AROUND THE NFL
Daily Briefing
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NFC NORTH
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CHICAGO
All hands on deck for the Bears as they head to Green Bay for Sunday Night Football, including the return of WR ALLEN ROBINSON. The AP:
Wide receiver Allen Robinson said he expects to return to the Chicago Bears’ lineup when they visit the Green Bay Packers on Sunday night after missing the past three games because of a hamstring injury.
“That’s the plan,” he said Thursday. “Everything is trending in the right direction.”
With quarterback Justin Fields set to return after missing back-to-back games because of broken ribs, the Bears (4-8) could have two key players back as they try to stop their slide and pick up a rare win against QB Aaron Rodgers and the Packers.
Chicago has dropped six of seven games after losing to Arizona last week. And the Bears’ record against the Packers in recent years is abysmal. Green Bay has won 20 of the past 23 matchups and has a five-game winning streak in the series.
Robinson has not played since Nov. 8, when he was hurt as he got pushed out of bounds on a 39-yard reception late in a loss at Pittsburgh. That big play helped set up a go-ahead touchdown pass from Fields to Darnell Mooney. But Chicago lost after the Steelers’ Chris Boswell kicked a field goal in the final minute.
The injury added to what was already a difficult year for Robinson. The veteran was also bothered by an ankle injury and has just 30 receptions for 339 yards, a huge drop following one of his best seasons.
Robinson was hoping for a multiyear deal after catching a career-high 102 passes for 1,250 yards. That didn’t happen, and he’s playing under the franchise tag instead.
“Seasons like this are tough,” Robinson said. “They’re extremely tough. But being able to compartmentalize all of it, putting certain things to the side and trying to focus on the main thing, continuing to improve, figuring out how to get better, figuring out how to possibly change the result and figuring out how to continue to put yourself in a position to ultimately do what you want to do, and that’s win the game. It’s tough when you have seasons like this. But again, the season’s not over.”
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Meanwhile a Bears coach has jumped overboard to go to land-locked Nebraska. Michael David Smith of ProFootballTalk.com:
With Bears head coach Matt Nagy on one of the hottest seats in the NFL, it’s unsurprising that his coaching staff is beginning to look for work elsewhere.
One assistant has already found another job: Bears assistant offensive line coach Donovan Raiola is leaving to coach the offensive line at Nebraska.
The 38-year-old Raiola was an All-Big Ten center at Wisconsin and had a brief NFL career that saw him bounce around the league with several teams but only play in one regular-season game. He’s been on the Bears’ coaching staff since 2018.
Raiola’s brother, Dominic Raiola, played at Nebraska and won the Rimington Award as the best center in college football.
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GREEN BAY
WR RANDALL COBB will miss some time. Adam La Rose of ProFootballRumors.com:
The Packers will be without one of their top wideouts for a stretch. Randall Cobb is still dealing with the core injury that caused him to exit the Packers’ Week 12 game against the Rams.
Despite the benefit of Green Bay’s recent bye week, the 11th-year receiver is unlikely to return soon. This could potentially lead to an IR stay, though the Packers have not yet indicated that will be necessary.
“Cobb is going to be out for a while,” Matt LaFleur said (via Packers.com’s Wes Hodkiewicz, on Twitter). “He had a pretty significant injury. That’s unfortunate because he’s done such an amazing job when given the opportunity.”
The 31-year-old was enjoying a productive season in his return to Green Bay. After being drafted by the Packers in the 2011 second round, Cobb had one-year stints with the Cowboys and Texans in 2019 and 2020, respectively. Reunited with Aaron Rodgers this offseason, Cobb had played in all 12 games for the Packers to start his second Green Bay stint. He has posted 28 catches for 375 yards and five touchdowns this season.
In Cobb’s absence, the Packers will likely use a rotation of Davante Adams, Allen Lazard, Equanimeous St. Brown and Amari Rodgers in the slot moving forward.
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Matt Schneidman of The Athletic says the Packers ground game is ready to rumble in December and beyond.
Spend enough time around the Packers and you’ll hear why the phrases “December football” and “Green Bay running backs” carry so much weight around Lambeau Field.
In case you hadn’t heard, it’s cold here this time of year. Really cold. It snows, too. And there’s just something about ramming the ball down the throats of opponents, particularly those who don’t regularly play in these conditions, that’s so satisfying to the Packers.
Just look at what AJ Dillon did against the Titans in the snow during a 40-14 Week 16 win last season, running for 124 yards and two touchdowns on 21 carries.
But to do that, to suck the life out of teams, the Packers need running backs capable of doing so. At least two of them. Dillon and Aaron Jones certainly fit that bill. They compose a tandem that has become one of the NFL’s best, capable of not just wearing teams out on the ground, but doing so with their pass-catching prowess too, like Dillon did in rumbling for a 50-yard gain off a screen pass, breaking tackles and carrying future Hall of Fame linebacker Bobby Wagner downfield at the end of the run in a 17-0 win over the Seahawks three weeks ago.
On Sunday night against the Bears at Lambeau Field, the Packers embark on a five-game stretch to end the regular season in which three of the next four are at home. They can sleepwalk to the NFC North title, but the NFC’s No. 1 overall seed, the lone playoff bye and home-field advantage until the Super Bowl are what’s really up for grabs.
You’re about to see why those Green Bay-style running backs are so important when the calendar turns to its final month.
“December football, that’s when it turns into smash-mouth football,” Jones said. “It shows who’s really more physical, who wants it more and is willing to get down and dirty.”
To have this enviable spot, one in which two running backs can each take over a game themselves in unenviable conditions, the Packers pulled the trigger on two moves that defy conventional wisdom in the NFL. They backed up the Brinks truck for a running back in giving Jones an extension worth $12 million per year, and they drafted one in the second round in Dillon with two starting-caliber backs (Jones and Jamaal Williams) already on the roster.
Both moves make sense if you look hard enough, though. Jones is a star who, after his previous two seasons, was plenty deserving of a big payday, even if his production has dipped a little this season and even if his “backup” might soon be better than him and is no longer considered a backup, rather a 1B to Jones as the 1A. Drafting Dillon so early in the 2020 NFL Draft prepared the Packers for the inevitable scenario that they’d lose either Jones or Williams after the 2020 season in free agency, which they did when Williams signed with the Lions.
What we’re about to watch Jones and Dillon do down the stretch is exactly what the Packers envisioned when executing those moves: trotting out two complete backs capable of doing it all, one sparing the other when necessary without a drop-off as they exhaust opponents who’d rather hold a hand warmer than make a tackle.
