A wild offseason filled with surprising trades shook up rosters from coast to coast. The lineups of both Super Bowl participants lost some key elements; consequently neither the world champion Los Angeles Rams nor the AFC champion Cincinnati Bengals sit atop the annual Pro Football Focus roster rankings for 2022.
Where do the Rams and Bengals rank? Which team has ascended to No. 1? Which teams are ready to pounce, and which look like they'll fall by the wayside?
With the 2022 draft and free agency behind us, we're breaking down each team's roster using the PFF database, with an eye toward the projected starters. We looked at both the PFF grades from the 2021 season -- a number included for every projected starter -- and a more comprehensive assessment of each player's career using both PFF grades and statistics.
Pro Football Focus grades of 90-plus categorize as elite, 80-89.9 are good/high quality, 70-79.9 check in as average and 69.9 or lower are considered below average.
For rookies and players not active (or barely active) in 2021, we used college grades or NFL grades from earlier seasons. NFL grades from 2020 or earlier are marked with (*), college grades from 2021 are marked with (**), and college grades from 2020 or earlier are marked with (***).
Here's how the 32 rosters stack up heading into this season, complete with each lineup's biggest strengths, weaknesses and X factors.
Jump to a team:
ARI | ATL | BAL | BUF | CAR | CHI | CIN
CLE | DAL | DEN | DET | GB | HOU | IND
JAX | KC | LAC | LAR | LV | MIA | MIN
NE | NO | NYG | NYJ | PHI | PIT | SF
SEA | TB | TEN | WSH
1. Buffalo Bills
Biggest strength: The only two quarterbacks with a higher PFF grade than Josh Allen over the past two seasons are Aaron Rodgers and Tom Brady. The physical tools were always there, but Allen has managed to add the accuracy that was missing during his first few years in the league. Allen's development is the primary reason the Bills enter the 2022 season as Super Bowl favorites, though general manager Brandon Beane and the rest of this front office deserve credit for building a complete roster.
Biggest weakness: The right side of Buffalo's offensive line has some potential with Ryan Bates and Spencer Brown, but neither has much experience. Bates earned a 64.4 PFF grade in five starts at left guard in 2021 -- his first season with over 100 offensive snaps -- and Brown came away from his rookie season last year with a 59.3 PFF pass-blocking grade from 846 offensive snaps. The Bills are banking on those two growing together on the right side, but it could be a weak point.
X factor for 2022: The version of Von Miller that helped fuel a Super Bowl run for the Los Angeles Rams last season is still one of the best pass-rushers in the NFL. Across those four postseason games, Miller recorded 22 quarterback pressures (one shy of Aaron Donald's 23) to go along with a playoff-high 92.6 PFF pass-rushing grade. The Bills will be hoping that Miller can maintain that level of play and avoid injuries in his age-33 season because he can be a game-changer for their defense if he does.