THE DAILY BRIEFING
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NFC NORTH
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GREEN BAY
QB AARON RODGERS has no desire to play until he is 45, unlike QB TOM BRADY. Michael David Smith of ProFootballTalk.com:
At 38 years old, Aaron Rodgers is the second-oldest active quarterback in the NFL. But he says there’s no way he plays as long as the oldest.
Tom Brady turned 45 this week, and Rodgers was asked if he sees himself still playing at 45 as well. Rodgers answered definitively: “No, I don’t.”
“But happy birthday, Tom,” Rodgers added.
That’s not exactly major news, given that hardly anyone still plays at age 45. Only eight other players in NFL history have played after turning 45, and none of them were playing at anything close to Brady’s level. Rodgers playing at 45 would be extraordinarily unlikely, for the same reasons it’s extraordinarily unlikely for anyone to keep playing professional football at age 45.
But Rodgers’ definitive answer is another reminder that all great careers come to an end, and Rodgers’ career will be coming to an end sooner rather than later.
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NFC SOUTH
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ATLANTA
Michael Rothstein of ESPN.com says that QB MARCUS MARIOTA is doing just fine so far in camp.
It was late in Saturday’s practice, and Atlanta Falcons quarterback Marcus Mariota appeared to have nowhere to throw. The coverage was good, but this was a red zone play, so he took off for the end zone.
And when he scored, Mariota celebrated by launching the football more than halfway up the hill where fans sit and watch practice. It was at once a moment of exhilaration in the midst of one of the most competitive practices of coach Arthur Smith’s tenure and perhaps a release for the quarterback himself.
“It’s probably a little bit more emotion than I’ve seen from him in a while,” Smith said. “Probably a little bit of it is a little cathartic.”
It has been a few years since Mariota, the No. 2 pick in the 2015 draft, has been in this position – going into a season as a team’s presumptive starting quarterback. It was part of the allure of coming to Atlanta, along with reuniting with Smith, his former offensive coordinator. After two years with the Las Vegas Raiders as the backup to Derek Carr, this was a chance to be the lead guy again.
When Mariota signed in March after Atlanta traded franchise icon Matt Ryan to the Indianapolis Colts, he knew he was coming into a tricky position, replacing the best quarterback in team history. But he’d been through so much – injuries, losing his job, two years essentially watching – that this could be the best opportunity he had.
It would make sense if Mariota felt that way, and it has shown in camp.
He has been consistent and getting the vast majority of the reps with the first unit — at least with the offensive line, as the pass-catchers have been cycling through with both Mariota and rookie Desmond Ridder. Mariota feels comfortable with the offense and familiar with what he’s being asked to do – even if he has a bunch of new guys playing alongside him. He’s moving well and seems to have a rhythm.
Offensive coordinator Dave Ragone praised Mariota for not pressuring the ball into spots and finding the open receiver. It sounds simple, but often quarterbacks don’t do that. Mariota didn’t throw an incompletion in a team period – at least during the parts open for for observation – until the third day of practice.
“Certainly his experiences brought him to this place,” Smith said. “And he’s in a good rhythm. He’s in a good flow out there.”
By all appearances, Mariota has been working as if he will be the starter at the beginning of the season, although Smith probably will approach quarterback as he does every other position: The best guy plays. But when it comes to third-rounder Ridder, it’s important to keep in mind that in the past six years, the only non-first-round rookie quarterbacks to start Week 1 were Deshone Kizer for the Cleveland Browns in 2017 and Dak Prescott for the Dallas Cowboys in 2016.
Quarterbacks coach Charles London told Mariota and Ridder they needed to come back from their six-week summer break ready to go. It was evident they complied by how they played without pads the first week.
Mariota was the crisper, more accurate quarterback. Ridder showed signs of progress working behind Mariota.
Mariota has been assisted by good receiver play as there have been some less-than-pinpoint throws, and he has thrown a lot of short passes – but that’s part of taking what’s available. A key for Mariota will be his accuracy. As a starter for the Tennessee Titans from 2015 to 2019, he had a 62.9 completion percentage, 25th in the NFL for that span.
He started 61 of 80 potential games with the Titans, although in seasons when he was the clear-cut starter, he missed only eight games. Only twice did Mariota miss back-to-back games – both in his rookie year.
Mariota also rushed for 1,399 yards and 11 touchdowns in his five season as a Titan, even though he was benched for Ryan Tannehill in 2019. But the quarterback and his new head coach have grown since their Titans days, and the reunion offers Mariota a chance to rediscover what worked for him early in his career with the benefit of more experience.
