Tag: Touchdown Wire

Touchdown Wire ranks Chiefs QB Patrick Mahomes as NFL’s best

Touchdown Wire ranked #Chiefs QB Patrick Mahomes as the NFL’s best signal-caller ahead of the 2023 season.

Touchdown Wire has been compiling a list of the top players in the NFL at every position and revealed a quarterback ranking on Sunday that put Kansas City Chiefs superstar Patrick Mahomes as the league’s best signal caller.

While this should come as no surprise to Chiefs fans who have borne witness to Mahomes’ excellence in recent years, the accomplishment shouldn’t go unnoticed. The reigning MVP manages to wow observers in nearly every game that he plays, and also ranked in the top spot on the NFL 100 list earlier in August.

Mahomes is poised to defend Kansas City’s Super Bowl LVII title in 2023 as he looks to win consecutive championships for the first time in his career. This lofty goal would be overkill for any other quarterback in the league, but Mahomes is chasing greatness as he enters his seventh season as the Chiefs’ starting signal-caller, so anything short of a Super Bowl repeat will be considered a failure.

Vikings rank 22nd in Touchdown Wires’s preseason power rankings

Are the Vikings really a bottom 11 NFL team in 2023? Touchdown Wire’s Jarrett Bailey believes so.

The Minnesota Vikings are coming off of a 13-4 season and opinions are mixed on them with many having them as contenders to win the NFC North. Touchdown Wire’s Jarrett Bailey doesn’t think they are contenders, as he ranked them at 22nd overall in his preseason power rankings.

I can understand being low on them considering how poor the underlying metrics were at times, but 22 is crazy low. Here is Bailey’s reasoning behind it.

The Vikings’ offense will remain fun with Kirk Cousins and Justin Jefferson still tormenting defenses, along with the added threat of Jordan Addison joining the fray. However, two things prevent me from seeing Minnesota as a playoff contender- they aren’t winning 11 one-score games again, and their defense is still horrid. Brian Flores may help the issue, but this isn’t a one-year fix. Even in an up-in-the-air division, I think the Vikings take a step back. 

Taking a step back makes some sense, as they won’t go 11-0 in one-score games. They also aren’t going to be blown out in all of their losses again nor will they have poor underlying rushing metrics or go three and out 58 times.

The one thing about regression that people don’t often realize is that you can show growth in the same way. They aren’t all of a sudden going to be worse in every unstable metric that was really good and stay the same in the metrics that were bad. This is a situation where you can’t have your cake and eat it too.

What’s even worse is the Chicago Bears were ranked at 19, three spots ahead of the Vikings. Yes, you read that correctly.

The Bears feel like a team that will take a step forward. They did all the right things in the offseason, notably adding D.J. Moore to a receiving group that previously consisted of three mops and a drawing of Muhsin Muhammed. They added both Tremaine Edmunds and T.J. Edwards to clean up the middle of the field, and most recently signed Yannick Ngakoue to be their predominant edge rusher. It all comes down to Justin Fields becoming a more efficient passer. With a bolstered group of receivers, and improved offensive line, that leap is justifiably expected. 

The Vikings are going to prove a lot of people wrong this season.

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Touchdown Wire ranks Danielle Hunter’s extension worst of month

Touchdown Wire’s Jarrett Bailey doesn’t believe the Minnesota Vikings did right by giving Danielle Hunter a raise on Sunday

The Minnesota Vikings agreed to a one-year extension with edge rusher Danielle Hunter yesterday to secure him for the 2023 season. The deal was worth $20 million with $17 million guaranteed.

Jarrett Bailey of Touchdown Wire recently ranked the 12 contract extensions from around the NFL.

The Vikings’ extension of Hunter ranked dead last, getting an underwhelming D grade.

“For Hunter, the one-year, $20 million extension is great. He’s been one of the best defensive ends in football for a while, and he’s getting financially rewarded for his efforts. For the Vikings as a team, though, I’m not sure this makes sense.

