NFL Power Rankings: Latest Team-by-Team Outlook During 2017 Training Camp

The arrival of NFL training camps means a revival for power rankings. 

While teams remain far from their final form ahead of a brutal cutdown process in the sweltering heat, it's not a bad time to take a step back and look at the league as a whole and slot each team into a hierarchy.

Doing so right now takes into account projections based around each team's entire offseason, from losses to free-agent adds and the draft and well beyond, though said outlook can change daily as teams progress through the rigors of camps.

Below, let's take a look at these projections, which serve as a good way to catch up with the NFL and how each team graded out during the offseason process. 

2017 NFL Power Rankings

Rank	Team
1	New England Patriots
2	Atlanta Falcons
3	Oakland Raiders
4	Pittsburgh Steelers
5	Dallas Cowboys
6	Seattle Seahawks
7	Green Bay Packers
8	Tampa Bay Buccaneers
9	Tennessee Titans
10	Kansas City Chiefs
11	New York Giants
12	Philadelphia Eagles
13	Miami Dolphins
14	Cincinnati Bengals
15	Denver Broncos
16	Washington Redskins
17	Baltimore Ravens
18	Detroit Lions
19	Indianapolis Colts
20	Los Angeles Chargers
21	Carolina Panthers
22	Arizona Cardinals
23	Houston Texans
24	Minnesota Vikings
25	New Orleans Saints
26	Chicago Bears
27	Jacksonville Jaguars
28	Los Angeles Rams
29	Buffalo Bills
30	San Francisco 49ers
31	New York Jets
32	Cleveland Browns

Notable Outlooks

Oakland Raiders

Get used to seeing the Oakland Raiders in the top five for a long time. 

The Raiders didn't need a monster offseason to keep hanging around the top 10—but they got one anyway. The front office didn't just surround franchise quarterback Derek Carr with better talent like Marshawn Lynch, either, they went out and got instant-impact rookies like defensive backs Obi Melifonwu and Gareon Conley.

Keep in mind the Raiders already had a Defensive Player of the Year with Khalil Mack, and Carr dropped 3,973 yards and 28 touchdowns against six interceptions on the league over the course of a 12-win campaign a year ago. 

At running back, the Raiders swapped out Latavius Murray and his 12 touchdowns for Beast Mode, who makes his return after a year of rest and 11 or more rushing touchdowns in four of his lasts five active seasons.

Granted, the Raiders have a potential move hanging over their heads. But in the short term, the on-paper talent has enough skill to bang with physical teams like the Pittsburgh Steelers or keep pace in a shootout with a team like the Atlanta Falcons.

Barring another significant injury after one suffered by Carr derailed things last year, the Raiders aren't going anywhere.

Carolina Panthers

On paper, the Panthers don't necessarily look like a six-win team again. 

On paper.

Anything is possible with Cam Newton under center, and the front office finally gave him some high-profile rookie weapons to work with in the form of deep threat Curtis Samuel and every-down back Christian McCaffrey, who should complement the veteran Jonathan Stewart well—and keep in mind said veteran still ran for 824 yards and nine scores a year ago.

But the front office didn't go overboard on defense this offseason like it did Newton's unit, which is a problem considering the team coughed up an average of 25.1 points per game a year ago, bad enough to slot 26th right next to a team like the Jacksonville Jaguars.

That means Newton could have more pressure via expectations on his shoulders than usual, which is a problem considering he had rotator cuff surgery in March. Head coach Ron Rivera, at least, thinks last year will help Newton improve this year.

"He's human," Rivera said, according to ESPN.com's David Newton. "It was a tough year, but I also think it was a great learning experience for all of us, a humbling experience and something we can build on as we go forward."

Still, it's best to take a wait-and-see approach with the Panthers this year, especially after the arms race that just went down in the NFC South.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Said arms race in the division has the Tampa Bay Buccaneers looking like one of the biggest winners of the offseason.

The Buccaneers won nine games last year and watched the Falcons go on to play in the Super Bowl despite the season series ending up split, with Jameis Winston and Co. stealing a win in Atlanta's dome.

Speaking of Winston, it's hard to see a reality in which he doesn't keep improving. He already has Mike Evans and threw for 4,090 yards and 28 touchdowns a year ago, yet the front office gave a massive bump to the unit around him this offseason with free agent DeSean Jackson and rookie O.J. Howard.

Jackson is the deep threat the team has sought for years and comes off a 2016 campaign in which he tallied another 1,000-yard campaign. Howard was arguably the best tight end in the class, a 6'6" pro-ready talent who can block on the line or create mismatches down the field.

Unlike the Panthers, the Buccaneers didn't need to overly address the defensive side of the ball coming off a year in which the unit permitted all of 23.1 points per game and tallied 38 sacks, which is what happens with a top-tier talent like Gerald McCoy on the defensive line.

The concerns aren't hard to figure out—the developing team has to survive the distraction of Hard Knocks and keep Winston better protected than they did a year ago, which in large part explains why his interception total (18) jumped during his second year.

But the improved weapons around Winston will help get the ball out faster, not to mention take pressure off him. If the Buccaneers stay free of injuries, the NFC South can be both the best and most unpredictable division in 2017.

Stats courtesy of NFL.com.