“It’s a great opportunity for me to prove, not only to myself but to those who have believed in me,” Mariota said. “So, I’m excited. The last couple of years was a great reset. I learned a lot from Derek. I learned a lot from being there. I feel ready to go.”
In Tennessee, he learned he constantly needed to prove himself. Then, in Vegas for the past couple of seasons, his preparation remained the same. Just Sundays were different. Instead of being under center, he relayed what he saw to Carr, trying to help the Raiders win games from the sidelines instead of with his arm and legs.
But he was always building toward another shot. Atlanta called and gave him the opportunity. And now he’s once again leading an NFL team — as long as he plays well enough to hold onto it.
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TAMPA BAY
WR CHRIS GODWIN was sighted on Friday morning. Greg Auman of The Athletic:
@gregauman
Here’s a big one: Bucs receiver Chris Godwin is practicing today for the first time since knee surgery. Has a brace on his right knee.
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NFC WEST
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ARIZONA
G D.J. HUMPHRIES has re-upped with the Cardinals. This from The Athletic:
The Arizona Cardinals signed D.J. Humphries to a three-year extension, the team announced Tuesday. The left tackle would have entered free agency after this season had a deal not been reached, but the veteran is now locked in with the Cardinals through the 2025 season.
Arizona has not yet released the contract terms, but the extension is worth $66.8 million total with $34 million guaranteed and $21 million earned in the first year, according to the NFL Network.
The Cardinals selected Humphries No. 24 at the 2015 NFL Draft, and this is his third contract extension. Arizona picked up the fifth-year option of his contract in 2018, and he signed a three-year, $45 million extension in February 2020.
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SAN FRANCISCO
QB JIMMY GAROPPOLO is working out in Santa Clara – by himself. Myles Simmons ofProFootballTalk.com on what is going on:
The Jimmy Garoppolo conundrum with San Francisco seems like it could be a lot more awkward than it currently is.
Garoppolo has been cleared to practice, but he’s not doing so while the 49ers await a suitable trade offer — one that may or may not come before the start of the regular season. Instead, Garoppolo has been dutifully working on the side as the team moves on with last year’s No. 3 overall pick Trey Lance as QB1.
On Friday, head coach Kyle Shanahan said there’s no real awkwardness that comes up, despite Garoppolo being around for fans to see during open practices.
“We have a real good relationship with Jimmy,” Shanahan said in his press conference. “There’s no secret here of what the situation is. I think he fully understands the situation. We fully understand the situation. So, we make the best of it. Jimmy’s out there. He’s feeling better and better each day. I still see him. We have a real good relationship with Jimmy. He’s done some real good things here. So fans getting pumped with him and our players still loving seeing him, that doesn’t surprise me at all.”
Shanahan also noted that Garoppolo and the team have mutually agreed it’s best to have Garoppolo working out on the side in this arrangement.
“We made it the best for both,” Shanahan said. “I mean, if Jimmy wanted to be in every single meeting and wanted to do everything, for sure we would let him. I would guess that isn’t what he would want, totally. And when we asked him, that was accurate — he didn’t totally want that. So he’s just trying to get his body ready for hopefully the next situation he goes into.”
Barring a significant QB injury, it’s currently unclear what team would deal for Garoppolo. There has not been much — if any — reported interest throughout the offseason. There’s obviously time for things to change before rosters go down to 53 at the end of the month. But for now, the holding pattern in the Bay Area remains.
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LOS ANGELES RAMS
The elbow issues of QB MATTHEW STAFFORD seem to be a concern. Charean Williams of ProFootballTalk.com:
Rams coach Sean McVay announced Wednesday Matthew Stafford wouldn’t participate in team drills for now. A report earlier Thursday provided more clarity, indicating Stafford is dealing with “bad tendinitis.”
McVay wouldn’t confirm Stafford has tendinitis, but his explanation of the injury likely won’t temper the concern of Rams fans.
“It’s a little bit abnormal for a quarterback, some of this stuff is things that MLB pitchers deal with, so it is something that we’re kind of learning about on the fly and his feedback,” McVay said Thursday, via a transcript from the team. “We’re really trying to just figure out, ‘OK, how do we get the best plan in place to try to minimize some of the things that he was having to push through,’ while also giving him the confidence that, ‘Hey, I can really just, let it go, not have to worry about it, play to the best of my ability.’
