The Daily Briefing Wednesday, September 8, 2021

AROUND THE NFL

Daily Briefing

Union president J.C. TRETTER disputes the contention that the NFLPA advocated for the “emphasis” on taunting that is to come.  Mike Florio of ProFootballTalk.com:

Rich McKay, the chair of the NFL’s Competition Committee, recently explained that the league made the taunting rule a point of emphasis at the request of the NFL Players Association and the NCAA. The president of the NFLPA says that’s not the case.

 

JC Tretter, in a column published Tuesday, said the union didn’t ask for an emphasis on the enforcement of the rule against taunting.

 

 “I can assure you, as an attendee of the competition committee meeting myself, that was not the case,” Tretter said. “On the contrary, we would support the removal of this point of emphasis immediately.”

 

The rule, however, has been in place for a long time. It’s not an issue of eliminating celebrations. It’s about removing from the game displays directed at the opponents — the “in your face” stuff that happens from time to time. The point of emphasis comes from the fact that the officials weren’t calling it consistently.

 

Regardless, to the extent that McKay claims the union wanted it, the president of the union says it didn’t. It’s an important point, because it’s a lot easier to get the fans and media on board with the point of emphasis if the league can convince everyone that the players wanted it. According to Tretter, they did not.

We’re not opposed to the face-to-face taunts being penalized.

But what about the player who is running clear into the end zone and turns back to look and perhaps say something?

What about the player who makes a big play and gets up to traditionally celebrate, only to find an opponent nearby?

Whether flags fly in those instances will be the test of whether the “emphasis” is reasonably calibrated.

NFC NORTH

CHICAGO

Rodger Sherman of The Ringer is already wondering if QB JUSTIN FIELDS is the greatest Bears QB since 1985.  With a complicated scoring system, he ranked all 45 QBs to throw a pass in the intervening 35 years:

After taking Justin Fields with the 10th pick in this year’s NFL draft, the Bears finally seem to have their franchise savior at quarterback. I know what you’re probably thinking: Didn’t Bears fans just delude themselves into thinking they had a franchise quarterback? Didn’t the team select Mitch Trubisky second merely four years ago?

 

But there’s a critical difference this time around: Although Trubisky was also a high first-round draft pick, Fields was considered “really good at football” for almost his whole life before the NFL, while Trubisky was not. During his tenure at Ohio State, Fields was widely seen as the second-best prospect in the 2021 draft class, behind only Trevor Lawrence; during his time at North Carolina, Trubisky started just 13 games, and was never regarded as the best passer in his own conference. With Trubisky, the Bears reached for a questionable QB prospect. With Fields, a great one seems to have fallen into their lap.

 

If Fields succeeds in Chicago, he will snap a stunningly long stretch of franchisewide passing failure. The Bears are 281-278 since 1986, 17th in wins out of the league’s 32 teams, almost perfectly mediocre. But when the team has been good, its success has been almost completely the result of a stellar defense. For most teams, QBs are the heroes whose jerseys are worn in bars and tailgate lots for decades. In Chicago, the franchise heroes are players like Mike Singletary and Brian Urlacher, who anchored amazing defenses that carried lackluster offenses.

 

While the Bears rank among the middle of the pack in wins since 1986, they’re 30th in passer rating. They haven’t produced a first-team All-Pro quarterback since Johnny Lujack in 1950, when Lujack threw four touchdowns and 21 interceptions. The Bears’ only Pro Bowl QB since the 1980s is … Trubisky, who got a Pro Bowl nod in 2018. Of course, he was the fifth NFC quarterback selected, making the cut only after Drew Brees, Jared Goff, and Aaron Rodgers all turned down invitations.

 

It defies logic that one franchise could be so consistently inept at one aspect of football! So to celebrate the potential end of this run, we’re ranking all 45 quarterbacks who have thrown passes for the Bears since the team last won the Super Bowl, in the 1985 season. The main factor in this ranking is the players’ performances with the Bears; however, we’re also factoring in their overall career performances, to demonstrate that almost no good QBs have played for Chicago in more than three decades. For a task this important, we turned to science. Here is our system:

 

Quarterbacks received between 1 and 45 points for their ranking in two categories: passing touchdowns with the Bears and career approximate value according to Pro Football Reference. For example, Jay Cutler passed for the most touchdowns of any Bears QB since 1986, so he got 45 points in that category. The first stat reflects how well these QBs performed for the Bears; the second helps put their contributions in Chicago into context.

 

QBs received one point for every win they had as a starter for the Bears.

 

Players were given five bonus points for making a Pro Bowl with any team, five bonus points for leading the league in any major passing statistic, and five bonus points for winning a Super Bowl as a starter. As you might expect, these bonuses were rare. The bonuses were doubled if any of the above accomplishments happened when a QB was on the Bears. This was extremely rare.

One bonus point was awarded to any QB who won a championship in a foreign football league. This bonus was wildly popular.

 

Players were awarded 10,000 bonus points for being named All-Pro at any point in their NFL careers, or for leading the league in any major statistical category as a member of the Bears. Unfortunately, none of the 45 players on the list claimed this bonus, since no Bears QB since 1985 has ever been named All-Pro or led the league in any meaningful stat besides interceptions.

Five bonus points were awarded to any QB who set a Bears single-season or franchise record.

Although this list only includes players who have thrown passes for the Bears since 1986, we used the full Bears career statistics for Jim McMahon and Steve Fuller, who began playing with the team in 1982 and 1984, respectively.

In the event of a scoring tie, the quarterbacks are ranked based on my personal discretion.

And that’s it! Without further ado, let’s get to the list.

 

You can seek out the whole thing that starts with Mark Hartsell and Tyler Bray.  Let’s pick it up at #6:

 

6. Dave Krieg

Bears TD points: 33 (14, 13th)

Bears wins points: 6

Career AV Points: 45 (highest on the list)

Bonus Points: 15 (Pro Bowls)

Total: 99

 

Based on full-career performance, I think Krieg is the best quarterback to play for the Bears since 1986. He made the most Pro Bowls of anybody on this list. He’s the only player who threw for 30 touchdowns in a season. He led the league in touchdown percentage three times and in completion percentage once.

 

Of course, all of those accomplishments came in Krieg’s decade with the Seahawks, as he was 38 when he joined the Bears to spend one season backing up Erik Kramer. Still, it’s worth emphasizing: Dave Krieg is probably the best quarterback to play for the Bears over the past 35 years.

