The NFL had another huge year, and a few star players stole the spotlight. Sports betting outlet Bettingtop10 Canada recently determined the most popular NFL players in America according to Google searches. The study ranked every position and compiled a list of America’s NFL “Dream Team” based on the most-searched-for players. The site analyzed Google data across 2023 for all 2,421 players in the NFL to reach their conclusions.
Of the quarterbacks, New York Jets star Aaron Rodgers was the most Googled in America, with an average of 2.5 million people searching his name each month. The study notes that a large number of those searches are due to ongoing interest in Rogers’ torn Achilles tendon, which he suffered during the opening game of the season against the Buffalo Bills.
Travis Kelce was crowned the most commonly searched-for tight end, with his name garnering more than 1 million dedicated searches per month. Of course, a high volume of this traffic comes from curiosity regarding his romance with Taylor Swift.
The swell of support for the Kelce family hardly stopped there. Travis’ brother, Jason Kelce of the Philadelphia Eagles, was the most-searched-for center in the country. More than 420,000 people search for him every month. Once again, a lot of this interest is thought to be due to Travis’s relationship with Taylor.
But coming out on top of the NFL was Damar Hamlin of the Buffalo Bills. He was not only the most-searched-for defensive back in America, but his name garnered the most Google searches of any player in the NFL. Fans searched for Hamlin more than 7.1 million times each month. The 25-year-old just returned for his first regular season game after suffering a cardiac arrest during a January 2 match.
“America’s fascination with NFL players frequently extends beyond their on-field performance, with injuries, romances, and rumors of their personal life, influencing who the nation searches for the most,” a spokesperson for Bettingtop10 Canada shared in a statement.
The year’s most popular players were then drafted onto America’s hypothetical Dream Team. Hamlin, Rodgers, and Kelce were easily the most-searched-for players of the year. They were joined on the Dream Team by Odell Beckham Jr. (825,667), Ezekiel Elliot (587,500), and Chris Paul (575,917), amongst many others.
“The ‘NFL Dream Team’ aims to showcase the players who have captured the nation’s attention the most over the past year, in order to create the perfect team lineup,” Bettingtop10’s spokesperson explained.
You can find America’s full Dream Team roster of the most popular NFL players below.
The NFL Draft 2022 starts with the first round on Thursday, April 28, continues with two more rounds the following night, and wraps with the last four rounds on Saturday, April 30. That much is certain, as is the fact that it will be broadcast on ESPN and take place in Las Vegas, where the league now has a franchise and a whole bunch of gambling partners.
Beyond those details, things get murkier. Every NFL Draft is subject to a lot of guesswork, but that’s especially true in 2022. There is no consensus best quarterback and therefore no consensus No. 1 overall pick. It’s likely that this will be the first year since 2017, when the Browns took defensive end Myles Garrett, in which a QB isn’t the first player off the board. The lack of QB certainty means a broader lack of clarity around the draft, as it’s not clear which teams are most smitten with which players and who might pull off an audacious trade in order to draft a key prospect.
In that spirit, here’s one big question around every position group in the draft. The answers to these questions will go a long way toward deciding how the 2022 NFL Draft unfolds for the league’s 32 teams.
Malik WillisKendall Warner/AP / Shutterstock
1. Quarterback: Is someone going to bet the franchise on a big trade up to draft a QB?
The short answer: Probably.
The longer answer: Probably, but it’s not clear which team will do it, or which quarterback they’ll go after. This draft has five quarterbacks who could plausibly be first-round picks. Most analysts have either Pitt’s Kenny Pickett or Liberty’s Malik Willis as the first one to go, and Willis has been the subject of some speculation that teams might jockey to take him early on. The Panthers have a lousy QB situation and pick sixth, and could perhaps get Willis by standing pat. The Seahawks (who just traded Russell Wilson) pick ninth and might do the same. The Steelers (who just saw Ben Roethlisberger retire after fading late in his career) would probably need to trade up.
Any team that trades up in the first round to get a quarterback will be making a franchise-altering investment. It will cost a lot in draft picks, probably, as well as signal that the team is ready to put multiple years into making that player the cornerstone of their team. It’s one of the few things in the NFL that a team really cannot afford to get wrong.
2. Running Back: Is Breece Hall good enough to overturn the “running backs don’t matter” dogma?
There’s a school of thought in football that insists running backs are increasingly irrelevant in the modern game. The reason? Football has become more passing-oriented, and ball-carriers are products of context (like the caliber of their offensive lines) rather than game-changers in their own right.
It’s an overly simplistic way of viewing the sport, but it does track with how NFL teams seem to view the NFL Draft nowadays. Only one or two running backs become first-rounders each year, and the position has similarly suffered in free agency over the years.
The media consensus is that only one running back, Iowa State’s Breece Hall, has a chance to slip into the first round in 2022. Hall was awesome in Ames, and I’d like to see an NFL team spend an early pick on his power and speed. I’m not sure if any actually will, however.
Jameson WilliamsCourtesy Image
3. Receiver: Teams won’t let an injury scare them away from receiver Jameson Williams. Right?
I hope not. Williams was the most dominant receiver in college football last year until he tore an ACL in the national championship game between his Alabama Crimson Tide and the Georgia Bulldogs. In an illustration of his value, Williams’ absence torpedoed the Bama passing game. He had more than 1,500 yards and 15 touchdowns before that, and his over-the-top speed was a problem that defenses in the SEC, the country’s best conference, could not solve.
