Jeremy Fowler
Dan Graziano
Dan Graziano
senior NFL nationwide reporter
Dan Graziano is a senior NFL nationwide reporter for ESPN, protecting the whole league and breaking information. Dan additionally contributes to Get Up, NFL Stay, SportsCenter, ESPN Radio, Sunday NFL Countdown and Fantasy Soccer Now. He’s a New Jersey native who joined ESPN in 2011, and he’s additionally the creator of two revealed novels.
Insiders Jeremy Fowler and Dan Graziano have been calling sources across the NFL for the newest information and buzz on key conditions heading into Week 16 of the 2025 season.
This week, we requested round on the aftermath of torn ACL accidents for Patrick Mahomes and Micah Parsons. What occurs subsequent for the 2 superstars and their respective groups? We additionally gathered intel on Philip Rivers, who’s coming off his first begin since 2020 and is ready for an additional. Can the 44-year-old preserve the Colts within the playoff hunt?
Talking of the playoffs, Jeremy and Dan additionally leaned on their reporting to make large postseason-centric predictions. And lastly, they appeared forward to the offseason and named a couple of gamers who may very well be commerce candidates in March. It is all right here, as our nationwide reporters reply large questions and empty their notebooks heading into Week 16.
Soar to:Mahomes/Parsons | RiversPlayoff predictions | Commerce watchMore notes for Week 16
What are you listening to across the league on fallout from Patrick Mahomes’ harm?
Graziano: A couple of folks recommended to me that lacking the playoffs will not be such a foul factor for the Chiefs, as it should pressure them to rethink their roster-building technique round Mahomes. There is a notion that the Chiefs have been type of perpetually retooling and relying on Mahomes’ greatness to cowl up their flaws and bail them out when issues get dicey. Now, they mainly have two additional months to concentrate on their offseason plans, and so they hope to place them to good use.
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The Chiefs have devoted assets — cash and draft picks — to the offensive line. Assuming Josh Simmons comes again wholesome and so they discover a competent substitute for Jawaan Taylor, that group needs to be a power in 2026. Tight finish Travis Kelce has been on the best way out for some time now, and him hanging it up would in all probability pressure them to reimagine some issues in regards to the offense. The Chiefs must construct a run recreation, which they did not do that season.
Mahomes will rehab, and so they’ll in all probability undergo the 2026 offseason program with some mixture of a veteran backup quarterback and a youthful developmental one. By the point Mahomes returns, the purpose might be to have a roster that does not want as many heroics from him because it has the previous few seasons.
Fowler: The Chiefs have been already compelled to look within the mirror effectively earlier than the Mahomes harm. If something, his absence will remind Kansas Metropolis how a lot it should miss him — and the way a lot it must strengthen the roster round him. Regardless of Mahomes’ pedestrian (for his requirements) numbers, folks I’ve talked to contained in the league didn’t see him as the issue for the offense’s struggles. The best way Mahomes obtained harm, grinding for each inch on the sphere, was an instance of simply how a lot he needed to handle to easily manufacture first downs this season.
“The concern issue with him remains to be thick,” stated one NFL coordinator who not too long ago ready for him. “He is nonetheless the very best at profitable in another way every week. I nonetheless concern that participant greater than most. It simply did not go their approach this 12 months.”
I anticipate the Chiefs’ roster to be vastly improved by the point Mahomes returns, which needs to be a while subsequent season, although Week 1 feels awfully bold. He faces a prolonged nine-month restoration from a torn ACL and LCL, a timeline that threatens the early portion of the 2026 season. That he had the surgical procedure so quickly after the harm occurred was telling.
What in regards to the aftermath of Micah Parsons’ harm?
Graziano: I feel folks have been taking the Packers very significantly as Tremendous Bowl contenders and that the Parsons harm shifts that notion a bit. They’re nonetheless well-coached; quarterback Jordan Love is enjoying nice; the non-Parsons accidents they suffered Sunday in Denver do not sound as if they will be long run; and there is loads of expertise left on protection. They nonetheless might make a run. However Parsons gave Inexperienced Bay one thing a workforce wants if it will string collectively playoff wins — a finisher who can get the opposing quarterback on the bottom within the recreation’s remaining minutes and shut issues.
Issues will change for the Packers’ protection with out Parsons. He elevated different elements of it, and groups will play Inexperienced Bay in another way. The Packers have sufficient to beat it and nonetheless compete at a excessive degree. However should you’re speaking about beating, say, the Bears, Rams and Eagles in consecutive weeks on the street in January, that is perhaps rather a lot to ask with out their finest participant.
1:47
Foxworth: Parsons harm eliminates any margin of error for Packers
The “Get Up” crew breaks down what Micah Parsons’ season-ending harm means for the Packers.
Fowler: This harm is not a referendum on the Cowboys-Packers commerce. Parsons was value each greenback to Inexperienced Bay, enjoying brilliantly earlier than what might be categorised as a fluke harm. Parsons’ explosiveness might undergo in 2026, when Inexperienced Bay will undoubtedly begin him on a pitch rely, however he is 26 years previous, so there isn’t any purpose he will not resume his dominant play.
