2008 NFL Preseason Barometer

It’s been a long and arduous offseason, but the NFL is finally back! Brett Favre now dons the green and white in New York, Adam “Pacman” Jones was reinstated, the NFL’s sack leader Jared Allen is now a Viking, and Chad Johnson changed his last name to “Ocho Cinco.” The draft proved fruitful for many teams and others strengthened themselves through free agency, and a few new contenders have emerged. Who are they? Which teams moved up the rankings since last year and which have dropped off the map? Find out in our season premiere edition of the weekly Cafe Barometer.

After each week of the NFL season, several active Cafe members get together and rank the 32 NFL teams from first to worst. The Barometer is an average of the rankings submitted by these members. To maintain consistency, the high and low scores have been removed.

Rank	Change	TEAM	Avg Rank	S O U T H S I D E	b i j u	W a C o u g M B S	t s u n a m i 0 0 1	M r E	S c o t t	W H O D E Y	4 P a c k	J o e l	D o u g h h e a d	b o b b i n g	a b r u n n 1 1	B r u t a l l y H u g e	M i n i D i t k a	j a y	D e m o n D e a c o n	L e B r o n J a m e s	J F G	D u c k F a n	B A L C O
1 (1)		New England	1.4	1	2	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	3	2	2	2	1	1	2	1	2	2
Is that a blemish I see on Bill Belichick’s once spotless resume?
2 (3)		Dallas	2.2	2	4	3	3	3	2	3	2	2	2	1	1	6	1	2	2	1	4	1	1
As long as Tony Romo’s passer rating is higher than Jessica Simpson’s I.Q., the Cowboys should be in good shape, or are we giving Jessica too much credit?
3 (2)		Indianapolis	3.1	3	3	5	2	2	3	2	3	3	3	4	3	3	6	3	3	3	3	3	4
With Peyton Manning running the offense and Bob Sanders igniting the defense, things continue to look up in Indy.
4 (8)		San Diego	5.3	4	1	2	13	4	4	4	6	6	5	2	7	7	10	7	6	4	2	31	3
Under Norv Turner, the Chargers won their first playoff games since the Stan Humphries era. What’s the world coming to?
5 (4)		Pittsburgh	6.4	5	13	6	5	11	8	7	4	7	7	7	6	11	3	5	5	6	6	5	5
Santonio Holmes: your breakout third-year wide receiver for 2008.
6 (9)		Jacksonville	6.6	6	6	4	4	7	6	6	5	4	4	6	11	10	9	6	4	10	7	15	7
Finally, the Jaguars have found their quarterback of the future. Too bad it took them five years to figure out they already had him.
7 (13)		Minnesota	8.7	7	9	12	6	5	5	8	11	9	10	11	15	4	12	10	11	5	5	16	6
Yo, Adrian! The Vikings are legitimate Super Bowl contenders!
8 (21)		New Orleans	9.2	11	5	9	7	6	10	11	7	5	6	21	8	14	11	8	12	7	13	6	14
The Big Easy was a big nightmare in 2007. Will the Bourbon Street hangover continue, or will the Saints march again toward the postseason?
9 (11)		NY Giants	10.3	13	10	11	8	10	11	5	8	8	9	5	23	13	15	15	15	8	10	8	8
Perfection is winning the Super Bowl.
10 (7)		Seattle	10.4	10	8	8	9	8	9	17	9	13	8	8	13	9	7	14	7	15	16	13	10
With a former MVP put out to pasture, Julius Jones will get touches out of the backfield. Questions is, who gets the ball at the goalline?
11 (6)		Green Bay	10.8	9	18	10	16	9	7	9	10	10	15	10	9	15	4	11	10	14	9	9	12
After 253 consecutive regular season starts at quarterback for Brett Favre, it’s finally time for Aaron Rodgers to start a streak of his own.
12 (10)		Cleveland	11.6	8	7	7	17	14	12	14	12	12	12	9	16	12	13	17	9	18	8	4	9
After years of wasting away in the cellar of the AFC North, Browns fans actually have something to cheer about.
13 (16)		Philadelphia	13.7	14	12	19	19	16	17	12	13	14	18	17	10	1	19	9	8	9	18	10	11
The City of Brotherly Love once booed Santa Claus and a crippled Michael Irvin. No pressure, Donovan.
14 (5)		Tampa Bay	14.4	12	15	13	14	17	13	10	14	11	20	15	19	19	5	18	13	13	11	21	13
A busted Caddy, seven quarterbacks and an aging defense. Will this finally be Chucky’s last season or will the Buccaneers miraculously make the postseason again?
15 (12)		Tennessee	16.3	15	19	14	18	21	18	19	18	15	17	16	14	28	8	13	16	19	17	7	16