“They do such a great job in all three phases of being a running back, in terms of the run game, in terms of pass protection and then as a weapon out of the backfield,” head coach Matt LaFleur said. “I think either one of those guys could be a lead back in this league, and any time you got two of ’em, that definitely is a luxury. So certainly, we need to lean on both of those guys, and every time we have, they’ve delivered for us.”
Among the top 20 running backs in TruMedia’s total offensive EPA statistic (expected points added) who have logged at least 100 plays this season, four teams feature multiple running backs among the group: the Chiefs (Clyde Edwards-Helaire and Darrel Williams), the Bills (Zack Moss and Devin Singletary), the Cardinals (Chase Edmonds and James Conner) and the Packers (Jones and Dillon). Jones ranks 10th in that group and Dillon 18th.
Green Bay’s duo has not only played but also played well. Jones has 862 total yards, 5.1 yards per touch and seven touchdowns this season, and Dillon has 804 total yards, 5.2 yards per touch and four touchdowns. Even as Jones’ production has declined from the past two seasons, Dillon has become a more fluent pass catcher and learned to run with a lower pad level to compensate.
“I think Dillon definitely showed that to us early in the season, that he could be a three-down back and help us in situational stuff, and that was a big improvement from him, and it helps because running back is a tough position to play,” quarterback Aaron Rodgers said. “They’re asked to do so many different things — line up at receiver sometimes, you’ve got to be great in pass protection, you’ve got to chip ends and sometimes interior guys, you’ve got to wrap in protections, you have to be good on all the routes and adjustments and signals, and then you’ve got to run the ball really well. So, proud of AJ and the season he’s had. Great having Jonesy back. He’s obviously a dynamic player. He’s a home-run-type back. Every time he touches the ball, whether in the pass game or the run game, he can take it the distance, and it’s good having those guys as a one-two punch.”
Common sense would suggest Jones is the lightning to Dillon’s thunder. After all, one is listed at 5-foot-9 and 208 pounds, and the other is listed at 6-foot and 247 pounds. Dillon, however, will correct you if you make that assumption. He says both can be lightning and both can be thunder. For example, in the Packers’ win over the Cardinals in Week 8, it was Jones carrying linebackers into the end zone and Dillon deftly evading tacklers in space with precise cutbacks and acceleration.
Such diverse skill sets are just part of what makes Jones and Dillon so dangerous. Add in their affinity for making life miserable for anyone standing in their way in even more miserable conditions and you see why being a Green Bay running back in December means a little more.
Said Dillon: “For me, just kind of getting into that mindset where, ‘Yeah, I might have had a 1-yard gain, but you’re not tackling me.’ I feel like other people feed off that.”
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MINNESOTA
Why be concerned about mere victory when your near-record string of one-score games is on the line? Up 29-0 in the third, the Vikings sprung into action to preserve the run of tight games. Veteran scribe Jim Souhan on the 36-28 win over Pittsburgh:
You expected Gary Anderson to trot to midfield, and miss a kick.
You expected Blair Walsh to show up, icicles dangling from his chin.
You expected Randall Cunningham to fumble, Drew Pearson to push off, Denny Green to order a kneel-down, and Naufahu Tahi to join the huddle as the 12th man.
The Minnesota Vikings reportedly won a football game on Thursday night at U.S. Bank Stadium. At the end of a bizarre night, a football fell to purple turf and the scoreboard read Vikings 36, Steelers 28.
When Vikings safeties Xavier Woods and Harrison Smith crunched Steelers tight end Pat Freiermuth in the end zone, causing an incompletion on the last play of the game, the Vikings had … won?
Is that what it’s called when you try to blow a 29-point lead late in the third quarter and hold on only because an opponent couldn’t?
In mathematical terms, the Vikings salvaged their playoff hopes.
In emotional terms, they left little doubt that this team is missing something vital, something usually described in cliched terms. Heart. Guts. Leadership. Killer instinct. Football smarts.
The Vikings almost lost a game in which they not only led by 29 points, but did so despite physically dominating their opponent for almost three quarters.
After Dalvin Cook’s second touchdown run, with 2:20 left in the second quarter, he had carried 13 times for 144 yards. He finished the first half with a franchise-record 153 yards, as the Vikings outgained Pittsburgh, 300 yards to 66.
Cook entered the second half needing 144 yards to break Adrian Peterson’s franchise single-game rushing record.
It’s almost impossible to lose a game when you run over the opponent at will and build a 29-point lead. The Vikings almost did it, because their braintrust is not to be trusted.
They passed when the simple act of handing the ball to Cook would have sealed the victory. Vikings quarterback Kirk Cousins threw two interceptions that enabled the comeback, and the Vikings’ cornerbacks began to panic, and a Steelers team that seemed unable to block or tackle in the first half came to life.
The Vikings are the football world’s defibrillator, reviving lifeless opponents as created for that purpose.
This is such a strange, talented, underwhelming, untrustworthy group that their key figures may have proved that it’s time for a change during a prime-time victory.
General Manager Rick Spielman saw the quarterback he has signed to two massive contracts try to give away an insurmountable lead.
Coach Mike Zimmer watched his defense wilt and his hand-picked offensive coordinator, Klint Kubiak, choose to pass when only passing could give the Steelers a chance to rally.
Cousins summoned the ghosts of decades of Vikings’ failures, alternating beautiful downfield passes with throws that would get an eighth-grader benched for life.
If fans could dampen their emotions, they might find all of this endlessly entertaining. The Vikings are capable of beating just about anyone, and even more capable of losing to almost anyone, or blowing any lead.
In the past five games, they have beaten the talented Chargers, upset the excellent Packers, folded against the mediocre 49ers, lost to the previously winless Lions and, yes, won while embarrassing themselves against the Steelers.
The only unifying theory for this strange Vikings season is that they are too stubborn to fold but not reliable enough to excel. They are about as trustworthy as a street-corner crypto salesman.
Cook should be livid. A couple of weeks ago, he was lying on the turf in Santa Clara, players from both teams kneeling and praying for him. He was expected to miss at least two games, but returned earlier than expected and produced one of the best games of his life.
He finished with 205 yards on 27 carries, and he took a massive hit on a 17-yard catch over the middle late in the fourth quarter.
Cook was brilliant, the game was won, and yet the Vikings may have hit a new low in this strange season late Thursday night, when they awakened the echoes of so many failures past.
