NFC EAST

WASHINGTON

The Washington Newspaper continued its attack on the owner of the Washington Football Team.  Mike Florio of ProFootballTalk.com:

Daniel Snyder’s stay on Twitter could be short. His remaining tenure as owner of the Washington Football Team could be even shorter.

The Washington Post, which reported last month that 15 former female employees contend that they were sexually harassed while working for the team but did not make any accusations against Snyder directly, has published a new article that directly implicates Snyder in one instance of alleged misconduct, and that indirectly implicates him in another.

First, former cheerleader Tiffany Bacon Scourby contends that Snyder approached her at a 2004 charity event and suggested that she join Snyder’s close friend and the team’s “official ophthalmologist,” Anthony Roberts, in a hotel room so that they “could get to know each other better.” Three of Scourby’s friends, including the team’s former cheerleading director, said that she told them about the incident shortly after it happened.

The team did not comment on the matter, and Snyder declined to be interviewed by the Post.

Second, former Washington senior V.P. and lead broadcaster Larry Michael, who abruptly retired a day before the original Post story was published, allegedly asked for the production of a video of revealing outtakes from a video documenting the making of the team’s 2008 cheerleader swimsuit calendar. Michael allegedly referred to the outtakes as “the good bits” or “the good parts” of the video shoot. A former member of Michael’s staff said that Michael asked staffers to make the video for Snyder.

The team and Snyder did not comment on this allegation, either. Michael, per the Post, “adamantly denied” it.

Brad Baker, the former member of Michael’s staff, told the Post that “Larry said something to the effect of, ‘We have a special project that we need to get done for the owner today: He needs us to get the good bits of the behind-the-scenes video from the cheerleader shoot onto a DVD for him.”

Another video allegedly was created in 2010, with Michael allegedly requesting that the video be recorded on a DVD with the title “For Executive Meeting.”

The Post obtained both videos, and it concluded based on analysis of the metadata in the video files that there was no evidence of manipulation of the 2008 video. (The article does not expressly articulate that same conclusion as to the 2010 video, although the authenticity of the 2010 video seems to be strongly implied.) The Post explained that the videos came from a former employee who saved them “because I didn’t think anyone would believe it was real.” The former employee decided to provide the videos to the Post after last month’s report was published, hopeful that the NFL will “hold the team more accountable.”

The initial article from the Post apparently had that same effect on others. The number of former female employees who claim they experienced sexual harassment while working for the Washington Football Team has increased from 15 to 40, with 25 more now speaking out. Per the Post, “many” decided to speak out because they believe Snyder has tried to distance himself from the culture of the workplace.

The article also contains details regarding the atmosphere within the workplace, one that allegedly made it difficult for female employees to complain about the treatment they were experiencing. The most significant development, by far, is that, unlike last month’s report, the Post this time around has put one dart into the Daniel Snyder bull’s-eye and has landed another one incredibly close to it.

This is the second time Scourby has been in the news.  Back in 2017, she had this to say to People:

EXCLUSIVE: A Third Woman Accuses Jeremy Piven Of Sexual Assault: ‘I Was Fighting Back Tears’

An advertising executive is alleging that former Entourage star Jeremy Piven sexually assaulted her.

Tiffany Bacon Scourby tells PEOPLE she decided to come forward after reality TV star and Playboy Playmate Ariane Bellamar accused Piven of sexual assault on Oct. 30, accusations that the actor was quick to “unequivocally deny.”

“I 100 percent believe she’s being honest,” Scourby tells PEOPLE of reading Bellamar’s tweets stating Piven groped her on the set of Entourage and at the Playboy Mansion. Following Bellamar’s claims, a second woman, Longmire actress Cassidy Freeman, also spoke out. On Instagram, Freeman posted, “I know what you did and attempted to do to me when I was far too young. THAT I know. And you know it too. Unless there were so many of us, that you can’t remember,” before concluding her post by writing, “I hope from now on, you keep it in your pants and you never get to do it again.”

(Recently, Piven’s pre-taped appearance on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert was canceled on Nov. 3, with CBS releasing a statement to Entertainment Weekly stating, “Jeremy Piven’s interview for Friday’s broadcast was pre-taped earlier this week on Monday, October 30. Since we were unable to address recent developments in that interview, we are replacing that segment with a new guest.”)

Over the course of multiple phone calls over several days, Scourby, who is based in Washington, D.C., shared her recollections of her interactions with Piven, whom she claims to have met in October 2003 when she was in New York City for a work event.

“He was very nice to me,” Scourby, 39, tells PEOPLE of meeting the Wisdom of the Crowd star, 52, out at a club. “He mentioned he was going to [tape an appearance on] Late Night with Conan O’Brien the next day and gave me his number and asked me to go with him as his guest.”

Scourby says “nothing happened” that night and the next morning, after her work meeting, she met him around 11 a.m. at the Trump International Hotel & Tower, where he was staying.