Minnesota is going to take a massive step back in 2023. They won’t win 11 one-score games again, and they have shown signs of a small rebuild. Za’Darius Smith was traded to Cleveland for a pair of fifth-round picks, both Patrick Peterson and Chandon Sullivan went to Pittsburgh via free agency, and Dalvin Cook is in the middle of being courted by the entire AFC East like he’s this year’s host of The Bachelor. 

It would have made more sense to find a trade partner and get something for Hunter. No, the Vikings wouldn’t have gotten the type of capital they were looking for in a trade, but it’s better than winning six games and watching him walk out for nothing next offseason.”

Bailey thinks that keeping Hunter and salvaging this season is not worth it in the grand scheme of things. After all, this is a competitive rebuild.

But to be competitive, keeping players like Hunter is essential, even if it is just for a year. While harsh, it is understandable that Bailey would want the Vikings to turn the page and start to get to the rebuilding part of the competitive rebuild mantra.

But that’s just part of the intrigue with this Minnesota team. How much longer will they be able to tread the line of staying competitive and rebuilding their roster?

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Texans earn B-minus grade for Tytus Howard contract extension

The Houston Texans earned a respectable grade for their work with the Tytus Howard contract extension.

The Houston Texans guaranteed they would have a solid tackle duo for the next three seasons with the Tytus Howard extension.

Houston worked out a deal with their former 2019 first-round pick on the eve of training camp and finalized the contract by the end of day one.

Along with Howard, the Texans have three-time Pro Bowler Laremy Tunsil as a stalwart at left tackle. Presuming C.J. Stroud wins the starting quarterback job, the rookie will have quality pass protection as he makes his foray into the NFL.

According to Doug Farrar from the Touchdown Wire, the Texans’ contract with Howard grades as a B-minus in the vertical’s analysis of recent contract extensions across the league.

Howard is a solid option at right tackle for Houston. Could you do better? Sure, but you could also do much worse. He also gives Houston some versatility, as he can also be kicked inside to play guard if need be. 

When it comes to pass blocking efficiency amongst tackles to play at least half the snaps of the league-leader in snaps played, Howard had a very respectable score of 96.6, per PFF. Locking him down with a three-year, $56 million extension is respectable money for a respectable option at right tackle opposite of Laremy Tunsil.

An offensive line is a cohesive unit of five players moving in concert to clear running lanes and provide protection on passing downs. In the abstract, Howard’s extension may be in the B range. However, when factored into the capital improvements general manager Nick Caserio has made to the line in the offseason, along with new coach DeMeco Ryans’ belief the trenches are a foundation to a great team, the Howard extension deserves a higher mark than flirting with C territory.

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Broncos select QB Tua Tagovailoa in Touchdown Wire’s reset NFL mock draft

In Touchdown Wire’s reset NFL mock draft, the Broncos select quarterback Tua Tagovailoa. In the mock, 14 of the 32 picks were QBs.

Natalie Miller of Touchdown Wire recently published a fun exercise imagining what would happen if the NFL had a complete reset and made every player available for a draft.

In a randomized order, the Denver Broncos landed quarterback Tua Tagovailoa with the 27th overall pick in the resulting mock draft. Here is Miller’s commentary with the pick:

The Denver Broncos have zero desire to enter the season without a franchise quarterback so they take a risk given his injury history here with Tua Tagovailoa. He has shown he can be an efficient passer, and the Broncos take the upside.

The first nine picks in the mock draft were quarterbacks — Tagovailoa was the 13th QB to go off the board. Elsewhere in the AFC West, the Kansas City Chiefs landed QB Dak Prescott (No. 8), the Las Vegas Raiders picked QB Justin Fields (No. 17) and the Los Angeles Chargers went with OT Tristan Wirfs (No. 26).

The New York Giants landed QB Patrick Mahomes with the first overall pick and the Buffalo Bills select cornerback Pat Surtain with pick No. 32. To view the complete NFL reset mock draft, visit Touchdown Wire.

