We have a lot of respect whenever former NFLer Nate Burleson talks, but especially when he is analyzing wide receiver, his old position.

He recently broadcast his list of 5 breakout receivers for 2021 – and they are:

#5  Kendrick Bourne, Patriots

So let’s jump right into it, baby, and start at number five. All right. Kendrick Bourne Identity. Oh, yeah.

My guy, we know, came in as an undrafted wide receiver. But he has made a name for himself. And right out the gate, we knew that he was special in San Francisco. And that’s why the Patriots were aggressive when they went after him.

Now, the Patriots, they didn’t have a wide receiver to have three or more touchdowns last season. So the offense was a net to say the least. Or as Peter would say, putrid.

But now that they have playmakers at the wide receiver and the tight end position, I know that Kendrick Bourne, he’s gonna eclipse his career highs, 49 catches, also 667 receiving yards. That’s nothing compared to what he will do in this new offense. And I know you’re saying, whoa, whoa, whoa. Well, Nate, wait a minute. Is it gonna be Cam Newton?

I don’t know. Maybe it’s Mac Jones. I say it’s Cam Newton throwing him the ball. And he will put up close to 800 yards in this season, a breakout year for Kendrick Bourne Identity, which he is going to create a new identity in New England. But let’s move this along.

#4  Denzel Mims, Jets

“This guy had plays that we could look at and say you know what, he’s gonna be quite the talent,” Burleson said, noting that his rookie season was spent under the haze of an unstable quarterback situation. “He was averaging around 15 (yards) a pop, and we know this offense struggled. Offensively, it couldn’t keep the quarterback clean, the quarterback couldn’t stay healthy, there was just no rhythm and consistency.”

Burleson also brings up Mike LaFleur‘s comparison of Mims to NBA star Kevin Durant. He admits the offensive coordinator’s words are unusual, but makes perfect sense of it in his case for Mims.

“Isn’t (Durant) skinny?” Burleson rhetorically asks. “Yeah, but he’s skinny, and he’s long. The quote is actually this: he has a wingspan like Kevin Durant’s, he’s got tons of brains. As the long ball gets around him anywhere, he can catch that thing, so we know that he can be, I guess you can say, the easy money sniper within this offense.”

Burleson ends his analysis by referencing perhaps the most renowned Denzel, saying that Mims “will be The Equalizer within this offense for the Jets”, referencing the well-received 2014 action film starring Denzel Washington.

#3  Jerry Jeudy, Broncos

Jerry Jeudy, last year, he gave us some moments where we know that the speed, it’s there. I mean, it’s blinding. He could run past anybody.

The only thing that concerned a lot of people is that he had moments where he was dropping wide open rocks. He did have 52 catches. He had just under 900 yards in his rookie season.

But you know what I love? I’ve been watching him lately, looking at his Instagram. This dude has been working.

And he hasn’t been talking a lot. But when he did talk this offseason, he said, I feel like I’ve matured. Yeah, he did have those drops. He was being criticized.

As we’re watching right now, he’s catching a ball twice, and he’s wide open. And my coach would say back in the day, catch it the first time. So if this young man could do his thing, I’m pretty sure the crowd is gonna be yelling, Jerry, Jerry, Jerry! And here’s my final thoughts. With KJ Hamler and Courtland Sutton back healthy on this offense, Jerry Jeudy is gonna have a breakout year.

#2  Tee Higgins, Bengals

“If you weren’t watching Tee Higgins last year, you were living under a rock because this dude was ballin,” Burleson said on NFL Network. “That combination between Joe Burrow and Tee Higgins right out the gate, we know that these guys are going to be quite a duo for quite some time. And think about it, these guys added firepower. You bring in Ja’Marr Chase to this offense? What is the defense going to do with two young studs that are young and ready to go out there and ball out? Who are you going to double in this offense?

“What do you think he’s going to do against one-on-one coverage? I don’t care if it’s your starter or your backup. And he would’ve had 1,000 yards, but he had a hamstring [injury] in Week 17. So I know that Tee Higgins is going to show us so much more than he did in his rookie year, which was already impressive.”

#1  Laviska Shenault, Jaguars

“I just love the way he plays. I know there are some concerns about him being a full-time wide receiver. Well, he proved he could be,” Burleson said. “My dude had 58 receptions, that is no slouch. I wish as a rookie I put up almost 60 catches. He had 600 yards.”

