Who Is the Face of the Franchise for Every NFL Team?
Every NFL team has 53 faces on the regular-season roster. Then a handful of other faces on the sideline are often red, possibly with adult language flowing from their mouths (pictured!). And high above in suites on game day there are important faces. The kind of esteemed faces with personal eyeglass cleaners.
Some teams even have a menacing face as their logo, though the British-gentleman versions are a wee bit less frightening.
Among all those faces, there is one that represents each franchise. Usually it’s the most talented player, but not always. Often it’s the most productive player, but not always.
Assigning a franchise face can be arbitrary and open to different definitions. For me, identifying 32 of them throughout the league means answering a simple question: Which face comes to mind immediately when you hear or read a team’s name?
There can be many answers to the NFL Rorschach test I’ll attempt for each team. Often it will be easy, and just as often anchoring a franchise to one face will mean eliminating other equally important ones. You’ll surely approve of each pick, and if you don’t the “honorable mentions” will allow for convenient disagreement.
I’ll also be using a highly scientific gauge called the “Nana Index”, which was first perfected years ago by my former colleague Drew Fairservice.
Being a franchise face is primarily about what happens on Sunday/Monday/Thursday in each week and each season. But to some degree it also requires name recognition in pop culture beyond football. So on a scale of one to 10, what’s the likelihood each NFL franchise face and its corresponding name is recognized by your nana?
My deepest apologies to the passionate, football-maniac grandmas out there. If you’re blessed to have one in your life, mentally substitute someone else who probably thinks Sam Bradford is a local used-car salesman (the future?).
Alright, then—let’s start slapping faces with franchise tags.
Arizona Cardinals: WR Larry Fitzgerald
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There are stiff challengers for the Arizona Cardinals' franchise-face title now that wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald is entering a slow-burn phase and is set to begin his age-32 season. He's slogged through injuries and hasn’t registered a 1,000-plus yard season since way back in 2011, and his touchdowns tumbled from 10 in 2013 to only two during the 2014 regular season.
Sure, there’s plenty of “What have you done for me lately, and damn it why aren’t you doing more?” with any marquee franchise player, and Fitzgerald is beginning to fade. But a player’s legacy is also important.
Why does Fitzgerald’s legacy give him a franchise-face free pass as long as he’s active? Well, being the best receiver in Cardinals history helps.
He’s the Cardinals’ all-time receiving-yards leader, and it’s not even remotely close. Fitzgerald is currently sitting on 12,151 receiving yards, and second-place Roy Green is way back with 8,496.
Oh, and he’s not just a shining jewel among the Cardinals’ mostly mediocre receivers. Since Fitzgerald entered the league in 2004 he has the third-highest receiving yards total. Now go ahead and look at who he’s had to receive passes from, a haunting list that includes Matt Leinart, Derek Anderson, John Skelton, Kevin Kolb and Ryan Lindley.
Reminder: Lindley needed 229 attempts to throw his first career touchdown pass.
Nana Index rating: 4, and keep her away from Arizona-area malls.
Honorable mentions: Patrick Peterson, Calais Campbell
Atlanta Falcons: WR Julio Jones
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When Atlanta Falcons wide receiver Julio Jones is in one workable piece, he’s usually running far, and fast.
Consider his past two seasons. Since 2013, he has the third-most receiving yards per game (88.4) while recording 10 games with 100-plus yards during that time. Now if he could just break a little less, we’d see his franchise face more.
Jones has appeared in all 16 games only once over his four-year career. His 104 receptions and 1,593 yards in 2014 (both single-season team records) is production made even more remarkable by a hip injury he struggled through late in the season.
He’s young at the age of 26 and has plenty of prime years left to work with his also-youthful quarterback, Matt Ryan. It seems only luck is between Jones and league dominance.
Nana Index Rating: 4, but only if she’s somehow been exposed to Visa viral-ness.
Honorable mentions: Roddy White, Matt Ryan
Baltimore Ravens: QB Joe Flacco
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Not long ago this spot firmly belong to former Baltimore Ravens linebacker Ray Lewis, who was perhaps the only player in league history whose smack talk doubled as motivational speaking and/or an '80s wrestling promo (“I’m gonna live looooooong after my records have fallen”).
But now two NFL seasons have passed with Lewis talking instead of tackling, and the one-time handlebar-mustachioed face of Joe Flacco has taken his place.
Flacco is frequently the subject of scorn because of the contract he signed shortly after the Ravens’ 2013 Super Bowl win. His average annual base salary of $20.1 million made him the highest-paid player in league history at the time. You’re not necessarily wrong if you think he's overpaid. Just know you’re fighting a battle against the free market, which is one you’ll never win.
Quarterback contracts have gone kaboom since Flacco’s deal, and eventually the Colts’ Andrew Luck and the Seahawks' Russell Wilson will make his contract look affordable by comparison.
Meanwhile, three years later, Flacco is still occupying the franchise throne while riding the wave of that Super Bowl playoff run that featured zero interceptions and six touchdowns over 126 pass attempts.
