Redskins Week 1: Power Rankings Around the Web

It's that time of the year again.  Time for the people who get paid, or think they should get paid, to talk about football to make their power rankings for all 32 teams in the NFL.  The Washington Redskins are coming off of a 3-13 season, have a new head coach, and their franchise QB was benched for the final 3 games of the season.  If you're coming into this article looking for your daily dose of Kool-Aid, there is a Six Pack waiting for you a few articles down the line.

The highest ranking I was able to find(excluding Ken and iH8's consensus #1 overall ranking) was #21 from Newsday, and the lowest was all the way down at #31 from betting site Oddshark.  The Redskins finished the season at #31 last season, and I think everyone expects them to finish higher than that this year.  The realistic predictions will put the team in the 7-9 to 9-7 range which would be a 4-6 game improvement over last seasons record.  The key to all of it is RGIII and Jay Gruden making the Redskins offense a game changer.  If the defense and special teams are even marginally improved that kind of improvement is easily attainable.

I don't do power rankings because I just don't, but I will gladly listen to everyone else complain about these rankings.  So let them have it!

21. Newsday

If there are legitimate questions about whether RGIII or Kirk Cousins is best suited to run Jay Gruden's offense, then there are legitimate questions about this team.

22. CBS Sports(Kirwan)

I talked with RG3 and Pierre Garcon recently and I like what I heard about their focus and direction this season. The preseason results haven't indicated that the offense, especially the passing game, is ready for a push in the NFC east. The defense has its issues to solve but the Skins could join the Bucs and Rams as a surprise team.

24. SBNation

Semi-official team spokesperson Joe Theismann was ready to pull the plug on RG3 and send Kirk Cousins into the starting lineup. That seems drastic. But there is legitimate concern as to whether RG3 can catch up to expectations after a rough preseason.

Absurd Power Ranking: 11. All three Dumb Wins for Washington have been in home openers (2005, 2009, 2010). Imagine waiting all offseason to see your team, showing up at the stadium for the first home game, and then watching a Dumb Win. No amount of brushing can get that terrible taste out of your mouth.

(We also added a set of bonus rankings, the Absurd Power Rankings. This week's edition of the Absurd Power Rankings is based on "Dumb Wins," the number of times a team has won a game since 2000 without scoring an offensive touchdown.)

24. NumberFire

25. ESPN

Joe Theismann says Kirk Cousins (4 TDs, 1 INT on 12 preseason drives) should start over Robert Griffin III (0 TDs, 2 INTs on 10 drives). For now, Jay Gruden disagrees.

25. Washington Post

Jay Gruden was brought in to fix Robert Griffin III. The early returns during the preseason weren’t promising. It’s a situation that calls for patience and calm, commodities that usually have not been found in abundance at or around Redskins Park.

25. Covers.com

The Redskins took a huge step back last season and head into Houston riding an eight-game losing streak while covering just two of those. Jay Gruden looks to turn it around fast but the Redskins are 1-5 ATS in their last six road games.

26. CBS Sports(Prisco)

They better hope Robert Griffin III doesn't play like he did in the preseason. If he does, they'll have big problems.

26. Fox Sports

To the surprise of many, the defense has been the bright spot this preseason as the pass rush has taken form following the addition of Jason Hatcher. Robert Griffin has struggled to adjust to Jay Gruden's offense and his footwork has been sloppy at times. It could take time for this offense to gel.

26. Walter Football

The Redskins are the only team that can challenge the Eagles in the NFC East, but two things need to happen: 1) Robert Griffin must stay healthy. 2) Griffin needs to stop sucking. Griffin has not been very good this preseason, and it's appalling that he still doesn't know how to slide. Someone needs to delete his Twitter account so that he actually focuses on such a simple aspect of the game.

As for the team name controversy, Phil Simms, Tony Dungy, Peter King and people of that ilk are being so completely stupid about this. I'll go into it more later, but as for now, I want to compensate for their refusal to say the Redskins' team name. So, I will write "Redskins" as much as possible from now on. In fact, let's start now:

Redskins Redskins Redskins Redskins Redskins Redskins Redskins Redskins Redskins Redskins Redskins Redskins Redskins Redskins Redskins Redskins Redskins Redskins Redskins Redskins Redskins Redskins Redskins Redskins Redskins Redskins Redskins Redskins Redskins Redskins Redskins Redskins Redskins Redskins Redskins Redskins Redskins Redskins Redskins Redskins Redskins Redskins Redskins.

Redskins.

27. NFL.com(Harrison)

Everybody knows Robert Griffin III has not looked effective. His mechanics are being questioned, which is something I started to do last year before being swamped with explanations from people that his struggles were related to his injury. Now, though, there's no Mike Shanahan or balky knee to point to, with Jay Gruden taking the reins in Washington and RGIII's surgery having taken place 20 months ago.

This team must lean on running back Alfred Morris -- and I think he's up to the challenge. Give him 1,400 yards.

29. Yahoo Shutdown Corner

I still believe Robert Griffin III will have a very good year.

31. Oddshark

Average Ranking: 25.5