“The goal is to try to get him to feel as good as possible, especially when you’re talking about something with that throwing elbow, and this is the plan that we feel best about, but it is something that I’ve never navigated through as a coach with a quarterback. You’ve had little elbow things here and there, but this is something that we want to be as smart as possible, and it’s taken a big team to try to do that.”
Stafford had a procedure this offseason, which Ian Rapoport of NFL Media reports was platelet-rich plasma (PRP) injections. The quarterback also wore a brace briefly to limit his range of motion while healing. He did not throw during the offseason workouts but obviously still is dealing with the issue into training camp.
McVay said Stafford “tried some things in the offseason” in an attempt to alleviate some of the pain. They now are being deliberate in not overtaxing his arm.
McVay reports that Stafford “feels good” and is making progress.
“It’s really just being able to have enough time to let this rehab program that we have implemented,” McVay said. “I think he feels stronger. He’s feeling better. But the one thing with Matthew is you’ve got to really pull it out of him because he’s such a competitor. I’ve seen things that are encouraging, but I think it’ll give us a better idea probably about a week, two weeks from now, to really just say, ‘OK, is this getting the results that we want? And then are we going to start going back to a normal workload or what does that really look like leading up to Sept. 8?’”
Stafford threw during individual 7-on-7 drills Thursday, but he is not expected to throw during team drills before the Rams leave Irvine on Aug. 10.
After a Google search, we can report that of course the Rams backup QBs are JOHN WOLFORD and BRYCE PERKINS.
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AFC WEST
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LAS VEGAS
The Raiders started their best (or at least, most experienced) running back in the Hall of Fame Game and gave RB JOSH JACOBS five carries. The fantasy football media went into a dither. Matthew Berry of ESPN.com:
Do the Raiders not like Josh Jacobs?
It’s rare for teams use their veteran starters in the first preseason game of the year and yet the Raiders played him on ten of the first eleven snaps in last night’s Hall of Fame game.
Jacobs finished the night with a respectable line (5 carries for 30 yards), but left the entire fantasy world scratching their head on why he was out there at all.
After bringing in a new coaching staff this offseason, the Raiders elected not to pick up his fifth-year option and then drafted rookie Zamir White in the 4th round of the NFL draft.
White, by the way, looked pretty crisp last night.
It’s safe to wonder if Josh McDaniels and co. simply don’t view Jacobs as part of their long term plans and prefer White and/or a full-blown committee situation with Kenyan Drake.
Regardless, it’s time to start taking White seriously at the end of drafts and also worth pumping the brakes on Jacobs until we get some more data points.
Josh Alper of ProFootballTalk.com with McDaniels’ explanation:
“I always think it’s good for backs to carry the ball in the preseason,” McDaniels said, via Tashan Reed of TheAthletic.com. “There’s a lot of things that happen when you’re getting tackled and hit that you can’t simulate in practice. I think all of our guys had the ball tonight; all of our guys either caught it or were handed the ball and had to get tackled. We can’t really simulate that or rep that in practice.”
The Raiders declined Jacobs’ option for 2023, which makes it clear that they aren’t sold on his long-term future in their offense. Playing on Thursday night along with White, Kenyan Drake, Ameer Abdullah, and Austin Walter suggests they’re still putting together a pecking order for the short term because Jacobs likely would have been excused if he was clearly the lead back.
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LOS ANGELES CHARGERS
Should QB JUSTIN HERBERT be the favorite to lead the NFL in TD passes in 2022? Larry Holder of The Athletic says he is the betting favorite. That and other odds leaders:
Chargers quarterback Justin Herbert, Colts running back Jonathan Taylor and Rams wide receiver Cooper Kupp are the betting favorites to score the most passing, rushing and receiving touchdowns in the 2022 NFL regular season, respectively, according to BetMGM.
Herbert (+550) has edged the Bills’ Josh Allen (+600) in the odds for passing touchdowns. Allen and the Buccaneers’ Tom Brady opened the odds tied for first, but Herbert as overtaken the field.
Taylor (+550) holds a slight edge over the Titans’ Derrick Henry (+600) in the rushing touchdowns odds. Kupp (+750) is a slight favorite over the Bucs’ Mike Evans (+800) in receiving TD odds.
