Ranking the Biggest Losses of the 2013 NFL Offseason and Preseason so Far

A harsh reality of NFL training camps and preseason outings—players get injured. 

Some are lost for the year, while others only miss practice time or a few games in the regular season, meaning those injuries always come with varying degrees of team impact. 

With a multitude of guys already on the injury report, let's rank the players already lost from least impactful to most impactful. 

7. Santonio Holmes

Santonio Holmes is easily the most established pass-catcher on a New York Jets team relatively devoid of legitimate pass-catching talent. 

His presence would be integral for Mark Sanchez to experience any semblance of a bounce back year or Geno Smith to comfortably acclimate to the faster, more complex NFL.

He had 20 receptions for 272 yards with a score in the team's first four games in 2012. Despite missing the last 12 games of the year, he finished with the fourth-most targets on the team.

Combining 2010 and 2011, Holmes averaged 98 targets and 51.5 receptions. 

However, the former Super Bowl MVP had multiple surgeries on his foot this offseason and was placed on the PUP list to start training camp. 

Per Rich Cimini of ESPNNewYork.com, as Holmes "continues to rehab his foot, people in the organization are losing confidence that he'll be ready for Week 1." 

The uncertainty is worrisome for the Jets and their quarterbacks, but because he hasn't officially been ruled out for a specific amount of time, Holmes comes in at No. 7 on the list.

6. Percy Harvin

Percy Harvin was supposed to be the yards-after-the-catch demon that would make the Seattle Seahawks' highly efficient offense unstoppable in 2013. 

Unfortunately for Seattle, Harvin will undergo surgery on his injured hip, and according to NFL.com's Ian Rapoport, the Seahawks hope to get him back by Week 13.

While Pete Carroll's club has made a concerted effort to keep up with the San Francisco 49ers, the fact is the Seahawks were just fine without Harvin a year ago. 

According to FootballOutsiders.com, Seattle had the sixth-highest yards-per-drive average and seventh-highest points-per-drive after in 2012. 

Really, quarterback Russell Wilson and running back Marshawn Lynch make the offensive attack go. Wilson's accuracy percentage—a metric developed by ProFootballFocus.com (subscription required) that provides a quarterback's completion percentage excluding drops, spikes and throwaways—was 77.1 last season, which was the fourth-highest in football. 

Lynch, a herky-jerky power runner, averaged five yards per carry with 12 total touchdowns in 2012. Per ProFootballFocus, his 2.77 yards-after-contact-per-attempt average was the fifth-best among his running back contemporaries. 

However, Harvin had the highest yards-after-the-catch-per-reception average in football last year and would have added a high-percentage dimension to Seattle's offense. 

Seattle could use more pass-catching options, but its offense will be fine without Harvin. 

5. Dan Koppen

The Denver Broncos have Peyton Manning, the quarterback whose quick decisions make every offensive line better, something that eases the pain of losing center Dan Koppen a bit. 

The former New England Patriot, who appeared in 15 games and made 12 starts for Denver a year ago, tore his ACL early in training camp and is done for the year. 

However, Manning's presence mustn't be ignored. 

In 2010, his last with the Indianapolis Colts, Manning was sacked 16 times, the fewest in the league. Last year with Denver, he was taken down 21 times, which was the league's second-lowest total. 

Obviously, a center isn't tasked to stop the quarterback-devouring edge-rushers, but offensive line cohesion is typically perceived to be pretty important, and the Broncos will be forced to do some shuffling up front. 

J.D. Walton, another player who started at center in 2012 for Denver, also suffered a season-ending injury, which is why the Koppen injury is a bit more impactful. 

4. Aaron Hernandez

Aaron Hernandez is in significantly deep trouble with the law. 

His NFL career is all but officially over, and jail time is likely on the horizon.

In 10 games with the New England Patriots in 2012, the former Florida Gators star accumulated 51 receptions and 483 yards. 

In 2011, he had 79 grabs for 910 yards with seven scores. 

Basically, Hernandez had established himself as a versatile, possession tight end in Tom Brady's offense, and at only 23, he had a tremendous amount of efficient football ahead of him. 

The Patriots have dealt with plenty of roster turnover in their receiving corps heading into this season, and the loss of Hernandez may be the most impactful.

Then again, as long as Brady is under center, New England should be OK. 

3. Jeremy Maclin

Jeremy Maclin was another victim of the dreaded torn ACL in training camp, and the Philadelphia Eagles subsequently placed him on IR. 

His loss will be especially impactful to Chip Kelly's teams for a variety of reasons. 

Maclin led the team in all major receiving categories in 2012—targets, receptions, yards and touchdowns.

Although he has never been considered a true No. 1 receiver, he was clearly the most effective wideout on the Eagles roster last year.

With Brent Celek and DeSean Jackson the only other established pass-catching options in Philadelphia, Maclin will be missed greatly. 

2. Michael Crabtree

Last year, after he took over for Alex Smith, San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick flourished, and helped his team to the Super Bowl. 

During his breakout campaign, the rocket-armed signal-caller's favorite target was unequivocally Michael Crabtree. 

Per ESPN's Stats & Info department, "Kaepernick targeted Crabtree 27 times on third down and 13 times in the red zone, both more than three times as much as the next guy."

The connection between the two was evident. 

It should come as no surprise that Crabtree led the team in targets with 126. Second was tight end Vernon Davis with 61. 

The 49ers have a dominant offensive line and a sound running game, but the loss of Crabtree, at least initially, should hurt their aerial efficiency. 

1. Dennis Pitta

Dennis Pitta isn't Rob Gronkowski, Jimmy Graham or Tony Gonzalez. 

But he emerged as a go-to target for Baltimore Ravens quarterback Joe Flacco in 2012. 

Pitta totaled 93 targets during the regular season, and his 61 receptions were tied for the second-most on the team. 

According to ProFootballFocus, he had the sixth-lowest drop rate of any tight end in football who played at least 25 percent of his respective team's snaps last season.

With Anquan Boldin gone, Pitta was primed for a huge year as a chain-moving, red-zone specialist for the newly minted Flacco. 

Now, the Ravens pass-catching unit has become a team weakness.