't even know what the identity is because they're so
[1:38] Speaker 2: darn good on offense, so darn good on defense. I,
[1:40] Speaker 2: I don't know if there's a weakness.
[1:41] Speaker 4: Right. And if we go back to last year, what
[1:43] Speaker 4: was their weakness? It was their secondary. And they immediately
[1:45] Speaker 4: went and upgraded it. They got Trey McDuffie. They got
[1:47] Speaker 4: Jalen Watson. That alone was like, OK, they fixed their problems.
[1:51] Speaker 4: They should be right back in the seat where they
[1:52] Speaker 4: were last year on the doorstep of the Super Bowl.
[1:54] Speaker 4: But then things changed when they acquired Miles Garrett, which
[1:57] Speaker 4: then Lord Aaron Donald out of retirement. They have an
[2:00] Speaker 4: embarrassment of riches now. And the only question is, can
[2:03] Speaker 4: they deliver on it? Because the pressure that mounts with
[2:05] Speaker 4: them being the favorites among everybody in the NFL, it
[2:08] Speaker 4: starts to build right now. And if you look at
[2:10] Speaker 4: them on paper, obviously we haven't played any games. But
[2:12] Speaker 4: as it stands right now with what we've seen in
[2:14] Speaker 4: a regular preseason, feeling pretty good about their chances so far.
[2:17] Speaker 4: There's obviously 18 weeks plus playoffs to go.
[2:19] Speaker 2: Just because of some of the additions that you made
[2:21] Speaker 2: reference to, are they even deep enough at this point?
[2:23] Speaker 2: Would you make the arguments even whether a storm of
[2:26] Speaker 2: injury in a particular spot or two.
[2:28] Speaker 4: Yeah, I would say on the defensive line they are
[2:29] Speaker 4: because of the addition of Garrett, because of the return
[2:31] Speaker 4: of Aaron Donald. There are still questions because when you
[2:34] Speaker 4: rebuild your secondary, that looks great on paper, but you
[2:37] Speaker 4: still need to see how it comes together on the field.
[2:39] Speaker 4: So we've got to give that time to really figure
[2:40] Speaker 4: it out. But I do think that they're probably deep
[2:42] Speaker 4: enough to weather it. My big question is at receiver.
[2:45] Speaker 4: Because when you go trade for Tutu Atwell just before cuts,
[2:48] Speaker 4: that kind of tells me, you know, you're trying to
[2:49] Speaker 4: add a depth guy, a familiar guy. That makes me
[2:52] Speaker 4: a little concerned about that group, but we know what
[2:53] Speaker 4: they have at the top of Pukunukuwa. and with Devontae Adams.
[2:56] Speaker 4: So you still feel really good. You've got the reigning
[2:58] Speaker 4: MVP at quarterback at Matthew Stafford. All of that looks
[3:01] Speaker 4: great right now so far. It's just a matter of
[3:03] Speaker 4: we've got to let it play out. They've got to
[3:04] Speaker 4: hope that they stay healthy.
[3:06] Speaker 2: You know, you had the Seahawks. You had the Super
[3:07] Speaker 2: Bowl champs checking in at number three. They're inside this
[3:09] Speaker 2: division as well. Is it as simple as, because I've
[3:13] Speaker 2: been fortunate enough to do this show the last couple seasons,
[3:15] Speaker 2: where I almost feel like, hey, we just automatically slot
[3:17] Speaker 2: the Super Bowl champs into that top spot.
[3:20] Speaker 3: Do we not do it, is it because of Kubiak?
[3:22] Speaker 2: Is that enough to drop them a couple spots?
[3:25] Speaker 4: I mean, that's fair. We did see what happened to
[3:26] Speaker 4: the Lions last year without Ben Johnson when he took
[3:28] Speaker 4: the job in Chicago. Of course, offensive line issues contributed
[3:31] Speaker 4: to that as well. When it comes to that, I
[3:32] Speaker 4: have some other concerns with personnel changes. Not major ones,
[3:35] Speaker 4: but minor personnel changes. And what I really don't like
[3:37] Speaker 4: to do is put the champ at number one. Because
[3:39] Speaker 4: you put the champ at number one, we know how
[3:41] Speaker 4: hard it is to repeat in this league. And so
[3:43] Speaker 4: as it stands right now, who has a better offseason?
[3:45] Speaker 4: It's got to be the Rams over the Seahawks.
[3:47] Speaker 2: Yeah, that's only happened nine times in NFL history where
[3:49] Speaker 2: you're talking about back-to-back champs. Most recently, 22-23 with the
[3:52] Speaker 2: Kansas City Chiefs. That Mahomes magic will typically do that
[3:56] Speaker 2: to you. But what is the biggest concern? Because you
[3:58] Speaker 2: talk about some of the personnel there. Is there something
[4:01] Speaker 2: else that you would point to to this team that
[4:03] Speaker 2: makes you hedge a little bit and not put them
[4:04] Speaker 2: in that top spot?
[4:05] Speaker 4: Yeah, I mean, the departure of Kenneth Walker is a
[4:06] Speaker 4: big part. We saw what he did in the Super Bowl.
[4:08] Speaker 4: That wasn't the strongest Super Bowl MVP we've ever seen
[4:10] Speaker 4: handed out, but he was a big part of this offense.
[4:12] Speaker 4: They also lost Zach Charbonnet in the playoffs to an ACL,
[4:16] Speaker 4: and he's still on his road back. So the question is,
[4:18] Speaker 4: can Jadarian Price, the rookie out of Notre Dame, can
[4:20] Speaker 4: he fill that role? That's a pretty big role for them. Defensively,
[4:23] Speaker 4: it's more minor. It's Rick Woolen leaving. It's Boye Imathi leaving.
