Rank the Roster 2023: #15

[Waldo]

Rank The Roster: 2023 Edition

1. Jaire Alexander (43%)[+2]
2. Aaron Jones (26%)[+6]
3. David Bakhtiari (34%)[+1]
4. Kenny Clark (50%)[-2]
5. Rashan Gary (57%)[+1]
6. Elgton Jenkins (54%)[-1]
7. DeVondre Campbell (29%)[--]
8. Christian Watson (32%)[+14]
9. Jordan Love (32%)[+21]
10. Preston Smith (32%)[+2]
11. Rasul Douglas (29%)[+2]
12. AJ Dillon (27%)[-1]
13. Keisean Nixon (36%)[+19]
14. Quay Walker (36%)[+5]
15. Current (xx%)[--]

Percent of vote the winner got will be in parenthesis, position change vs. 2022 will be in brackets.

Here's how this works:

Each day there is a new thread/poll, starting at #1, on down to whereever we get. The whole point of this exercise is to have something to talk about in the lean news months to carry us to camp. Each poll will be open for voting for 24 hours. New threads will only be created on weekdays. Ties will cause a runoff poll. You may vote up to TWO players (a change that was made mid-poll last year, seemed to work well).

Simply voting is not enough!

Post why you voted for who you did and provide a player to add to the next poll (every poll will be a list of 15-20 guys, new players added in bunches every few days).

Here's the thing. There is no criteria. This is an exercise to foster discussion therefore there are no clear criteria for ranking. Who is better right now? Who will have the best season? Who was better last year? Sort of a combo of them all? Do you take positional value into account? It really doesn't matter.

Previous Years:
Rank the Roster: 2022
Rank the Roster: 2021
Rank the Roster: 2020
Rank the Roster: 2014-2019

[Waldo]

Oops, sorry about missing Nixon at #14 on the poll.

Wyatt and Doubs here. Think one of these guys is going to break out pretty good this year and be top 10 next, maybe both.

[Pckfn23]

Stokes, Myers, Wyatt rounding out this tier for me.

[Labrev]

Doubs is WR2, good numbers last season, early reports out of OTAs say he looks like he's taken another step forward.

Tom gets my other vote. He is our third best OL, whether they rightly start him or not. Wyatt and Deguara next.

Funnily enough, Doubs and Tom were my votes at #35/Final last year. Now they were my votes at #14 and here at 15.

[go pak go]

It is WR2 time.

Honestly probably a little over due.

[BF004]

Wyatt
Stokes
Doubs
Van Ness

[Waldo]

It is WR2 time.

Honestly probably a little over due.

Yeah, this is one of those things, barring injury, the team is going to want stability at flanker/split end, the guys in those spots are going to rack up the stats; even mediocre offenses feed their top WR's well, its the cloud of other contributors the stars also keep happy.

Doubs is fast enough to be a top WR. We've seen him put it together in bits and pieces.

[NCF]

Doubs and Wyatt for me. Both still really have the potential to be high end players. I think Stokes, Myers, Runyan and some of the other guys in the running here are more or less hoping for some consistent, high/mid-tier play.

[go pak go]

It is WR2 time.

Honestly probably a little over due.

Yeah, this is one of those things, barring injury, the team is going to want stability at flanker/split end, the guys in those spots are going to rack up the stats; even mediocre offenses feed their top WR's well, its the cloud of other contributors the stars also keep happy.

Doubs is fast enough to be a top WR. We've seen him put it together in bits and pieces.

I just feel Doubs has the personality to not fail. Doubs actually has great upside but had a few too many drops last year. I think he becomes even more consistent this year and the chemistry with Love in OTA's is exciting.

I'm a buyer in Romeo Doubs.

I think Doubs will have the most receptions. Watson will have the most yards and Reed will start breaking out the second half of the year.

[Madcity_matt]

Doubs is WR2, good numbers last season, early reports out of OTAs say he looks like he's taken another step forward.

Tom gets my other vote. He is our third best OL, whether they rightly start him or not. Wyatt and Deguara next.

Funnily enough, Doubs and Tom were my votes at #35/Final last year. Now they were my votes at #14 and here at 15.

That's where my head's at, Doubs and Tom

[Cdragon]

Doubs 1st down king and Tom.

[YoHoChecko]

I started the push for Wyatt and now I'm bailing because I think Doubs and Tom are ahead of him in terms of what their jump will look like and how it will impact the team.

Though IF Wyatt's jump is a big one, that might be the most impactful of that trio.

I'm still holding off on Stokes until he's proven he can play post-surgery. I'm extremely bummed about that, but just can't get my vote when you spent 4 months in a wheelchair and aren't cleared to practice or play another 5 months later.

[NCF]

I started the push for Wyatt and now I'm bailing because I think Doubs and Tom are ahead of him in terms of what their jump will look like and how it will impact the team.

Make the case for Tom for me. I still can't envision voting for him over Runyan or Meyers (and probably even Nijman). Is this pure projection or did I miss something glaring in his 2022 play that would warrant this confidence?