Roydell Williams, Justin McCarenis and Justin Gage. Imagine what Vince Young could do if he actually had someone to throw the ball to.
16 (20)		Denver	16.3	18	24	16	12	12	14	15	16	25	13	12	18	5	18	18	18	12	14	25	19
Another year with Mike Shenanigans, another crowded backfield in Denver.
17 (18)		Washington	18.4	20	16	15	15	20	20	22	26	19	11	14	32	16	22	12	20	11	20	22	22
Jim Zorn just received the quickest promotion in football history. Quickly turning around a once proud franchise will be a tough job to handle.
18 (15)		Arizona	19.2	19	22	20	26	23	23	13	17	17	23	23	5	20	16	19	22	24	12	18	15
If Matt Leinart were as good at football as he is with the ladies, he’d really be a stud. It’s put up or shut up time, in the desert.
19 (17)		Houston	19.7	29	23	18	11	22	19	20	19	16	14	13	31	22	21	30	23	17	15	14	20
Has an expansion team ever taken so long to finally enjoy a winning season?
20 (19)		Buffalo	20.5	16	17	21	25	24	21	21	24	18	16	26	21	23	14	25	17	16	24	23	17
Los Gatos High School alumni Trent Edwards, your starting quarterback for the Buffalo Bills.
21 (27)		Carolina	20.5	23	11	22	10	18	15	29	22	21	19	25	22	8	28	22	21	25	23	19	23
Just when DeAngelo Williams figures he’s toting the ball all to himself, the Panthers select Jonathan Stewart.
22 (25)		Cincinnati	21.4	21	20	24	20	13	24	27	20	20	24	22	20	17	23	16	25	20	27	24	18
In the dictionary, next to the word “anarchy” it says, see the Cincinnati Bengals.
23 (30)		NY Jets	21.8	17	14	17	29	19	16	18	15	28	21	19	29	26	32	21	14	30	22	30	21
The label “ManGenius” is starting to wear awfully thin in The Big Apple. Jets fan hope 2007 was nothing more than a brain fart.
24 (14)		Detroit	22.5	28	21	26	27	25	22	16	21	24	28	20	12	24	20	24	24	23	21	11	27
Finally, the Lions decide not to draft a wide receiver in the first round. Perhaps Matt Millen really has turned the corner.
25 (22)		Chicago	22.9	22	30	25	28	15	25	23	25	30	22	18	4	25	17	26	26	28	19	12	26
Rex Grossman and Kyle Orton will be back in the mix at quarterback. Sounds like it should be another wonderful season of Bears football in Chi-town.
26 (23)		Baltimore	25.2	26	31	27	21	26	26	30	23	23	25	24	27	18	25	31	27	29	21	17	25
With Steve McNair filing his retirement papers, Kyle Boller gets one last shot before losing his job again.
27 (29)		Oakland	26.6	27	28	23	31	27	27	24	30	26	31	30	17	21	24	20	31	22	29	27	31
The Raiders are hoping Darren McFadden is the next Adrian Peterson. Too bad their quarterback might be the next Gilbert Brown.
28 (26)		St. Louis	26.6	24	25	29	23	28	28	25	27	31	26	29	26	29	26	23	19	31	26	26	28
An injury riddled 2007 smashed any hopes of a postseason. With a new draft pick and a clean bill of health, the rejuvenated Rams should be anything but a playoff Long shot.
29 (24)		Kansas City	27.7	30	27	32	22	32	29	28	28	22	27	32	24	30	31	27	28	32	25	20	24
It won’t matter who’s throwing the ball in Kansas City, Dwayne Bowe is going to be a superstar.
30 (28)		San Francisco	28.2	25	26	28	24	30	30	31	29	27	29	27	25	32	27	32	30	21	30	28	29
Three offensive coordinators and three losing seasons for Alex Smith. Will the fourth time be the charm?
31 (31)		Atlanta	30.1	31	32	30	30	31	31	26	32	29	30	28	30	31	29	29	32	27	31	29	32
With Michael Vick pursing a role in The Longest Yard, it’s time for Matt Ryan to shine in Atlanta.
32 (32)		Miami	30.2	32	29	31	32	29	32	32	31	32	32	31	28	27	30	28	29	26	28	32	30
Dolphin Free Tuna, no longer available in Miami.

Thanks to everyone that helped make these rankings happen! A huge special thanks to Dr. Duran Duran for the team blurbs he wrote for this. It was a giant help.

(10 votes, average: 4.4 out of 5)  Loading ... Questions or comments for Scott? Post them in the Cafe Forums! Want to see your own fantasy wisdom published? Check out the Cafe's Pencil & Paper section!