Williams is reportedly doing well in his recovery. Given his obvious game-breaking ability, it would be pretty silly if he fell to even the bottom of the first round. Williams transferred to Alabama from Ohio State, where he had been teammates with fellow first-round wideout candidates Garrett Wilson and Chris Olave.
4. Tight End: Is the league going to generally ignore tight ends in this draft?
It seems unlikely that one will get picked in the first round, and it could even take until well into the second before a team plucks a tight end. Colorado State’s Trey McBride seems like the consensus No. 1 option, but it’s not hard to find people who prefer Ohio State’s Jeremy Ruckert or Coastal Carolina’s Isaiah Likely. On the other hand, maybe a team will see one of these players as a value opportunity and they’ll become a star rookie, like last year’s Steelers second-rounder Pat Freiermuth did.
Ikem EkwonuKarl B DeBlaker/AP / Shutterstock
5. Offensive Line: Will this be the best offensive tackle draft ever?
It’s worth discussing. Three potential blind-side protectors (Alabama’s Evan Neal, NC State’s Ikem Ekwonu, and Mississippi State’s Charles Cross) are poised to be top-10 picks. Going by Sports Reference’s positional classifications, that hasn’t happened since 1968, when eventual Hall of Famer Ron Yary headlined the class out of USC.
Neal and Ekwonu have both received a bit of No. 1 overall pick buzz; Neal showed up first overall in some mock drafts. The league’s shift toward aerial offense has put a premium on both edge rushers and giant men who can block them, and Neal, Ekwonu, and Cross are part of that answer. Northern Iowa’s Trevor Penning and Central Michigan’s Bernhard Raimann could also hear their names called before the first round is up. In fact, Penning probably will.
6. Defensive Line: How does the NFL see Georgia’s Jordan Davis?
It looks likely that Davis will be a first-round pick. He is an interesting case, though, because there’s an argument for picking Davis in the top five and another that he could fall a long way down in the first round and maybe even push the second, though that probably won’t happen.
Davis is about 6’6” and 340 pounds. He is a massive man even by the standards of NFL defensive linemen. At Georgia, he often mimicked a one-man wrecking crew. He’s big enough to plug gaps on either side of the center at once and fast enough to chase down much smaller players in wide open spaces. When he’s playing well, he’s a marvel to watch.
But the NFL’s shift toward spread offense isn’t ideal for his draft value. It’s now common for teams to line up on third downs with just two down linemen as edge rushers, three or four linebackers, and five or six defensive backs, leaving no place for a player like Davis. Georgia frequently took him off the field on third downs, and his size has raised some conditioning and durability questions among the draft intelligentsia. That said, Davis has tested through the roof athletically and done nothing to suggest he’s not an all-around great NFL prospect.
I’m not only interested to see who picks Davis and when. I’m interested in how he’ll be deployed in the current iteration of the NFL—and if he’s good enough to buck a trend.
Aidan HutchinsonDarron Cummings/AP / Shutterstock
7. Edge Rusher: Is it Aidan, Kayvon, or Travon?
I don’t think any positional battle in the 2022 NFL Draft has generated as many passionate takes as the one over whether Michigan’s Aidan Hutchinson and Oregon’s Kayvon Thibodeaux will be the first edge rusher picked. On top of that, one of them could quite possibly be the first player picked. In recent months, Georgia’s Travon Walker, a dominant force in the Bulldogs’ run to a national championship, has also worked his way into this discussion.
Hutchinson lacks the straight-ahead speed of Walker and Thibodeaux, but he has incredible short-area agility, which is more important for getting around offensive tackles. Walker is hilariously fast for a 275-pound guy, but Georgia didn’t use him as a conventional edge rusher and thus denied him the chance to pile up a lot of sacks in his college career. Thibodeaux has seemed destined for the top of this draft since he was a high school senior in 2018, but his production at Oregon was more “great” than “absolutely incredible, first-overall-pick level.” The choice between them is a tough one, and it likely comes down to personal preference.
Nakobe DeanPhelan M Ebenhack/AP / Shutterstock
8. Linebacker: What does the NFL have in mind for Nakobe Dean?
Another Georgia product, another elite player whose future role in the NFL is up for some debate. Dean is similar to recent first-rounders like Isaiah Simmons and Zaven Collins; he’s a college linebacker who was good at so many things and was asked to do so much that an NFL team will need to figure out what to hone in on. It’s a good problem to have, and I think any defensive coordinator who can’t figure out what to do with Dean should find a new line of work. Even so, he’s not big (5’11’’ and 229 pounds) and it’s hard to pin down how he’ll fare in the draft.
9. Cornerback: Will this draft be as cornerback-heavy as it looks?
Cincinnati’s Ahmad Gardner, LSU’s Derek Stingley Jr., Washington’s Trent McDuffie, Clemson’s Andrew Booth, and Florida’s Kaiir Elam are all frequently mocked up as first-round picks. Auburn’s Roger McCreary sometimes shows up in analysts’ first rounds, too. That would be a ton of first-round corners—at least five, maybe six—in this NFL Draft, but it would fit with something we’ve already talked about here: This is a passing league, and teams need a loaded pass defense
10. Safety: Does the NFL care that Kyle Hamilton is slow in tights?
He’s not slow in pads. The Notre Dame safety is probably the surest bet for the first player taken at his position. He had a brilliant career in South Bend, has an immaculate frame (6’4” and 220 pounds), plays the ball with controlled aggression, and covers ground quickly. That’s a lot to love, and Hamilton will be an early first-round pick in the 2022 NFL Draft.
