Brett Davis-US PRESSWIRE

Power rankings mean absolutely nothing during the NFL regular season. Which mean’s their worth their weight in Monopoly money for the preseason.

So don’t get too bent out of shape when you see where PFT ranked the Oakland Raiders in their on-going preseason power rankings.

Apparently the Oakland overhaul by Reggie McKenzie is good enough for the Raiders to earn the number worn by Michael Jordan as the silver and black slide into the preseason poll at #23. But as we stated some time ago predicting the Raiders in 2012 is pretty much impossible. Even Evan Silva of PFT acknowledges as much in his assessment of the Raiders.

On paper, at least, the Raiders don’t at all resemble a truly bad team. They have a game-breaking running back and two-time Pro Bowl quarterback. The receiver corps is very promising. Oakland’s offense should not struggle to score points.

There is talent throughout the defense, particularly in the front four. While the Raiders are a bit makeshift in the back seven, strong line play can make the rest of the defense look better.

Go ahead a file this away in your we’ll-forget-about-this-two-months-from-now cabinet. In all honesty it wouldn’t surprise many if the Raiders won the AFC West just as it wouldn’t at all be shocking if they indeed are the league’s 23^rd best team. For my money, I’ll take the silver and black being closer to the top of the AFC West than the bottom. But that’s not saying much considering the Chiefs propped up the division last year with a record of 7-9.