[4:26] Speaker 4: But it's such a good unit overall that I think
[4:27] Speaker 4: they'll be fine there. I just need to see, can
[4:30] Speaker 4: their offense maintain enough balance and strength with a rookie
[4:32] Speaker 4: at running back as they did last year and be
[4:35] Speaker 4: able to be this good.
[4:35] Speaker 2: You know, on NFL.com, you can check out not only
[4:37] Speaker 2: just power rankings, but just great content. And then the preseason,
[4:42] Speaker 2: which we, I guess, technically are still in, we were
[4:44] Speaker 2: supposed to give our preseason picks to get to the
[4:46] Speaker 2: Super Bowl, who's going to win the divisions, the whole thing.
[4:49] Speaker 2: I actually had the Buffalo Bills sitting as the AFC
[4:52] Speaker 2: East winner. There was a part of me, I had
[4:53] Speaker 2: them going to the Super Bowl and losing to the Rams.
[4:55] Speaker 2: There's a part of me that almost regrets doing it.
[4:58] Speaker 2: Like I was trying to talk myself out of it.
[5:00] Speaker 2: You mentioned some of the unknowns regarding Seattle. I think
[5:03] Speaker 2: you can make kind of the same case with this
[5:06] Speaker 2: Buffalo squad, but you like them enough to slot them
[5:08] Speaker 2: in at number four.
[5:08] Speaker 4: Yeah, and I understand that hesitance because the Bills have
[5:11] Speaker 4: been in this conversation for so long, and they have
[5:14] Speaker 4: not gotten over the hump. And I don't mean to
[5:15] Speaker 4: rub it in, Bills fans. I'm sorry, but it is true.
[5:18] Speaker 4: The unknown now with them is you have a new
[5:19] Speaker 4: head coach. You promote your offensive coordinator in Joe Brady
[5:21] Speaker 4: to head coach. You think, okay, will that make us stronger?
[5:24] Speaker 4: We were already pretty strong offensively. Sometimes our weaknesses were
[5:26] Speaker 4: on the defensive side of the ball. You go on
[5:28] Speaker 4: from Sean McDermott, who was a defensive-minded coach but wasn't
[5:30] Speaker 4: getting much out of that defense. What does that look like?
[5:32] Speaker 4: The reason that I have them here is because they
[5:34] Speaker 4: made a good move at receiver acquiring D.J. Moore. Not
[5:37] Speaker 4: like the A.J. Brown acquisition type, but a guy that
[5:40] Speaker 4: is a veteran who can work well with Josh Allen.
[5:42] Speaker 4: and really, I think, find a good place in this offense.
[5:45] Speaker 4: I'm expecting a bit of like a honeymoon season from
[5:47] Speaker 4: those two. I love what you have in Josh Allen already.
[5:49] Speaker 4: He's my MVP pick for this season. And you have
[5:52] Speaker 4: James Cook as, you know, an elite rusher. You have
[5:54] Speaker 4: an offensive line that's very experienced. The question is, what
[5:56] Speaker 4: does that defense look like? What does that front seven
[5:58] Speaker 4: look like? Jim Leonard is the defensive coordinator. He comes
[6:00] Speaker 4: over from Denver. He has experience in the AFC East.
[6:03] Speaker 4: So I like what they have on paper, but I
[6:04] Speaker 4: just kind of, again, and that's this point in the
[6:07] Speaker 4: season where before week one we haven't really seen anything.
[6:09] Speaker 4: I need to see it kind of come together first.
[6:11] Speaker 4: Hopefully they get off to a fast start, and DJ
[6:13] Speaker 4: Moore is a big part of that.
[6:14] Speaker 2: Yeah, DJ Moore, by the way, the familiarity with him
[6:16] Speaker 2: and Joe Brady at his time in Carolina is another
[6:19] Speaker 2: factor that is there. I also do wonder, just a
[6:22] Speaker 2: different voice, and maybe that's what this team really does need.
[6:26] Speaker 2: That phrase has been thrown out there a whole lot,
[6:28] Speaker 2: but I understand it because they have been knocking on
[6:30] Speaker 2: the door. Speaking of a new voice, I can't believe
[6:32] Speaker 2: we're talking about Harbaugh not being in Baltimore with this
[6:35] Speaker 2: Ravens team. We'll talk about the Giants coming up a
[6:37] Speaker 2: little bit later here. on power rankings jesse mentor i
[6:40] Speaker 2: you know the other day last week on nfl report
[6:42] Speaker 2: which by the way you can catch monday through friday
[6:44] Speaker 2: on any of those connected devices and if i'm not
[6:46] Speaker 2: mistaken you're double dipping um or triple dipping doing that
[6:48] Speaker 2: show a little bit later but on the nfl report
[6:51] Speaker 2: we had some comments from lamar jackson lamar was like
[6:53] Speaker 2: hey i think there's another level to this team's offense
[6:57] Speaker 2: part of the reason why i like him for mvp
[6:58] Speaker 2: this year but take me through the rationale to have
[7:01] Speaker 2: the ravens coming.
[7:01] Speaker 3: Off a tough season where they didn't make the playoffs
[7:04] Speaker 3: sitting at number six.
[7:05] Speaker 4: Well, the number one thing that you have to cross
[7:06] Speaker 4: off the checklist is Lamar Jackson healthy. Because he wasn't
[7:09] Speaker 4: healthy for a portion last year, that really tanked their offense.
