Rootability Grade: In sports media, we absolutely love to attach arbitrary grades to almost anything. We grade how teams do in drafts, how players develop, even which team has the best uniforms.
What is rootability, other than a ridiculously made-up word? Good question. Rootability grades how easy it is to root for a team, how many storylines are intriguing surrounding a team, what chance of success the team has. All of that is rolled into each team’s rootability grade.
Check out my AFC primer and rootability grades. Where does your team rate?
AFC East: The AFC East has been in the news far more than any other conference in the entire league, and it isn’t even close. Every team has made headlines; some laughable, some entertaining, some bizarre. No matter your thoughts and feelings on these teams in the East, just sit back and enjoy the personalities that will keep this division in the spotlight all season long.
Buffalo Bills – Rex Ryan. Shady McCoy. Tyrod Taylor. Now that is a combination that could be entertaining. Ryan is taking over and will be fun to watch lead this team for his first year. The team has made a ton of moves during the off-season to re-invigorate the roster. LeSean McCoy looks to get back to his former self. Tyrod Taylor looks to evade the curse that has been placed on Buffalo quarterbacks. Overall this is a very intriguing team; good defense, interesting offense, always entertaining coach. If all goes according to plan, Coach Ryan will be getting a fresh Tyrod Taylor tattoo by the end of the season. Rootability Grade: A
Miami Dolphins – The big splash for this team during the off-season was when Ndamukong Suh decided to leave Detroit and take his talents to south beach. That dominated the headlines for the Dolphins, but some of the more important developments were somehow overlooked. Ryan Tannehill is another year older and more developed and complemented by some very interesting weapons. Talented running back Lamar Miller is back, wide receiver Jarvis Landry is ready to be a reception magnet this year and the team drafted well bringing in WR DeVante Parker and RB Jay Ajayi. The new influx of talent on the offensive side of the ball will be more beneficial than that of the defense. With all that said, Miami is a contender to usurp the Patriots and win the East, if everything goes according to plan. Rootability Grade: B+
New England Patriots – The villains of the NFL. No team has taken more criticism over the past decade. Spygate won’t go away. Deflategate continues to roll along. Even Peyton Manning accused the team of bugging the opposing locker room. All the while, Robert Kraft, Bill Belichick, and Tom Brady continue to do things the “Patriot’s Way”. Whether you love them or hate them, you can’t look away from the Patriots. With all the hubbub and controversy surrounding this team, some seem to overlook the fact that they are the reigning Super Bowl Champs! They aren’t going anywhere soon. They are going to play angry this year… Watch out NFL. Every great story has its protagonist… And some just prefer to root for that guy. Rootability Grade: A+
New York Jets – Talk about a dumpster fire. Geno Smith was going to be the starting quarterback, until he was sucker punched and broke his jaw. Now the Ryan Fitzpatrick era in New York begins. Even with the addition of Brandon Marshall, this offense may be completely unable to compete. The defense is going to have to carry this team. Loaded with talent and flanked by a defensive-minded coach in Todd Bowles, this may be a one-sided team this year. The Geno Smith return and proceeding QB controversy will be interesting to watch, but other than that, there isn’t a lot else to root for. Rootability Grade: C-
AFC North: One of the most talented and least hyped divisions in football. While staying out of the headlines, there are a couple teams that could truly be contenders. All four teams coming into the season with the same coaches as last season and with pretty good roster continuity could make this a very competitive division.
Baltimore Ravens – Finally over the Ray Rice fiasco from last season, the Ravens look to move forward with their brand of football. Quarterback Joe Flacco may be one of the least talked about Super Bowl MVPs in recent history. As far as personalities on this team, I look at two individuals, Steve Smith Sr. and Coach John Harbaugh. These two make the boring Ravens interesting. Smith is never afraid to stick his nose in a pile or stick up for a teammate, and Smith has proven that it indeed is possible to be ejected from a preseason game. Harbaugh, one of the hardest working coaches in the league, has started to develop his own Belichick-Gregg Popovich type of demeanor with the media that has added some excitement to Ravens press conferences. Rootability Grade: B
Cincinnati Bengals – The Red Rifle, Andy Dalton has a big obstacle to clear to advance his career, he needs to win a Playoff game. Four straight Playoff appearances, four straight first round exits. In this division the challenge may be getting to the postseason. The Bengals looked more poised and healthy than they have for a while. A.J. Green is healthy, Jeremy Hill is back looking to follow up his stellar rookie campaign, and the defense is healthy and ready to go. The Bengals are a talented team but tend to be overshadowed by the in-state headline-whores, Cleveland Browns. Despite being the better team, there is far less talk about the Bengals. Maybe it’s because of their predictability of losing in the first round and overall vanilla offense. Rootability Grade: B-
Cleveland Browns – The Browns will be coming out this season in new uniforms. That is about all that is new and exciting about this team. To top it off, the coaches have come out and said that they hate the new uniforms. Seriously, the only thing to root for is that at some point the team decides to start Johnny Manziel and that gives us some fireworks for a week or two. On Sunday’s I will be more interested what color and print Danny Shelton’s lava-lava (Polynesian skirt) will be during warm ups. The Browns continue on as the laughing stock of the league. Rootability Grade: D
Pittsburgh Steelers – The defense-led Steelers era is over, this is a completely offensive dominant team. Ben Roethlisberger, Antonio Brown, and LeVeon Bell look to continue their tear through the NFL. Fans love high scoring games, and they will get them from the Steelers. Bell is suspended for the first couple games, and wide receiver Martavis Bryant is suspended for the first four games. Even with those absences, the Steelers are the class of the division and should be in contention come December. Rootability Grade: A-
AFC South: Seem by many as one of the easiest divisions to predict this year, the AFC South is the Colt’s to lose. Having an abundance of high draft picks in the division, the young talent should be fun to watch develop in the coming years. For this year, though, this division is more about personalities rather than teams.
