Power Rankings: While Peyton wins offseason, Eli's Giants still favorite

The Giants look to have staying power, but Prisco says don't be surprised if the 49ers regress. (US Presswire)

The four biggest misconceptions of the NFL offseason:

• Peyton Manning will make the Denver Broncos an immediate Super Bowl favorite.

• The San Francisco 49ers have staying power.

• The New York Giants can't repeat.

• The Cincinnati Bengals don’t have staying power.

Let's look at all four of those, starting with the Broncos. Manning, if he's back to his old form, gives the Broncos a chance to be a playoff team and maybe more. But they have to fix a defense that struggled for much of last season and they have to adjust to the Manning ways. That could take time.

The 49ers, in my mind, are one of the playoff teams from 2011 that might take a step back. I say that because of style of play. They run it and play good defense. That's a style that has seen many a playoff team fade the next year. The margin for error for those types of teams is slim. The 49ers are no different.

The Giants are a young team that should be much improved from a year ago. Remember, they were 9-7 to just get into the playoffs before getting hot at the right time. They have most of the key players back. And Eli Manning is now a much more confident passer. As for the Bengals, they made the playoffs as a surprise wild card team last season with rookie quarterback Andy Dalton. He is a year older and will benefit from having an entire offseason. In addition, the Bengals had the best draft of any team in the league, which will help fortify what is already a good, young roster. They're not going anywhere.

Take all of those into account, and you will get a better idea of where my thought process was for the latest CBSSports.com Power Rankings. This batch reflects what has happened in the NFL since February and also includes some of my theories about the league that could impact where teams are headed (see 49ers).

Just remember that there will be a preseason batch of rankings coming as camps open, with another one or two before the regular season.

Who knows, maybe before then my opinion of the 49ers and others will change.

View the original article here

Jones-Drew a no-show for Jaguars' offseason workouts

If it's not mandatory, Maurice Jones-Drew won't be there.

The Jaguars began voluntary offseason workouts Tuesday without their star running back, who instead will train on his own in California, his offseason home. New head coach Mike Mularkey said he expected all players on the roster to be present other than injured defensive tackle Terrance Knighton and disgruntled Josh Scobee, who hasn't signed the franchise tender since the team applied the restrictive tag in March.

Jones-Drew led the NFL in rushing with 1,606 yards last season.

The move isn't all that unfamiliar to the Jaguars' organization. Fred Taylor was often excused from voluntary workouts because of his proven dedication to fitness and veteran leadership status by former coach Jack Del Rio.

The obvious differences: Jones-Drew isn't excused according to Mularkey and the team is working with a new coaching staff.

Copyright (C) 2012 The Sports Xchange. All Rights Reserved.

View the original article here

Winning offseason often for losers, but Bucs may be different

Like fellow signees Carl Nicks and Eric Wright, Vincent Jackson is in his prime years. (Getty Images)

Plenty of teams have won the offseason and then imploded when actual games were played. Nothing is more meaningless than capturing the offseason Super Bowl.

The Eagles did it last year and finished as an average team. Washington under Danny Snyder has won many offseasons going back to signing an aging Deion Sanders. On and on it goes ... the Jets were recently offseason champs. The Bears with Jay Cutler. It's an annual tradition this declaration of offseason titles. Which brings us to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

Peyton Manning's destination notwithstanding, so far at least we might have another offseason winner, as the Buccaneers have done perhaps the best job of stocking their roster. What they're doing is impressive. Extremely impressive.

In fact, these Tampa moves are so solid I think the Buccaneers will beat the trend of the offseason champion turned regular-season flop. I'm not crazy about Greg Schiano as a head coach but it's hard to argue with the moves Tampa has made.

They signed Vincent Jackson, the best receiver in this free-agent class. Risky, yes, after all, he has two DUIs, leading to the NFL suspending Jackson. But he's a huge, powerful target for young thrower Josh Freeman. Most importantly, he's not an aging star. Signing old men beyond their prime is a staple of offseason champs. Jackson is in his.

They added Carl Nicks the best guard and maybe second best offensive lineman on the free agent market. During the season Nicks expressed on more than a few occasions his unhappiness with how New Orleans was handling the situation. Well, he's gone from the Saints, and the $31 million in guaranteed cash he's getting will surely ease the pain of leaving. Again, there's a risk factor, as that much guaranteed money for a guard is a lot.

They finished an initial flurry of moves by signing cornerback Eric Wright, a solid player who will help a defense that needs plenty of it.

The Bucs are doing exactly what they should. The team entered free agency with a team-high $44 million available in cap room. They are not only spending that cash, they are doing so wisely. "If we didn't believe it could happen here," said Jackson, "we would have stayed where we were at."

Schiano picked up the players at the Tampa airport at four in the morning. I don't know what that means. I just found it interesting. It's almost a college-type move.

People around the league are watching. One general manager said the Bucs have done the most impressive job in free agency of any team thus far.

Now, again, we've heard this before. Think back to almost this time last year. The Eagles had signed a number of great players. By the time their offseason was done the media had dubbed Philadelphia "The Dream Team." It was unfair because the organization didn't say this; Vince Young did. But the name stuck.

Snyder remains the ultimate offseason winner. He became the first owner of a team whose payroll surpassed $100 million. In those early years of Snyder, the reckless Redskins signed Jeff George, Sanders and Bruce Smith. It was a disaster.

These aren't those moves. Tampa went younger, adding both stars and depth.

I'm told that when Schiano became head coach he was promised the team would utilize all of its resources to get better. That sounds simple enough, but not all organizations actually do that, or if they decide to, they then make really dumb moves.

"It's an opportunity to do something special," said Jackson at a news conference on Wednesday. " ... we're all hungry."

Hungry and smart.

View the original article here