[7:12] Speaker 4: He lost Nnamdi Matabike to a neck injury. That really
[7:15] Speaker 4: hurt their defense. They couldn't stop the run. It was
[7:17] Speaker 4: basically Kyle Hamilton save us to make us competitive. Lamar
[7:20] Speaker 4: comes back, they get hot late, but it's not enough
[7:22] Speaker 4: before the season runs out of time. So now you
[7:25] Speaker 4: come back, you have a new head coach in Jesse
[7:26] Speaker 4: Minner who has history with the Ravens, under the Harbaugh tree,
[7:29] Speaker 4: that sort of thing. So the culture shouldn't change that much,
[7:31] Speaker 4: although there's been a lot of positive feedback energy coming
[7:33] Speaker 4: out of their camp that they just feel like they're
[7:35] Speaker 4: in a better place. And the younger coach, maybe that
[7:37] Speaker 4: does that. What I really need to know is what
[7:39] Speaker 4: does Declan Doyle's offense look like with this group? This
[7:41] Speaker 4: is another new offensive coordinator for Lamar Jackson. He had
[7:44] Speaker 4: Greg Roman. He had Todd Munkin. Now he's got Declan Doyle.
[7:46] Speaker 4: He comes from the Ben Johnson tree, and you think
[7:48] Speaker 4: that year one bump that you saw in Chicago, maybe
[7:50] Speaker 4: that happens here. You have a super athletic quarterback in
[7:52] Speaker 4: Lamar Jackson that can take advantage of it. You still
[7:54] Speaker 4: got Derrick Henry. I love the pick of Jacobi Lane.
[7:56] Speaker 4: I paired him with the Ravens before the season started,
[7:58] Speaker 4: or actually before the draft even arrived. So when they
[8:00] Speaker 4: took him, I was like, yes, and he's turned a
[8:01] Speaker 4: ton of heads in training camp. So all that comes together,
[8:04] Speaker 4: and you think, all right, they should be better. Trey
[8:06] Speaker 4: Hendrickson is on this defense. Matabike is close to returning.
[8:09] Speaker 4: Everything should work out. I'm worried about their center situation
[8:12] Speaker 4: for loser Tyler Linderbaum. Javon Gwynn was named the starter yesterday.
[8:15] Speaker 4: There are still some questions, but if everything comes together
[8:18] Speaker 4: on paper, another team that looks strong enough to be
[8:20] Speaker 4: in the top five.
[8:21] Speaker 2: I'm glad you bring up offensive line with Linderbaum. Pinch
[8:23] Speaker 2: was supposed to be that guy. Lose him because of
[8:25] Speaker 2: the ACL. So the depth clearly going to be a
[8:28] Speaker 2: factor that is there. We are not done talking about
[8:30] Speaker 2: the Ravens because you know there's going to be a
[8:31] Speaker 2: lot of love for that Baltimore squad based off of
[8:33] Speaker 2: what the expectation is at number seven. And I think
[8:36] Speaker 2: there's a lot of fans that are going, you like
[8:38] Speaker 2: Cincinnati at seven?
[8:40] Speaker 4: Why? Okay, so we know what the Bengals are. We
[8:42] Speaker 4: know that they've had offensively for years. They haven't had
[8:44] Speaker 4: a defense. They couldn't stop a nosebleed over the last
[8:46] Speaker 4: few years. It was so bad that Joe Burrow began
[8:48] Speaker 4: openly wondering about his football future, which kind of suggested
[8:52] Speaker 4: that maybe I want to be somewhere else. Well, they
[8:54] Speaker 4: took that as a clear sign that they needed to
[8:57] Speaker 4: aggressively invest in their defense, and they did. We know
[8:59] Speaker 4: what they did getting Dexter Lawrence. We know all the
[9:02] Speaker 4: other changes that they made. the sentiment coming out of
[9:05] Speaker 4: their camp has been, look, this group is way better.
[9:07] Speaker 4: They're giving our offense trouble. And if you're giving the
[9:10] Speaker 4: Bengals offense, which is very explosive trouble, then it sounds
[9:12] Speaker 4: like you're going to be a better group. Now, again,
[9:14] Speaker 4: another team that we don't know anything about because we're
[9:16] Speaker 4: going into week one. But if that defense can come
[9:19] Speaker 4: together and live up to the expectation that they've already
[9:21] Speaker 4: set for themselves in training camp in the preseason... then
[9:23] Speaker 4: this is a really strong team. This isn't just a
[9:25] Speaker 4: team that I think is going to be back in
[9:26] Speaker 4: the playoffs. This is a team that I think could
[9:27] Speaker 4: go all the way to the Super Bowl. Like Lamar Jackson,
[9:31] Speaker 4: Joe Burrow's got to stay healthy. He's notoriously a slow starter,
[9:34] Speaker 4: and we're going to have to kind of overcome that.
[9:36] Speaker 4: But more than anything, he's got to stay on the field.
[9:38] Speaker 4: If he can with all those weapons he's got around him,
[9:40] Speaker 4: I think they're in a great spot.
[9:41] Speaker 2: Yeah, it's going to be remarkable to see because, to
[9:43] Speaker 2: your point, the defense has been a little bit of
[9:45] Speaker 2: a sticking point the last couple seasons for this squad.
