FanPost

NFL Insider poll ranks Dennis Allen as worst head coach in the league

Benny Sieu-USA TODAY Sports

ESPN conducted a poll of NFL insiders asking them to rank all the head coaches by a tier system. Unsurprisingly, guess who ranked dead last -- Dennis Allen. Here are the top 5 and bottom 5 head coaches

Top five

1. Bill Belichick (Patriots)

2. Pete Carroll (Seahawks)

3. Sean Payton (Saints)

4. Andy Reid (Chiefs)

5. Tom Coughlin (Giants)

Bottom five

28. Doug Marrone (Bills)

29. Joe Philbin (Dolphins)

30. Jason Garrett (Cowboys)

31. Mike Pettine (Browns)

32. Dennis Allen (Raiders)

And for fun here's some notable coaches rankings:

8. Jim Harbaugh (49ers)

10. John Fox (Broncos)

12. Chip Kelly (Eagles)

T-20 Mike McCoy (Chargers)

This was their reasoning behind giving Allen the bottom slot.

"Would Vince Lombardi win with these Raiders? Hue Jackson went 8-8 not too long ago, but if Allen is in over his head it's only fair to acknowledge the deep and treacherous nature of the waters in Oakland. "If you gave him the Colts, he might have been good too" one executive said. "It is completely unfair to measure him. He could be a guy who re-emerges 7-8 years from now and becomes pretty good. Objectively he is a 4. But no other coach would do better there"

The 4 he is referring to is the tier system. It is a 5 tier system and the way the coaches were ranked by a vote from a cast of various ex-GMs, executive, position coaches people who know what it takes to be an NFL head coach. The numbers for Allen were not great. He received 0 votes for tier 1, 1 vote for tier 2, 3 votes for tier 3, 19 votes for tier 4 and 7 votes (the most of any coach by 6 votes) for tier 5.

Interesting that they acknowledge the talent deficiencies and the enormous task of a rebuilding process yet still proceed to give him the bottom slot. While perhaps he has done nothing to earn any other spot, the aforementioned executive has a good point. Do we judge Allen because he tried to lead a group of rag-tag athletes against insurmountable odds and ultimately failed as many others would have? Or do we judge him because he was unable to elevate said team to be more than they were? At what point is the head coach accountable in the rebuilding process?

There's two popular opinions floating around here.

The first is the Raiders should fire Allen now, because this lack of production is inexcusable. There's certainly evidence for it: multiple blow-out losses, the hiring of Greg Knapp, non-existent half-time adjustments, poor time management skills, poor discipline in terms of penalties and more.

The second is that this is the first season he's had a near NFL level amount of talent and this should be the year we ultimately judge him by. That depending on this upcoming season is how we should judge him and whether he should be retained or not. The question for those people is how long are you willing to give him? Where is the line drawn for 'Okay, this is enough he is clearly over his head'? How much patience is too much patience?

If you are interested in a full rankings list with complete coverage on every coach, here's the link.