This from ESPN Stats and Info sent out this:
@ESPNStatsInfo
The Vikings have been involved in 6 games this season where the game-winning score came on the final play, tied with the 2015 Ravens for the most through 12 games since 1970. h/t @EliasSports
Although it would be hard to quantify with a standard stat sort, the Vikings have actually now been involved in 8 games decided on the game’s final play. Their kicker Greg Joseph missed a walk-off field goal at Arizona in Week 2 and last night, Pittsburgh was at the Vikings 12 with a chance to tie when the clock struck zero.
The Vikings have now played 12 one-score games, including 10 in a row (8 to -8). The lone game decided by more than 8 was a 30-17 win over the Vikings in Week 3. No other team has played more 9.
Most One-Score Games, 2021
VIKINGS 12
STEELERS 9
Chargers 8
Ravens 8
The NFL record for one-score games in a season is 14 (1994 Giants, 2015 Ravens). The Vikings have a ceiling of 16 this year.
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NFC EAST
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DALLAS
Coach Mike McCarthy expresses confidence in the Cowboys this week, something some have hyped up into a guarantee. Daniel Valente of TheScore.com:
Dallas Cowboys head coach Mike McCarthy is sure his side will come out victorious against the Washington Football Team on Sunday.
“We’re going to win this game,” McCarthy said Thursday, according to Michael Gehlken of The Dallas Morning News. “I’m confident in that.”
However, McCarthy isn’t concerned his remark will be bulletin board material for Dallas’ division rival.
“What am I supposed to say? I fully expect to win every game I’ve ever competed in,” McCarthy added.
The Cowboys enter the Week 14 showdown at 8-4. Washington sits in second in the NFC East with a 6-6 record, meaning a win Sunday would put the team a game back of the Cowboys.
Dallas has lost three of its last five contests, while Washington is on a four-game winning streak.
Washington swept the Cowboys last season, though Dallas quarterback Dak Prescott didn’t participate in either contest due to injury.
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NFC SOUTH
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CAROLINA
QB CAM NEWTON barely knew former OC Joe Brady but fills sorry (and somewhat responsible) for his demise:
Quarterback Cam Newton shouldered some of the blame for the Carolina Panthers firing offensive coordinator Joe Brady coming off a dismal showing against the Miami Dolphins before the bye week.
“Do I think I had something to do with it?” Newton said on Thursday as he prepared to face the Atlanta Falcons. “The competitor in me, absolutely, yes. Because the truth of the matter is you don’t lose your job because of success.
“Where I’m at now is doing what I can control to make sure that I have a job, too. Let’s just be honest.”
Newton, 32, had a career-worst 5.8 passer rating in a 33-10 loss at Miami on Nov. 28. He completed 5 of 21 pass attempts for 92 yards with two interceptions and no touchdown passes.
A week later, coach Matt Rhule fired Brady and replaced him with senior offensive assistant/running backs coach Jeff Nixon, who this week joins the Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ Byron Leftwich as one of only two Black offensive playcallers in the NFL.
Newton was so disappointed by his last performance and being 0-2 as the starter in his return to Carolina (5-7) that he had little to say about the significance of Nixon’s opportunity.
“It’s a great feel-good story,” Newton said. “But once again, it’s the NFL. This is a production-based league. I don’t know if there’s a need to say anything else. Am I excited for the opportunity [Nixon has]? Yes. Am I also disappointed about the opportunity? Yes. Obviously you had Joe who was here prior to.”
Carolina’s offensive struggles began well before Newton returned last month to the team that made him the top pick of the 2011 draft.
The Panthers had gone three straight games without scoring a touchdown with Sam Darnold at quarterback and had scored only seven touchdowns in the first nine games.
The change in coordinators had to do with that, Brady’s inability to make adjustments after halftime and his reluctance to commit to the running game.
Carolina ranks 31st in third-quarter scoring, averaging 2.1 points. It ranks 29th or worse in nine other key third-quarter categories.
The Panthers have reached the mark of 30 to 33 rushes per game that Rhule publicly said he wanted only twice in the past nine games. Both times they reached that mark they won, including a 19-13 victory at Atlanta when they rushed for 203 yards on 47 attempts.
Baylor averaged 36 rushes a game in 2019 when Nixon was Rhule’s offensive coordinator there.
“He feels comfortable that we can be on the same page on how he wants the game to be called,” Nixon said of Rhule and why the coach hired him.
To try to hit a college average for rushes in the NFL seems, er, aggressive.
For all the bellyaching about a failure to rush, Carolina ranks 13th in the NFL with 333 rushes – not bad for a team that didn’t have RB CHRISTIAN McCAFFREY much and has been relying on rookie RB CHUBA HUBBARD.
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TAMPA BAY
High praise from QB TOM BRADY for his trusty tight end ROB GRONKOWSKI. Michael David Smith of ProFootballTalk.com:
When Jets rookie quarterback Zach Wilson missed four games with a knee injury this season, one of the talking points around the team was that it would be a learning experience for the first-round pick after a rocky start to his NFL career.
Wilson’s return to the lineup in Week 12 didn’t look all that different, but the first half of last Sunday’s game did show steps in the right direction. The ball came out quickly, Wilson made the right decisions, and the Jets scored touchdowns on their first three possessions. The second half of the losing effort wasn’t as productive, but it was something for Wilson to build on.
The rookie said he was “feeling comfortable with what we were doing on offense and things were just rolling” and that he feels like the time off had the kind of benefit that the team hoped it would.
“The cool thing about my situation is, I’m kind of looking at it like it’s my second year, kind of like I played the first season and took some games off because of injury,” Wilson said, via Rich Cimini of ESPN.com. “Now I feel like that excitement, the energy to want to play and finish this season is 100 percent there for me. I feel like I learned so many things and I worked to improve on them. Now I have to show them in the game. So now I feel like I’m two games into a new season.”
One good half won’t be enough to erase the negatives from earlier in the season, but a strong five-game run to close out the season would be a good way of building optimism heading into an actual second NFL season.
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NFC WEST
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ARIZONA
The 10-2 Cardinals are about to get back a key offensive weapon. The Athletic:
The Cardinals have designated running back Chase Edmonds for return from IR one month after suffering a high-ankle sprain in a win against the 49ers. In the Nov. 7 game, Edmonds ran for three yards on the Cardinals’ first offensive play, but limped off the field with the ankle injury.
He can begin practicing and can be activated to the 53-man roster during the next 21 days or at the conclusion of the three-week period.
In Edmonds’ absence, James Conner has gained 447 total yards and scored six touchdowns, including 73 yards and three touchdowns against San Francisco.