Nana Index Rating: 5, only because if your nana happened to somehow see Flacco’s wedding pictures she would immediately start a fan club.
Honorable mentions: Terrell Suggs, Steve Smith
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Buffalo Bills: DE Mario Williams
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First, it’s probably wise to make sure we can recognize any faces of the Buffalo Bills franchise anymore. If human winter hibernation was possible (one day we’ll get there) rising from that deep slumber now would be rather startling for the Bills faithful.
But they would wake to greet Mother Sun and see that defensive end Mario Williams is still among the those promising faces.
That’s the Mario Williams who’s had double-digit sacks in each of his three seasons in Buffalo. It’s the Mario Williams whose 38 sacks over that stretch ranks fourth among all pass-rushers. And it’s the Mario Williams who recorded 60 pressures in 2014, according to Pro Football Focus.
Williams anchors a pass rush that consistently offers opponents mere blinks to go from snap to release and has totaled 111 sacks over the past two years. Basically, quarterbacks melt into a gooey puddle against the Bills.
Now Buffalo just needs its own quarterback, and something that approaches competence at the position. Sadly, Williams can’t help in that area. But he’s really good with a Bobcat!
Nana Index Rating: 2, though there’s hope if you have a super-cool gamer nana.
Honorable mentions: Sammy Watkins, LeSean McCoy
Carolina Panthers: MLB Luke Kuechly
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This was tight, and I almost favored Cam Newton. Despite recently flirting with regression, he's still the Carolina Panthers’ quarterback savior after the franchise endured the likes of Matt Moore and Jimmy Clausen. He was also a pretty chill Auburn student who brought donuts to class.
But no, the Panthers’ crown belongs to linebacker Luke Kuechly, who’s already logged a Defensive Rookie of the Year award and two Pro Bowl appearances over three seasons.
In each of those years he’s finished with 150-plus tackles for a career total of 473. He’s a dynamic linebacker and fully at ease while defending both the run and pass. The latter skill was highlighted in 2014 with Kuechly’s single-season-high 12 passes defensed.
He forms half of arguably(?) the league’s premier linebacker tandem alongside Thomas Davis and is very much cut from the modern middle linebacker mold. His lateral quickness eliminates running lanes (Kuechly ran the 40-yard dash in 4.58 seconds), and he can almost function as another safety in coverage while matching up with tight ends.
Nana Index Rating: 3, with points deducted because he’s a home intruder who steals brussel sprouts.
Honorable mentions: Cam Newton, Thomas Davis
Chicago Bears: RB Matt Forte
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Matt Forte might not be a face of any kind for the Chicago Bears much longer. The 29-year-old is entering a contract year, and even if they’re still talented, durable and producing, running backs of that vintage generally have about as much value as Pogs in 2015.
But for now, he’s still the centerpiece of an offense in transition after the departure of wide receiver Brandon Marshall, and still one of the NFL’s most versatile backfield weapons.
Forte’s presence as a pass-catching back spiked in 2014 with his career single-season-high 808 receiving yards. Creating yards after the catch has always been a central part of his game, which has led to a league-leading 11,431 yards from scrimmage since he was drafted in 2008.
He’s the foundation of anything the Bears do offensively that isn’t an interception by quarterback Jay Cutler. So, not much?
Nana Index Rating: 3, which is a shame because he’s a dapper family man.
Honorable mentions: Jay Cutler, Alshon Jeffery
Cincinnati Bengals: WR A.J. Green
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Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver A.J. Green often looks like a cross between Inspector Gadget and Spiderman while he’s tracking and catching footballs. He’s frequently forced to go full Spidey while reeling in quarterback Andy Dalton’s wayward spraying, but that’s a conversation for another time.
Green is among a group of wide receivers who have led a revolution of sorts. His imposing size (6’4” and 207 pounds) requires the presence of an equally physical cornerback. So now each spring during the pre-draft build up the likes of Green and the Cowboys' Dez Bryant are regularly cited as the young, fast-moving trees general managers are aware of while plugging pieces into their secondaries.
And being very afraid of Green is wise. He’s a constant vertical threat, and combined with his size, that results in winning battles for a lot of contested balls deep downfield. Green struggled through an injury-shortened season in 2014 but is only a year removed from leading all wide receivers with 586 yards on receptions 20-plus yards downfield, according to PFF.
Nana Index Rating: 4, and only if she’s up on her athlete jugglers.
Honorable mentions: Andy Dalton, Geno Atkins
Cleveland Browns: CB Joe Haden
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Cleveland Browns quarterback Johnny Manziel would easily get the nod here if his rookie highlight reel included much beyond an inflatable swan.
And while Browns left tackle Joe Thomas is a premier player, his position lacks a certain franchise-face sex appeal. If you notice a Joe Thomas jersey walking the streets anywhere outside of Cleveland, look up to see if the moon is blue.
So instead we turn to cornerback Joe Haden, who can often pull off a neat and important trick in today’s NFL: shutting down half the field.
