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The Cowboys haven't even had their first practice of camp, and we're already being offered power rankings left and right. In the last few days, many a pigskin pundit has released his version of the NFL power rankings heading into the 2014 preseason.
If you've been on the blog for a while, you know that we regularly tally the power rankings for the NFC East. And with Cowboys camp just kicking off, today is a good time look at what's out there in terms of power rankings and bring them all to one place. To set the baseline, so to speak.
Here's what the experts have come up with in terms of power rankings - without a single snap of organized football having been played yet.
Pre-training camp power rankings
18th - DMN (Gosselin): "The Cowboys fielded the NFL’s worst defense last season and now its three best players are gone: DeMarcus Ware, Jason Hatcher and Sean Lee."
20th - CBSSports (Prisco): "Tony Romo's back is the key for them heading into the season. He says he's healthy, but we will see."
22nd - ESPN: "Notre Dame allowed a sack on 1.8 percent of passing plays (attempts plus sacks) last year, third best in FBS. Zack Martin should plug in and play well right away."
23rd - Newsday: "Just don’t see how this defense will give Tony Romo’s offense a chance this year."
24th - ProFootballTalk: "Given the state of the defense, it is hard to feel confident about the Cowboys’ chances of making the playoffs. You could have said the exact same thing last year, though, and the Cowboys were alive until Orton threw an interception with 1:49 to play in Week 17."
25th - Associated Press: This is a poll conducted among a national panel of 11 voters who detemine the rankings. Unfortunately, they don't provide any comments for their poll.
Here's how the NFC East fared in the preseason beauty contest:
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DMN | 18 | 15 | 12 | 21 |
CBSSports | 20 | 9 | 18 | 25 |
ESPN | 22 | 9 | 19 | 28 |
Newsday | 23 | 9 | 18 | 21 |
PFT | 24 | 13 | 18 | 23 |
AP32 | 25 | 8 | 21 | 23 |
Total | 22.0 | 10.5 | 17.7 | 23.5 |
That's a fairly large gap between number 18 and number 25, though the gap for Giants is even bigger. Where would you rank the Cowboys as they head into the 2014 season?