Recap of Unit Rankings
By Josh McSwain
As we look back at the unit rankings series, here is a look back at each position and the totals compiled from the rankings:
Offense: Quarterbacks, Running Backs, Receivers/Tight Ends, Offensive Line
Defense: Defensive Line, Linebackers, Secondary, Special Teams
Totals:
Texans:
Defense: 8, first
Offense: 8, tied first
Overall: 16, first
Jaguars:
Defense: 9, second
Offense: 8, tied first
Overall: 17, second
Colts:
Defense: 11, third
Offense: 12, tied third
Overall: 23, third
Titans:
Defense: 12, fourth
Offense: 12, tied third
Overall: 24, fourth
Limitations of the ranking system:
1. All positions are weighted equally
Of course this is not how it works in real life. While a team’s linebackers are important, they are not as important as the quarterback. Just counting like this the rankings for both positions are equal.
What I was trying to do was take a look and see who had the best roster overall and looking at each individual unit against that of each of the other teams can give a general idea of how the teams stack up in overall talent.
2. There is no interpretation of semantic differential
Although a team may be ranked third in a certain category, that doesn’t necessarily mean they are weak in that area. Best example I can think of is the receivers and tight ends which are rated third in the division but overall aren’t that bad. The distance between numbers is not always the same.
Sometimes teams are bunched really closely together while other times they are further apart. Again looking at receivers and tight ends the Colts are much better than the Titans but they are back to back, which is the same as the relationship between the Colts and the Texans, but the gap in talent is much less.
Conclusion
From this list it’s fair to say that the Texans have the most talent overall, followed by the Jaguars and then with the Colts and Titans a ways back. However, when a team has an advantage at a certain position, like the Colts do at quarterback, the gap in overall talent can be bridged rather quickly. This division went down to the final week of the season and could easily do so again in 2016.