Tag: nfl.com

NFL.com ranks Seahawks safety group best in the league

The Seahawks are spending far more than any other NFL team at the safety position this year

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The Seahawks are spending far more than any other NFL team at the safety position this year, so it only makes sense to have the best group in the leauge at this position. That doesn’t always happen when a team goes out of their way to splurge at a particular spot, but in this case Seattle does stand alone at the top of the heap at safety.

Over the weekend Bucky Brooks at NFL.com ranked the best combinations at every position group in the game. The Seahawks were shut out right until the very end, where they nabbed the No. 1 ranking at safety with Quandre Diggs, Jamal Adams and Julian Love. Here’s what Brooks had to say about Seattle’s vaunted safety trio.

“The Seahawks’ revamped secondary will allow Pete Carroll to tap into the complementary skills of his veteran safety trio. Diggs, Love — a free-agent addition — and Adams can create big plays in the deep middle, slot or inside the box. Moreover, the unit’s versatility and overall awareness… give the Seahawks the potential to create the second coming of the Legion of Boom. Adams missed all but one game last season with a torn quad muscle, but if he returns to form as an All-Pro safety who thrives as a pass rusher, the Seahawks will have the league’s best combination of playmakers at safety.

This group could have been even deeper, but the Seahawks decided to let restricted free agent Ryan Neal walk so he’d have the opportunity to start elsewhere. He has since signed with the Buccaneers.

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No one highlighted: Who are the Bills’ best players under 25?

Who do you think are the #Bills’ three-best players under 25?

A bit of a reality check has come the Buffalo Bills’ way.

The Bills are not considered one of the eldest statesmen in the NFL. But the truth of the matter is that Buffalo’s team is no longer an up-and-comer. They’ve already arrived.

NFL.com highlighted this in their list of the league’s best players aged 25-and-under. The likes of quarterback Josh Allen, cornerback Tre’Davious White and others featured on such rankings in the past. Now 27 and 28, respectively, those players have aged out of that group.

But of the players in Buffalo that fall under that umbrella, who are the best on the roster?

Here are the Bills’ three best players aged 25-and-under:

Bills’ Dorian Williams predicted to make ‘All-Rookie team’ in 2023

#Bills’ Dorian Williams predicted to make ‘All-Rookie team’ in 2023:

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Buffalo Bills linebacker Dorian Williams has an opportunity and it’s projected that he will take the bull by horns.

NFL.com named 14 defensive rookies from the 2023 NFL draft that will be instant-impact players. Williams was listed as a linebacker that will be just that.

Post-Tremaine Edmunds, many draft observers predicted that Bills could target eventual first-round pick of the Detroit Lions, Jack Campbell, as that player. Once the Lions surprisingly took him earlier than expected, eyes moved to Drew Sanders, but the Bills didn’t take him either. Sanders eventually was selected in the third round by the Denver Broncos.

In another surprise, Buffalo did eventually land a prospect they’re giving a shot to replace Edmunds in Williams via a third-round pick.

Right after the draft, general manager Brandon Beane said Williams would not factor into the discussion to take Edmunds’ old spot. Maybe that was to take pressure off, but Williams is getting that chance.

During spring practices, the Bills coaching staff put Williams in the middle of the defense next to Matt Milano. Williams still has to beat out the likes of Tyrel Dodson and Terrel Bernard for a starting position, but that will be a welcomed achievement if he does.

The breakdown on Williams by NFL.com can be found below:

Williams could earn a starting spot for the Bills in 2023, possibly replacing Tremaine Edmunds in the middle, given the third-round pick’s powerful tackling and nose for the ball. He’s no run-plugger, though, so expect to see him chasing down plays headed for the sideline.

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Seven-round NFL re-draft using all active players includes 22 former Alabama players

22 former Alabama players are selected in this full seven-round NFL re-draft

Have you ever imagined what might happen if every NFL player was a free agent and the NFL teams re-drafted with every active player in the league?

Well, Chad Reuter of NFL.com re-drafts the entire NFL annually, which consists of individual defensive players as well as all offensive players. Certain positions, like the quarterback, obviously carry more weight so it is cool to see where your favorite players stack up.

