AROUND THE NFL
Daily Briefing
| The 6th Sunday of the NFL season was largely boom or bust. Four more games were added to the NFL’s count of games decided in the last minute, three of them nationally televised. We’re up to 23 games decided late in six weeks.
More from Mike Florio of ProFootballTalk.com:
That’s 23 games in six weeks decided in the final minute of regulation or overtime, with one more game to be played tonight, Bills-Titans.
Eleven games have gone to overtime this year, the most through six weeks since 1995, which featured 12 overtime games in the first six weeks of the season. Again, with one game still to play, the record could be matched tonight.
With six weeks (nearly) done, the NFL has completed one third of its self-styled “biggest season ever.” With 12 weeks to go, there should still be plenty of exciting football games to come — including games that may not have looked like they were destined to be great games but that, given the performance of the teams involved, will be.
For example, in 10 days the Packers visit the Cardinals on Thursday Night Football. That’s one that wouldn’t have been circled in early September. It should be now.
On the other hand in Week 6, there were six games where the winning team scored in the 30s – and the loser failed to top 14. And two games were decided by exactly 10 points (Packers, 24-14 and Raiders, 34-24).
And so, If The Season Ended Today in the NFC –
Arizona is still on top, and Minnesota is in the Playoffs:
Team W-L Div Conf Record
Arizona West 6-0 1 3-0
Tampa Bay South 5-1 1 3-1
Dallas East 5-1 1 3-1
Green Bay North 5-1 1 3-1
LA Rams WC1 5-1 2 4-1
New Orleans WC2 3-2 2 2-2
Minnesota WC3 3-3 2 3-1
Chicago 3-3 3 1-2
Carolina 3-3 3 1-3
The Eagles and Falcons are 2-3 after their Week 6 bye and can be in the hunt with road wins this week at the Raiders and Dolphins respectively.
The NFC has the better of it so far in the interconference series, going 17-12. This is mainly led by the NFC South being 6-0 – mainly against the AFC East. The Bills, who won their 17th game with Washington, still haven’t swung into action against the NFC South – and in fact they won’t until Week 12 with 4 of their final 7 outside the AFC.
– – –
Mike Florio of ProFootballTalk.com wants to be able to poke through all 650,000 WFT emails and decide who is naughty or nice. He really can’t comprehend why that might not be a perfectly good idea.
The passage of time often takes the steam out of a story. It shouldn’t, but it does.
Already, I find myself wondering whether and to what extent posting additional stories about the ongoing Gruden/WFT situation will prompt complaints from readers who have grown bored with the story, or who realize that the NFL will never relent in its refusal to release the 650,000 emails obtained during the workplace investigation of the Washington Football Team. Regardless, the story needs to continue to be pushed, until the league does the right thing and releases all of the emails.
As mentioned last night during Football Night in America, the failure to release all of the emails allows whoever has leaked some of the emails sent by former Raiders coach Jon Gruden and current NFL general counsel Jeff Pash to former WFT president Bruce Allen to eventually leak more of them. Or maybe someone else who has access to the 650,000 emails (and not many do) and who has yet to leak any of them will decide to leak some of them.
Beyond the troubling reality that someone from a small group of people with access to the emails has weaponized them, the emails need to be released. A slice of the real-world NFL lurks in those emails. And just enough of the poison has spilled to the media to make it fair and appropriate to demand to see the rest of the documents.
Consider the NFL’s basis for keeping information from the investigation secret. The league has justified secrecy regarding the WFT investigation as a vehicle for protecting current and former employees who shared their workplace experiences. The league explained in July, and reiterates now, that it decided that it would be most appropriate to summarize the findings of attorney Beth Wilkinson, instead of making public the information gathered during more than 150 interviews or current and former team employees.
That’s fine (even if it isn’t), but the interviews and the emails constitute two independent sources of potential evidence. The league can hide the information provided during interviews and still reveal the emails. Gruden’s toxic comments impacted no current or former employees. To the extent that any emails amount to substantive evidence of misconduct (e.g., a management-level employee browbeating a subordinate in writing), names can easily be redacted.
Would it require time and effort? Yes. But the league hasn’t said that it’s not releasing the emails because it would take too long or be too difficult. The league continues to hide behind the misguided notion that the results of interviews must completely be hidden because some employees requested confidentiality. (As explained in early August, the names of the employees could easily be changed to protect them, like they were in the public report released arising from the chronic workplace misconduct of former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo.)
We’re left to assume that flimsy reasons for secrecy are being advanced because the league knows that admitting the true reasons would be unacceptable. Obviously, NFL general counsel Jeff Pash didn’t want the emails released. Whether that same mindset applies to other team or league employees, it’s obvious that keeping the emails hidden ensures that there will be no consequences for anyone who sent any of them.
Indeed, if the Gruden emails had never been leaked to the media, there’s a good chance Gruden would still be coaching the team.
Thus, because the reason for keeping the emails secret is not credible or reasonable, the emails should be released immediately. Just because the NFL got through a weekend of games with no further leaks or significant developments doesn’t mean we should just move on. They want us to move on. They can’t wait for this to die down.
Isn’t that all the more reason to believe that there’s value in continuing to push for the truth to come out? |
| NFC NORTH |
|
CHICAGO
There is still a chance for 30 other teams to land QB AARON RODGERS next year, but he shut the door on the Bears last week. Tayyib Abu of SportsSkeeta.com:
Could a vengeful Rodgers move to the Windy City? The great quarterback offered his opinion during a press conference:
“No, no, It’s just not going to happen, man.”
Rodgers continued to discuss the rivalry and his feelings towards the Bears and the city of Chicago:
“It’s been battles. Still, a rivalry, though, Been some fun ones over the years. They aren’t extremely happy with me, not very cordial most of the time, but I respect that. It’s a great sports town. I’ve always enjoyed the city, enjoyed the fans, even though they haven’t really enjoyed me. It’s fine. I get it.”
Then on Sunday, per Peter King:
“ALL MY FREAKING LIFE, I OWN YOU! I STILL OWN YOU! I STILL OWN YOU!”
—Aaron Rodgers, screaming to the fans in the Soldier Field end zone after scrambling for the clinching touchdown Sunday in the 203rd Chicago-Green Bay game in history.
Does he? Let’s see:
Career record versus Bears: 22-5.
Career record at Soldier Field: 10-3.
Career TD passes and interceptions versus Bears: 57-10.
Ownership seems an apt word.
To explain:
“I looked up in the stands and in the front row all I saw was a woman giving me the double bird. I’m not sure exactly what came out of my mouth next.”