NFC NORTH

GREEN BAY

WR DAVANTE ADAMS and other Packers receivers are apparently planning on showing up at Packers mini-camp to catch passes from QB JORDAN LOVE.  Nick Shook ofNFL.com:

Green Bay’s offseason of offensive absences is expected to be trimmed to just one this week.

That remaining absence (Aaron Rodgers) is a gigantic one, of course, but after spending OTAs away from the team, the collection of the Packers’ top pass-catching talent will soon be back to work. Rodgers’ receiving teammates, including Davante Adams, are either back in Green Bay for mandatory minicamp or are expected to be this week, NFL Network Insider Ian Rapoport reported Monday.

It’s good news for Packers fans who feared the Rodgers divide might have suddenly created a chasm between playmaker and coaching staff/organization. While the prevailing sentiment regarding this entire conflict has been that Rodgers has primarily had an issue with the front office and not necessarily the coaches, a collective absence from those most important to Rodgers’ and Green Bay’s offensive success would have only deepened the worries of those pinning their hopes on the Packers in 2021.

That doesn’t seem to be the case, but we also don’t appear to be nearing any sort of resolution between Rodgers and the Packers. The bright side is Rodgers’ teammates aren’t boarding Rodgers’ wagon, though they’ll have to spend this week working with his anointed successor. Then again, though, they have their own livelihoods to protect.

As for Rodgers, his income could be affected as soon as this week via fines for missing mandatory minicamp, unless the Packers use their discretion to avoid further deepening what is already a significant gap between superstar and franchise. The hands on the clock keep spinning, even if Rodgers isn’t currently doing the same with a football.

But on Tuesday morning, as expected, QB AARON RODGERS was not in Green Bay, perhaps practicing Jeopardy! answers in a rain forest.  Kevin Patra of NFL.com:

It’s official: Aaron Rodgers is holding out of mandatory minicamp.

NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero reported Tuesday morning that Rodgers was not present at the start of the Packers’ 8:30 a.m. team meeting to kick off minicamp, per a source informed of the situation.

The news has been expected for weeks as Rodgers skipped offseason workouts amid his displeasure with the organization.

Missing all three days of mandatory minicamp subjects Rodgers to fines of $93,085. Given that he’s already jeopardized a $500,000 workout bonus by missing OTAs and other workouts, Rodgers isn’t likely to be swayed by the relatively minuscule fines. The wallet-hurting penalties don’t come until training camp, which kicks off July 27.

NFC EAST

DALLAS

WR MICHAEL GALLUP is thrilled with what he sees from the Dallas offense.  Kevin Patra of NFL.com:

The Dallas Cowboys offense was on a record-setting pace before Dak Prescott went down with an injury in Week 5, discombobulating the entire operation.

The Cowboys return those same weapons that averaged 32.6 points in games Prescott played last year. Amari Cooper, CeeDee Lamb and Michael Gallup represent one of the top trios in the NFL. Ezekiel Elliott remains a workhorse. Explosive back Tony Pollard could be in line for a larger snap-share. And an offensive line riddled by injuries is getting critical players back healthy.

Joining NFL Network’sGood Morning Football on Monday, Gallup said the Cowboys offense could be unstoppable in 2021.

“I think the sky’s the limit for us,” he said. “We said that last year. Obviously, we had some injuries on the team and stuff like that. We’re already running out the gate right now, it’s just OTAs. I think we can explode. We can do what we need to do out here on the field and just kill it. I don’t see anybody stopping us.”

The key to picking up where they left off is Prescott returning from a devastating injury. By all accounts, the 27-year-old QB is back to normal.

“Dak looks like the same old Dak, ready to get out there, ready to be a leader,” Gallup said. “He just has that little thing to him. Every time you see him, you just want to make sure you’re doing everything right for him. He’s a great dude on and off the field, coming out here after his injury, after his contract. He’s the same old dude. Ain’t nothing changed about him except he just wants to play now. Props to him. Everything he’s done, he’s earned. Just an amazing player.”

A big-play threat, Gallup is coming off a 59-catch, 843-yard season in 2020, down from his 1,107-yard 2019 as Lamb took away some of his targets. The Cowboys’ No. 3 option, Gallup remains an underrated playmaker who can win at all three levels when given the opportunity.

The former third-round pick is entering the final year of his rookie contract. Given the amount the Cowboys have invested in Cooper and eventually in paying to retain Lamb, it seems unlikely Dallas could afford Gallup. The 25-year-old would be a coveted receiver in free agency next offseason.

