1) New England Patriots

Quarterback: A+ | Tom Brady, Jimmy Garoppolo, Jacoby Brissett

Pinch-hitting for Brady last September, Garoppolo went on the road in a nationally televised season opener and mowed down a consensus Super Bowl contender before shredding the Dolphins defense in one of the season's most impressive first-half performances. Convinced of his potential as a franchise quarterback, the organization deemed Garoppolo so valuable as to be untradeable at a time when desperate teams may have been willing to give up the farm for Brady's backup. Unlike San Francisco's Joe Montana-Steve Young-Steve Bono largesse of the late '80s and early '90s, there's no lingering controversy hanging over the QB room.

Backfield: B+ | Mike Gillislee, James White, Dion Lewis, Rex Burkhead

Stop me if you've heard this before: Bill Belichick is ahead of the curve. At a time when 80.4 percent of passing plays and 63.6 percent of all offensive plays start in shotgun formation, the Pats have assembled a backfield of specialists with skill sets suited to fit specific personnel packages and game situations. What they lack in household-name cachet, they make up for in versatility and efficiency.

Receiving corps: A+ | Rob Gronkowski (TE), Julian Edelman, Brandin Cooks, Chris Hogan, Dwayne Allen (TE), Malcolm Mitchell, Danny Amendola, James O'Shaughnessy (TE)

Since winning Super Bowl LI via epic comeback fashion, Brady has welcomed back the most unstoppable tight end in history and added his most lethal deep threat since Randy Moss. If Gronkowski returns to pre-injury form, this collection of talent has a chance to rival the record-breaking 2007 unit for depth and quality.

Offensive line: B+ | Nate Solder, Joe Thuney, David Andrews, Shaq Mason, Marcus Cannon, Cameron Fleming, Antonio Garcia

With the exception of Solder's dismal Super Bowl performance, the arrow is pointing up for a young offensive line that brought the athletic Garcia into the fold with the draft's No. 85 overall pick. With Cannon solidifying the right side, this line improved throughout the course of last season.

2) Pittsburgh Steelers


Quarterback: B+ | Ben Roethlisberger, Landry Jones, Joshua Dobbs

Roethlisberger faded down the stretch last season, perhaps struggling to adapt to an offense suddenly running through Le'Veon Bell rather than the quarterback. Now that the receiving corps is restocked, there's ample reason to believe Big Ben will return to 2015 form in which he was the league's most dangerous downfield passer. The Steelers would earn a higher grade at the position if there were any confidence that Jones could step in and keep the season afloat in the event of yet another Roethlisberger injury.

Backfield: A- | Le'Veon Bell, James Conner, Knile Davis, Fitzgerald Toussaint

The league's premier dual-threat back, Bell is coming off one of the most productive stretches in NFL history. He's missed time due to injury or suspension in each of the past three seasons, however, a potential problem that could be exacerbated if trusty veteran DeAngelo Williams isn't re-signed before training camp.


Receiving corps: A- | Antonio Brown, Martavis Bryant, Eli Rogers, JuJu Smith-Schuster, Sammie Coates, Ladarius Green (TE), Jesse James (TE), Darrius Heyward-Bey, Cobi Hamilton, Demarcus Ayers, Justin Hunter, Xavier Grimble (TE)

Brown is a perennial All-Pro challenging Julio Jones for the wideout crown now that Calvin Johnson is retired. For all of the league's marquee additions in free agency and the draft, Bryant's return from suspension might just have the biggest impact of any single skill-position talent. Prior to the suspension that wiped out his 2016 season, Bryant and Brown had emerged as the NFL's most dynamic wideout duo, leading a historically prolific offensive attack for stretches of 2015.

Beyond Brown and Bryant, this unit features a host of wild cards. Before Coates broke a pair of fingers in October, he was an electric -- albeit inconsistent -- downfield playmaker in September. If Green can overcome concussion issues, he's an ideal seam-stretcher for Roethlisberger. Is second-round pick Smith-Schuster too young to challenge Coates and Rogers for playing time as a rookie?

Offensive line: A | Alejandro Villanueva, Ramon Foster, Maurkice Pouncey, David DeCastro, Marcus Gilbert, Chris Hubbard, B.J. Finney

The spotlight rarely leaves Pittsburgh's celebrated triplets long enough to shine on an offensive line that outperformed even Dallas' star-studded unit in several key categories last season.

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