| The big vote is later today. Brooks Kubena and Dianna Russini of The Athletic on the eve of the vote with the Competition Committee apparently siding with the Packers and their desire to ban the Tush Push: The NFL’s competition committee and health and safety committee have recommended the league ban the “tush push,” the Philadelphia Eagles’ signature QB sneak, ahead of a league vote on Wednesday, according to league sources. The development suggests team owners will vote in favor of a proposal to ban the play. That proposal, put forth by the Green Bay Packers, was originally tabled on April 1 during the league meeting. The decision will bring a conclusion to an offseason of drama during which executives, coaches and players throughout the league offered their opinions on one of the most confounding and controversial plays in football history, on which the quarterback takes a snap under center and drives forward while teammates push him from behind in a rugby-like scrum. A formal push to ban the tush push began when the Packers submitted a proposal to the NFL’s competition committee in February. Packers coach Matt LaFleur argued the play didn’t belong in the game due to its “rugby” qualities. Green Bay’s proposal added new ruling language that “prohibits an offensive player from pushing, pulling, lifting, or assisting the runner except by individually blocking opponents for him.” LaFleur and other coaches claimed the play is an injury hazard. But Atlanta Falcons CEO Rich McKay, the chair of the NFL’s competition committee, said the league had found no evidence that the tush push jeopardized player safety. Eagles leadership lobbied to protect the play they’d perfected. At the scouting combine, Eagles coach Nick Sirianni called it “unfair” to ban a play merely because they were good at it. GM Howie Roseman had a spirited discussion with Rams coach Sean McVay and Bills coach Sean McDermott in a hallway during April’s league meetings. Eagles owner Jeffrey Lurie later pushed back against the player-safety element: “I think for everybody, including myself especially, health and safety is the most important thing when evaluating any play,” Lurie said during April’s league meeting. “We’ve been very open to whatever data exists on the tush push, and there’s just been no data that shows that it isn’t a very, very safe play. If it weren’t, we wouldn’t be pushing the tush push.” No team uses the QB sneak more frequently or more effectively than the Eagles. According to TruMedia, the Eagles have run their quarterback 122 times in 1-yard-to-go situations since 2022. The Bills (74), Steelers (55) and Broncos (52) are the only teams who have surpassed 50 such runs. The Eagles scored 30 touchdowns and gained 105 first downs in that span. The Eagles built on past techniques and at one point brought in former Scottish rugby player Richie Gray to advise them. Former Eagles center Jason Kelce often spoke of how grueling the tush push was on his body. During a March appearance on TNT’s “The Steam Room,” Kelce said “for me, as a center, it sucks.” Still, Kelce spoke in favor of the play, adding that “football is a sport that comes down to physicality, aggression, our will versus your will for a yard.” “If they ban it, they ban it. It’s out of my control,” current Eagles center Cam Jurgens said in late April. “I feel like it’s a fun play for us to run, and we run it really well. It’d be a shame if they take it out of our hands.” Wide receiver A.J. Brown had a more grounded take when asked about the play on Tuesday. “I don’t have any thoughts on it,” Brown said. He paused. Shrugged. Laughed. “It’s only one yard.” |
| NFC EAST |
| PHILADELPHIANick Sirianni has a new, longer contract. That’s all Mike Florio can figure out and he’s not happy about it: When it comes to player contracts, the system generates full and complete transparency. When it comes to head-coaching contracts, the media and fans know only what the team and the coach is willing to share. Eagles coach Nick Sirianni is willing to share nothing at all about his new contract. All that’s known is that: (1) he had one year left on his original contract; and (2) he signed a “multi-year” extension. So, at a minimum, he has a three-year contract. Meeting with reporters on Tuesday, Sirianni declined to disclose anything about the deal. Starting with the fairly innocuous and obvious question of what does multi-year mean? “I’m not going to get into the details