 “You’re obviously going to think about it, but you can’t really do anything about it except go out on the field and do what you’re supposed to do,” Gallup said of playing out the final year of his deal. “You’re not going to get that contract if you don’t do what you’re supposed to on the field first. I think, one thing to think about, you can’t talk anything into the future. You’ve just got to do what you’re supposed to do right now. For me, it’s just going out there helping this club win ball games, have fun doing it. Obviously, I’d love to stay here, love to be in Dallas, love the community, love the city, love the fans, so it’s up in the air, but I want to be right here. So we’ll see.”

When Lamb fell to the Cowboys in the 2020 draft, it signaled that Gallup’s days in Dallas were likely numbered. Before he hits the open market, the wideout hopes to be part of an overpowering, historic Cowboys offense.

NFC SOUTH

ATLANTA

We can’t remember if Jason LaCanfora of CBSSports.com has ever criticized a team for tanking.  But, here he criticizes the Falcons for not tanking;

Oh, poor Falcons fans, I weep for thee.

Not because of the Julio Jones trade; as we have been telling you in this space for months, that was all they were ever going to get in a $15M salary dump. Nah, the real problem is that Jones is the only meaningful – or quasi-meaningful – trade that the perpetually middling franchise has made. The problem is that Matt Ryan isn’t gone, too, and it’s compounded by the last three trade deadlines in which management was maleficent in its dereliction of duty to retool for the future and deal aging players on bloated contracts while they still could. So they end up dealing arguably the most impactful player in the history of the franchise and surefire first-ballot Hall of Famer for effectively what the Falcons themselves gave to Baltimore a year ago for the right to take backup tight end Hayden Hurst off their hands.

Yeah, it really is that bad.

For far too long, owner Arthur Blank and his underlings – now departed – were all in on the same sick joke; the one where they pretended that they were something other than what the roster and record dictated. They fell into the brutal wasteland of overestimating their own players based on how much they had overpaid them (Jerry Jones specializes in this), and rather than admit defeat as their Super Bowl losing team quickly unraveled and view their team the way the rest of the league did – misguided pretender – they doubled down on their veteran core and continued with a top-heavy roster lacking in depth and youthful production (particularly on defense). Deadly combination in this sport.

Thus they find themselves with a rookie head coach and a rookie general manager tasked with trading their best player, for what would never be much more than a second-round pick (and never any chance of a first-rounder despite what was being spewed elsewhere), while still having a physically-limited 36-year old quarterback bound to the club despite being in wonderful position to draft one fourth-overall (and cutting Ryan in 2022 now carries a $40M cap hit; cap management hasn’t really been their thing, constantly pushing more guaranteed money into the future).

So the Falcons have no QB of the future identified. They are still carrying eye-gouging contracts like Dante Fowler ($6M of his $23M guaranteed at signing is still due in 2021), and without a young core to build around, with holes all over a leaky roster and hardly the type of competition you would like for a team that is in the process of being rebuilt, whether it wants to admit it or not.

When you give away Julio Jones so you have cap space to sign rookies (and don’t get me started on the Falcons’ draft record the last five years or so), yeah, you are rebuilding. But doing it half-assed, backwards, the wrong way.

You are doing it without an arsenal of additional draft picks. You are doing it while still sending mixed messages to your players and fans about what is actually going on here. You are going it without anything much else on your roster that you could hope to reap significant draft capital for. You are doing it at a time when the rampant apathy around this team in Atlanta – as evidenced by the poor attendance in that sparkling new stadium even before the pandemic set in – is becoming a real problem. Rather than see rock bottom for what it was and tearing things down to build back up, Blank chose to keep chasing hollow late season wins to try to stay around the periphery of the wild-card chase, hoping maybe the turnstiles would follow.

You can fool yourself thinking that 7-9 means maybe you aren’t that far off … But when for three straight years you aren’t playing truly meaningful games after October, there is a better chance you just really are that bad. Rather than acknowledge this and fire Thomas Dimitroff and Dan Quinn years ago, Blank preached patience when, sadly, it was action that was necessary.

Action with new leadership. Action with roster moves made with the long-view in mind. Action with how they spent their money, and being smart about having sufficient cap space and astute asset management.

Somehow, a team that has seemingly been chasing a quality offensive line and quality defensive line and any semblance of a pass rush for as long as I can remember is still no better equipped to prosper in any of those critical areas even now. Everything has been staccato. Nothing has been truly decisive, and even the Jones trade was further hamstrung by Atlanta’s need to delay the transaction until June for cap-saving purposes.

