Nine Straight Threes' NFL Power Rankings: Season-ending Edition
The haves, the have-nots, and the mushy middle
We return from a bit of a power-rankings hiatus on NST in order to bring you not one, but two separate rankings this week. Yes, that’s right, twice as much of your favorite leg-numbing bathroom read this week. It’s the least I can do for you, humble reader.
These power rankings are going to be of the more traditional ilk. A season wrap-up, if you will, with an eye towards 2025. The next version will be a ranking of all 14 playoff teams.
Needless to say, it’s a tumultuous time in the league. Black Monday has come and gone, and there are six (Antonio Pierce got fired while I was writing this sentence) head-coaching vacancies waiting to be filled.
The Jaguars, Patriots, Jets, Bears, Raiders and Saints all need new bosses, and the desirability of those jobs varies wildly.
Somewhat surprisingly, the Giants don’t have openings for head coach or general manager. The Cowboys? No one really knows, except maybe Jerry Jones.
Let’s get cracking on the final power rankings of the 2024 season.
Yikes
32. New York Giants (3-14)
They decided not to fire Brian Daboll and Joe Schoen. That’s certainly a choice. All they need now is a new quarterback, and given Daboll’s track record with guys not named Josh Allen, I’m not so sure that new signal-caller will be walking into a great situation.
31. Las Vegas Raiders (4-13)
A brief run of competence at the end of the season was not enough to save Antonio Pierce, and probably shouldn’t have been. Now, Tom Brady will be prominently involved in Vegas’ coaching search. One hopes he’s better at that than he is at broadcasting.
Number One Pick Haver
30. Tennessee Titans (3-14)
They’ve got the first pick in this year’s draft, and they need a quarterback, and now they’re going to need a general manager to pick that quarterback, with Ran Carthon having been given his walking papers.
Woof, Part 1
29. Cleveland Browns (3-14)
Deshaun Watson had a setback in his recovery process, you say? That sound you hear is several million people playing the world’s tiniest violin for him.
Woof, Part 2
28. New Orleans Saints (5-12)
They need a new coach. They’re still in salary cap hell. The roster is old and not that promising, and they’re in a division where suddenly, the other three teams look varying degrees of promising. If this was one of those Extreme Makeover-type shows, they’d just take a wrecking ball to this thing and start over.
Woof, Part 3
27. New York Jets (5-12)
Feels like the divorce from Aaron Rodgers is a matter of “when,” not “if.” Which puts whoever takes the Jets’ head-coaching job right back at square one (that’s a good thing, in this case). Will the new coach be able to coexist with Brick Johnson? That remains to be seen.
It Could Work Out, But it Probably Won’t
26. Jacksonville Jaguars (4-13)
Starting to think Trevor Lawrence just maybe isn’t That Dude. You know who *is* That Dude, at least when it comes to not getting fired? Trent Baalke! Before you ask, the answer is no, I don’t get it, either.
25. Chicago Bears (5-12)
Sure, they’ve got Caleb Williams, but year one didn’t go so great, and why anyone would have faith in the Bears to properly execute a coaching search is beyond me. The job should be an attractive one, but I can easily imagine plenty more pratfalls in the years to come.