Over the past two weeks Landon Collins Jersey , I’ve posted several articles about position groups, asking Hog’s Haven members to rank those position groups & head coaches in the NFC East.It was nice to see commenters (mostly) put away the tendency to root for the home team and try to be (somewhat) objective.Burgundy-colored glasses certainly had an effect, but it was more akin to a halo effect, where — when it was close -- the advantage went to the home team.Overall, though, commenters were pretty fair in their assessments.At a time of year when NFL blogs struggle to offer anything to readers, and when comments on most NFL-related articles number in the dozens and often don’t muster more than a single-digit total of comments, Hogs Haven members really came through on these ranking articles.We’ve seen between 1,000 and 3,000 votes on each of the various polls, and the 10 ranking articles had a total of 1,700 comments!Given that I merely posed the questions, and the comments sections supplied the answers, this is a wonderful example of reader-driven content.Now that the series is finished, to wrap it up and try to put a bow on it, I wanted to put the many rankings on a chart to consolidate them and see what they said about the expectations for the coming season among the Hog’s Haven members.Unfortunately, there’s nothing really straightforward about doing that.I would have liked to have used the raw poll results to establish the rankings by position, but that would have been unlikely to reflect the reality of the situation or the opinions of the readers accurately. Instead, I started with the idea that when you rank the teams from 1 - 4 Youth Paul Richardson Jersey , there are 10 position points to give out (1+2+3+4=10).I decided that the basic idea should be to allocate the 10 points across each position ranking, allowing ties between teams wherever it seemed appropriate.The rule was that the 4 rankings had to add up to 10 points.For each position ranking, I looked first at the poll results, but then leavened them by taking into account the comments section to establish general rankings.Finally I added a dash of something — common sense,balance, judgement, normalization... I’m not sure what to call it.Basically, I just tried to make sure that the final rankings weren’t unreasonably skewed by the raw voting results.A few things were obvious when I looked at the results of the polls and the content of the comments sections.Firstly, it’s a Redskins website, so there’ll be a significant Redskins bias.Secondly, reading the comments section made it clear that the Eagles fans had showed up in bigger numbers than the Giants fans, and the Cowboys groupies almost hadn’t showed up at all.The other thing that I found from this exercise is that recency bias plays a role. Using the recent past to project the futureThe power of recency bias is intense in the business of sports prediction.For example, last year, in the wake of the Giants’ 11-5 season and the Eagles’ 7-9 finish, Hog’s Haven voters largely put the Giants at the top of the voting and the Eagles near the bottom.This year, following the 2017 Super Bowl win for Philly and the Giants’ 3-13 meltdown, things were turned around.The results of the voting, in light of all the factors that influenced them, were not surprising.When I consolidated the voting Cheap Josh Norman Jersey , the comments and some personal judgement, and blended it all together, here’s what I came up with:Unsurprisingly, the Eagles came out with the best average ranking following their Superbowl win.The Eagles were rated either a clear first place or tied for first in 9 of the 11 rankings.Further, they were ranked last in only a single position group — running back.The Eagles, when all the position group rankings were averaged, had the best ranking at 1.8, indicating that readers are expecting them to, once again, win the division title.The Redskins, with a composite score of 2.3, were ranked second by the readers.The real surprise is that they weren’t ranked 1st by Hog’s Haven readers, but — as I mentioned above — the Eagles fans showed up in force to read, vote in, and comment on the articles in this series.The Redskins were in the top rank for only two position groups (OL and CB) and in both cases Washington was in a tie with at least one division rival.The real benefit for the Redskins was that they weren’t ranked #4 in any position group by the readers.The ‘Skins were typically ranked 2nd or 3rd.The Giants & Cowboys were routinely found in the 4th position in the individual position rankings in the series of articles on Hogs Haven, with the Giants being ranked as the worst in a position group 5 times, and the Cowboys bringing up the rear 6 times.The Giants could only muster 2 first place finishes (ties for WR & S), while the Cowboys had two uncontested first place rankings (RB & ILB) and tied with the Eagles and ‘Skins for the best ranking at the OL position.In the end, the unscientific analysis indicates that voters/commenters see a huge talent gap Cheap Derrius Guice Jersey , with the Eagles clearly having the best roster, the Redskins second, and the Cowboys last.As is often the case, fans seem to be projecting the results from last season onto the season ahead, with a bit of a Redskins positive bias to push them up the rankings, and some Cowboys negative bias to push them down.Once again, given that these rankings were derived by asking opinions from Hogs Haven members, it’s no surprise that the Redskins came out ahead of both the Cowboys and the Giants.What is perhaps surprising is how much respect was given to the Eagles, though the evidence suggests that their fans ‘traveled’ to Hogs Haven and heavily influenced the voting, and participated in the comments.Giants and Cowboys fans had the same opportunity, of course, but — and this is especially true of Dallas fans — they simply weren’t here voting and commenting.I suspect that the Eagles fans, with their team having won their first-ever Lombardi Trophy, are staying more ‘plugged in’ through the offseason in an attempt to continue the