How is any of that making them a better football team or better franchise? An already limited market for Jones was further shrunken by all of those receivers we saw receiver-hungry teams draft just a few months back. If that doesn’t scream rebuild, nothing does … But Jones is the only guy gone. What amounts to an extra pick, say, somewhere around No. 50, along with a fourth-rounder in 2023, is all they have to show for the future at a time when franchises like the Browns, Dolphins, Jets and Eagles have managed to load up on extra picks along the way as they tried to reposition for the future.

Newsflash: The Falcons are not winning a Super Bowl with Ryan, just like they didn’t with Jones. And like Jones, whenever that quarterback moves on he will fetch little, if anything, in return.

In this league, you are far better off being really good, or really bad. Stuck in the middle is no place to be, but the Falcons might have enough talent to scratch out another seven wins next year, find themselves drafting in the teens and needing to trade away draft picks to move up and try to finally land a quarterback. That would be so Falcon.

It would be totally backward after having their pick of several talented passers a few months back, all while they were peddling Jones. It would seem out of sync, desperate, and reactionary. It would seem at least a year too late. And it would be perfectly fitting, considering who would be doing it.

Really?   “Rather than acknowledge this and fire Thomas Dimitroff and Dan Quinn years ago, Blank preached patience when, sadly, it was action that was necessary.”  Years ago?

Here is Quinn’s record –

Year

ATL     2015      8-8                 2nd in NFC South

ATL     2016    11-5                 1st in NFC South        Lost to Patriots in Super Bowl LI

ATL     2017    10-6                 3rd in NFC South        Lost to Eagles in NFC Divisional

ATL     2018      7-9                 2nd in NFC South

ATL     2019      7-9                2nd in NFC South

ATL     2020    0-5                  Fired

Perhaps, perhaps, they could have done the firings after 2019.  But is that “years ago’?

After 2018, with one 7-9 season after two playoff years?  Don’t think so.

Google 2018 Atlanta Falcons and this is typically what you get –

The story of the 2018 Atlanta Falcons was injuries. Right from the start.

Atlanta started the season just 1-4 thanks to a myriad of injuries to starting players, including middle linebacker Deion Jones, both starting safeties, and eventually to both starting guards, and even running back Devonta Freeman.

Or this from D. Orlando Ledbetter of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution:

Count them.

The are several reasons for the Falcons’ descent from the ranks of title contenders to the lower rugs of the NFL this season.

The most obvious is the rash of injuries that have caused opening-day starters to miss 61 games. The injuries crippled the defense and slowly took away the firepower of the offense.

At the halfway point, the Falcons appeared to have stabilized at 4-4. They have since collapsed. They dropped four consecutive games and are on the verge of being eliminated from the playoff race.

The injuries explain a great deal of the collapse. Former Pro Bowlers in running back Devonta Freeman (nine), strong safety Keanu Neal (11) and middle linebacker Deion Jones (10) have missed significant time.

We’re not saying that LaCanfora is wrong about the tactics of 2021, but we sure think his “year ago” comment about Quinn and Dmitroff is 20-20 hindsight with no respect for good men who had a recent Super Bowl appearance on their resume.

TAMPA BAY

The Glazer Family has rewarded Coach Bruce Arians and GM Jason Licht for a job well done.  For Arians, it is a straight raise.  Michael David Smith of ProFootballTalk.com:

Buccaneers coach Bruce Arians and General Manager Jason Licht are being rewarded for a job well done.

After leading the Buccaneers to a win in Super Bowl LV, Arians and Licht have both received new contracts, Ian Rapoport of NFL Network reports.

Although salaries for coaches and GMs are rarely made public, suffice to say they both have job security and big money coming to them for years to come. Arians reportedly received a pay raise for the years he has left on his current deal, while Licht got years added to his deal.

The 68-year-old Arians is heading into his third season as the Bucs’ head coach. Despite the late start he got on his NFL head coaching career, Arians now has a Coach of the Year award with the Colts, a Coach of the Year award with the Cardinals and a Super Bowl ring with the Buccaneers to his credit. He’s building himself a Hall of Fame résumé.

The 50-year-old Licht has been GM with the Bucs since 2014, and although it took until his seventh season for him to make the playoffs, the Bucs’ patience with him has paid off with an impressive roster that won the Super Bowl last year and has all the key contributors back this year.