—Rodgers, on why he exploded and screamed the “I OWN YOU” stuff after that touchdown. |
|
DETROIT
Coach Dan Campbell makes no excuses – like crummy receivers – for the struggles of QB JARED GOFF. Kyle Meinicke of MLive.com:
The Lions were shut out in the first half for the third time in four weeks, didn’t score until an Austin Seibert field goal made it 27-3 in the fourth quarter, and didn’t punch in a touchdown until garbage time.
Campbell said he never considered benching Goff for David Blough, and insisted Goff remains the starter heading into next week’s game against the Rams. But Campbell also said he needs more than he’s getting out of his quarterback.
“I feel like he needs to step up more than he has,” said the first-year head coach, who is still looking for his first win heading into Week 7. “I think he needs to help us, just like everybody else. I think he’s going to need to put a little bit of weight on his shoulders here, and it’s time to step up, make some throws and do some things.”
Goff has been in regression for years. The Lions thought they had a plan to pull him out of his career nosedive, but Goff continues to be among the least-explosive quarterbacks in the league, with his completions traveling an average of just 3.7 yards beyond the line of scrimmage heading into the weekend. That was dead-last in the league. He also led the league in fumbles and ranked among the leaders in turnovers overall.
Those struggles came to a head on Sunday, when he led Detroit to just 1 net yard on eight plays in the entire first quarter. Goff threw for just 38 yards on 15 attempts in the first half and 202 yards on 28 of 42 passing overall — with 74 of those yards coming against a prevent defense after Cincinnati took a 34-3 lead late in the fourth quarter.
Goff made several key mistakes along the way, including not seeing a wide-open receiver on fourth down for at least the third time this season. It happened once in Green Bay, when he had D’Andre Swift wide open over the middle but threw to a covered Quintez Cephus instead. He did it again in Chicago, when he had Cephus uncovered over the middle but chose to throw to Amon-Ra St. Brown instead. St. Brown had separation on the play too, but Goff threw wide left to seal another loss.
On Sunday, it happened again. Goff didn’t see Swift uncovered to the right on fourth-and-4, and scrambled to the left instead before throwing away the football, even though it was fourth down. He admitted after the game to a mental error, believing a holding call against left tackle Penei Sewell would give the Lions a chance to punt. Of course, Cincinnati just declined the penalty and took over on downs.
“I saw the holding call and had a complete lapse of judgment of, ‘OK, they’re gonna bring this ball back, we’re going to punt it anyways,’” Goff said. “And obviously, we need a positive gain for that to happen — for them to accept the penalty and for us to move back. But when I saw the holding call in the middle of the play, I figured it would be accepted, which it wouldn’t be if I throw an incomplete pass. So that was on me, just kind of thinking through that one the wrong way.”
Goff also missed star tight end T.J. Hockenson wide open for a touchdown.
“We were just all kind of on different pages of where that should be,” Goff said. “But I got to throw the ball better and hit him in stride and make the play. T.J.’s a great player and got to get him the ball and let him roll.” |
| NFC EAST |
|
DALLAS
QB DAK PRESCOTT hurt himself in the act of throwing his walk-off TD pass to WR CeeDEE LAMB.
Dallas Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott will undergo an MRI on Monday for a right calf injury that he suffered on his touchdown pass to CeeDee Lamb to defeat the New England Patriots in overtime.
“Life keeps throwing punches, and I’m going to keep throwing them back,” said Prescott, who was wearing a walking boot after Sunday’s 35-29 victory. “It’s a part of it. It’s part of this game. It’s a physical game we play. I’ll be fine. I’ve got a lot of confidence in myself, the medical team. I feel good. Obviously, this [the boot] is a precaution.
“But, yeah, I mean, just more so thinking about the touchdown, it doesn’t hurt as bad, obviously, when you score and win the game.”
Prescott said he “came down funny” after the 35-yard throw that he made while running to the Cowboys’ sideline. Had Dallas not scored, Prescott said he could have continued to play.
“It was a little pain, but, no, for sure, I would’ve been able to keep going,” he said. “I think the adrenaline would’ve been up and probably maybe not even felt it at that time. But I think the after the time you relax and it’s like, ‘Oh, well, there it is.'”
Given that Prescott suffered a compound fracture and dislocation of his right ankle last October, he is not more concerned about a right calf injury. The Cowboys are heading into their bye week, and the players are expected to have the entire week off.
A source said this injury is different than the calf strain that wide receiver Michael Gallup suffered in the season opener on Sept. 9. Gallup has not played since.
“I’ll be fine. I can promise you that,” Prescott said. “Great timing going into the bye week, but as I said, y’all can have fun with it this week.”
Who is behind Prescott on the current Dallas depth chart? COOPER RUSH and ex-Panther WILL GRIER. |
|
PHILADELPHIA
And now we know why T LANE JOHNSON has been MIA. Tim McManus of ESPN.com:
Eagles right tackle Lane Johnson is returning to the team after a two-week absence to address his mental health.
“I would like to thank everyone for their understanding and support over the last two weeks,” he wrote on social media. “I appreciate the positive notes and messages as I’ve worked hard to restore my personal life. Depression and anxiety are things I’ve dealt with for a long time and have kept hidden from my friends and family. If you’re reading this and struggling, please know that you are not alone.
“I am excited to re-join my teammates and coaches. I’m grateful for the entire Eagles community and look forward to continuing to play in front of the best fans in the world.”
Johnson, 31, was a surprise inactive before the Eagles’ Oct. 3 game against the Kansas City Chiefs. His replacement, Jack Driscoll, said he was notified just a couple of hours before kickoff that he would be starting.
The team said Johnson was dealing with a personal matter.
Johnson has been open about football-related anxiety in the past. One of his best friends, Eagles right guard Brandon Brooks, has missed multiple games over his career due to anxiety-related illness. Johnson and Brooks have shared that they’ll often vomit at the same time pregame, then text each other to joke about it.
“We’re all human. We’re not monsters,” Johnson said during the Eagles’ Super Bowl run in 2017. “I think I heard it at the combine: 50% of guys have dealt with anxiety, depression. It’s not foreign. It’s just something that’s not talked about. It’s a stigma where it’s seen as a weakness. When you bring it to light, a lot of people in this world have it.”
Johnson missed three games in all, with Driscoll filling in for him against the Chiefs before left tackle Jordan Mailata was moved to the right side against the Carolina Panthers and Tampa Bay Buccaneers. His teammates continually wished Johnson well during his absence while keeping Johnson’s matter private.
“A lot of love for Lane. I’m praying for him,” quarterback Jalen Hurts said. “He’s in my heart, for sure.”
Kevin Kinkead of CrossingBroad.com on why the story took so long to emerge:
Is Lane Johnson playing tonight?
