Sports blog information from USA TODAY.
From Patrick Mahomes to Sam Howell, Touchdown Wire’s Natalie Miller ranks the NFL’s current starting quarterbacks from 1-32.
It is that time of the offseason when we begin to ponder the questions that will linger in our minds until the first snap of the 2023 season. One of those questions, of course, is: Who is the best at the most important position in the entire sport?
Today we rank all the starting quarterbacks from Nos. 1-32. This includes rookies, who we will analyze given their college success and film.
From Josh Allen to Myles Garrett, here’s Doug Farrar’s list of the top 11 edge-rushers in the NFL today.
Edge defenders aren’t just edge-rushers. That’s a big part of what they do, of course, but there’s a lot more to being a transcendent player off the edge than just pinning one’s ears back and attacking offensive tackles. You have to have a comprehensive array of pass-rush moves, you must combine power and speed together in a package that’s difficult to block, and you must be able to define your rush path early in the rep.
In last week’s episode of “The Xs and Os with Greg Cosell,” we set out to build the perfect defensive line, and Greg talked about the attributes required for the best edge guys in the league at any given time.
The Xs and Os with Greg Cosell: Building the perfect defensive line
“One thing I’ve learned, not only from watching tape but also from talking to coaches, is that to be a good edge-rusher, you have to be able to control the high side,” Greg said. “If you cannot win off the edge, it’s very hard to be a quality pass-rusher. Because winning off the edge and being able to threaten and challenge off the edge, forces offensive tackles more often than not to break down their technique. They do not want to get beaten off the edge, and if you get them to break down their technique, then you can work with your moves and your counters. Then you can work back inside.
“And you see this with a lot of guys — they’ll take two or three steps to the edge, and they get the offensive tackle to do what we call an ‘over-set. They’re so conscious of not being beaten off the edge, because that’s a quick path to the quarterback, that they turn their bodies to the sideline, and that opens them up to the inside quick counter.”
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More than that, the 11 players in this year’s list of the best edge defenders had to meet these criteria:
Without further ado, let’s get into this year’s list of the NFL’s 11 best edge defenders. Also, you can read our other 2023 positional lists as we move ever closer to the top 101 players in the NFL today in late July.
The NFL’s top 11 linebackers
The NFL’s top 11 slot defenders
The NFL’s top 11 cornerbacks
The NFL’s top 11 safeties
(All advanced metrics courtesy of Pro Football Focus and Sports Info Solutions unless otherwise indicated).
The NFL is suspending more and more players under unclear rules to make itself look aboveboard while taking in massive gambling revenue.
On June 28, ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported that several NFL players are expected to receive season-long suspensions for violations of the league’s gambling policy. We don’t know all of those names yet, but we now know that Tennessee Titans offensive tackle Nicholas Petit-Frere has been suspended for the first games of the 2023 season for such a violation.
Titans’ OT Nicholas Petit-Frere is being suspended six games for violating the NFL’s gambling policy. Petit-Frere is adamant that he did not bet on NFL games. But he is being suspended for betting on other sports at the workplace.
His statement to ESPN: pic.twitter.com/mvXfig5V10
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) June 29, 2023
He was not the last.
Isaiah Rodgers and Rashod Berry of the Indianapolis Colts and free agent Demetrius Taylor are being suspended indefinitely through at least the the 2023 season for betting on NFL games last season.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) June 29, 2023
In his statement, Petit-Frere said that the standards held by the NFL in these matters was unclear. There appears to be a lot of that going around. Though several players have been suspended for these alleged violations, it was only on April 19 that the league released a statement confirming its involvement with the Coalition for Responsible Sports Betting Advertising. The Coalition was touted as “a voluntary association of sports leagues and media entities committed to doing their part to help ensure a responsible approach to sports betting advertising.”.
Consisting of the National Football League, Major League Baseball, Major League Soccer, NASCAR, National Basketball Association, Women’s National Basketball Association, National Hockey League, NBCUniversal, and FOX, the Coalition “has committed to implement and maintain consumer protection policies consistent with the following six principles:”
Two days later, the NFL had another press release to put out. It involved the suspension of five players for various violations of the league’s gambling policy.
Quintez Cephus and C.J. Moore of the Detroit Lions, and Shaka Toney of the Washington Commanders, are suspended indefinitely through at least the conclusion of the 2023 season for betting on NFL games in the 2022 season. These players may petition for reinstatement at the conclusion of the 2023 season.
Stanley Berryhill and Jameson Williams of the Lions are suspended for the team’s first six regular season games of the 2023 season. These players are eligible to participate in all offseason and preseason activities, including preseason games. The suspensions will take effect at the final roster cutdown.