And it’s full-speed ahead at mini-camp, including QB TOM BRADY.

Buccaneers quarterback Tom Brady‘s recovery from knee surgery continues to look like a successful one.

Head coach Bruce Arians said last week that he thought Brady would be doing a lot of coaching during the team’s mandatory minicamp this week, but it doesn’t sound like Brady limited himself on Tuesday. Arians said, via Joey Knight of the Tampa Bay Times, that Brady “went full speed” in the team’s workout.

That’s a good sign for Brady’s health and a good sign for where the Bucs offense will be once they shift from practicing to playing games later this year.

Every player on the Bucs roster was present on Tuesday, but rookie wideout Jaelon Darden, veteran receiver Antonio Brown, tight end O.J. Howard, and defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh did not practice due to injuries.

AFC WEST

KANSAS CITY

Britt Reid has pleaded not guilty to driving while intoxicated in his February crash.  Josh Alper of ProFootballTalk.com:

Former Chiefs assistant coach Britt Reid was in court Monday to enter a plea on the charge of driving while intoxicated he faces after crashing into two cars a couple of days before the Chiefs played in Super Bowl LV.

Reid entered a not guilty plea on the charge in a Kansas City courtroom. At the time he was charged, prosecutors said Reid, who is the son of Chiefs head coach Andy Reid, was driving 83.9 mph and that he had a blood alcohol concentration of .113.

The judge in the case said Reid is allowed to drive while out on bond with a special interlock device installed in his car that prevents it from starting unless Reid has passed a breathalyzer test.

One of the cars that Reid crashed into had stopped on the side of an interstate entrance ramp and the other one had pulled over to assist in getting the other vehicle started. A five-year-old girl in one of the cars suffered a traumatic brain injury and spent months in the hospital before returning home.

Reid was placed on administrative leave after the crash and his contract expired earlier this year.

Here is part of the fact pattern

The crash occurred after a gray Chevrolet Impala ran out of gas and stopped on the southbound ramp from Stadium Drive to I-435, according to police. The driver called relatives for help, and they parked their silver Chevrolet Traverse with the lights on south of the Impala.

A white Ram Laramie Sport pickup heading south on the ramp toward I-435 struck the left front of the Impala, then continued south and slammed into the Traverse, police said. Two children in the back seat of the Traverse were injured. A 4-year-old suffered injuries that were not life-threatening, police said, and the 5-year-old remained in critical condition Sunday afternoon with a brain injury, according to Capt. Dave Jackson.

84 mph seems to be awfully fast for accelerating on a “ramp” but another map the DB has seen puts the vehicles more out on the actual Interstate when the accident occurred.

Were the cars off the actual road?  The Impala would seem to have been there for awhile if the Traverse had arrived after being summoned from home.  If it was blocking a lane, you would think there would have been a backup.

AFC NORTH

BALTIMORE

Even as he signs with the Ravens, T Ja’WUAN JAMES wants his cash back from the Broncos.  The AP:

Ja’Wuan James filed a $15 million grievance Monday against the Denver Broncos, who released him last month after he ruptured an Achilles tendon during an off-site workout.

Also Monday, the offensive tackle agreed to a two-year deal with Baltimore that ESPN reported was worth up to $9 million and includes $500,000 this year while James rehabs with the Ravens.

James’ injury became a flashpoint between the NFL and the NFL Players Association over the “non-football injury” designation, which relieves teams from having to pay players their full salaries if they’re injured off site.

In his grievance, James argues that his injury “was sustained in the course and scope of football training.”

He further argues that the NFI designation was meant for players who got hurt during reckless off-field activities, not while training for the upcoming season as he was.

The NFLPA urged players to skip voluntary workouts at teams’ training facilities this spring, citing health and safety concerns following last year’s virtual offseason.

Two Broncos — James and wide receiver DaeSean Hamilton — sustained serious injuries while heeding their union’s call to train off site.

Hamilton tore an ACL on May 18, the same day the Broncos placed James on the non-football injury list.

James, who had been working out at the Broncos’ facilities before the union’s request, was released four days later.

Broncos coach Vic Fangio declined to comment on James’ grievance or his signing with the Ravens.

“That’s the business side of football, not football business,” Fangio said Monday after the team’s first full-padded practice. “So, I don’t go there at all.”

The Broncos aren’t obligated to pay either James ($10.58) or Hamilton ($2.18 million) their 2021 salaries because they got hurt outside of work.