But he posted a 4.59-second 40-yard dash time at the NFL Scouting Combine, and that might cause him to fall out of the top five or 10 picks. I find this silly; there’s plenty of game tape that shows Hamilton moves like the wind when it counts. But NFL teams have their own preferences, and it’s possible that some of them will get scared away.
Matt AraizaSteve Luciano/AP / Shutterstock
11. Special Teams: How soon is too soon to pick a punter?
San Diego State’s Matt Araiza, who just finished an utterly historic season, would like to know. The most powerful punter in college football history is bringing his skill to the NFL. No team has picked a punter before the fourth round since 2012. Araiza probably won’t go that high, but could a team spring for him in the fourth or fifth round? Well, I would.
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NFL futures betting is not for everyone, and it is far from the most efficient way to make money, even by the highly uncertain standards of sports betting. Observers struggle to understand the present in sports, much less predict the future, and even successful futures bets require the bettor to let a sportsbook hold their money for extended periods. That’s time that could be spent putting your money to work in various other ways.
On the other hand, NFL futures betting is fun. To the extent that gambling on a sport can provide a thrill, nothing beats having something pegged months in advance and watching it pay off. I recommend it only in small doses and as a way to give yourself something to keep track of over the course of a season or even offseason. The best futures strategy, I’ve always found, is to spread money around on a couple of intriguing prospects and see what happens—while keeping your expectations limited.
With that attitude in mind, here are a handful of early NFL futures bets for 2022 that deserve consideration. Let’s use American odds, where -110 correlates to a $110 bet needed to win $100 and +700 correlates to a $100 winning bet returning $700 (see this article on Super Bowl bets for an odds explainer). Odds here are via the online sportsbooks at DraftKings and FanDuel.
1. Los Angeles Chargers to Win the Super Bowl: +2400
If you’re going to park money on a futures bet for almost an entire year, don’t do it for a small return (in the event your bet hits). That typically means not picking the favorites, which in this case are the Kansas City Chiefs and Buffalo Bills at around +750 odds each. This past season’s champion, the Los Angeles Rams, had the seventh-best odds at this time in 2021 (+1500). Nothing’s a guarantee, but it’s not a bad idea to pick teams with similar odds this year.
The Chargers are an intriguing lottery ticket. They have a (hopefully) ascendant quarterback in third-year man Justin Herbert. After winning Offensive Rookie of the Year in 2020, Herbert didn’t take as big a leap as he might’ve preferred in 2021. His interception rate ticked up from 1.7 percent to 2.2 percent of his throws, his adjusted yards-per-attempt held steady at 7.6, and his QBR hopped from 62.6 to 65.6.
The numbers aren’t the full story, though. Herbert has some best arm talent in the NFL, and he thrived in tough moments to manage five fourth-quarter comebacks. The Chargers had one of the worst defenses in the NFL last season, but there’s enough individual talent sprinkled around (defensive end Joey Bosa and safety Derwin James are the headliners) that a step forward in 2022 seems like a good bet.
2. New England Patriots to Win the Super Bowl: +2800
The Patriots got dragged around the field by the Bills in the wild card playoff round, but they’re a good value at these long odds, too. They finished the regular season fourth in Football Outsiders’ DVOA, a play-by-play efficiency stat that tends to be relatively predictive of who’s good and who isn’t. Quarterback Mac Jones was the league’s best rookie passer by a wide margin in 2021, even though New England didn’t ask a lot of him. If Jones gets better, the Patriots could be a threat.
The Chiefs have won this division six years in a row and frequently piled long playoff runs atop their dominant regular seasons. But eventually, every dominant team gets some bad breaks, like injuries, and slips up a bit. The Chiefs are still the best bet in the AFC to contend for the Super Bowl in any given year, but they’re due for some bad luck, and 2022 seems like it could be the time.
They’ll probably put the franchise tag on free agent tackle Orlando Brown, but there’s a good chance that an inconsistent secondary loses its best player (safety Tyrann Mathieu), one of the league’s better cornerbacks (Charvarius Ward), and maybe another player or two. If the Chiefs take a small step backward and the Chargers make the leap I’m expecting, then L.A. becomes an attractive option here.
The Rams are, of course, the division favorites at +150. But let’s note a few things: The 49ers beat them in Los Angeles to close the regular season and very nearly did it again in the NFC Championship. The Rams are excellent and will stay that way for a while, but it’s difficult to see how they’re better than they were in 2021.
Cooper Kupp just had the best receiving season ever. It’s hard to go up from that, and the Rams’ No. 2 receiver down the stretch, Odell Beckham Jr., is staring down both free agency and rehab from the torn ACL he suffered in the Super Bowl. Matthew Stafford, the title-winning quarterback, will be another year older at 34. Andrew Whitworth, the 40-year-old left tackle who somehow continued to play at an elite level in 2021, will probably retire. Von Miller, the similarly ageless pass-rusher, is a free agent and might roll out of town. Even if he doesn’t, the Rams have an old roster core with lots of contractual uncertainty. They are a brilliantly managed team and will be fine in the long run, but they might drop down a peg in 2022.