 

5. Erik Kramer

Bears TD points: 42 (63, 4th)

Bears wins points: 18

Career AV points: 33

Bonus points: 10 (5 each for holding the Bears’ single-season records in passing touchdowns and passing yards)

Total: 103

 

Thirty-one of 32 NFL teams have had a quarterback throw 30 touchdown passes in a given season. And then there are the Bears, whose single-season passing touchdown record is 29. Normally, when a quarterback holds a franchise record for 20-plus years, the mark is set by a legend—someone like Dan Marino, who still holds the Dolphins’ touchdown record. But with the Bears, the record belongs to Erik Kramer, an undrafted journeyman who only played two full seasons as an NFL starter.

 

I don’t know what the hell happened in 1995, when Kramer set that mark. Outside of the 29-touchdown campaign, he never threw for more than 14 touchdowns in a season. And it’s not like the Bears had an otherworldly receiving corps in 1995; they pretty much had the same group as in 1994, led by Jeff Graham and Curtis Conway. Yet Kramer posted a career-high touchdown percentage and a career-low interception percentage.

 

Based solely off this one good season, we have to consider Kramer one of the best Bears quarterbacks of all time. At least, until somebody unseats him from the franchise record books.

 

4. Mitch Trubisky

Bears TD points: 43 (64, 3rd)

Bears wins points: 29

Career AV points: 30 (so far)

Bonus points: 10 (5 for his Pro Bowl, double for doing it on the Bears)

Total: 112

 

Trubisky’s Bears career will be remembered as a failure. Chicago had the second pick in the 2017 draft and famously took Trubisky over Patrick Mahomes and Deshaun Watson, even though Trubisky seemed like the worst prospect of the three and certainly became the worst NFL player of the three. Over four seasons in Chicago, he never cracked the top 10 in any positive passing category, and led an offense that ranked among the bottom five in points scored twice. His greatest career achievement was probably being named “NVP” of last season’s wild-card loss to the Saints after Nickelodeon’s online fan vote was hijacked by people who thought it’d be funny to give the losing QB a slime bath. (Unfortunately, Trubisky did not receive a slime bath.)

 

And yet, Trubisky is easily one of the most prolific passers in Bears history. He is fifth all time in QB wins (29) and touchdown passes (64); he has the highest passer rating (87.2) of anybody to start more than 10 games for the franchise. He is the only Bears quarterback to make a Pro Bowl in the past 30 years. And he would’ve won a playoff game if not for the Double Doink.

 

Trubisky is so supremely frustrating for Bears fans not only because he represents a wasted opportunity for the franchise, but also because he was better than almost everyone else who has quarterbacked for Chicago over the past three decades. If only he had learned to throw left.

 

3. Jim Harbaugh

Bears TD points: 41 (50, 5th)

Bears wins points: 35

Career AV points: 42

Bonus points: 15 (5 for Pro Bowl, 5 for leading the NFL in passer rating, 5 for leading the league in yards per attempt)

Total: 132

 

That’s right—before taking the 49ers to the Super Bowl and turning Michigan into a perennial contender for third place in the Big Ten East, the khaki-wearing, milk-loving coach was a QB for the Bears. His Chicago tenure was a disappointment: The franchise used a 1987 first-round pick on him, but he took four years to win the starting job, and threw more interceptions than touchdowns with the team.

 

After leaving the Bears and joining the Colts, however, Harbaugh led the NFL in passer rating and yards per attempt in 1995. He came a dropped Hail Mary away from taking Indianapolis to the AFC title game. Harbaugh was named the NFL’s Comeback Player of the Year—not because he’d recovered from serious injury, but because everyone simply assumed that he was incapable of quarterbacking at such a high level on the heels of his seven dismal years in Chicago.

 

That may be the best summation of the Bears quarterbacking history. When a former Chicago QB shows up on another team and looks OK, he might win an award typically reserved for players who overcome grievous injuries.

 

2. Jim McMahon

Bears TD points: 44 (67, 2nd)

Bears wins points: 46

Career AV points: 40

Bonus points: 20 (5 points for making the Pro Bowl, 5 for winning a Super Bowl, double points for both happening with the Bears)

Total: 150

 

McMahon won a Super Bowl for the Bears. That’s pretty much all you need to know. Statistically, he wasn’t that great; during his lone Pro Bowl season, in 1985, he ranked 19th in the league in touchdowns and 20th in passing yardage. But he was the quarterback for the most beloved period in franchise history. Between 1984 and 1987, the Bears won 22 straight regular-season games started by McMahon, an NFL record at the time.

 

With his trademark headbands and brash persona, McMahon endeared himself to fans as the team kept on winning. McMahon later had a couple of playoff runs with the Vikings and Eagles; after he won a second Super Bowl ring as a backup for the Packers in 1996, he wore a Bears jersey to the White House.

 

McMahon said this year that Chicago is where quarterbacks go to die—but he’s the one Chicago quarterback who gets to live forever.

 

1. Jay Cutler

Bears TD points: 45 (154, 1st)

Bears wins points: 51

Career AV points: 44

Bonus points: 20 (5 for his Pro Bowl, 5 each for his Bears franchise records in passing yards, touchdowns, and wins)

Total: 160

 

It had to be Jay, didn’t it? Cutler was the embodiment of an average quarterback during his tenure in Chicago, with an occasional tendency to lead the NFL in interceptions. The Bears went exactly 51-51 in his 102 starts—52-52 including the playoffs. His career peaked before he even got to the team, as his lone Pro Bowl appearance and lone 4,000-yard season came during his final year with the Broncos.

 

But on Bears Mountain, being an average QB makes you a giant. He is Chicago’s all-time leader in touchdown passes (154), passing yards (23,443), and career wins. For a franchise perpetually mired in hideous battles between has-beens, journeymen, and future busts, Cutler started in Chicago for nearly a decade.

 

Cutler is inarguably the greatest Bears quarterback since their last Super Bowl appearance. That says more about the Bears than it does about Cutler. This is the bar that Justin Fields has to clear. I think he can do it.

Sean Payton checked in at #42.  Rex Grossman was #10.

You can see the whole list here.

DETROIT

Bill Barnwell of ESPN.com tries to make a case for all 32 teams to win the Super Bowl today – and we won’t give you all 32.  But let’s take a look at Detroit:

30. Detroit Lions

Chance to win Super Bowl LVI: Less than 0.1%

Chance to make the playoffs: 7.8%

 

It’s difficult for a pass defense to be as bad as the Lions were over the past two seasons. Under defensive whiz Matt Patricia, they allowed opposing quarterbacks to post a passer rating of 105.7, which means that the average passer facing them played about as well as a typical Russell Wilson start over that same time frame. New defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn did an excellent job of bringing through young secondary talent in his time with the Saints, and there’s a chance that he gets much more out of a team with players such as Trey Flowers, Michael Brockers and 2020 No. 3 overall pick Jeff Okudah.