That’s a point the NFL’s management council reiterated in a memo last month to all team executives and head coaches following James’ injury, a move that angered the union.

The NFL used James’ injury to remind teams that players are protected against lost wages if they get hurt at the team’s facility but don’t have the same protection if they’re injured working out anywhere else.

The DB thinks this will be an interesting litigation.

If James was injured while jet skiing or paragliding or skateboarding or even basketball, that is a clear NFI.

Now, this injury happened while training in the Denver area, but not at the facility.  So it is semi-reasonable to expect the player to use team facilities, not a private gym.

But what if the player was in his hometown, not the team’s city and he’s out jogging to stay in shape and the Achilles pops?  You would think teams would want to encourage basic cardio-vascular exercise during the offseason while back home.

AFC SOUTH

TENNESSEE

QB RYAN TANNEHILL is presumably glad to shuffle some money around to bring WR JULIO JONES to Nashville.  Kevin Patra of NFL.com:

To make the Julio Jones trade work financially, the Tennessee Titans needed to do some accounting.

NFL Network Insider Ian Rapoport reported Tuesday that the Titans are doing a simple restructure of quarterback Ryan Tannehill’s contract, per a source informed of the situation.

The move — converting guaranteed salary into a signing bonus to spread it over the next three years — will clear more than $15 million off the Titans’ cap this year.

Jones will cost the Titans $15.3 million this season.

Tannehill signed a four-year, $118 million contract with the Titans in 2020, placing him under contract through the 2023 season. While the restructure lowers his cap figure this season, it will bump up the number in future years, when the cap is expected to increase, potentially significantly in 2023. Without adding void years, Tannehill’s cap hit is expected to increase to approximately $42 million in 2022.

The Titans had approximately $2.36 million in cap space, per Over The Cap, before Tannehill’s restructure.

Doing the simple restructure on Tannehill’s deal was the anticipated answer for how the Titans would add Jones’ contract. Tennessee could also have restructured Kevin Byard or Taylor Lewan’s contract to free up space.

AFC EAST

BUFFALO

The Bills cite the NFL’s continuing protocols as the reason they are not leaving Orchard Park for training camp. The AP:

The Buffalo Bills are staying home for training camp again.

The Bills cited the NFL’s COVID-19 health protocols in their decision to not travel to their traditional training camp site at St. John Fisher College outside of Rochester, New York. The team instead will hold camp at its headquarters in Orchard Park.

Coach Sean McDermott has said he is a fan of the team going away for camp because it helps promote player bonding. The Bills have held camp at the college in Pittsford since 2000, with the exception of last year because of the pandemic.

THIS AND THAT

R.I.P. JIM FASSEL

Jim Fassel, the NFL Coach of the Year in 1997 (!), has died of a heart attack.  Sam Farmer in the LA Times:

Jim Fassel, a longtime NFL offensive coach who was the league’s coach of the year in 1997, has died. He was 71.

Fassel’s son, John, confirmed his father’s death to the Los Angeles Times on Monday night, saying he got the news during a phone call in the afternoon. John Fassel formerly was the Rams’ special teams coach and briefly served as the team’s interim head coach.

Jim Fassel, who lived in Las Vegas, suffered chest pains Monday and was taken to a local hospital by a friend. He died of a heart attack while under sedation, his son said. The entire family has since convened in Las Vegas.

Jim Fassel was coach of the New York Giants from 1997 to 2003. He is one of three coaches to lead the Giants to the Super Bowl. His team lost to the Baltimore Ravens in Super Bowl XXXV at the end of the 2000 season.

He spent the bulk of his career as a quarterbacks and offensive coordinator in the college ranks (Utah — where he was later head coach — Weber State, Stanford) and NFL (Denver, Oakland, Arizona, Baltimore). His last football job was as head coach of the Las Vegas Locomotives of the United Football League from 2009 to 2012.

A graduate of Anaheim High, Fassel played quarterback at Fullerton College, USC and Long Beach State. He was the Chicago Bears’ seventh-round selection in 1972. It led to stints that year with the San Diego Chargers and Houston Oilers before brief stops with the Canadian Football League’s Toronto Argonauts and The Hawaiians of the World Football League.

Coach of the Year in 1997.  Super Bowl in his fourth.  Ravens OC for three years (fired during his 3^rd).  Never coached again in NFL.