No, he’s out. He did not participate in Wednesday’s team walkthrough and has missed the last two games due to a personal matter that Nick Sirianni politely has declined to discuss.
It’s an issue that sources described to us as “complicated,” and it trends into a taboo family/medical territory. That’s why nobody has reported the details, because it’s personal. It’s the kind of thing where the reporter would probably get hammered in the public sphere if they did go ahead and divulge what’s going on.
Is it frustrating? YEAH it’s frustrating. It’s frustrating for fans, and also for reporters, because the honest truth is that no beat writer ever wants to withhold information. Nobody is sitting there saying, “I know what’s going on but I’m not going to tell you.” There’s zero tangible benefit there and nobody does it. It’s a myth.*
Think about it. We live in a day and age where every Twitter dipshit is an expert with an itchy trigger finger. Some of the sloppiest “reporting” crosses the feed daily, from blue checkmarks who are trying to make a name for themselves. Rarely is anything ever withheld, and we’re living in a time where more information than ever is made public. More information is typically better than less information.
But sometimes you get into personal/medical/family areas, and privacy is requested and granted. Does that mean that the writers are “sitting” on the story? Yeah, technically it does, but nobody wants to sit on it. The Eagles beat is so cutthroat and competitive and all of those guys are always looking for scoops. They’re looking for a leg up wherever they can find it. People like Jeff McLane aren’t just sitting on something to sit on it. We’re talking experienced pros in a major market who regularly do quality deep dives.
The real question is this:
Do fans deserve to know? Does a football player making millions of dollars qualify as the type of figure for whom we’d cross the line to provide information deemed necessary for the public?
This guy thinks so:
@Jack08J
@Kevin_Kinkead
Ethical lines? WTF are you talking about? A player is not playing and it’s the media’s job to tell the fans why he’s not playing. The media in this town is so god damn lazy it’s unbelievable. God forbid you upset the Eagles. DO YOUR JOB!
I don’t agree with this line of thinking because Lane Johnson is a football player. He’s not the President. He’s not the Secretary General of the United Nations. Nothing involving him is of any true pertinence to any of us. It’s not a security issue. It’s not a financial disclosure. He plays a sport, and the thing keeping him out is not related to the sport.
But aren’t fans paying customers? Don’t they deserve to know what’s going on?
Yeah, that’s true, but only to an extent. We all deserve to know if a guy is injured, and players have to speak to the media, and all of that. Likewise, we spend tons of money at the grocery store every year, so do we deserve to be in the loop? Maybe we deserve to know when the banana shipment is coming in, but we don’t have a right to know about the fruit handler’s personal medical history, because it’s personal and it doesn’t affect us. We pay taxes that go to our kids’ teachers, but if Mrs. (last name) is out for “personal reasons,” then do we need to know what that entails? No, we don’t.
We have to throw Lane Johnson a bone here. Support a guy who helped bring this team a Super Bowl. When he comes back, maybe he’ll talk about what happened. |
|
WASHINGTON
As might be expected, Peter King thinks owner Daniel Snyder is one employer who should have been held responsible for all of his employees faults (we did highlight the one direct instance of Snyder being involved mentioned by King in his list of WFT faults):
The big story of the week is a tale of two famous NFL people, Dan Snyder and Jon Gruden.
Snyder is an owner. In 2009, the Washington franchise paid a female ex-employee $1.6 million after she made a sexual-misconduct complaint against Snyder, per a confidential settlement reported by the Washington Post. His franchise was accused by former team cheerleaders of making lewd videos from off-season cheerleader calendar shoots. Fifteen former employees and two reporters covering the team accused club officials of various forms of sexual harassment and, in several cases, said it was openly condoned by team executives. Former team marketing coordinator Emily Applegate told the Post she and a female co-worker cried over sexual harassment in lunchbreaks. Applegate said she was told to wear a tight dress for one meeting so male clients “would have something to look at.” One suiteholder, the Post reported, grabbed Applegate’s friend’s rear, while a reporter who covered the team, Rhiannon Walker, told the team that the director of pro personnel, Alex Santos, pinched her buttocks and told her she had “an ass like a wagon.” The Post reported another scout, Richard Mann, told a female employee to expect a hug “and don’t worry, that will be a stapler in my pocket, nothing else.” Five former employees told the paper the president of business operations advised female employees to wear suggestive and revealing clothing and to flirt with suiteholders. “It was the most miserable experience of my life,” Applegate told the Post. One former employee who described abuse from Santos said to the paper her experience with the team “has killed any dream of a career in pro sports.” A former cheerleader said she was encouraged by Snyder to join a close friend of his in a hotel room so they could “get to know each other better.” When the league investigated all of it, NFL counsel Lisa Friel concluded the “culture of the club was very toxic.” Commissioner Roger Goodell said the work environment in Washington “for many years” was “highly unprofessional.”
Gruden is a coach. He sent racist, homophobic and anti-woman emails, stunning in how naturally they appeared to flow from Gruden, to former WFT president Bruce Allen over a seven-year period.
Snyder’s franchise was fined $10 million, less than 3 percent of the team’s projected 2021 revenue. He was not suspended and not asked to liquidate the team. The league ordered him marginalized for a few months, with wife Tanya running daily team operations.
Gruden, who coached a majority Black team that employed the only openly gay player in the NFL, resigned as Raiders coach last Monday.
On opening day 2022, it is very likely that Snyder will be overseeing his franchise again. As of now, no long-term sanction will affect him in any way when he resumes full-time control of the team.
On opening day 2022, Gruden will be in exile somewhere, his career ruined, unlikely at 58 to ever coach in the NFL again.
I am not going to defend Gruden in any way—his emails are indefensible, and now that the sun has shone on them, he absolutely should not be coaching an NFL team. But I am going to ask this: What’s worse: An NFL owner running his team like a sixties frat house for at least a decade, with 40 women coming forward to decry sexist treatment by Snyder or his employees, lives and professional dreams shattered in the process; or a Neanderthal coach sending a slew of terrible emails?
Even if you say they are equally bad (I don’t see how) the fact is that Snyder goes on running his jillion-dollar business next year and Gruden hides in his man cave, unemployable.
This absurdly unfair outcome will stick to Roger Goodell for a long, long time.
And I’m not one who even thinks the NFL was behind the release of the emails. League officials might consider Gruden classless and a clown, I don’t know. But what is Goodell’s job? Protect the shield. He’s not going to authorize the release of emails in the middle of a season that would indubitably sabotage a hot franchise in a new market. And he’s certainly not going to do it knowing there are other emails in the queue, emails the New York Times and Wall Street Journal published last week that showed an overly chummy relationship between Allen and the NFL’s second-in-command, trusted Goodell confidant and legal counsel Jeff Pash. The upshot of those emails painted Pash as a Washington patsy.