To your level, the Packers have one difficulty above all others: How will they shut video games? Fortunately for Inexperienced Bay, it has high quality go rush depth with Rashan Gary, Lukas Van Ness, Kingsley Enagbare and others. And the Packers managed a top-six protection final season with out Parsons. However he has been lethal within the fourth quarter with game-sealing playmaking. The Packers should get inventive with their personnel to offset his loss.
What’s the leaguewide buzz on Philip Rivers’ first begin in 5 years?
Fowler: The general suggestions was that he was fairly good, all issues thought of. “He performed about in addition to he might have,” an NFL offensive coach stated. And that is the problem of enjoying a 44-year-old off the sofa — “in addition to he might have” equals 120 passing yards. And he needed to pressure for that 120. The soccer wasn’t precisely coming out of his proper hand.
The Colts have been by no means anticipating fireworks from Rivers. However he ran a clear operation towards an elite Seahawks protection on the street and appeared to get the Colts within the correct performs. He was able to dust the ball when stress collapsed and made a couple of well timed throws. That is all Colts coach Shane Steichen can ask at this stage. Driving the ball deep downfield might be a battle, and I am curious to see how Rivers responds bodily after back-to-back video games. Do you will have the Colts sneaking into the playoffs with Rivers?
Graziano: I don’t, largely due to the best way the groups in entrance of them are enjoying. The Jaguars and Texans have turned it on within the latter half of the season and look significantly higher than the Colts proper now. I perceive what Indianapolis is attempting to do with Rivers, and I am listening to the identical issues you might be about how happy the Colts have been together with his capability to get them out and in of the precise appears, change protections and all these issues he must do to handle a recreation.
Nevertheless it doesn’t seem as if he’ll elevate them, and they will want some assist to get in — even when they’ll run the desk. That will not be straightforward, as they should beat the 49ers this week and win their head-to-head matchups towards the Jags and Texans to complete the common season.
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Fowler: The Colts know that Anthony Richardson Sr. had a primary alternative taken away by a watch harm. He might have used this previous month as a profession springboard by probably guiding Indy into the playoffs. “It sucks,” a workforce supply stated, citing Richardson’s constructive coaching camp whereas battling Daniel Jones. Possibly Richardson can discover his approach into the lineup over the ultimate week or two. However Steichen appears like a coach able to experience this out with Rivers, for higher or worse. The schedule is just brutal. Indy’s final three opponents have a mixed 29 wins, placing one other shedding season on the Colts’ radar … except Rivers can cease their slide.
Graziano: I suppose I’m wondering what occurs in the event that they end the season below .500 and miss the playoffs once more. Are folks on the teaching employees and within the entrance workplace on the recent seat? Keep in mind, Indianapolis is form of below new possession, as Jim Irsay’s daughters inherited the workforce following his passing earlier than this season. I’m wondering at what level Carlie Irsay-Gordon will look to make adjustments.
It is definitely attainable the Daniel Jones and Richardson accidents purchase folks some grace — everybody is aware of this Rivers experiment is a Hail Mary and miles faraway from their best-case situation. However the Colts have gone longer with out profitable the AFC South than every other workforce within the division, and it does not appear like that may change this season.
Make your finest playoff-related prediction.
Graziano: The Payments will win the AFC. We nonetheless do not know but whether or not they will the playoffs as a wild-card workforce or as division champs for the sixth 12 months in a row (or in any respect, technically). However assuming they’re there, they would definitely be probably the most playoff-tested of the possible AFC groups. Quarterback Josh Allen has 13 profession postseason begins and 7 wins, each of which might be the second highest within the present AFC discipline behind Aaron Rodgers’ 21 and 10, respectively. (This holds even when Rivers drags the Colts into the playoffs, as Rivers has 12 profession postseason begins and 5 wins.)
Lamar Jackson has eight postseason begins and three wins, however proper now Baltimore is not within the discipline — and if it will get there, which means Rodgers will not. C.J. Stroud has 4 playoff begins and two wins, Trevor Lawrence has two and one, whereas Bo Nix and Justin Herbert have zero wins (Nix has one playoff begin, Herbert two). The Payments are conscious of the expertise distinction between them and the remainder of the AFC discipline, and they’d level out with no disrespect supposed that we do not understand how groups such because the Patriots, Jaguars and Broncos are going to do within the playoff stress cooker. The Payments really feel fairly assured they know what it will be like — even when they need to go on the street.
1:10
Is that this Josh Allen’s finest shot to win the Tremendous Bowl?
The “Get Up” crew discusses if that is the 12 months Josh Allen lastly leads the Payments to a Tremendous Bowl.
Fowler: Stable argument, Dan. Buffalo’s time is perhaps now, even when Allen should will a Tremendous Bowl berth into existence with heroic weekly outputs. Buffalo’s supporting solid is sweet however not nice.