RACE NORMING

Shalise Manza Young of YahooSports.com on the NFL’s usage of “race norming” to reduce benefits for Black players in the concussion settlement.

Until this week, when it finally felt enough public pressure and enough people got wind of what it was doing, the league was essentially pressing doctors to use race-based information to deny retired Black players settlement money they deserved because of the physical and mental pain they are enduring after a career in football. It enforced the idea that Black people as a whole do not have the same level of cognitive function as non-Black people, and therefore any proven decline in their cognitive function wasn’t much of a loss. The NFL was fully behind a categorically racist system of denying retired Black players settlement money they were owed.

Until this week, when it finally, per usual, caved to public pressure and negative PR, the NFL essentially told Black players that all it ever wanted from them was to be entertained. Once their bodies and brains were broken beyond repair, once they’d done what they could to delight the majority-billionaire white owners in their gilded luxury boxes, the league was done with them.

Your Black body is useless to us and your Black brain is broken, but we don’t think it was that valuable to begin with. Good luck.

The truth is, NFL team owners don’t really care about the vast majority of players, white, Black or otherwise, especially once they stop wearing the uniform of the team they own. “Football is family” is a myth, used only for peppy commercials between quarters. Based on the league’s use of “race-norming,” retired white players who went through the hoops of seeing NFL-approved neuropsychologists and neurologists, filled out paperwork and met requirements received money at higher rates than retired Black players. It’s money they’re owed through the settlement the NFL is required to pay. The league won’t release numbers on the racial breakdown of who has received settlement money.

In February, ABC News reported data from a neuropsychologist who has worked on behalf of the NFL. Of the 85 Black players in the data sample, 34 met the criteria to receive payouts using the requirements for white players. When the clinician applied the requirements for Black players, only 10 of those players qualified. Under the standards applied to white players, eight of those Black former players were scored at a Level 2 in terms of neuro-cognitive impairment, meaning they had signs of moderate dementia and a severe decline in cognitive function. When the NFL’s preferred method — factoring in their race — was applied, they were adjusted to Level 0, or no impairment.

No impairment, no money.

A league spokesman said Wednesday that the NFL will no longer used the race-based norms, and will retroactively award funds to players who would have received them had the norms not been used. In other words, they will stop penalizing players for the color of their skin. For many of those former players, the damage is done, not just in the message they received from the league about their worth as human beings but in being denied money, that could have helped them get the care and tangible relief so many of them need sooner.

Some of us have always known, but now it’s clearer than ever.

When Goodell said “we the NFL believe Black lives matter,” he clearly didn’t mean equally.

TOP ROOKIE RUNNING BACKS

Using her secret and proprietary analytics, NFL Network’s Cynthia Frelund gives us five rookie RBs who will thrive (or more accurately, three after NAJEE HARRIS and TRAVIS ETIENNE who even the DB could have put on the list):

It’s June. Too early to project rookie running back output?

Nope! Definitely not.

Working with my model and exploring which rushers could be most productive in Year 1, I recognize that there is more uncertainty when it comes to potential fatigue — i.e., rookies hitting the wall — due to the fact that A) the 2020 college schedule was abbreviated for many and B) the NFL is about to embark on its first 17-game regular season. So, in your fantasy scheming, take these rankings to be each guy’s median projection — not the ceiling — and remember to consider a handcuff.

Using contextualized play-calling data from each team and factoring in every rookie RB’s skill set, my model believes the following five newbies will provide the biggest returns in 2021:

1 – Najee Harris

 Alabama

Pittsburgh Steelers

Draft pick: Round 1, No. 24 overall

According to Next Gen Stats, Steelers running backs ranked 31st in expected yards per rush last season (3.9). That’s not an indictment on the RBs themselves, but rather the circumstances they faced. As of right now, the Steelers’ offensive line forecasts to grade out in the 20s by the time everyone establishes their 53-man rosters, meaning Harris faces a tough task. The good news is that his volume forecasts to be high, as does his ability to keep earning positive yardage. Pro Football Focus credited Harris with earning 821 rushing yards after contact in 2020, which was the second-most in FBS (trailing only Iowa State’s Breece Hall). Harris also forced 93 missed tackles on touches last season, the most in FBS, with 71 coming off rushes and 22 on receptions. My computer vision shows that his off-ball metric on short passing downs (meaning how he blocked and/or ran a route when not targeted) was the most efficient amongst all backs in the Power Five conferences last season.

