10 Franchises Loaded with Talent, Short on Victories
Sports movies will endorse heart, grit and determination as the foolproof championship formula, but talent stands tall as the most important ingredient.
The Chicago Cubs didn't win the 2016 World Series out of poetic justice or karma. Nor did the eager, loyal fans will them to victory. They won because of a ridiculously loaded roster stacked with aces and a lineup of premium hitters and defenders.
The Golden State Warriors didn't lose because they got complacent. They lost because of LeBron James and Kyrie Irving.
Talent is a prerequisite for title contention, but it doesn't guarantee glory.
Despite looking good on paper, these franchises have failed to convert promising rosters into victories. Many of these clubs either lack depth or have an Achilles' heel dragging everyone else down. Some of these teams are destined for big things but are still too young to merit the current buzz.
It sure beats losing with no talent, but these teams are sick of hearing about how things should eventually get better.
San Diego Chargers
1 of 10
Per Football Outsiders, the San Diego Chargers rank No. 16 in defensive-adjusted value above average (DVOA). They rate No. 13 and No. 18 in total offense and defense, respectively, and their No. 7 defensive DVOA speaks better of the latter's efficiency.
They should at least be average, as highlighted by their break-even scoring margin this season. Yet some bad breaks, untimely mistakes and tough opponents leave them 5-9 with eight single-digit losses. A much-needed reprieve against the Cleveland Browns will mark their fourth game against an adversary currently sporting a losing record.
It's unlikely the Chargers take much consolation in knowing they should be 7-7, but they're better off than most last-place peers. For starters, they have a great quarterback in Philip Rivers, who is well on his way to his eighth 4,000-yard season. As a result of playing from behind without star wideout Keenan Allen, he has forced too many late throws into tight spots, leading to 18 interceptions, which are two away from matching a career high.
Yet he has options outside of Allen, as Tyrell Williams and Dontrelle Inman have progressed throughout the season. Antonio Gates is slowly passing the torch to tight end Hunter Henry, who has seven touchdowns during his rookie campaign. And most encouraging of all, Melvin Gordon has 1,416 total yards and a dozen touchdowns after failing to reach the end zone once last season.
They also have a couple of defensive stars. Casey Hayward has picked off an NFL-high seven interceptions, and rookie Joey Bosa has made the preseason contract dispute even sillier in hindsight with 7.5 sacks through 10 games.
The Chargers have had a star passer for over a decade, and now they have a burgeoning pass-rushing monster, an elite ball hawk and their best rusher since LaDainian Tomlinson. Their 35-year-old quarterback, however, won't stick around forever, so time is running out for San Diego to coalesce that talent into a title—or at least playoff—contender.
Arizona Diamondbacks
2 of 10
In Paul Goldschmidt, the Arizona Diamondbacks roster has one of baseball's premier stars playing under one of MLB's most team-friendly contracts. In Zack Greinke, they were supposed to have landed a staff ace capable of supporting a potent offense.
Even without A.J. Pollock—who needed elbow surgery in early April after a breakout 2015—Arizona finished 2016 No. 7 in slugging percentage. Alongside another stellar season from Goldschmidt, Jake Lamb recorded an .840 OPS, and Yasmany Tomas torched 31 long balls. Jean Segura found new life on his new club before new management dealt him to the Seattle Mariners this offseason.
The pitching staff, however, torpedoed despite the front office's best efforts. Greinke, signed after authoring a 1.66 ERA, saw the mark balloon to 4.37. Shelby Miller, acquired from a lopsided trade in favor of the Atlanta Braves, watched his ERA double from 3.02 to 6.15.
Robbie Ray flaunted the upside of a front-line starter with 218 strikeouts, yet he finished with a 4.90 ERA and .272/.350/.447 slash line allowed to right-handed hitters. All three of those starters should improve in 2017, and the 24-year-old Taijuan Walker has yet to reach his full potential.
If a healthy and productive Pollock returns, the Diamondbacks have the talent to considerably upgrade last season's 69-93 record. They still, however, don't have the depth and resources to seriously challenge the Los Angeles Dodgers and San Francisco Giants for National League West supremacy.
Connecticut Huskies
3 of 10
The Connecticut Huskies entered the season positioned No. 18 in the preseason Associated Press poll, the same spot where they started their title-winning 2013-14 campaign. At 5-5, three losses away from matching the championship squad's loss tally, they shouldn't like their chances of another Final Four run.
They'll need to wake up to simply receive a March Madness invitation. Nine American Conference teams wield better records than UConn, who opened the season with back-to-back defeats to Wagner and Northeastern.
Nationally ranked months ago, the Huskies possess a strong blend of returning talent and incoming recruits. Rodney Purvis stayed in school after leading them in scoring last year, and fellow guard Jalen Adams has morphed into their top option during his sophomore campaign. They're buoyed by a freshman class ranked No. 14 by Scout.com
Guards comprise their top five scorers, leaving senior center Amida Brimah as their premier offensive big man with 7.0 points per game. Freshman forward Vance Jackson is still learning the ropes, sporting a subpar 32.1 field-goal percentage.