[9:48] Speaker 2: But for as much as that's been an issue— They
[9:50] Speaker 2: can make the argument. If Joe Burrow is not out there,
[9:52] Speaker 2: there are some problems for this team as well. So
[9:54] Speaker 2: I think you can point the finger both ways. Meanwhile,
[9:57] Speaker 2: I do look at the Dallas Cowboys. And speaking of
[10:00] Speaker 2: defensive issues that this team has had, there have been
[10:03] Speaker 2: massive problems. across the board for this squad. In fact,
[10:07] Speaker 2: if you look at some of these rankings here, you
[10:09] Speaker 2: talk about notable additions. The rankings this season go towards
[10:11] Speaker 2: the bottom of the NFL in multiple categories. Caleb Downs,
[10:14] Speaker 2: Kobe Durant, Sean Gary, Malachi Lawrence, Von Miller, and a
[10:18] Speaker 2: new defensive coordinator in Christian Parker. There's reasons for optimism.
[10:23] Speaker 2: Time for Power Moves presented by Energizer. Sell me on
[10:26] Speaker 2: this Dallas Cowboys.
[10:28] Speaker 4: It's kind of similar to what I just said about
[10:29] Speaker 4: Cincinnati because we know their offense is very explosive. Number
[10:31] Speaker 4: two offense in the NFL last year. People did not
[10:34] Speaker 4: give Dak Prescott enough respect for what he did at quarterback.
[10:37] Speaker 4: And I hear that all the time with QB Index,
[10:38] Speaker 4: trust me. But he is one of the best quarterbacks
[10:40] Speaker 4: in the NFL. He had two 1,000-yard receivers last year.
[10:43] Speaker 3: In C.D.
[10:44] Speaker 4: Lamb and George Pickens. They're both back. Pickens playing on
[10:46] Speaker 4: a franchise tag year, so he's got tons to prove.
[10:49] Speaker 4: But what I love about this team is how this
[10:51] Speaker 4: defense has come together personnel-wise. They started last year with
[10:53] Speaker 4: getting Quinn and Williams. Then you talk about all the
[10:55] Speaker 4: guys you just listed. Lawrence, Downs, Gary. You know who
[10:57] Speaker 4: else I really like? Rookie Ja'Sean Barham. A linebacker out
[11:01] Speaker 4: of Michigan who really flashed in the preseason, who I
[11:03] Speaker 4: think is going to end up playing a big part
[11:05] Speaker 4: in this defense. They added Jalen Thompson at safety as
[11:08] Speaker 4: some more back-end help. If you look at this group
[11:10] Speaker 4: at where it stands right now, just personnel-wise, it is
[11:13] Speaker 4: so much better than it was last year. Christian Parker
[11:15] Speaker 4: comes over from the Vic Fangio School in Philly. You think, okay,
[11:18] Speaker 4: all of this could coalesce. It could all come together
[11:20] Speaker 4: if this defense is fixed, if it's average or better.
[11:23] Speaker 4: This offense is so good that they will finish above 500.
[11:26] Speaker 4: They'll finish well above 500. They'll make a deep run
[11:29] Speaker 4: in the playoffs. And I feel very good. I could
[11:31] Speaker 4: be terribly wrong about this team because it is the Cowboys.
[11:34] Speaker 4: They do generate that type of buzz. But as it
[11:35] Speaker 4: stands right now, they're one of my favorite teams to
[11:37] Speaker 4: surprise people and make a big jump this year.
[11:39] Speaker 2: You know, I was going to ask you this question
[11:41] Speaker 2: because I think you're leading me right to it.
[11:42] Speaker 3: And it makes a whole lot of sense. Your team's
[11:44] Speaker 3: in the top eight.
[11:45] Speaker 2: And by the way, I know the answer is for you, Cincinnati,
[11:47] Speaker 2: because on NFL.com, you had them as a Super Bowl team.
[11:51] Speaker 2: But can't you make the argument outside of them? The
[11:53] Speaker 2: Dallas Cowboys may be, by the end of the season,
[11:56] Speaker 2: a team that we might be talking about one or two.
[11:59] Speaker 4: In the power rankings. Yeah, absolutely. I think there's going
[12:01] Speaker 4: to be a ton of movement because of all these
[12:03] Speaker 4: changes with some of these teams, and Dallas is a
[12:04] Speaker 4: great candidate for that. It's just that the path to
[12:07] Speaker 4: the Super Bowl and the NFC, I think, is tougher.
[12:09] Speaker 4: than it is in the AFC, and especially for a
[12:10] Speaker 4: team like Dallas, who has to get past Philly in
[12:12] Speaker 4: their own division before they can even think about what
[12:14] Speaker 4: they're going to face out of the NFC West, who's
[12:15] Speaker 4: going to win the NFC North. It's all very wide open.
[12:18] Speaker 4: So it's going to be tougher for them to get there,
[12:19] Speaker 4: but I like how they're standing right now.
[12:20] Speaker 2: Yeah, I'll tell you this. I actually think Dallas wins
[12:23] Speaker 2: the NFC East, and it is hard for me to
[12:24] Speaker 2: say because I am a Giants fan.
[12:26] Speaker 3: So trust me when I tell you it stings.
[12:28] Speaker 2: Caleb Danzer is a part of me that wanted him
[12:30] Speaker 2: on that roster so badly. All right, still to come,
[12:33] Speaker 2: Caleb Williams and the Bears. Boy, they were one of
[12:36] Speaker 2: the biggest surprises a season ago. trying to crack the
[12:40] Speaker 2: top 10, according to Nick. Will they actually sit there? Plus,
[12:44] Speaker 2: Mahomes and the Chiefs, are we sleeping on that squad?
[12:57] Speaker 3: We're back on Power.
