HOUSTON, THE AFC HAS A PROBLEM

                         The AFC and the rest of the NFL have a huge problem in the form of a massively talented team out of Houston that team is the Texans. Houston’s GM Nick Caserio has been doing an exceptional job since taking the reigns back in January of 2021 when he was hired as their General Manager. Caserio previously spent twenty seasons as a part of one of the greatest all-time franchises, the New England Patriots. Upon his arrival in Houston, he made some savvy moves in his first draft as Texans GM grabbing QB Davis Mills in the third round, who granted, isn’t exactly an NFL-level starter but has shown some promise at times and makes for a decent backup. Nick also showed shrewdness upon drafting the very talented WR Nico Collins with the team’s second 3rd Rounder even after not playing in his last year of college because of COVID-19 plus Nico did not have a great combine. 

                         During Nick's second year, he also hit on some draft picks when he selected the immensely gifted CB Derek Stingley Jr. out of LSU, S Jalen Pitre, and WR John Metchie III.  Metchie has yet to show his full potential though you can’t keep a freak athlete like him down for long and in a few short years I believe he may be a household name either in Houston or on another team. Other notable players that Nick Caserio has drafted are talents such as LB Christian Harris, and an impressive RB Dameon Pierce, who had quite the sophomore slump after posting awesome numbers as a rookie (4.3 yards per carry on 939 yards, 4 TDs, 30 receptions, 165 receiving yards, and 1 TD). Last season Pierce seemed both fatigued at times in addition to being banged up which led to Devin Singletary taking the starting role away from him. This leads us to the 2023 draft where Caserio had a masterful draft board hitting on at least six of his nine picks which was showcased during those players' rookie seasons. 

                         Houston seems like they’ve already found their QB for the future in C.J. Stroud after his rookie season showed everyone that not only is he already the best QB that has ever worn a Texans jersey, but quite possibly already a top 10 QB in the NFL. C.J. earned a Pro Bowl nod, and was awarded OROY on top of a playoff berth for his ingenious play during his rookie season, throwing for 4,108 yards, 23 TDs, 5 INTs, with a passer rating of 100.8; by far the best rookie season by a QB in NFL history! Stroud was incredible, especially given the poor rushing game that forced C.J. to have much more on his shoulders than a rookie should. With a sensational player under center, the Houston Texans made it to the playoffs and won their Wild Card matchup against the Cleveland Browns in complete dismantling fashion 45-14.  Unfortunately, this was where their season came to a screeching halt following MVP Lamar Jackson and the Baltimore Ravens stout defense in the Divisional Round losing 34-10. The positive for Texans fans is it also looks like Caserio hit on another major piece for their offense in wideout Tank Dell who was lighting it up in his rookie season with 47 rec, 709 yards, and 7 TDs, averaging over 15 yards per catch before going down in week 13 against the Broncos suffering a broken fibula. It’s also worth noting that in the off-season, Tank Dell was also injured in Stanford, Florida where ten people were wounded after gunshots were fired. Luckily for Dell, he only sustained minor wounds. He has since returned to practice and will be ready to play in week 1 of the regular season. Will Anderson their defensive end is another stud ready for superstardom who was heavily involved in the brightest spots for this defensive unit last season as a rookie making the Pro Bowl and being named the 2023 AP DROY after 7 SKs, 22 QB hits, 29 Solo, & 45 combined tackles. They also took two O-linemen in Juice Scruggs and Jarrett Patterson along with Henry To’oTo’o, one of their starting linebackers. 