The 49ers are poised to get better, and they’re clearly not far behind the Rams to begin with (they finished fifth in DVOA to the Niners’ sixth). Second-year QB Trey Lance, who figures to have a lot more upside, if a lower floor, than Jimmy Garoppolo, is likely to take over behind center. They aren’t going to lose any premium free agents and only have one player, guard Laken Tomlinson at No. 26, in the top 75 of the Pro Football Focus free agent rankings. For those reasons, the Niners are a good futures bet in the West, and probably for the NFC title and Super Bowl, too.
5. Kayvon Thibodeaux to be the NFL Draft’s first pick: +800
Alabama offensive tackle Evan Neal at +120 and Michigan defensive end Aidan Hutchinson at +200 are the far-and-away market favorites to go first in April’s draft. I don’t see a ton of value there, and it’s not clear the Jacksonville Jaguars have figured out who they want. But Thibodeaux at +800 looks like the pure value play. He entered the 2021 college season as most people’s favorite, and he’s likely to test off the charts in the pre-draft workout circuit. I must caution, however, that placing any bet on the Jaguars’ decision-making is a dangerous exercise.
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Odell Beckham Jr.’s Super Bowl may have been cut short by a brutal knee injury but days after the big game he had another huge moment.
Odell Beckham Jr. has been busy since winning his first Super Bowl ring with the Rams just over a week ago.
The Rams receiver and longtime girlfriend Lauren Wood welcomed their first child together, Zydn, on Thursday, Feb. 17, Beckham announced early Wednesday in an Instagram post.
“2-17-22, 0605. THE biggest blessing I’ve ever had in my life arrived here on earth! The words, I can’t even put together for the overwhelming emotions that ran thru me … a moment I will never forget and cherish forever. Zydn was born n at that moment I knew my life changed for the better,” the new dad wrote.
“Lauren Wood, u changed my life forever and delivered the most beautiful gift of all … EFFORTLESSLY! Ur strength throughout this gives me the courage to keep goin because i now kno with u by my side and holding it down for me, I can get thru anything. I love u so much.”
In the same message, Beckham, 29, also revealed he underwent successful surgery five days after Zydn’s birth for a torn ACL in his left knee, which he suffered during Super Bowl 2022. Although Beckham did not specify his injury in Wednesday’s message, the post-surgery photo nearly parallels the one snapped by his mother, Heather Van Norman, after his November 2020 procedure on the same knee.
“And so the journey continues; 2-22-22; the stars are all aligned; surgery was a success. Like I’ve said all along ‘IT WAS WRITTEN.’ Im just sticking to the script and seeing where God will take me. Honestly I’ve been through so much to get to where im at.. I duggg deep, and figured out a lot about myself along the way. If there’s one thing I can take from all the work and growth, it is that I AM as resilient as they come. Too much heart to not keep walkin in faith! Lol I kno yall probably tired of hearing me say this every year now “this my year”
BUT IM GON BE BACK!!! U better believe imma be back , and imma be back better than ever before. I mean that Shxt from the bottom of my heart. Filled wit LOVE and gratitude. I wanna thank u all for the love and support, this is not the end; but only the beginning to everything I’ve ever dreamed of. LUV,” Beckham wrote.
Beckham caught two passes for 52 yards and a touchdown in the first quarter and change of the game but went down on his third target with a non-contact injury that was reported as a torn ACL.
Wood, who has been linked to Beckham since 2019, called the former first-round pick the “best dad” in the comments.
“I love you 🥲 every step of the way … every joy, every pain … every win every loss, every life changing event & life challenge.. u r not alone & I love the human we made 😍,” she gushed.
The couple went public with their relationship in November 2019, and announced Wood’s pregnancy in November 2021.
In Wednesday’s post, Beckham reflected on his Super Bowl experience and tenure as a Ram, following his release by the Browns last November.
“This last week has been one that I truly could never forget. I had never been more prepared and focused for a game in my life, I was ready to go nuclear and perform at the highest level that I ever had in my career. I knew it and I felt it in my soul, I was in my biggggest bag n nothin was goin to stop me. I reallly mean that!! I was ON,” he wrote.
“Motivated, determined, and eyes set on a goal that I promised to myself and this team from the moment I decided to be an LA Ram. Safe to say those were my plans and not Gods. I kno there’s purpose in all of this and it may seem that this journey has come to an end but it’s really just a door opening to a new beginning. Starting it off, as a WORLD CHAMPION.”
Beckham will be a free agent in March, however, it’s unclear if he will be ready for the start of the 2022 season after undergoing surgery. Further, while there appears to be interest on both sides, the receiver’s NFL future remains to be seen.
Beckham spent five years with the Giants after the team selected him with the 12th overall pick in the 2014 NFL Draft. The LSU product was traded to the Browns in March 2019.
This story first appeared in the New York Post and was republished with permission.
The NFL has built itself into a year-round eyeball magnet. The NFL offseason supposedly begins after the Super Bowl, but in reality, the pro football machine keeps right on turning. The pre-draft showcase and workout season get underway even before the Super Bowl is over, free agency begins in mid-March, the draft happens in mid-April, and then there’s only a few months of (relative) quiet before training camps open at the end of July. Even with no games on the calendar, the league has a way of generating enough drama to stay top of mind.