Edmonds, 25, was drafted by the Cardinals in the fourth round in 2018. This season, his fourth in Arizona, Edmonds is averaging a career-best 5.7 yards per carry with one touchdown on 76 carries for the 10-2 Cardinals.
What would Edmonds’ return mean to the Cardinals’ offense?
Lindsay Jones, senior NFL writer: The Cardinals’ offense is getting healthy at the right time. After surviving a November without quarterback Kyler Murray, receiver DeAndre Hopkins and Edmonds, who was the team’s primary tailback for the first two months of the season, head coach Kliff Kingsbury is about to have a lot more options available during a stretch run, and that could make Arizona very dangerous. Edmonds’ eventual return (which could be as early as Monday night against the Rams) will help ease the load on James Conner, who has had at least 20 carries in three of the last four games, and give Murray a reliable target in the short passing game.
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SEATTLE
Contrary to rumors, QB RUSSELL WILSON is now on record as wanting to stay in Seattle forever and a day. Gregg Bell of the Tacoma News-Tribune:
Not only is Russell Wilson not considering waiving his no-trade clause to leave the Seahawks, he intends to stay in Seattle past his contract that ends after 2023.
Way, WAY past.
Wednesday brought an unsubstantiated video report on Twitter from a supposed “insider” that Wilson “would strongly consider waiving his no-trade clause for the Giants, Broncos and Saints.”
Wilson was asked if he intended to honor his $140 million Seahawks contract through the 2023 season that has that no-trade clause in it.
“Yeah, that’s my hope,” the 33-year-old, 10th-year veteran Seahawks leader said. “My hope’s not to just fulfill it, hopefully I get to play here for, you know, 20 years of my career.
“Will that happen? I don’t know. But that’s my prayer. That’s my hope.”
Wilson said he had seen Wednesday’s report about him allegedly considering waiving his no-trade clause only because “someone sent it to me.” He directly called that report inaccurate.
“No, that’s not in my head now, at all,” he said. “I didn’t say that. I’m focused on what we’re doing here. I love Seattle. This is a place that I’ve loved every day, every moment. … “I love this place. I love this space. I love where my mind’s at. I love where our team’s at. I think we can be better in this journey, but we can go as far as we want to go. That’s five weeks, and plus. I think that’s where my head is.
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AFC NORTH
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PITTSBURGH
Despite, or maybe because of, his Notre Dame education, WR CHASE CLAYPOOL is heading towards Knucklehead status. The latest case in point – the final seconds of Thursday night’s game. Mike Florio of ProFootballTalk.com:
On multiple occasions in 2020, we praised veteran receiver Larry Fitzgerald for having the presence of mind to rush the football back to the proper spot so that the Cardinals could get another play snapped quickly as precious seconds ticked away. Another receiver who wears the same number as Fitzgerald would benefit significantly from following the example he set during his career, in more ways than one.
Steelers receiver Chase Claypool, after making a key fourth-down catch as the Steelers tried to score a touchdown that, with a two-point conversion, would have forced overtime in Minnesota, celebrated the accomplishment. Meanwhile, tick . . . tick . . . tick. A teammate had to rip the ball away from Claypool, who seemed oblivious as to the reason for getting the ball from his clutches. It then tumbled away, with tight end Pat Freiermuth retrieving it and giving it to an official so that it could be set.
The play ended with 38 seconds left in regulations. The Steelers eventually spiked the ball with 24 seconds to play.
The delay cost the Steelers at least one more shot at the end zone. Maybe two.
It was Claypool’s second blunder of the night. After a pointless unnecessary roughness call in the first quarter, which happened when he stuck his finger in the face of Vikings cornerback Bashaud Breeland, Claypool landed on the bench for a while.
After the game, Steelers coach Mike Tomlin was asked whether Claypool got the message. “We’ll see,” Tomlin said.
We did. He failed to understand a critical situation, and he cost his team in the clutch. The loss dramatically reduces Pittsburgh’s chances of getting to the playoffs.
The team shouldn’t be surprised. An article at Steelers.com from March suggested referred to Claypool as having a “diva quotient.” That apparent attribute became the common denominator in a pair of key moments on Thursday night.
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AFC EAST
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NEW YORK JETS
QB ZACH WILSON is looking at this like his 2nd season, starting last week. Josh Alper of ProFootballTalk.com:
When Jets rookie quarterback Zach Wilson missed four games with a knee injury this season, one of the talking points around the team was that it would be a learning experience for the first-round pick after a rocky start to his NFL career.
Wilson’s return to the lineup in Week 12 didn’t look all that different, but the first half of last Sunday’s game did show steps in the right direction. The ball came out quickly, Wilson made the right decisions, and the Jets scored touchdowns on their first three possessions. The second half of the losing effort wasn’t as productive, but it was something for Wilson to build on.
The rookie said he was “feeling comfortable with what we were doing on offense and things were just rolling” and that he feels like the time off had the kind of benefit that the team hoped it would.
“The cool thing about my situation is, I’m kind of looking at it like it’s my second year, kind of like I played the first season and took some games off because of injury,” Wilson said, via Rich Cimini of ESPN.com. “Now I feel like that excitement, the energy to want to play and finish this season is 100 percent there for me. I feel like I learned so many things and I worked to improve on them. Now I have to show them in the game. So now I feel like I’m two games into a new season.”
One good half won’t be enough to erase the negatives from earlier in the season, but a strong five-game run to close out the season would be a good way of building optimism heading into an actual second NFL season.
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THIS AND THAT
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DEMARYIUS THOMAS
Jeff Legwold of ESPN.com on the sudden death of Demaryius Thomas:
Former Denver Broncos wide receiver Demaryius Thomas, whose quiet demeanor belied a burning desire to achieve what he routinely called “everyday greatness,” has died at age 33, according to police.
Roswell, Georgia, police said Thursday night that Thomas was found dead in his home. Preliminary reports, according to the police, indicated Thomas’ death might have resulted from a medical issue.
LaTonya Bonseigneur, a first cousin who grew up with Thomas, so close they considered themselves siblings, told The Associated Press that the family believes he died from a seizure.
“He had been suffering from seizures for over a year, and we believe he had a seizure when he was showering,” Bonseigneur said early Friday. “We’re not sure when he died. We just spoke with him yesterday.”
Former teammates also noted Thursday night that Thomas might have been having seizures in recent months.
The Broncos released a statement early Friday, mourning the loss of “an incredible player and a special person.”