[12:58] Speaker 2: Rankings, all with Nick Schuch. Mikey, I'm with you. And
[13:00] Speaker 2: Nick's rankings, 9 through 16. The Jags sitting inside that
[13:04] Speaker 2: top 10, checking in at number 9. The Houston Texans,
[13:06] Speaker 2: a lot of questions about C.J.
[13:07] Speaker 4: Stroud.
[13:08] Speaker 3: Which we will discuss momentarily. They are 10. The Bears
[13:11] Speaker 3: at 11. The Packers at 12.
[13:13] Speaker 2: The New England Patriots, they were in the Super Bowl.
[13:15] Speaker 3: Knicks got them sitting at 13. I'll have to explain why.
[13:18] Speaker 3: The Kansas City Chiefs, it's.
[13:19] Speaker 2: Just weird to talk about them being ranked 14th, but
[13:22] Speaker 2: I get it based off of last season. The Lions,
[13:24] Speaker 2: the darlings of the NFL the last couple seasons at 15.
[13:27] Speaker 3: And the Chargers. At 16.
[13:30] Speaker 2: The Texans, I think, on NFL.com are one of the
[13:32] Speaker 2: more polarizing teams. When we were asked to do our picks,
[13:35] Speaker 2: you got some people like, hey, that defense is going
[13:36] Speaker 2: to lead into a Super Bowl. Got other people like
[13:38] Speaker 2: me who said, I don't know if I can slot
[13:40] Speaker 2: them in because of how concerned I am about their offense.
[13:43] Speaker 2: You obviously like them enough to have them as a
[13:45] Speaker 2: top 10 team.
[13:45] Speaker 4: Yeah, the division is sneaky tough, too, with Indianapolis and
[13:47] Speaker 4: Jacksonville as well. What really it comes down to is C.J. Stroud.
[13:50] Speaker 4: We've known this since last year's playoff disaster in New England.
[13:54] Speaker 4: And it's really been the case for the last couple
[13:56] Speaker 4: of years. Can CJ Stroud actually be the guy he
[13:58] Speaker 4: was as the offensive rookie of the year back in 2023?
[14:00] Speaker 4: Can he start to progress forward? If you watch them
[14:03] Speaker 4: on a game-by-game basis, you think, okay, he's not bad.
[14:06] Speaker 4: But what it is is the offense just wasn't consistent.
[14:08] Speaker 4: I don't blame that so much on him. I blame
[14:09] Speaker 4: it on the fact that they lost Joe Mixon last year.
[14:11] Speaker 4: Now they have a replacement, David Montgomery, that makes me
[14:13] Speaker 4: feel a lot better about them than I did last year.
[14:15] Speaker 4: Woody Marks was a surprise last year. I think he'll
[14:17] Speaker 4: be a good spell back in this offense and also
[14:20] Speaker 4: the offensive line granted it was a very small sample
[14:22] Speaker 4: size in the preseason but they looked really good when
[14:25] Speaker 4: they had that full unit out there they ran the
[14:26] Speaker 4: ball with authority with montgomery and marks marks really being
[14:29] Speaker 4: an authoritative runner in that group now the question is
[14:32] Speaker 4: outside of cj stroud they lost jayden higgins tank dell
[14:35] Speaker 4: still working his way back i think he could be
[14:36] Speaker 4: a big part of unlocking this offense but we don't
[14:38] Speaker 4: really know where he is right now So the question
[14:40] Speaker 4: is like, okay, Keyshawn Booty, you make a trade for him.
[14:43] Speaker 4: How does he fit in? Can he be productive like
[14:45] Speaker 4: he was in New England last year? And ultimately, Stroud
[14:47] Speaker 4: still has to answer that question more for himself than anybody.
[14:50] Speaker 4: Because if he doesn't succeed this year, the Texans might
[14:52] Speaker 4: have to alter their long-term plans. And if that's the case,
[14:55] Speaker 4: then it'd be like you, Texans, missing the playoffs. I
[14:57] Speaker 4: still think they'll get there. The defense is elite. And
[14:59] Speaker 4: we know what we can expect from them. It's just
[15:01] Speaker 4: that offense has to come together.
[15:02] Speaker 2: Yeah, there was a part of me that said, hey,
[15:04] Speaker 2: if I had to swap one of those teams, the
[15:06] Speaker 2: Patriots would be the team that I have on the
[15:07] Speaker 2: outside looking in. We'll talk about New England here in
[15:09] Speaker 2: just a moment, the Chicago Bears. I know everyone talks
[15:12] Speaker 2: about Caleb Williams, and I get that. I heard Ben
[15:14] Speaker 2: Johnson the other day in a press conference, and he
[15:16] Speaker 2: talked about just his defense getting some stops and how
[15:19] Speaker 2: critical that was going to be.
[15:21] Speaker 3: Do you like this team enough to get back to
[15:24] Speaker 3: the playoffs based off of what we saw last year?
[15:26] Speaker 4: I do because I'm a big believer in Ben Johnson.