Come spring, everyone always touts the virtue of bringing guards to the Big Dance. While UConn is covered in the backcourt, the team isn't receiving much production down low, and the offense has suffered.
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Jacksonville Jaguars
4 of 10
Fans, writers and pundits may have already dived into the archives to erase any evidence of touting a Jacksonville Jaguars breakout this season.
Last year, they improved to 5-11—that's an improvement for a franchise that hadn't won as many games since 2012—behind an offense ranked No. 18 in total yards. Stuck in the bottom four of total offense for four years, onlookers got giddy over Blake Bortles' 35 passing touchdowns and Allen Robinson's 1,400 receiving yards.
On the other end, top rookies (Jalen Ramsey and Myles Jack) and expensive free-agent signings (Malik Jackson and Tashaun Gipson) joined Dante Fowler Jr. with high hopes of revitalizing a problematic defense. They have held their end of their bargain, ranking No. 7 in total yards surrendered.
The offense, however, has regressed. Bortles sits among the bottom five of all starting quarterbacks in completion percentage, yards per pass attempt, interceptions and quarterback rating. A rising star last year, Robinson has registered 367 yards during their active nine-game losing streak.
After squandering an early 13-0 lead to the Houston Texans—who benched struggling quarterback Brock Osweiler for Tom Savage—Jacksonville fired head coach Gus Bradley. He left with an anemic 14-48 record despite those woes stockpiling the roster with high draft picks.
During the summer, the Jaguars carried a breakout aura akin to the Oakland Raiders, who have secured their first winning season since 2002. Now, they're in the all-too-familiar situation of playing out the final weeks with nothing at stake besides draft positioning.
Los Angeles Kings
5 of 10
The Los Angeles Kings can't blame too much of their sluggish start on missing Jonathan Quick, who suffered a groin injury during their 2016-17 season opener. They have still relinquished the seventh-fewest goals per game with replacement Peter Budaj logging a 91.9 save percentage.
Their woes instead arise in accruing the NHL's No. 18 scoring average. This comes in spite of brandishing the second-best Corsi behind the San Jose Sharks, according to NHL.com.
Los Angeles also finished 2011-12 and 2013-14 ranked No. 29 and 25, respectively, in scoring before winning the Stanley Cup both times. But don't forget 2014-15, where those same shortcomings cost them a playoff bid.
They're in a similar boat now, fighting among a crowded field for one of the final Western Conference postseason spots. Jeff Carter has found the net 17 times, but Drew Doughty, Tyler Toffoli and Anze Kopitar haven't played up to their standards.
The epitome of an average team, the Kings have won 17 of their 33 games with a plus-four goal differential. With their past success and a roster designed to optimize puck possession, more is expected of them with or without Quick.
Orlando Magic
6 of 10
Ever since trading Dwight Howard in 2012, the Orlando Magic have stayed stuck in a holding pattern of rostering interesting pieces but nobody significant enough to lift them out of their doldrums.
Currently 13-18 in a suddenly deep Eastern Conference, the Magic are in jeopardy of missing their fifth straight postseason. They didn't have the fortune of winning a draft lottery during their worst years, and they're no longer bad enough to land a premium pick without drastically defying the odds.
Perhaps a sign of growing impatience, the organization sent Victor Oladipo and the rights to 2016 first-round pick Domantas Sabonis to the Oklahoma City Thunder in a package for Serge Ibaka. While acquiring a 27-year-old rim protector doesn't necessitate a win-now push, the big man's contract expires after the 2016-17 season, per Spotrac.
Trading two younger players for a one-year rental would prove a disaster, especially if that season ended without a playoff berth.
Orlando still has three recent first-rounders on the club in Elfrid Payton, Aaron Gordon and Mario Hezonja. Evan Fournier has developed into their top scoring option during his fifth NBA season, and 26-year-old center Nikola Vucevic remains the last remnant of the Howard deal. That leaves Ibaka as the core's veteran.
They're still stacked with young talent, but none of it have shown the ability to lead the Magic to brighter days as a top star. Unless someone breaks out or they strike big on another difference-maker, they'll keep climbing until they gradually reach the middle.
Los Angeles Rams
7 of 10
The Los Angeles Rams passing offense is the best defense against Todd Gurley.
Following a stupendous rookie campaign, the 22-year-old running back has suffered a sophomore slump in what he described as "a middle school offense" to Lindsey Thiry of the Los Angeles Times. A passing offense ranked last in Football Outsiders' DVOA has allowed the opposition to focus on the backfield, and a poor offensive line hasn't created many holes either.
Because of their futile offense, the defense gets a pass. It's portrayed as bystanders who has carried the team to normal mediocrity for years until the other unit became too dismal to overcome in 2016. For all of the better half's talent, the defense isn't particularly great either.