of any of that stuff,” Sirianni said, via a transcript provided by the team. When asked to explain his reason for complete discretion, Sirianni said, “I just won’t get into the details of any of that. Usually coach contracts are — you don’t get those [details] as much, right?” He’s right. We don’t. Unless someone with knowledge of the deal blabs, we won’t. The reality is that coaches, despite the existence of a salary cap, a franchise tag, or other devices to limit their pay, have not seen their salary rates increase at the same rate player pay and franchise revenues/equity have spiked. It reeks of collusion by teams that don’t want to get into a bidding war for coaches, and that don’t want to pay more than they have to pay. After all, every dollar that goes to coaches cuts directly into the profit margin. And while the best coaches are doing very well, a great coach is far more valuable than a very good player. And very good players are currently making much more than the highest-paid coaches. |
| AFC NORTH |
| BALTIMOREThe Ravens have rewarded RB DERRICK HENRY with an extension. Liam Fox of TheScore.com: Baltimore Ravens running back Derrick Henry says he’s grateful after agreeing to an extension following his first season with the team. “I’m very appreciative of how much they value me to give me an extension,” Henry told reporters Monday. “I just want to show them how much it means to me, how much this organization means to me, by the way I work and what I do on the field.” Henry and the Ravens agreed to a two-year, $30-million extension earlier in May. The contract includes $25 million fully guaranteed and is the largest deal ever for a running back over 30. Henry is now under contract through the 2027 season, though there’s no guaranteed money after 2026. The former Tennessee Titans star was one of last season’s top additions after joining Baltimore in free agency. Henry ran for 1,921 yards and led the NFL with 16 touchdowns in his first campaign as a Raven. His performance earned him the fifth Pro Bowl selection and third All-Pro team nod of his career. “I fell in love with everything – with the brotherhood, by the way they work, how they approach everything,” Henry said. He added, “It’s always fun when you’ve got guys around you that are the top of their position and can change the game at any point.” The Ravens won the AFC North for the second year in a row in 2024 and beat the Pittsburgh Steelers to open the playoffs. Baltimore then fell to the Buffalo Bills in the divisional round after failing to score a two-point conversion in the game’s final minutes. Henry said he only took a week off after the loss to Buffalo before returning to his workout regimen With the new contract a sign that the Ravens think Henry is good for a significant amount more, Mike Florio of ProFootballTalk.com wonders the once-unthinkable for the man now 19th on the all-time rushing list at age 31: As potentially unbreakable NFL records go, the all-time rushing mark seems to be one of the most untouchable. If any current player has a chance to get close enough to make things interesting, it’s Ravens running back Derrick Henry. He’s the active leading rusher, with 11,423 yards. That puts him at 19th on the list, already ahead of Hall of Famers like John Riggins, O.J. Simpson, Earl Campbell, Jim Taylor, Larry Csonka, and Terrell Davis. In the early weeks of the 2025 season, Henry will leapfrog Steven Jackson and Fred Taylor. Barring serious injury, Henry likely will finish 2025 in the top 10. Here’s the real question. How high will he go? He’s 2,628 yards away from the top six, and 3,495 away from the top five. And the Emmitt Smith record of 18,355 yards is a mere 6,932 yards away. Yes, Henry (now 31) will need several more years of high-end performance to get there. That said, he has shown no sign of slowing down. While the end can come quickly (and Father Time remains undefeated), maybe Henry is the outlier — like Emmitt was. Smith played through the year in which he turned 35, generating 937 rushing yards in his final season. Henry is 5.5 seasons away from catching Smith, based on Henry’s average of 1,269 yards per season. He had 1,921 yards last year, at 30. He’s playing with a generational quarterback, whose mere presence makes it easier for Henry to find daylight. It won’t be easy. But here’s the point. It’s never really been a serious consideration that Henry could catch Emmitt. Maybe it should be. And