 

 

If the defense makes an unexpected rise up the charts, Detroit could actually be a tough out. It should have one of the league’s best offensive lines protecting Jared Goff, who was an effective passer at times when given time to throw in Los Angeles. A competent Lions team would probably struggle to win the NFC North, but the rest of the teams in their division are one quarterback decision or news conference misstep away from potential turmoil. It’s probably not going to happen, but at the very least, I completed a promise to myself that I would make it through this entire blurb without mentioning kneecaps.

– – –

Nick Baumgardner and Chris Burke of The Athletic collect stories about new coach Dan Campbell.  Edited for space.

Dan Campbell took a final offer from an old friend in February 2009. And then he got down to business.

 

Clearly at the end of a productive NFL playing career that featured multiple seven-figure contracts as a team-first tight end, Campbell accepted Sean Payton’s offer to join the New Orleans Saints as a free agent and help them chase a Super Bowl. But this would be business. His family would remain at their lovely home in Texas. There would be no distractions for Campbell, who was roughly two months shy of his 33rd birthday.

 

And that’s the answer he stuck to when another lifelong friend called to ask why an NFL player decided it was a good idea to live in a campground near the practice facility in New Orleans.

 

“I was like, ‘Dude, seriously … you’re living in a camper?” said Shane Lechler, a former Texas A&M teammate and roommate, while laughing. “And he’s like ‘Lech, listen: I’m only in the camper five hours a day.’

 

“And I was like ‘Well, OK.’ That’s Dan. He was working. Didn’t need anything else.”

 

In so many ways, Detroit Lions head coach Dan Campbell is the person you read about in all the stories. A 6-foot-5 walking James Hetfield lyric who runs on off-the-charts levels of caffeine and whatever else it is cowboys eat to survive. A fun-loving, football-crazed Texan with a giant smile, a big heart and an ability to laugh at himself.

 

That’s all true. Campbell’s upbeat personality will help him as he coaches the rebuilding Lions, whom he joined in January after 11 years as an NFL assistant with the Saints and Dolphins.

 

A lot of other stuff is true, too. Just talk to former NFL linebacker Dat Nguyen, who was a Texas A&M and pro teammate with Campbell.

 

“If you ask me or the other 100 guys, if we were stuck in a foxhole, who would we pick to be with us?” Nguyen said about the 1998 Texas A&M football team, “I wouldn’t doubt if 99 of those guys would say Dan Campbell.”

 

Who is Campbell, really? We asked those who know him best.

 

Billy Liucci and Hunter Goodwin were two of the first people at Texas A&M to meet Campbell. Goodwin hosted Campbell, a lanky tight end from tiny Glen Rose, Texas, on his visit. Liucci, who would eventually start the massively popular TexAgs football site while rooming with Campbell and some other A&M players, was living with Goodwin at the time. Goodwin was a tight end himself who also later played in the NFL.

 

Goodwin: He was a good country kid, but very naive. That’s no different than me. He came from a tiny town in Texas. I came from a town of 2,800 people. I never ate sushi until I got in the NFL and was 23 years old; thought that was the most exotic thing I’ve ever done. Dan was even more small-town than me. (He) grew up in a small town, his world was not very big and with that comes naivety. You’re naive until you see the rest of the world and how big it is.

 

Dan, from the day I met him, has always had a great commanding personality, and he has tremendous charisma. Some people are put on this earth to lead, and he falls in that category, in my opinion. Even when he showed up as a naive kid from Glen Rose, Texas, he just has a gift — you want to do things for him. That sounds odd, but some people just have that and some people don’t. He’s got it.

 

Seth McKinney (Campbell’s former roommate and an ex-NFL offensive lineman): We were just there to play ball and have fun. But Dan, he’d be just as comfortable as a ranch hand on a 1,000-acre ranch as he would be the head coach of the Lions. That’s just how it is.

 

Nguyen: You look at our team — I’m Asian, we had African-American, Hispanic, Caucasian (players), obviously. When Dan Campbell was in college and said, “Hey, I’m having a party at the house,” I bet you all the guys at the team stopped by somewhere, somehow through the night. Because if you don’t show up, you’re out of his inner circle. That’s how he built his team, his relationship, his trust.

 

Goodwin: (He’s) hilarious. Very witty. Extremely funny. He’ll probably never do it, but he does one of the best Jim Carrey voices — lines from “Dumb and Dumber,” he’s hilarious. He does some amazing impressions. (Frank Caliendo) did an impression of Dan, my wife showed it to me and my immediate reaction was, “That guy better watch out, because if Dan gets a video of him being himself, he’ll probably do a better impression of him than he did of Dan.” He’s funny as hell with stuff like that.

 

The public perception of Campbell is largely tied to the happy and fun parts of his personality that leak out via news conferences. But Campbell has never been a coordinator and he’s never called plays, so the other piece of that perception is that Campbell is not really an X’s and O’s expert. That he won’t be able to conceptualize the game on his own without terrific coordinators.

 

Former quarterback Drew Henson, who played with Campbell in both Dallas and Detroit, saw things differently. Campbell was one of the first teammates he got to know in Dallas after a rough three-year layoff from football pursuing a baseball career. Others had a similar view.

 

Henson: He was a great resource. … Seeing Dan coming up through the coaching side now is like the least-shocking thing to me. I can remember back to those Dallas days when Sean Payton was running the offense. There would be times during the week or maybe another time during the offseason or something, where we’d be doing prep or install, and the intensity or attention to detail would slip. Guys wouldn’t be into it, right? And I noticed pretty early that Sean would just quietly go over to Dan. “Hey, Danny, get ‘em going.” Or he’d just give him a look or a nod in a room. And then, sure enough, Dan would step in and say something and we’d be right back on track. Happened a lot.

 

Playing tight end is sort of like being a baseball catcher. You have your hand in everything. They’re influential in the run scheme, pass scheme, pass protection, they’re the hot route adjustments, they’re the ones adjusting to man or zone and switches in coverage during a play. There is an IQ that has to come with that position — a total understanding of football — not just fronts, fronts and coverages. Coverages that are changing. Sometimes they’re the chip man.

 

As a quarterback coming to the league when I did, having Dan there helped so much. Just a great leader. Winning football character.

 

Seth McKinney: He was a tight ends coach and that lends itself to so much knowledge of football. You have to know routes, spacing, what the offensive line is doing, the quarterback. But you really also need to know what the defensive backs and the linebackers, defensive linemen are doing, so — it’s everything.