“We are devastated and completely heartbroken by the sudden, tragic passing of Demaryius Thomas,” the Broncos said. “D.T. was beloved by our entire organization, his teammates and coaches, and our fans. Recently retiring as a Bronco, we were very much looking forward to celebrating Demaryius for years to come as one of the greatest players in franchise history.”
The Broncos went on to add, “Demaryius’ humility, warmth, kindness and infectious smile will always be remembered by those who knew him and loved him.”
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DEFINING A CATCH
Kevin Seifert of ESPN.com says the NFL Officiating Department doesn’t seem to know its own rules when it reviews a catch. Or at least it didn’t follow them last Sunday night to the consternation of many:
Sometimes it’s my solemn duty to deliver bad news. Today is one of those days. The NFL, I’m sorry to report, once again can’t reliably tell us what a catch is. A slow-growing murmur entered the public view this week, just as the playoff race heated up and the most important games of the year grew visible on the horizon.
Your shock and surprise are excused. The NFL, after all, seemed to eliminate this problem in 2018 by rewriting the catch rule, replacing its requirement to control the ball “throughout the process of a catch” with a three-step definition that made plenty of sense. For most of the past three years, we have slept well, knowing that no matter what else happened on the field, a catch would be ruled a catch and an incompletion would be called an incompletion.
But close observers began noticing a shift away from the rulebook earlier this season, especially when catch/no-catch decisions went for replay review. And in Week 13, a competition committee member lobbed a subtle but public shot at the NFL’s officiating department after one such decision. A few days later, a retired referee tweeted that the league’s officiating executives “either don’t know their own rule or are intentionally misapplying it.”
Let’s look at what happened and why it should be extrapolated into a much larger concern.
In the second quarter of Sunday night’s AFC West matchup with the Denver Broncos, Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes threw to tight end Travis Kelce over the middle. Denver cornerback Kyle Fuller dislodged the ball shortly after Kelce got his hands on it, and referee Carl Cheffers’ crew ruled the pass incomplete. Broncos coach Vic Fangio challenged the call, saying that Kelce actually made the catch and then fumbled. Because safety Justin Simmons had made a clear recovery, the Broncos would have taken over at about the Chiefs’ 44-yard line had they won the challenge.
The replay showed Kelce satisfying the first two steps of the current catch rule. He gained control of the ball and had both feet down in bounds. All that was left was the third requirement, which the rulebook defines as “any act common to the game (e.g., tuck the ball away, extend it forward, take an additional step, turn upfield, or avoid or ward off an opponent).” The rule goes on to say: “It is not necessary that he commit such an act, provided that he maintains control of the ball long enough to do so.”
In slow motion, viewers could see Kelce definitely take two steps, and it appeared he took a third before losing the ball. He also had the ball tucked away. But the call was upheld in replay, despite that third step as well as the tuck. Watching the game on television, ESPN officiating analyst John Parry was shocked.
“I’m watching that saying, ‘By the letter of the rule that’s a catch, a fumble and Denver ball,'” Parry said this week.
Parry wasn’t the only one who felt that way. Tennessee Titans coach Mike Vrabel was spending his bye weekend watching the game. Nine minutes after the NFL’s officiating department posted an explanation on its Twitter account, asserting that Kelce did not meet “the third element of a catch — time,” Vrabel replied with a tweet of his own. A newly named member of the NFL competition committee, Vrabel tweeted a screenshot of the catch rule, which in digested form notes that “time” can be considered a third element if none of the other possibilities — a tuck, a third step, turning upfield, etc. — occurs.
“I felt like it was a good opportunity to remind everybody the rules [and] the process of the catch,” Vrabel said Monday. “That’s all that was … so that everybody that followed could understand what the process of a catch was — and what it wasn’t.”
You don’t have to be an expert reader of tea leaves to understand Vrabel’s point. The NFL’s catch rule, as written in the rulebook, didn’t match its decision Sunday, and its public explanation misstated the rule itself.
NFL replay is conducted by three officiating executives in the league’s New York City command center: Walt Anderson, Perry Fewell and Wayne Mackie. Often, they allow calls to stand when they decide there is no “clear and obvious” evidence to the contrary. But when Fewell posted a video Wednesday reiterating the decision to let the incomplete ruling stand, he didn’t mention that standard. Instead, he said: “It was determined that there was not time to perform an act common to the game before the ball was punched out of Kelce’s arm.”
That statement prompted retired referee Terry McAulay, now an officiating analyst for NBC Sports, to offer this counter on Twitter: “They have tripled-down on their incorrect application of the catch rule that was changed in 2018 and is still in place in the 2021 NFL Rule Book by applying ‘time’ to this play. They either don’t know their own rule or are intentionally misapplying it.”
Relying on “time” in many ways is another way of saying that players have to maintain control of the ball throughout the process of the catch. In other words, it is a reversion to the rule the NFL eliminated in 2018.
You might be inclined to view this episode as a technical debate among a closed circle of super-interested parties. I wish it were. This wasn’t a backroom philosophical debate. Nor was it simply a case of an official missing a call on the field. The play went to replay, where the leaders of the NFL’s officiating department made a considered decision, one they reinforced publicly three days later. There was no lapse here. NFL officiating upheld a call that ran counter to the rulebook, and that was alarming to many people around the league who assume the game is administered according to the rules.
So what’s going on here? In some ways, we’re seeing the fulfillment of a concern expressed by former NFL officiating chief Dean Blandino when the rule was changed in 2018. Speaking at the time, Blandino said: “You’re just shifting the debate from, ‘Was he going to the ground and did he hold on to it?’ to ‘Did he make a football move?'”
In a larger sense, though, the NFL has stumbled into a bleak moment. Catch/no-catch admittedly can be really hard to officiate on the field, and writing a rule that properly accounts for that remains vexing. Sunday night, the NFL responded by creating the reality it wanted regardless of whether it could be supported by the rulebook — and not for the first time this season.
To be fair, at live speed, the pass to Kelce looked like the kind of “bang-bang” play that should be incomplete. But NFL rules allow it to be challenged, and slow motion must be considered in replay review. The action visible at slower speed satisfies all three elements of the catch rule. A similar instance occurred on Thanksgiving Day, when Las Vegas Raiders tight end Darren Waller appeared to catch and then fumble a Derek Carr pass after taking a third step. The Cowboys recovered what seemed to be a fumble, but after a delay of 1 minute, 10 seconds — a duration that suggests involvement from the NFL’s video assist program — the pass was ruled incomplete. Cowboys coach Mike McCarthy did not challenge the ruling, probably because replay review and video assist have essentially become the same thing.