Here’s a look at the favorites in several statistical categories:
Passing yards
Herbert: +800
Patrick Mahomes: +800
Tom Brady: +800
Matthew Stafford: +850
Derek Carr: +1000
Joe Burrow: +1000
Passing TDs
Herbert: +550
Allen: +600
Brady: +650
Mahomes: +900
Burrow: +900
Stafford: +900
Passing interceptions
Zach Wilson: +800
Davis Mills: +900
Justin Fields: +1000
Trevor Lawrence: +1000
Jameis Winston: +1400
Stafford: +1400
Rushing yards
Taylor: +400
Henry: +600
Nick Chubb: +1000
Dalvin Cook: +1000
Elijah Mitchell: +1400
Joe Mixon: +1400
Rushing TDs
Taylor: +550
Henry: +600
Chubb: +1000
Cook: +1100
Mixon: +1100
Najee Harris: +1100
Receiving yards
Kupp: +750
Justin Jefferson: +800
Ja’Marr Chase: +900
CeeDee Lamb: +1000
Stefon Diggs: +1200
Davante Adams: +1200
Receptions
Kupp: +500
Jefferson: +600
Diggs: +800
Adams: +900
Keenan Allen: +1000
Travis Kelce: +1400
Receiving TDs
Kupp: +750
Evans: +800
Chase: +900
Jefferson: +900
Kelce: +900
Sacks
Myles Garrett: +650
J. Watt: +700
Trey Hendrickson: +1200
Aaron Donald: +1200
Joey Bosa: +1400
Nick Bosa: +1400
Danielle Hunter: +1400
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AFC NORTH
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CLEVELAND
The NFL’s appeal of QB DeSHAUN WATSON’s suspension sounds more on the up-and-up than some in the past. This from NFL.com:
NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell on Thursday designated former New Jersey attorney general Peter C. Harvey to hear the league’s appeal of Cleveland Browns quarterback Deshaun Watson’s six-game suspension for violating the league’s personal-conduct policy, NFL Network Insider Mike Garafolo reported.
“Mr. Harvey served as the Attorney General of New Jersey and is now a partner at the Paterson Belknap firm in New York,” the league said Thursday in a statement. “He has also served as a federal prosecutor. He has deep expertise in criminal law, including domestic violence and sexual assault, and has advised the NFL and other professional leagues on the development and implementation of workplace policies, including the NFL’s Personal Conduct Policy. Mr. Harvey has also served as the Commissioner’s designee in other arbitrations.”
Harvey served as the New Jersey attorney general from 2003-2006.
The NFL announced Wednesday it would appeal disciplinary officer Judge Sue L. Robinson’s ruling on Watson. The NFL Players Association, which on Sunday stated it would not appeal Robinson’s decision, has until Friday to respond to the league.
Robinson, a former federal judge, ordered Watson’s six-game suspension on Monday, writing in a 16-page report that the NFL successfully “carried its burden to prove, by a preponderance of the evidence, that Mr. Watson violated the (personal-conduct) policy” by engaging in “sexual assault; conduct that poses a genuine danger to the safety and well-being of another person; and conduct that undermines or puts at risk the integrity of the NFL.”
According to Robinson’s report, the NFL argued Watson should be suspended for at least the entire 2022 season. Robinson, however, wrote that she was “bound ‘by standards of fairness and consistency of treatment among players similarly situated'” in her decision.
NFL Network’s Judy Battista reported Wednesday, citing a source familiar with the appeal, that the league again is seeking a one-year suspension for Watson.
“The NFL’s appeal addresses whether, based on the findings made by Judge Robinson, the discipline should be modified to include a professional evaluation and treatment as determined by medical experts, an appropriate fine, and a longer suspension,” the league said Thursday. “Under the Collective Bargaining Agreement, Mr. Harvey’s written decision ‘will constitute the full, final and complete disposition of the dispute and will be binding upon the player(s), Club(s), and parties’ to the CBA.”
Per the league’s personal-conduct policy, the appeal will be processed on an expedited basis and will be based on a “review of the existing record,” meaning that no new evidence or testimony will be permitted.
Jeff Darlington with thoughts on the appointment of “designee” Harvey:
@JeffDarlington
Among the reasons Goodell has assigned a designee to hear the appeal, per league sources: This appeal needs to be decided on an “expedited basis.” With Goodell’s upcoming schedule, it makes more sense for him to assign to Harvey, who has deep expertise in this area, source said.
@JeffDarlington
It is also important to point out Harvey has a strong relationship with the NFL, having heard several team-related arbitrations in past. He serves on NFL’s newly formed diversity panel. This isn’t intended to be an independent or neutral party. It is purely Goodell’s “designee.”
@JeffDarlington
Harvey has been retained by the NFL. He is not independent in this scenario. But it doesn’t necessarily “matter” from the standpoint that the CBA (negotiated by Watson’s own union) clearly states “Goodell or his designee” will have final say of this appeal. Part of the process.
