ESPN "Future" Power Rankings/Ratings

[kungfoodude]

13 minutes ago, Jackie Lee said:

Simms had him at 17 which is reasonable. A few of the guys ahead of him just have more consistent play. He was ranked #13 last year and above Carr, Ryan, Cousins before the injury/whatever happened last year. 

 

Yeah and I don't see anyone below him on that list that is CLEARLY better than he is.

[Tr3ach]

2 hours ago, kungfoodude said:

31. Carolina Panthers
Overall score: 69.0

CATEGORY	SCORE	NFL RANK
Overall roster (minus QB)	73.8	26
Quarterback	65.5	28
Coaching	60.8	32
Draft	73.5	27
Front office	70.8	31

 

 

Why they're here: The Panthers' defense is terrific, and that alone gives some reason for optimism. But two question marks persist for this franchise: the long-term solution under center (even after the Baker Mayfield deal) and the future of coach Matt Rhule. Rhule was handed a seven-year contract when he took over in Carolina, but there appears to be a lot of pressure on him and the franchise to take a leap this season. Mayfield, like Sam Darnold, is under contract for only one more season. -- Yates

Biggest worry: Who will be coaching the Panthers beyond 2022? This team appears desperate and doesn't seem to have a great plan for how to manage the QB position, and that usually results in people losing their jobs. -- Riddick

What could change for the better: This is not the worst roster in the league. Far from it. The quarterback issues cloud a quality talent base. But the offensive line must improve, which the team has worked tirelessly on, drafting Ikem Ekwonu and signing Bradley Bozeman and Austin Corbett. Linebacker needs upgrades, with multiple starters having bounced around the league. But Carolina's outlook isn't as dire as it looks. -- Fowler

Stat to know: Matt Corral recorded back-to-back top-10 QBR seasons over the past two years in college (89.9 and 80.5). If there's a reason to have long-term hope in him as a solution at QB, it's that: He was a productive college QB for multiple years. Carolina has Mayfield and Darnold in the fold, but Corral could be part of the future plans under center. -- Walder

This is fairly silly and skewed.  I know this is futures rating but say this season we are the 31st worst team and we take a qb with that 2nd pick.  What do you think next year's "futures" rating would look like just by taking a qb that has never played a snap in the nfl.  I get it, but it all feels fairly bogus to me.

[kungfoodude]

3 minutes ago, MasterAwesome said:

Whoever the respective starter is in Pittsburgh/SF/Atlanta, Mayfield (as of right now) should be considered better than them.  So joemac's original point would still stand, which is evaluating Mayfield against the rest of the league's starters.  Things could very well change by the end of the year though; it's contingent upon the development of a lot of these young QBs (Lance, Fields, Lawrence, Wilson, Pickett, etc.).

On that point, this article seems to be projecting "future" power rankings and upon looking up the article itself on ESPN, it's stated that this is a projection over the next three seasons.  So I'm guessing they have most (if not all) of these young first/second-year QBs as ranked higher than Baker since they expect them to surpass him within the next 3 years.  So viewing this article as saying Baker is currently the 28th best QB in the league isn't really what this article seems to be suggesting.  It's saying we have the 28th best outlook at QB over the next three seasons which is probably fair.  We don't even know that Baker is gonna be here beyond this season.

Yeah and that is a fair point. He is only on our roster for one of the next three years. Only Corral is on the roster in three years by contract.

So 28th might be generous when you consider that.

[kungfoodude]

9 minutes ago, Tr3ach said:

This is fairly silly and skewed.  I know this is futures rating but say this season we are the 31st worst team and we take a qb with that 2nd pick.  What do you think next year's "futures" rating would look like just by taking a qb that has never played a snap in the nfl.  I get it, but it all feels fairly bogus to me.

It seems like more of a "heat" check on direction based on where we are now. But if you look they have our coaching, drafting and FO rated fairly low. So I can see where they justify that poor outlook.

Admittedly, most Huddlers would probably also agree we aren't a franchise trending in a good direction.

But, like you said, we could have a completely new coaching staff, front office and QB next season. Our situation is so close to dramatically changing that it's hard to out too much stock in it.

Edited July 20, 2022 by kungfoodude

[MasterAwesome]

3 minutes ago, kungfoodude said:

Yeah and that is a fair point. He is only on our roster for one of the next three years. Only Corral is on the roster in three years by contract.

So 28th might be generous when you consider that.

Yeah right now on paper, our QB prospects over the next three seasons is basically on the shoulders of a 3rd round rookie QB lol.  I'd argue Corral is a better prospect than your average 3rd round QB, but that's still what he is at the end of the day and what outsiders see when they evaluate the QBs on our roster.