That said, the NFL does seem to be headed into an unusually wide-open offseason. The greatest quarterback ever just retired, as did another future Hall of Famer. Another one may or may not leave his career-long franchise, and the pecking order of QBs in this year’s NFL Draft is even harder to determine than usual.
So what’s going to happen? Below, I’ve called out four key questions that’ll shape the NFL over the next year.
NFL Offseason 2022: Quarterback Prospects, Free Agents, and More
What if the Broncos make a blockbuster trade with the Packers for Aaron Rodgers? 💭 pic.twitter.com/0ZKHFzZPMW
1. What will Aaron Rodgers do, and how quickly can we stop discussing him?
I have lost interest in acquiring new information about the Green Bay Packers’ four-time MVP quarterback. At this point, everyone gets the idea: He is a preternaturally great quarterback and a preternaturally self-obsessed individual.
After his relationship with the Packers deteriorated to the point of a trade becoming a real possibility last year, Rodgers had a singular 2021 season. He won another MVP award (which is normal for him), lost another home playoff game (also normal for him), misled the public and probably the NFL about his COVID-19 vaccination status, and compared himself to Martin Luther King Jr. for not taking the shot. I learned more than I ever wanted to about his relationship with Shailene Woodley and his offseason cleansing regimen, which you should not read more about if you have a weak constitution.
As we head into the NFL offseason, Rodgers’ football future is uncertain. The Denver Broncos hired his Packers offensive coordinator, Nathaniel Hackett, as head coach, prompting speculation that Rodgers might head to the Mile High City. Maybe he’ll retire, or get traded somewhere else, or find some other path away from Green Bay. Maybe he’ll just play there again next year. He’ll single-handedly make whichever team he plays for into a title contender. Or maybe he’ll go into public health consulting.
2. Some legendary quarterbacks are retiring. Who will replace them?
Tom Brady’s NFL career is over after 22 seasons and seven Super Bowl wins, and he has cemented his status (among most observers) as the greatest to ever play the position. Ben Roethlisberger’s career is over after 18 seasons, two Super Bowl wins, and a much grimmer off-field legacy. Rodgers may or may not leave the Packers, but that’s at least two teams—if not three—who need to replace Hall of Fame passers in 2022.
Brady’s Tampa Bay Buccaneers are coming from a position of strength: They’re just a year removed from a Lombardi Trophy and have a quality defense. This franchise spent most of the century getting mediocre QB play or worse before Brady signed ahead of the 2020 season. In his absence, the frontrunner might be 32-year-old backup Blaine Gabbert, a long-ago first-round draft bust who has a couple years’ experience playing behind the best ever and learning the system of head coach Bruce Arians.
It sounds uninspiring, but it’s hard to immediately replace a generational QB. The Steelers will likely learn that while finding Roethlisberger’s successor. The in-house frontrunner is Mason Rudolph, a backup for most of the last four years who played poorly after Roethlisberger suffered a season-ending injury early in the 2019 season. The Steelers gave him a tepid “if the season started today” vote of confidence. External faith in him is almost nonexistent.
On the other hand, finding a worthy replacement in the draft is possible. But it won’t be easy.
3. The quarterback class in this year’s NFL Draft is something of a mystery. How will teams handle it?
There are no sure bets at QB or in the draft, but most years have one or two quarterbacks who analysts believe are worthy of high first-round selections. Last year had several: Quarterbacks were snapped up for the first, second, third, 11th, and 15th picks.
This year’s class has a handful of passers who might turn out to be good NFL players. Pitt’s Kenny Pickett morphed into one of the most exciting and productive college QBs in 2021. Liberty’s Malik Willis has a bazooka arm and will immediately be one of the most effective running QBs in the NFL. Matt Corral from Ole Miss could thrive in an offense that’s heavy on run-pass options and deep balls. Cincinnati’s Desmond Ridder gets high marks for both his leadership and athleticism. North Carolina’s Sam Howell is mobile and can throw hard, but he didn’t play well against the ACC in 2021. Nevada’s Carson Strong is, well, big and strong, but he’ll have to answer questions about the quality of competition he faced in the Mountain West. (Though Wyoming’s Josh Allen has shown that the conference can produce NFL-caliber QBs.)
It’s safe to say that a few of these players will be solid NFL quarterbacks. But I have a hard time deducing who, exactly, will break through. Pro Football Focus doesn’t rank any of them higher than No. 20 overall (Howell), and it’ll be interesting to see how high a team reaches because it needs a quarterback.
The accuracy from Packers’ QB Aaron Rodgers on this throw to WR Davante Adams is unreal.
4. This year’s free-agent class is heavy on wideouts. Who’s going where?
By PFF’s ranking, the No. 1, 3, 7, and 10 players available in free agency this NFL offseason are wide receivers: Davante Adams (Green Bay), Chris Godwin (Tampa Bay), Mike Williams (Los Angeles Chargers), and Allen Robinson II (Chicago). A couple of them seem like obvious targets for the franchise tag, where their teams hang onto them by offering them a one-year contract for what’s likely to be about $19 million each.