According to Josina Anderson, Watson’s camp has decided to use the appeal process to beg for a REDUCED suspension, such as Ben Roethlisberger received in 2010.
@JosinaAnderson
With the NFL filing its appeal of the Deshaun Watson suspension, & per a source still seeking an indefinite suspension of a minimum of a year and a potential fine–as @JeffDarlington first reported-another source tells me, “expect lots of talk about ‘Big Ben’ vs. Deshaun Watson.”
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PITTSBURGH
An extension for WR DIONTAE JOHNSON. Mark Kaboly and Larry Holder in The Athletic:
Steelers wide receiver Diontae Johnson has signed a three-year contract extension, the team announced Thursday. Pittsburgh did not release details of the contract.
Johnson has become the Steelers’ go-to receiver the past couple of seasons. He earned his first trip to the Pro Bowl in the 2021 season with 107 receptions for 1,161 yards and eight touchdowns in Ben Roethlisberger’s final season in Pittsburgh.
The 26-year-old wideout started to emerge in his second season with 88 catches for 923 yards and seven TDs in 2020. The 2019 third-round pick has caught 254 passes on 405 targets for 2,764 yards and 20 TDs in his career.
There’s little doubt how much the Steelers leaned on Johnson last season. Via Sports Info Solutions, he ranked second in the league in targets with 171 in 2021. Only the Rams’ Cooper Kupp (192) received more targets.
But Johnson only ranked 59th in reception percentage at 62.6 percent and 52nd in passer rating when targeted at 90.8 among qualified wideouts (102 qualified, 40 targets minimum). And yet he heavily improved on his drops from 2020 (15) to 2021 (seven) on more targets (144 targets in 2020).
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AFC SOUTH
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INDIANAPOLIS
Jeff Howe of The Athletic believes that QB MATT RYAN has stabilized the Colts’ QB position:
The Colts believe they’ve finally found some consistency at quarterback.
Matt Ryan has stabilized the game’s most important position by improving the level of production and leadership at the offensive forefront. And since it appears Ryan will be doing it for at least a couple of years — he’s under contract through 2023 — the Colts should be able to generate some extended momentum, rather than seeking out a new starter in yet another offseason.
“Sometimes, I laugh,” Colts general manager Chris Ballard told The Athletic. “They go, ‘You’ve had all these different quarterbacks.’ Well, yeah, we’re trying to get it right. We’re just going to keep trying to get it right.”
Before the March 21 trade for Ryan, the 37-year-old delivered assurances that he was committed to playing beyond the 2022 season during a two-hour video call with Ballard and head coach Frank Reich.
“I had no doubt this guy has got a strong mind to play — and to play as long as he can,” Ballard said.
The early returns have been encouraging. Reich and Ryan began collaborating upon his arrival, with the quarterback insisting on opening the onboarding process by learning Reich’s offense. After that, he wanted to hear Reich’s plan on how they’d mesh their strengths.
Reich, offensive coordinator Marcus Brady, quarterbacks coach Scott Milanovich and pass game specialist Parks Frazier pinpointed Ryan’s strengths through extensive film work.
“It’s a give-and-take,” Reich told The Athletic. “I really respect Matt, and I opened up the door right away and said this was going to be collaborative. ‘We’re going to study your film and talk about what you like.’ He was like: ‘Great, I appreciate that, but let me learn your offense first, and then I’ll give you my thoughts. Then we can talk about my film.’ So that’s what we did. We presented our offense to him — put it in with him in the offseason.
“Then, as we were going … talking with him about what fits with us, what is a one-to-one fit, what is a close fit that we could just tweak a little bit. As coaches, we love that, to get to talk to a great quarterback about good offensive football and how we’re going to continue to build our system and be collaborative doing it together.”
And to think, this almost wasn’t the path.
Indy’s QB carousel began spinning in August 2019 when Andrew Luck abruptly retired. Backup Jacoby Brissett filled in that season before the Colts landed Philip Rivers in 2020. But Rivers retired after a season at the helm — earlier than the Colts initially expected — and the Colts traded for Carson Wentz, thinking a return to Reich’s familiar system could revitalize his career.
Wentz wasn’t a fit, and the Colts decided after the season to move in another direction. They just weren’t sure where it would lead.
The Colts agreed to trade Wentz to the Commanders on March 9, and they monitored the quarterback landscape from there. Once it became clear Ryan was done with the Falcons, who pursued a trade for Deshaun Watson, the Colts felt they had their guy.