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Texans LT Laremy Tunsil cracks top-5 in Touchdown Wire best offensive tackles list

Houston Texans left tackle Laremy Tunsil made the top-5 of the Touchdown Wire’s best offensive tackles list.

The Houston Texans may have been atrocious in 2022, but the 3-13-1 campaign provided a stage for Laremy Tunsil to shine.

The former Miami Dolphins 2016 first-round pick played all 17 games for the first time in his career and tacked on his third career Pro Bowl selection. Despite the mounting losses surrounding Tunsil, it never seemed to affect his performance.

According to Doug Farrar from the Touchdown Wire, Tunsil ranked as the fourth-best offensive tackle on his list of best in the NFL. Only Trent Williams, Lane Johnson, and Terron Armstead were ahead of the Texans’ blindside protector.

Tunsil was limited to just five games in 2021, but returned strong last season, allowing just one sack, three quarterback hits, and 13 quarterback hurries in 562 pass-blocking reps. That sack, one hit, and 11 hurries came out of 259 True Pass Sets.

Tunsil is so good in pass protection because he present an ideal combination of kick-step precision, and fire-out aggression. He negated Jacksonville’s Josh Allen with just such a combination in Week 17.

Tunsil is also quite adept at getting his hands out and “shocking” a pass-rusher off his leverage, as he did against Dante Fowler Jr. of the Cowboys in Week 14.

Tunsil is also a live wire as a run-blocker; he’s quite happy to latch on to a defender through the rep, no matter how long it goes.

The production of Dameon Pierce may have been what sold the rest of the league on Tunsil’s dominance. The rookie running back generated 939 rushing yards through 13 games. Although the rest of the Texans’ offense sputtered, it was evident Pierce was the lone spark — and he got a boost from Tunsil on the edge.

As the Texans transition to a younger quarterback in C.J. Stroud, the expectation is Tunsil will still play at a high level to give the former Ohio State product a smoother entry to the pro game.

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Lions quarterback Jared Goff ranked the No. 15 QB in the NFL

Lions QB Jared Goff ranked the No. 15 QB in the NFL in Touchdown Wire’s annual ratings

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One of the more fun exercises that we all do during the NFL off-season is rank the position groups from across the league. Whether it be running backs, defensive ends or kickers, there’s different rankings and tiers from everyone.

Without question, the biggest positional ranking that gets the most debate is the quarterbacks.

It’s always interesting to see where fans and analysts rank Detroit Lions quarterback Jared Goff. While most rankings have him ranked somewhere in the top-20, there have been rankings that push him much closer to the top-10 and others that have him outside of that top-20 spot.

Regardless of the variances in the rankings, it seems like the consensus ranking on Jared Goff is that he’s in the middle of the pack for NFL quarterbacks.

One of my colleagues here at USA Today had put out her own quarterback rankings of all-32 NFL quarterbacks in the NFL. In this piece, Natalie Miller did a great job in being honest and thorough in her rankings.

For Jared Goff, she ranked him 15th in the NFL and here’s what she had to say about Goff:

“One of the biggest winners of the offseason was Jared Goff who kept his whiz of an offensive coordinator in Ben Johnson who made the most of his talent. While Goff floundered a bit at times last season, he was overall one of the better players at the position over 17 games. If he can continue to grow into this high flying offense he may end up in the top ten of this list.”

This explanation is spot-on about Goff. Not only did the Lions offense look to get better on paper, Goff was able to keep offensive coordinator Ben Johnson around for another season. This could position the Lions for their first division championship since 1993 or potentially a playoff push.

Regardless, much of the Lions success will rest in the hands of their quarterback. If he plays well, not only should Detroit make the playoffs for the first time since 2016 but Goff could very well end up on top-10 quarterback lists around the league. We’ll see how it all plays out for Goff and the Lions but it’s exciting times to be a Lions fan. For more on Natalie’s, you can follow the link below.

