Pre-season power rankings aren’t all they’re cracked up to be. Much like initial draft grades, they’re an excuse to talk about things, but rarely do they have much validity as the first few names are populating IR lists in fantasy football. Be that as it may, the Browns have been placed dead last on PFT’s power rankings.

Last year, the Browns were the only members of the AFC North to not make it to the postseason. While they likely won’t be quite so alone when the dust settles on 2012, they’re currently all alone at the bottom of the heap.

Hey, someone has to be No. 32. Though the Browns could scratch and claw and climb and thrive (and I personally hope they will), the franchise collectively has pressed the button that falls between “panic” and “reset” for the coming season.

Give Florio and company some credit. They don’t just throw a list together with a couple of one-liners. Their post on the Browns will seem like old hat to most of you hard-cores, but they do a very good job of laying everything out there on the team’s strengths, weaknesses, changes to the team and expected camp battles.

In this case, it wasn’t so much about smashing the Browns as pointing out the obvious question marks. The Browns might be headed in the right direction with their most recent draft, but it truly is impossible to tell until we actually see Trent Richardson, Brandon Weeden and Mitch Schwartz play football. It is equally impossible to tell until we see the defense without Phil Taylor.

If Tom Heckert and Mike Holmgren did their jobs this off-season it won’t be long until they’re out of the basement. If they didn’t? Well, there’s no place further to drop.

As Florio said, “Hey, someone has to be No. 32.” Did Florio get it right, or is there a team that you think should have been below the Browns?