Another day of the lockout, another list ranking players/coaches/front-offices of NFL franchises. This particular list, though, manages to rank them all in a formula to come up with the 2011 NFL Organizational Rankings. As might be expected, the better your team performs, the higher your team ends up on the list.
Adam Schein at FOX Sports does the honors for this list. Schein comes up with his board by ranking six different categories - Owner, Quarterback, Coach, Front Office, Coaching Staff and Intangibles.
The number one organization in the NFL? Well, it's no longer the New England Patriots who have dropped to number four. Your new number one is the Green Bay Packers. I guess that's what happens when your team wins the Super Bowl. But you do have to admire the Packers ability to draft talent, and to stick with their draft board and not reach for need. They've put together a nice core of young talent, and should be contenders for the next few years.
The top five consists of some of the usual suspects: Green Bay, New Orleans, Pittsburgh, New England and Philadelphia. Philadelphia? Yeah, ok, they've been consistently in the hunt for a Super Bowl over the last decade or so, but that Trophy Case is still empty!
And what about our Dallas Cowboys?
Make the jump...
15. Dallas Cowboys: 37 (points)
Owner: 8
Quarterback: 7
Coach: 4
Front office: 4
Coaching staff: 5
Intangibles: 9The Cowboys’ new stadium is epic. Jerry Jones the owner is a marketing genius. Jerry Jones the general manager is a borderline failure.
I actually think that's pretty reasonable for the Cowboys. I don't think the team is in nearly as bad of shape as the 2010 season indicated, but we haven't had a lot of consistent success recently. We're also in the process of turning over the coaching staff, so a decidedly middle-of-the-road ranking is probably fair.
Schein gives our owner, Jerry Jones, and 8 out of 10. Fair ranking given Jerry's ability to sign players and spend whatever it takes to produce a winner. QB gets a 7, again, probably correct for Tony Romo. What really kills the Cowboys in this ranking is the Coach, Front Office and Coaching staff.
There's no reason for anybody to truly believe in Jason Garrett yet. Well, except for Cowboys fans who are brimming with optimism after watching Garrett instantly turn around a Dallas team that was abysmal in the first-half of 2010. So while personally I feel Garrett should get a higher ranking, that's probably just my homerism at play.
When you're talking Front Office, you're mainly talking GM, and I've never been convinced that Jerry is a quality GM. A ranking of 4 is probably kind, but if you include the scouting staff, which I think has noticeably improved since Bill Parcells help to restructure it a while back, you could make the case that 4 might be low, although the product on the field hasn't yet proven that.
With the additions of Rob Ryan, Jimmy Robinson and Mike Woicik, the 5 given to the coaching staff is too low. Again, though, the proof isn't there yet, we'll have to wait for them to prove their worth in 2011 and beyond.
As for intangibles? Our new stadium is the crown jewel of stadiums, and we know we're the best fans in the world! Also, the brand Dallas Cowboys is second to none in sports. We got a nine, but that should be a ten.
Our NFC East brethren ranked: #5 Philadelphia Eagles, #7 New York Giants and #22 Washington Redskins.