“To say we had a plan in place to no doubt fix (the quarterback situation after the Wentz trade), no we didn’t, but we also knew there were options, and we knew we were going to be very patient,” Ballard said. “We weren’t going to just rush to sign anybody. With the quarterbacks who were going to be out there in free agency, with keeping an eye on what’s going on with Deshaun and where he might end up, we came up with a good option when it was all said and done. We got fortunate that Matt was that option.”
Said Reich: “He was just the right guy for us. He was the right guy from a leadership standpoint, fit our offensive scheme and thinking from a philosophy standpoint, and then just the skill. In my mind, he was the best guy out there. We didn’t know he was going to be available, so it wasn’t like we were targeting (him). Once he became available, we had a bull’s-eye on him. Matt just kind of fell into our laps, and I give Chris Ballard a lot of credit. He didn’t flinch. He and I talked it through with Mr. (Jim) Irsay. The three of us said this was our guy, so let’s do whatever we’ve got to do to get it done.”
Ryan looks like an obvious upgrade over Wentz. The Colts ranked 27th in passing yards last season and missed the playoffs — thanks to back-to-back losses to end the season — despite the second-best rushing attack and the ninth-ranked scoring defense.
They were 11th in passing yards with Rivers in 2020, 30th with Brissett in 2019 and sixth with Luck in 2018. So clearly, with an effective quarterback, this offense is conducive to passing success. And with running back Jonathan Taylor and high expectations for the defense, Ryan could be the missing piece that gets the Colts back into the playoffs, where they’ve registered only one win over the past seven seasons.
Ryan finished in the top six in passing yards in each season from 2012 to 2020, though he dipped to 11th in 2021. He had some shortcomings, for sure, but the Falcons’ offensive personnel had plenty of other issues, too.
Ryan and the Colts seemed to find each other at the perfect time.
“(Ryan’s presence) settles everybody — like, ‘Hey, this is a guy we can count on,’” Reich said. “He’s done it for 14 years at a high level. He kind of fell into our lap, and we’ll take advantage of it. He’s got a great mindset. His passion for the game, it’s as high as it can be. Physically, we aren’t seeing any diminishing skills, so we take it one year at a time. We’re thinking this is multiple years at the level we think he can play at and lead us as a team. We’re very excited about it.
“It’s been great. It’s been seamless. He’s such a leader, such a professional, a coach on the field, all those things that you hear about guys like this. He’s the epitome. Guys feel his experience. They feel his leadership. But yet he’s not sucking up all the energy. He’s a team guy. It’s just a really good fit. … This is the right guy at the right time for us, and we feel very fortunate to have him. I’m looking forward to this season.”
And if all goes according to plan, it should extend beyond this season, thereby opening the Colts’ window as a contender. They haven’t had the same quarterback lead them in passing yards for consecutive seasons since Luck from 2012 to 2016.
It could eliminate one of the Colts’ greatest questions since Luck’s retirement.
“Now getting Matt, who we think has a lot left, how long that is, I don’t know,” Ballard said. “But being able to get some consistency added is something that we’re striving for and keep working at.”
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THIS AND THAT
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BIG SLOT RECEIVERS
The NFL’s slot receivers are evolving bigger than the old prototype of Wes Welker, with Bruce Arians the guy starting the ball rolling. Robert Mays in The Athletic:
Picture a typical NFL slot receiver. The first one who comes to mind. Take a second, but don’t think too hard.
OK … time’s up.
How many of you thought of Wes Welker? You can be honest. Because you certainly weren’t alone.
For the past 15 years, Welker has been the archetype for slot receivers in the NFL. Every coach I talked with while reporting this story mentioned him unprompted, which isn’t a surprise. It’s impossible to properly trace the history of the position without him. It’s been seven years — seven — since Welker retired, but his influence on the sport has barely diminished.
The best explanation for Welker’s hold on that legacy — along with his incredible production — is that he helped usher in a new era of offensive football.
When Welker was traded from the Dolphins to the Patriots in 2007, slot receivers weren’t a staple of NFL offenses. During Welker’s second season in New England, teams league-wide used 11 personnel (three WRs, one TE, and one RB) on only 34 percent of their snaps. By the time Welker finished his first season with the Broncos in 2013, that number had climbed to 51 percent. The success of the Patriots’ offense and other units influenced by it helped cause a monumental shift in the way teams were built, and Welker was at the center of that transformation.