Emmitt would be fine with that; he told us several years ago at the Super Bowl that he wishes Walter Payton would have been alive to congratulate Emmitt when he broke Payton’s record. Put simply, Emmitt wants to be able to shake the hand of the person who breaks his record. While it’s hardly anything close to a lock, there’s a non-zero chance that Emmitt will eventually be shaking Derrick Henry’s hand. Much of it will depend on the rest of Henry’s body will defy the hourglass long enough to keep running through, over, and around defenders. So, what is reasonable to expect for Henry? How about a progression of 1,800 in 2025, 1,500 in 2026, 1,200 in 2027, 900 in 2028 and then retirement. Below you can see where he would get to: 1 Emmitt Smith 18355 Derrick Henry 16843 after 20282 Walter Payton 167263 Frank Gore 16000 Derrick Henry 15943 after 20274 Barry Sanders 152695 Adrian Peterson 14918 Derrick Henry 14743 after 20266 Curtis Martin 141017 LaDainian Tomlinson 136848 Jerome Bettis 136629 Eric Dickerson 13259 Derrick Henry 13243 after 202510 Tony Dorsett 1273911 Jim Brown 1231212 Marshall Faulk 1227913 Edgerrin James 1224614 Marcus Allen 1224315 Franco Harris 1212016 Thurman Thomas 1207417 Fred Taylor 1169518 Steven Jackson 1143819 Derrick Henry 11423 after 202420 John Riggins 11352 Still 1,500 yards short of Emmitt with the gas running out. But past Walter Payton into second. If we are 100 yards per season short in our expectation – say he goes 1,900, 1,600, 1,300, 1,000 – then he would be at 17,243 and might strive to have a season with 1,000 in 2029. |
| CINCINNATIQB JOE BURROW credits the persuasive powers of Peyton Manning for his decision to appear on “Quarterback”. Jay Morrison of SI.com: Speaking with the local media for the first time since minutes after the Cincinnati Bengals’ 19-17 victory against the Pittsburgh Steelers on Jan. 4, quarterback Joe Burrow field questions about some predictable topics. Those included stumping for extensions for wide receivers Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins and his reaction to seeing those get done; his thoughts on defensive end Trey Hendrickson’s contract situation; his rare healthy offseason; and his plans for a 2025 encore. But the topic that drew the most attention was his appearance in the upcoming second season of the Netflix series “Quarterback.” Burrow’s desire for privacy ever since he entered the league and his previous rejection to appear on Season 1 of the show led to a lot of surprised reactions when Netflix announced that he would be featured in Season 2, which debuts in July. Why the change of mind? “They caught me on a good day,” Burrow quipped. More seriously, however, was the fact that the ask came from someone Burrow has great admiration for – Peyton Manning, the show’s executive producer. “A big part was Payton (Manning) being involved in it,” Burrow said. “I have a lot of respect for him, obviously. What he did, does, is as a person – when that guy reaches out to you and asks you to do something … most of the time I’m going to say ‘yes.’” Burrow said Manning’s pitch was that it was a high-reward, no-risk scenario. “Only positive things could come out of it,” Burrow said. “He’s going to protect me, protect our team, protect our organization. I have trust in him for saying that and trust that he’s going to do that. I probably wouldn’t have done it if he wasn’t involved, but I have a lot of trust and faith in him to not do anything that would hurt me or the team.” In addition to Burrow, the newest season of “Quarterback” will feature the Detroit Lions Jared Goff and the Atlanta Falcons Kirk Cousins, who also starred in Season 1 while playing for the Minnesota Vikings. The show will chronicle each quarterback’s 2024 season. Another selling point for Burrow was that the “Hard Knocks” cameras already were going to be chronicling everything, so it didn’t feel like anything extra and made the secret easier to keep. One difference between “Hard Knocks” and “Quarterback” is the attention paid to the burglary at Burrow’s house in December. The Bengals nixed any mention of it in “Hard Knocks,” but that was easier to deal with given that the show was focused on all four teams in the AFC North Division. The team also had a degree of editorial control with “Quarterback,” but because it focused on just three players, it would harder to ignore such a major storyline from Burrow’s season. And the expectation is that the incident will be addressed on the show. “That was definitely a curveball I didn’t quite expect throughout the whole process, but the people involved in it, working on it day to day, were great and weren’t too intrusive,” Burrow said. “I worked with some good people with that.” Burrow had his final sit-down interview for the show last week, and he said he’s already watched screenings of the first several episodes to give his input. Is it any good? “I guess that’s for you guys to decide when it comes out,” he said. “I don’t know. I probably won’t watch it when it comes out, but hopefully you guys like it.” |
