Ranking the NFL team rosters, 1-32
At Pro Football Focus we run position rankings and have done unit group rankings in the past, but here we're going to do something a little more in-depth coming out of the draft -- ranking entire rosters.
20. Buffalo Bills
There might not be a finer example in the league of how much coaching can affect a team than the Bills and their defense. That side of the ball has been loaded with talent for a while, but it was anonymous in 2012 under the old coaching staff and then a completely different prospect in 2013 under Mike Pettine.
With Pettine now installed as the Cleveland Browns' head coach, we are going to see how much of that success a year ago can be sustained with new coaching. The talent is certainly there, but that hasn't kept the team from underachieving in the past. On offense, much rests on the shoulders of EJ Manuel in his second season after an ugly first year. Manuel has a decent offensive line in front of him and a backfield full of talent to hand the ball off to, but the receiving corps needs first-round draft pick Sammy Watkins to be special right off the bat.
By the numbers: Buffalo has a pair of starters ranked as poor, including QB Manuel. While Manuel at least has the chance to improve upon that ranking with a big step forward in his development, the other player, left guard Chris Williams, has been a model of consistently poor play. Kyle Williams is the team's lone blue-chip player, but along with Marcell Dareus and Mario Williams, three quarters of the Bills' defensive line rank as good starters or better.
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Key: Blue=Elite; Green=High quality; Light green=Good starter; Yellow=Average starter; Orange=Below-average starter; Red=Poor starter; Gray=Not enough information; Purple=Rookie
http://insider.espn.go.com/nfl/story/_/id/11012674/nfl-ranking-rosters-all-32-teams