The 26-year-old’s passer rating allowed of 75.9 in 2014 placed him 17th among the 73 cornerbacks who played at least 50 percent of their team’s snaps, according to PFF. He’s also recorded 40 passes defensed over the past two seasons.
Nana Index Rating: 3, unless you have the greatest nana and she loves to have the latest kicks.
Honorable mentions: Joe Thomas, Johnny Manziel
Dallas Cowboys: QB Tony Romo
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There will be an argument here for the main guy Dallas Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo throws to each week. You know, the guy who definitely caught that ball in the NFC Championship Game.
But on a simple yet fundamental level, the quarterback’s job is to complete passes safely, and repeatedly. It turns out Romo is pretty good at that despite a wholly undeserved reputation for being an un-clutch choker.
Romo has thrown 19 interceptions over the past two seasons. That includes only nine during an especially exceptional 2014 season in which he led the league in completion percentage (69.9) and yards per attempt (8.5).
He wasn’t doing that with a high volume of dinking and/or dunking either. Romo’s year, in which he set a Cowboys single-game completion percentage record (his 90.0 percent in Week 16), also included successful connections on 50.8 percent of his 20-plus yard throws, according to PFF.
He’s accurate and able to manipulate the pocket while expertly improvising. He also knows how to make people very angry on the Internet.
Nana Index Rating: 7, even though she’s skeptical of Rivers as a baby name.
Honorable mentions: Dez Bryant, Jason Witten
Denver Broncos: QB Peyton Manning
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I get it. Honestly, I do.
Denver Broncos quarterback Peyton Manning has spent 39 years on this planet, and possibly a few more living in other galaxies. By any athletic measurement (quarterback, football player), he’s old. Manning’s arm strength has been declining for several years, and the 2015 season will surely be his last.
But despite that gradual fade, there’s just no conceivable way Manning isn’t the face of a franchise if he’s still active, living, breathing and throwing.
Wide receiver Demaryius Thomas’ time will come soon, and outside linebacker Von Miller is also a future franchise-face candidate in Denver. But until he retires, Manning is more than merely a face we associate with the Broncos, or previously the Indianapolis Colts. He’s one of the few NFL faces.
Manning is among a tiny handful of players who represent the NFL brand on a public stage, often far beyond football. Whether it’s being a United Way mentor or making an appearance on David Letterman’s final show, Manning’s quarterback talent may actually be about even with his pop culture reach.
Oh, and about that talent: This is the part when I remind you he’s only a season removed from throwing 55 touchdown passes, and that he played the final month of 2014 with a torn right quad.
Nana Index Rating: 10, and she approves of his nearly stationary old man dancing.
Honorable mentions: Demaryius Thomas, Von Miller
Detroit Lions: WR Calvin Johnson
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Calvin Johnson was put before our NFL eyes in 2007. Since then, he’s used a tank-like stature and torpedo-like speed (considering that size) to make us rise from couches, bar stools and the floor where we had just fallen in disbelief moments earlier.
Johnson has logged eight NFL seasons. During that time, he leads the league in receiving yards, and it’s not even sort-of close (at 10,405 yards, he’s 761 yards ahead of the Colts’ Andre Johnson). His 74 touchdown receptions are also a league best during that stretch, and the crowing jewel among Johnson’s cabinet of football treasures is his single-season receiving-yards record (1,964 yards in 2012).
He’s an athletically imposing mass of fast-moving muscles and has done his part to remodel the wide receiver position. The challenge ahead for the Lions: not wasting whatever prime years Johnson has left.
He has a few of them, to be sure, but the faint sound you hear is a clock ticking. Johnson will turn 30 a few weeks into the 2015 season, and the wide receiver graveyard is littered with thriving careers that suddenly careened down a cliff just prior to the age of 35.
A spiral vacuumed up Randy Moss’ prime-producing period when he was 32. He had his final 1,000-plus yard receiving season at that age, and right now a 33-year-old Wes Welker is still looking for work.
Meanwhile, Johnson is still waiting to experience his first playoff win.
Nana Index Rating: 4, although similar to the super-cool, shoe-obsessed nana, Johnson is well-known by nanas who collect Transformers. Surely those nanas exist somewhere.
Honorable mentions: Matthew Stafford, Haloti Ngata, Golden Tate
Green Bay Packers: QB Aaron Rodgers
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It takes more than a calf injury to slow down Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers. He was pretty much operating on one leg for a chunk of the 2014 season and still averaged 8.4 yards per pass attempt.
That injury didn’t affect his comfort and decision-making in the pocket, as including the playoffs Rodgers recorded 14 interception-free games. Over the past four seasons he’s chucked only 25 picks, and during that time 66.7 percent of his throws landed in friendly hands.
Rodgers has been the heartbeat of the Packers for many years already, and that’s not about to change. What is changing, however, is his rising status as a league power figure.
He’s had that title for a few years, too. But Rodgers’ public appearances are noticeably being followed and scrutinized more, to the point that he’s arrived at Manning’s level as a league face. For evidence, please recall back in March, when for some reason a lot of people really cared about where Rodgers’ allegiances lay during the NCAA men’s basketball tournament.