“I remember I was wearing this white ribbed turtle neck and brown slacks — business attire — and I was sitting right next to him on the couch,” Scourby says. “We were talking for about five minutes and he said he was waiting for his [publicist] to come with us.”

Suddenly, “he jumped on top of me. I tried to push him off and he forced me to the ground,” recalls Scourby, who says Piven exposed his genitals and began rubbing them against her body.

She says she remained clothed the entire 15 minutes of her time in his suite but “he held down my hands” and ejaculated “all over my white turtleneck.”

Afterward, “I pushed him off of me and ran down the short hallway to get to the door,” she continues. “I rubbed my chest against the wall to get his [semen] off of my sweater. I ran outside and hailed a cab and I just burst into tears. I cried the entire way back to my hotel.”

Scourby says she called a longtime friend from the cab and recounted what had happened. (The friend has since corroborated this version of events to PEOPLE.) She returned to her hotel to shower before catching a train back home to Washington, D.C.

“I just cried on the train the whole way back,” she says.

In the 14 years since the incident, Scourby got married, became a mother and “never thought about saying anything” about the incident until she saw Piven’s fervent denial of Bellamar’s allegations.

NFC WEST

SEATTLE

A knife wound for S JAMAL ADAMS.  Michael David Smith of ProFootballTalk.com:

Seahawks safety Jamal Adams missed Wednesday’s full-team scrimmage because of an unusual injury.

According to Seahawks coach Pete Carroll, Adams cut his finger in a kitchen accident.

“He cut his finger slicing some strawberries,” Carroll said, via the Tacoma News Tribune. “He hit his finger. He had a few stitches, so we kept him out, not to make him have to use that thing. It’s a very minor situation. Easy for me to say. He almost cut his finger off. But, anyway, he’ll be fine.”

Adams initially had a large protective wrap on the injured hand but was able to go through warmups before the scrimmage with just two gloves. He is expected to return to practice by this weekend.

AFC NORTH

CINCINNATI

If CB MACKENSIE ALEXANDER’s father was left for dead on an ill-fated berry-picking trip, he did not die.  Darin Gantt of ProFootballTalk.com:

The Bengals got some good news Thursday morning, that had nothing to do with football.

According to Jay Morrison of TheAthletic.com, Bengals cornerback Mackensie Alexander’s father has been found alive.

His father had been missing since Monday night, after a berry-picking trip in Florida. Alexander left camp, and was arrested Tuesday night for one charge of battery against the person last seen with his father.

According to Tom Pelissero of NFL Network, the Collier County Sheriff’s Office said the man walked up to the ranger station at the Kissimmee Prairie Preserve State Park at 7:15 a.m., and was “in good health and will be turned over to family members.”

Alexander and other family members are on their way to see him now, a welcome dose of good news.

AFC EAST

BUFFALO

This report on the culture of the Bills.  Curtis Crabtree of ProFootballTalk.com:

The Buffalo Bills have benched their own team reporter for the remainder of training camp for violating the team’s media policy, according to Tim Graham of TheAthletic.com.

Additionally, the team’s three-person marketing staff has collectively quit the organization just two weeks before the scheduled start of the regular season.

Chris Brown, employed with the organization since 2006, has been serving as the team’s radio host and web reporter. With no fans at practices and no preseason games for opponents to scout this year because of COVID contingencies, teams around the NFL have tried their best to lock down reporting about their practices.

After distributing the new media policy on August 16 that prohibited reporting on game strategy, snap counts and unit participation, Brown supposedly discussed many of those items during his radio show with former Bills receiver Steve Tasker.

The recordings of those segments have been taken down from team radio partner WGR’s website, though they are quoted in TheAthletic.com report. Brown has been absent from practice ever since, hasn’t utilized his twitter account in a week, and allegedly hasn’t been involved in any video conference interviews either.

On the marketing side, Vice president of marketing Shaena Kershner, marketing coordinator Alex Compton, and marketing manager Kelly Baker have all chosen to leave the organization over the last two weeks. Kershner resigned two weeks ago, Compton shortly after and Baker will depart at the end of the week.

The departures would be the latest in a number of changes to the business side of the team since the start of the year.

There may be another reason, other than confiding confidential practice informantion, that Brown has been disappeared.

Tim Graham of The Athletic reports that Brown has been suspended from all their platforms and barred from covering practice at training camp. The reason? The team isn’t saying, but Graham connects the dots to a tweet about Dave Portnoy:

The Bills aren’t talking about Brown’s whereabouts, but he disappeared from practices last week after apparently violating the team’s media policy. Three days later, the longtime club employee vanished from “One Bills Live” — simulcast on WGR 550 and MSG Network — and social media without an announcement on where he went or when he will return. Brown’s total evaporation occurred Thursday, less than two hours after heralding Barstool Sports founder Dave Portnoy’s tweet about buying title sponsorship rights to the Bills’ stadium.

