ESPN's Future NFL Power Rankings

ESPN released their NFL power rankings earlier this month—for 2015. Analysts weighed quarterback situations, drafting, young talent, the front office, and coaching staffs to make their projections, and the Baltimore Ravens came in at number 10. The nine teams who ranked above the Ravens (from number nine to number one) are:

#9. Houston Texans; #8. New Orleans Saints; #7. Philadelphia Eagles; #6. Detroit Lions; #5. Pittsburgh Steelers; #4. San Francisco 49er’s; #3. New York Giants; #2. New England Patriots; and #1. Green Bay Packers. All of the teams ranked above the Ravens are solid teams; I can’t dispute that. Based on the criteria, however, the Ravens appear to qualify as a top-five team.

Here is what the experts said about the Ravens’ long-term projection: 

Graphic rights belong to: ©2012 ESPN Internet Ventures

"The bar graphs reflect the average rating given by the voters for each category.
Category averages are weighted by importance to generate overall score.

Roster: Some of the best Ravens players are up in age, but they also have some young stars such as CB Lardarius Webb. And this team always drafts extremely well. I can't see Baltimore's overall talent level dropping off drastically any time soon, even once LB Ray Lewis and S Ed Reed retire. -- Williamson

Quarterback: He draws his share of ire, but Joe Flacco is just 27, has started 64 consecutive NFL games, hasn't had major weapons and has a 44-20 record. He was a dropped pass from a Super Bowl appearance last season. Is this so bad? -- Trent Dilfer

Draft: No team consistently delivers as much value. Webb (No. 88 overall, 2009) and DE Pernell McPhee (No. 165, 2011) are recent steals. And that's after getting your franchise quarterback at No. 18 and your franchise running back at No. 55 in the same 2008 draft. Ozzie Newsome is a Hall of Famer … in the front office, too. The Ravens face some big personnel losses on defense coming soon, but few are better equipped to move on. -- Mel Kiper

Front office: The Ravens get it. They have one of the best front offices in the NFL and prove it year after year. There is no reason to think this will change any time soon. -- Matt Williamson

Coaching: The Ravens have found a fantastic head coach in John Harbaugh, who should be a stalwart in that spot for years to come. Once again, though, Baltimore has a new defensive coordinator in Dean Pees, as that has been a revolving door for future head coaches. The loss of LB Terrell Suggs will test Pees' abilities early. – Matt Williamson”

Yes, he does actually know what he's talking about.

As a point of reference, the #1 team on that list, the Green Bay Packers, scored an 87.25; the #5 team, the Pittsburgh Steelers, scored a 77.94. So while there is a large discrepancy in ratings between the first five teams, there is very little difference between the successive five.

I gave myself a hell of a migraine glaring at the explanations of each category, trying to find a negative declaration by one of the writers. I still haven't seen anything.

Generally, when an analyst takes a shot at the team's long-term viability, they point to aging stars on defense (Reed and Lewis) as the reason the team might drop off a bit. But with a comment like, "I can't see Baltimore's overall talent level dropping off drastically any time soon, even once LB Ray Lewis and S Ed Reed retire," Williamson has dispelled that notion.

With Ozzie Newsome running the draft and Eric DeCosta still evaluating talent, the Ravens will always have a healthy influx of talented, young players. The offense mostly relies on the production of either very young, talented players like Ed Dickson, Dennis Pitta and Torrey Smith, or relatively young players ready to enter their prime like Joe Flacco, Ray Rice and, now, Jacoby Jones.

The future for the defense looks equally as bright. Pollard signed to a long-term deal; Webb is emerging as one of the top cornerbacks in the league; Jimmy Smith is experiencing his first full off-season; and young bloods like Pernell McPhee and Courtney Upshaw are looking to make a significant impact on the defense within the next few years.

Gotcha

The second-ranked team, the New England Patriots, earned 85.38 total points, including a 9/10 at the quarterback position. As much as I dislike Tom Brady, I do recognize that he's a first-ballot hall of fame player and a borderline living legend. The problem is that he'll be 38 when the season kicks off in 2015, meaning that the writers are assuming that Brian Hoyer or Ryan Mallett are going to be Brady-caliber players.

The 49er's are ranked #4 with Alex Smith at the helm and very little offense around him, with no promising young quarterback waiting in the wings. The Steelers are #5 as they stare down a cap situation that could end up being the NFL equivalent of the Great Depression by 2015 and will have lost far more defensive firepower than the Ravens (think Polamalu, Harrison, Keisel, Hampton).

The biggest issue I have with the list is putting the Philadelphia Eagles at #7; the team traded away a potential franchise quarterback in Kevin Kolb and they don't seem to have a long-term plan in place. I feel more comfortable predicting that Michael Vick, who is 35 before the 2015 season, will be out of the league three years from now than saying the Eagles will be good in three years. I have to imagine that Andy Reid will be gone if they don't win the Super Bowl by 2015, and they have no quarterback of the future. While LeSean McCoy is obviously a superstar and DeSean Jackson will acrobatically run a few punts back, I don't see a bright future for the Eagles.

For the five of you who actually read all of this, thank you. Sometimes you got to vent.