INDIANAPOLIS — For the second consecutive season, the NFL Players Association’s report cards have the Miami Dolphins first and the Minnesota Vikings second in the overall rankings, but the Atlanta Falcons made a big climb to rate third out of the league’s 32 teams after being 25th a year ago.
The Las Vegas Raiders were fourth, and the Los Angeles Chargers zoomed up from 30th as they rounded out the top five when the union released its rankings at the NFL scouting combine Wednesday — the day before player workouts begin for draft prospects at Lucas Oil Stadium, the home of the Indianapolis Colts. The Pittsburgh Steelers, New York Jets, Cleveland Browns, New England Patriots and Arizona Cardinals were the bottom five overall.
The Tennessee Titans were 16th after being 18th the past two years.
JC Tretter, the NFLPA’s chief strategy officer, said 1,695 players responded to the survey, which is 77% of the union’s membership and an average of 52 players per team. The report cards, which include 11 categories, were compiled from Aug. 26 to Nov. 20.
Lloyd Howell, the NFLPA’s executive director, pointed out the purpose of the report cards is not to be a “shame campaign” but to raise questions about “how do we improve working conditions for our guys?”