If the Packers get Rodgers back, it’s hard to see them letting Adams, his longtime No. 1 target, walk away. Williams seems another likely candidate for a tag if the Chargers don’t offer him a long-term contract extension—they have cap room and a mega-valuable young quarterback, Justin Herbert, who needs capable receivers.
The Bucs might be in for a lot of hurt. They could tag or extend Godwin, but they are short on salary cap room and don’t know how Brady’s contract will affect their cap room now that he’s retired. They have two other premium free agents in center Ryan Jensen and cornerback Carlton Davis, and they still need to sort out a quarterback. So Godwin might be on the move, and if he’s not, someone else, or even a couple of his teammates, will be.
In Chicago, Robinson also seems poised to hit the open market. His departure will sting for second-year Bears quarterback Justin Fields but be a boon for whoever signs him.
There’s uncertainty in every offseason, but 2022’s uncertainty seems concentrated between those who throw the ball and those who catch it.
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And Wilson is no different. The Australian actress and comedian took to social media over the weekend to show off a piece of memorabilia.
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The 41-year-old is an ambassador for the Rams and has attended many of their games, including their 20-17 victory over the San Francisco 49ers in the NFC championship game a fortnight ago.
Speaking on her Instagram stories, Wilson revealed she had been gifted a special blue and yellow helmet signed by LA Rams players.
She will be attending the Super Bowl and asked her followers if she should where the helmet to the game, which will be held at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood on the outskirts of Los Angeles.
“I’m think whether I should wear this to the Super Bowl,” Wilson said.
“It’s my special helmet the Rams gave be at the beginning of the season signed by the players.
“It’s pretty sick. But I was like, ‘Do I wear this or no?’ Is that like too much to take to the Super Bowl?”
We’ll have to wait and see if Wilson opts to wear the helmet as a bold accessory when she cheers on the Rams at the big game.
The Rams are favourites to win their first Super Bowl since 1999, when they were known as the St Louis Rams.
Meanwhile, the Bengals are hoping there is one more chapter left in their fairytale season and they can win their first ever Super Bowl, 33 years after their first appearance in the NFL championship game.
Matthew Stafford heads into the Super Bowl as the fulcrum of a star-studded LA Rams team — a far cry from 12 seasons of suffering in Detroit. ULTIMATE SUPER BOWL GUIDE
Last week, the Buccaneers quarterback said he wasn’t sure either way. Gray asked if anything had changed in light of the rumoured retirement.
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“No, it was a good week for me and I’m still going through the process that I said I was going through,” Brady said.
“Sometimes it takes some time to really evaluate how you feel, what you want to do. I think when the time’s right, I’ll be ready to make a decision one way or another just like I said last week.”
Gray asked the 44-year-old if he was surprised to see all the reports start flying, a week after the Buccaneers were eliminated from the playoffs by the Rams in the NFC divisional round and his pursuit of an eighth Super Bowl championship ended.
“It’s a good line that I’m responsible for what I say and do, and not responsible for what others say or do,” Brady said.
“So, again I think one thing I’ve learned about sports is you control what you can control. What you can’t, you leave to others.”
For Brady, that means taking his time to figure things out.
“We’re in such an era of information and people want to be in front of the news often, and I totally understand that. I understand that’s the environment we’re in. I think for me it’s literally day-to-day with me,” he said.
“Trying to do the best I can every day, and evaluate things as they come. And, trying to make a great decision for me and my family.”
Last week on Let’s Go, Brady was noncommittal about whether he would retire, insisting he had not made a decision.
On Saturday, ESPN and NFL Network reported Brady’s retirement from the NFL after 22 seasons. Conflicting reports soon followed.
ESPN, which is in business with Brady on his Man in the Arena docuseries, has steadfastly stood by its report and operated all of its news and opinion programming as though Brady’s retirement is a forgone conclusion.
Regardless of when he decides to officially call it a career, Brady is Canton-bound with a Hall of Fame career that includes seven championships, five Super Bowl MVPs, three NFL MVPs and multiple league records.
This article originally appeared on the New York Post and was reproduced with permission
Comments Off on ‘Still going through that process’: Tom Brady addresses retirement rumours TAMPA, FLORIDA – JANUARY 23: Tom Brady #12 of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers reacts in the second quarter of the game against the Los Angeles Rams in the NFC Divisional Playoff game at Raymond James Stadium on January 23, 2022 in Tampa, Florida. (Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images)
The NFL playoffs divisional round is my favorite football weekend of the year. With eight teams playing four games in two days, it’s the best mix of football in terms of both quantity (games all afternoon and into the evening on Saturday and Sunday) and quality—only excellent teams remain. It’s hard to fake your way to this point in the postseason.
The games start with the Cincinnati Bengals at the Tennessee Titans at 4:30 p.m. (EST) on Saturday, followed by the San Francisco 49ers visiting the Green Bay Packers at 8:15 p.m. (EST). Sunday’s slate has the Los Angeles Rams visiting the defending champion Tampa Bay Buccaneers at 3 p.m. (EST), then the Buffalo Bills playing at the Kansas City Chiefs at 6:30 p.m. (EST).
Below are five big questions that’ll define the action this weekend.