2 – Javonte Williams

North Carolina

Denver Broncos

Draft pick: Round 2, No. 35 overall

The Broncos’ situation is pretty much the opposite of the Steelers in terms of O-line context. Last season, Denver’s offensive line helped create a scenario of 4.5 expected yards per rush (fourth-best, per NGS). But the ball carriers averaged -0.05 rush yards over expected, ranking 23rd. With Phillip Lindsay departed, Williams should have a strong chance to make an impact right away, even with Melvin Gordon still in the fold. In 2020, according to Pro Football Focus, no FBS back forced more missed tackles on rushes than Williams’ 76. All in all, the Tar Heel ranked sixth in the FBS with 1,140 rushing yards, averaging a whopping 7.3 yards per carry and notching 19 ground scores. Considering he split time with another back on this list, Williams clearly made the most of his carries. The Broncos only scored 13 rushing TDs in 2020 (tied for 22nd), which means Williams has a real opportunity to establish himself as an instant red-zone threat.

3 – Trey Sermon

Ohio State

San Francisco 49ers

Draft pick: Round 3, No. 88 overall

Next Gen Stats reveal regression on San Francisco’s offensive line this past season, at least in the ground game. The 49ers averaged 4.1 expected yards per rush last season (21st), compared to 4.6 in 2019 (third). They also dropped to 15th in rushing yards per game in 2020 (118.6) after finishing second in 2019 (144.1). The Niners did have some injuries to the unit, and the offseason addition of center Alex Mack will help. The emphasis on the run game in this offensive architecture provides enough potential volume for Sermon, but Kyle Shanahan does like utilizing a committee backfield. Sermon ended up ranking second in the Big Ten last season with 870 rushing yards (trailing only Minnesota’s Mohamed Ibrahim), thanks to a prolific three-game run down the stretch that saw him pile up 636 yards and four touchdowns on the ground. Computer vision shows that Sermon’s body control (measured in sustained speed when changing direction) was in the top 10 percent of backs in the past two drafts, which bodes well for his ability to be a useful weapon in Shanahan’s arsenal.

4 – Travis Etienne

Clemson

Jacksonville Jaguars

Draft pick: Round 1, No. 25 overall

Last season, the Jaguars ranked 15th in expected yards per rush (4.3), meaning their offensive line was about average on rushing downs. They took the fewest rushing attempts (337) and netted the fewest rushing TDs in the league (nine). It’s still unclear how/when Etienne and James Robinson will be used, which isn’t great for fantasy. But Etienne’s familiarity with Clemson teammate Trevor Lawrence sure doesn’t hurt his prospects, especially as a weapon in the passing game. PFF counts Etienne as forcing 187 missed tackles over the past three seasons (most in the FBS). Etienne doesn’t rate higher in overall median forecasting because it’s crowded in Jacksonville’s backfield, not because his explosive talent doesn’t warrant it.

5 – Michael Carter

North Carolina

New York Jets

Draft pick: Round 4, No. 107 overall

The 2020 Jets’ offensive line helped drive a 4.4 average in expected yards per rush, which ranked ninth in the NFL. Jets ball carriers, however, earned -0.39 rushing yards over expected per attempt, which ranked third-worst. Drafting guard Alijah Vera-Tucker and getting more snaps out of Mekhi Becton (who is presumably healthy) will add even more to this potentially positive O-line situation for the Jets. While they brought in veteran RB Tevin Coleman, with whom the new coaching staff is familiar, it still seems Carter has a great opportunity to perform — and at a high level — relatively quickly. Pro Football Focus had him averaging 4.5 yards after contact per rush last season (fifth in FBS, min. 100 rushes). Given Mike LaFleur’s experience crafting play-action schemes, Carter’s skills could be maximized. Carter took about 0.6 seconds longer to reach his fastest speed than the average of all running backs in this draft class, so situations where misdirection can be leveraged forecast to optimize his utility.

So, the DB is going to make his predicitions.  We looked at the draft list and sorted the drafted running backs by the order in which they were drafted.

1-24     Najee Harris                RB       PIT                  Alabama

1-25     Travis Etienne             RB       JAX                 Clemson

2-35     Javonte Williams         RB       DEN                North Carolina

3-88     Trey Sermon               RB       SFO                Ohio St.

4-107   Michael Carter                        RB       NYJ                 North Carolina

So the first five backs off the board are Frelund’s first five backs after the secret analytics sauce is applied.  Etienne drops two spots because she thinks James Robinson is pretty good.  So, confirming the obivious.