 

Liucci: When I heard Dan talking offensive football (during a gathering with friends in late 2019), it blew me away. It was clear he’d been around Sean Payton for so long.

 

You could see the Sean Payton stuff, the modern stuff and all the ideas he’s worked on offensively — but he also has those old-school roots. … It’s just so cool to see your friend evolve into that. But the thing about Dan — he’s still the same dude from that official visit. Any team Dan’s ever been on — I’ve talked to guys who played with him in the NFL, not just A&M — you ask them about Dan and they go crazy. He was a great unifier of a locker room.

 

Dan and Jimbo Fisher talked at an A&M pro day a few years ago and I remember talking with Jimbo afterward and he was just really impressed. I went to dinner with Dan and the tight end room at the time, and you could hear it in him then, too — just how he was able to quiz the guys about football. I always knew he’d get there, learn how to make it work.

 

Steve McKinney: One year during spring break I went down and stayed with him and his parents in Glen Rose. They’ve got a farm there with some cattle that they run, and so we were gonna work cattle. So we’re out there and we were running cows through the chute. Probably 150-, 200-pound calves coming through the chutes. I’d pull the lever, catch them around their shoulders and Dan would give them the worm and shots and stuff like that, and then we’d release them.

 

So, this one pretty good-sized one comes through and I missed the catch a little bit. He kind of busted through the chute. And Dan, without hesitation, just jumped on top of it and wrestled it to the ground. Literally wrestled it to the ground. Steer-wrestled that sucker all the way to the ground, held it there till we could give it its shots and worms.

 

And I’m like, “Man, this guy really is a cowboy — this ain’t pretend.” That’s Dan Campbell. That’s who he is. He’s a man of action.

 

Liucci: He drove a white pickup called “Betty” all through college. I think he drove that to New York when he signed with the Giants.

 

Dan could be one of those survivalist guys if he had do. He didn’t require much, that’s for sure.

 

Goodwin: Dan came from a very, very hard-working family, who worked their ass off from sun-up to sundown every day to just eke out a living. Not working, in that household, was not an option. If you lived in that house, you had to carry your water and it was required — long hours, hard, backbreaking work in the heat and the sun were the norm. I was raised the exact same way. There was no leisurely weekend where you slept in late, sat on the couch and played video games in the air conditioning. That — forgive my French — shit didn’t exist.

 

Dan reminds me a lot of Jimbo Fisher. Jimbo loves two things: football and hunting. If you talk about those two subjects, you’ll have very long conversations. If you bring up anything else, your conversation will be one-sided and last about 30 seconds. Dan is the same way. He loves the game, and I respect both of those men immensely because of their work ethic.

 

Steve McKinney: He doesn’t try to be fake. He doesn’t try to pretend to be someone he’s not. That’s why you see him like this in these press conferences. That’s Dan being Dan. Not really a suit-and-tie guy, not his style. He’s not going to change that.

 

He’s 45, he still has that demeanor. You see that with old NFL players, I think. We don’t grow up. You spend that much time in the locker room, you don’t grow up — you get to a certain level of maturity and that’s as good as it gets. (Laughs.) I mean, it’s true. Most NFL former players, they keep that childish mentality with humor and stuff — you spent 10 or 12 years in an NFL locker room, that’s how it goes.

 

Dan will have his team motivated. They’ll be physically and mentally prepared to play a football game and he won’t put up with soft players, mentally or physically. That may not manifest itself in the first season, maybe even the second. But let me tell ya: It’ll get there. You’ll see a tough, mentally tough, physical team on the field eventually — then it’ll be about X’s and O’s, Jimmys and Joes.

 

Campbell played for the Lions from 2006 to 2008. (Gregory Shamus / Getty Images)

After being selected No. 79 at the 1999 draft, Campbell spent his first four NFL seasons with the Giants. His offensive coordinator for those final three years was Sean Payton. In 2003, Payton left New York to become Bill Parcells’ assistant head coach in Dallas. That same offseason, Campbell became a free agent.

 

Nguyen: Guess who Bill Parcells got the first day of free agency? Dan. And guess who was on Bill’s ear? Sean Payton.

 

And then, Sean Payton gets to New Orleans (as a head coach), and who does Sean pull? Dan Campbell. They had a relationship. And Sean Payton sees it: He knew (Dan) was going to be a coach. The last few years, he’s learned so much from Sean Payton, not just as a coach but how to manage a team.

 

Dan and myself, we sat down with Sean during Dan’s first year (in Dallas). We sat at a dinner table one night before a game and said to Sean, “Sean, why would you come to the Cowboys?” He said, “Guys, I didn’t come here to learn football. I came here to learn from Bill.” I bet you Dan would tell you about that speech, too, because it really opened all of our eyes.

 

Aaron Glenn (Lions defensive coordinator, predated Campbell at Texas A&M and played with him in Dallas): Dan was a traditional Y tight end for us in Dallas, great blocker. And also the biggest prankster on the team, right. But also — he was the guy who would stir it up in practice if something needed to happen. I can’t say for sure, but I’m almost positive this happened. Bill Parcells would go to Dan when the defense wasn’t operating the way we should’ve been, there’s no doubt in my mind Bill would go to Dan and just say, “Start a fight.”

 

Now, maybe that’s not a hilarious story. But it tells you his personality because there aren’t too many people who will start a fight with you and then come eat lunch next to you an hour later like nothing happened. Like we didn’t just have a fight, right?

 

Henson: There’s multiple styles of NFL coaches. You have the intellectual, the scheme type. The system-tree-philosophy type. The high-energy type. And the former player football coach. Dan’s background doesn’t scream one thing there. It’s not, “I’m the play caller, this is my thing, it’ll be my bread and butter.”

 

Dan coaches men. He leads men. He’ll surround himself with others who will do their job well and with that you can ask a lot of your guys. Because when they know you’re going about your stuff with the same emotional investment — and he clearly is — when it gets up against it, you can ask more of those guys. And they’ll give it back.

NFC EAST
 

DALLAS

It seems like QB DAK PRESCOTT just signed his big deal, but it already has been re-structured.  Michael Gehlken of the Dallas Morning News:

The Cowboys recently created $5 million in extra cap space for the upcoming season, converting $6.25 million of quarterback Dak Prescott’s $9 million salary for 2021 into a signing bonus.  This according to sources.

 

This maneuver was made with the future in mind.