All 32 NFL starting quarterbacks ranked — where does your favorite QB stand?

 

The Lions get a subdued ranking in Touchdown Wire’s preseason power poll

While most current NFL power polls slot the Lions inside the top 10, this one holds more skepticism on Detroit.

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Expectations and hype around the Detroit Lions are higher than it’s been in years. Not everyone is buying into the team’s ascension into one of the NFL’s top teams just yet, however.

In the preseason ranking from Touchdown Wire’s Natalie Miller, the Lions slot in at No. 14 of 32. That’s a lower spot than most current power polls and reflects the memory of the team’s 1-6 start a year ago not being completely erased by the 8-2 finish.

Miller writes,

The Detroit rebirth continues from the end of last season, where this Lions team was able to run off a 5-1 finish and will carry that same energy over to the 2024 season. With superstar offensive coordinator Ben Johnson returning, and the ever energized Dan Campbell leading the charge, this Detroit team looks to make a ton of noise on their way to the playoffs this season.

Of note, the Minnesota Vikings are ranked 12th here, one of the rare instances where the defending NFC North champions are slotted above the emerging Lions. Division rivals Chicago and Green Bay are well back at 23rd and 25th, respectively.

Chiefs listed atop Touchdown Wire’s pre-training camp power rankings

The reigning Super Bowl champion #Chiefs stand atop @TheNFLWire’s power rankings ahead of training camp.

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With 2023 NFL training camps just around the bend, it’s time to stack teams against each other with the upcoming season on the horizon.

Our friends over at Touchdown Wire recently released their pre-training camp power rankings. To nobody’s surprise, the reigning Super Bowl champions were ranked at the No. 1 spot.

Here’s what Touchdown Wire’s Natalie Miller thinks of the Kansas City Chiefs coming in atop the NFL:

Just writing “Patrick Mahomes” would potentially suffice for this portion of the ranking, but there is so much more that the Super Bowl champs have to lean on aside from the best player in the game. With the likes of Chris Jones and Nick Bolton on the defensive side of the ball, and future hall of fame tight end Travis Kelce on the offensive side, this roster is ready and able to compete once again. That is without even mentioning the best head coach in football right now in Andy Reid. The Chiefs are primed to repeat.

This is Touchdown Wire’s first power ranking since the conclusion of the 2023 NFL draft, marking a launching point for the 2023 NFL season. They certainly have the star power on both sides of the ball and in the coaching department to fuel the first Super Bowl repeat since the 2004-2005 New England Patriots.

Another reason the Chiefs should be ranked atop the NFL heading into training camp — they’ve mastered the offseason. From Patrick Mahomes’ unofficial throwing camps in Texas to how they utilize their time during OTAs and mandatory minicamp, this team is as prepared as they can be at this junction of the offseason. It’ll allow them to hit the ground running when they report to Missouri Western State University in St. Joseph, Missouri for training camp next week.

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Peyton Manning named best player in NFL history to wear No. 18

Touchdown Wire named Peyton Manning the best player in NFL history to wear jersey No. 18.

Touchdown Wire’s Doug Farrar recently revealed his list of the best players to wear each jersey number in NFL history and you can probably guess who he picked for No. 18.

Former Denver Broncos quarterback Peyton Manning was named the best player to ever wear No. 18. Manning started his career with the Indianapolis Colts, reaching two Super Bowls and winning one. He later finished his career with the Broncos and reached two more championship games and won a second title.

A 14-time Pro Bowler and 10-time All-Pro, Manning won five NFL MVP awards and one Super Bowl MVP award during his accomplished career. He was enshrined in the Pro Football Hall of Fame in his first year of eligibility in 2021.

In addition to Manning, four other Broncos were named the best players to ever wear their respective numbers: outside linebacker DeMarcus Ware (94), inside linebacker Randy Gradishar (53), running back Terrell Davis (30) and quarterback John Elway (7).

To view the full list of the best players to wear each number in NFL history, visit Touchdown Wire.

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