When I read that, I kind of thought the tweet would be cheerleading the bid, but it was pretty matter-of-fact:

@ChrisBrownBills

Stadium naming development here. Head of Barstool Sports. #Bills

Dave Portnoy

@stoolpresidente

After a brief conversation with those who matter I am here to say we are very serious about buying the naming rights of the @BuffaloBills stadium and will enter the process.

Portnoy and Barstool knew very well that the NFL would never in a million years approve their bid on the naming rights, but the move to do so will continue to garner attention up till the moment the NFL rejects said bid.

THIS AND THAT

KENOSHA

In the wake of the shooting of Jacob Blake in Kenosha, Wisconsin, the NBA and WNBA shut down on Wednesday and distraught players are considering abandoning the entire season.  Three baseball games were not played as well, led by the Milwaukee Brewers.

In addition, many media members took to Twitter to express outrage that the NHL did not see the seriousness of the situation and continued with business as usual.

As for the NFL, the Washington Football Team will not practice on Thursday.

Washington had been scheduled to practice at FedEx Field on Thursday afternoon. Coach Ron Rivera already was going to lead a discussion about the shooting with the team Thursday morning at their Ashburn, Virginia, facility, as well as possible plans for what the team might do during the season to show support for social justice. New team president Jason Wright also was going to be part of the discussion as well as Malcolm Blacken, the senior director of player development. They were then going to board buses to drive an hour to their stadium for the practice.

But after Rivera spoke with Wright, a former player and the first African American team president in the NFL, they agreed having the players practice after an emotionally draining meeting would be counterproductive. Owner Dan Snyder agreed.

In a statement, Rivera said, “Jason Wright and I worked to develop a response that has the right balance between the business of football and being truly thoughtful about the social injustice we witnessed with this latest incident in Wisconsin.”

Washington will resume practice Friday and probably will make up the missed workout at FedEx on a later date.

In the statement, Rivera said they will “continue our open dialogue on the issues of racism and social injustice in our country. Mr. Snyder and Jason will join us in our discussion with the team, just as Mr. Snyder and I will support Jason in similar discussions we are planning for members of the business and stadium side of the organization. We are all in this together. And as a team we will work to figure out ways that we can

The Colts, Bears and Jets also cancelled practice on Thursday to devote the day to the pursuit of social justice and the end of systemic racism.  Meanwhile in Cleveland, the Browns are part of a Social Justice Alliance that is dedicated to battling social injustice throughout Northeast Ohio.

The Lions are already getting high marks from most in the media for being the first NFL team to speak out against the oppression in Kenosha.  Jim Trotter of NFL.com:

The morning began as most mornings do with the Detroit Lions. Head coach Matt Patricia stood before the players and opened up the floor for discussion about anything on the guys’ minds. Within minutes, it was obvious that this was not a morning like most other mornings. Football had taken a backseat to life.

On Sunday night, Jacob Blake, an unarmed Black man, was shot at point-blank range seven times in the back by a Kenosha, Wisconsin, police officer as he leaned into his SUV while his three children sat in the vehicle. The video went viral on Monday, and by Tuesday morning, it hung in the air as the Lions gathered for practice.

When Patricia opened the floor, an intense discussion ensued about police brutality against people of color. The team had had the same discussion during the offseason, but that was virtually. On Tuesday, they could see each other in person. They could feel the emotion. The situation was more real. More raw.

Patricia realized this and canceled practice. The players then gathered in front of the training facility and flanked both sides of a large white board on which their feelings were printed in blue block letters: THE WORLD CAN’T GO ON!

“We got together as a team and felt that this was something that just can’t be talked about anymore without being recognized,” guard Oday Aboushi told me later in the day by phone. “It was something that really shook a lot of guys. It’s a fear that a lot of guys live with every day, a lot of my teammates live with every day who are Black. It’s something where a simple drive to work can be dangerous for some guys on my team.

“At the end of the day, I don’t deal with that same type of thought process, I don’t deal with that same kind of injustice, but these guys truly live it. For families to live that, and for my teammates to have that as a reality for them, is really heart-crushing and it’s something that, at the end of the day, everybody on the team should really identify with — the amount of hurt and injustice that is right there.”

I’ve seen a lot and heard a lot during my nearly three decades covering the NFL, and seeing the picture of the Lions players in front of the building, next to that white board, gave me goosebumps. Blake is not a member of their nuclear family, and yet, it was as if he were one of them. They wanted to take up his cause because they felt it was their cause. Black or white, younger or older, urban or suburban, established or on the bubble — it didn’t matter. They were one.

The powerful moment was affirmation that we are witnessing a sea change in the NFL. Players are realizing there is power not only in their words, but also their unity — and franchises are having to respond in kind. The whole football is what I do, not who I am is no longer just a cliche.