| CLEVELANDJust what the Browns need (?!?!?!), a healthy QB DESHAUN WATSON to further complicate things at QB. Mary Kay Cabot of the Cleveland Plain Dealer: While all of Browns Town is focused on the four-way quarterback competition, Deshaun Watson continues to make excellent progress in his comeback bid at CrossCountry Mortgage Campus. Watson, not part of the derby among Kenny Pickett, Dillon Gabriel, Joe Flacco and Shedeur Sanders, has been throwing to Jerry Jeudy and David Bell indoors at the Browns’ facility, a league source told cleveland.com. He’s been out of his walking boot for several weeks, as he posted on his Instagram account, and also posted photos of himself Monday throwing to receivers. |
| AFC SOUTH |
| TENNESSEETitans coach Brian Callahan wants to keep RB TONY POLLARD fresher for the long haul. Kevin Patra of NFL.com: Tony Pollard carried the lion’s share of the load in his first season in Tennessee, setting a career-high with 260 carries and 1,079 yards to go along with five touchdowns. Coach Brian Callahan would like to siphon off some of those totes in 2025 to keep the shifty back fresher. “He was battling the second half of the year quite a bit,” Callahan said of Pollard via the team’s official website. “But I think in a perfect world, it’s a healthier division of labor. I think he ended up carrying the ball a lot. He was our most productive running back. And then Tyjae (Spears) had some injuries early, too. So, he ended up playing a lot early and then Tyjae sort of came on as the year went on further. “So, I like really both of those players a lot. I think we can do a better job of managing that load so they both play a little more evenly and allows us to maybe have a spot for a third back between Julius (Chestnut) and Kalel (Mullings), some heavier style back and runner. So hopefully that division of labor gets a little more evenly distributed so he doesn’t have to take the brunt of it. And we can get 17 games out of all those guys at their best.” When Pollard signed in Tennessee from Dallas, the question was whether he could continue to be the main horse while keeping the explosive plays. The 28-year-old was able to notch his third consecutive 1,000-plus yard campaign, but as in his final year with the Cowboys, the explosive plays were down from his Pro Bowl campaign of 2022. Last season, Pollard generated 13 rushes of 15-plus yards for a 26.1 breakaway percent, per Pro Football Focus. That’s up from 11 and 21.6 in 2023 but down from his career-high of 19 and 43 percent in 2022. The idea is to curtail Pollard’s carries to keep him fresher in hopes of popping a few more big-play tracks. If Spears, who played just 12 games, stays healthy, and one of the bigger backs can show consistency — ideally, the rookie, Mullings — it should take some of the wear off the seven-year pro. Pollard isn’t against sharing reps. “Whatever way we can contribute to the success of the team,” Pollard said. “Getting more guys involved, keeping guys fresh, whatever it is that is going to keep us winning games and keep guys fresh throughout the season, it’s ideal.” |
| THIS AND THAT |
| PROJECTING TOP ROOKIESMike Clay of ESPN.com looks at the likely top rookies from the Fantasy perspective. Should be quite a few running backs doing well besides RB ASHTON JEANTY. Let’s look at the top five projected leaders among rookies in a variety of statistical categories for the 2025 season. These team and player projections are my own, compiled through a process that is both quantitative (league, team, coaching and player trends) and qualitative (projected depth chart placement and role). Missed time due to injury is factored in, with running backs generally maxing out at 14 games and other positions at 15. For full statistical outlooks, you can check out my projections page to sort and filter through the