The popularity of 11 personnel was here to stay, and most NFL coaches had a crystalized vision for what type of player belonged in the slot: they looked and played like the 5-foot-9, 185-pound Welker. In 2017, undersized players who survived on short-area quickness — like Golden Tate, Danny Amendola and Adam Humphries — were among the league leaders in slot snaps.
But if the past few seasons are any indication, the parade of Welker clones holding down that position has started to slow.
In 2021, Cooper Kupp won receiving’s triple crown and Offensive Player of the Year honors while playing nearly two-thirds of his snaps from the slot. Kupp’s production inside was unprecedented, but that’s not all that sets him apart from slot receivers of the recent past.
Kupp is 6-foot-2, nearly six inches taller than Welker. He’s also one of the best blocking receivers in football, and his presence allows the Rams to align in 11 personnel but tap into run concepts typically reserved for sets with multiple tight ends or a fullback. By reimagining what a slot receiver is capable of, the Rams have added an extra layer of deception to their offense.
And they aren’t alone.
Zach Pascal (6-foot-2, 200 pounds) played 411 passing snaps in the slot for the Colts last season, which ranked seventh in the NFL. The Bucs’ Chris Godwin (6-foot-1, 210 pounds) finished with the same total (in only 14 games), while the Chargers’ Keenan Allen (6-foot-2, 211 pounds) ranked fifth at 437 snaps. (All stats per Pro Football Focus unless noted otherwise.)
Expand the scope to part-time slot players and the physical profile gets even bigger. Allen Lazard — who checks in at 6-foot-5 and 227 pounds — spent 42 percent of his snaps in the slot for the Packers. The Falcons used the eighth overall pick on 6-foot-4 Drake London, who played the majority of his snaps at USC from the slot and likely will spend plenty of time inside for Atlanta.
Around the league, the image of a slot receiver has grown before our eyes. The rise of the “power slot” is here, and that evolution — combined with the way defenses are poised to respond — is yet another expression of the larger schematic arc that continues to define the NFL.
Over the past few years, a particular variation of a classic NFL run design has made its way around the league.
Most of the offensive players block like a normal Duo run — a scheme that involves two sets of double teams by the offensive line. But now, instead of the slot receiver trying to dig out a safety from his normal alignment outside the tight end, teams have asked him to insert between the tackle and tight end to act as something of a lead blocker. It’s an ask that’s become both more feasible — and more effective — for bigger, stronger slot players like Godwin and Lazard.
When I asked Colts head coach Frank Reich about the first time he remembered seeing the design, he dug further into the past than I expected. “I think Pittsburgh was the first team that started doing it, about 10 or so years ago,” Reich said. “Bruce Arians was the offensive coordinator, and it was a big play for them.”
Arians and his offenses have been the consistent throughline when tracing the history of big-bodied slot receivers in the NFL over the past two decades. The lineage, from Hines Ward to Larry Fitzgerald to Godwin, showcases the way Arians believed a slot player should be used in his offense.
The plan emerged with the 6-foot, 205-pound Ward during the 2007 and 2008 seasons, Arians’ first two years as Steelers offensive coordinator. While Welker sliced and diced teams in New England, Arians realized that the best version of Pittburgh’s ground game included a slot player who could bring the hammer down as a blocker.
“Most really good, known slot receivers are small, quick guys,” Arians said. “For us, they didn’t fit in the running game. They couldn’t block. We were a strong-side running attack for the majority of my career, and so that position needed a bigger, tougher, really smart guy.”
Ward was arguably the best run-blocking receiver in football when Arians pitched him on the idea of moving into the slot. But by 2007, Ward was also a four-time Pro Bowler who’d been voted second-team All-Pro three times. For a receiver on a potential Hall of Fame track, a move inside to take on extra blocking duties might seem like an unglamorous promotion.
But Arians pledged to Ward — and to his other star slot receivers over the years — that the thankless part of their job wouldn’t go overlooked. “I told those guys, you’re gonna have to do the grimey work, but I’m gonna get you the football,” Arians said. “It’s gonna pay off for you.
“When you’re doing your red zone scripts inside the 10-yard line, you design things to go to certain people. Well, that’s a reward for blocking. I’m gonna get you touchdowns. I’m gonna get you catches. And Hines was all for it.”
After splitting his time outside and inside in 2007, Ward led the NFL in slot passing snaps in 2008 — a year that culminated with the Steelers winning the Super Bowl. During his first three years with Arians, Ward ranked sixth in the NFL in red-zone touchdowns (17) and garnered 19.4 percent of the Steelers’ red-zone targets, the sixth-highest mark in the entire league.
