Tag: expectations

Aidan Hutchinson: ‘I feel like it’s the year’ for the Lions

Aidan Hutchinson: ‘I feel like it’s the year’ for the Lions to win it all with the core of the team in Detroit

Aidan Hutchinson is ready for the Detroit Lions to take the next step. The Pro Bowl defensive end knows the expectations are high for his team, and deservedly so.

Speaking at the Rocket Mortgage Classic golf tournament, Hutchinson couldn’t contain his excitement about the Lions’ potential.

“I feel like it’s the year,” Hutchinson told Brad Galli of WXYZ in Detroit. “With every fiber of my body, I feel like it’s the year.”

Hutchinson continued, smartly noting the window was not just open for one year.

“Honestly, from this year on, every year is the year with the guys that we have.“

Setting realistic rookie year expectations for Saints QB Spencer Rattler

What are the rookie year expectations for New Orleans Saints QB Spencer Rattler? He’s landed in a great spot to develop:

The New Orleans Saints ended up with a very intriguing quarterback in the middle of the 2024 NFL draft as they selected South Carolina quarterback Spencer Rattler with the No. 150 overall selection in the fifth round.

Rattler, once the best pro-style quarterback out of high school, had a very contentious college career that landed him as a project player instead of a first-round guy. He famously had his own fans calling for him to be benched in favor of Caleb Williams at Oklahoma. He then transferred to South Carolina where he was able to actually revive his career a good bit.

He’s played a lot of football and would probably be able to handle managing a system in an emergency situation. That’s likely the only type of situation that you would see him in, so expectations shouldn’t be very high. What would be best for him as a rookie is to just sit and learn. He should focus on coming into the locker room and proving to the front office and his teammates that he has indeed matured from his television days.

He has more starter upside than most fifth round or later quarterbacks and has landed in a perfect situation for him. The Saints’ new offensive system is tailored to what he excels at, just don’t expect to see him slinging passes as a starter by the end of the season. This is is still Derek Carr’s show.

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Why Packers could be better than/worse than expected in 2023

A lot of factors will determine if the 2023 Packers are better or worse than expected.

The Green Bay Packers are coming off a season in which they missed the postseason for the first time since 2018 and will now transition away the Aaron Rodgers era and into the Jordan Love era. Matt LaFleur’s team is one of the youngest in the NFL. Brian Gutekunst has said he needed to give opportunities to young players on his roster — including at quarterback — to provide room for his team to grow and improve from the disappointment of 2022.

So, how could the Packers be better than expected or worse than expected in 2023?

Our staff at Packers Wire break it down:

Chiefs OC Matt Nagy admits there’s not much game planning in preseason

Offensive coordinator Matt Nagy told the media about his expectations for the #Chiefs’ first preseason tilt after practice on Wednesday. | from: @WesleyRoesch

The Kansas City Chiefs usually take a traditional approach in the preseason, allowing the starters to play roughly one-quarter of the first game, two quarters in the second, and two to three in the third.

It’s a tried-and-true method that has worked well for the team, but not all teams adopt the same strategy as Kansas City’s. Some teams, like the Baltimore Ravens who actively hold the record for most preseason games won in a row with 23, take the preseason a bit more seriously in terms of winning the actual game.

For the Chiefs, preseason games are less about game planning, and more about getting players much-needed reps and finding out where they fit in their respective schemes.

“We don’t really care about that,” said Chiefs offensive coordinator Matt Nagy when asked whether he wants to know if they’ll be playing against their opponents’ starters in the preseason. “You can go back and see with the history of some of these defensive coordinators, head coaches, etc., you can see usually what they do in previous years.

“Regardless, for us, there are a lot of spots out there. We’re looking at the inside linebacker, the DB [defensive back], the corner, the safety – it’s not so much numbers, we’re not necessarily game planning – I don’t think many teams game plan so much anymore.”

Of course, the Chiefs still want to win these games regardless of whether they actually matter, but the preseason is ultimately an opportunity to get the veterans loose and the rookies some time on an NFL gridiron. And if that strategy works for a team that has won the Super Bowl in two of the last four years, who are we to question it?