 

If the $5 million goes unused during the 2021 league year, it can be carried over into 2022. In effect, Dallas will have added $3.75 million in extra cap space next year in exchange for $1.25 million less in each of the 2023, 2024 and 2025 league years.

 

A significant jump in the NFL’s salary cap is forecast during that three-year period.

 

Cowboys owner Jerry Jones addressed the move with Prescott during his weekly interview with “Shan & RJ” on 105.3 The Fan [KRLD-FM] on Tuesday saying the intention of the move was to free up money both for now and down the road.

 

“It was anticipated when we made the contracts,” Jones said. “It’s a part of the contract that allows you to manage your roster. Yes, everything about it was expected.”

– – –

Here is how “Hard Knocks” wrapped up from Dan Hanzus of NFL.com:

In the beginning, it probably seemed easy for Jerry Jones.

 

Buy a team. Hire a coach. Hit on a few draft picks. Sign some veterans. Make a blockbuster trade. Mix it all up and win a Lombardi Trophy.

 

Then another.

 

Then another.

 

Seven years into his run as owner of the Dallas Cowboys, Jones was a three-time champion and the envy of the football world. But at some point, the degree of difficulty jumped radically for “America’s Team.” Dallas has now gone 25 consecutive years without so much as a Super Bowl appearance, and a new season dawns with very few people outside the North Texas metro area predicting a return to the big game for the Cowboys come February.

 

Jones knows the glories of the ’90s don’t mean much now. On the season finale of Hard Knocks, he put it as only Jerrah can: “Yesterday is as dead as Napoleon.”

 

We wrote about it a couple weeks back: On one level, Jones has never stopped being an immense success in the NFL. Under his watch, the Cowboys have grown — by a wide margin — into the most valuable sports entity in the country. The return on his initial $150 million investment in 1989 is astronomical. But owners in the NFL aren’t judged — by the greater public, anyway — by how much money they make. It’s the results on the field that matter. Everything else is noise.

 

The Cowboys of 2021 are an interesting team. They play in a weak division nestled within a conference in transition. They might not be a buzzy Super Bowl pick, but there’s an opportunity to do something special this season. About a month shy of his 79th birthday, Jones knows he only has so many bites at the apple left.

 

“It’s a sensitive thing, the NFL,” Jones said from his palatial private office overlooking the Cowboys’ outdoor practice field at The Star. “There’s a lot of other things that I do that second and third place is great. That’s not what works here. You’re either No. 1 or you’ve got a disappointment.

 

“The biggest thing is we’re a bottom-line activity: Win.”

 

Just win, pardna.

 

Extra points …

 

Ambition is never in short supply in Big D. I’m not sure how I feel about this …

 

We covered the unfortunate timing issue of last week’s episode falling on the same day as final cuts, but I still want to call special attention to Azur Kamara. His family escaped civil war on the Ivory Coast and now Kamara finds himself as an active member of the Dallas freaking Cowboys. America’s Team, American Dream. Mike McCarthy was practically beaming when he told Kamara he made the final 53.

 

Another international story this season focused on Monterrey, Mexico, native Isaac Alarcon , who didn’t make the final roster but remains in the building as part of the NFL’s International Pathway Program. Strong mothers are a common theme in Hard Knocks, and we see it again with both Kamara and Alarcon. “Tell me the real possibility that a Mexican is doing what you are doing right now?” Ma Alarcon says during a car ride ahead of a flight home. “We looked at the numbers and it’s 0.0000001%. That means it’s a one-in-a-billion chance. So we are amazed. We are indebted. We are excited. We are so happy.” How could you not root for these people?

 

I also find myself rooting for Dak Prescott, my pick for 2021 Hard Knocks MVP. Dak really impressed me as a teammate and competitor across these five episodes, and he also struck me as a generally down to earth and genial dude who just so happened to sign a $160 million contract earlier this year. Said Jones of his franchise QB: “That nature, that aura, the personality. It’s just there.” Yup.

 

“Running is the reward” is the most special teams coach s— ever. Never change, John “Bones” Fassel.

 

I’m glad CeeDee Lamb made a speedy recovery from COVID-19, but I struggle to have empathy for a man who went a whole week without being able to smell his $200 candle or taste meals prepared by his personal in-house chef.

 

How does Trevon Diggs’ son not have a sitcom yet? Nuclear levels of precociousness.

 

That wraps my 10th season of episode recaps for this wonderful show. I was so fortunate to get a hold of this beat a decade ago… and I don’t plan on letting go until they kick me out the door. Be sure to check out this season’s Spotify playlist right here, kicked off — as always — with David Robidoux’s iconic Hard Knocks theme.

 

And with that, let’s start a new tradition by ending our final recap with another tradition — Liev Schreiber’s season-closing monologue. Take us to church, Ray Donovan:

 

“Training camp isn’t just about getting in shape or getting the playbook sorted out. It’s about building a team. That’s more art than science. Because a team is more than just names on a roster. It’s a living thing, with a personality and a pulse. One heartbeat, working for one thing — lifting the Lombardi Trophy five months from now. There are plenty of questions; aren’t there always? Still, Jerry Jones knows the one that counts: How ’bout them Cowboys?”

 

‘Til next year, may you all enjoy a life filled with #MojoMoments.

NFC SOUTH
 

NEW ORLEANS

The Saints asked RB LATAVIUS MURRAY to take a pay cut.  He said no thanks and now he is gone.  Mike Triplett of ESPN.com:

The New Orleans Saints have released veteran running back Latavius Murray, the team announced Tuesday.

 

The Saints on Monday asked Murray to take a reduction in pay, and he refused, sources told ESPN’s Adam Schefter.

 

Murray, 31, was due to make $3.15 million in salary and bonuses this season. That, combined with the emergence of undrafted second-year running back Tony Jones Jr., led to the Saints’ decision.

 

Murray had been an excellent running mate for Saints star Alvin Kamara over the past two seasons, after Murray signed a four-year, $14.4 million contract in 2019. Murray tallied 1,293 rushing yards, 411 receiving yards and 11 touchdowns over those two seasons.

 

Murray was especially valuable when Kamara missed two games with injuries in 2019, gaining at least 150 yards from scrimmage with two touchdowns in each game as an every-down back.

 

The 6-foot-3, 230-pound Murray began his career with the Raiders and Vikings, making the Pro Bowl in 2015. He has 4,991 rushing yards, 1,294 receiving yards and 45 touchdowns in his seven-year career.

 

Murray initially survived the Saints’ cuts this offseason, when the team had to trim more than $110 million to fit under the NFL’s reduced salary-cap number. But he appeared to fall behind Jones in the pecking order as training camp and the preseason went on. The Saints also signed veteran running back Devonta Freeman during camp, though he didn’t make the 53-man roster.

