It’s now July, which means that the real and actual NFL action will officially begin before the calendar turns.
Still, a month is a long time, and we have to survive until then. The NFL knows that, and they’ve done us a favor with their new design. Hard Knocks Cover New York Giants It will premiere this Tuesday.
But the universe also knew we needed some meat for our football entertainment over the next month or so, and as always, they responded by giving us some stuff to evaluate and analyze.
That is exactly why we are here. If you don’t know, we will be very uncomfortable, but… this is Skinny Post Here we (Michael Peterson and RJ Ochoa) discuss our various thoughts on the National Football League.
Let’s see what FLN has got for us this week.
A look at PFF’s league-wide offensive line rankings
RJ:
Like much of the media, the PFF staff has found its offseason rhythm and is back playing football, recently releasing a flurry of positional rankings, which are always fun to opine on.
The esteemed Michael Peterson posted his offensive line rankings on my digital desk on Monday morning, and as expected: Detroit Lions We came out on top. No surprise there.
My first silence came shortly after. Philadelphia Eagles I landed in second place. The cards on the table are mine. Dallas Cowboys SB Nation man (forever shouting) Blog Boys) But the loss of Jason Kelce seems like too big a loss for Philadelphia, who only have one group ranked higher than them.
Lane Johnson is great, but who else do you feel is great on that line? Jordan Mailata is good, but again, do you really feel like losing Kelce is such a big deal to keep the team in second place?
Michael:
I agree with you here that the Eagles shouldn’t be ranked No. 2 because of Jason Kelce’s retirement, but at the same time, league officials have been praising Jordan Mailata’s performance opposite Lane Johnson, and they just signed guard Landon Dickerson to a big contract earlier this offseason.
However, the remaining two positions on the line (center and right guard) are manned by Cam Jurgens and Tyler Steen, respectively. Jurgens was the team’s right guard last season, while Steen has only played 71 snaps in his career. Those two positions are far from “established,” and I don’t think it’s fair for an offensive line unit with only three of its five positions locked down to finish second in the entire league.
Of course I have to comment Chargers Here I am, and I’m pretty perplexed to see them ranked this high (12th). This unit has been one of the worst of the last decade, and they were allergic to running the ball a season ago. Sure, they had the top offensive tackle in this year’s draft, but he hasn’t played a single snap yet. They also have Trey Pipkins moving from right tackle to right guard. A lot of question marks remain for a team that nearly finished in the top 10.
With the addition of Morgan Moses and former Cowboys left tackle Tyron Smith, the Jets suddenly seem to have a top-five offensive line (sorry face), and while this unit was abysmal in 2023, Pro Football Focus believes these additions are enough to propel them to that position.
I don’t know about that, Chief!
New Patriots head coach Jerrod Mayo is a football villain (that’s not a typo)
Michael:
So when I first read the headline for this article, I did a double take: The gist of it is that first-year head coach Jerrod Mayo will begin training camp practices 90 minutes later than in recent years under coach Bill Belichick because he expects it to get hot.
Well, it seems like we’re back in the 80s when it comes to strengthening our team.
I feel like this concept won’t really exist in 2024, but it is what it is now. I believe we should do whatever we can to give our teams an advantage, but if Bill Belichick scheduled practice for 9:30am to get things done before the heat set in and the team was having so much success under him, why would we move it to 11am and try to fix something that isn’t broken? I know they’re all professional athletes and could handle a little warmer temperatures, but it seems a bit far-fetched.
Am I just an old man shouting at the clouds? Can you tell me?
RJ:
As long as you don’t tell anyone, this kind of thing is okay.
Is that…? Possible Do you think Jerrod Mayo has a point? Absolutely. He explained it.
But consider what would have to happen for him to be proven right. The Patriots would have to play hard all season and have every success, which is certainly difficult for any NFL team outside of Kansas City these days. And even if that happened, for this to work, someone would have to say, “That’s why Jerrod Mayo started practice 90 minutes late last summer!”
It’s all cheesy and boring and feels very dated, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing. Jerrod, if you’re going to do this, I think you should keep your reasons in mind.
Which NFL player will excel at Wimbledon and why?
RJ:
Wimbledon officially got underway on Monday, and I must confess that all this gets me in the sporting spirit.
I love epic happenings and events that capture our interest and hold our attention. The history, traditions and big moments and tournaments all forever fascinate me, so I insisted (and Michael graciously obliged) that this be included somehow.
The NFL players who will thrive here are those with exceptional athletic ability. This is a two-week, hard-fought series with seven round wins to decide the ultimate champion, so you need the best players physically.
If you’re too heavy, you might not be able to withstand the strain that tournaments demand, but you also need players who are strong in their own right. Speed is a must, but so is power, the perfect combination of overall athleticism.
please Los Angeles Rams Wide receiver Puka Nacua. He’s young enough to have the energy it takes to get through it all, and has the feisty personality to match.
But consider that Nacua weighs 205 pounds, while current Wimbledon champion Carlos Alcaraz (who, as of this writing, has won his first match) weighs 163 pounds.
This is hard for NFL players.
Michael:
I just want to thank RJ for forcing me into it, and while I’m not a huge tennis fan (I only played one season in 7th grade), I respect the game and the many traditions that come with it.
Puka Nacua is a good choice, he’s done it all as a rookie and in addition to his record-breaking football skills, he should also have a great backhand.
My pick would be another 2023 rookie, Falcons running back Bijan Robinson. Speaking of do-it-all, Robinson could do it all for the Falcons… if the Falcons actually feed him the ball the way he deserves and not how former coach Arthur Smith did it last season.
Robinson has the feet and good lateral quickness to get into position for at least a chance to return every volley and is a genuine workhorse, so it’s easy to see him surviving the rigors of a seven-day campaign.
Predict who will pop during the Giants’ version of the game Hard Knocks
Michael:
What I love about Hard Knocks is that just about everyone has a chance to shine. But if you have a unique personality that grabs people’s attention the moment you walk into a room, the producers will find you and turn the camera on you. Looking back at past seasons of Hard Knocks, the producers don’t care if you’re a star player or an undrafted rookie; all that matters is that you entertain the audience and drive ratings.
This is not a quibble answer, but I think starting quarterback Daniel Jones has a chance to win the hearts of fans. He seems like a pretty down-to-earth guy who doesn’t like the spotlight too much, but I feel like his good ol’ man attitude makes the average guy in the audience laugh and root for him. Just like when Justin Herbert appeared on Hard Knocks as a rookie, people were obsessed with how excited he was to eat the brisket he cooked for himself and his teammates, and the heavily memed “Hmmmm… I can finally eat” quote that followed.
A lesser known name is undrafted free agent Casey Rogers, who played on the defensive line for Oregon. I saw him play a few times last season and saw him have a lot of energy, and he was very popular, as you could tell by the way his teammates praised him for making big plays.
RJ:
This is a new type Hard Knocks Since the show follows the team during the offseason, I’m hoping to see general manager Joe Sean in action.
Oddly enough, my answer for Episode 1 is Philadelphia Eagles running back Saquon Barkley. The teaser already features some of the conversation he had that ultimately led to his departure, but I think people will probably empathize with him given the success (in the sense of no success at all) the Giants had during his time with the team.
That happens. Sometimes players you never expected will do well. In this new field, I’m going to be bold and use players from other teams.
NFL Films, prove me right.