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Rashee Rice details Patrick Mahomes’ expectations for Chiefs receivers

Rashee Rice told reporters about a very specific expectation that Patrick Mahomes has for the #Chiefs’ receivers.

Rookie receiver Rashee Rice has shown an incredible connection with Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes in training camp practices and seems poised for an excellent 2023 season. Early indications are that the second-round pick is thriving in Andy Reid’s offense, but it is ultimately the chemistry that he has built with Mahomes that will lead him to sustained success in Kansas City.

Rice spoke to reporters on Monday about what the MVP quarterback expects out of his receivers, and it quickly became clear that the rookie is a quick study when it comes to knowing his role in the Chiefs’ offensive machine.

“He [Mahomes] expects his receivers to be in a specific spot at a specific time,” Rice explained. “He’s going to bomb the ball so don’t look back and run, look up and run.”

The reporters in attendance audibly guffawed at Rice’s simple answer, which was particularly prescient after the jaw-dropping highlight reel he put together catching passes from Mahomes in practice last week.

Expect Rice to continue living up to his quarterback’s specific expectations during the Chiefs’ workouts at Missouri Western State University as he looks to become Mahomes’ most lethal offensive weapon ahead of the regular season kickoff in September.

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Patrick Mahomes says Chiefs are on the cusp of dynasty status

Patrick Mahomes told reporters on Tuesday that the #Chiefs are one ring away from having a claim to “dynasty” status.

The Kansas City Chiefs have evolved into the NFL’s most feared juggernaut, and Patrick Mahomes has been fielding questions about the sky-high expectations placed on the team after training camp practices in St. Joseph.

When he was asked if Kansas City is reaching the superlative “dynasty” status following Tuesday’s workouts, Mahomes wasn’t so sure. He told reporters that another championship would prove to be the deciding factor in any determination to that end.

“I think we’re the [at] beginning of one,” Mahomes explained. “I think, in dynasties, I always say you’ve got to win three. Our job is to do whatever we can to win as many as we can and not have any regrets when we step off the field. I think if we keep the mentality that we have, then we can look back at the end of our careers and then we can decide if we’re a dynasty or not.”

While Mahomes certainly met the media’s questions with his same humble demeanor, Chiefs fans across the country aren’t so shy to acknowledge the historic pace at which Kansas City has stacked up wins with their MVP quarterback under center.

For his part, though, Mahomes’ insistence that a third ring will make the difference should be music to the ears of the Chiefs faithful who hope that the team can achieve another Super Bowl victory next February to cement the team’s claim to call themselves a dynasty.

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What are reasonable expectations for Packers QB Jordan Love in 2023?

Setting reasonable expectations for Packers quarterback Jordan Love as a first-year starter in 2023.

The Jordan Love era will officially begin for the Green Bay Packers during the 2023 season.

After waiting behind Aaron Rodgers for three seasons, the 2020 first-round pick is stepping into the spotlight and taking over at quarterback — the game’s most difficult position — for one of the NFL’s iconic franchises.

What are reasonable expectations for Love as a first-year starter in 2023? The staff at Packers Wire attempted to anticipate what’s ahead for Love and the Packers this season:

Brandon Staley not letting externalities affect Chargers’ preparation for 2023

Brandon Staley responded when asked about the lofty expectations placed on the Chargers ahead of the 2023 season.

The Chargers are entering put-up-or-shut-up territory in Brandon Staley’s third season as the team’s head coach.

The team has plenty of talent on its roster, but in a highly-competitive conference, they will have to defy the odds to bring Los Angeles a Super Bowl title in 2023.

For all the talk in the media about what the Chargers might (or might not) be capable of, though, Staley said that he is drowning out as much of the noise as possible.

Asked about the weight of the lofty expectations placed on his team, who some consider being championship contenders, Staley made it clear that externalities will not be considered as Los Angeles prepares for the new season.

I know the team that we have. The players that were talked about in that way last year, they’re still all on our team. We’ve added even more pieces. We are confident in who we are and we’re just confident in the work that’s ahead and that we have the guys that are capable of doing it. We’re excited to get to training camp. But I love coaching this group. I know this group is really good.