Nana Index Rating: 9, especially after he became that football guy on "Jeopardy!"
Honorable Mentions: Jordy Nelson, Clay Matthews, Randall Cobb
Houston Texans: DE J.J. Watt
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If you ever watch a Houston Texans game and defensive end J.J. Watt doesn’t record a sack, drop everything and throw down a bunch of cash on some horse named Passing Wind. It feels like the universe’s cosmic alignment is off when Watt goes sackless, and you just might stand to benefit.
Watt has played 64 career games and has recorded 57 sacks, with many of them coming during two booming years (20.5 sacks in 2012 and 2014).
Sacks are moneymakers for pass-rushers, but as a metric the number is limited in the effort to gauge effectiveness. So then when we turn to more meaningful digits, the comedy begins.
Watt induces a whole lot of laughter because nothing about him is fair. In 2014 he finished with 119 total quarterback pressures, according to PFF, and the second-best 3-4 defensive end in that category was the Steelers’ Cameron Heyward at 54. Watt’s sack total more than doubled that of his position peers, as did his quarterback hits (54). All of those remarkable totals led to 13 MVP votes.
When he grew tired of just owning games as a defender, Watt became a silky-smooth-handed red-zone tight end, catching three touchdown passes while also returning an interception for six points. Nothing is fair about him, and he’s still the ripe age of 26.
Nana Index Rating: 4, but she’ll stuff her closest with Watt apparel after seeing his marriage proposal to a six-year-old from a few years back.
Honorable mentions: Arian Foster, Brian Cushing
Indianapolis Colts: QB Andrew Luck
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Let’s travel back in time for a moment to April 26, 2012. It’s draft night, and the Indianapolis Colts hold the first overall pick. Over a month has passed since they released Peyton Manning, whose future is clouded with uncertainty after multiple neck procedures.
So there stood quarterback Andrew Luck, with his next career move beyond inevitable. Colts general manager Ryan Grigson had already announced prior to the draft Luck would be his pick. But still, the act of shaking commissioner Roger Goodell’s hand came with finality, even if only the symbolic kind.
Then it was officially official: One franchise face had been shuffled off in the twilight of his career, replaced by a young arm expected to ascend to Manning’s level. Fast.
Since then, Luck has led the Colts to three straight playoff berths and two postseason wins. In 2014, his 2,620 passing yards through the air ranked fifth, according to PFF, and he finished first with 40 touchdown passes.
The transition from Manning to Luck has been relatively seamless, with one legend departing while another legacy is built. Now the next two items on General Luck’s agenda: win a Super Bowl with all the talent he’s surrounded by after an offseason of free-agency spending, and shave that damn neck beard both his girlfriend and mother firmly oppose.
Nana Index Rating: 4, and your nana also hates Luck’s neck overgrowth.
Honorable mentions: T.Y. Hilton, Robert Mathis
Jacksonville Jaguars: QB Blake Bortles
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I’ll begin here by being nice, which is difficult with a team that’s won only nine games over the past three seasons.
The Jacksonville Jaguars have assembled a solid nucleus of young wide receivers, highlighted by Allen Hurns and Allen Robinson. Despite limited playing time, they each finished with 500-plus receiving yards during their rookie seasons.
The Jaguars also made some quality offseason moves to bolster a 26th-ranked defense, signing cornerback Davon House and outside linebacker Dan Skuta. But it’s a statement on both the short- and long-term position of this team when the only reasonable decision for a franchise face is still followed by serious doubt.
The title belongs to quarterback Blake Bortles, who was the Jaguars’ surprise third-overall pick in 2014. The plan initially was to give Bortles the time he needed to develop, letting him sit for a full season while watching Chad Henne.
The problem, of course, was Henne’s inability to avoid tripping over himself as he attempted to impersonate an NFL quarterback. Henne started the first three games of 2014 and completed only 53.8 percent of his passes before being moved to his rightful spot: the sideline.
Bortles trotted on as the starter amid thirst for anything positive to fuel a fanbase still recovering from its Blaine Gabbert agony. He proceeded to average only 6.1 yards per attempt—38th out of the 39 quarterbacks who took at least 25 percent of their team’s dropbacks, according to PFF—and finished tied for second in interceptions with 17.
Bortles is still the future, and he’s still the hopeful quarterback savior. So he’s also still the Jaguars’ franchise face, though Gabbert met the same description a few years ago.
Nana Index Rating: 3, unless she’s computer-savvy and has pulled a sort of reverse Lindsey Duke, giving Bortles “6 million Googles.”
Honourable mentions: Julius Thomas, Allen Robinson
Kansas City Chiefs: RB Jamaal Charles
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We’ve meandered through many franchise face justifications so far. The most common, of course, is when a player producers consistently and is in the top tier at his position.
But then there’s a rung above that for a player who annually accounts for a significant chunk of his team’s offense. And there’s a rung even higher if that player is a running back during the height of a passing era.
Enter Jamaal Charles, the Kansas City Chiefs running back who’s elevated his game to even greater heights through two seasons playing for Andy Reid.