[kungfoodude]

1 minute ago, MasterAwesome said:

Yeah right now on paper, our QB prospects over the next three seasons is basically on the shoulders of a 3rd round rookie QB lol.  I'd argue Corral is a better prospect than your average 3rd round QB, but that's still what he is at the end of the day and what outsiders see when they evaluate the QBs on our roster.

And after this season, he may be on his way out. The result of this season could dramatically alter what his career is here, especially if he isn't an instant impact guy.

[Sgt Schultz]

1 minute ago, kungfoodude said:

It seems like more of a "heat" check on direction based on where we are now. But if you look they have our coaching, drafting and FO rated fairly low. So I can see where they justify that poor outlook.

Admittedly, most Huddlers would probably also agree we aren't a franchise trending in a good direction.

But, like you said, we could have a completely new coaching staff, front office and QB next season. Our situation is so close to dramatically changing that it's hard to out too much stock in it.

The irony of the three season projection is it is almost impossible to do.  In this one, they acknowledge Rhule and company may be out after 2022, in which case the projections beyond 2022 are pretty useless, at least as they depend on coaching.  We are not the only team in that situation.

As for players, everybody is a knee injury away from being out of the league or diminished.  Even without that, the unexpected churn due to FA, salary cap moves, and general trade considerations makes it tough.

A much easier exercise prior to the salary cap or FA.

 

[kungfoodude]

3 minutes ago, Sgt Schultz said:

The irony of the three season projection is it is almost impossible to do.  In this one, they acknowledge Rhule and company may be out after 2022, in which case the projections beyond 2022 are pretty useless, at least as they depend on coaching.  We are not the only team in that situation.

As for players, everybody is a knee injury away from being out of the league or diminished.  Even without that, the unexpected churn due to FA, salary cap moves, and general trade considerations makes it tough.

A much easier exercise prior to the salary cap or FA.

 

Yeah, the NFL is one of the toughest professional leagues to project three years out. The year to year roster flux is worse than most leagues.

[Tr3ach]

24 minutes ago, kungfoodude said:

It seems like more of a "heat" check on direction based on where we are now. But if you look they have our coaching, drafting and FO rated fairly low. So I can see where they justify that poor outlook.

Admittedly, most Huddlers would probably also agree we aren't a franchise trending in a good direction.

But, like you said, we could have a completely new coaching staff, front office and QB next season. Our situation is so close to dramatically changing that it's hard to out too much stock in it.

Also the fact that I would bet if say we surprise everyone and are a wildcard team next season, somehow this time next year I'm sure they would have our "futures ranking" much much higher which wouldnt really make sense for ranking futures but I gurantee that's how it would work.   Am I saying we will be a wildcard team next season?  Probably not, but I do think we are much improved overall and the games arent played on paper for a reason.

[Wolfcop]

We should be higher based on new black helmets alone. 

[kungfoodude]

5 minutes ago, Tr3ach said:

Also the fact that I would bet if say we surprise everyone and are a wildcard team next season, somehow this time next year I'm sure they would have our "futures ranking" much much higher which wouldnt really make sense for ranking futures but I gurantee that's how it would work.   Am I saying we will be a wildcard team next season?  Probably not, but I do think we are much improved overall and the games arent played on paper for a reason.

Yeah, if we beat most expectations and do well next season that would make that change.

[MasterAwesome]

1 minute ago, kungfoodude said:

And after this season, he may be on his way out. The result of this season could dramatically alter what his career is here, especially if he isn't an instant impact guy.

Meh I can't foresee any scenario where he'd be cut after the season.  Even if we draft a QB in the top 5 next year with a brand new coaching staff, he'd still be easily worth one of our 2-3 roster spots at QB.  I suspect this will largely be a redshirt year for him.  I think the Baker signing essentially confirmed that he isn't expected to be an instant impact guy and that we're prioritizing his development this year (for better or worse, TBD).

[Tr3ach]

12 minutes ago, kungfoodude said:

Yeah, if we beat most expectations and do well next season that would make that change.

I also, for whatever reason, am just not quite as negative and doom and gloom as most people are with the team right now, I still see potential growth and improvement.  Which kind of surprises me because I can be a pretty pessimistic fan sometimes

 

[Jackie Lee]

12 minutes ago, MasterAwesome said:

Meh I can't foresee any scenario where he'd be cut after the season.  Even if we draft a QB in the top 5 next year with a brand new coaching staff, he'd still be easily worth one of our 2-3 roster spots at QB.  I suspect this will largely be a redshirt year for him.  I think the Baker signing essentially confirmed that he isn't expected to be an instant impact guy and that we're prioritizing his development this year (for better or worse, TBD).

The developmental part is what scares me. McAdoo in theory should be a lot more useful in that department than Joe Brady, but it's still really hard to trust Rhule to not somehow muck things up. If theres a new staff next year and he gets a new playbook without ever really getting to execute the one he's learning this year it will still be a question mark on if he has an NFL brain