The gambling policy, which is annually reviewed with all NFL personnel, including players, prohibits anyone in the NFL from engaging in any form of gambling in any club or league facility or venue, including the practice facility.
A league review uncovered no evidence indicating any inside information was used or that any game was compromised in any way.
The league may say that the gambling policies are reviewed with players and team staffs every season, but if the people at risk for suspensions don’t understand what constitutes a violation, what’s the point of the process?
Perhaps the point from the NFL’s side is to appear as proactive as possible regarding gambling, because the NFL wants as much gambling revenue as possible while still appearing aboveboard in the entire matter.
In August 2021, the league announced agreements with FOX Bet, BetMGM, PointsBet, and WynnBET to become Approved Sportsbook Operators for the 2021 NFL season. These agreements make all four operators eligible to purchase NFL in-game commercial units and other select NFL media inventory. This after announcing agreements with sportsbook partnerships with Caesars Entertainment, DraftKings and FanDuel that April.
“We are pleased to announce this select group as Approved Sportsbook Operators,” said Nana-Yaw Asamoah, Vice President of Business Development for the NFL. “Along with our three Official Sports Betting Partners, this group of operators will help the League to engage fans in responsible and innovative ways this season as the sports betting landscape continues to evolve.”
Put simply, the NFL is trying to generate as much money as possible from these partnerships, with the obvious understanding that they can’t put a stink on the league from an integrity perspective.
When Pete Rozelle suspended Paul Hornung in 1963 for violations of the gambling policy, it was a very different world. Any hint of gambling brought an ardent and attendant fear that professional football would be overrun by those looking to compromise the purity of competition, Packers head coach Vince Lombardi told Hornung to “stay at the foot of the cross.” Hornung was not asked to do so at a time when the NFL had removed the cross, and replaced it with a sports book.
So, it is easy to assume that the NFL’s sudden and startling enforcement of these issues is a counter to the inevitable questions that come with these partnerships. The inverse example might be Major League Baseball, which was a cesspool of fixed plays and games in the late 1800s and early 1900s. When the Black Sox were banned for life after fixing the 1919 World Series, new Commissioner Kenesaw Mountain Landis exacted such a harsh punishment because he wanted there to be no question about the game’s aboveboard status.
It didn’t quite go that way (ask Pete Rose about it), but the perception beat reality for a long time.
Similarly, the NFL is looking to balance a heavy involvement with gambling while putting forth a perception of purity. And if it has to sacrifice its own people, no matter how large or small the infraction, it appears to be perfectly comfortable in doing just that.
You can bet that these suspensions — warranted or not; fair or not — will continue.
Tennessee Titans lineman Nicholas Petit-Frere says he is facing an NFL gambling suspension
There has been buzz about another round of gambling-related suspensions in the NFL. On Thursday, Titans offensive tackle Nicholas Petit-Frere admitted that he will be one of those hit with a band.
Petit-Frere said he is going to be suspended for six games in the 2023 NFL season. He said in a statement to ESPN it was for gambling in the workplace, not on NFL games.
Titans’ OT Nicholas Petit-Frere is being suspended six games for violating the NFL’s gambling policy. Petit-Frere is adamant that he did not bet on NFL games. But he is being suspended for betting on other sports at the workplace.
His statement to ESPN: pic.twitter.com/mvXfig5V10
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) June 29, 2023
Touchdown Wire’s Doug Farrar picks the best pro football player to wear every jersey number — from Jim Otto (00) to Aaron Donald (99).
Football is a game of numbers, and that includes jersey numbers — which define players in our minds to a certain degree. Who can think of Hall of Fame center Jim Otto without thinking of his 00 jersey, or Warren Moon’s No. 1, or a host of legendary quarterbacks rocking the No. 12, and on and on.
In this specific exercise, we are determining the greatest player in pro football history to wear each jersey number from 00 to 99. Sometimes, the choices are eminently obvious, and other times… not so much. No. 8 had the duel between Steve Young and Troy Aikman, just as we saw in multiple NFC Championship games in the early 1990s. No. 21 had us deciding between LaDainian Tomlinson, Deion Sanders, Frank Gore, Charles Woodson, and Patrick Peterson. Yikes!
On and on it went, but we finally worked through each jersey number and each correspondingly greatest player, and here is that list for your perusal — with the honorable mentions that made this process quite tricky at times.
Football’s almost back! Here are training camp reporting dates for all 32 NFL teams — rookies and veterans.
