2019 Power Rankings Week 1
Am I home with two girls under the age of two instead of working this week? Am I staying up late to get the work I’m not doing during the day done? Do I want to nap when they nap? Yes. BUT do I know what the people want?
12 — Steve Calhoun
This team has been 📉 for quite some time. Many have argued, and will continue to do so, that Calhoun needs to blow up the team and multiply the few remaining assets before he’s down to zero. This pre-season was not kind to those few assets. Lamar Miller was certainly not a sexy pick but with the backfield to himself and a high-powered offense he should have had mid-RB2 numbers, instead he has one intact ACL. There was also some positive thought around AJ Green and the Sean McVay Disciple coached Bengals. Last I saw Green still hasn’t shed his walking boot. OBJ, Devonta Freeman, and Latavius Murray do not make a team good. At least we know Calhoun has all his picks.
11 — Ian Crosby
2019 was officially not their year once they moved JuJu Smith-Schuster for quite the haul. Ian can feel less bad about his terrible team than Calhoun can. In fact, there is enough potential on Ian’s team, in my opinion, for them to be just good enough to be frustrating. A healthy Wentz, Guice, Henry, and Duke Johnson are a solid base. His WR are obviously the weak point, but again there are some promising young guys here who could do something good (Gallup, Westbrook, Samuel, Isabella, and dare I say Albert Wilson?). They won’t be good, but I already think they’re 📈.
10 — Dan Marino
My pre-season pick for 12th has moved up! It’s hard to not like Marino, but it’s easy to dislike this team. Outside of Mahomes and Lockett, I don’t know that there’s anyone on this team I’d be excited to start on a weekly basis. Matt Breida should be decent enough, but with Coleman there it’ll be hard for him to outperform his RB26 finish from last year. Like Ian, there are some guys who could outperform expectations, if only on a week-to-week basis, and help Dan get a few surprise wins.
9 — Billy Davis
Even without Derek Carr, I think Billy can keep himself out of the bottom quarter of the league. Russell Wilson, Aaron Jones, and Tyreek Hill are going to be obvious contributors of the Boomlette. I think John Brown, Hunter Henry, and Christian Kirk could be surprising good as well. A pretty decent IDP and some uninspiring, but decent depth could be of use here as well.
8 — Andrew Bartell
Don’t tell Head, but I’m putting his team behind BPou and Falcone. A bad defense and an upgraded O-Line has Deshaun Watson firmly in the conversation for QB1 overall. The rollercoaster RB, Sony Michel, is currently 📈, Howard won’t be exciting but on a high scoring offense will have plenty of useful weeks, Damien Williams is still a KC RB and that’s the thing that matters most, AND Brandin Cooks and Will Fuller are a good 1–2 punch at WR. A few things fall right or trades made and Head will find himself in his sweet spot…almost a playoff team.
7 — Mike Altbaum
Despite two trades that saw him lose Baker Mayfield, Amari Cooper, and Chris Godwin for Sam Darnold, Courtland Sutton, and a rookie LB, I’m still high on Abaum’s team. I could just be too high on the likes of Calvin Ridley, DJ Moore, and OJ Howard, but I think Abaum could surprise us. Now, there isn’t a lot, or any, depth. So a single injury means a lot more to Mike than most.
6 — Nicholas Sarlo
The hits are already coming. No Week 1 hurricanes to draw the ire of opponents, but a pre-season retirement means Sarlo will be relying on Jameis Winston more than anyone wants too. It also knocks Marlon Mack down a few pegs and for all the crap Sarlo gave Miles Sanders and the Eagles propensity to use a committee, Week 1 wasn’t a good sign for David Montgomery who saw only 38% of the snaps (18% less than Mike Davis and 32% less than Tarik Cohen). With that said, Sarlo’s team really finds itself in a familiar position — relying on unproven, yet-to-breakout WR.
5 — Brett Poulton
Alvin Kamara and Saquon Barkley can, have, and will win this team some weeks. And the supporting cast isn’t as 😷 as we’d like BPou to believe. Tyler Boyd will be less efficient this year, but will have the increased volume to make up for it. TY Hilton has been worse without Luck, but is still a WR2. Chris Carson and Austin Ekeler are solid FLEX plays. AND the arrival of Amari Cooper opened up Dak last year and I think (fear?) that Matt Moore at OC will further open up that Dallas offense. BPou will definitely win enough games to be annoying this year.
4 — Chris Black
The Reigning Champ’s roster is still aging. It’s also suffering from a holdout (Melvin Gordon) and a meltdown (Antonio Brown). Still good enough to do damage and potentially catch fire, but I think firmly in the bottom of the leagues top tier. We’ve talked about the age of this roster for awhile and the depth is lacking now too. Chris has talked about trading to get younger and he’s also talked about being too scared to trade. The direction Chris takes with this team will likely determine a lot for the rest of the teams.
3 — Dave Hallahan
Do I want my team to be higher? Of course. But this is probably where it belongs. As with most teams, health will be a key factor but perhaps even more so with this roster. The offensive starting 9 can compete with every team, but when bye weeks show up and/or injuries occur are the likes of Crowder, McDonald, Cohen, Quinn, and Hines enough to keep this team afloat? We’ll see…
#freelamarjackson
2 — Troy Altbaum
The reinstatement of Josh Gordon and potential emergence of Allen Robinson have moved Troy ahead of Hallahederer in my book. McCaffery, Keenan, Thomas, Amari, Kittle, Woods…those six are fearsome. Haters will give reason not to worry about Dalvin Cook and Leonard Fournette, but if healthy both will be top-12 RB this year 🔒.
1 — Dave Falcone
The Pigeon lives on. We thought we were doomed to a back-to-back Falcone reign, but we skirted that fate. We’ll look to double our luck in 2019. One glimmer of hope for the non-pigeons of the league has already faded when Zeke signed his deal. The trade for Nick Chubb is hella good insurance for a Gurley knee injury. Falcone is and should be the favorite to win the mug this year until he doesn’t. God help us all.