Reid was hired as the Chiefs' new head coach in 2013 and brought his West Coast offense with him from the Philadelphia Eagles. The same offense that led to 592 receiving yards for former Eagles running back LeSean McCoy in 2010.
Charles has always been a capable receiver out of the backfield and highly elusive after the catch. But that versatility shined through during his first season in Reid’s offense.
Prior to 2013, he was averaging 318.3 receiving yards per season (excluding an injury-shortened 2011). Then Reid’s scheming shattered any previous expectations, as Charles posted 693 receiving yards during his first season under a new head coach.
He accounted for 36.7 percent of the Chiefs’ offense that year and then 31.5 percent while nagged by injuries in 2014. Charles is a third (or more) of everything Kansas City does offensively and has produced 100-plus yards from scrimmage in 20 of his last 30 regular-season games. That’s efficiency defined.
Nana Index Rating: 2, though Charles is good at human conversations, so there’s room for hope.
Honorable mentions: Justin Houston, Tamba Hali
Miami Dolphins: DT Ndamukong Suh
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A part of me thinks it’s odd and wrong to name someone the face of a franchise when he hasn’t played a single meaningful snap for said franchise yet.
Then again, a far larger part of me doesn’t care because a) defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh is that damn good, and more importantly b) he’s getting paid $114.4 million over the next six years. If any player earning that kind of cash isn’t an automatic franchise face, then a lot of people will be fired soon.
Luckily, Suh won’t have a problem there, as throughout his career he’s been a defensive anchor. Since entering the league in 2011, he leads all defensive tackles in sacks (36) and has the second-most tackles (181).
Over the past two seasons he’s recorded 129 pressures, according to PFF, which also leads his position. And now Suh is alongside defensive ends Cameron Wake and Olivier Vernon, fronting a defensive line set to make sure life is far less than enjoyable for opposing quarterbacks.
Nana Index Rating: 4, but only local nanas, and those in Detroit appreciated his taste for octopus.
Honorable mentions: Ryan Tannehill, Cameron Wake
Minnesota Vikings: QB Teddy Bridgewater
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Does this seem like an early crowning?
Minnesota Vikings quarterback Teddy Bridgewater is only 13 games and 813 snaps into his NFL career. But quickly, his lack of experience matters so very little.
Bridgewater’s completion percentage of 64.4 was the third-highest in NFL history for a rookie quarterback, according to Chris Tomasson of the St. Paul Pioneer Press. That included four games when his completion percentage climbed above 70 percent.
Even more impressively, Bridgewater’s ability to connect consistently didn’t waver when more pressure came. His sense of timing and instincts to escape a blitz translated to another impressive completion percentage: Bridgewater clicked on a league-high 75.2 percent of his passes when facing pressure, according to PFF.
He was the most pro-ready quarterback in his draft class, and now with a desperately needed deep option (wide receiver Mike Wallace) he can keep rising fast.
Nana Index Rating: 2, except if she’s Ashley Davis’ nana.
Honorable mentions: Adrian Peterson (an uncertain future lands him here), Kyle Rudolph
New England Patriots: QB Tom Brady
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New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady had general knowledge of air that was taken out of footballs. For that, both team and individual have been punished.
Your view of Brady may forever be tainted. I’m not here to talk you out of that opinion, or any opinion. Because Brady is still at the forefront of any Patriots image you hold dear.
For better or worse, he still represents everything the Patriots have earned since 2001, and everything they’ve become.
If you think they’re a collection of rule-manipulating liars, then Brady has lasted through two generations of that behavior (Spygate and now Deflategate).
Or maybe instead you’re willing to acknowledge rules are bent and twisted nearly every week in the NFL. That includes former Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Brad Johnson's paying attendants $7,500 to “get the balls right” before Super Bowl XXXVII, as he told Rick Stroud of the Tampa Bay Times. Brady, then, is part of a larger culture, and the Patriots were a combination of careless, arrogant and unlucky in getting caught.
Both the Patriots and Brady can be whatever you wish. But their four-time Super Bowl champion quarterback and two-time NFL MVP is still at the center of it all.
Nana Index Rating: 10, and it would be perfect/creepy if your nana is both a Brady lover and animal lover, and had the classic Brady-goat picture hanging somewhere.
Honorable mentions: Rob Gronkowski, Julian Edelman
New Orleans Saints: QB Drew Brees
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New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees may be inching toward the start of his slow, inevitable decline. Time is still an undefeated enemy of every legend, and Brees is certainly allowed to feel its wrath entering his age-36 season.
In 2014 his passing yards per game fell from 322.6 the previous season to 309.5, and Brees’ 17 interceptions finished only one behind the league leaders. But the mountain he has to descend from is far steeper than most, if that roll down the age hill is indeed beginning.
Brees signed with the Saints in 2006, and since then no other regular starting quarterback has a higher completion percentage than his 67.5, according to Pro-Football-Reference.com.