No. 11 in yards allowed, it currently boasts its best rank of Jeff Fisher's concluded tenure. It also, however, ranks No. 20 in points relinquished and No. 15 in defensive DVOA.
Despite occasionally elite efforts—the Rams have twice won games where they scored nine points—the Rams have also surrendered over 40 points in two of their last four contests. During their best offensive showing of the season, the Detroit Lions earned one of their eight come-from-behind wins in a 31-28 shootout.
A unit featuring Robert Quinn, Alec Ogletree, Mark Barron and superstar lineman Aaron Donald has not consistently delivered up to its reputation. But even Gurley and an NFL-best defense couldn't carry the anemic passing offense to contention.
LSU Tigers
8 of 10
In his preseason 2017 NFL mock draft, Draft Wire's Luke Easterling pegged seven LSU Tigers to get selected in the opening two rounds. All that talent led them to start the season No. 5 in the opening AP poll.
The Tigers nevertheless produced their lowest win total since 1999, and the program replaced head coach Les Miles after going 2-2 early in his 12th season. Easterling's latest three-round mock draft included five of their players.
Leonard Fournette played just seven games, sharing touches with Derrius Guice down the stretch, but the star rusher participated in all four of their losses. A bigger reason for their offensive letdown, wide receivers Malachi Dupre and Travin Dural combined for a mere 62 catches and 734 receiving yards.
Both second-round picks in Easterlin's summer mock, neither wideout made his Wednesday simulation. Bleacher Report's Matt Miller identified Dural as the position's biggest faller.
Fournette and safety Jamal Adams remain possible top-10 picks, but those headliners couldn't vault LSU into the College Football Playoff picture. Although all four losses occurred by a combined 23 points, the team mustered no more than 14 points in any of the shortcomings.
With several top prospects set to go pro, coach Ed Orgeron faces a tall task of replenishing his recently inherited roster.
Minnesota Timberwolves
9 of 10
The Minnesota Timberwolves have a young superstar (Karl-Anthony Towns) flanked by another No. 1 pick (Andrew Wiggins), a passing wizard (Ricky Rubio) and a slam dunk champion who has matured into much more (Zach LaVine). With head coach Tom Thibodeau taking over as head coach, they had the vibe of this NBA season's breakout squad.
ESPN.com's Marc Stein rated them No. 12 in his preseason power rankings, noting that Thibodeau has never missed the postseason. That's probably about to change, as they're 9-19.
As an encore for his Rookie of the Year campaign, Towns is averaging 22.1 points, 11.4 rebounds and 1.4 blocks per contest. Wiggins and LaVine have also each recorded over 20 points per bout. The Cleveland Cavaliers and Golden State Warriors are the only two other teams with a trio of 20-point scorers.
But they're still not a good basketball team. Their old-school coach has not embraced a modern style to fully utilize his explosive roster. According to Basketball-Reference.com, they're No. 21 in pace and No. 27 in three-point makes and attempts.
None of that is surprising, especially their lack of perimeter shooting. The bigger head-scratcher, however, is their No. 27 rank in defensive rating with Thibodeau calling the shots. In his five years running the Chicago Bulls, they finished no lower than No. 11.
Perhaps everyone simply got overzealous and predicted their emergence prematurely. Towns, Wiggins and LaVine are all 21 years old, so they're not ready to carry a top-heavy team to contention despite their scoring prowess.
The Western Conference is weak enough for them to steal the No. 8 seed, but they need more time before validating the hype.
Minnesota Twins
10 of 10
The Minnesota Twins exceeded expectations in 2015, when they went 83-79 following four consecutive seasons with 70 victories or fewer. They not only cratered back to earth the following year but suffered their worst win tally (59) since 1995.
Which year was the fluke? Their reality probably lies somewhere in the middle. While they were fortunate to finish above .500 with a minus-four run differential in 2015, they possess too much talent to again possess baseball's worst record.
During their nightmarish 2016, Brian Dozier clobbered 23 home runs in the final two months. Rookie Max Kepler offered pop in spurts, and Miguel Sano belted 25 long balls in limited time despite a downgrade from his demonstrative debut.
Yet young starters Tyler Duffey and Kyle Gibson unraveled after solid 2015 campaigns, causing the team to surrender an American-League worst 5.5 runs per game. Two years removed from posting an 11.6 strikeout-to-walk ratio, Phil Hughes hoisted a 5.95 ERA. Hyped newcomer Jose Berrios didn't help, as he relinquished 56 runs over 58.1 disappointing innings.
The Twins can only hope for positive regression, especially from the 22-year-old Berrios. Meanwhile, their offense has the makings of a fierce lineup, but they'll need Byron Buxton to sustain his late-season strides. Baseball America's No. 2 prospect entering 2016 (behind National League Rookie of the Year Corey Seager) redeemed a slow-developing start by batting .287/.357/.653 with nine homers after Aug. 31.
If the immensely talented center fielder expedites his learning curve after a rough beginning, Minnesota should split the difference from 2015 and 2016 and at least notch 70 victories next year.
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