I don’t know where the emails came from. Several smart people in the league think the leaks come from the Snyder camp. Maybe he feels steamrolled by the league in its July penalty, though it was certainly exactly the opposite. Maybe (probably) he’s so anti-Allen that he’d have a jihad out for him and anyone close to him, which Gruden is.
Whoever did it, this point remains, as one prominent plugged-in source told me: “The discipline against Snyder was shockingly light. You suspend Tom Brady when you never proved without a doubt he deflated the footballs, and you don’t suspend Snyder for running that kind of operation in Washington. And Gruden gets ruined. It’s not like Roger’s protecting a guy who’s good for the league anyway. Where’s the fairness?”
The league did send the offending emails to the Raiders for their examination 10 days ago, putting the onus on owner Mark Davis to do something about Gruden. Once it was clear that the emails would surface publicly, and they did, with great detail in the Times account, Davis had no choice. However it was termed, Gruden could not walk into his diverse locker room last week; he had to go. According to someone who knows Gruden’s mindset post-“resignation,” he is of two minds. One: He is miserable about the families of the 22 coaches and numerous staffers he brought to Vegas who will suffer, and perhaps lose NFL livelihoods, because of his hurtful emails. Two: He is angry (“stunned and fuming,” this person said, describing Gruden) that some investigation that had nothing to do with him resulted in the loss of his job. He does understand, I am told, that the release of these emails made it impossible for him to continue as coach.
I haven’t heard so many differing opinions from around the league on an issue in a while. But this one, from one of the smartest people in the NFL orbit, struck me: “This was a Mafia hit on Gruden.”
Often, I’m told, victims of organized crime rubouts never see them coming. Gruden never saw his coming either.
Transparency. The league claims it can’t release the emails because it promised confidentiality to the women interviewed in the probe. There’s a compromise. Hire a neutral party with an impeccable reputation to run an investigation of the 650,000 emails. Release those involving women who approve the release, and those that play a part in the evidence of harassment. Among women who do not authorize the release, use the information from those emails in a report with protection for the plaintiffs. And have a report ready when the offseason begins.
What will happen now?
The league will probably stonewall, figuring the white noise of exciting games and The Next Big Story will bury this one in time. That’s how the league works.
I found myself thinking in the past few days about the Washington franchise. When I was new in the business, in the late eighties, games at RFK Stadium in the District of Columbia were mega-events. The press box would shake in big moments. The owner, Jack Kent Cooke, was nutty and intrusive, but he hired Bobby Beathard and Joe Gibbs to win, and win they did—three Super Bowl titles between 1982 and 1992.
Snyder bought the team in 1999. In the 23 years before Snyder’s reign, Washington was 50 games over .500 in the regular season and won three Super Bowls. In the 23 years of Snyder’s stewardship, Washington is 55 games under .500 in the regular season. Playoffs? Just two wild-card wins. That’s it.
One offensive man, an owner, who is rotten at his job, skates.
Another offensive man, a coach, who is okay at his job, gets buried.
Life in the NFL.
– – –
Back on the football field, QB TAYLOR HEINICKE didn’t get the job done against the Chiefs porous defense on Sunday. Bryan Manning of USA TODAY:
Washington quarterback Taylor Heinicke was expected to have a big game on Sunday against the Kansas City Chiefs. Unfortunately for Washington, things didn’t quite work out that way as Heinicke completed 24 of 39 passes for 182 yards with one touchdown and one interception.
As a whole, Washington’s offense never got into a rhythm, as the team finished with just 274 total yards. The Chiefs were allowing almost 440 total yards per game entering Sunday.
After the game, Heinicke met with the media and expressed frustration over Washington’s 2-4 record.
“There’s no panic,” Heinicke said. “It’s a long season; there’s a lot of football left. A lot of guys are pissed off, rightfully so. But again, you know, hopefully we can use that fuel for Green Bay. It’s going to be another tough game.”
It was the second consecutive week Heinicke struggled. While a small sample size, Heinicke had bounced back the game after he struggled. If Washington is going to get things back on track, it needs to win at Green Bay next weekend.
As you know, that is much easier said than done. The Packers are currently on a roll, winners of five straight. If Washington has any chance of pulling the upset in Week 7, it needs a lot more from Heinicke. |
| NFC SOUTH |
|
CAROLINA
Peter King implies that it is long past time to sell your stock in RB CHRISTIAN McCAFFREY:
I think this is not a good sign for Christian McCaffrey’s long-term viability:
First 49 NFL games: 49 games played.
Next 24 NFL games: 6 games played.
McCaffrey, put on IR Friday with a hamstring injury, missed Sunday’s game against Minnesota and will miss at least the next two, per NFL rules. That means of Carolina’s first eight games this year, he’ll have played three. McCaffrey played three last year too, limited with ankle, shoulder and quad injuries. The last thing the Panthers want is for McCaffrey to get the injury-prone tag. It’s probably best he sits for three weeks now and rehabs, so he can get back to some semblance of health for the second half of the season. |
|
TAMPA BAY
CB RICHARD SHERMAN is going to miss some time, but he is not going on IR. Kevin Patra of NFL.com:
Tampa Bay Buccaneers cornerback Richard Sherman will indeed miss only a couple of weeks due to a hamstring injury.
NFL Network Insider Ian Rapoport reported Monday morning that an MRI over the weekend confirmed the initial diagnosis of the severity of Sherman’s ailing hamstring, per a source informed of the situation. Barring a setback, Sherman should miss only a couple of weeks, and there are no plans to put the corner on injured reserve.
Sherman suffered the injury early in Thursday night’s victory over the Philadelphia Eagles. The swiftness in which the Bucs ruled Sherman out of the game suggested the damage could be severe. So it’s great news he’ll miss only a few tilts.
Sherman, who played just five games in 2020 due to injury, signed with Tampa on Sept. 29 and played in three games within 11 days of joining the club. Given the heavy workload he undertook in such a short time, a soft-tissue injury doesn’t come as a huge surprise. |
| NFC WEST |
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ARIZONA
Today’s discussion – did it hurt or help the perception of Kliff Kingsbury that his Cardinals performed like a finely-honed machine while he was cooped up in Arizona, thousands of miles away? Peter King:
Usually after a big win, the head coach speaks in the locker room and the players cheer and someone gets a gameball. In the age of Covid, sometimes there’s a wrinkle. The 6-0 Cardinals stayed the last unbeaten team in football Sunday with a statement game—a 37-14 win at Cleveland. Afterward, the coach was in the locker room, sort of. Kliff Kingsbury was actually in the room virtually, on FaceTime, watching from his home 2,060 miles away in Arizona, quarantining with the coronavirus. Kingsbury and quarterback coach Cam Turner were missing from the joyous scene, both having tested positive last week. Without them, Arizona whomped a supposed playoff team, with Kyler Murray and J.J. Watt and DeAndre Hopkins all playing roles. And it was odd to hear club owner Michael Bidwill speaking post-game.
