2023 NFL Team Demographics

Freethinker

Hall of Famer
Joined
Oct 3, 2008
Messages
7,568
Location
Suffolk County, NY
Now that we have the data*, here are the teams from best to worst in terms of giving White athletes the opportunity to make a living playing football. To rank them, I'm assigning 2 points for each starter and 1 point per reserve, as I feel a starter should be weighted more heavily than a seldom used backup. The league average came to 19 points for a benchmark number. This number is down from 20 last year so make of that what you will:

The Cream of the Crop

Denver Broncos, 20.5 (9): 29.5 [+11]
Los Angeles Rams#, 20 (8): 28 [+2]
Cincinnati Bengals, 18 (8): 26 [-1]
Indianapolis Colts#, 18 (8): 26 [+4]
Minnesota Vikings#, 17 (8): 25 [---]
Detroit Lions, 16 (7): 23 [-3]
San Francisco 49ers#, 16 (7): 23 [-2]
Buffalo Bills, 16.5 (6): 22.5 [-0.5]

Run of the Mill Caste Squads

Las Vegas Raiders#, 15 (7): 22 [+5]
Tampa Bay Buccaneers, 16 (6): 22 [+2]
Jacksonville Jaguars, 16 (5): 21 [+1]
Kansas City Chiefs, 16 (5): 21 [-1]
Atlanta Falcons, 14.5 (5.5): 20 [+2]
Washington Redskins, 15 (5): 20 [---]
Philadelphia Eagles#, 13.5 (6): 19.5 [-0.5]
New Orleans Saints, 15 (4): 19 [-2]
Green Bay Packers, 15 (3): 18 [-4]
Houston Texans, 14 (4): 18 [+2.5]
Los Angeles Chargers, 14 (4): 18 [-5]
Tennessee Titans, 14 (4): 18 [---]
Dallas Cowboys, 13 (4): 17 [-2]
New England Patriots, 13 (4): 17 [+1]
Pittsburgh Steelers, 12 (5): 17 [-2]

Worst of the Worst

New York Jets, 12.5 (4): 16.5 [-1.5]
Miami Dolphins, 13 (3): 16 [-1]
New York Giants, 12 (4): 16 [-2]
Baltimore Ravens, 11 (4): 15 [-4]
Chicago Bears, 12 (4): 15 [+1]
Seattle Seahawks, 13 (2): 15 [+1]
Carolina Panthers#, 10 (4): 14 [-1]
Arizona Cardinals, 11 (3): 14 [-9]
Cleveland Browns, 7 (3): 10 [-8]

*rosters and starters subject to change since their write-ups
[___] indicates their increase or decrease from last year
# indicates a team with a starting White RB, WR or S, due to rarity
 
Last edited:

Freethinker

Hall of Famer
Joined
Oct 3, 2008
Messages
7,568
Location
Suffolk County, NY
Edited the Colts and Lions in a positive direction.

Interesting that the teams that are the most White are generally competitive with a shot at the playoffs vs the most non-White being worse in that regard. Of course this is only this year, but I think we've noticed this pattern in past seasons too.

Broncos: 1-5
Rams: 3-3
Bengals: 3-3
Colts: 3-3
Vikings: 2-4
Lions: 5-1
49ers: 5-1
Bills: 4-2
Overall: 26-22

Jets: 3-3
Dolphins: 5-1
Giants: 1-5
Ravens: 4-2
Bears: 1-5
Seahawks: 3-2
Panthers: 0-6
Cardinals: 1-5
Browns: 3-2
Overall: 21-31

Also interesting is that of these 9 worst teams, 7 start non-Whites at quarterback.
 
Last edited:

TwentyTwo

Master
Joined
Oct 31, 2009
Messages
3,606
Location
Louisiana
Thanks for your research Freethinker ! Always like to see the demographic breakdowns. What would it ever take for a 53 man Roster to ever get closer to the 50/50 mark! Looking at the annual College Football Team previews guess it should not come as a surprise that the Top Two teams have 20 White players. And the average roughly 15....and the Browns a concerted effort to avoid whitey as much as possible.

i'd be curious to know the percentage of the 160 Starting O-Lineman in the NFL
 

Freethinker

Hall of Famer
Joined
Oct 3, 2008
Messages
7,568
Location
Suffolk County, NY
I thought it would be interesting to look back now that the season is over and see if the team demographics and success had any correlation. Of course this isn't scientific in anyway, but interesting none the less. With the blackest teams, its a mixed bag. Some really good teams (Baltimore & Cleveland for example) and some really bad teams(Carolina, Arizona and NY Giants to name a few). But what I find more interesting is the teams with the higher percentage of White players. If we look at that upper echelon there were no truly bad teams. In fact, a few would have even been better if not losing their talented QBs midway through the season. Taking a closer look:

Denver Broncos: 8-9 record. Not great but bounced back from a rough 1-5 start to compete for a playoff spot.
Los Angeles Ram: 10-7. Playoffs.
Cincinnati Bengals: 9-8. Just missed playoffs and arguably would have been easily in if not for Joe Burrow's injury.
Indianapolis Colts: 9-8. Missed playoffs in final weeks of season in a game they nearly won.
Minnesota Vikings: 7-10. Missed playoffs but lost star QB Kirk Cousins. In weak NFC, likely would have made playoffs.
Detroit Lions: 12-5. Playoffs, #3 seed.
San Francisco 49ers: 12-5. Playoffs, top team in NFC.
Buffalo Bills: 11-6. Playoffs, #2 seed.

So make of it what you will, but I think we know that from years of tracking this, that teams that have more Whites generally have more success.
 

Don Wassall

Administrator
Staff member
Joined
Sep 30, 2004
Messages
31,416
Location
Pennsylvania
Through the years, relatively White friendly teams have outperformed very Black teams, no question about it, with the Patriots for many years being the best example but also teams like the Packers and more recently the Rams and Bengals. But the key word is "relatively." Every single team in the NFL is predominantly Black, so we're comparing degrees of blackness for the most part. The NFL is so far from what it would be if it was as "color blind" as such a subjective standard can be that we're merely pointing out bright spots in an entrenched Caste System that has yet to show any serious cracks. But awareness of the Caste System is undeniably growing little by little. . .
 

kulak

Newbie
Joined
Jan 28, 2024
Messages
1
Brett Favre Not Surprised NFL Teams Are Not Interested in Bill Belicheck

”Nowadays, rather than Belichick types, Favre said, they're going with 'young groovy guys' who play differently, and have to be coached differently."

He means the NFL has decided it wants black quarterbacks.
 

wile

Master
Joined
Sep 29, 2011
Messages
3,002
So in Jackson's 7th season he learns how to be a more effective QB. What was it a year or two ago one of his former wideouts and him were twitter tiffing about Jackson's lack of being able to make all the throws and he beats the running QB injury odds to make it this long. Anyway if kulak is correct and he probably is all we will see is plenty of average black pocket passers and loads of the headless chicken act from a good many of the rest.
 
Top