entire league. Both are updated often leading up to the start of the season. Passing yards and touchdowns1. Cam Ward, Tennessee Titans: 3,392 yards, 20 TDs (15 starts)2. Tyler Shough, New Orleans Saints: 3,020 yards, 13 TDs (13 starts)3. Jaxson Dart, New York Giants: 1,968 yards, 10 TDs (9 starts)4. Dillon Gabriel, Cleveland Browns: 1,205 yards, 5 TDs (5 starts)5. Shedeur Sanders, Cleveland Browns: 925 yards, 4 TDs (4 starts) This is not one of the better quarterback classes in recent memory, with Ward as the only sure bet to start Week 1. As a second-round pick, Shough seemed like a relative long shot to pan out as the Saints’ starter when he was selected, but Derek Carr’s retirement suddenly positions the 25-year-old rookie as the favorite to lead the team in starts. Dart will begin his career behind Russell Wilson and perhaps also Jameis Winston, but history suggests the No. 25 pick will make a Year 1 impact. From 2011 to 2024, 38 of 47 first-round QBs (81%) took over as the starter prior to Week 10. Twenty-three (49%) started in Week 1, including Caleb Williams, Jayden Daniels and Bo Nix last season. Of the seven QBs picked in the 20-32 range, six played as rookies and four took over before Week 5. Jordan Love was the only exception since he backed up Aaron Rodgers for three seasons. There are 27 QBs who appeared in at least 14 games as a rookie since 2011. Excluding Jalen Hurts and Lamar Jackson — who were used situationally as rushers — that group averaged 3,455 passing yards and 19 touchdown passes. In 15 starts, Ward is right on par with that historical average. In Cleveland, Gabriel and Sanders will compete with Joe Flacco and Kenny Pickett for the Week 1 starting job. Both rookies figure to get some 2025 run because of the uncertainty surrounding Flacco and Pickett. Receiving yards and touchdowns1. Tetairoa McMillan, Carolina Panthers: 926 yards, 5 TDs2. Matthew Golden, Green Bay Packers: 889 yards, 6 TDs3. Travis Hunter, Jacksonville Jaguars: 884 yards, 5 TDs4. Jack Bech, Las Vegas Raiders: 747 yards, 4 TDs5. Jayden Higgins, Houston Texans: 723 yards, 4 TDs Like the QB class, there aren’t as many impressive wide receivers in the 2025 group when compared to recent years. But we still had four selected in the first round and 10 more on Day 2. As top-10 picks, both Hunter (No. 2) and McMillan (No. 8) are notably above the rest of the pack. It’s a small sample, but 13 of the 17 wideouts produced at least 865 yards. Tavon Austin, Corey Davis and Mike Williams (who all missed at least three games) are three of the exceptions, while Rome Odunze had to work behind DJ Moore and Keenan Allen last season. This provides optimism that McMillan can reach 900 yards as a rookie, assuming quarterback Bryce Young sustains his improved play from late last season. Hunter is in a more unique situation since he’s likely to also play some defense, but he’s still a good bet to be a featured offensive target behind Brian Thomas Jr. Golden (No. 23), Higgins (No. 34) and Bech (No. 58) all could easily start in Week 1. But the outlook for receivers selected after pick No. 20 through the third round is unspectacular. Since 2011, there are 148 receivers who fit that bill and played at least one snap as a rookie. Only 24 of them (16.2%) reached 800 receiving yards, and 24 (16.2%) caught at least seven touchdowns. This is something to keep in mind when considering the upside of all the Rounds 1 and 2 wide receivers. First-round tight ends Colston Loveland and Tyler Warren are notable omissions from this list, but there’s good reason. Only seven tight ends in NFL history have produced more than 750 receiving yards as a rookie. Perhaps the recent success of Sam LaPorta (889 yards in 2023) and Brock Bowers (1,194 yards in 2024) means rookie tight ends will be more impactful going forward, but they could also be outliers. Also, Loveland will have to compete for targets with Moore, Odunze, fellow rookie Luther Burden III and Cole Kmet. Warren will need to overcome the Colts’ potentially low-volume passing game with either Anthony Richardson or Daniel Jones under center. Rushing yards and touchdowns1. Ashton Jeanty, Las Vegas Raiders: 1,120 yards, 7 TDs2. Omarion Hampton, Los Angeles Chargers: 961 yards, 9 TDs3. Kaleb Johnson, Pittsburgh Steelers: 947 yards, 7 TDs4. Quinshon Judkins, Cleveland Browns: 922 yards, 6 TDs5. RJ Harvey, Denver Broncos: 841 yards, 5 TDs The 2025 rookie RB class is one of the best we’ve seen