“When I got into coaching a number of years ago and decided to coach football and leave engineering, one of the biggest things to me and the biggest factors for me was trying to make a difference in people’s lives and trying to just really be there,” Patricia told reporters Tuesday. “I know certainly that the coaches in my life helped me grow as a young person, and certainly my dad who was a coach — that was big also. … Football is great. I love it. It’s my passion. It’s everything that I think about all the time, competing at the highest level. But it’s about people, it’s about relationships, it’s about trying to help those who need help in any facet whether if it’s on or off the field. And it’s to listen.”

As much as some might be skeptical that a sea change is taking place within the league, moments like Tuesday lead me to believe that there is no turning back. This new reality is one that owners and league officials will have to adjust to, particularly as it relates to the fight for social justice and racial equality.

“One thing we always stressed to each other as athletes is the power of the platform we have and the effect it could have on people, and the situations and people it could bring light to,” Aboushi said. “More than ever, that means something now: Not only protect your platform and don’t say the wrong thing, but use your platform for good and to continue to bring change and give people who don’t necessarily have a voice or don’t have that hope — give them hope of potential change.”

Pete Carroll is asked if the NBA’s self-boycott strategy could come to the NFL.  He doesn’t say no.  Mike Florio of ProFootballTalk.com:

The Seahawks had a mock game on Wednesday. Some players sat during the national anthem played before the game. After the game, coach Pete Carroll addressed the shooting of Jacob Blake, which has sparked widespread outrage and protest in the sports community.

“This whole thing is ridiculous, and anybody that doesn’t recognize that just isn’t paying attention,” Carroll said.

So could teams decide to not take the field during the 2020 season?

“Anything’s possible,” Carroll said. “I mentioned to the players this is the year — the protest season. It’s the season of protesting. And we’ll handle ourselves as we do. This is a protest that doesn’t have an end to it until all the problems go away. And we solve the issues and stuff. So we’re gonna do our part and continue to work to stay actively involved, and continue to stay in touch with the situations that are going on by staying on the topics and with it just in hopes that we can be there to help and support where we can and have influence where we can.”

For NFL teams, the power to protest becomes most relevant during the anthem, but there are indications that it will spread more broadly than that. From the Lions shutting down practice on Tuesday to whatever may happen with practices and games going forward, NFL players are using both their words and their actions to solve the problem of police brutality against minorities. As NBA players become even more aggressive in their words and actions, NFL players may decide to follow suit.

Terez Paylor of YahooSports.com urges the NFL players on to greater and greater displays of their commitment and challenges The Commish to back them to the hilt.

Eventually, the majority of players stopped kneeling, and football continued.

Things dramatically changed after the George Floyd killing in late May. Black players, standing up for a community that is tired of watching the same thing happen repeatedly, banded together in a unified voice behind the causes. This culminated in a handful of the NFL’s star players putting together a video that demanded the league acknowledge the social movement’s mantra: “Black Lives Matter.” Even commissioner Roger Goodell ultimately capitulated, using those exact words.

It was a stunning admission for Goodell, who two years earlier declined to publicly back his players in a similar manner as the franchise owners he worked for essentially sought to muzzle them.

Even more stunning: In the days and weeks since, Goodell has doubled down on his new stance, saying that he wished the league had listened to Kaepernick earlier with regard to what he was kneeling about.

All of which brings us to Wednesday, when the Milwaukee Bucks’ decision to walk out on their NBA playoff game against the Orlando Magic following the shooting of another African American man, Jacob Blake, by police in Kenosha, Wisconsin, propelled us to the latest stage of the ongoing social justice awakening in America.

The timing of the NBA’s protest was sweet irony, considering Kaepernick’s protests began four years prior to the day. It’s even sweeter because Goodell’s recent words may soon put him in position to prove he believes everything he has been saying lately.

Two more NBA playoff games were canceled Wednesday due to the walkout, as well as multiple MLB games. And based on the early reaction of NFL players to the Bucks’ walkout, one can’t help but wonder if we’ll see NFL players threaten to do the same.

Less than an hour after the Bucks walked out, Houston Texans receiver Kenny Stills tweeted that it’s “time to connect with local activists to help formulate demands,” while Kansas City Chiefs safety Tyrann Mathieu tweeted that there “ain’t enough money in the world to keep overlooking” the true issues affecting players and their families.

For weeks this summer, the NFL Players Association negotiated with team owners to figure out a return-to-work situation amid the COVID-19 crisis. It has been a borderline-rousing success so far, with the number of confirmed positive COVID tests dropping rapidly in recent days. Testing will cost the NFL $75 million this year, so this is a testament to what players can do when they stick together and what the league can do when it uses its financial might to get things done.

So what if players stuck together in a similar vein, and said they don’t feel comfortable playing given everything happening in America right now?

Is it unreasonable to think the threat of a walkout could lead to another negotiation between players and the league, one where players secure real, tangible help from ownership to tackle the issues that matter so much to so many of them before they even think about entertaining the masses?

