Here are the games to watch from this weekend's NFL slate.

As we enter the 2024 NFL season, we'd like to draw some attention back to our proprietary player rankings. Havoc Ratings takes into account everything a defensive player does in a game and assigns a score on a play-by-play basis. We used it in the off-season to project our best defenders in 2024. Now that we're in season, we can tell you what individual players perform the best on a week to week basis. With that in mind, here is our week 1 All-Havoc Team.

On the offensive side of the ball, when it comes to skill positions, we generally know who had the best games. Statistically, we can see production, but Threat can take it a step further and dive deep into who did the most on the field to help their team score. With that in mind, here is our NFL Week 1 All-Threat Team.

I have been given the esteemed title of official Field Vision power ranker. I teared up a bit when Sasha called me to give the news, because I simply love making lists and being as harsh critic to the world’s best athletes and coaches.

Week One of the NFL season is officially in the books, and, well…we can barely breath here at Field Vision. Why? We recommended 20 bets to our loyal following. We hit 18 of them. Yes, you heard that correctly. 18! 90%. That’s basically statistically impossible. Let us quickly recap:

Through 2 games of the NFL season, it is delivering, as always. We've had two one possession thrillers to get 2024 kicked off. We knew the games would deliver. They always do. But, What about Field Vision? Well, so far so good. We picked 3 curated Best Bets in each of the first two nights and THEY ALL HIT! We know nobody gets them all right, but 6 for 6 is nice way to get things kicked off. Something we can't say about the new kickoff rule so far.

Here are the games to watch from this weekend's NFL slate.

We are finally here! The NFL's 2024 season is upon us. Let's examine the early matchups for this week and what to look for while you watch the games.

With less than a week until the NFL season, we did a round table predicting all of our division winners, playoff teams, conference championship games and a Super Bowl matchup and champion. Here's a look at how the 2024 season will play out. We discussed all these winners in detail on our weekly episode of The Matchup.

Predicting how an NFL season will play out is always a fickle business, but someone has to do it. Based on our offensive and defensive rankings that we put out this week, we took a holistic approach and power ranked all 32 NFL teams. Here's our view on the best heading into 2024

With 1 week until the season, Field Vision is taking a look at offensive rankings heading into 2024. We used our Threat Ratings to help evaluate offensive personnel, then combined that with past performance and our view on each offensive coaching staff to make a comprehensive offensive ranking across the NFL. I noted qualitative changes on two teams (Bengals and Vikings) below, but largely stuck to our rankings for this list. These are our 2024 pre-season offensive rankings.

While offense year-to-year can be relatively predictable, team defense is historically volatile. The top two defenses in 2023 as measured by EPA allowed - Cleveland and Baltimore -- weren't even in the Top 10 in 2022. And in total, only 5 of the top 10 defenses in 2022 we're able to make it back last season (Buffalo, Dallas, New England, San Francisco, and the New York Jets).

The preseason is already over, which means we are a measly 10 (yes 10!) days away from the start of the NFL regular season. Hopefully no more injuries to report, and if we take CeeDee Lamb’s new deal with the Cowboys as an indicator, we might even see a few of the holdout situations get resolved.

It's quarterback week at Field Vision, and the new season is finally upon us. The most critical position in sports is also an enigma for many GMs and pundits trying to wade through data, film, and visual analysis. In the NFL, winning a Super Bowl nowadays is almost impossible without an elite QB. Looking back at the last ten years, it's pretty resounding:

Most people use Mt. Rushmore to separate the best players from the rest of the pack. In today's NFL, the fourth quarterback is up for debate. Dak Prescott (Cowboys), Jared Goff (Lions), Joe Burrow when healthy (Bengals), and even Jalen Hurts (Eagles) can be thrown into the conversation for the fourth-best QB in the league.

Let's face it. Almost any QB list you look at in 2024 is going to have Patrick Mahomes at #1, the NFL's top 100 not withstanding. Keep in mind that Threat ratings are a statistically based metric that may take out some qualitative analysis, good or bad. However, our Threat Ratings for Quarterbacks do look at actual production on the field with an eye on deep playoff runs and winning as well. With all that in mind, here are our top 10 quarterbacks for 2024 according to Field Vision's Threat Ratings.

As we covered last week, there’s not a lot you can takeaway from preseason games – especially when few, if any, starters are playing...like happened across much of the league this past weekend.

The preseason can be boring if you don't know exactly what to look for. Most teams are trotting out backups and running basic schemes. Coordinators have yet to bring out the highly curated call sheets but are opting to 'just call plays' to get them on tape.

When we look at running backs, there are many different ways they can help an offense. The obvious is spearheading a rushing attack. However, they may also be asked to be a big part of the passing game, both catching passes out of the backfield and in pass protection. The most accomplished do-it-all running backs will even line up in the slot or out wide from time to time and run routes like a receiver. With these thoughts in mind, we ranked our top 5 running backs in both receiving and rushing based on Field Vision Threat Ratings.