“What you guys did today was extraordinary,” Bidwill said in the locker room. “Special shoutouts—Spencer did an incredible job today!”
Spencer. First name mentioned. The noise from the crowd of players, for a good five seconds, sounded like: “YAAAAAAYYYYYYYYYYY!’’
Spencer? Spencer who? Would even the diehard Cardinal fans know “Spencer?”
Spencer Whipple, the assistant receivers coach, got the nod from Kingsbury on Friday to call the plays into Kyler Murray’s helmet. Seems that Whipple’s even demeanor and encyclopedic knowledge of the Kingsbury offense appealed to the head coach. Kingsbury has been the play-caller for the first 37 games of his Cardinal tenure. Now, the way Kingsbury organized play-calling in his absence was to use the game plan, already installed during the week, as the template. Run-game coordinator Sean Kugler would ID the best running plays for situations, and when a run was called for, he’d be on the headset to Whipple, telling the play, and Whipple would tell Murray. On pass plays, Whipple would make the call. Both men knew there’d be times a run or pass might be the call, and in that case, they’d basically think, WWKC? What would Kliff call?
“Kliff put me at ease,” said Whipple, the son of the former Steelers and Browns quarterback coach Mark Whipple, now the offensive coordinator at Pitt. “When he told me what was going on, he just got right into it, instead of talking about how different it would be or how hard it would be. So I never really thought of the magnitude of it.”
Plus, as special teams coordinator Jeff Rodgers told Whipple: “It’s not like you’re going to be driving a minivan. You’re taking the keys to a Ferrari in this game.”
The Ferrari, of course, was Murray, off to a great start. Whipple’s not in the QB meeting room, and so he doesn’t work with Murray normally. They met for a while Saturday in Tempe, before flying to Cleveland, and Whipple wanted to get a sense of what Murray liked. Murray told him the plays in each category of the playsheet that he felt good about.
Whipple said when he got to the stadium Sunday in Cleveland, the enormity of the task hit him. “I was like, ‘Hey, we’re really doing this.’ “ He’d called plays in a UMass-South Florida game as a UMass assistant several years ago, and he remembered thinking how nervous he was that day. “I was a lot less nervous today,” he said. “Everything was set up pretty well for me.”
The play he recalled fondly after the game was the first touchdown. Arizona had a third-and-19 at the Cleveland 21 on the opening drive. Murray’s favorite play on third-and-long was a corner route to Christian Kirk; if the Cards ran it right, Kirk should have single-coverage. “I just thought, ‘Kyler loves it, so let’s call it,’ “ said Whipple. Murray drew defensive attention to him when it looked like he might scramble—but he was planning to hit Kirk in the left side of the end zone all along. The throw was perfect, Kirk was singled, and Arizona led 7-0.
The Cards had 352 yards, scored on seven of 10 possessions, and it all seemed just too good to be true. When you’ve got a good plan and good player to execute it, dream days like this can happen. But it was no dream. Whipple found that out when his boss texted him a few minutes after the game.
The text: “Congrats! Hard work pays off!” |
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SEATTLE
They took a lot of precautions with DE DARRELL TAYLOR, but the initial report from the hospital is promising. Liz Matthews of USA Today:
Seattle Seahawks fans can breathe a sigh of relief . . . the preliminary CT scans on defensive end Darrell Taylor’s neck have come back clear.
Taylor was carted off the field with a neck injury late in the game Sunday night during the Seahawks’ Week 6 contest against the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Immediately following the loss, coach Pete Carroll was able to provide an early update from the medical team on Taylor’s tests.
“The preliminary – I’m giving you the preliminary because I usually don’t do this but I want to give you something positive – they were clear,” Carroll told reporters. “The CT scans were clear. So, that’s a really good preliminary report for you.
“There are more tests to be done and stuff like that so we are thrilled about the news.”
– – –
Whoa! QB CAM NEWTON has submitted to a vaccine – and he could be of interest to Seattle. Michael David Smith of ProFootballTalk.com:
The Seahawks reached out to free agent quarterback Cam Newton after Russell Wilson went down with a finger injury last week.
Seahawks coach Pete Carroll confirmed today that the Seahawks and Newton touched base, although Carroll indicated that it was more about doing their due diligence with every available quarterback than an indication that Newton was likely to sign.
“Just so you know, we have talked to him. We’re talking to everybody that could help us,” Carroll said to Mike Salk of 710 ESPN.
Newton’s departure from New England was preceded by him missing five days of practice when he was out of town and missed daily testing at the team facility — an issue that wouldn’t have come up if he had been vaccinated at the time. Newton got the COVID-19 vaccine since then, and he said he wants to play. |
| AFC WEST |
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KANSAS CITY
An emotional and painful Sunday for S TYRANN MATHIEU in Washington. Adam Teicher of ESPN.com:
Tyrann Mathieu was animated Sunday.
He had an on-field outburst when the Kansas City Chiefs allowed the Washington Football Team to convert on third-and-16 late in the first half, and again on the sideline when they busted a coverage to allow Washington’s only touchdown of the game.
Then he went off on social media, engaging in name-calling on Twitter and also disclosing he fractured his thumb during the Chiefs’ eventual 31-13 win.
Mathieu was heated during the sequence late in the first half, one that ended with Washington ahead 13-10. He took his helmet off after the third-and-16 play and was screaming at the Chiefs’ sideline. After the drive ended with Washington’s 39-yard touchdown, he continued his rant — apparently aimed at no one in particular — on the sideline before being calmed by defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo.
“It’s high expectations,” Mathieu said.
It was the first time the Chiefs allowed fewer than 29 points all season.
“Obviously we can be a championship defense,” he said. “We’ve been to the championship the last two years. After a while you have to play a certain way and when it comes to third-and-long you have to get off the football field.”
Asked whether he was upset by the defensive call or the Chiefs’ effort on the play, Mathieu added: “It was third-and-long. It doesn’t matter what play the coach calls. As players you have to execute. Obviously you have to have formation recognition. You just need to [have a] sense of urgency. I just think the whole defense took [the play] off. Coach is going to call the game and as players we have to make it right.”
The Chiefs responded well to the outburst. They shut out Washington in the second half.