                            Texans look like they have not only drafted great talent to help this team for the next several seasons, but are also bringing in great veteran players in free agency such as edge rusher Danielle Hunter, a massive addition to Anderson on the other side, veteran DEs Derek Barnett, Mario Edwards Jr., plus Denico Autry.  Autry posted a career-high in sacks (11.5) to add to plenty of depth on the D Line. Houston also added great depth to the DB room with previous Lions & Falcons starting cornerback Jeff Okudah, CJ Henderson, Myles Bryant and resigned Desmond King. They seemingly hit in every facet of player personal avenues plus they were also able to ink TE Dalton Schultz to a new 3yr- $36M deal after showing a strong rapport with Stroud. Texans rewarded their kicker Ka’imi Fairbairn with a 3yr-$15.9M deal and resigned a solid WR Noah Brown. Their biggest moves of this off-season came in the form of two major trades when Nick Caserio struck up two different deals to bring in both Superstar WR Stefon Diggs to an already loaded receiver core as well as trading for ex-Cincinnati Bengals RB Joe Mixon. I also like two other moves the Texans made by drafting CB Kamari Lassiter who played three seasons as a Georgia Bulldog and allowed just 3TDs, 2 of which came in the same season. Lassiter only gave up 56 receptions for 726 yards on 108 targets in 3 seasons, which is monstrous. 

                            While everything I’ve mentioned up to this point was purely how this roster was assembled thanks to the Texans GM, I’d surely be remiss if I didn’t speak on the team’s second-year head coach. Before becoming a coach, DeMeco had an adequate playing career though as a head coach he certainly made a name for himself in his first year with the Texans.  He took a subpar team and instilled a no-quit demeanor in his players on both sides of the ball. This Texans team didn’t have a great defense, nor did they have much of a rushing attack to help their rookie QB, yet they were still in every game all year long and made the postseason for the first time in four years, only their seventh time in team history. Expectations are for HC Ryans to turn this defense around quickly and bring the same type of play on that end to match their offense. Although I personally don’t root for the Texans, I do believe with the talent on this roster that DeMeco will do just that and I think as an NFL fan you can’t help but root for a team like this with the player talent, the HC, OC Bobby Slowik, and their brilliant GM Nick Caserio.

WASHINGTON WISHING TO WASH AWAY RECENT FAILURES

 

                    Washington Commanders fanbase hasn’t had a lot to be excited about in the last handful of years.  The Washington Redskins/Football Team/Commanders organization as a whole for the last decade has left a very sour taste in the mouths of spectators everywhere and understandably so.  Dan Synder, the previous owner of Washington for 24 years, didn’t have the best rep when it came to NFL owners.  Honestly, he was arguably the worst   owner in professional sports history.  It was a brutal ending for Synder after a very rocky 24 year run as the team owner, regardless of the teams name, (Redskins, Football Team, Commanders) the head coaches, (Norv Turner, Terry Robiskie, Marty Schottenheimer, Steve Spurrier, Joe Gibbs, Jim Zorn, Mike Shanahan, Jay Gruden, Bill Callahan and Ron Rivera) or the QBs (30 different QBs have made starts for Washington under Snyder’s tenure); Such as popular names like Brad Johnson, Patrick Ramsey, Tim Hasselbeck, Mark Brunell, Jason Campbell, Todd Collins, Donovan McNabb, Rex Grossman, of course Robert Griffin III & Kirk Cousins, Alex Smith and many more that were a part of his time as their owner which almost spanned a quarter of a century. 

           Robert Griffin III, RG3, or RGIII which ever you like to call him was almost the closest sighting the Washinton franchise has seen to a Superhero at the QB position.  This was right up until RG3’s career was halted after numerous injuries. None bigger or more detrimental than Jan 6, 2013 when Griffin tore his right ACL, LCL, and Meniscus in the Wild Card Round of the playoffs in a matchup against the Seattle Seahawks.  Prior to all of this, Griffin was seemingly a Superhero for his Alma Mater, Baylor, where he had a decorated collegiate career winning awards such as Big 12 Offensive Freshman of the year (2008), 1^st-team All-Big 12 (2011), Big 12 OPOTY (2011), All-American(2011), AP College Football POTY(2011), Davey O’Brien Award(2011), The Heisman Trophy(2011), amongst others;  then Washington drafted him and he was elected to the Pro Bowl (2012) as well as getting awarded the OROY (2012). 

                        In contact sports athletes go through a lot of pain, agony, heartache and general daily stresses on top of everything else that has to do with playing said sports.  As NFL players you are essentially away from home on the road for at least 6 months out of a year unless your team makes the playoffs or even the dream game that every players fantasizes about, the Super Bowl, which would make roughly 8 months away from your loved ones.  RGIII experienced multiple concussions, ankle injuries, and the most severe knee injuries that no one would ever wish upon anyone.  It was truly a shame to see such talent succumb to such a tragic end.  Though he continued to bounce around to other teams as a backup, he was never the same and never got a true chance to reclaim a starting role with another team.