in a while; it includes 25 draft picks, the most for the position since 2019. At the very minimum, the six backs selected in the first three rounds are likely to make a substantial impact this season. That list includes No. 6 pick Jeanty, who will immediately slide in as Las Vegas’ feature back. The past four backs selected in the top seven picks (Saquon Barkley, Trent Richardson, Ezekiel Elliott and Leonard Fournette) all produced at least 260 carries, 950 rushing yards and 9 rushing touchdowns as rookies. All four players did it in fewer than 17 games, too. Reaching 1,000 rushing yards as a rookie isn’t easy, but eight first-round RBs have had 225-plus carries in their first season since 2011 — Jeanty should eclipse that number even if he misses a few games. Those eight backs all reached 950 rushing yards, averaging 1,230 yards and 10 rushing touchdowns. Hampton’s outlook is not as rosy as Jeanty’s, but it’s still pretty strong. Since 2011, eight RBs have been selected in the back half of the first round. Five reached 800 rushing yards (Doug Martin, Najee Harris, Josh Jacobs, Sony Michel and Clyde Edwards-Helaire), while the remaining three were limited to backup/situational roles (Mark Ingram, Rashaad Penny and David Wilson). Hampton will need to fend off newly acquired Harris for work, but the No. 22 pick will likely operate as the lead back in Jim Harbaugh’s run-friendly scheme. Day 2 picks Johnson, Judkins, Harvey and TreVeyon Henderson should also play major roles right out of the gate. Their production is a bit tricky to project, as we haven’t seen a ton of high-end success from second- and third-round backs. Since 2011, only 13 of 74 RBs selected in Rounds 2-3 have reached 800 rushing yards in Year 1. Fourteen of them reached six rushing touchdowns. If this rookie running back class really is special, then we should expect more output from later picks. Johnson will likely be the primary ball carrier in Pittsburgh. Judkins and Harvey figure to lead their respective backfields. And Henderson will share the New England backfield with Rhamondre Stevenson. Touchdowns from scrimmage1. Omarion Hampton, RB, Los Angeles Chargers: 112. Ashton Jeanty, RB, Las Vegas Raiders: 93. Kaleb Johnson, RB, Pittsburgh Steelers: 8T-4. RJ Harvey, RB, Denver Broncos: 7T-4. Quinshon Judkins, RB, Cleveland Browns: 7T-4. TreVeyon Henderson, RB, New England Patriots: 7 Touchdowns by rookies have been on the decline, with fewer than 140 in three of the past four seasons. But the loaded RB class might get things back on track. Over the past decade, 23 rookies have reached 10 touchdowns. Sixteen of those players were running backs, so it should be no surprise to see six backs on this list for 2025. The aforementioned past four backs selected in the top seven (Barkley, Richardson, Elliott and Fournette) all produced at least 10 touchdowns as a rookie. So Jeanty reaching double-digit TDs would be on par with the historical production — but I don’t expect him to reach that mark. In fact, I have Hampton ahead of Jeanty in total touchdowns because the Chargers’ offense will likely outscore the Raiders’ unit over the course of the season. Los Angeles will likely score more rushing touchdowns, too. The lack of wide receivers might seem confusing, but only 15 rookie WRs reached eight TDs in their first season over the past decade. While Brian Thomas Jr., Xavier Worthy, Jalen McMillan and Marvin Harrison Jr. met that mark in 2024, only four did from 2021 to 2023. The DB will say that Denver’s RJ HARVEY will top 841 rushing yards. And that tight ends TYLER WARREN and COLSTON LOVELAND will both top 750 receiving yards. |
| DREAM TEAM – FLAG FOOTBALL VERSIONAre we going to have three years of talking about this? Here’s Frank Schwab ofYahooSports.com gets it, even as he runs through the US 2028 Dream Team: And you thought the 1992 United States men’s basketball team crushed the competition. The NFL’s team owners approved a resolution on Tuesday that allows NFL players to participate in the 2028 Olympics in flag football. It would allow one player from each team, plus a designated international player, to play. Nothing against those international players, but USA vs. anyone in flag football would make the Dream Team vs. Angola look competitive. The game of flag football is five on five, so let’s pick the United States’ 2028 Dream Team starting lineup for flag football using NFL players: OffenseQB: Patrick MahomesLamar Jackson