During Arians’ time in Arizona from 2013-2017, Fitzgerald — another All-Pro player asked to move inside — got 24.7 percent of the Cardinals’ red-zone looks, the third highest mark in the NFL. And over the past three years with the Bucs, Godwin has seen 1.2 red-zone targets per game. Only Kupp, Allen, and Davante Adams have gotten more regular looks near the goal line.
Arians consistently made good on his promise, and it helped him convince stars like Ward, Fitzgerald, and Reggie Wayne that a move to the slot was best for both them and the offense. And a decade and a half after Arians deployed Ward as a multifaceted weapon in the slot, teams around the league have adopted a similar approach.
The way that Reich sees it, there are three distinct types of slot receivers.
First, there’s the “traditional” slot who’s dominated for years. “He creates mismatches and problems for the defense based on his instincts and short-area quickness to make plays in the middle of the field,” Reich said.
Then, there’s the speed guy — the vertical slot favored by some modern offenses. “The Tyreek Hill,” Reich said. “He creates challenges in the middle of the field for the defense based on his speed.”
Finally, there’s the size guy, who creates mismatches based on his physicality and length in the middle of the field. The Athletic’s Nate Tice has taken to calling these players “power slots,” a fitting term for receivers who win with strength and size.
Reich lists these prototypes off the cuff, but he might as well be looking at a list of the most heavily used slot players in the league last season. Tyler Boyd, Cole Beasley, Amon-Ra St. Brown, and Hunter Renfrow profile as traditional, quickness-reliant slots. Hill and Christian Kirk are the best current examples of speed-based, vertical slots, while Kupp, Allen, Pascal, and Godwin all represent the newer, bigger slots coming into vogue.
Last season, the 220-pound Pascal played more than 77 percent of his snaps in the slot — nearly an identical rate to smaller receivers like St. Brown and Kirk. For a run-heavy team like the Colts, having a physical presence like Pascal inside allowed Indianapolis to create favorable looks out of lighter personnel groupings.
With more teams around the league using two-high shell coverages on early downs — even against a team with Jonathan Taylor — the nickel back has become a crucial part of stopping the run for sub-package defenses. By putting a big-bodied receiver on a traditionally smaller cornerback, teams like the Colts can create a physical mismatch in the running game.
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THE FLORES CASE
Brian Flores and his two co-plaintiffs saw their case head closer to private arbitration rather than public trial on Thursday. Mike Florio of ProFootballTalk.com:
The lawyers in the Brian Flores case made an aggressive attempt to secure discovery on the question of whether the case should be sent to arbitration. The attempt was aggressive, but not successful.
Judge Valerie Caproni has denied the motion to compel discovery on the arbitration question.
She calls it an “impermissible fishing expedition,” and she explains that Flores, Steve Wilks, and Ray Horton don’t need discovery in order to argue “that the proposed arbitrator is so biased against them that the motion to compel arbitration should not be granted.”
“We are confident that we will defeat the efforts of the NFL to move this matter into a private and confidential arbitration behind closed doors,” attorneys Douglas H. Wigdor and John Elefterakis said in a statement. “It is obvious that the NFL is trying to hide behind the arbitration process and avoid public scrutiny of the racial discrimination and retaliation claims we have brought. If they are confident in their defenses, they should let the process play out in court so the general public can see.”
The case should play out in public, before a truly neutral third party. The Commissioner, who is hired, paid, and retained (or not) by the league’s owners can never be truly impartial in a case involving his employers.
That said, there’s one specific line in Judge Caproni’s order that points to a potential finding that arbitration must proceed, with an attack coming on it after the fact.
“The Federal Arbitration Act (FAA) already contemplates a route through which parties can seek judicial protection against arbitrator bias; courts can ‘overturn arbitration decisions’ where there was evident partiality or corruption in the arbitrators,” Judge Caproni writes.
Flores and his co-plaintiffs are essentially arguing that the bias is so clear and inherent that any ruling will be partial and corrupt. They’ll have to make that argument without access to more information about, for example, Goodell’s full compensation or his history or arbitration rulings involving the NFL and its teams. Ultimately, they may have to go through the arbitration and argue later that the ruling shows evident partiality and corruption.
The response to the motion is due to be filed by August 19. The reply from the NFL and the teams that have been sued is due August 26.
It is hard to tell here if The Commish is actually the contemplated arbitrator here – or just someone beholden to him.
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