                        When you are a team that must play against the Dallas Cowboys, Philadelphia Eagles and New York Giants for a total of 6 games every season; that is very stiff competition for any team let alone one that has been viewed as a bottom NFL team for quite some time now.  This is what life is like for Washington each year in the NFC East.  Fans may have a brighter future than yester year as they have drafted an absolute Dog out of LSU in their new drafted QB for the future, Jayden Daniels.  Daniels was drafted #2 overall in this year’s NFL draft.  You could say his college career was quite superb.  He posted terrific stats throwing for 89 TDs and only 20 INTs.  Jayden completed 953 out of 1,438 passes, a completion percentage of 66.3%, along with 12,749 YDs and a passer rating of 158.4.  Daniels was awarded the 2023 Heisman, 2023 SEC OPOY, 1x All-American in addition to his win/loss record 37-18 in 55 starts.  His dynamic play also accounted for 3,307 rush yards and 34 rushing TDs to add to his 89 passing TDs.  Oh yeah, he also scored a receiving TD as well.  Daniels is also the only player in FBS history to rack up 12,000 + passing YDs & 3,000 + rushing YDs.

                        Washington should be feeling somewhat rejuvenated with a new young and very impressive QB1 that they can build around for hopefully the next decade plus.  Behind Daniels is a very good backup in Marcus Mariota who was a starter for the Titans early on in his career and just recently the top QB for the Atlanta Falcons.  Newly hired staff members such as HC Dan Quinn, GM Adam Peters, OC Kliff Kingsbury, DC Joe Whitt Jr., and 2^nd year Owner Josh Harris are all going to need a little bit of time to gel.  Even so, things couldn’t be off to a better start after a complete overhaul of the coaching staff.  Sometimes this is exactly what it takes to jump start a franchise and give them new energy to gain some steam.  Josh Harris, GM Adam Peters and the rest of the staff have been doing their due diligence to bring in as much talent as possible since they’ve all arrived in Washington; and boy is it showing!  Adam Peters brought in a top talent at the RB position in ex-Charger’s Austin Ekeler, along with longtime veteran TE Zach Ertz on offense, depth on the O-line at the G and C positions, resigned WR Jamison Crowder, and drafted the versatile talented son of Ed McCaffrey and Christian’s younger brother Luke McCaffrey.  Luke played both QB and WR in college and because of his athletically gifted blood line it has many wondering what type of player he will be at the NFL level.

                        Dan Quinn has been notoriously known for coaching some of the best Defenses in the NFL for several years now.  Quinn left Dallas following the 2023 season after a great run as Cowboys DC for the last 3 years.  In that impressive time with Dallas his defense led the NFL in turnovers each year.  Quinn may have left the Cowboys for their division foe; however, he didn’t leave alone, as he brought some familiar faces with him including ex-Cowboys C Tyler Biadasz, DEs Dorance Armstrong & Dante Fowler Jr., CB Noah Igbinoghene, and Joe Whitt Jr. who served as Cowboy’s secondary coach & pass game coordinator.  They are also bringing in stellar defensive players at the LB position in Frankie Luvu, longtime veteran, and arguably one of the greatest LBs to ever play in Bobby Wagner and a few others.  This should be an enticing situation for such an organization and team that has been on the wrong side of history for many years now.  Though a total turnaround will not happen overnight, it will certainly be exciting to watch how things play out with a whole new coaching staff, owner, and a great mix of talented young and veteran players for the Washington Commanders.

