NFL PREVIEW: RANKING THE TEAMS

I am not endorsing this as my 1-32 ranking of the NFL. Not at all.

However, I was intrigued when ESPN's Scouts Inc. put out their list of unit rankings by team earlier in the summer.

(You can link to the top ten teams at the quarterback position here ($), and from there check out the rest of the rankings.)

I figured that it was a better way of looking at a snapshot of the league than any method I would come up with on the fly, so I went to doing some adding and dividing. I counted the QB position at 1.5 times the rate of every other position, weighing the most important position on the field a little more heavily than the others, but not dramatically so. I added everyone's ranking at every position that was listed, then averaged them out to see who the strongest teams were. By average ranking, here are how the divisions stacked up.

AFC NORTH
1. Cleveland (11.5 average - 6th in NFL)
2. Pittsburgh (12.6 average - 8th in NFL)
3. Baltimore (16.1 average - 12th in NFL)
4. Cincinnati (19.5 average - 20th in NFL)

AFC EAST
1. New England (8.0 average - 3rd in NFL)
2. N.Y. Jets (20.7 average - 23rd in NFL)*
3. Buffalo (20.9 average - 25th in NFL)
4. Miami (27.0 average - 32nd in NFL)

AFC SOUTH
1. Indianapolis (9.3 average - 4th in NFL)
2. Jacksonville (10.9 average - 5th in NFL)
3. Tennessee (17.8 average - 14th in NFL)
4. Houston (18.5 average - 16th in NFL)

AFC WEST
1. San Diego (6.4 average - 2nd in NFL)
2. Denver (21.1 average - 26th in NFL)
3. Oakland (22.5 average - 27th in NFL)
4. Kansas City (23.8 average - 28th in NFL)

NFC NORTH
1. Green Bay (12.1 average - 7th in NFL)
2. Minnesota (17.3 average - 13th in NFL)
3. Chicago (20.2 average - 22nd in NFL)
4. Detroit (25.7 average - 31st in NFL)

NFC EAST
1. Dallas (6.0 average - 1st in NFL)
2. N.Y. Giants (12.6 average - 8th in NFL)
3. Philadelphia (13.8 average - 10th in NFL)
4. Washington (18.0 average - 15th in NFL)

NFC SOUTH
1. Carolina (18.7 average - 17th in NFL)
2. New Orleans (19.2 average - 18th in NFL)
3. Tampa Bay (19.3 average - 19th in NFL)
4. Atlanta (25.7 average - 30th in NFL)

NFC WEST
1. Seattle (15.9 average - 11th in NFL)
2. Arizona (20.2 average - 21st in NFL)
3. St. Louis (20.8 average - 24th in NFL)
4. San Francisco (24.9 average - 29th in NFL)

Obviously, I'm not here to jump at a Dallas-San Diego Super Bowl. However, I do think that's a possibility.

I'm also not here to advocate Philadelphia, the Giants, Pittsburgh, and Jacksonville as the likely wild cards.

I simply thought this was an interesting glance at the NFL as it stands right now. I'll be back with my actual division picks before Thursday night's openers.