The seven-round draft included 224 picks, 22 of which were former Alabama players. Below are all of the former Crimson Tide players that made the list as well as their ranking spot:

Stefon Diggs predicted as Bills’ non-QB MVP in 2023

Stefon Diggs predicted as #Bills’ non-QB MVP in 2023:

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How important could Stefon Diggs be to the Buffalo Bills in 2023?

NFL.com thinks more than everyone on the team’s roster if you were to exclude Josh Allen.

It’s no knock on Diggs, just the reality of the situation. The quarterback position is uber important in the modern-day NFL. But others have their importance and getting Diggs on the same page with the rest of the Bills could be key for Buffalo in 2023, according to the league’s website.

NFL.com named Diggs the Bills’ non-QB MVP candidate ahead of the upcoming 2023 season.

Again, due to the NFL being a passing game, Diggs is an easy choice. His importance to the Bills doesn’t need much highlighting after his second All-Pro campaign last season.

But Diggs’ name has been floated in negative headlines throughout the current offseason. It hit a fever pitch when Diggs skipped minicamp… and getting everyone back on the same page will be an important step for Buffalo this summer.

Here’s how NFL.com breaks down explains the Diggs selection:

There seems to have been something going on with Diggs and the Bills that’s hard to characterize but impossible to ignore, reflected most recently by a brief and slightly mysterious absence from minicamp. And that wasn’t the first instance of potential discord, either; Diggs’ frustrations with the team boiled over during and after a 17-point home playoff loss to the Bengals.

Regardless, if the Bills are going to break their Super Bowl drought, it’s almost certainly going to happen with Diggs and Josh Allen making sweet music together. And if Diggs is on board, that’s possible. With pass rusher Von Miller coming off an ACL tear, Diggs is by far the clearest non-QB candidate on the roster.

It’s a bit simplistic to say the Bills are a Super Bowl contender with Diggs and not a Super Bowl contender without Diggs, but that’s where I’m at. By definition, those are team-MVP-caliber credentials.

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NFL analytics expert predicts Commanders’ win total for 2023

Who wins more in 2023: The Commanders or the Giants?

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How many games will the Washington Commanders win in 2023?

Head coach Ron Rivera is entering his fourth season as head coach of Washington. Rivera has a lot of pressure to win in 2023 with new ownership in place this summer. Additionally, Rivera has yet to win more than eight games during his three seasons with the Commanders.

Washington was in contention for a playoff spot last season, but a late collapse in December kept the Commanders home, while the rest of the NFC East held three of the four spots in the divisional round of the playoffs.

Cynthia Frelund is an analytics expert for NFL.com and recently used her formula to predict win totals for all 32 teams in 2023. As expected, Frelund is high on the Philadelphia Eagles to repeat as NFC East winners, with the Dallas Cowboys finishing in second place and earning a wild card.

Here are Frelund’s projected win totals for all four NFC East teams:

  • Eagles: 11.1
  • Cowboys: 9.6
  • Giants: 7.9
  • Commanders: 6.6

Frelund was complimentary of Washington’s wide receivers, calling the group one of the best in the NFL. She is high on Washington’s defense, saying if quarterback Sam Howell can give the Commanders a lead, Frelund believes Jonathan Allen, Daron Payne, Montez Sweat, and the rest of Washington’s front can succeed in getting to the opposing quarterback.

So much depends on Howell. If he delivers, you can bet the over on Frelund’s win projections for the Commanders.

Grading Seahawks picks from NFL.com’s 7-round win-now draft

Here’s who the Seahawks came out with in each round.

Earlier this week Chad Reuter at NFL.com did a league-wide draft, allowing each team to have their pick from every player currently in the league. With an emphasis on building rosters for winning this season, he went through seven rounds of picks for all 32 teams.

Here’s who the Seahawks came out with in each round and our grades for each.

Bills named team with most ‘expectations’ on them in 2023

#Bills named team with most ‘expectations’ on them in 2023:

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The Buffalo Bills were named the team in the NFL with the “greatest burden of expectation” on them heading into the NFL 2023 season.

NFL.com ranked teams in the league based on this parameter, and the Bills were at the top of the list. The combined reasoning relates to the team’s lack of trips to the Super Bowl in recent years combined with more recent off-field issues relating to Stefon Diggs. The receiver skipped out on the first day of training camp this offseason.

