NFL News & Analysis

Updated NFL roster rankings for all 32 teams for 2022: Strengths, weaknesses and X factors for every starting lineup

As a part of our partnership with ESPN, this is a part of a story that was originally published on ESPN+ and can be viewed in its entirety here with your ESPN+ subscription — NFL roster rankings for all 32 teams for 2022: Strengths, weaknesses and X factors for every starting lineup

Note: These rankings and projections have been updated following initial 53-man roster cuts.

There are no set criteria for roster rankings. It's important to give weight to the depth of the roster as a whole, but success often comes down largely to who is getting snaps behind center. 

That’s what makes the Philadelphia Eagles, who snuck into the top five on this update of PFF’s roster rankings that were originally released in June, so interesting entering 2022. Jalen Hurts is far from entrenched as the future face of the franchise, but Philadelphia has given him every opportunity to excel with a new No. 1 receiver, one of the best offensive lines in the NFL and a talented defense. 

Below is the updated outlook on the rosters for all 32 NFL teams entering the 2022 season after the cut down to 53 players, including projected starters, strengths, weaknesses and X-factors for every team.

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 (***).

All PFF+ subscribers now have access to our revamped fantasy football draft guide, which has all the streamlined and intuitive features you’ll need to dominate your draft this season. CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP FOR PFF+ AND TRY IT FREE TODAY
JUMP TO YOUR TEAM:

ARZ | ATL | BLT | BUF | CAR | CIN | CHI | CLE | DEN | DAL | DET | GB | HOU | IND | JAX | KC | LVR | LAC | LAR | 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.

Even if David Quessenberry holds the starting job at right tackle, the 32-year-old is coming off his only full season as a starter in 2021, during which he was much better as a run blocker than in pass protection. 

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.

2022 Chiefs
OFFENSE DEFENSE
QB Patrick Mahomes (80.4) DI Chris Jones (83.4)
RB Clyde Edwards-Helaire (65.6) DI Derrick Nnadi (51.3)
RB Jerick McKinnon (65.0) Edge Frank Clark (54.9)
WR Marquez Valdes-Scantling (66.1) Edge George Karlaftis (87.2**)
WR JuJu Smith-Schuster (70.0*) LB Nick Bolton (72.5)
WR Mecole Hardman (70.2) LB Willie Gay (66.5)
TE Travis Kelce (85.0) CB Rashad Fenton (79.1)
LT Orlando Brown Jr. (75.4) CB Trent McDuffie (86.8**)
LG Joe Thuney (81.2) CB L'Jarius Sneed (63.6)
C Creed Humphrey (91.8) S Justin Reid (50.8)
RG Trey Smith (72.7) S Juan Thornhill (70.1)
RT Andrew Wylie (62.3) S Bryan Cook (87.6**)

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