[15:28] Speaker 4: I'm a big believer in Caleb Williams. The guy didn't
[15:30] Speaker 4: land on the Madden cover for no reason, right? The Iceman,
[15:32] Speaker 4: everything that comes with that, or as they wanted to
[15:34] Speaker 4: name him, Permafrost in their marketing campaign. You love him,
[15:37] Speaker 4: and I think he'll take the next step in the
[15:41] Speaker 4: next season with Ben Johnson. But the sneaky part about
[15:43] Speaker 4: this team last year that maybe we overlooked was that
[15:45] Speaker 4: they finished 29th in yards per game allowed last year,
[15:47] Speaker 4: and they may have gotten worse personnel-wise. They were ravaged
[15:50] Speaker 4: by injuries. Near the start of camp in the secondary,
[15:53] Speaker 4: suddenly you're looking at a guy that you selected in
[15:54] Speaker 4: Dylan Thienemann who might have to play a big part
[15:56] Speaker 4: in that back end. They've tried to patch it together
[15:59] Speaker 4: to make sure that it's workable, but it's a huge
[16:01] Speaker 4: question mark for this team. I still have a lot
[16:03] Speaker 4: of faith in Caleb, and I do need to see
[16:05] Speaker 4: him work well with this young receiving core because you
[16:08] Speaker 4: lost EJ Moore, you moved on from him. And you've
[16:10] Speaker 4: got the likes of Roma Dunze and Luther Burden. And
[16:14] Speaker 4: you do have those two tight ends who I really love.
[16:15] Speaker 4: But that's a young group that's really got to put
[16:17] Speaker 4: it all together because I think they're going to have
[16:19] Speaker 4: to outscore a lot of these teams this year.
[16:21] Speaker 3: Who scares you more, Arnold Schwarzenegger or Mr. Freeze? Sub-Zero
[16:24] Speaker 3: or Mortal Kombat? or Caleb Williams, permafrost.
[16:27] Speaker 4: Mr. Freeze was like almost robotic. So I would go with,
[16:30] Speaker 4: I mean, it's Arnold, you know, Schwarzenegger, bodybuilding champion.
[16:34] Speaker 2: Yeah, there's a part of me that still leans towards
[16:37] Speaker 2: Sub-Zero Mortal Kombat.
[16:38] Speaker 3: I'm just drawing that out there.
[16:39] Speaker 4: Great finisher.
[16:41] Speaker 3: Finish him.
[16:42] Speaker 2: The Patriots at 13. I'm concerned about the schedule. Because
[16:46] Speaker 2: we saw it even last year. Look, I know they
[16:49] Speaker 2: got to the Super Bowl, but Drake wasn't Drake in
[16:53] Speaker 2: the regular season when the playoffs came around.
[16:54] Speaker 4: Yeah, when things ramped up and he faced some elite defenses,
[16:56] Speaker 4: it became a lot more difficult for him. We all
[16:58] Speaker 4: remember how the season ended and how he kind of
[17:00] Speaker 4: looked lost and very overwhelmed by the dark side defense
[17:02] Speaker 4: of the Seahawks. I don't want to hold that against him,
[17:04] Speaker 4: but I do think the schedule plays a part in this.
[17:06] Speaker 4: It was pretty soft last year, and they got some
[17:08] Speaker 4: advantageous breaks, even talking about the AFC Championship game. The
[17:11] Speaker 4: Broncos go in there without Bo Nix. The snowstorm happens.
[17:13] Speaker 4: They end up getting out of there with a narrow
[17:15] Speaker 4: victory and get to the Super Bowl. They also lost
[17:17] Speaker 4: some guys defensively. Veteran contributors like Caleb Onshason, who had
[17:20] Speaker 4: a career year, he's gone. Kyrus Tonga, lower level guy,
[17:22] Speaker 4: but a guy that played pretty well for them, especially
[17:25] Speaker 4: early in the season. So I think they're in line
[17:26] Speaker 4: for some regression. And if you track them through the preseason, granted,
[17:29] Speaker 4: a lot of your starters are not playing, but Mike
[17:30] Speaker 4: Vrabel was very upset. with how his defense played for
[17:33] Speaker 4: most of the preseason, so I think there's going to
[17:35] Speaker 4: be some regression on that side. The offense will be better.
[17:37] Speaker 4: I mean, when you acquire A.J. Brown, it can't not
[17:39] Speaker 4: be better. I think he's going to be what Booty
[17:42] Speaker 4: was to May early in the season last year, which
[17:44] Speaker 4: was the deep threat guy, and much, much more. Romeo
[17:47] Speaker 4: Dobbs is also in that receiving core. It got so
[17:49] Speaker 4: jam-packed with talent that they had to trade Booty to
[17:51] Speaker 4: the Texans, so it should be very explosive. It's just
[17:54] Speaker 4: a matter of can this team be balanced enough to
[17:56] Speaker 4: repeat what they did last year, and I have a
[17:57] Speaker 4: feeling that they're just going to take a step back.
[17:59] Speaker 2: By the way, just some context on their schedule. Last year,
[18:01] Speaker 2: New England faced three teams with a winning record. They'll
[18:04] Speaker 2: do more of that in the first four weeks of
[18:07] Speaker 2: the season. So context does matter, at least in this case.
[18:11] Speaker 2: And I'm not trying to say, hey, the Patriots didn't
[18:14] Speaker 2: belong in that Super Bowl game, but they got smashed.
[18:18] Speaker 2: And I think part of where you're coming from, slotting
[18:20] Speaker 2: them at 13, does make some sense. Kansas City, you
[18:23] Speaker 2: have them 15th. It's still the Chiefs. It's still 1-5
[18:25] Speaker 2: that's out there. And I know he's coming off of
[18:27] Speaker 2: the ACL. You're giving me the look here. It doesn't
[18:32] Speaker 2: sound like you're too scared of this team, then.
[18:35] Speaker 4: I have the utmost respect for Patrick Mahomes. He's ranked
[18:37] Speaker 4: very high in the QB index, and he's earned that.
[18:39] Speaker 4: But we've never seen him come off an ACL. And
[18:42] Speaker 4: everything's very close to the vest in the preseason with
[18:45] Speaker 4: his path back to the field. Where is he in progression?