1. The Bengals and the Titans have different identities. Who will dictate the style in Tennessee?
The Bengals have a pretty lousy offensive line and not much of a running game despite a talented tailback in Joe Mixon. Their offense hums because second-year QB Joe Burrow has morphed into one of the best passers in the NFL and developed excellent chemistry with a trio of star receivers: rookie Ja’Marr Chase (who’s the best of the bunch) second-year man Tee Higgins, and sixth-year slot receiver Tyler Boyd.
The Titans score their points differently. They call runs on almost half their plays (about 46 percent, to be exact), and at 32 carries per game, they’re the most solidly run-heavy team in the NFL. They have a dominant run-blocking offensive line that loves to bulldoze, and they’ve done that enough to claim the No. 1 seed in the AFC despite a midseason injury to elite running back Derrick Henry. They signed D’Onta Foreman after Henry’s injury, and the offense has barely missed a beat.
The teams’ defenses could do different things to take the opposing offenses out of their comfort zones. The Bengals could load the box to stop the run or the Titans could scheme up a way to limit Chase’s targets. But if either offense is fully operational, that team will probably win.
Nick Bosa coming through with his 12th sack 💪 #FTTB
2. Can a battered 49ers defense hold up against Aaron Rodgers?
Short answer: Probably not.
Longer answer: The 49ers really need defensive end Nick Bosa, who suffered a concussion in the wild card round against the Dallas Cowboys, to be at full strength. That’s a lot to ask.
The Packers have Aaron Rodgers, one of the sport’s great quarterbacks, and he’s accustomed to playing in the frigid conditions of Lambeau Field in January. They have a strong offensive line to protect him, especially now that cornerstone tackle David Bakhtiari is back from a long-term injury.
The 49ers have a pretty good pass defense, but that’s more due to Bosa and company generating consistent pressure than the secondary keeping opposing receivers on lockdown. Bosa’s absence—or even limited effectiveness—would be a big problem, especially since the 49ers’s star linebacker Fred Warner is also hurt.
3. Do the Bucs have enough juice left on offense to beat the Rams?
Tom Brady’s defending champs have dealt with more attrition than any team left in the NFL playoffs. Wideout Chris Godwin was already out for the season when Antonio Brown quit the team and/or was cut right before the postseason began. Running back Leonard Fournette is on injured reserve, and backfield mate Ronald Jones II has also shown up on the injury report this week. The biggest worry for Tampa Bay: All-Pro right tackle Tristan Wirfs hurt his ankle in the wild card round and may or may not play on Sunday.
For their part, the Rams have maybe the best cornerback in the NFL in Jalen Ramsey, and they could use him to neutralize just about any Bucs receiver (Mike Evans seems a likely target). The Rams also have some good coverage linebackers who could deal effectively with Rob Gronkowski. And the front still includes the best player in football, tackle Aaron Donald, plus good edge players like Von Miller and Ogbonnia Okoronkwo. Taken together, that’s a hell of a lot for the injury-plagued Buccaneers to manage.
Five touchdowns against the No. 2 scoring defense.
4. Can Josh Allen repeat his performance from the wild card round?
The Bills quarterback is coming off quite possibly the best NFL playoffs performance a QB has ever posted. In a game against the New England Patriots last week, Allen completed 21 of 25 passes for 308 yards and five touchdowns, and the Bills scored a TD on every single drive except those that killed the clock at the end of the first and second halves—something no team had ever done. His 98.5 QBR (on a 100-point scale) means he played an almost perfect game.
But the Chiefs defense he’ll face at Arrowhead Stadium has been one of the best in the NFL over the back half of the season. Since Week 11, they’ve held some of the league’s better QBs (Dak Prescott, Derek Carr, and Justin Herbert) to some of the worst games of their careers while twice destroying Pittsburgh’s Ben Roethlisberger.
They did give up a bunch of yards and touchdowns to Burrow in Week 17, however, so maybe Allen can find some operating space. He’s likely to be important on the ground, as the Chiefs have had issues stopping quarterbacks as ball-carriers. (Just a few weeks ago, the Broncos QB Drew Lock, who’s not nearly the runner Allen is, had 23- and five-yard scoring runs against them.)
Mahomes finds Pringle on the double move to take the lead ‼️
5. Can the Bills repeat their previous win against Patrick Mahomes?
Excellent as he is, Allen is not the best quarterback in the game. That title belongs to Kansas City’s Mahomes, who shook off some early-season problems and has been dominant since Week 14. He’s thrown for at least 8.6 yards per pass in all but one game since then (a mostly meaningless Week 17 win over the Broncos) and should be in a much better place than he was in Week 5, when the Bills beat him 38–20, held him to 5 yards per throw, and intercepted him twice.
Mahomes is a magician, and he has one of the league’s best offensive brain trusts in coordinator Eric Bieniemy and head coach Andy Reid. The Chiefs will have a sound plan for this NFL playoffs rematch, and it’ll be difficult for Buffalo to produce a repeat performance.
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Tom Brady cheekily praised a reporter after they asked his old NFL coach Bill Belichick an unusual question in a press conference.
Tom Brady’s New Year’s resolution is to be like the reporter who had the guts to ask an offbeat question to Bill Belichick after a division loss.
The New York Post reports on a new episode of his “Let’s Go!” podcast with Jim Gray, the Buccaneers quarterback was asked about the viral exchange between his former coach and a reporter, who recently asked Belichick to share his New Year’s resolution for 2022.