would have been the pick if running was allowed, but quarterbacks can’t run in flag football. Jackson would still be a fine pick because he’s a great passer too, but we’ll go with Mahomes. Because nobody could go wrong picking Mahomes to be their quarterback. One underrated option: Jared Goff, who won last season’s Pro Bowl Game’s offensive MVP and a skills competition there. He’s a perfect pocket distributor. But we can take only one player from each team and … RB: Jahmyr GibbsThe quarterback can hand it off to a running back or throw, but the running back has to be an elusive threat out of the backfield with the ability to catch. Sorry Derrick Henry, you can’t run over the poor defenders in this game. We’ve seen Gibbs absolutely dust NFL defenders in open space, and good luck to the German or French defender catching up to Gibbs. WR: Justin JeffersonWe could try to get cute and make an argument like “Marvin Mims Jr. had the most separation in the NFL last season so he should be the pick,” or “KaVontae Turpin would be the fastest receiver on the field” but let’s be real. If nobody can cover Jefferson in the pros, nobody can cover him in the Olympics either. WR: Ja’Marr ChaseSee above. There could be some contrarian argument that this or that slot receiver would be better suited for flag football, or that Xavier Worthy’s speed should be considered. You pick one of them, and then tell the NFL’s triple crown winner he’s not in the starting lineup. WR: Tyreek HillHill has made the NFL look like he’s already playing flag football. There’s some worry he didn’t look like the same explosive player last season. But Hill is practically built for this game. Though it’s tough to say no to players like Malik Nabers, Brian Thomas Jr. and Nico Collins for the final starting spot. DefenseRusher: Micah ParsonsIn flag football, one player usually rushes, and Parsons will be just fine at that. His background as an off-ball linebacker at Penn State also helps a little bit. He gets a slight nod over T.J. Watt and Myles Garrett. An international quarterback seeing any of them bearing down might cause any of them to pass out. CB: Travis HunterYeah, he hasn’t played an NFL game yet. But he wouldn’t have any problem playing both ways in a flag football world. And his body control is already as good as anyone in the NFL already. Pity the poor defender trying to grab his flag after the catch, if he can even get any playing time as a receiver. Defense Rusher: Micah ParsonsIn flag football, one player usually rushes, and Parsons will be just fine at that. His background as an off-ball linebacker at Penn State also helps a little bit. He gets a slight nod over T.J. Watt and Myles Garrett. An international quarterback seeing any of them bearing down might cause any of them to pass out. CB: Travis HunterYeah, he hasn’t played an NFL game yet. But he wouldn’t have any problem playing both ways in a flag football world. And his body control is already as good as anyone in the NFL already. Pity the poor defender trying to grab his flag after the catch, if he can even get any playing time as a receiver. CB: Patrick Surtain IIPerhaps we can argue that slot cornerbacks are actually better for flag football, considering the speed and space element involved. I’ll assume last season’s NFL Defensive Player of the Year will be fine in any environment. CB: Cooper DeJeanWe do have some recent tape of NFL stars playing flag football, from the Pro Bowl Games last season. Vikings cornerback Byron Murphy Jr. had three pick-6s and was the defensive MVP of that game and should be considered based on that, but we already have Justin Jefferson from the Vikings. Instead, let’s go with DeJean, who had the highest Pro Football Focus grade of any cornerback as a rookie for the Philadelphia Eagles last season, and has experience playing safety, slot corner and outside corner. Besides, the Super Bowl champion Eagles have to have some representation. S: Kyle HamiltonHamilton is the latest Swiss Army knife safety in the NFL, making plays everywhere for the Baltimore Ravens. That versatility is perfect for an Olympic flag football team. Not that it should matter much, given the rest of the starting lineup. We do think that WR TYREEK HILL and his unpredictable nature and declining skills will be yesterday’s news in three years, if not already. Surely there will be better options such as rising rookies WR TETAIROA McMILLAN or EMEKA EGBUKA in 2028. |