[18:49] Speaker 4: I think at this point in this week, they still
[18:51] Speaker 4: haven't even named him the starter yet. But, I mean,
[18:54] Speaker 4: we all expect that to happen. He's been on track
[18:56] Speaker 4: and everything else. But it's a big question mark. And
[18:58] Speaker 4: we need to see that kind of be proven to
[19:00] Speaker 4: us before we feel good about this group. I also
[19:02] Speaker 4: still don't love the receiving core. You've got Rasheed Rice.
[19:04] Speaker 4: You've got Xavier Worthy. They still haven't really given themselves
[19:07] Speaker 4: another option outside of those two. They've dealt with injuries.
[19:10] Speaker 4: I think Kenneth Walker is going to help this offense
[19:11] Speaker 4: a lot because they did not have much of a
[19:13] Speaker 4: running game last year, really even the year before. They
[19:15] Speaker 4: were still kind of reeling from it. Clyde Edwards-Alaire never
[19:18] Speaker 4: becoming the guy that they thought to. And they have
[19:20] Speaker 4: a lot of changes on defense. I mean, they've basically
[19:22] Speaker 4: redone their secondary. They lost two guys, one via trade,
[19:24] Speaker 4: one via free agency, Jalen Watson and Trent McDuffie being
[19:27] Speaker 4: the trade. But I trust Steve Spagnuolo to get the
[19:29] Speaker 4: most out of it. They're putting a lot on Mansour Delane,
[19:31] Speaker 4: first-round pick, cornerback. I think he's a very good player.
[19:34] Speaker 4: But it's one of those teams that's going to have
[19:36] Speaker 4: to kind of come together in the first month or
[19:39] Speaker 4: so of the season. And that starts with Mahomes for
[19:41] Speaker 4: me to start to believe in them, and then they
[19:42] Speaker 4: can climb these rankings.
[19:43] Speaker 2: Against the Denver Broncos team because that's who they open
[19:46] Speaker 2: up on a Monday night game where that D-line just
[19:49] Speaker 2: rolls out of the bed and they're getting sacks like
[19:51] Speaker 2: every single game. So it's going to be tough for Mahomes,
[19:53] Speaker 2: who also said that. he needs to be more mindful.
[19:56] Speaker 2: Like I use that term magic Mahomes. He's going to
[19:59] Speaker 2: have to be mindful of how he's moving. He said, hey,
[20:00] Speaker 2: like I Even just planting his foot, he's like, I'm
[20:03] Speaker 2: thinking through some of this stuff.
[20:04] Speaker 4: And that was the thing with this team over the
[20:05] Speaker 4: last couple of years is Mahomes wasn't putting up the
[20:07] Speaker 4: numbers that he used to, but he was finding ways
[20:09] Speaker 4: to convert and get them moving down the field that
[20:11] Speaker 4: people didn't really appreciate. Can he still do that now?
[20:13] Speaker 2: The Walker addition, though, you've got to imagine is just
[20:15] Speaker 2: going to be mammoth for this team. I mean, they've
[20:18] Speaker 2: relied so much, even without some of the explosive wide
[20:21] Speaker 2: receivers on that roster, they've relied on Mahomes making some
[20:24] Speaker 2: of those big Big-time timely plays for them.
[20:27] Speaker 3: Can Walker help offload some of that? All right, still
[20:30] Speaker 3: to come.
[20:30] Speaker 2: Look, we've unveiled the first 16 teams, which means the Niners,
[20:33] Speaker 2: we've got to call their name at some point on
[20:35] Speaker 2: this list. We'll see exactly where Nick has them slotted.
[20:38] Speaker 2: That's still to come here on Power Rankings. Back here
[20:50] Speaker 2: on Power Rankings, and I'm thinking about teams 17 through 24.
[20:53] Speaker 2: Nick has got the Niners slotted at 17. We'll talk
[20:57] Speaker 2: about them in just a moment. At 18, it's the Bucs. Minnesota,
[21:01] Speaker 2: you know, they're going to be ushering the Kyler Murray
[21:03] Speaker 2: era at number 19.
[21:04] Speaker 3: The Colts at 20.
[21:06] Speaker 2: I think they could be a fast-rising team by the
[21:08] Speaker 2: time the middle of the season comes around.
[21:09] Speaker 3: The Steelers at 21.
[21:10] Speaker 2: The Saints at 22. They finished the season red hot.
[21:13] Speaker 2: The Carolina Panthers, who won that division, at 23. And
[21:17] Speaker 2: the Tennessee Titans at number four. Time for Sean, a
[21:20] Speaker 2: spotlight presented by Verizon. All right, let's focus in on
[21:23] Speaker 2: number 17, the Niners. I actually don't have a huge
[21:26] Speaker 2: problem with this just based off of all the injuries
[21:27] Speaker 2: they have coming into the season.
[21:29] Speaker 3: Do you look at this as a team.
[21:30] Speaker 2: That could be sitting maybe top 12, 13 in a
[21:33] Speaker 2: couple weeks?
[21:34] Speaker 4: Yeah, entirely possible because they overcame so many injuries last
[21:36] Speaker 4: year and still got to the divisional round. They won
[21:38] Speaker 4: that game on the road in Philly. A team that
[21:40] Speaker 4: most of us thought, yeah, they'll be in the playoffs,
[21:41] Speaker 4: but they don't really have much because of how much
[21:43] Speaker 4: they lost. Well, this year they've lost a lot, too, already.
[21:45] Speaker 4: Ricky Pearsall down for the year. Mike Evans missed a
[21:47] Speaker 4: lot of camp. Nick Bosa's been dealing with a knee.