There’s reason to be skeptical. The NBA is a far more progressive league. While the NBA has embraced players using the league’s platform for social justice causes, there’s no shortage of NFL team owners still trying to prevent their employees from kneeling during the anthem (see Jerry Jones’ recent comments). There are far more players in the NFL than there are in the NBA, and thus, more players that have to be on board with the idea for a walkout to have any weight.

Yet, there are signs of significant movement. The Detroit Lions, as a team, canceled practice Tuesday and used their platform to discuss the weekend shooting of Blake. Meanwhile, players and coaches across the league have been more outspoken on these issues than ever. Supporting social justice causes against police brutality and racial inequalities have become a safer play politically, one that a stone-cold business like the NFL might be apt to adopt to ensure the games (and thus, the cash) continue to roll in.

What any of this will look like, or whether it even materializes, is uncertain. But the Bucks’ historic decision Wednesday will have NFL players thinking about what they can do to send a similar message. If players settle on a similar protest, and players threaten to skip games or practices or whatever, Goodell had better have their backs, regardless of whether his 32 team-owning bosses agree.

Otherwise, he’ll show that he didn’t learn anything since Kaepernick first started taking a knee four years ago despite his recent proclamations to the contrary.

ROOKIE RUNNING BACKS

Which rookie running backs are likely to take over in 2020?  Chris Trapasso of CBSSports.com has a list of 10 topped by RB JONATHAN TAYLOR of the Colts:

While not nearly as hyped as the wide receiver class, the 2020 draft did feature a handful of highly talented running backs. Three were picked in the top 50 and six were selected before the start of the third round. And now we’ve gotten updates on how these young ball carriers have fared over the first few weeks of training camp.

Now that we’ve been able to see these runners on the field, it’s time to reset the position not just by overall talent but by opportunity and situation that altogether indicate how big of an impact these rookie backs will make in 2020.

10. DeeJay Dallas, Seahawks

Skill set: Squatty, vision-based back with high-quality hands and deceptive bounce in space.

2020 impact: Dallas averaged 5.7 and 6.0 yards per carry in his final two seasons at Miami, although he never carried the ball over 115 times either year. Not remotely close to being a special athlete, Dallas wins with low-center-of-gravity power and high-level balance through tackles he can’t avoid. With former first-round pick Rashad Penny on active/PUP right now nursing an ACL injury, Dallas has an outstanding opportunity in front of him, and according to Liz Matthews of The Seahawks Wire, Dallas has made a “really good impression” on Pete Carroll early in camp. Seattle’s head coach singled out the rookie runner’s pass-catching ability.

Seattle’s backfield is led by Chris Carson and has other depth options, including newly signed Carlos Hyde and Dallas’ former Miami teammate Travis Homer, but Dallas should carve out a nice, receiving role as a rookie.

9. Eno Benjamin, Cardinals

Skill set: Springy, contact-balance specialist with reliable hands and explosive movements.

2020 impact: Benjamin was a productive workhorse at Arizona State in 2018 and 2019 then measured in at a stocky 5-foot-9 and 207 pounds at the combine. There he ran 4.57 — not great — but had a vertical in the 90th percentile at the position and a three-cone drill in under 7.00 seconds. His game is predicated on short-area explosion, outstanding vision, and the innate ability to maintain his equilibrium when contacted. While not deemed ultra-serious, Kenyan Drake is in a walking boot right now at Cardinals camp, and Benjamin only has Chase Edmonds in front of him on the depth chart. This is me telling you to not be surprised when Benjamin is contributing for Arizona in a big way at some point during his rookie year. He’s the perfect Air Raid back.

8. Darrynton Evans, Titans

Skill set: Speedy, dynamic acceleration-based slasher who’ll work best in a zone-heavy system.

2020 impact: Evans ran 4.41 at the combine at over 200 pounds with a 37-inch vertical. He’s twitched up in his lower half. His lateral agility leaves a little to be desired, but on runs with zone-blocking in front of it, all he’ll need to do is find the hole, plant his foot, and go. That’s exactly what he did, over and over, at Appalachian State. In three years for the Mountaineers, Evans averaged 6.0 yards per carry on 482 attempts.

He’s had some fumbling issues early on at camp, according to Terry McCormick of TitansInsider.com, but there’s really no legitimate competition for Evans to be Derrick Henry’s backup. And while Henry is part human, part robotic moose, he is coming off a season in which he carried the ball 389 times (including the playoffs).

7. J.K. Dobbins, Ravens

Skill set: Bulky back with a complete skill-set but lacks a true trump card.

2020 impact: While Jeff Zreibec of The Athletic wrote “every practice seems to bring another highlight-reel submission” from the rookie runner, there is Mark Ingram, Gus Edwards, 2019 third-round pick Justice Hill and that Lamar Jackson fellow as run-game weapons in Baltimore.

Dobbins does routinely find holes quickly, has solid acceleration, some jump-cut capabilities, and an occasional moment of downfield speed. The Ravens are more than likely going to run it more than any other team in the league once again, and Dobbins will get his touches, he’s just further down the list despite being a refined back because of the other capable ball carriers at offensive coordinator Greg Roman’s disposal.

