ESPN NFL Helmet Power Rankings

[DC in Da House w/o a Doubt]

Trying to throw all bias aside, the Redskins deserve to at least be in the top 10 for best helmet. Great logo, great color scheme, classic look.

[oldschoolvikings]

Trying to throw all bias aside, the Redskins deserve to at least be in the top 10 for best helmet. Great logo, great color scheme, classic look.

Redskins would get booted by me for that nightmare yellow facemask.

Any list that doesn't include the Rams is a joke.

[Fjm]

My top 10:

The iconic, simple logos:

1-Cowboys

4-Colts

7-Saints

8-Raiders

9-Lions

10-Dolphins

Artistic designs done well:

2-Rams

3-Chargers

5-Eagles

6-Vikings

Honorable mention:

Chiefs

Texans

[DC in Da House w/o a Doubt]

Trying to throw all bias aside, the Redskins deserve to at least be in the top 10 for best helmet. Great logo, great color scheme, classic look.

Redskins would get booted by me for that nightmare yellow facemask.

Any list that doesn't include the Rams is a joke.

Oooh definitely, I forgot all about the Rams. They're in my top 5 in my opinion, let alone top 10. Granted, they did look better when they were using yellow as opposed to that gold look they have now.

My top 10 (in no particular order):

Rams

Colts

Chargers

Redskins

Packers

Giants

Saints

Raiders

Dolphins

Broncos

[YessSir32]

Where's the Lions? Their helmet is very attractive.

[Cujo]

Rankings

1. Steelers

2. Colts

3. Raiders

4. Packers

5. Chargers

6. Cowboys

7. Vikings

8. Browns

9. Bears

10. Dolphins

Thoughts?

Not surprising, the helemts were basically ranked on tradition, not on the actual design or "badassness" of them.

IMO the Steelers have the second ugliest helmet in the league (only the Browns are worse).

[Sport]

Here's some food for thought: Counting facemask color changes, the Bengals have the 6th longest running unchanged helmet in the league.

[TFoA]

Trying to throw all bias aside, the Redskins deserve to at least be in the top 10 for best helmet. Great logo, great color scheme, classic look.

Redskins would get booted by me for that nightmare yellow facemask.

Agreed. If they fix that, the helmet would look great instead of just okay.

[gosioux76]

I always thought the Rams as a top 5 helmet was something I could state with certainty and not just be a homer on--I guess not.

But it's not just the Rams. I love helmets that don't just plaster a logo on the side. To me the Rams and Bengals have the best helmets. The Vikings is good too. I give the Eagles props even, though wings on the head don't work quite as well as the horns or stripes of the other three.

And then I give credit to teams who still put a logo there but clearly have thought about how the logo fits on the helmet. The Chargers and the Seahawks get credit there. (Although, they unfortunately forgot to think about how that logo would look NOT on the helmet. The Rams went through a period of that too, as did the Bengals, I believe.)

And then you can start discussing who has a good look even with the standard logo on the side, look.

I agree entirely. It's for this reason I count the USFL's Michigan Panthers and Arena Football's San Jose Sabrecats among my favorite helmets of all pro football. The XFL, for all its faults, did this very well. FSU Seminoles are another example of creative use of imagery on a helmet.

[north dakota]

Rams should definitely be in the Top 10. How did the Dolphins make it? They have a dolphin holding a football on their helmet.

[Sport]

I'd put the Rams as my #1. It looks great, instantly recognizable, and from a concept standpoint is brilliant. Rams ram their heads together. Football players ram their heads together. It makes so much sense.

Here's my top 10

1. Rams

2. Bengals

3. Seahawks (though I'd like it a lot more if the bird wrapped completely around)

4. Jaguars

5. Texans

6. Buccaneers

7. Raiders

8. Eagles

9. Chargers

10. Vikings

As you can see I like helmets that creatively use the space to mimic an animal's head (Rams, Bengals, Seahawks, and eagles (though they lose points because Eagles don't have wings on their heads)) or some other kind of headgear (Vikings). I also like modern helmets that use large logos that take up nearly the whole side of the helmet and it's simple, but I love pretty much everything about the Raiders' uniforms.

[Chawls]

Trying to throw all bias aside, the Redskins deserve to at least be in the top 10 for best helmet. Great logo, great color scheme, classic look.

Redskins would get booted by me for that nightmare yellow facemask.