 

Jones (5-foot-11, 225 pounds) appeared in just one game for the Saints last season as an undrafted rookie out of Notre Dame, with three carries for 13 yards. But he led the team with 106 rushing yards and a TD in two preseason games, to go along with six catches for 42 yards.

 

The Saints also have options in the backfield with veterans Dwayne Washington, who primarily plays special teams, and Ty Montgomery, who primarily plays wide receiver.

 

TAMPA BAY

QB TOM BRADY is talking up TE O.J. HOWARD and WR MIKE EVANS.

This from Kevin Patra of NFL.com on Howard:

 

Not only did the Bucs bring everyone back, but they also got a potential key piece on offense back from injury: tight end O.J. Howard.

 

The former first-round pick was relegated to four games last year before an Achilles injury wiped out his season. After Howard missed the postseason run, Tom Brady sees a rejuvenated TE heading into 2021.

 

“O.J. has worked really hard to put himself in the position he is in,” Brady said Tuesday, per the team’s official transcript. “I think he’s prepared to have a great season. He has worked really hard through training camp, been available to the team — [he’s] a very hard worker and doing all the right things. [I’m] really happy to have him back out there.”

This on Evans:

Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Tom Brady spoke fondly of veteran wide receiver Mike Evans on Tuesday. “I think we have a great connection and it’s only going to get better,” explained the veteran quarterback.

– – –

Bill Barnwell of ESPN.com tries to make a case for all 32 teams to win the Super Bowl today – and we won’t give you all 32.  But let’s take a look at Detroit:

2. Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Chance to win Super Bowl LVI: 14.1%

Chance to make the playoffs: 85.6%

 

You don’t need me to tell you about a scenario in which the Buccaneers win the Super Bowl, because you just saw a virtually identical roster to the one that’s about to roll out in 2021 destroy the Chiefs at the end of last season. Tampa’s most significant loss from the 2020 roster is utility offensive lineman Joe Haeg, who played 12% of the offensive snaps and was most memorable for dropping a would-be touchdown in the Super Bowl. If Tom Brady needs an option at the goal line to replace Haeg, he can instead throw to tight end O.J. Howard, who is back from a torn Achilles.

 

Bringing everyone back isn’t always a successful strategy for a Super Bowl winner, but the Bucs were a great team during the regular season, too. Tampa ranked second in DVOA behind the Saints, and the gap between those two teams could mostly be chalked up to New Orleans having much better special teams. There’s no foolproof way to get back to a Super Bowl — and the Bucs would be vulnerable if Brady did fall off the proverbial cliff at 44 — but that’s a risk Bruce Arians’ team will be happy to take.

NFC WEST

ARIZONA

GM Steve Keim has great expectations for the 2021 Cardinals who seem to be flying under the radar.  Chase Goodbread of NFL.com:

For NFL clubs that haven’t reached the playoffs in a while, getting there again is often the perfunctory goal that general managers and coaches will publicly concede as a low-bar expectation.

 

The Arizona Cardinals have been couched for the postseason the last five years, but GM Steve Keim is shooting a bit higher for 2021.

 

“I know everybody’s got different expectations,” Keim told the Arizona Republic, “but my expectations are certainly to go to the playoffs and even further.”

 

Even further, of course, can only mean notching at least one playoff win, an achievement that can put a team with a first-round bye directly into a conference title game. The Cardinals, despite their lengthy playoff absence, are at least known to do some damage when they get there. They’ve advanced in four of their last five playoff seasons, albeit a stretch that dates back to 1998.

 

Arizona finished 8-8 last season, a big improvement from a 5-10-1 mark in 2019, but also a far cry from the 12-4 record that earned the Seahawks the AFC West crown. Still, Keim believes the 2021 Cardinals are ready for a postseason breakthrough.

 

“I think there’s no doubt. I think last year we were a playoff team. Again, I think we didn’t play up to standards when it comes to discipline and penalties and all the things that we knew we had to improve upon. Physicality at times, tackling, all those things that we needed to address,” Keim said. “I think this offseason with the additions that we made we certainly put our best foot forward with leadership and accountability and attention to details, as well as the physical traits we needed, which were taking the top off the defense, having guys that were physical on defense that can run and cover. I think we’ll certainly play up to expectations this year because all those additions, as well as the guys we’ve drafted in the past few years, particular the quarterback (Kyler Murray), that have continued to grow and develop into the player we certainly thought he was coming out.”

 

Those additions include DE J.J. Watt, WR A.J. Green, OL Rodney Hudson, and an exciting LB prospect in first-round draft pick Zaven Collins. All indications are that Collins, a massive linebacker at 6-4, 260 pounds, will make a quick impact for a defense that finished a dismal 27th in the NFL in total defense last season (384.6 ypg).

 

“The thing that impressed us through the draft process the most about Zaven is maybe the mental makeup, his professionalism, the way he attacks the game in terms of his mental preparation, his study habits,” Keim said. “It’s the way he has command and when he talks in the room. Like, when we interview him in the offseason, he was one of the most impressive guys during the draft process that we talked to. Our linebacker coach (Billy Davis) went up and spent the day with him and had him on the (grease) board. I mean, the guy’s football I.Q. is really, really high.”

 

So, too, are Keim’s 2021 expectations for the Cardinals.

We can see 8-8 becoming something like 10-7 or 11-6.

AFC WEST
 

DENVER

LB BRADLEY CHUBB is one of those annoying people who pile up traffic citations and ignore them.  Jeff Legwold of ESPN.com:

Denver Broncos linebacker Bradley Chubb was briefly detained in Douglas County (Colorado) Tuesday due to an outstanding warrant issued for a failure to appear in court for traffic violations.

 

Chubb was charged on May 6 in Arapahoe County — which is where the Broncos’ practice facility is located and adjacent to Douglas County — for traffic misdemeanors. Chubb had been charged with driving under restraint, which means operating a vehicle with a license that is suspended, revoked or restrained, as well as for having license plates that had been expired for more than 60 days.

 

Chubb’s court date, according to records, was Monday and a warrant was formally issued after he failed to appear.

 

Sgt. Jeff Miller of the Douglas County Sheriff’s Office said Chubb was stopped late Tuesday morning for a “minor traffic infraction” and after the warrant was discovered Chubb was detained at the Douglas County Detention Center until Tuesday afternoon when Chubb posted “a small bond.”

 

“We are aware of the matter, which was related to an unresolved traffic citation that has now been addressed,” the Broncos said in a statement.