6. Antonio Gibson, Washington

Skill set: Bowling ball of a back with light-speed wheels and quality hands from his days as a receiver in college.

2020 impact: During the 2019 college football season, I was only scouting Gibson as a receiver … because that’s what he was. And I was enamored with the way he made light work of running by cornerbacks down the field. Then, starting in late October, Gibson received 30 carries and accumulated 364 yards. Yeah. 364 yards on 30 carries. He was a big play waiting to happen as a runner. Oh, and he averaged 19.3 yards per reception in 2019.

At a rocked up 6-0 and 228 pounds at the combine, Gibson blazed to a 4.39 and had a 35-inch vertical. He’s still learning the fundamentals of playing the running back position — particularly how to read and cut off blocks — but his rare explosiveness and receiving prowess will be welcomed in a Washington offense searching for viable options after Terry McLaurin.

5. D’Andre Swift, Lions

Skill set: Thick back who excels as a receiver but lacks natural elusiveness.

2020 impact: I’m one of the few who wasn’t nearly as high on Swift as the masses. He’s a natural catcher of the football and does have a nice size/speed combination at 5-8 and 212 with 4.48 jets. Will he make defenders miss with great regularity in the NFL? I just don’t see that happening. He’ll run with authority, which should help him get more than what’s blocked to a certain degree.

While he’s drawn rave reviews for his pass-catching ability early at camp, Swift did suffer a leg injury at camp a week ago. Kerryon Johnson still projects to be the starter in Detroit for the time being. But Swift doesn’t have any major competition for the 1B role in the Lions’ backfield.

4. Zack Moss, Bills

Skill set: Serious power back with a fire hydrant frame and surprising lateral agility to elude second-level defenders.

2020 impact: Moss has 2019 third-round pick Devin Singletary squarely in front of him on Buffalo’s running back depth chart. That doesn’t mean the rookie won’t be a large part of what the Bills want to do on the ground this season. At 5-9 and 223 pounds, Moss naturally plays with a low center of gravity and has tree trunks for legs, so he brings it as a power back. But there’s a lot more to his game than that. When needed, he can glide laterally or absorb contact to accumulate extra yardage. And, he was a major producer in the pass game last year at Utah, catching 28 passes for 388 yards — 13.4 yards per.

The Athletic’s Joe Buscaglia has made mention of Moss’ receiving skills early in camp, and while the Bills are poised to throw more frequently this year than they did in 2019 given the trade to acquire Stefon Diggs, Buffalo did finish sixth in team rushing attempts last season.

3. Clyde Edwards-Helaire, Chiefs

Skill set: Ultra-agile receiving back with a frame built impossibly low to the ground.

2020 impact: I didn’t think Edwards-Helaire was the best back in the 2020 draft class. But he was the most exquisite fit with Patrick Mahomes, Andy Reid and the Chiefs. He was Joe Burrow’s go-to, check-down option and was a nightmare to corral in the SEC thanks to his smaller frame that allows him to hide behind his blockers, high-end contact balance, and most namely his ultra-bouncy agility in tight quarters. He’s the unquestioned top back in the Kansas City’s fireworks display of an offense.

The only reason(s) he isn’t higher — Tyreek Hill, Travis Kelce, and to a lesser extent, Mecole Hardman and Sammy Watkins. 

2. Cam Akers, Rams

Skill set: Dynamic, well-round back with inherent elusiveness and burner-type downfield speed.

2020 impact: The numbers flat-out lie when it comes to Akers’ collegiate career. He was significantly better than his career 4.9 yards-per-carry average would indicate. In fact, averaging 4.4 yards per carry in 2018 was a minor miracle given the atrocity that was Florida State’s offensive line than year. He runs with suddenness, instant acceleration once he receives the handoff, violent cuts at any level of the field, and 4.47 speed. The second-round selection is set to be the feature back in Sean McVay’s proven system, and Akers has the immense talent to take off immediately. And will.

1. Jonathan Taylor, Colts

Skill set: Big, fast, athletic, boulder of a back tailor-made to knife between the tackles as an NFL feature back

2020 impact: Technically, Taylor has Marlon Mack as legitimate competition in Indianapolis’ backfield. Mack’s a talented player. But he’s not on Taylor’s level, and the Colts used a second-round pick on the Wisconsin running back legend in the 2020 draft. Taylor’s film showed every possible skill anyone would want in a running back — exploding through tackle attempts, deploying multiple cuts on inside runs, the bounce to take it outside when need be, and the long speed to hit home runs.

At 5-10 and a chiseled 226 pounds, Taylor left a trail of smoke behind him in the 40-yard dash at the combine, running 4.39. He had a vertical in the 70th percentile and broad jump in the 80th. Indianapolis probably has the best offensive line in football. Despite Mack’s presence, Taylor will make the largest first-year impact among all rookie runners.