But 2023 could be a sweet spot for Sean McDermott’s team. The Bills have played their best when being the perceived underdog. That hasn’t been the case, but with the emergence of the Cincinnati Bengals and Kansas City Chiefs, Buffalo is slightly overlooked.

Can that fuel the coach’s team? Time will tell, but NFL.com’s breakdown on Bills’ expectations can be found below:

The Bills have been knocking on the door for a while now. Four straight trips to the playoffs, each run ending short of the Super Bowl. The “13 Seconds” loss to the Chiefs in the 2021 Divisional Round was pure pain for a franchise that’s no stranger to heartbreak, but last postseason’s home thumping at the hands of the Bengals was somehow more dispiriting. Is Buffalo’s once wide-open Super Bowl window suddenly closing? Playing in a widely improved AFC East, there’s a huge amount of urgency facing the entire Buffalo operation entering 2023. Look no further than the recent drama around star receiver Stefon Diggs as an example of potential cracks in the structure. Pressure can do that to even the most solid of foundations.

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Devon Witherspoon named Seahawks’ 2023 breakout star by NFL.com

Witherspoon has all the talent and physical tools he needs to succeed at the next level and a coaching staff that knows how to develop defensive backs if nothing else.

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The Seahawks had a top-five pick in this year’s draft for the first time in the Pete Carroll and John Schneider era. They used it on Illinois cornerback Devon Witherspoon, the consensus best player in his class at the position. While no draft pick is a slam dunk, he went No. 5 overall for a reason: Witherspoon has all the talent and physical tools he needs to succeed at the next level and a coaching staff that knows how to develop defensive backs if nothing else.

In his state of the franchise piece for Seattle, Adam Rank at NFL.com picked Witherspoon as the team’s breakout star for the 2023 season.

“I loved the Seahawks’ selection of Witherspoon with the fifth overall pick in the 2023 NFL Draft. I was in on him when I wrote my Mock Draft With a Twist, pairing him with the Colts at fourth overall. But Seattle looks like the perfect spot. I realize I’m just a commentator, but I dig seeing guys like Jason McCourty agreeing with me. It’s kind of like when the teacher gave you high marks in school.”

Witherspoon seems like an easy pick. Even though cornerback is probably the most-difficult position to play in the modern game, Witherspoon was already playing at a high level for a nearly-NFL worthy Illinois defense. A lot of great cornerbacks struggle as rookies, but Witherspoon should become one of the league’s top cover corners once the game slows down for him.

If that development takes time, the Seahawks can rest assured that they have a solid starter in Mike Jackson, who is not ceding his starting spot on the left boundary without a fight.

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Bold prediction has Justin Jefferson with 2,000 receiving yards

After gaining 1,809 yards in 2022, NFL.com’s Adam Schein believes Justin Jefferson will set an NFL record in 2023.

After a historic season in 2022, Minnesota Vikings wide receiver Justin Jefferson had a historically successful season, but came short of the 2,000 yard mark. Could he get there in 2023? NFL.com’s Adam Schein believes so and proclaimed it as one of his nine bold predictions for the 2023 season.

No wide receiver has ever hit 2K. Calvin Johnson’s come the closest, posting an NFL-record 1,964 yards in 2012. Nine years later, Cooper Kupp reached 1,947 yards. In 2023, Jefferson makes history.

Shoot, it’s just the natural progression of Jefferson’s NFL production, from 1,400 yards in Year 1 to 1,616 yards in Year 2 to 1,809 yards last season. To reach 2,000, he needs to average just under 118 yards over 17 games. Jefferson is the kind of unstoppable force who can make that happen, especially in Year 2 of Kevin O’Connell’s offense. And his new WR running mate in Jordan Addison — Minnesota’s first-round pick in April — will help the cause by commanding more attention than the Vikings’ complementary targets last season.

The Griddy will be on full display in 2023, with No. 18 dancing his way into the record books.

Jefferson has a real chance to get the record. Based off of his statistical growth over his first three season, Jefferson is on pace to have 2,005 yards receiving after having 1,400, 1,616 and 1,809 in his first three seasons, respectively. The addition of Jordan Addison and a full season of T.J. Hockenson will help make that easier.