“They love it when I go crazy,” Mathieu said of his teammates. “I don’t know why. The coaches like it. … I felt like we put in a lot of good work this week and I thought the goal was to hold those guys to 10 points and under. Anytime you don’t reach your goals, it kind of pissed me off.
“[Spagnuolo] knows me. He knows I’m never mad at my teammates or him. It’s more so the expectations and I want us to play how we practice.”
Mahomes was also agitated afterward on social media. He answered a question about why he didn’t make a certain tackle by saying he fractured his thumb. |
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LAS VEGAS
Interesting note from Peter King on Raiders rusher MAXX CROSBY who is one of his defensive players of the week.
Maxx Crosby, edge rusher, Las Vegas. Pro Football Focus has this metric for pass-rushers called win rate, which is what it sounds like. How often on a pass-rush does the defensive player win? Crosby, the third-year rusher from Eastern Michigan, leads the league this year with a 29 percent win rate; and his rate was 33 percent Sunday in Denver. Crosby had three sacks of quarterback Teddy Bridgewater and added nine hits and hurries of the veteran QB. What a game, and it came with the Raiders, of course, teetering on the edge of having their head coach yanked from them the week of the game.
– – –
Peter King takes the measure of Jon Gruden:
First five years as head coach: 55-32 in four years in Oakland and one in Tampa, including a Super Bowl win in his first year in Tampa.
Last 10 years as head coach: 67-84 in six years in Tampa and four with the Raiders.
Last playoff victory: 18-and-a-half years ago, Tampa Bay’s Super Bowl victory over Oakland.
Playoff wins in his last 10 years as head coach: 0.
Years his last 10 teams were in the top five of NFL offensive yardage: 0.
Years his last 10 teams were in the top five of NFL scoring: 0.
This isn’t meant to trash Gruden. It’s meant to be realistic about a man who was six games over .500 (122-116) in 15 years as a head coach. He’s been a good coach with a huge persona. I’ve enjoyed my relationship with him and never heard any of the untoward stuff from those emails in my conversations with him over the years.
The question is, did he live up to the hype, some of it self-produced? I would say no, of course not. But I would also say: Could anyone have lived up to it?
In 2002, the Bucs traded two first-round picks and two second-round picks to acquire him from Al Davis and the Raiders. Think of the enormity of that. In 2000, New England paid one first-round pick for Bill Belichick. History will show the Bucs wildly overpaid.
In his first season in Tampa, Gruden walked into a ready-made contender coming off three straight playoff years but couldn’t get over the top. Gruden coached the Bucs to a 12-4 record and a Lombardi Trophy in his first season. But the Bucs had losing records three of the next four years, and he was let go after the ’08 season. Highlight of his seven years in Tampa: winning a Super Bowl. Lowlight: never developing a long-term franchise quarterback, though he had a quarterback-whisperer reputation.
Kevin Clark wrote a good story in The Ringer last week about this era of football being the end of uber-powerful head coaches. I thought it was spot-on. There’s nothing wrong with a coach having a big personality and being really famous. But winning a zillion games in college football (hello, Urban Meyer) doesn’t necessarily translate into NFL success, nor, as in the case of Gruden, does being smart-alecky and glib and fun on TV, and talking the same language of college quarterbacks and doing cool longform shows with them before the draft. |
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LOS ANGELES CHARGERS
Even though Ravens DC Wink Martindale had no trouble shutting down QB JUSTIN HERBERT, Peter King notes his unique verbiage of respect:
“He’s one of those guys who can throw a strawberry through a battleship.”
—Baltimore defensive coordinator Wink Martindale on Week 6 foe Justin Herbert of the Chargers.
I’m not sure what that means. I guess it means Herbert can throw a soft fruit that would pierce steel of a big ship, but it sure seems likes a weird allegory. |
| AFC NORTH |
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CLEVELAND
In addition to having been battered by the Cardinals, the Browns have new injuries to overcome. Jay Busbee of YahooSports.com:
When you push against the established order of the universe, the universe pushes back hard.
For most of the 21st century, the Cleveland Browns have floundered in a sub-basement of purgatory, eliminated from the playoffs before October and a near-guaranteed W on the schedule of every other team. When you finish fourth in your four-team division 14 times in a 16-year period, expectations aren’t just low, they’re subterranean.
Now, though, we’re looking at a Cleveland Browns team that’s — well, you can’t even call them “resurgent,” since there’s nothing to surge back to. This surgent team went 11-5 last year — the most wins for a Cleveland team since 1994 — and reached the playoffs for the first time in nearly two decades. Hopes were high that this year’s model could be not just a playoff contender, but a conference challenger.
It hasn’t worked out that way, and not just because the Ravens, Chiefs and Bills have found their footing. Cleveland’s suffering through an astounding wave of injuries, leaving the team’s injury report looking like a roster that — if healthy — could challenge for the AFC North.
The supreme cruelty of that avalanche of injuries, arriving just as the Browns had crossed past respectability and well into the realm of legitimate threat, is so perfectly Cleveland it hurts. Not as much as a dislocated shoulder, true, but painful all the same.
Baker Mayfield, the epitome of this new-look Cleveland team, has struggled through a recurring shoulder injury. He injured the shoulder in Week 2 against Houston, tearing his labrum, and has worn a harness to keep the shoulder from popping out of the socket. But Sunday against the Cardinals, while getting sacked five times, the shoulder popped out again, leaving Mayfield prone on the field for several minutes.
Mayfield, who has made 50 consecutive starts, insists he’ll be fine for Thursday’s game against Denver. “It feels like s—,” Mayfield said of his shoulder, but he said he’ll “absolutely” be back on the field Thursday.
Elsewhere on the roster, running backs Nick Chubb and Kareem Hunt have missed time. Fullback Andy Janovich and wide receivers Odell Beckham Jr. and Jarvis Landry have also missed action, and the offensive line is down three tackles: Jedrick Wills, Andy Conklin and Chris Hubbard. On the other side of the ball, linebacker Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah will also miss significant time.
That’s not just a challenge. That, in the aggregate, is an existential threat. Cleveland faces Denver later this week on short rest, and then two crucial divisional matchups against Pittsburgh and Cincinnati. There’s zero room for error in the AFC North.
Browns have been snakebit by injuries this season. (Photo by Nick Cammett/Getty Images)
There’s also zero room for excuses, and this is where it gets tricky for Cleveland. The Ravens have weathered torrents of injuries and yet are on a five-game winning streak. The Cardinals lost a swath of players and coaches to COVID protocols … and then managed to whip Cleveland on the road 37-14.
Stefanski, to his credit, isn’t using injuries as an excuse. “We are a 3-3 football team, and we played like it,” he said after the Cardinals loss. “We were just very, very average, and that is my responsibility to get it fixed. That is what we have to do because we have to turn right around and come back in here Thursday night and find a way. Really disappointed. Again, we just have to find a way to clean this stuff up.”