 

Chubb had offseason ankle surgery in May and had been held out of practice last week after Broncos coach Vic Fangio said Chubb “tweaked” his other ankle. But Chubb practiced with the team Monday and participated in all team meetings.

 

Fangio said after Monday’s practice he expected Chubb would play Sunday against the New York Giants.

AFC NORTH
 

BALTIMORE

Once the perhaps the NFL’s top back, RB Le’VEON BELL is now on a practice squad.  Jamison Hensley of ESPN.com:

The Baltimore Ravens signed three-time Pro Bowl running back Le’Veon Bell to their practice squad Tuesday to help their injury-filled backfield, a source told ESPN’s Adam Schefter.

 

Bell, 29, likely will soon get elevated to the 53-man roster, the source added.

 

The addition of Bell comes after the Ravens lost third-string running back Justice Hill to an Achilles injury on Thursday. Baltimore already had lost starting running back J.K. Dobbins when he tore the ACL in his left knee in the preseason finale.

 

Bell, who worked out for Baltimore on Monday, will provide experience and pass-catching ability behind starter Gus Edwards and backup Ty’Son Williams.

 

In 2019, the Ravens had an opportunity to sign Bell in free agency but chose to add Mark Ingram, who played in Baltimore for two seasons before getting released in January.

 

After gaining over 1,000 yards rushing in three of his five seasons with the Pittsburgh Steelers, Bell hasn’t been the same playmaker since sitting out the 2018 season. Last season, he totaled 328 yards rushing and two touchdowns with the New York Jets and Kansas City Chiefs.

 

The Ravens could also sign a young running back who can help on special teams as well, a source said.

 

Bell isn’t the first former Pro Bowl player to get signed to the Ravens’ practice squad. Last season, Baltimore added wide receiver Dez Bryant to its practice squad before promoting him to the 53-man roster.

 

PITTSBURGH

Mike Florio of ProFootballTalk.com has insight into why EDGE T.J. WATT is unsigned – and he places the blame on the Steelers:

We recently pointed out that Pittsburgh has two informal contract rules that could complicate the negotiations with linebacker T.J. Watt. Apparently, they could crater them.

 

Via Aditi Kinkhabwala of NFL Media, the Steelers’ refusal to offer full guaranteed beyond the first year of a veteran contract is “threatening to sink” the Watt negotiations.

 

Aditi adds that she was optimistic about the chances of a deal getting done last week, but that she’s now less optimistic.

 

The clock is ticking. Loudly. Watt’s hold-in, which has been permitted by the team, threatens to wipe out his availability for Week One. And that’s when another Pittsburgh informal rule becomes highly relevant — the team doesn’t do new contracts after the season starts.

 

So, at some point, the Steelers need to tell Watt that, if a deal can’t be done, it’s time to get to work. That’s when the concept of team-endorsed hold-ins collapses on itself. When the player who has shown up but who has not yet suited up is left with no choice but to play, what will he do?

 

We possibly will be finding out. Soon.

AFC SOUTH
 

HOUSTON

GM Nick Caserio with an update on QB DESHAUN WATSON.  Josh Alper ofProFootballTalk.com:

Texans head coach David Culley said on Monday that Tyrod Taylor is the team’s starting quarterback for the first week of the regular season, which doesn’t come as much surprise given the way the offseason, training camp, and preseason played out.

 

Deshaun Watson remains on the active roster, but hasn’t practiced or done other on-field work with the team while looking for a trade and dealing with a slew of civil lawsuits from masseuses alleging misconduct on Watson’s part. The Texans have not done anything to keep Watson away from the team as they’ve opted to say they’re taking a day-to-day approach to things with the quarterback.

 

That doesn’t appear to be changing with the season about to start. General Manager Nick Caserio was on Sports Radio 610 on Wednesday and stuck to the party line that the Texans will just continue to evaluate the situation on an ongoing basis.

 

“I wouldn’t anticipate him playing Sunday and we’ll recalibrate here as we go,” Caserio said.

 

John McClain of the Houston Chronicle wrote last week that nothing will change with the Texans until someone meets Caserio’s high asking price for a trade. It seems unlikely anyone will hit that price while the legal issues remain unresolved and that should make for a lot more chances for people in the Texans organization to offer variations on the day-to-day theme that they’ve adopted with the quarterback.

– – –

Bill Barnwell of ESPN.com tries to make a case for all 32 teams to win the Super Bowl today – and we won’t give you all 32.  But let’s take a look at Houston:

32. Houston Texans

Chance to win Super Bowl LVI: Less than 0.1%

Chance to make the playoffs: 3.6%

 

Would the Texans be the most unlikely Super Bowl winners ever? I actually don’t think so. The 2021 Texans are coming off a 4-12 season and don’t appear likely to have quarterback Deshaun Watson — who’s facing 22 active lawsuits with allegations of sexual assault and inappropriate behavior — for the season. The 1999 Rams were coming off of a 4-12 season and lost starting quarterback Trent Green to a season-ending knee injury in training camp. Houston is turning things over to a quarterback in Tyrod Taylor who has a track record of competence in the past, while the Rams were forced to insert 28-year-old backup Kurt Warner, who had 11 career regular-season pass attempts.

 

Well, you know what happened next for Warner and those Rams. I don’t think Taylor is about to win league MVP, but the Texans have a better roster than people might give them credit for after general manager Nick Caserio spent the offseason signing literally dozens of veterans to one- and two-year deals. Thirty-one of the 53 players who made the Houston roster out of camp were not on the roster a year ago, and many of those players are veterans with meaningful NFL experience.

 

The Texans don’t realistically have the upside to compete for a Super Bowl — and I have no idea what their long-term vision looks like — but they have a plausible path to looking competent. If they stumble onto a Hall of Fame quarterback along the way, they’ve got a shot.

 

TENNESSEE

Bill Barnwell of ESPN.com tries to make a case for all 32 teams to win the Super Bowl today – and we won’t give you all 32.  But let’s take a look at the Titans:

10. Tennessee Titans

Chance to win Super Bowl LVI: 2.6%

Chance to make the playoffs: 59.9%

 

We know the Titans can beat their key opponents in the AFC. Over the past two seasons, they’ve blown out the Bills by 26, beaten the Chiefs in a 35-32 shootout and won two of their three battles against the Ravens. They’ve also lost to the Bengals and Jaguars, which is a quick reminder of how frustrating Mike Vrabel’s team can be from week to week. The Titans were able to ride a dominant stretch from Derrick Henry and some well-timed red zone defense to the AFC Championship Game two years ago before Patrick Mahomes found them out. We know they’re a team nobody is going to want to play in January.