celebration, and with anticipation of another successful season coming up.The overall message for the Redskins faithful from this series may be that the readers seem to think that the ‘Skins have enough to get to the playoffs, but that it will be as a wildcard team, not as division champs.Instead, they see the Eagles — returning the head coach and most of the starters — as the clear favorites to win the NFC East again in 2018.I’ll remind you that, last year Cheap Da'Ron Payne Jersey , the same exercise ranked our division rivals in this order:GiantsCowboysEagleswhich is the exact opposite of their actual finishing positions in the 2017 division contest.The team we all seemed to expect to be the weakest in the division — the Eagles — ended up winning the Lombardi Trophy.The team that was projected to do the best — the Giants — started the season 0-4 even before the injuries really started to bite, and they never recovered.Final thoughtsIn the parity-driven NFL, last season doesn’t matter. Outside of the Patriots, there are very few teams that have shown a year-on-year consistency that would allow you to confidently project them as a playoff team year after year.As always, the NFL is a league of great parity; the NFC East remains (in my opinion) a division without a single dominant team; every season begins with the knowledge that anything is possible.And that’s why last year doesn’t matter for NFL teams, and why you’re allowed to be optimistic about the Redskins’ playoff chances this season. 2018 should be another great season for the division.Personally, I expect it to be a great season for the Redskins as well. Here are the links to the 2018 “Ranking the NFC East” articles:Quarterbacks & Running BacksWide ReceiversTight EndsOffensive LineSafetiesCornerbacksLinebackersEdge RushersDefensive LineHead Coach Hamp Cheevers, CBSchool: Boston College | Conference: ACCCollege Experience: Junior | Age: 20?Height / Weight: 5-10 / 180 lbsProjected Draft Status: 4th or 5th RoundNFL Comparison: Avonte MaddoxCollege StatisticsPlayer OverviewHamp Cheevers was a 2-star prospect from Trenton, Florida before he committed to Boston College. This past season was the first for Cheevers as a starter and he broke out in a big way. He’s undersized for the position but he isn’t lacking in competitive spirit and big play ability. Cheevers played on 92% of the defensive snaps and was voted to the 2018 All-ACC team. He was the co-leader in interceptions this past season and broke up as many passes. A large part of Cheevers success despite his size is due to his ability to read a QBs eyes, his ability to track the ball in the air, his athleticism, and his ability to finish plays with his ball skills. Cheevers decided to use this best season as a platform to transition to the NFL. Lots of interceptions doesn’t mean that a player will get drafted highly but Cheevers should be a solid day 3 pick in spite of his size because of his cover skills and athletic ability. He should get interest from any team looking to improve their CB depth and potentially getting a starting slot corner in this draft.StrengthsGood athleticism. Has good deep speed and good acceleration. Made a lot of plays working back to the ball and jumping routes. Can recover in space and has nice leaping ability for a guy his size. Good vision, awareness, and anticipation. Reads QBs eyes and knows where the ball is going. Always has a tab on his assignment. Eyes are on the ball in the air. Knows when to break on the ball. Excellent ball skills. He’s come up with some impressive interceptions this season and probably should have had a couple more. He also is competitive at the point of attack and knows how to disrupt the catch process. At times can be quite physical when contesting the catch or coming up in run support.WeaknessesUndersized and slightly built. He is a willing contributor as a tackler but might get carried a few yards. Tackling technique could use work.Needs to work on his strength and technique when jamming at the LOS. Hand placement is not consistency and not very effective. Much move effective as a zone defender where he knows his area. He can keep up with receivers but he’s not a mirror match corner. Let’s see his work:How He Would Fit On The Redskins So the Redskins learned the hard way how important a slot CB is this past season. A slot corner is a starting caliber CB these days and their skill set should feature abilities rooted in quickness, change of direction, and play recognition. After trading away Kendall Fuller the Redskins moved Fabian Moreau inside and he struggled in this role because he is a man coverage corner and his weaknesses are highlighted because he lacks short area quickness and awareness which I wrote about here in 2017. I’m not an NFL coach but I’m shocked (or am I?) that they tried to fit a square peg in a round hole. If we are honest the Redskins currently do not have a cornerback on the roster with the necessary skills to play the slot effectively. Hamp Cheevers could help them out for cheap. Cheevers not only excels in these important areas in the slot but he is also a ball hawk and could add a lot of value to a team that should be looking to increase their turnover output. Traditionally slot corners also get a bit of help from safeties and linebackers in the middle of the field as opposed to boundary corners. Hopefully that would mitigate risk that Cheevers would bring as a tackler being as slight as he is. Every year there are slot options like Cheevers available on the 2nd or 3rd day of the draft. Since the Redskins haven’t pulled the trigger on one in a while I have to wonder if there is some sort of type they prefer at corner. I hope not because it would seem its preventing them from getting the best talent they could at the position. I think Cheevers could certainly start in the NFL and he does remind be a lot of Avonte Maddox who got better as the season went on. Considering how the secondary unraveled in several areas as the season went on slot CB should be one of many Redskin draft priorities. Custom Dallas Cowboys Jerseys