 

USC ALUMNI QB CALEB WILLIAMS PRIMED FOR EXCEPTIONAL ROOKIE SEASON

                Chicago Bears hope to reach the NFL playoffs for the first time since 2020.  Many people may have forgotten the name Mitchell Trubisky who was the last QB to achieve such a feat for the NFC North squad.  Though it was not a pretty sight to see losing 21-9 at the hands of Drew Brees and the New Orleans Saints during the wild card round of the 2020 playoffs, still that was the harsh reality for Chicago fans.  Trubisky spent 5 seasons as the Bears’ QB until the team, town, and fans gave up on the North Carolina talent as he was then signed as Josh Allen’s backup for the Buffalo Bills upon his expired rookie contract back in 2021.  Now that we have rekindled their last taste of a somewhat successful season, let’s fast forward to just a season ago.  Justin Fields showed a ton of talent but also a lot of untapped potential.  A real spark was shown between Fields and his newly acquired wideout in D.J. Moore in 2023 when Moore caught 96 passes on 136 targets that went for 1,364 yards and 8 touchdowns.  It is too bad that the rest of the team wasn’t up to par because we will never know what Fields’ career would have looked like long-term as the Bears’ QB.

                  What if I told you the Chicago Bears could be a wildcard favorite in playoff contention as soon as this upcoming season.  Now I know if you haven’t been following everything that has gone on in the off-season this could sound just a little absurd.  I feel confident in what the Bears may be able to achieve when you factor in what the Bears organization and GM Ryan Poles have accumulated in terms of talent across the board after a good draft plus key additions in free agency.  Let us start with the most important position of any successful NFL team. As you may have assumed, I’m talking about the QB.  On April 25^, 2024, the #1 overall pick Caleb Williams was selected by “Da Bears” and ever since that day Caleb’s name has been everywhere, and for good reason.  His prolific collegiate career at USC had everyone wishing their favorite NFL teams to be his destination on draft day.  Williams, once a freshman for Oklahoma, then transferred to USC for his sophomore and junior seasons before deciding to be drafted back in April.  Through a combined 3 seasons, Caleb has 35 starts at QB while completing 735 of 1099 attempts, a completion percentage of 66.9 while throwing for a total of 10,082 yds, 93 TDs, only 14 INTs & posting a passer efficiency rating of 169.3.  It goes without saying, that Chicago and the entire state of Illinois have high expectations from their rookie passer.

                  When you draft a rookie QB, it goes without saying you want them to have every possible chance to succeed.  To do that, you have to have a few things in place to give him a chance; especially when you are in one of the toughest up-and-coming divisions such as the NFC North with the likes of last year’s division champs, the Lions, plus the Packers, who made the divisional round of the playoffs and lastly, the Vikings.  I’ve previously told you about the Bears striking gold by bringing in a 1,000-yard WR D.J. Moore before last season began.  Well, they did it again and in doing so they could instantly have one of the best Wide Receiver tandems in the National Football League this season.  Bears fans must be gleaming after GM Ryan Poles brought in long-time Chargers WR Keenan Allen, who has had quite the career with 904 REC, 10,530 REC YRDs, and 59 TDs.  In fact, last year the receiver was healthier than he had been in a few years.  Allen may have missed 4 games but still posted top-notch numbers with 108 REC, 1,243 YRDs, and 7 TDs.  The Bears also brought in other talented players such as running back D’Andre Swift, veteran tight end Gerald Everett, plus two rookie wideouts in Rome Odunze and Collin Johnson.

                  Matt Eberflus may have never had so much talent on a roster as a Head Coach. Offensively they have undoubtedly upgraded every part of their offense from their O-line to all of the skilled position rooms by adding veteran leadership.  Another exciting part of this Bears team is the defense that DC Eric Washington alongside HC Eberflus gets to coach.  Ryan Poles traded for DE Montez Sweat during the season last year to bring some stability to their D-line before eventually drafting rookie DT Gervon Dexter Sr. to pair with Andrew Billings.  It is no secret that Chicago has always been stamped as a historically great defensive team and with their DBs Kyler Gordon, Tyrique Stevenson, Jaquan Brisker, and newly signed veteran safety Kevin Byard they look to get back to that old stifling defensive style of play.  In fact, they have one of the top corners in all of football in Jaylon Johnson who just inked a huge 4 year $76M deal, which includes $20M as a signing bonus with $51.4M guaranteed and an APY salary of $19M.     