BEST ROUTE RUNNERS

Nick Shook of NFL.com uses NextGen Stats to tell us who excels at each kind of pass route:

The data wizards are back again with another new way to break down some of the game’s top weapons. We know the Saints’ Michael Thomas and Seahawks’ Tyler Lockett are great receivers, but how do they perform on a per-route basis?

We’ve split up the route tree and looked at all of the advanced receiver metrics available to us — including target percentage, reception percentage, yards per route run and separation — to examine who excelled in 2019.

Below, we’ll reveal the top three receivers for eight different routes, and tell you why the No. 1-ranked player for each was the best running that particular route.

NOTE: The two players ranked below who changed teams this offseason — Bills WR Stefon Diggs and Cardinals WR DeAndre Hopkins — are listed with the teams they played for last season, since these rankings are based on their performance in 2019.

CROSSING ROUTE

1 – Michael Thomas             

New Orleans Saints · WR

Get used to seeing his name: Thomas is the top-ranked player in half of these categories.

He was historically productive in 2019, in large part because he is excellent in the short game on routes like the cross (a.k.a. the drag). He led the league lead in catch rate above expectation (actual catch percentage compared to expected catch percentage), but among the top 25 wide receivers in that category (minimum 50 targets), he’s the only one who averaged fewer than 10 air yards per target (8.1).

Among those top 25 receivers, no receiver was pressed at a higher rate at the line than Thomas (42%), and only one was pressed as much: Stefon Diggs. How can a pass catcher win vs. press? By running away from the pressing defender, not through him. A receiver can win with inside leverage against an outside corner who is trying to keep him from going deep, leaving the defender in the dust as he runs across the field at a shallow depth. This creates chances for catch-and-run opportunities. Thomas was pressed 49% of the time on crossing routes, yet he posted a catch rate that was 24.9% above expectation on 29 targets. Thomas’ air-yards-per-target average was higher on crosses than his aforementioned overall average (9.6 to 8.1), and his catch rate above expectation was second to only Lockett among those with at least 20 targets on crosses. Thomas wins the yardage battle between the two (382 to 318), helping us find some separation between a couple of receivers that are incredibly dangerous when running shallow routes over the middle.

2 – Tyler Lockett

Seattle Seahawks · WR

3 – Cooper Kupp

Los Angeles Rams · WR

GO ROUTE

1 – DeVante Parker

Miami Dolphins · WR

This route is a little easier to explain, primarily because of one infallible truth: Everyone loves the long ball.

Parker went deep plenty in 2019, running 155 go routes and seeing 36 targets on those routes. However, he finds himself atop this list because of his league-leading 396 receiving yards and five touchdowns on go routes, which came as a result of 13 receptions and a 4.6 percent catch rate above expectation on such routes. His reception total was also the most in the NFL on go routes (minimum 75 total targets, regardless of route). Simply put, no one was more prolific on the go route than Parker.

2 – D.J. Chark

Jacksonville Jaguars · WR

3 – Stefon Diggs

Minnesota Vikings · WR

POST ROUTE

1 – Stefon Diggs

Minnesota Vikings · WR

Stefon Diggs can make the seemingly impossible a reality.

No, we’re not talking about the Minneapolis Miracle. We’re referring to his productivity on post routes in 2019. Diggs led the league in catch rate above expectation (minimum five targets on post routes) last season at +39.9 percent, turning unlikely plays into big gains. His 207 yards gained on post routes ranked sixth in the league, and he was one of only two receivers to break 200 yards on less than 10 receptions on post routes in 2019 (the other was DeVante Parker, who ranks second in this grouping). The most important stat for us in relation to Diggs’ post-route productivity: touchdowns. Only Terry McLaurin was as productive in the scoring department on post routes as Diggs (three TDs apiece), which is why the Washington receiver makes the top three in this group. You can’t go wrong with any of these guys when throwing deep over the middle.

2 – DeVante Parker

Miami Dolphins · WR

3 – Terry McLaurin

Washington Football Team · WR

OUT ROUTE

1 – Michael Thomas

New Orleans Saints · WR

We’re back to the short routes, which means we’re again seeing Thomas at the top of the list.

The Saints’ WR1 gained 326 yards while running outs, the most in the NFL. He also posted a catch rate above expectation of +14.7 percent on those routes. These were somewhat shorter outs, averaging just 8.3 air yards per target, but Thomas still found a way to make the most of them, gaining an average of 2.72 yards after the catch on routes that are typically assigned to finish near the sideline.

The numbers that propelled Thomas to the top here were his yards, of course, but also his efficiency. Thomas caught 87.9 percent of his targets, landing in the top five in that category. In fact, if we instituted a minimum of, say, 15 receptions on out routes, only DeAndre Hopkins (86.4%) and Calvin Ridley (80%) even come close to Thomas’ catch rate.

An interesting note is how close a call it was between Thomas and Ridley for the top spot in the rankings, which should excite Falcons fans about the potential of the former Alabama star. He was close to unseating Thomas and very well could take the next major step in his third NFL season.