Likewise, replay review upheld an incomplete ruling on a Week 8 pass from Carolina Panthers quarterback Sam Darnold to receiver DJ Moore in the end zone. Replays showed that Moore got control and both feet in bounds, and then tucked the ball as he fell to the ground. Only after that point did the ball squirt loose, which by rule should have been irrelevant. Again, the “time” element was used to apply the pre-2018 rule.
The majority of NFL fans might be fine with the NFL manipulating its rules to achieve an outcome that matches what appeared to happen in live action. But what if you’re the Broncos or any other team on the wrong side of such a call? They’re competing based on a set of rules that were mutually agreed to, and on Sunday night, the Broncos were playing for first place in the AFC West. Fangio used one of his challenges and sacrificed a timeout on the expectation of rule enforcement.
By rule, if not good sense, the Broncos should have taken possession of the ball in Chiefs territory while trailing 10-3. Who knows how the game, ultimately a 22-9 Chiefs victory, would have played out from that point on. You can certainly understand why Vrabel felt compelled to speak out under those circumstances.
I asked the NFL this week if it had changed its interpretation of the catch rule in this and other instances. Its response — “There is no change to how the play is being officiated as compared to what is in the rule book” — didn’t address what we saw Sunday night and in the ensuing days.
You could make an argument for using “time” as the only possible third element of a catch, which would prevent “bang-bang” plays like Kelce’s from being required to be called catches. But a time standard is exactly what forced officials, before 2018, to call passes incomplete when the receiver would lose control on the way to the ground. Regardless, it is simply not supported by the language of the current rule.
“I don’t think there’s any question that the issue of clarity with the catch rule is back,” Parry said. “With 20 years of experience with the rule, if I am confused or lack clarity, I am confident others, including coaches, are as well. The football gods have a way of watching and working. They wait for bigger moments to send messages. Without a change, there is the potential for a playoff game outcome to be impacted by a play that isn’t officiated based on the rules.”
Whether a fan or a participant, we all ultimately want to know that a game is being administered according to the rules. That’s not happening with the NFL’s catch rule, for reasons that might make sense in the abstract but not according to any concept of fair play. It’s possible the NFL will get to the offseason without a game turning on such a play, but those who are closest to it are worried enough to push their concerns into public view. We should all pay attention.
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2022 DRAFT
Mel Kiper, Jr. of ESPN.com has his list of top 25 prospects:
With the conference title games over and College Football Playoff field set, we have a lot of 2021 tape from the top prospects, enough for us to begin solidifying our boards for the 2022 clas. Of course, there will be changes as we get closer, with the Senior Bowl and NFL combine crucial parts of the evaluation process. But this is a fun time of the year, when we can go back and study prospects closer.
So we’ll start with my 25 top-rated prospects overall,at every position. It’s important to note that the deadline for underclassmen to declare for the 2022 draft is in mid-January, and so some of these prospects absolutely could return to school. I also want to note that the heights and weights listed below are based on what we have from schools, so while they’re going to be close to accurate, we won’t get the official numbers until the combine in March.
Let’s get into my rankings:
1. Aidan Hutchinson, DE, Michigan
HT: 6-6 | WT: 265 | Previously: 5
Yes, Hutchinson makes the leap to the top of my Big Board. He has been unreal down the stretch and is now a Heisman Trophy finalist. Since I last updated my rankings, he has doubled his sack total. He now has 14 and two forced fumbles, showing powerful moves and relentless pursuit of quarterbacks. Three of those sacks came in the win over Ohio State, as he dominated the Buckeyes’ O-line. Hutchinson played only 144 defensive snaps last season before he injured his leg against Indiana and had to have surgery; the Michigan defense cratered after he was hurt. He was outstanding as a sophomore in 2019, putting up 4.5 sacks and creating havoc in the backfield (10.5 total tackles for loss). It’s going to be a real battle between Hutchinson and Thibodeaux for the No. 1 pick.
2. Kayvon Thibodeaux, DE, Oregon
HT: 6-5 | WT: 250 | Previously: 1
After missing a few games because of an ankle injury he suffered in the season opener, Thibodeaux was spectacular in his return. In a win at UCLA, he had a strip sack, another sack and nine total tackles. Against Cal the week before, he had a sack and 10 total pressures. He finished the regular season with seven sacks and two forced fumbles. Thibodeaux, the No. 1-ranked high school recruit in 2019, is an elite pass-rushing talent with the quickness and bend to get double-digit sacks annually at the next level. He had nine sacks as a true freshman in 2019 and had three more and 9.5 total tackles for loss in seven games last season. He drops one spot here, but he’s going to be in contention to be the top pick. And he officially declared for the draft on Monday night.
3. Evan Neal, OT, Alabama
HT: 6-7 | WT: 360 | Previously: 4
Neal is another prospect I mentioned in my mailbag in September. He’s an elite left tackle prospect with a massive frame and stellar physical traits. Check out this clip of him showing off those skills. Neal started at right tackle last season and was Bama’s starting left guard as a freshman in 2019. He has moved over to the left side this season, taking over for first-round pick Alex Leatherwood. He is the complete package, excelling as a run-blocker and also in moving his feet as a pass-protector.
4. Kyle Hamilton, S, Notre Dame
HT: 6-4 | WT: 219 | Previously: 2
Hamilton hasn’t played since he suffered a right knee injury on Oct. 23 against USC and might not return this season. He’s one of the most versatile defenders in the country. He had two interceptions against Florida State and added another in the win over Purdue. He now has eight in his career since 2019. Hamilton has the size to move up to the line of scrimmage and help in the running game and the speed and range to cover pass-catchers out of the slot. He’s exactly what NFL teams want in their first-round safeties.
5. Derek Stingley Jr., CB, LSU
HT: 6-1 | WT: 195 | Previously: 3
Like Hamilton, Stingley hasn’t played in a while, as he’s dealing with a foot injury. I wrote about him and his ceiling earlier this fall, and he’s the top corner in this class even though he hasn’t been consistently great since 2019. This ranking is all about his upside. His freshman film, when he was one of the best players on LSU’s national title team, is tremendous. He didn’t play as well in 2020, but that can mostly be attributed to the entire LSU defense being dreadful. He has shown that he can lock down SEC receivers. There are going to be questions about his up-and-down play, but NFL teams will see more good tape than bad and draft him based on his ceiling.