Still, it’s going to be a tough go for Cleveland without the dual-threat running attack of Chubb and Hunt, or the O-line protection for Mayfield up front. Mayfield is still something of a question mark, playing well in the fourth year of his rookie deal but not quite well enough that Cleveland has committed to a Josh Allen-esque extension. He’ll have to survive the next few weeks not just with his own injuries, but those of key teammates.
“We are going to see what we are made of,” Mayfield said. “Our backs are up against the wall right now, and I like our chances.”
The universe has punched the Cleveland Browns in the face. It’s now up to Cleveland to get up and punch back.
Also out for several weeks is LB JEREMIAH OWUSU-KORAMOAH. |
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PITTSBURGH
Peter King on the end of regulation in Pittsburgh:
I think I’m not sure why Steelers coach Mike Tomlin was spitting mad about the end of the fourth quarter after Pittsburgh’s 23-20 win over Seattle. To recap, with the clock winding down and the Steelers up 20-17 in the final seconds of the fourth quarter, and Seattle having no timeouts, Seattle wideout Freddie Swain recovered a Seahawk fumble and raced to place it at the Pittsburgh 25 so they’d have a chance for a last-second field goal. As Swain put the ball down and Geno Smith went to spike it, the ball was snapped and officials blew their whistles. The announcement came that there would be a review of whether the previous catch was legit. Tomlin called it “embarrassing” later. But here’s the point: Regardless whether that play was reviewed or not, Smith was going to have the extra second he needed to spike the ball and get the field-goal unit on the field. So even if the officials were late in stopping the game for a replay of the previous play, what really mattered is Seattle would have had a chance to get that last field goal off.
What King is missing is that the timing of the stoppage was intentional. In those situations, the officials are going to let things play out to see if the team would get the play off if the call stands. They weren’t going to let a stoppage at five seconds with a re-wind over the ball happen due to the stoppage when the clock would have expired before the spike. ProFootballZebras.com:
@footballzebras
The mechanic is that replay already communicated the intention to review before the spike but weren’t going to stop the clock until the snap was imminent
@footballzebras
Had the Seahawks not been able to get set in formation, replay would not stop the clock to give them an advantage. They would have conducted the review after :00. But the replay official had to let that run down that way
There were a few aspects where the time did not allow for a review. Didn’t want to get frozen out from reviewing something because of a snap and spike intervening. Basically, if the replay official “sees smoke” w/ a running clock, they wait to shut down when the snap is imminent
It didn’t change anything – but was worth seeing if Metcalf had stepped out of bounds. I bet normally that’s one of those they discuss without review, but running clock and time didn’t allow for that. |
| AFC SOUTH |
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INDIANAPOLIS
Peter King notes that RB JONATHAN TAYLOR is quietly doing plenty of good things.
Jonathan Taylor, running back, Indianapolis. The 41st pick in the 2020 draft is turning out to be one of the best Colts GM Chris Ballard ever made. In a 31-3 rout of the Texans, Taylor averaged 10.4 yards per carry on 14 carries for 145 yards. That was helped by the longest non-touchdown run of the season in the NFL this year. In the middle of the third quarter, this was still a game. Indy 17, Houston 3. The Colts took over at their 12, and Taylor powered and sprinted his way 83 yards to the Texans’ 5-yard line. Amazing thing was, the Colts called his number the next three snaps—for two yards, minus-one and four, the last one for a touchdown. |
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JACKSONVILLE
Who is this PK MATTHEW WRIGHT – and why was he winning a game for Jacksonville? Peter King:
Matthew Wright, kicker, Jacksonville. For five games and 56 minutes, the Jaguars were 0-for-2021 in field goals. Hadn’t made a field goal yet. Wright, the former Steeler and Lion, active because of Josh Lambo’s ineffectiveness, picked a very good time to get Jacksonville off the schneid. In the last four minutes in London, Wright made fields goals from 53 and 54 yards. The first field goal tied the game at 20. The second won the game, 23-20.
This note from CBSSports.com:
The Jaguars entered the game without a single made field goal during the season’s first five games, the only team in the Super Bowl era to do so.
King also commends Urban Meyer as his Coach of the Week:
Urban Meyer, head coach, Jacksonville. Interesting case of “What would you do here?” With five seconds left in the fourth quarter of a 20-20 game against Miami, the Jags had a fourth-and-eight at the Miami 44-yard line with all timeouts left. Meyer could have had his kicker, Matthew Wright, try a 62-yard field goal. (Wright hasn’t kicked a field goal that long in his life.) He could have had Trevor Lawrence throw a Hail Mary. Those seemed like the best options. But Meyer conferred with offensive coordinator Darrell Bevell and passing game coordinator Brian Schottenheimer and Meyer suggested they run a play called “Slider.” That’s a play where Lawrence throws a quick slant, the receiver catches it and gets down, and the Jags call a timeout as fast as they can, even while the receiver is going down. That, Meyer reasoned, was a better chance to win—maybe there was a 30 percent chance of converting the play into a first down and there still being a second left on the clock. Then, Meyer reasoned, Wright could be in position for a field goal around 52 or 53 yards. So the Jags ran it, Laviska Shenault caught a bullet from Lawrence and immediately got down, and the timeout was called. One second left. Wright jogged onto the field and booted a 53-yarder to win. With so much heat on Meyer, it was a very nice way to win the first game of his NFL coaching career, and his first coaching win in 1,018 days. (Jan. 1, 2019, Rose Bowl: Ohio State 28, Washington 23.)
Not to rain on Meyer’s first NFL victory parade, but he had three timeouts and on the previous play Laviska Shenault was tackled with the clock running and 13 seconds left. Jacksonville squandered up to eight seconds before it called the timeout with five seconds on the clock. |
| AFC EAST |
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NEW ENGLAND
With 4th-and-3 at his own 46 in overtime, Bill Belichick opted to punt and face near-certain and inevitable doom at the hands of DAK PRESCOTT and the Cowboys. We thought for sure the analytics crowd would be all over him.
What are your chances of making 3 yards? 60%, 50%? Not that your guaranteed to march down the field and the winning TD, but at least you have a shot or the extending FG. And what are the chances that Prescott and the Cowboys will do what they did, 40%. If you don’t get the three yards, the Cowboys still need two first downs for the winning field goal, instead of say four after the punt.
But no, analytics seemed to side with Belichick. At least, we first saw this –
@SethWalder
Our WP model agreed with Bill Belichick’s decision to punt on 4th-and-3 in overtime.