Let his completion percentage over the past nine seasons soak in just a little more, and then note that over the same time period Brees also led the league in pass attempts. It’s not close either, with Brees’ 5,649 attempts far ahead of the Giants’ Eli Manning and his 4,855.
Wait, there’s more: Since arriving in New Orleans, Brees also leads the league in touchdown passes (316) and passing yards (43,685). A slightly aged Drew Brees is still better than almost every quarterback who isn’t Drew Brees.
Nana Index Rating: 8, because Brees won nana hearts everywhere after Super Bowl XLIV.
Honorable mentions: Cameron Jordan, Marques Colston
New York Giants: QB Eli Manning
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You’re immediately greeted by an overwhelming sense of confusion after scrolling through Eli Manning’s career production—or at times, the lack thereof.
The New York Giants quarterback owns two shiny Super Bowl rings, one of which was earned in 2011 on the strength of a single-season career-high yards per attempt of 8.4. But he’s also a quarterback who has spent 10 seasons as a full-time starter, and in those years Manning's per-season interception average rests at 18.5. Worse, his career is lowlighted by two 25-plus-pick years (2010 and 2013).
But there’s hope on the horizon in the form of both Giants offensive coordinator Ben McAdoo and explosive wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr.
The former has installed a quick-hitting West Coast passing attack in which Manning looked more comfortable after some initial struggles. The Giants offense went from averaging 307.5 yards per game in 2013 to 367.2 in 2014. And then there’s Beckham, whose rookie season ended with an unfair 1,305 receiving yards over only 12 games.
The good Manning will likely stick around when Beckham’s weekly spectacle is combined with a returning Victor Cruz, who’s arguably the league’s best slot receiver at full health.
That good Manning is also the pinpoint Manning who’s able to fit deep balls into tight holes at critical moments.
Nana Index Rating: 7, mostly because she always favors the younger child who’s just so damn huggable.
Honorable mentions: Victor Cruz, Odell Beckham Jr., Jason Pierre-Paul
New York Jets: CB Darrelle Revis
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Sure, some charred jersey remains had to be salvaged and/or unearthed from a deep burial. But immediately, all the seething anger and talk of betrayal subsided when cornerback Darrelle Revis returned to the New York Jets earlier this offseason.
The commodity just repurchased by the Jets isn’t showing any sign of decline. In 2014, Revis allowed a reception once every 14.8 cover snaps, according to PFF. That was the third-best rate among cornerbacks on the field for at least 50 percent of their team’s snaps. His passer rating allowed of 72.6 was also among the top 10.
He’s still one of the league’s few true shutdown corners and can nearly eliminate the opposition’s top receiver while controlling half the field.
Nana Index Rating: 5, with Revis getting a slight boost from the New York nana population.
Honorable mentions: Brandon Marshall, Sheldon Richardson
Oakland Raiders: OLB Khalil Mack
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It’s a strange, brave new world we live in that’s given us an Oakland Raiders team increasingly filled with youth and promise.
Quarterback Derek Carr wasn’t shattered during his rookie season despite being asked to make chicken salad out of stale donuts. Running back Latavius Murray finished his rookie year with 567 yards from scrimmage, a fine total after starting only three games. And now wide receiver Amari Cooper joins that young core after posting 1,727 receiving yards during his final college season, and more importantly leading the nation in yards per route run (3.97, according to College Football Focus).
But the franchise’s central building block is on the other side of the ball: outside linebacker Khalil Mack.
Halting a long and tear-filled line of first-round thuds was critical for the Raiders if they wanted to take even the slightest baby step in 2014. Mack felt like a safe pick at fifth overall, and he rewarded Raiders general manager Reggie McKenzie by ranking second among all 4-3 outside linebackers in quarterback hits (10), hurries (40) and total pressures (52), according to PFF.
But he was more than a menacing pass-rusher. Mack consistently set the edge as a run defender while tallying 42 defensive stops, good enough for third among his position peers according to PFF.
After years of suffering, losing and then more suffering, the Raiders were a rudderless franchise searching for hope. They have plenty now, and Mack is the driving force with his versatile presence.
Nana Index Rating: 2, though there’s at least one Oakland-based nana who knows Mack well.
Honorable mentions: Derek Carr, Charles Woodson
Philadelphia Eagles: RB DeMarco Murray
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This is another time when the face of a franchise hasn’t played a single snap for said franchise yet. It’s also another time when that doesn’t matter.
Or at least, the Philadelphia Eagles need to hope it doesn’t matter.
Why? When you give a running back $21 million in guaranteed money, as the Eagles did with DeMarco Murray earlier this offseason—the fourth-most guaranteed money at the position, according to Spotrac—he needs to immediately justify that price by becoming a workhorse who can account for a significant chunk of weekly offensive production.
No one is questioning Murray’s talent to accomplish that, especially in the Eagles offense, where he’s set up to thrive as a one-cut runner. In that same role with the Dallas Cowboys he flirted with the single-season rushing record in 2014, settling for 1,845 yards on the ground. Murray was consistently a high-volume producer at an incredible average of 141.3 total yards per game.