6. Jameson Williams, WR, Alabama
HT: 6-2 | WT: 185 | Previously: 11
Williams made my list of potential first-round sleepers in October, and he just keeps getting better. He’s averaging 21.3 yards per reception and ranks 10th in the country with 554 yards after the catch. He can take the top off the defense with his speed, and he has shown that he can track the ball and adjust while it’s in the air. Watch him on this 76-yard score against Mississippi State and on this 55-yard TD in the SEC title game. Williams has been Alabama’s best receiver this season, and I didn’t expect the Ohio State transfer to have such an immediate impact. Plus, he has two kickoff return touchdowns.
7. Drake London, WR, USC
HT: 6-5 | WT: 210 | Previously: 7
London was having a phenomenal season before fracturing his right ankle against Arizona on Oct. 30. He had 88 catches for 1,084 yards and seven touchdowns, averaging 11 catches and 136 yards per game. London, who played on the USC basketball team in 2019-20, towers over Pac-12 defenders, and he can outleap just about any corner. He had 72 catches for 1,069 yards and eight touchdowns from 2019 to 2020. I noticed a few concentration drops this season — he has five after just one the previous two seasons — but he does have soft hands and a huge catch radius.
8. Devin Lloyd, LB, Utah
HT: 6-3 | WT: 235 | Previously: 8
Lloyd has been incredibly impressive for the Utes, filling the stat sheet each week. He has 107 total tackles and has added seven sacks, 20 tackles for loss, four interceptions (two pick-sixes, including one in the Pac-12 title game) and a forced fumble. He penetrates past linemen at the snap, but Utah also uses him often in coverage, showing off his range as an off-ball linebacker. Lloyd was used more as a pass-rusher in 2019, racking up 6.5 sacks. He has 15.5 for his career. The versatility stands out as a major plus. I’ve compared him to former top-five pick Devin White, though I’m curious to see what he runs at the combine to see whether he has the same elite speed as White.
9. David Ojabo, DE, Michigan
HT: 6-5 | WT: 250 | Previously: 10
Ojabo has been one of the most impressive newcomers in the country. A third-year sophomore who spent his youth in Nigeria and Scotland (check out my new colleague Jordan Reid’s piece on him for more), Ojabo has 11 sacks and five forced fumbles playing on the other side of Aidan Hutchinson. He has flashed advanced pass-rush moves — check out this spin on the right tackle for a strip sack against Indiana — and his athletic traits pop on tape. While Ojabo needs to work on his all-around game, there’s a lot to like. He’s still young; he could develop into a elite edge rusher.
10. Charles Cross, OT, Mississippi State
HT: 6-5 | WT: 310 | Previously: 6
Cross has taken the next step. He has allowed just one sack and five pressures this season, and that’s with playing in a pass-heavy Mike Leach offense. He was dominant against a good LSU front earlier this season and more than held his own against the mega-talented Alabama defense. He stalemates edge rushers. Cross has long arms and good feet, and his coaches rave about his work ethic and attention to detail. He showed potential last season, his first as a starter, but he’s also asked to do a lot in Leach’s offense, and so he had some poor pass-blocking reps. He allowed five sacks and 13 pressures on 556 pass blocks in 2020. Based on his 2021 tape so far, I see a top-10 pick.
11. DeMarvin Leal, DL, Texas A&M
HT: 6-4 | WT: 290 | Previously: 12
Leal is one of my favorite prospects in this class, a versatile defensive lineman who could play in any defense at the next level. I like his potential as an interior penetrator a little more than I do as an edge rusher, and he has the frame to put on a few more pounds. But he plays incredibly hard and is always in the right spot. Leal has 8.5 sacks this season after having 2.5 last season, when he also had a forced fumble and an interception off Alabama’s Mac Jones. He has 15 tackles for loss.
12. Nakobe Dean, ILB, Georgia
HT: 6-0 | WT: 225 | Previously: 9
In October, I picked Dean as a rising prospect to watch, after he was tremendous in the Bulldogs’ shutout of Arkansas. He’s the leader of one of the best defenses in recent college football history. Even after the Bulldogs allowed 41 points to Alabama in the SEC title game, they’ve given up an FBS-best 4.0 yards per play this season. Quarterbacks playing against the Bulldogs have posted a 117.3 QBR, which is worst by far in FBS. Dean runs sideline to sideline to blow up plays and is a sure tackler once he finds the ball carrier. He has 61 tackles, five sacks — he’s a great blitzer — and two interceptions this season.
13. George Karlaftis, DE, Purdue
HT: 6-4 | WT: 270 | Previously: 21
Don’t be fooled by Karlaftis having only 4.5 sacks this season. He affects games in other ways, and his pressure numbers (13.7%) stack up well next to the best edge rushers in the country. He gets double-teamed often along the Purdue front, and he is physical in fighting through them. He’s tough — he plays to the whistle and runs down whoever has the ball. Karlaftis played just three games last season; a positive COVID-19 test in November cut short a promising campaign. As a freshman in 2019, he had 7.5 sacks and 17 total tackles for loss. I think he will test well at the combine, too.
14. Tyler Linderbaum, C, Iowa
HT: 6-3 | WT: 290 | Previously: 13
Linderbaum is one of the best center prospects in recent memory. He can do everything, and he excels as a puller to either side. He’s a fantastic run blocker. He doesn’t have many weaknesses. Linderbaum allowed just one sack in the 2019 and 2020 seasons combined. He has allowed two this season, but I’m still huge fan of his game and upside regardless.
15. Garrett Wilson, WR, Ohio State
HT: 6-0 | WT: 193 | Previously: 16
Wilson played mostly out of the slot last season, catching 43 passes and averaging almost 17 yards per reception, but he has done most of his damage outside in 2021. He’s dynamic with the ball in his hands and can run away from defenders after the catch. Here he is doing that against a Minnesota defensive back for a 56-yard score. He has 70 catches for 1,058 yards and 12 touchdowns this season, including six in the past three games. His versatility will help at the next level. Wilson and Chris Olave form one of the best wideout tandems in the country.
16. Ahmad Gardner, CB, Cincinnati
HT: 6-3 | WT: 200 | Previously: NR
I’m pumped to see Gardner lined up against Alabama’s Jameson Williams in the College Football Playoff. Gardner has long arms and is physical in press coverage. He doesn’t give up big plays. As the nearest defender in coverage this season, he has allowed quarterbacks to complete just eight passes on 29 targets — for 60 total yards. He has three picks this season and nine in his three-year career with the Bearcats. He’s also not afraid to make a tackle in run support. Gardner is a really good player.