@SethWalder
WP go: 46%
WP punt: 51%
The possessions are asymmetric. New England can’t win with a field goal on the first drive. |
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THIS AND THAT |
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PETER KING’S QBs
Peter King ranks his top quarterbacks, while praising the depth of competition, at this particular point in history:
So many good quarterbacks now. In my 38 seasons covering the NFL, I’ve never seen a class of quarterbacks as good as this one. Try to make a top 10 right now, for how quarterbacks are playing right now. Not who are the best, but how they’re playing right now, this month. It’s fruitless, but here goes:
1 Kyler Murray
2 Josh Allen
3 Dak Prescott
4 Lamar Jackson
5 Tom Brady
6 Aaron Rodgers
7 Justin Herbert
8 Patrick Mahomes
9 Matthew Stafford
10 Kirk Cousins
11 Derek Carr
12 Joe Burrow
Joe Burrow, playing with such command an confidence and accuracy, 12th? That just shows the depth of these quarterbacks now. Plus, it’s so fungible. If I did this in three weeks, Mahomes could be first. Lamar Jackson could be. Anyway, my point is there’s an embarrassment of riches at quarterback right now. But Prescott, no matter how you quantify or qualify your factors for such a list, has gone in five years from the 135th player picked in the draft to someone so trustworthy, someone so indispensable, that he’ll be a fixture on talk-show lists like this for years. And no one will be remotely surprised if it’s Prescott and the Cowboys who go on a tear this year, and if it’s the Cowboys who get hot at the right time and storm into Super Bowl 56 in Los Angeles in four months.
Did he leave anyone out? RUSSELL WILSON goes back in when healthy. Is RYAN TANNEHILL next? No MATT RYAN, eh? |
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2022 DRAFT
Some thoughts from Mel Kiper, Jr. on six prospects who are rising and will take the spots awarded to the likes of Oklahoma QB SPENCER RATTLER in preseason 2022 Mock Drafts:
So let’s talk today about “sleepers,” particularly prospects who aren’t in the first-round discussion right now but who could rise into the top 32 picks if they nail the rest of the season and pre-draft process. I picked six guys I like who I could see NFL teams falling in love with by the time April rolls around. These aren’t necessarily small-school prospects — though there are a couple — but they’re guys who are creating some buzz within the league and have a high ceiling.
I’ll start with a raw offensive tackle, and I’ll also pick an under-the-radar prospect to watch the rest of the season plus a riser after Saturday’s games:
Bernhard Raimann, OT, Central Michigan
Scouts have been buzzing about Raimann, who has an amazing backstory. He began playing football in his home country of Austria at age 14, then came to the United States as a foreign exchange student, where he excelled at high school in Detroit. He got a scholarship from Central Michigan as a 6-foot-7, 230-pound tight end and had 20 total catches in 2018 and 2019. Then, he bulked up before the 2020 season to make the transition to left tackle, where has started the past 13 games for the Chippewas.
Now 305 pounds, Raimann looks fantastic so far. He drives defensive ends off the line of scrimmage in the run game and has stellar feet in pass sets. NFL offensive line coaches will love his physical traits. Raimann is not a first-rounder right now, but he’s the type of raw, ascending talent I could see teams trying to take at the end of Round 1. He’s improving every week. Coaches will want to mold him into the next great left tackle.
Daxton Hill, S, Michigan
A former five-star prospect in the Class of 2019, Hill has started ever since he got to the Michigan campus. He’s exactly what NFL coordinators want in a defensive back; he can be a deep safety, cover wide receivers from the slot, or play close to the line of scrimmage and make plays in the run game. He has the ball skills of a corner — check out this interception against Nebraska — and has added five tackles for loss this season.
At 6-foot, 190 pounds, Hill has long arms and the speed to run with wideouts. His versatility is a huge plus. He’s playing great this season and could rise into the Round 1 discussion if he keeps it up.
Boye Mafe, DE/OLB, Minnesota
NFL teams crave edge rushers — they can’t find enough pass-rushers who create havoc and get after quarterbacks. That’s Mafe, who has 9.5 sacks and four forced fumbles in his past 11 games dating to the start of last season. At 6-foot-3, 265 pounds, he can bend the corner and use his speed to get by offensive tackles. He also has some power moves.
Mafe just barely cracked my top 10 list at OLB in my most recent Big Board, but he could rise if he keeps up his production and performs like I think he will at the combine in March. Just look at former Penn State defender Odafe Oweh, who snuck into the end of Round 1 last year on the heels of an elite pro day workout. He already has three sacks for the Ravens. It just takes one team to fall in love with a prospect, and Mafe has the tools that make him a pass-rusher to watch.
Jameson Williams, WR, Alabama
I wrote last month about Williams’ start to the season, and he has taken the SEC by storm. With 29 catches for 587 yards and six scores — including one on Saturday against Mississippi State — he has been Alabama’s best wideout. The Ohio State transfer is an explosive vertical stretch receiver who is averaging 20.2 yards per catch in his first season at Alabama. Williams tracks the ball in the air at an elite level and is a big play waiting to happen. He also has two kickoff return touchdowns.
The 2022 receiver class has been up and down this season, and I ranked Williams at No. 6 in my top 10 last month. There’s no doubt he’s playing like a future first-rounder, but he needs to keep showing his ability to separate and come down with long scores. I actually wouldn’t be surprised if he was drafted before his former Buckeyes teammates Chris Olave and Garrett Wilson, if a team falls in love with his long speed.
Logan Hall, DL, Houston
OK, so you asked for sleeper first-round picks, and these next two prospects definitely qualify as under the radar. Hall has really improved this season. He has been absolutely dominant over the past two games, with 3.5 sacks and five more tackles for loss against Tulsa and Tulane. At 6-foot-5, 275 pounds, he can play on the edge or rush passers from the three-technique spot. The versatility will be appealing to NFL teams, who want to move around defenders to confuse offenses.
The arrow is definitely pointing up on Hall, who has put together a few “wow” performances this season. Don’t forget that Houston had a surprise first-rounder last year, too, when the Saints took defensive lineman Payton Turner at No. 28. Hall has been one of the most disruptive defenders in college football this season.
Jalen Tolbert, WR, South Alabama
Let’s end with a small-school prospect I highlighted before the season as a potential riser. The 6-foot-3 Tolbert is coming off his best performance of the season; he had 11 catches for 174 yards and a touchdown in the win over Georgia Southern. He now has 36 catches for 718 yards on the season, an average of 19.9 yards per reception. For his career, Tolbert has 2,384 receiving yards — while averaging 18.1 yards per catch — and 16 scores.
Drops have been an issue, but Tolbert is a big playmaker whom teams could eye at the end of Round 1. |
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