Houston Texans – J.J. Watt. J.J. Watt. J.J. Watt. He is everywhere. Lauded as the best defensive player to play in the league in quite some time, Watt has a lot of pressure on his shoulders. At some point, the Watt-train won’t be able to gain the momentum that it has been on a losing team. Brian Hoyer is going to have to have the best season of his career to guide this team to the Playoffs. They lost veteran wide receiver Andre Johnson, Arian Foster enters the season injured, yet the defense stays strong. The Texans should be competitive if the defense can hold their opponents to less than 20 points, otherwise, they may be in trouble. As long as Watt is on the field, the Texans are viable. Rootability Grade: B+
Indianapolis Colts – Andrew Luck is arguably the best quarterback in the league. Frank Gore is the best running back Luck has had in his backfield since college. Andre Johnson joins T.Y. Hilton in a stacked receiving core. The offensive firepower is incredible in Indy. If the offensive line can be serviceable and the defense can keep opposing offenses from scoring 40 per-game, this Indianapolis team is going to be very good this season. A lot of people have the Colts going to the Super Bowl, but are going to have to stay healthy and gel as a team. Rootability Grade: A
Jacksonville Jaguars – Youth and development are what you look for on a roster like the Jags. They have a very good chance of improving off of last season with another year of development of quarterback Blake Bortles, the addition of T.J. Yeldon, and free agent signing Julius Thomas. It is extremely unfortunate that rookie Dante Fowler went down with a season-ending injury this summer. At the end of the day, the Jaguars will improve and win more games than they have in a few years but are still a couple years and a couple draft picks away from competing in their division. Rootability Grade: C+
Tennessee Titans – Having the number 2 pick in the draft is bittersweet. On the one side, you get to draft theoretically the second best player in the draft. On the other side, to get the second pick you were the second worst team in the league last year. That is where the Titans stand. They were awful last year. They were able to draft Marcus Mariota and have taken steps towards building their team around him, however, they are still a very young and unproven team. If they are able to win 5+ games this year it would be a success. I will be rooting for Mariota, and look forward to seeing what he looks like in the pro game. Rootability Grade: B-
AFC West: The AFC West is full of some of the biggest question marks in the entire conference. I could see three of these teams winning the division, I could see any of these teams being at least .500, and I honestly wouldn’t be surprised if the Raiders finished the season and not have the worst record in the division. Don’t put any money down on who wins this division, it will be a crapshoot all year.
Denver Broncos – One thing that can’t be argued, Father Time is undefeated. Peyton Manning isn’t getting any younger. The reports that have come out in the past month, that Manning has no feeling in his fingertips, are extremely troubling. Towards the end of last season, the Manning we saw was not the Manning we were accustomed to seeing. If Manning isn’t healthy, this team may struggle. Around Manning there is a lot of talent but it all hinges on him. It is never fun to watch stars fade, and there is a chance that is exactly what is going to happen in Denver. Rootability Grade: B+
Kansas City Chiefs – Run and gun is a phrase that is loosely used around football these days. That is because the football is being thrown more and more. Teams are building around quarterbacks and stud receivers and letting them carry the offensive load. Somehow, in this modern NFL, last season the Chiefs did not have one touchdown pass to a wide receiver. How does that even happen??? Bold prediction of the day… That streak is broken Week 1. Jeremy Maclin adds something to the receiving core and DeAnthony Thomas is too talented to not score on a short route or screen this year at some point. Rootability Grade: C
Oakland Raiders – Derek Carr and rookie Amari Cooper are going to be a fun pair to watch build chemistry throughout the season. Surprisingly, Oakland has drafted really well the last few seasons and built a core that could develop into something better than a 5-win team. This may not be the year that they break the .500 mark but they should continue to get better offensively and defensively. I think that Cooper will be the rookie of the year after a season of 80+ catches and 1000+ yards. Rootability Grade: B
San Diego Chargers – Possibly one of the last seasons of the Chargers in San Diego, will they go out with a bang? Phillip Rivers is going to do what he does. The question is everyone else around him. Antonio Gates is suspended to start the season and getting older. Keenan Allen had a disappointing 2014 campaign. Melvin Gordon comes in with high expectations but will be sharing touches with Danny Woodhead. This team could win the division or finish in 4th. But no matter what happens this year, looks like they’ll be headed north to be the Los Angeles Chargers, where they will immediately become one of the more popular teams in football. Rootability Grade: B
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