LA RAM’S HISTORIC PLAYER RETIRES, OPTIMISM REMAINS

                    In case you haven’t yet heard, the Los Angeles Rams All-Time great, Aaron Donald has hung up his cleats for good after last season.  The Rams are of course forever grateful for all that Donald has done for that team and City.  Well for both Los Angeles and St. Louis as he was drafted way back in 2014, 2 seasons prior to the Rams move back to the Los Angeles area for their second stint to host the Rams.  After 10 seasons as a Ram, Mr. Donald retires as the best defensive player in both St. Louis and LA teams respective team histories.  Aaron’s body of work obviously speaks for itself after playing 10 years.  A total of 154 games played with these incredible numbers; 340 solo tackles, 543 combined total, 111.0 sacks, 22 FF, 7 of which he recovered.  He was also selected to 9 Pro Bowls out of 10 years.  That is crazy along with the fact that this unstoppable force made his presence known to every single player in the league by being a 3x Defensive Player of the Year on top of winning Defensive Rookie of the Year!  And the cherry on top was when Donald got to the pinnacle of the sport by helping his team win the Super Bowl over the offensive juggernauts in the Cincinnati Bengals during Super Bowl LVI.

                        It is certainly a new era in LA now; one without an identity on the defensive side of the ball without that physical presence that Donald always brought.  It’s also worth noting the fact that the Rams also lost their DC of the previous 3 seasons, Raheem Morris to Atlanta as the Falcons’ new HC.  It will certainly sting for a little bit before the numbness kicks in.  Morris coached the best version of the Rams defense while winning the Super Bowl back in 2022 with a very talented unit including Jalen Ramsey, Von Miller, Eric Weddle, Sebastian Joseph-Day, Leonard Floyd, Darious Williams, and their greatest player off All-Time, Aaron Donald.  Even though the Rams didn’t exactly have a top 5 Defense last season ranking 20^th in yards allowed per game (337.9 YPG) and 19^th in points allowed (22.2 PPG) what Morris got out of his youthful defense is still very impressive in the scheme of things. When you have one of the youngest units in the league with basically only Aaron Donald and still somehow making a playoff run after going 10-7 on the year.  There is one plus that I see in their new DC Chris Shula, who coached both the Rams linebackers & served as their pass rush coordinator in 2023 so there should figure to be a lot of similarities in terms of what is to be expected from his players.

       On the other side of the ball the Rams Offense was very good thanks to OC Mike LaFleur, HC Sean McVay, and one of the best NFL QBs in Matthew Stafford.  The Rams offense accounted for a total of 6,108 yards last season, that’s the 6^th best in the league.  They had 44 Total TDs (T-7^th), 404 total points (8^th), 23.8 PPG (8^th), 4,300 pass YDS (9^th) 252.9 pass YPG (9^th), 10^th in rush YPG and 7^th in rushing TDs.  The run game was much better than many expected it to be because of fan favorite RB Cam Akers suffering yet another injury and left people to believe another down year for the ground game.  On the contrary, the emergence of 23yr old RB Kyren Williams showed up and showed out with over 1,000 yds on the ground, 12 rush TDs, and 5.0 YPC.  He also factored into the pass game and accounted for totals of 1,379 YDs, 15 total TDs, only having 3 fumbles, of which 2 were turnovers.  I’d say that are numbers for a top 8 RB in this league and I expect those numbers to ascend this year and beyond with the fact that Kyren did all of that and only played 12 games.

      Now let’s discuss this Rams passing attack.  This offense has some serious fire power in the WR room.  Their plethora of weapons Stafford has is arguably one of the best tandems in all of football.  Cooper Kupp is the obvious name for this positional group.  Cooper did have his season cut short with an injury thus only playing in 12 games last year; but with the emergence of one of the best rookie WRs in recent memory, Puka Nucua, who had the 4^th most REC YDs last season (1,486 YDs), he was also 7^th in receptions (105 REC) and 6^th in YDs/g (87.4 YPG).  Rams also have a dependable WR in Demarcus Robinson and another young stud in Tutu Atwell who helped the Rams in their wildcard postseason game last year scoring a TD on his only catch that went for 38YDs and although they ultimately came up short to the Lions in Detroit, they are looking towards the future and have a lot to be sanguine about.