Gaelic Football Power Rankings With Eight Counties Left Standing In The Sam Maguire Race

Despite the fact another four teams were dumped out of the All-Ireland football championship, it somehow has become even harder to predict who will win Sam Maguire in 2025.

Louth, Down, Cavan and Cork all exited stage left and we are now faced with four mouth-watering quarter-final ties at GAA HQ over the coming weekend. A David Clifford hat-trick in Killarney, a lost Louth team bus and a cracker between Down and Galway in Newry are just some of the things that we will have to quickly forget about as another cracker of a weekend lies in store.

Following the quarter-final draw on RTÉ Radio 1, the ties will see Kerry go up against Armagh, Meath facing Galway, Donegal meeting Monaghan and Dublin locking horns with Tyrone and these ties are taken into account when calculating the power rankings.

It's important to remember that these power rankings aren't just totally reliant on the weekend's results, but are hinged on current form, potential, and how high their ceiling could rise in the race for Sam Maguire.

Here are last week's rankings.

The defending champions still occupy the top spot in our power rankings after their weekend off. Despite losing the Ulster final to Donegal, Armagh have been extremely impressive this year and the depth of their panel will prove crucial as they look to return to the summit again. The form of Rory Grugan, Oisín Conaty and Ethan Rafferty, along with the emergence of young star Darragh McMullen leaves Armagh best placed despite it being the most open All-Ireland championship in years.

Very impressive in the second half of their win over Louth and will be relatively pleased with their quarter-final draw as they face Ulster rivals Monaghan, who they've already beaten this Championship. The return to form of Shaun Patton and Oisín Gallen provides them with extra weapons at both ends of the field. Ger Brennan cited Donegal's sprint repeatability as one of their most impressive aspects and on that big Croke Park pitch you would expect their athletes to shine as we get set for the biggest games of the year.

Swashbuckling in attack but slightly open at the back in their win against Down but Padraic Joyce will be relieved they got over the line in Newry. Down started the second half extremely quickly but Galway weathered the storm, helped by the introduction of Peter Cooke and Daniel O'Flaherty off the bench. Damien Comer was held in reserve but there will be concern over Shane Walsh's shoulder as he appeared to be nursing it following a first-half challenge. Will need to perform very well to beat a tricky Meath side in Croke Park.

Did what they had to do to get over Cork and will be delighted that they got through the game without having to use a not fully-fit Con O'Callaghan. A huge clash awaits Dessie Farrell's men in Croke Park with a young Tyrone side coming to the capital. The return of Lee Gannon and Cian Murphy has helped to transform a previously weak-looking defence into a much tougher proposition for attackers. They will have to put in a huge performance to progress to the final four.

Kerry's injury woes looked to be clearing up when they named their team to face Cavan but the sight of Diarmuid O'Connor being taken off three minutes into their win over Cavan will keep them in the bottom half of the power rankings. David Clifford was magnificent again scoring 3-7 but it is extremely unlikely Armagh will provide him with the same freedom Cavan did. Paudie Clifford's return off the bench may prove key as Kerry seek revenge for last year's All-Ireland semi-final defeat.

Tyrone will be happy enough to fly into the quarter-finals under the radar. With the pace and skill their forward line possesses you would expect them to be right at home in the open confines of Croke Park. Darragh Canavan and Darren McCurry are two of the most important players that Dublin will need to curtail as they have been scorers-in-chief so far. Tyrone will feel they have the edge at midfield with giants Brian Kennedy and Conn Kilpatrick and they will need to make that advantage tell in order to get the better of the Dubs.

Meath have had an extremely positive season so far and only two defeats to Louth have stopped them from securing promotion to Division 1 and a Leinster title in 2025. Wins over Kerry and Cork along with a draw away to Roscommon saw them top their group and they will face Galway in the last eight. Having had the week off will they be well-rested enough to pull off another big shock and dump Padraic Joyce's side out of the championship?

Monaghan haven't done anything too egregious in this year's Championship, they lost narrowly to Donegal in Ulster and then won three games out of three to top their All-Ireland group. They had a touch of fortune in their win over Down when Jack McCarron's goal was allowed to stand despite him appearing to foul the ball but they got the job done and will be quietly confident of overturning Donegal. Their ability to kick two-pointers mixed with Donegal's willingness to defend inside the two-point arc means that if they can pop over enough long-range scores they are in with a big chance of making another All-Ireland semi-final.