[21:49] Speaker 4: Christian McCaffrey, some questions about that. I'm not as concerned.
[21:51] Speaker 4: When will George Kittle... be ready to come back and
[21:54] Speaker 4: fully roll. He may or may not play this week,
[21:56] Speaker 4: but when's he really going to be himself again? But
[21:57] Speaker 4: if there's any team that can overcome that, it is
[22:00] Speaker 4: these 49ers. And the bright side is Fred Warner's healthy,
[22:02] Speaker 4: Brock Purdy's healthy, and they have a demonstrated history of
[22:05] Speaker 4: success as long as they can get good quarterback play.
[22:07] Speaker 4: So I still feel strong about them. It's just that
[22:09] Speaker 4: they're here right now because of the injuries they've dealt
[22:10] Speaker 4: with so far.
[22:11] Speaker 2: By the way, I saw some video of George Kittle
[22:13] Speaker 2: in Australia punting the football.
[22:16] Speaker 4: I mean, just anybody would do it.
[22:18] Speaker 3: It would be him. I just I pause for a moment.
[22:20] Speaker 3: I'm like coming off the Achilles.
[22:22] Speaker 2: Can I just take a little bit of a break
[22:24] Speaker 2: on on that one?
[22:25] Speaker 3: And certainly that was not the case.
[22:26] Speaker 2: By the way, they were like baby punts that were
[22:28] Speaker 2: out there.
[22:29] Speaker 3: So it wasn't like he was like launching them.
[22:32] Speaker 2: I'm thinking about the Tampa Bay Bucs that have consistently
[22:35] Speaker 2: been a force inside that division.
[22:37] Speaker 3: That didn't happen yesterday. a season ago.
[22:38] Speaker 2: I feel like you and I were talking about this off-air.
[22:41] Speaker 2: Vibe check time, it wasn't great this off-season for them.
[22:44] Speaker 4: Yeah, and they moved the most among all these power
[22:46] Speaker 4: rankings because I feel like I probably had to correct
[22:48] Speaker 4: a little bit of where they started with them, which
[22:50] Speaker 4: is I think down at 22 or something like that.
[22:52] Speaker 4: And the reason is the training camp started so poorly.
[22:56] Speaker 4: You had Baker Mayfield with a contract dispute. He's cutting
[22:59] Speaker 4: off his contract negotiations and promising that he's going to
[23:01] Speaker 4: cost a lot more. You had Vita Vea sitting out
[23:03] Speaker 4: and trying to get an extension, which he has since gotten.
[23:06] Speaker 4: So everything's gotten a little bit better. They're also a
[23:08] Speaker 4: team quarterbacked by Mayfield, who's very good in week one.
[23:11] Speaker 4: So I feel better about where they are going into
[23:13] Speaker 4: the season than I did before. They avoided disastrous injury
[23:16] Speaker 4: as well. So they're going to be in a better spot.
[23:17] Speaker 4: But that division's probably the worst in football, so they
[23:19] Speaker 4: have a good chance of winning it.
[23:21] Speaker 2: I'm thinking about the bottom of your power rankings, and
[23:24] Speaker 2: it is an opportunity to really flex and talk about
[23:27] Speaker 2: teams 25 through 32.
[23:28] Speaker 3: The Cardinals.
[23:30] Speaker 3: Checking in at 25. The Giants at 26.
[23:33] Speaker 2: The Falcons, oh, two is going to be their guy, 27.
[23:36] Speaker 2: The Jets and the youth movement at 28. The Raiders
[23:38] Speaker 2: at 29. You got the Browns, Commanders, and Dolphins closing
[23:41] Speaker 2: things up. I sound like I am super biased when
[23:44] Speaker 2: I talk about the Giants here to close out this show, but.
[23:47] Speaker 3: I actually feel relatively optimistic heading into the season.
[23:49] Speaker 4: Is it because of the coaching change? Because that would
[23:51] Speaker 4: help a lot. Their history has not been good, but
[23:54] Speaker 4: they do have Jackson Dart, Cam Scadaboo coming back from injury.
[23:57] Speaker 4: Odell Beckham's back on this team. They've invested heavily in
[24:00] Speaker 4: their defense over the last few years. It's just a
[24:02] Speaker 4: matter of does the coaching change finally bring that together?
[24:05] Speaker 4: Can Jackson's Dart stay healthy and out of the blue
[24:07] Speaker 4: medical tent? If all that happens, they can climb as
[24:09] Speaker 4: well because there's a ton of young talent on this
[24:11] Speaker 4: team just as it stands right now. They start here.
[24:14] Speaker 4: Kind of like the Patriots last year, plenty of room
[24:15] Speaker 4: to climb.
[24:16] Speaker 2: Yeah, you've been around the sport for a really long
[24:17] Speaker 2: period of time. The respect that Harbaugh's got, I think,
[24:20] Speaker 2: is top shelf. And you mentioned some of the talent
[24:24] Speaker 2: on that roster. I think that defense is going to
[24:25] Speaker 2: be remarkably better. Cannot wait to see Reese wreak some havoc.
[24:30] Speaker 4: Oh, yeah.
[24:30] Speaker 3: By the way, all 32 teams, they love what you
[24:32] Speaker 3: did on these power rankings.
[24:34] Speaker 4: Good start.
[24:35] Speaker 3: We're going to do it again next week.
[24:43] Speaker 1: NFL Power Rankings is a production of the NFL in
[24:46] Speaker 1: partnership with iHeartRadio. For more podcasts from iHeartRadio, visit the
[24:50] Speaker 1: iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

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