The concern lies in Murray’s odometer. The 2014 season was the first time he's played all 16 games, and his slashing came at a high physical cost. Including the playoffs, Murray was given 497 touches, which is the sort of workload that ends in some seriously achy bones for a guy who had missed 11 games over his first three NFL seasons.
Murray's staying in one piece leads the durability questions created by Eagles head coach Chip Kelly and his offseason of roster roulette. Trouble awaits if he doesn’t elevate his play to franchise-face status quickly.
Nana Index Rating: 4, and it's rising because Murray is a fan of The Bachelor.
Honorable mentions: Sam Bradford, Jason Peters
Pittsburgh Steelers: QB Ben Roethlisberger
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There was a time not too long ago when you could pluck any name from a handful of Pittsburgh Steelers defensive players and slap on the franchise label. No choice would have been wrong, just some were a little more right. Safety Troy Polamalu was always the correct decision, for the record.
Now the Steelers franchise face process reflects a team in transition. We can go blindfolded with our donkey tail and pin it on either quarterback Ben Roethlisberger, wide receiver Antonio Brown or running back Le’Veon Bell. And they’ll all be greeted with silent nods.
Brown led the league in 2014 with 1,698 receiving yards, while Bell averaged a triple-take-inducing 138.4 total yards per game. But I’ll still favor Roethlisberger, who completed 67.1 percent of his pass attempts and at one point had back-to-back games with six touchdown passes.
That stretch included a record-setting Week 8 win over the Indianapolis Colts when Roethlisberger threw for 522 yards. Only 16 quarterbacks in league history have hit the 500-yard plateau, and Roethlisberger became the first to have his name on that list twice.
The Steelers’ life source is now a second-ranked offense in 2014 that averaged 411.1 yards per game. Roethlisberger is at the center of that imposing unit, and his support goes beyond Bell and Brown. Wide receiver Martavis Bryant is quickly emerging, and tight end Heath Miller remains a reliable set of soft hands up the middle.
Nana Index: 7, and possibly high for the wrong reasons.
Honorable mentions: Antonio Brown, Le’Veon Bell
San Diego Chargers: QB Philip Rivers
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To be a franchise face, a player has to, you know, still be employed by the franchise in question. Or really any franchise, and Chargers quarterback Philip Rivers seems to have changed his mind after speaking openly to Kevin Acee of the San Diego Union-Tribune back in March about not being sold on a potential move to Los Angeles.
More recently, the 33-year-old has used words like “awesome” when speaking with Acee again to describe his feelings about agreeing on a contract extension and ending his career with the Chargers.
San Diego is now optimistic about securing Rivers beyond the final year of his current contract in 2015, according to NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport. Those rosy feelings need to become ink on paper.
In the not-so distant past, Rivers’ career seemed to be sputtering. He threw a single-season-high 20 interceptions during the 2011 season and followed that up with only 6.8 yards per pass attempt in 2012, another career low.
Then the Chargers hired quarterback whisperer Mike McCoy to be their new head coach, and a resurrection followed. Since McCoy came aboard in 2013, Rivers’ 67.8 completion percentage ranks second among regular starters, and he's fourth in touchdown passes with 63.
Nana Index Rating: 3, though if he’s maybe/possibly crying at the end of Toy Story 3 (didn’t we all?) there’s a lot of room for improvement here.
Honorable mentions: Antonio Gates, Eric Weddle
San Francisco 49ers: MLB NaVorro Bowman
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It’s unclear exactly which NaVorro Bowman we’ll see once he finally returns to full game action while gingerly exposing his knee to contact. Will the middle linebacker be the same swarming sideline-to-sideline tackling blanket? Or will the San Francisco 49ers instead be greeted by a far lesser version of the two-time Pro Bowler?
That question will be answered sometime during the hazy days of August. What’s clear right now, though, is that much of the 49ers’ defensive rebuild and hopes of transitioning from the Jim Harbaugh era rests with Bowman’s recovery.
Bowman hasn’t played since tearing his ACL and MCL during the 2013 NFC Championship Game. During that time, fellow 49ers linebackers Patrick Willis and Chris Borland have retired, along with defensive end Justin Smith. The gutting continued when cornerbacks Chris Culliver and Perrish Cox walked as free agents, along with outside linebacker Dan Skuta.
Other pieces have been added, including Darnell Dockett and first-round pick Arik Armstead at defensive tackle. But the 49ers’ ability to field a top-five defense for the fifth straight season is teetering with their run-stuffing middle linebacker, in the hope that he can be the guy who led the league with 327 tackles between 2011 and 2013.
Nana Index Rating: 2, but she’d like him after hearing his inspirational backstory.
Honorable mentions: Colin Kaepernick, Vernon Davis
Seattle Seahawks: CB Richard Sherman
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The Seattle Seahawks could fill their own Mount Rushmore with franchise faces. Or even better, they could have a six-faced franchise monster featuring quarterback Russell Wilson, running back Marshawn Lynch, tight end Jimmy Graham, safeties Earl Thomas and Kam Chancellor and cornerback Richard Sherman. I may have just given you an early 2015 Halloween idea.
