What They're Saying: Lindy's Magazine Picks Ravens To Advance To Super Bowl – Press Box
Posted on June 10, 2015 by Joe Platania
BEST OF PRESEASON MAGAZINES HAS RAVENS IN SUPER BOWL
For football fans pining for the start of another season, June might not seem like the most compelling time of year. However, it happens to be the month when the usual spate of preseason magazines hit the newsstands to trumpet the upcoming season.
They are back again this year, with their omnipresent haul of predictions, facts, stats and perspectives on what they think will happen in 2015.
Some of them might be right, and some may be off base, but it’s always fun to see what they have to say about the season to come, as well as how in-depth they get about the state of the game and the current trends within it.
I start my yearly look at the preseason magazines with Lindy’s, which published its 29th preseason annual this year. As always, it is one of the best, with many different facets to its coverage of the NFL.
Predictions
I’m not sure whether the folks at Lindy’s checked in with PressBox’s annual August predictions, but their Super Bowl pick looks familiar.
Last year’s Baltimore-Green Bay prediction for the title game didn’t come true for Ravens Report, but Lindy’s is appropriating that for this year, as it has picked the same two teams, with the Packers winning.
As far as the division picks are concerned, the Ravens are tabbed to rebound from two straight third-place finishes and win the AFC North for a fifth time in team history.
There aren’t too many surprises among some of the other predictions, but Lindy’s does believe the Kansas City Chiefs will contend for a playoff berth, and the Buffalo Bills will snag a wild-card spot, which would be their first postseason appearance since 1999.
In the NFC, Lindy’s doesn’t go far out on a limb, but its pick of the Philadelphia Eagles to win the NFC East race could be risky, given the drastic comings and goings on that team’s roster.
Position Units
Under the Lindy’s system, each position unit is graded on a 1-to-10 scale, with the latter number being the best.
One reason the Ravens were tabbed to win their division is that no portion of the team earned a number lower than seven, which was given to the running backs, receivers, defensive line and secondary.
The highest Baltimore grades were given to the coaching staff and the linebackers, which each earned a nine. There was no position unit on any team that earned a perfect 10.
Each team also has one player spotlighted as being on the so-called “hot seat.” For the Ravens, it’s cornerback Lardarius Webb, an appropriate choice given his recovery from a back injury and his two earlier knee surgeries. Webb re-structured his deal to give the team more salary cap room, and he is seen as a big key to keeping the secondary healthy.
In the middle of the magazine is an interesting section that ranks the best at each position leaguewide, a comprehensive listing that separates top wideouts from No. 2s, No. 3s and so on, as well as pure running backs from all-purpose backs. They also separately list pure-passing quarterbacks from dual-threat types.
By The Numbers
6 — Pages that display last year’s statistics in every major category. What sets Lindy’s apart from other magazines is the fact that it also lists non-qualifiers in several categories to show how they would have done against those who did meet their position’s numerical standards. There are also two other pages that list all-time leaders in each category, which many others won’t run.
6 — The number of pages that show the magazine’s rankings of the best fantasy players at each position, along with the pertinent statistics to back up their rankings. However, despite 2014 being the best offensive season in Ravens history, no Baltimore player is listed among the top quarterbacks, receivers and tight ends in this guide. Running back Justin Forsett is ranked 13th and kicker Justin Tucker is 10th at their respective positions.
9 — Pages that Lindy’s devotes to a complete breakdown of the 2015 draft, with a paragraph of comments on every player taken. The Ravens’ draft is given a B-plus grade, with third-rounder Carl Davis cited as a good move and fifth-rounder Nick Boyle touted as someone who could surprise. But Lindy’s does opine that there were better running backs on the board than fourth-rounder Javorius “Buck” Allen.
Miscellany
Lindy’s isn’t one to neglect the college game, with a comprehensive look at the top players at each position that could be taken in the 2016 draft.
The magazine also devotes space to those free-agent veterans who had not signed with an NFL team as of its deadline, although calling the section “homeless players” seemed a bit tasteless.
There is also a compelling feature about how long certain legendary players have had to wait to get into the Hall of Fame, as well as a listing of notable events that happened in the game 75, 50 and 25 years ago.
And what would any preseason magazine be without a multi-page cheerleader spread? Twelve sideline beauties are featured, including Whitney from the Ravens’ squad, who hopes to be an ESPN sideline reporter in the future. It’s not an unrealistic goal: actress Stacy Keibler was once a Ravens cheerleader.
Joe Platania has been covering professional football since 1994.
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