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“I want to be as brave and courageous as she was, asking that question to coach Belichick after a loss. That’s what I want for the New Year,” Brady said, referring to New England’s 33-21 home loss to the Bills on Sunday.
“That was awesome. Good for her. I could’ve predicted that answer. It’s usually not the best time to ask a coach about things like that after a tough loss.”
Brady knows Belichick better than most after spending 20 seasons together in New England, where they won six titles.
After the Patriots allowed the Bills to take the top spot in the AFC East on Sunday, an unnamed reporter surprised the press room with her line of questioning.
“Hi, football aside, sorry. But I’m doing a story about New Year’s resolutions, and I was wondering if you had any you wanted to share with your fans and our readers,” the reporter asked.
Belichick, known for his stern encounters with reporters, stood emotionless at the podium, and replied, “Yeah, no. Not right now. Maybe next week.”
The Patriots are also hoping that next week, rookie quarterback Mac Jones will find his rhythm after a sudden slump.
On Sunday, Jones finished 14 of 32 for 145 yards with no touchdowns and two interceptions in the loss to Buffalo at Gillette Stadium. He finished the game with a 31.4 passer rating, his lowest of the season.
The week prior, Jones had two costly turnovers in a loss to the Colts.
The Alabama product will face the No. 1 overall pick in quarterback Trevor Lawrence when the Patriots host the Jaguars on Sunday.
This article first appeared on the New York Post and has been reproduced with permission.
An NFL commentator has been torn to shreds online for his take on a terrifying injury that left current and former players shaken.
LA Chargers tight end Donald Parham Jr. has left America in shock after he appeared to be knocked out while attempting to score a touchdown against the Kansas City Chiefs.
It was the end of the first drive on Thursday Night Football match when Parham appeared to catch a five-yard pass from QB Justin Herbert but it all went wrong in terrifying scenes.
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The ball squeezed loose and Parham appeared to lose consciousness as he was attended to by medical staff and had his arms stiff in front of him in what is called the “fencing position” and is a sign of concussion.
The camera inexplicably zoomed in to the star’s face and his eyes were shut as the commentators said: “And he’s hurt”.
The 24-year-old remained motionless on the ground for several minutes as his teammates looked on in distress.
Parham was eventually seen squeezing the hand of a trainer as he was treated on the ground before he was strapped into a stretcher and taken from the field.
The Chargers later revealed he had been taken to hospital after leaving the ground.
“Tight End Donald Parham Jr. is currently undergoing tests, imaging and evaluation for a head injury at UCLA Harbor Medical Center and is in stable condition,” a Twitter post read.
The reaction was swift as plenty of fans and former players sent prayers up for the injured star.
“Scary scene on that field right now,” former NFL QB Robert Griffin III wrote.
“Players put their livelihood on the line every time they step in between those lines. Prayers up for Donald Parham.”
Ex-Chiefs linebacker Derrick Johnson wrote: “Sucks that sometimes we have to see someone seriously hurt on the field to put things into perspective.
“Praying for Donald Parham”.
The Athletic’s Saad Yousuf also added: “It’s just been incredibly challenging to watch this football game with any semblance of focus after the Donald Parham injury.”
Former Patriots wide receiver Julian Edelman tweeted: “Thoughts are with Donald Parham. Scary to watch.”
While the extent of the injury hasn’t been revealed, it didn’t take long for fans to turn their focus to the coverage of the incident.
The close up of Parham’s face had some fuming but a cross to sideline reporter Erin Andrews saw a slow motion video of Parham convulsing and comments from commentator Joe Buck sent some fans over the edge.
As Parham was wheeled out on the stretcher, he arms continued to shake despite being strapped into the stretcher.
It was something fans called “gut-wrenching” to watch.
But Buck was slammed after he said he believe Parham was shaking because he was cold.
“The last thing we would ever do is speculate about any injury, especially that type,” he began. “But when you see his arm shaking and his hand shaking on his way out, that’s the part that’s most unnerving. I’ll add this, it is very cold, at least by Los Angeles standards down on the field. Hopefully that is one of the issues than anything else.”
The temperature was lingering around 10 degrees celcius.
CEO of the Concussion Legacy Foundation Chris Nowinski responded to the comments tweeting: “Donald Parham Jr. is at the hospital with a brain/spine injury. Joe Buck says he’d never speculate on an injury, then speculates DP’s arm tremors were bc “it’s cold tonight, at least by Los Angeles standards.”
“Ladies and gents, meet rock bottom for sports broadcasting.”
ESPN’s NFL Nation reporter Brooke Bryor added: “What we didn’t need, FOX, was an up-close slow-mo of Parham being carted off the field. Disgusting decision to air that.”
The 52-year-old Buck is a broadcasting institution in the US, leading the coverage for both Fox’s NFL and MLB coverage and has won eight Emmy Awards for his broadcasting.
He has been a broadcaster for 30 years and has been working at Fox since 1994.
Comments Off on Commentator savaged as ‘scary’ scene rocks US INGLEWOOD, CALIFORNIA – DECEMBER 16: Donald Parham #89 of the Los Angeles Chargers is taken off the field to be assessed further for injury in the first quarter of the game against the Kansas City Chiefs at SoFi Stadium on December 16, 2021 in Inglewood, California. (Photo by Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images)
