Eefluxx 113 Posted May 12, 2012 Just curious as how to you would rank the four teams in the NFC South as they stand now out of the 32 teams and why. As I see it, due to roster and possible ending roster, offseason transactions and distruptions, and the draft all four teams are pretty close. 12. Atlanta Falcons The Falcons could very well be higher or lower. They have a good veteran presence that some might call too old presence in some players. Every year I say Michael Turner will lose a step and every year he has a solid season. Not a great season but a solid season. Turner, Gonzo and Abraham are all a year older but are still good. They have some younger talent (Jones and Rogers) that could get better this year and put them over the top offensivly if they can find a LT. Defensivly they added Asante Samuel to help temper the Saints passing attack. I think the loss of Curtis Lofton in the middle might hurt them against the Panthers and Bucs rushing attack however. Still Mike Smith hasn't had a losing season since he became the HC of the Falcons and they can improve on playoff appearances with experiance. 16. New Orleans Saints This pains me but I put the Saints right smack in the middle of the 32 teams because we don't know yet how they will actually react to all the offseason distruptions. Drew Brees will sign at some point and I think they have the most proven talent of the four teams. Even if Brees doesn't sign I think they can go 8-8 with Chase Daniel, hence middle of the pack. Spags and the other players added on defense can turn the defense around to be better than the last two years. Interm and interm interm coaches will decide how this team responds to the offseason. The next two teams I wanted to put 17A and 17B and the only thing I used to differ between them was the X factor (Lame I know) still 17. Tampa Bay Buccaneers They have a talented and young team. With the addition of Doug Martin and Mark Barron as well as Lavonte David (sp?) they have improved in areas they needed too just in the draft alone. FA additions of Carl Nicks and Vincent Jackson alone make this team competetive. Basically their season rests on the shoulders of Josh Freeman. Last year he had a sophmore slump as well as his receivers and Raheem Morris couldn't get the players to respond on the field. I think with the new coach Schiano (sp?) and the right focus this could be the team that wins alot with a new coach like we seem to have every year in the NFL (hence the X-factor) Both the defense and the offense is young and talented and if Schiano can get them to respond to him they will win alot of games. 18. Carolina Panthers I feel they have more proven talent than the Bucs do but the x-factor is against them. This will blow up in my face if the defense stays healthy and if Cam Newton doesn't regress or fall into the sophmore slump category. They have the most dangerous running attack and if Rivera uses it well to set up the pass for Newton then they will be the team to beat in the South. Only major weakness I know of on offense is the WR's, if Gettis can bounce back from injury and LaFell can improve then they should be good there and if Rivera can focus on using the run instead of trying to prove to everyone that Cam is a passer like he did early last season. On defense the only weakness is if they can stay healthy. As I said before this is just a preseason ranking of how I feel the teams rank now. We all know during the season everything will get thrown out the window and the NFC South will prove to be unpredictable again like all the previous years and it is stupid to do a ranking now. This is just for fun. You guys know your teams better than I do and these are just my obsvervations thus far so rank them how you would or flame me for my opinions Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
RazorStar 4,025 Posted May 12, 2012 I'll give it a go, but I can only generalize where they would be ranked. Top 10: Carolina Panthers Add a healthy defense to the offense they had last year and you have an explosive team for the future. SuperCam will continue to get the bal to Steve Smith deep, and the combination of Stewart and Williams will handle the rest. Gettis and the other receiving options just have to get open, and Cam will find them. New Orleans Saints They didn't lose anyone important from the suspensions, and gained four really good players in free agency who will do a great job filling in holes. This spot is dependent on Drew Brees coming back, otherwise I'd drop them to about 20. 11-15 Range: Atlanta Falcons I like what they have, but Matt Ryan is becoming the next Peyton Manning with the way he's playing in the playoffs. Turner is getting old and until Rodgers or Snelling steps up for them, they aren't gonna have much of a running game, though their passing game is bound to be sucessful. Their defense added a great piece for cheap in Asante Samuel and Peter Konz should do good work filling in inside Atlanta's offensive line, but I don't see much improvement from where they're at right now. Bottom 10 range: Tampa Bay Bucs I might be being a bit harsh on the Bucs since their offseason looks great on paper, but you have no idea how these free agents will play now that they have money in their pockets, and great draft picks might not be so great when the season comes around. Still lots on room for growth for a team who might have been the worst in the league when the 2011 season ended. Could definitely surprise, but I'm not so confident. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Thanatos 2,847 Posted May 15, 2012 (edited) I'd say they're all pretty close. 10. For the reasons Razor stated. 15. Atlanta is Atlanta. Not a great draft, as to be expected from sending all those picks to Cleveland, but they did pick up some help in FA. If Peter Konz stays healthy, that's a great addition to their O-line and a second-round steal. If they do get a playoff spot this year, I hope they don't waste it like usual. 16. The only reason I won't put them above New Orleans and Atlanta is because of that weak D-line. If they play like they did near the end of the season, then they could easily be the best team in the division, if they play like they did in the first half, then they're middle-of-the-pack. 20. The biggest question mark, in my mind. They could be a top-10 team easily, if all those picks/FA pickups work out. If they don't, they could be as bad as last year. It's hard not to like what they've done in the offseason though. Edited May 15, 2012 by Thanatos19 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