17. Jahan Dotson, WR, Penn State
HT: 5-11 | WT: 184 | Previously: 14
Dotson is explosive. He had an incredible leaping catch against Illinois, and look how open he is on this 49-yard touchdown against Wisconsin. Plus, check out Penn State’s first offensive play against Villanova, a 52-yard strike to Dotson in which he showed acceleration at the catch. While he had a few drops in 2019 and 2020, he has dropped only two passes this season. He has 91 catches for 1,182 yards and 12 scores, including six in his final four games.
18. Ikem Ekwonu, OT/G, NC State
HT: 6-4 | WT: 320 | Previously: 17
Ekwonu bullies pass-rushers. He toys with them. He has played both guard and tackle in his career, but he has excelled at left tackle this season. He moves his feet well in the run game and can get to the next level. My only question is his arm length and whether he might move inside to guard at the next level. He can be a really good player at either position, but I could see teams preferring him inside.
19. Trevor Penning, OT, Northern Iowa
HT: 6-7 | WT: 321 | Previously: 15
Penning destroys edge rushers at the FCS level. He’s consistently dominant in both the run and pass game. “Rugged” is the word I’d use to describe his game. And though he’s not playing against NFL-caliber players every week, I think he has a chance to be an elite guy. He has played mostly at left tackle for the Panthers, who had 2021 third-rounder Spencer Brown on the right side from 2017 to 2019. Penning has flashed more than Brown did. He could be an early NFL starter.
20. Kenny Pickett, QB, Pitt
HT: 6-3 | WT: 220 | Previously: 20
Pickett remains my top quarterback, but the reality is that I’m not enamored with this QB class so far, as I wrote last month. I don’t see an elite, top-10 pick in this group. Now, we see every year that quarterbacks rise based on need at the top of the draft; just because I don’t have one ranked in the top 10 doesn’t mean all 32 teams agree. Pickett or Malik Willis or Matt Corral could still rise. Fifth-year senior Pickett has been incredibly impressive this season, throwing 42 touchdown passes with seven interceptions. He ranks seventh in the country in QBR (81.5). Pickett was up and down the past two seasons, with 18 picks and an average of 6.9 yards per attempt. He’s up to 8.7 this season. He is accurate to all three levels of the field, has shown patience in taking the checkdown throws when necessary and has good zip on his throws.
Now, he has started 49 games in his Pitt career, so NFL teams will like that he has experience. (The last first-rounder with that many starts was Baker Mayfield with 46.) But Pickett dealt with an ankle injury in an inconsistent 2020 season, so scouts and execs are going to have to be comfortable with his improvement and believe that he’s an improved quarterback. The signs are there, and his ability to use his legs to maneuver the pocket and scramble when he has to is underrated.
21. Desmond Ridder, QB, Cincinnati
HT: 6-4 | WT: 215 | Previously: NR
Welcome back to the Big Board, Mr. Ridder. I wrote about him after the Bearcats’ big win over Notre Dame, and he was really impressive down the stretch, even if he does have a couple head-scratching throws every game. (Check out this interception against Navy.) Overall, Ridder has taken the next step, throwing 30 touchdown passes and eight picks while completing 65.9% of his throws. His counting stats won’t totally wow you, but he has the arm talent and mobility that put him in the first-round conversation. Like Pickett, Ridder has started more than 45 college games, and so I’d like to see him have better ball placement on tight-window throws at this point. He’s not the perfect prospect, but he does have upside. NFL teams will bet on upside.
22. Chris Olave, WR, Ohio State
HT: 6-1 | WT: 188 | Previously: 22
Ohio State’s pass-catching group is one of the best in the country, which means Olave and Wilson don’t have huge counting stats. I’m not worried; just turn on the tape and watch Olave get open. I wrote in May that he could have been a Day 2 pick had he entered the 2021 draft, and now he has a chance to be the No. 1 wideout in 2022. He’s one of the best deep threats in this class — he averaged 15.0 air yards per target from 2018 to 2020 — and is an improved route runner with stellar hands. He can make defenders look silly in coverage and with the ball in his hands. Olave has 13 receiving scores this season, giving him 35 for his career.
23. Matt Corral, QB, Ole Miss
HT: 6-0 | WT: 200 | Previously: NR
Like Ridder, Corral is also back on my Big Board. I went deeper on his upside in September and wrote about what I liked about his game in October. He’s not the biggest quarterback, but he has touch and accuracy and a good-enough arm. He’s tough. He has limited his mistakes this season, throwing 20 touchdowns and just four picks. He puts the ball on the money on schedule. What doomed Corral last season were two total disaster games in which he threw 11 combined interceptions against LSU and Arkansas. He hasn’t had those in 2021. I also love his ability to use his legs to maneuver the pocket, and he has shown some speed once he does escape the pocket. He even had 195 yards on a whopping 30 carries in a win over Tennessee. Corral is firmly in the mix to be the No. 1 quarterback.
24. Treylon Burks, WR, Arkansas
HT: 6-3 | WT: 232 | Previously: 24
I wrote about Burks earlier this season, as he tore up Texas A&M and gave the Aggies’ defensive backs fits. Check out his speed on this 85-yard touchdown catch. He has a big catch radius and can play inside or outside, though he’s doing most of his damage out of the slot. He has 66 catches for 1,104 yards and 11 touchdowns. He had seven scores a year ago. Concentration drops are an issue, but he’s going to battle for the top wideout spot in a deep class. I want to see how he tests at the NFL combine next March.
25. Andrew Booth Jr., CB, Clemson
HT: 6-0 | WT: 195 | Previously: NR
I wrote in May that Booth was overshadowed nationally last season by Derion Kendrick, who is now at Georgia, but the tape showed something different. He was really, really good. If you just looked at his counting stats in his first two seasons — two interceptions, four total pass breakups — you didn’t see how he locked up wideouts. Quarterbacks rarely threw his way. Booth had three picks this season, including two in the Tigers’ win over South Carolina. He has allowed only one completion for more than 20 yards this season.
And his top 10 QBs:
Quarterbacks
1. Kenny Pickett, Pitt
2. Desmond Ridder, Cincinnati
3. Matt Corral, Ole Miss
4. Malik Willis, Liberty
5. Sam Howell, North Carolina
6. Carson Strong, Nevada
7. Hendon Hooker, Tennessee
8. Bailey Zappe, Western Kentucky
9. Skylar Thompson, Kansas State
10. Dustin Crum, Kent State
So only two players from Alabama in the top 25.
The top QB appears at #19.
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