 

If they do make it to January, though, do the Titans have the pass defense to have any hope of slowing down someone like Mahomes or Josh Allen? General manager Jon Robinson flipped his defensive spending this offseason, cutting most of an underperforming secondary while repurposing much of that money for Bud Dupree. The former Steelers standout should give the Titans the lead edge rusher they didn’t have a year ago when Jadeveon Clowney struggled, but can the new-look secondary keep up for an entire playoff run?

AFC EAST
 

NEW ENGLAND

If you count QB JALEN HURTS (who also went to Oklahoma), the last three Alabama QBs are now starting in the NFL.  Two of them meet on Sunday.

When the Patriots take on the Dolphins on Sunday, it will be a meeting of former Alabama teammates Mac Jones and Tua Tagovailoa, who were both first-round picks and are now their teams’ starting quarterbacks. Jones is looking forward to it.

 

“Tua’s an awesome guy,” Jones said on WEEI, via the Boston Herald. “He’s really a good, talented football player. Learning from him, and Jalen [Hurts] was great, obviously. Now that we’re all getting a chance here in the NFL, I think it’ll be cool to go up against each other.”

 

Jones was the backup quarterback when Tagovailoa suffered a serious injury in his final season at Alabama, and Jones is impressed that Tagovailoa has made it all the way back.

 

“I think Tua, obviously, coming off the injury, that can’t be easy,” said Jones. “And being there with him when he was going through rehab, that was obviously hard . . . he’s obviously made a lot of improvements. I’m sure he feels more comfortable. He’s always had talent, and he always will have talent. He works hard, and does all the right things. I think he’s a good person to watch, whether it was just seeing him make the plays I know he can make running around, and doing all that stuff, making those off-script plays, it’s just good to watch to see him back at full health.”

The DB caught some highlights of Alabama’s win over Miami (FL) last Saturday, and we can’t help but wonder if the new Crimson Tide QB BRYCE YOUNG will be the best of the bunch.

After one game, Young, a sophomore who backed up Jones last year, is now the Heisman Trophy favorite.  Dave Hooker of Saturday Down South:

 

Bryce Young’s debut as Alabama’s starting quarterback only raised expectations. Perhaps that’s where they should stay.

 

Young had a record-setting game Saturday as the Crimson Tide hammered Miami 44-13 on Saturday. The sophomore threw for 344 yards and 4 touchdowns. Those are both records for an Alabama quarterback in his debut. Young also completed 27-of-38 passes with no interceptions. Young, who was replacing Mac Jones from last season, looked as if he could step in and be a starter for the New England Patriots — just like Jones.

 

The accolades were strong via traditional and social media. Young was as close to perfect as one could be in a debut situation against a quality opponent. Remember, Miami was actually ranked 14th in the country before Saturday’s contest. That seems lost since Bama was so dominant. Heisman Trophy voters will take note. Don’t be surprised if Young is atop the list of Heisman Trophy contenders for the next couple of weeks.

 

Young should shine again against Mercer on Saturday. He’ll then make his true road debut as a starter the following week when the Crimson Tide travels to Florida. Considering Miami folded on Saturday and Mercer is, well, Mercer, we really won’t see Young challenged until that Sept. 18 game against the Gators. Nevertheless, the hype train is off and rumbling down the tracks. Is it warranted? Nobody knows for sure but here are five reasons Young will live up to the hype:

 

Nick Saban believes in him

If there was any question that Alabama coach Nick Saban had doubts about Young, they were answered Saturday. Saban allowed Young to come out passing early. It was a sign that Saban had faith in Young, even in his debut as a starter. However, there was one series of play calls that just emphasized what Saban and his coaching staff think of Young.

 

While the game was never really in question, Miami had made a push on the first drive of the second half before a deflating goal-line stand. With their backs against the goalpost and a new quarterback, this was the time to be conservative. Run the ball three times and punt if need be? Nope.

 

After one running play, Saban allowed his offensive staff to call two pass plays with Young in Bama’s own end zone. It worked. Young didn’t look frazzled on either pass play. On the second, he completed a 94-yard touchdown pass to Jameson Williams. It was the second-longest touchdown pass in school history.

 

Pocket presence

Young’s pocket presence was certainly on display during that aforementioned series. A sack could have meant giving up a safety. Young wasn’t about to do that. It was readily apparent that he knows a quarterback’s first job is to not make game-changing mistakes. His movement in the pocket allows him to avoid catastrophe.

 

Young has that innate ability to slide, shimmy or whatever term you choose to avoid pass rushers while keeping his eyes downfield to keep the passing game alive. There are NFL Hall of Fame quarterbacks who weren’t as good as navigating a messy pocket as Young was on Saturday.

 

He can still run

Young doesn’t move around the pocket in hopes of reeling off a 50-yard scamper. He dips and ducks to avoid pressure in order to make plays downfield. However, there will come a time when Young decides it’s time to show off his ability to gain yards on the ground. That could come on a pass play or a run-pass option. Young won’t run often, but it will likely be clutch and incredibly frustrating for defenses who have to play him as a pure pocket passer, which he mostly is.

 

Alabama isn’t going to run the wishbone anytime soon, but Young is a great overall athlete. That wasn’t fully on display against Miami because it didn’t need to be. One day, we’ll see it.

 

It’s good to have good friends

Young didn’t take on Miami by himself. As usual, Alabama is chock full of great players despite losing so many key contributors from last season. It starts up front, of course. His o-line is loaded and quite protective. Bama has deep talent at running back and receiver. Those players may be inexperienced but they proved they’re ready to play at a high level on Saturday.

 

Alabama posted 354 yards passing as 10 players had at least one reception. On the ground, Alabama racked up 147 yards rushing with significant contributions from 4 running backs, who each had at least 6 carries.

 

He gets it

For those that stuck around through the entire blowout and saw Young in the post-game interview on the sidelines, you had to be impressed. With all the talk of “the system” and “it’s a process,” one would have thought Saban was wearing a Young mask and uniform. Someone get that man a podium and a bottle of Coca-Cola (or would that violate one of his NIL deals?).

 

Young proved he understood the Alabama way by waiting his turn and not bellyaching over not receiving more playing time or even being the starter last year. He just reinforced that maturity by his comments after the game.

 

It’s still very early in the season and Young still lacks a significant collegiate track record, but based on the Miami game, you can believe the hype.

Young was a going-away present from former OC Steve Sarkisian, now head coach at Texas, who went back to his old haunts in California and took the Santa Ana Mater Dei QB away from USC.