Agreed. If they fix that, the helmet would look great instead of just okay.

But I think the yellow facemask helps to balance the color scheme perfectly. What color would you guys suggest?

My list (no particular order):

?Jaguars

?Bengals

?Rams

?Eagles

?Vikings

?Saints

?Cowboys

?Buccaneers

?Dolphins

?Chiefs

[DeFrank]

Terrible article.

Most of these guys are just bias to teams like Pittsburgh or Green Bay.

I would go (in no real order)

Rams

Bengals

Vikings

Eagles

Jaguars

Buccaneers

Chargers

Dolphins

Bears

Packers

[DeFrank]

And as a Redskins fan, I'm going to go out and say they have an alright (although classic) helmet design.

The stripes match literally nothing on the uniforms in any way.

The logo (which is a classic and great) is a little too complicated for a helmet.

That being said, I really love the yellow facemask.

My fix: Either go with an updated feather (As demonstrated in my NFL Redesign, check my sig. ) or an updated spear.

[DC in Da House w/o a Doubt]

FYI NFL Network is doing a Top 10 episode featuring Uniforms right now! Oh em gee!

But seriously its on til 7, tune in if your interested.

[Kevin W.]

They might as well call it "Teams That Have The Most History And Haven't Changed Their Helmets In A Long Time".

Um, the Chargers have had their current helmet for only a few years. It's a similar design but to say that they haven't changed their helmet lately is wrong.

[UnclearInitial]

Terrible list. What really surprised me is that the 49ers, Texans, Cardinals,Titans, Falcons and Bengals (!) were the only ones who nobody voted for. Also surprising that the Rams helmet didn't make it, because it's bot a creative & gorgeous helmet design, but it was the first helmet design and it has a lot of history behind it. Best helmet in the league for me.

Both the Steelers and Browns helmets are ugly, but they should never change them. Maybe add numbers and facemask color to the Browns helmet, but that's it.

[Sport]

National rankings from the ESPN.com rank them yourself cumulative rankings

1. Chargers

2. Packers

3. Steelers

4. Cowboys

5. Falcons

6. Eagles

7. Raiders

8. Rams

9. Broncos

10. Colts

11.Bears

12. Saints

13. Bengals

14. 49ers

15. Buccaneers

16. Vikings

17. Texans

18. Lions

19. Giants

20. Ravens

21. Chiefs

22. Redskins

23. Dolphins

24. Patriots

25. Bills

26. Jets

27. Seahawks

28. Browns

29. Jaguars

30. Panthers

31. Cardinals

32. Titans

Some surprising picks there. Chargers? Also, the Bengals got the 4th most 1st place votes, but finished 13th which shows how polarizing it is.

[oldschoolvikings]

Trying to throw all bias aside, the Redskins deserve to at least be in the top 10 for best helmet. Great logo, great color scheme, classic look.

Redskins would get booted by me for that nightmare yellow facemask.

Agreed. If they fix that, the helmet would look great instead of just okay.

But I think the yellow facemask helps to balance the color scheme perfectly. What color would you guys suggest?

I'd match the facemask color with the helmet color. That pretty much always works. Its not a bad logo, but with the multiple stripes and the super-bright mask, it just screams 70's to me. Drop the white stripes (use a single gold stripe ala steelers) and change to a dark red mask and you've got a sharply updated helmet that still works with the rest of the uniform.

Or, better yet, go back to the spear.

[OnWis97]

I'd take the following out of the top 10:

• Packers: Nothing special about that, except that it's America's team.
  
• Chargers: I don't think there's a good way to put a lightning bolt on a helmet.
  
• Vikings: (Reverse homerism). I've never liked it. Maybe it's how close to the front of the head that the horns stick out. I've always wanted the primary on there (which is ironic considering how I hate detailed logos on helmets more often than not)
  
• Browns: Cool for being bland, I guess. Any decent helmet should be rated above it...I'd only put it ahead of the really bad ones.
  
• Bears: Kinda boring and the left side looks awkward.
  
• Dolphins: The logo is cheesy (as someone said, a dolphin holding a football)
  

Wow! there are six I'd take out.

And I'd replace with:

• Lions: Long live silhouette helmet logos.
  
• Bengals. No votes? Wow.
  
• Cardinals: Though I wish they'd dump the gray mask
  
• Seahawks: I just love the color
  
• Saints
  
• Rams