NFL Power Rankings 2019: Appraising All 32 Teams Before Week 1

It's officially cutdown day in the NFL, which means all 32 teams are close to having their opening-day rosters set. Some changes will come in the next few days—and throughout the season, to some degree—but teams largely are what they're going to be in 2019.

Just because rosters are close to being finalized, however, doesn't mean that they're all good, or even competitive. Some teams are going to be quite bad this season—possibly by design—while others aren't going to be as good as the hype may have you believe.

So how do the 32 teams stack up heading into Week 1? We'll examine that here, along with a closer look at some of the league's most intriguing teams, good or bad.

NFL Post-Preseason Power Rankings

1. New England Patriots

2. Kansas City Chiefs

3. Los Angeles Rams

4. New Orleans Saints

5. Philadelphia Eagles

6. Pittsburgh Steelers

7. Los Angeles Chargers

8. Chicago Bears

9. Baltimore Ravens

10. Seattle Seahawks

11. Dallas Cowboys

12. Houston Texans

13. Atlanta Falcons

14. Cleveland Browns

15. Green Bay Packers

16. Minnesota Vikings

17. Carolina Panthers

18. Jacksonville Jaguars

19. Detroit Lions

20. Tennessee Titans

21. Buffalo Bills

22. San Francisco 49erw

23. Indianapolis Colts

24. New York Jets

25. Cincinnati Bengals

26. Oakland Raiders

27. Tampa Bay Buccaneers

28. Denver Broncos

29. Washington Redskins

30. New York Giants

31. Arizona Cardinals

32. Miami Dolphins

11. Dallas Cowboys

Tony Gutierrez/Associated Press

If fully assembled, the Dallas Cowboys would crack the top 10 with relative ease. They have a top-tier defense—it ranked seventh last year, allowing 329.2 yards per game—a young, steady quarterback, and upgraded receiving corps and one of the best offensive lines in the game.

Unfortunately, the Cowboys are not fully assembled at this point. Two-time rushing champion Ezekiel Elliott remains away from the team and holding out for a new contract. The Cowboys seem resigned to not having him at the start of the season.

"I'm operating as though right now he's going to miss regular-season games," owner Jerry Jones said, per Jori Epstein of USA Today. "My entire expectation for what we're putting together as a team right now would anticipate, with him holding out and not having any training camp, that he's going to miss games."

This doesn't mean that Dallas cannot be a playoff team. Rookie running back Tony Pollard appeared quite capable in the preseason, averaging 5.6 yards per carry on 15 attempts. Dallas should be able to survive without Elliott for a stretch.

This also does not mean that Elliott won't return at some point, possibly in time to make a push for the division title. However, Elliott is an elite running back and the centerpiece of Dallas' offense. Without him, it's impossible to consider the Cowboys an elite playoff contender.

14. Cleveland Browns

One year ago, Cleveland Browns fans would be ecstatic to see their team viewed as a potential playoff contender. After last season's coming out party for quarterback Baker Mayfield and the offseason acquisition of Odell Beckham Jr., however, the bar in Cleveland has been raised much, much higher.

Beckham and fellow Browns receiver Jarvis Landry recently graced the cover of Sports Illustrated, which also proclaimed Cleveland legitimate contenders for the AFC North crown:

Can the Browns contend for the AFC North title this season? Absolutely. However, they still have a lot to prove and a few questions that need answering.

For one, there's no telling if the offensive core of Mayfield, Beckham, Landry, David Njoku and Nick Chubb will find a rhythm. There are a lot of mouths to feed and only one football to go around. There's also the question of whether first-year head coach Freddie Kitchens will be able to steer the ship through the rough patches that are bound to come.

Oh, and with a week to go before the opener, Cleveland still hasn't settled on a starting right guard.

The Browns might be a playoff team this year. They might even make a deep postseason run. They also might be an eight-win club, just like last season. On paper, they deserve to be ranked in the top half of the league, but they have to prove they belong before they can be moved into the top 10.

32. Miami Dolphins

Butch Dill/Associated Press

At the bottom are the Miami Dolphins. This is potentially where they want to be right now—and in December. No one has or will come out and say it publicly, but Miami may well be tanking in order to land an incoming quarterback like Tua Tagovailoa or Justin Herbert in next year's draft.

One thing is certain, Miami isn't sure if it has its quarterback of the future on the roster right now.

The Dolphins traded for 2018 first-round pick Josh Rosen during April's draft. However, they're set to start journeyman Ryan Fitzpatrick for the opener against the Baltimore Ravens.

"After a thorough evaluation of OTAs, training camp, games, practice, we felt this was the best move for the team going into the season," head coach Brian Flores said, per ESPN's Cameron Wolfe.

The real question is how long will Miami let Fitzpatrick lead the offense? At some point, presumably, Rosen will get his chance. Whether that comes in Week 3 or Week 10 remains to be seen. Either way, Rosen and Fitzpatrick don't have a plethora of dangerous offensive weapons with which to work.

That's OK, though. Getting wins isn't as important this season for the Dolphins as evaluating Rosen and potentially moving into position to draft his replacement.

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