The NFL’s best offensive and defensive player through Week 4

October is here, and that means so are the baseball playoffs. What a wonderful time to be alive!

With fall in full swing (we hope the cooler weather continues), we can finally start drawing legitimate conclusions about who each NFL team will be in 2024.

We have a month's worth of data, and while it's still not enough to make a complete sway, it's certainly strong enough to say things with confidence.

This is the premise of today's issue skinny post. Like Michael Peterson and RJ Ochoa, we experience things that we firmly believe in, even if it upsets you.

Let's have a party.

Who are September's Offensive and Defensive Rookies of the Month?

Michael:

We've seen great rookie performances throughout the first four weeks.

Offensively, it's hard not to go with Jaden Daniels for all the reasons I mentioned above. If not Daniels, I think it would have to be Giants wideout Malik Nabors. He currently leads the NFL in receptions with 35 and ranks second in the league in receiving yards and touchdowns with 386 and 3 yards, respectively. He wins with elite athleticism and I'm sure he's going to be a problem in this league for a long time.

On defense, let's use Rams edge rusher Jared Verse. He has only had one sack yet, but he has caused havoc with five tackles for loss in four games. I don't think many defensive rookies are as good as offensive rookies, but Vaas did well enough to rank tied for third in TFL this year.

RJ:

Sorry to bore you, but it's very hard to disagree with Michael here.

We noted that Daniels is completely on fire heading into the start of his career. I would venture to say that he is the greatest player in Washington's short history as a manager.

As for Vers…he may have *only* one sack, but he's in the top five in the league in pressure rate on opposing quarterbacks. This is not top 5 among rookies. We're talking about the top five in the entire NFL. The only players ahead of him are Myles Garrett, Will McDonald IV, Daniel Hunter and Will Anderson Jr. A strange list, but true.

It's funny that the Rams didn't have a first-round pick forever, and that first-round pick was great. That's life.

The Baltimore Ravens are really here to stay

RJ:

As a Dallas Cowboys guy, these parts really annoy me, but there is a tendency in our football society to be all about playoff success.

Obviously the playoffs are important. Obviously those are the most important. But we abandon the regular season entirely for a variety of reasons, and that's just too stupid when that's the majority of the games played throughout the actual NFL season.

Take the Baltimore Ravens as an example. We act like the fact that they have two-time MVP Lamar Jackson, now full-time Lamar Jackson in Derrick Henry, and a world-class head coach. There is. Who has already won the Super Bowl It's all meaningless in a relative sense. Baltimore hasn't been able to get it done in the most important moments so far, but they've been really solid.

Ravens flexed their muscles again sunday night football They defeated the Buffalo Bills, who were undefeated at the time. It's safe to say they are one of the best 2-2 teams of all time. Literally unprecedented!

It's a long season and a lot will change before the calendar turns to November, but we're very impressed with how Henry's arrival has turned them into exactly what we feared they would be. Continually excelling and meeting such expectations is not easy.

Michael:

The NFL has pretty much given teams that start the season 0-2 a death sentence when it comes to their postseason chances. Since 1990, 279 teams have lost their first two games of the season. Only 32 of those players returned to the postseason. That's about 11.5 percent. With that in mind, after starting 0-2, especially since one of the teams the Ravens lost to was the lowly Raiders (for some reason the Ravens were also 2-2), the Ravens' season has already I think it's no surprise that some people thought it was a rough storm. ?).

The problem is: The more I cover the NFL, the more I realize that this is all just crazy and no one will know anything until the regular season is finally over. So many things can happen, and the craziest things actually happen more often than you expect.

The Ravens are one of the winningest teams of the past decade. John Harbaugh is a hell of a coach, and even though the Ravens look terrible, they never stay that way for longer than a week. If I were a betting man right now, I'd pick the Ravens to win the North and then some.

Is this officiating conspiracy involving Sean Smith legitimate or just a weird coincidence?

Michael:

So Sean Smith was in charge of the Chargers and Chiefs on Sunday.

Since 2018, they have ranked first in road team winning percentage (see tweet below). The Chiefs were the road team and were called for five penalties to the Chargers' nine. Right from the start, flags were raining against Los Angeles. Almost every drive started with a penalty, and every time the Chargers got a new possession, it seemed as if they were facing a first-and-15, second-and-18, etc. Granted, this was a new starting five for the offensive line, but it seemed like an odd amount of disruption for a group that still boasts more than 232 career starts.

After all, the Chargers weren't built to consistently dig themselves out of the hole they put themselves in, as they ultimately went the final 45 minutes of regulation scoreless. They were a poor offensive football team for most of the night, and honestly, the flag only added insult to injury.

So is there a bigger situation going on behind the scenes? Absolutely not. I'm not much of a homer. But it's still interesting that things went exactly as history told them.

RJ:

My personal opinion is that people often dismiss stuff like this as just a take on Homer. But I think in many cases they at least have a kernel of truth.

Michael piqued my curiosity by noting the amount of drives affected by penalties. Five of the Chargers' first eight possessions involved some kind of penalty. That's over 50%! And the first drive, the only one to score a touchdown, was unsuccessful. Hmm.

I'm not sure I'd go so far as to say there's some kind of conspiracy going on here, but it at least highlights the need for authorities to calm down a bit. I'm not going to make this whole discussion a super home run, but did you watch the Dallas Cowboys game Thursday night? It was insane how many penalties there were on both sides.

Perhaps this is just a result of it being the first four weeks of the season and needing time to iron things out properly. But whether you're upset about this or not, this is not fun to watch.

Washington may not only be contending for the NFC East.

RJ:

Not ready to provide full service take We don't know about Caleb Williams yet, but we're pretty sure Jaden Daniels is the guy. Washington seems real.

For the most part, that franchise's recent division titles have come at a time when everyone else in the group has been experiencing pure and utter chaos. This Commanders team feels different than anything this franchise has offered before. They dominate people and their rookie quarterback is a big reason why.

Much has been made about how infrequently managers punted during the Daniels era. He may not throw for 400 yards a game, but history tells us that the best rookie quarterbacks understand how important it is to take care of the football. Look at CJ Stroud last year or Dak Prescott in his rookie season. They entered the NFL with incredible poise and understanding, and the team benefited from that.

Despite the fact that the NFC East is down overall, Daniels' coaches appear well-prepared to be a serious contender this season. He is the future and he is here.

Michael:

As someone who forgot about Jaden Daniels in this rookie class for a while because of all the Caleb Williams hype, this was really cool to see. Daniels is crushing it, especially when contrasted with the expectations set for his managers in the preseason. They weren't supposed to be that great! But alas, here it was. They are at the top of the division with 3 wins and 1 loss.

Daniels' accuracy through the first four games has been incredible. I don't think anyone expected the skill group of the managers to be so great this year, but they've all come together, played synergistic football and elevated everyone at the same time.

The coaches officially become Texans this year. They're young, fun to watch, and unless they're in your own division, you'll probably root for them in every neutral matchup.