These comments came just as the team was wrapping up their mandatory minicamp and off-season program. With training camp ahead of them, the Chargers will have to wait until July to start proving themselves worthy of the pre-season hype.

Time will tell if Los Angeles can rise to the top in 2023, but if Staley is to be believed, he certainly doesn’t care what anyone outside of the Chargers’ organization has to think.

NFC North roundtable: Realistic expectations for each team in 2023

Our writers in the NFC North answer the question: What are realistic expectations for the Bears, Lions, Packers and Vikings in 2023?

The Chicago Bears are building around Justin Fields, the Detroit Lions are entering the season as betting favorites to win the division, the Green Bay Packers are transitioning from Aaron Rodgers to Jordan Love and the Minnesota Vikings are attempting to repeat as division champs for the first time since 2008-09.

There’s a lot going on in the NFC North this season.

In the first of a series of posts previewing the division ahead of the 2023 season, Alyssa Barbieri of Bears Wire, Jeff Risdon of Lions Wire, Zach Kruse of Packers Wire and Tyler Forness of Vikings Wire answered the question: What are realistic expectations for each team in the NFC North this season?

Chiefs’ Andy Reid, Patrick Mahomes expect Kadarius Toney, Skyy Moore to step up in 2023

Mahomes and Reid expect big things from Kadarius Toney and Skyy Moore in 2023 as the receivers enter their second seasons with the #Chiefs. | from @TheJohnDillon

The Kansas City Chiefs’ receiving corps was gutted in free agency with the departures of Mecole Hardman and JuJu Smith-Schuster, but HC Andy Reid and QB Patrick Mahomes didn’t seem fazed by the attrition in comments made to the media on Monday.

Both deflected questions about how they might mitigate the loss of such integral pieces to Kansas City’s air attack, pointing to Kadarius Toney and Skyy Moore as weapons who seem primed to take a massive step forward in 2023. It’s especially the case, now that the two have a year with the team under their belts.

Speaking of Toney and Moore, Reid stressed the imperative of growth within his offense, and praised both receivers for approaching the game with a mentality that will make adjustments in their second year in the Chiefs’ system easier.

“I think it’s important that they continue to grow – both of them,” Reid said. “You know, KT (Kadarius Toney), he’s not like a seasoned veteran in the league. He’s still relatively young guy and young in this offense so growth will be important, how they handle this offseason (and) how they handle training camp and that whole workload that comes with it. But I’m expecting good things from them, for sure.

“They’re wired the right way and they’ve just got to keep improving and develop that relationship with Pat (Mahomes). And to Vahe’s (Gregorian) question there, Pete, I mean Pat’s been on it right from the get-go so he’s been all over it (building relationships) and with the guys, with the coaches. He checks them all the time, ‘Hey, how we doing?’ In free agency, ‘Hey, how we doing with the Draft?’ He’s interested in that which is unique, I think, so he’s either talking to myself or Brett all the time.”

Mahomes, for his part, echoed what Reid had to say, but placed more emphasis on the receivers’ abilities to take on a greater share of targets with Hardman and Smith-Schuster out of the picture.

“I think the biggest thing – I mean you start off with getting both those guys in year two of the offense and letting them expand their roles,” Mahomes explained. “I think you could see it, especially with Skyy (Moore) at the end of the season how he was getting more and more involved in the offense. I think he’ll continue to take those steps and be even better this next year when he’s more comfortable and can utilize his talents even more.

“And then with Kadarius (Toney), I think y’all saw what the upside this last year of how special of a talent he can be. And so to have him in that offense another year, have him working with (Head) Coach (Andy) Reid and how we practice and training camp I think it’ll have his body in the best shape that you can possibly be in to go out there and be healthy all season long. And so, we’re excited for those guys to take those next steps within this offense.”

Though the coach and quarterback certainly seemed confident in their ability to compete with the talent they have available at present, the Chiefs’ fanbase will undoubtedly continue to clamor for the team to add another receiver before the 2023 offseason comes to a close.

With just a week remaining until the NFL draft takes place in the backyard of Arrowhead Stadium, fans may not have to wait long for the team to make their move on a promising receiver.

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