[YoHoChecko]

I started the push for Wyatt and now I'm bailing because I think Doubs and Tom are ahead of him in terms of what their jump will look like and how it will impact the team.

Make the case for Tom for me. I still can't envision voting for him over Runyan or Meyers (and probably even Nijman). Is this pure projection or did I miss something glaring in his 2022 play that would warrant this confidence?

So first, it is mostly projection.

Second, it has a lot to do with prior bias. I wanted Tom in the draft; I predicted we'd take Tom in the 4th round of the draft. We took Tom in the 4th round of the draft.

Third, let's address Nijman: Tom has been lining up with the 1s at RT fairly consistently, while Nijman has gotten more opportunities as a LT with Bakh out. Nijman seemed to struggle on the right side and might be a LT-only just do to the natural motor skill development on one side to the other. I am projecting/assuming/inferring early that Tom is a RT starter.

Fourth, Runyan and Meyers, most likely starters; Tackle is, to me, more valuable than OG or OC. Runyan and Meyers have remained inconsistent throughout their sophomore seasons and need a lot more technique and refinement, whereas Tom's development seemed to be needed in areas of physical development and play strength. I view adding strength and physical development in an NFL strength program as a more-projectable step forward than playing with improved and proper technique more consistently. I would love to be proven wrong, but I think Meyers and Runyan are destined to be solid starters and Tom looks primed to develop into more than that.

[BF004]

Doubs is WR2, good numbers last season, early reports out of OTAs say he looks like he's taken another step forward.

Tom gets my other vote. He is our third best OL, whether they rightly start him or not. Wyatt and Deguara next.

Funnily enough, Doubs and Tom were my votes at #35/Final last year. Now they were my votes at #14 and here at 15.

That's where my head's at, Doubs and Tom

Crazy, the thought of voting for two different 4th rounders from a year ago over last years first rounder.

[Waldo]

Doubs is WR2, good numbers last season, early reports out of OTAs say he looks like he's taken another step forward.

Tom gets my other vote. He is our third best OL, whether they rightly start him or not. Wyatt and Deguara next.

Funnily enough, Doubs and Tom were my votes at #35/Final last year. Now they were my votes at #14 and here at 15.

That's where my head's at, Doubs and Tom

Crazy, the thought of voting for two different 4th rounders from a year ago over last years first rounder.

And its not like Wyatt is pulling a Harrell. His rookie year looked a lot more like Raji's or Clark's, he played, you could see flashes and the potential, but also a lot of rookie DT play. Big jump in year 2 is pretty normal for DT's.

[TheSkeptic]

I started the push for Wyatt and now I'm bailing because I think Doubs and Tom are ahead of him in terms of what their jump will look like and how it will impact the team.

Make the case for Tom for me. I still can't envision voting for him over Runyan or Meyers (and probably even Nijman). Is this pure projection or did I miss something glaring in his 2022 play that would warrant this confidence?

Watch the last game again, the Lions game. Yosh started at RT and got schooled by a rookie. Yosh was a turnstyle. At halftime Tom replaced him and never gave up even a pressure. Tom also played some LT during the season. He gave up only 1 sack all season and had zero penalties.

I went with Tom and Doubs.

I have a very bad feeling about Wyatt. I know others like him but I think he is a character bust. Aaron Hernandez 2.0

I have Myers, Stokes, JRJ, Musgrave and Van Ness on deck.

[APB]

I have a very bad feeling about Wyatt. I know others like him but I think he is a character bust. Aaron Hernandez 2.0

What leads you believe he is anywhere near the level of character concern as Aaron Hernandez? I'm genuinely curious.

[Labrev]

I started the push for Wyatt and now I'm bailing because I think Doubs and Tom are ahead of him in terms of what their jump will look like and how it will impact the team.

Make the case for Tom for me. I still can't envision voting for him over Runyan or Meyers (and probably even Nijman). Is this pure projection or did I miss something glaring in his 2022 play that would warrant this confidence?

MLF et. al. insist that they play the Best 5 OL.

Right now, I think Tom is easily our third best OL, and the only guy I can see who has the talent to plausibly overtake him for that this season, if he puts it all together, is Josh Myers, though I think Myers is pretty much assured to start C, so that leaves Tom with RG or RT.

Yosh and JRJ have probably hit their ceilings. They are okay starters, but Tom held his own at both their spots, and even showed that he could do some things they can't: he moves insanely well, has some "pop" in his hips ala Elgton that you can't teach, super smart/savvy... the biggest knock on him was he's on the small side and could use more functional strength. But now he's had a year in an NFL S&C program. That will no doubt pay dividends.

Playing time doesn't matter to me for how I rank them, but if it matters to you, I don't think JRJ or Yosh are the kind of competition that can hold him off. He's already about as good, while having way more natural talent and upside.

[YoHoChecko]

Does anyone have access to any PFF or ESPN or NextGen stats about the performance of Tom, Nijman, JRJ, and Meyers? Do we have any data that validates or challenges what we seem to be seeing with our eyes?