Our long national nightmare — life without football — is nearly over. As the summer starts to turn, and the days get just a bit shorter, it’s time to start thinking about your favorite team’s new coaches, acquired free agents, and draft picks. Maybe this is the season for your team to hoist the Lombardi Trophy?
We all live in hope, which is what the season is about.
In just a few weeks, rookies will report to their new NFL facilities for their first training camps, with the veterans soon to follow. Here are the starting dates for all 32 teams — rookies and veterans.
Now that the 2023 NBA draft is done, what better time than now to run another 2024 NFL first-round mock draft?
Now that the 2023 NBA draft is in the bag, what better excuse can we at Touchdown Wire have to do another 2024 NFL mock draft? The 2023 college football season is still weeks away, and it’s the dead part of the NFL timeline, so while we don’t think we’ll see any insane deals like the one the Wizards and Suns pulled off (unless the Rams decide to get weird again), it is time to start thinking about what NFL teams will need after the 2023 season and after 2024 free agency.
This time, the draft positions are courtesy of the Pro Football Network mock draft simulator, with no first-round trades during the simulation.
Without further ado, here’s one version of how the first round of the 2024 NFL draft might look.
From Minkah Fitzpatrick to Quandre Diggs to Vonn Bell, here are Doug Farrar’s 11 best safeties in the NFL today.
Safety might be the NFL’s most volatile position.
When you look at what makes the best safeties in the league from year to year, not only do the requirements change in certain ways, but the players at the top tend to vary quite a bit. This was reinforced to me when I put together last year’s list of the NFL’s best safeties, and there were just five safeties who made the list in both 2021 and 2022.
There’s similar turnover as we move to 2023. Minkah Fitzpatrick, Tyrann Mathieu, Quandre Diggs, Kevin Byard, Justin Simmons, and Jordan Poyer made the cut last year and this year. That’s six of the 13 top safeties from last season, so here’s to the new blood.
Derwin James, Micah Hyde, Marcus Williams, Xavier McKinney, Antione Winfield Jr., Jimmie Ward, Devin McCourty (retired) didn’t make the list from last year. Not that any of them had horrible seasons or anything; there’s just a run of guys who were better last season who I think deserved more merit.
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My criteria for the positions this year were…
With all that out of the way, here are my 11 best safeties in the NFL as we all prepare for the 2023 season — and next month’s list of the top 101 players in the game today.
(All advanced metrics courtesy of Pro Football Focus and Sports Info Solutions unless otherwise indicated).
From Matt Milano to Denico Autry to Tyler Lockett to Tony Pollard, here are the NFL’s most underrated players by team.
Why are great players underrated in any sport?
There are all kinds of reasons. In football, it could be that the guy playing your position is even better than you are, and he’s been doing it longer. Maybe we only have the attention span for one great player at your position Maybe you’re on a team that doesn’t get much national praise, or you’re part of a unit that… well, stinks… and you’re one of the few bright spots. Or, you’re just getting started on the ascent, and the world hasn’t quite caught up yet.
No matter the reason, there are many NFL players who ply their trade at an exceedingly high level, and they’re not given their proper due. Here, we look to rectify this in 32 individual instances with the most underrated player for every NFL team. Some of these guys have been doing it the right way in the shade for a long time for their teams; a few are new in their uniforms.
No matter why, all 32 of these NFL players deserve more love than they get, and here’s why. Here is every NFL team’s most underrated player.
(All advanced metrics courtesy of Pro Football Focus and Sports Info Solutions unless otherwise indicated).
There’s a lot of confusion about what is, and what is not, an RPO. Professor Greg Cosell is here to explain it all.
The run-pass option has become a predominant force in a lot of NFL offenses over the last decade. Per Sports Info Solutions, there were 916 RPO dropbacks that resulted in passes in 2022. In 2019, which is as far back as we can go with reliable metrics, there were 709. In 2019, there were 1,439 running plays based on RPOs. In 2022, there were 2,674.
The point is, teams are using RPOs more often these days. The problem is, we’re not always sure what an RPO is, and what an RPO isn’t. Even Al Michaels, who for my money is the best sports broadcaster ever, can get confused.
Confusing defenses is the point. Confusing announcers and analysts, maybe not so much. And “reliable metrics” turns out to be the point.
📽️ This RPO faked the heck out of Al Michaels. #RPOFootball pic.twitter.com/j1nbKAE7zT
— RPO.Football (@FootballRpo) October 25, 2021
So, in this week’s edition of “The Xs and Os with Greg Cosell and Doug Farrar,” Greg (of NFL Films and ESPN’s NFL Matchup) and Doug (of Touchdown Wire) get into what an RPO is, and what an RPO isn’t.
Consider it a public service.
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