Jeff Hanisch-USA TODAY Sports
What? It's only March and there are NFL power rankings?
ESPN put out its annual NFL Pre-Draft Power Rankings. I know, it's way too early for this but I thought I'd check in anyway. I was curious to see how well they did with last year's rankings. Below I took the rankings they posted in March of 2012 (pre-draft) and compared them to how the teams did in the final regular-season record rankings (I arbitrarily stopped before the playoffs).
Before we get to that, how did Dallas do in this early version of the 2013 power rankings?
18 Cowboys 8-8 The switch to a 4-3 scheme could help Sean Lee and Jay Ratliff thrive. But it needs safety support. (Graziano)
About what you might expect. Ok, now to the table of 2012 pre-draft rankings vs. 2012 end of regular season rankings by actual record. The Giants were top-ranked, but by the end of the season were actually in 14th-place according to their record (a -13 differential). Other big flops were the Lions (-22), Eagles (-18) and Chiefs (-15). On the plus side, team's that surprised, were the Colts (+25), Vikings (+18), Redskins (+16)and Seahawks (+14).
The Cowboys ended up at a -2, ranked 14th to start, ended up 16th by record.
| 2012 Pre-Draft Rank | Team | 2012 End Regular Season Rank | Diff. |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Giants | 14 | -13 |
| 2 | Patriots | 3 | -1 |
| 3 | Packers | 6 | -3 |
| 4 | 49ers | 5 | -1 |
| 5 | Ravens | 10 | -5 |
| 6 | Texans | 4 | +2 |
| 7 | Lions | 29 | -22 |
| 8 | Broncos | 1 | +7 |
| 9 | Steelers | 15 | -6 |
| 10 | Bears | 12 | -2 |
| 11 | Saints | 20 | -9 |
| 12 | Eagles | 30 | -18 |
| 13 | Falcons | 2 | +11 |
| 14 | Cowboys | 16 | -2 |
| 15 | Chargers | 18 | -3 |
| 16 | Titans | 23 | -7 |
| 17 | Chiefs | 32 | -15 |
| 18 | Panthers | 21 | -3 |
| 19 | Bengals | 11 | +8 |
| 20 | Jets | 25 | -5 |
| 21 | Cardinals | 27 | -6 |
| 22 | Seahawks | 8 | +14 |
| 23 | Bills | 24 | -1 |
| 24 | Buccaneers | 22 | +2 |
| 25 | Redskins | 9 | +16 |
| 26 | Raiders | 28 | -2 |
| 27 | Jaguars | 31 | -4 |
| 28 | Dolphins | 19 | +9 |
| 29 | Rams | 17 | +12 |
| 30 | Browns | 26 | +4 |
| 31 | Vikings | 13 | +18 |
| 32 | Colts | 7 | +25 |
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