But siding with the best cornerback in football is usually a safe decision when there’s only room for one atop the franchise throne.
Sherman’s 24 career regular-season interceptions become a mind-numbing accomplishment considering how little he’s targeted. Over four years, a ball has come his way an average of only 4.6 times per game, according to PFF. To the surprise of no one, that average has declined further as Sherman rose to prominence over the past two seasons (3.8 since 2013).
He capitalizes on his few chances to create turnovers by leaning on both positioning and football intelligence. Sherman is often able to keep an eye on the quarterback, doing so with confidence because he has enough closing speed to avoid getting beaten deep.
He gave up only one touchdown in 2014 and allowed a reception just once every 17.8 snaps in coverage, a league high among cornerbacks who played at least 50 percent of their team’s snaps, according to PFF.
Nana Index Rating: 8, and if you live in the Seattle area your nana might be part of Mama Sherman’s Chunky soup hero squad.
Honorable mentions: Russell Wilson, Marshawn Lynch, Jimmy Graham, Earl Thomas, Kam Chancellor
St. Louis Rams: DT Aaron Donald
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There are several plays to pick from when selecting the moment you realized St. Louis Rams defensive tackle Aaron Donald is far from normal.
For me it was when his unmatched burst off the ball had Donald in the Kansas City Chiefs backfield to nearly take the handoff. But maybe you prefer the time Donald did, well, the same thing against the Minnesota Vikings.
Donald went from being a combine superstar to the Defensive Rookie of the Year with his rare penetrating speed up the middle. He’s undersized for a defensive tackle at 6’1” and 285 pounds, but the 24-year-old more than compensates with a 40-yard-dash time of 4.68 seconds.
On the field, his wreckage came equally against the run and pass. Donald finished fifth among all defensive tackles with 24 defensive stops and also fifth with 44 total pressures, according to PFF.
Although his title is defensive tackle, Donald is actually a professional football-chaser and pocket-crumbler.
Nana Index Rating: 2, but maybe there’s hope if Donald buys her a truck?
Honorable mentions: Chris Long, Robert Quinn
Tampa Bay Buccaneers: WR Mike Evans
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Soon this slot will belong to rookie Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback and first overall pick Jameis Winston, assuming he avoids a complete first-year face-plant.
But for now, the large man tasked with making Winston look good gets the nod: wide receiver Mike Evans.
Before you recall Evans' rookie brilliance, please first remember who he was receiving passes from. His quarterbacks were the feared combination of Josh McCown and Mike Glennon.
Yet he still finished tied for fourth among all wide receivers in touchdowns with 12, doing that while catching 48.6 percent of his 20-plus-yard targets, according to PFF. Evans also went through a blistering three-game stretch between Weeks 9 and 11, when he totaled 458 yards on 21 catches, setting a new franchise record.
Imagine what he'll do with quarterback play that even begins to approach the league average.
Nana Index Rating: 1, but his name might sound similar to that pleasant barista who serves her coffee every day?
Honorable mentions: Jameis Winston, Vincent Jackson, Gerald McCoy
Tennessee Titans: QB Marcus Mariota
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The Bucs and Tennessee Titans are in similar situations.
Their respective rookie quarterbacks need to become franchise faces on the double, and in Tennessee, Marcus Mariota also has to save jobs. But like any rookie quarterbacks, they'll need plenty of support while progressing through the inevitable growing pains of the college-to-pro transition.
Which means that, ideally, they shouldn’t have to be franchise icons immediately. Winston has plenty of support from Evans and fellow receiver Vincent Jackson. And on the other side of the ball, defensive tackle Gerald McCoy is a three-time All-Pro and team leader.
Marcus Mariota has… Kendall Wright? Brian Orakpo? Jurrell Casey?
Right away, Mariota has to take all of the spotlight, and shoulder all the responsibilities of being a franchise savior.
Nana Index Rating: 1, but moms love him.
Honorable mentions: Jurrell Casey, Kendall Wright
Washington Redskins: OLB Ryan Kerrigan
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Robert Griffin III should be the name and face here. He should be the unquestioned franchise leader after the Washington Redskins made a significant sacrifice to trade up in 2012, taking him with the second overall pick.
Instead, he’s barely clinging to a starting job and could face a quick hook in 2015. Griffin’s tumble from Offensive Rookie of the Year to afterthought in the franchise-face discussion shows just how much he’s failed to halt a spiraling regression.
Meanwhile, Ryan Kerrigan finished second among all 3-4 outside linebackers in quarterback hits in 2014. He’s recorded at least 7.5 sacks in each of his four NFL seasons, and his 38 since entering the league place him among the top 10 over that period.
At his position, Kerrigan has mostly been what the Redskins want Griffin to become: consistent, reliable and a dynamic threat.
Nana Index Rating: 1, but she could probably identify him safely on the sidewalk in Richmond, Virginia.
Honorable mentions: DeSean Jackson, Alfred Morris, Pierre Garcon
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