2 – Calvin Ridley

Atlanta Falcons · WR

3 – Julian Edelman

New England Patriots · WR

CORNER ROUTE

1 – Allen Robinson

Chicago Bears · WR

Robinson’s 206 yards gained on corner routes led all receivers (minimum 75 total targets, regardless of route), and a lot of those yards were gained on catches he wasn’t expected to make, per NGS. Three receivers who met the 75-target minimum were targeted at least 10 times on corner routes: Robinson, Keenan Allen and Robby Anderson, who each saw 12 targets on such routes. While Allen and Anderson finished below catch-rate expectation, Robinson shattered his, posting a mark of +37.9 percent and making it pretty easy to see who was best in this department.

2 – Tyler Lockett

Seattle Seahawks · WR

3 – Courtland Sutton

Denver Broncos · WR

IN ROUTE

1 – A.J. Brown

Tennessee Titans · WR

As soon as I saw A.J. Brown streak across the field at FirstEnergy Stadium in Cleveland in Week 1 last season, I knew he was going to be a problem for defenses in this league.

At 6-feet, 226 pounds, Brown wins with size, speed and power. He’s no DK Metcalf (his 6-4, 229-pound former Ole Miss teammate), but that actually works to his advantage, as his 226 pounds are well-packed into his frame to allow him to box out defenders, catch the ball and then outrun them to the end zone, with a stiff-arm packed in as a complimentary parting gift.

The aforementioned play from last year’s season opener came on a deep in route by Brown. It wasn’t his frame but his footwork — a fake outside, an adjustment upfield and a sharp cut at the top of the route — that created the space necessary for a 51-yard catch-and-run on that play.

Those types of opportunities vaulted Brown up this list. Of his 301 total yards on in routes, 181 were gained after the catch. The next-closest players in that category were the Rams’ Cooper Kupp (99) and the Browns’ Jarvis Landry (96). Brown’s two touchdowns on in routes also tied for the most in the NFL, and while his catch rate above expectation wasn’t the best (+12.8%, ranking 11th among receivers who were targeted at least five times on in routes), his league-leading yards per reception on such routes (27.4) cements his status as the top player in this category.

2 – Michael Gallup

Dallas Cowboys · WR

3 – D.J. Moore

Carolina Panthers · WR

SLANT ROUTE

1 – Michael Thomas

New Orleans Saints · WR

Tired of Thomas yet? His opponents surely are, but you can’t say they weren’t warned: Thomas makes it clear with his Twitter handle that he can’t be guarded.

Seriously, though, it can’t be much of a surprise to see these three players at the top for this route. An offense is going to try to do whatever it can to get the ball in the hands of its best players, and Thomas fits the bill, as do DeAndre Hopkins and Amari Cooper (Nos. 2 and 3 on this list). To do this successfully, it takes a receiver who can win off the line, cut inside at an angle and catch a bullet from the quarterback for a solid gain. For the best in the game, these plays will occasionally pop for huge gains because of their elite speed and run-after-catch ability. Of Thomas’ league-leading 299 yards gained on slants, 162 came after the catch. For Hopkins, 125 of his 257 came after the catch.

However, Thomas is ranked atop this group because of his three touchdowns scored on slants, and his catch rate of 87.9 percent is also best among any receiver with 10 or more targets in the NFL. It’s pretty simple: Thomas wins in the short game and will make you pay if you don’t stop him.

2-  DeAndre Hopkins

Houston Texans · WR

3 –  Amari Cooper

Dallas Cowboys · WR

HITCH ROUTE

1 – Michael Thomas

New Orleans Saints · WR

Look, there he is again! We’ve discussed Thomas’ ability until we’re nearly blue in the face — although cardio while masked seems to have improved this writer’s lung capacity — but we’re tasked with justifying one final appearance atop a list of excellent route runners.

Let’s see … Thomas led all wide receivers in yards gained on hitches. His YAC on hitches was second-best in the NFL, trailing only Keenan Allen. Thomas did this while fighting through press coverage on 34 percent of his targets, too. Seems like he has a strong case, even without a touchdown scored on a hitch.

John Brown also has a compelling case here, but he was edged out by Thomas in a close battle. Brown trails in yards (306 to 282) but posted a better catch rate above expectation (+22.5% to +7.9%), although he saw 14 fewer targets than Thomas.

While he didn’t make the top three, one of my favorite receivers to watch run a hitch route is Odell Beckham Jr. because of how pronounced yet quick he is in his breakdown at the top of the route. With hitches, there’s some uncertainty for cornerbacks: Is their man running a hitch or is it going to be a go (or fade) route? They won’t know it’s a hitch until it’s a hitch — if the route is run well. Receivers like Thomas and Beckham run them well, and to great success.

2 – John Brown

Buffalo Bills · WR

3 – Allen Robinson

Chicago Bears · WR