As we look at our 2024 Threat Ratings for Running backs, it’s important to make one thing clear. These are not fantasy rankings! Threat Ratings are production based with a look towards 2024 but only through the lens of actual past production. They also take a more holistic view of the player than just how many fantasy points they’ll score this year. With that disclaimer out of the way, we broke our Running backs into 3 tiers.

Pre-season leaves a lot to be desired when it comes to deciphering anything about actual player and/or team performance. For example, do we all believe the Jaguars are two touchdowns better than the Chiefs, and the Bears 27 points better than the Bills? Probably not.

The NFL is an ever-changing ecosystem, with a natural ebb and flow to its evolution each season. We are currently heading deeper into the post-Spread Era. The point explosions we saw following the 2018 season are quickly evaporating.

As we continue our Threat Rankings, we take a look at the Tight End position. Tight End is unique because there are multiple types and they are asked to do different things on the field. However, production is king and these 10 players provide a punch for their offense that serves to supplement what the Quarterback can do with the other skill position players. The Tight End is the ultimate security blanket and the 10 QB’s with players on this list should feel very secure.

As we at Field Vision, transition to offense, a new metric comes to the forefront. We evaluate offensive players using our proprietary metric called Threat Rating. You can read more about what is and how it’s calculated in Scott Bouska’s article explaining it. Essentially, we get a holistic view of offensive player performance based on a machine learning model that tells us how valuable certain outcomes are to winning, and gives points to a player every time he is attributed with that outcome. Threat rating uniquely looks at outcomes that a player is responsible for and tries not to account for outcomes that were created by teammates.

‘threat’: a person or thing likely to cause damage or danger.

What is an Edge? The relatively new term describes what used to be the traditional Defensive End in a four-down and an outside linebacker in a 3-4. The issue with that antiquated way of bucketing players is the NFL has become a league full of hybrids.

When it comes to stopping the run in the NFL, linebackers get most of the glory. They ultimately make the hit and record the tackle that stops the ball carriers momentum, but any coach will tell you a good run defense always starts up front. Interior defensive lineman, much like their offensive line counterparts, don’t always get the credit, but they take up blocks freeing up those linebackers to make the hit. As we examine interior Defensive line play, it’s hard to overestimate that skill. So today, we take a look at the 10 best run stopping interior defensive linemen in football. All Havoc ratings are for run stopping Havoc only.

When it comes to the NFL, the game starts up front and that’s not just on offense. Defensive line play anchors any good defense and a good interior defensive line frees up the back end of a defense to fly to the ball and make plays. That said, some interior defensive lineman take it a step further and make the plays themselves. This generally manifests itself in a tackle behind the line of scrimmage, or better yet, a quarterback sack. In the list below, we examine the 10 best pass rushing interior defensive linemen in the league. All rating are for Pass Rush Havoc only.

Though linebackers' overall value has decreased recently, they are still critical to a modern defense. Linebackers are the link connecting the backend to the front and, until within the past few years, were the primary communicators for the defense.

As we continue to look at off-ball linebackers, today our Havoc Ratings reveal that linebackers that our best in coverage. These linebackers help their teams’ versatility by being able to run down the seam in coverage, cover a running back out of the backfield, or matchup against a tight end over the middle. Having an elite coverage linebacker at your disposal adds a lot of multiplicity to a defense. All ratings reflect Coverage Havoc Ratings only.

As our positional rankings roll on, we look at off-ball linebackers from a different perspective. One unique thing about Havoc Ratings is they are a play-by-play metric which allows us to cut them in different ways and helps players that our used effectively within their schemes rise to the top.

Last week at Field Vision we introduced Havoc Ratings to the world with a bold statement: We believe Havoc Ratings will set the standard for how we evaluate defensive player performance. Why? Because our Havoc Ratings are based on outcomes that players have ACTUALLY produced on a play-by-play basis, and the math behind how much those outcomes truly matter to winning. Our Havoc Ratings don’t care about your name, your college, your pedigree, where you were drafted – just about what you do on the field.

In the past five years, the usage of Cover 1 has plummeted as more teams shift to zone coverages. In 2019, there were just over 10,000 snaps of Cover 1; fast forward to the conclusion of the 2023 season, and that number sinks to 6,774 snaps. Outside of Dennis Allen (Saints), Dan Quinn (Commanders), and Jim Schwartz (Browns), you will be hard-pressed to find a team that wants to stay in man coverage at volume.

As the Havoc Rating rankings roll on, some big names missed the cut in favor of corners that have shown consistent performance across the board. Remember, in Havoc, no play goes unnoticed, so it's not just the highlight reel plays that get accounted for.