Staying with the AFC, give me the Texans for a Tremendous Bowl run. They’re 9-2 of their previous 11 video games. Stroud is again and enjoying good soccer. The protection is perhaps the NFL’s most feared. A number of groups I’ve talked to after enjoying Houston have talked at size about that muscle-bruising bodily protection. The offensive line has settled down recently. And broad receiver Nico Collins can take over a recreation. A lot will rely on their draw. If the common season ended proper now, the Texans could be in New England within the wild-card spherical. That is a winnable recreation.
Additionally, I am going to say Mike Tomlin will get his first playoff win since 2016. The Steelers will win the AFC North and steal a wild-card recreation at house. They’re flawed, however they’ve an identification constructed by way of their operating recreation.
Graziano: Within the NFC, I am going with the Bears to win a recreation or two, particularly if they’ll beat the Packers on Saturday. That can go a good distance towards giving them the NFC North title and not less than one house playoff recreation. When speaking to Packers folks earlier than Sunday’s recreation in Denver, I got here away believing they have been extraordinarily impressed with Ben Johnson’s bunch, whom the Packers beat in Inexperienced Bay the week earlier than, and are definitely not overlooking the significance of this week’s rematch.
Chicago’s run recreation is excellent with the two-headed assault of D’Andre Swift and rookie Kyle Monangai. It might give the Bears an edge in the event that they find yourself in shut, low-scoring playoff video games within the chilly. And whereas quarterback Caleb Williams remains to be younger and a little bit of a wild card, he has come up large in some late-game spots already this season.
Fowler: So far as fast exits, Denver is on my radar regardless of its spectacular push for the No. 1 seed. The AFC feels extra open than in years previous, and although the Broncos’ offense has improved in latest weeks, I nonetheless cannot shake that midseason lull it had in eking out wins towards the Jets and Raiders.
Denver has a dominant protection that may overcome its inconsistent offense. And to his credit score, Nix is aware of methods to transfer an offense downfield. He finds a approach, particularly late in video games. I am simply unsure Denver has sufficient firepower on the talent positions to maintain getting by in January. I’d look silly for this take contemplating Denver appears to be peaking on the proper time.
Who’s probably the most attention-grabbing offseason commerce candidate?
Fowler: I’ve a number of candidates, however let’s begin with A.J. Brown. The weekly issues about Brown’s messaging — from sonnets to sound bites — have to be taxing on Philadelphia’s locker room, even when gamers perceive the receiver’s frustration because of the limitations of the Eagles’ passing assault. A number of executives I spoke to imagine the Eagles might look to maneuver Brown, who’s 28 and nonetheless has prime years left.
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He would undoubtedly have a market. He is due $50 million in money over the subsequent two years, which is manageable for a WR1. The Eagles would soak up a $20 million cap hit if he is traded earlier than June 1, or they may save $7 million on the cap by ready till after June 1 to deal him. Both approach, the Eagles have proven cap challenges will not deter them (see: the Carson Wentz commerce). And evidently Brown would welcome a brand new passing recreation at this level.
Graziano: Mac Jones is below contract with the 49ers for subsequent 12 months at $2.8 million, however the best way he performed in reduction of Brock Purdy this season has folks questioning what it might take to commerce for him (and presumably pay him extra) to come back in and compete for a beginning position. There are many groups with unsettled 2026 quarterback conditions (Colts? Steelers?) that might look to a 27-year-old former first-round choose who has been by way of the Kyle Shanahan profession rehab program as a part of their potential resolution.
Fowler: The quarterback commerce market is value watching, notably with provide failing to fulfill the demand as soon as once more. Jones is perhaps the subsequent reclamation undertaking QB to take off in a second act. This results in a dialog on Kyler Murray, whom the Cardinals are subtly — or fairly clearly — attempting to stash to protect his well being for a possible commerce this offseason. His almost $37 million in ensures on the 2026 books complicates the marketplace for his companies, however Murray is 28 and is not far faraway from fringe top-10-QB standing.
Does a protected touchdown spot exist for Murray? Working with, say, Kevin O’Connell in Minnesota could be supreme, however J.J. McCarthy has proven enchancment over the previous two weeks. The Raiders and Jets are amongst groups that look like in transition at quarterback. Whether or not a workforce takes an opportunity on Murray’s maligned profession — and offers up draft capital and monetary assets to do it — stays to be seen.
One other identify on my radar is Chiefs nook Trent McDuffie. The final Kansas Metropolis nook eyeing an enormous extension, L’Jarius Sneed, was shipped to Tennessee for a draft choose. McDuffie would have worth, and Tampa Bay could be an ideal spot for him.
1:07
Woody: It is time for the Chiefs to retool
Damien Woody explains why the Chiefs ought to reshape their roster after Patrick Mahomes’ harm and lacking the playoffs.
Graziano: The Chiefs all the time appear to let cornerbacks go when it is time to pay large cash, however an enormous purpose they have been in a position to get away with that’s that they all the time have a substitute able to go — as McDuffie was after they traded Sneed, and like Sneed was after they moved on from Charvarius Ward. I am unsure they’ve that inheritor obvious on the roster, except they assume it is Joshua Williams or Jaylen Watson.
When the rubber hits the street with McDuffie, it will be attention-grabbing to see whether or not that sample is a results of how they worth the place or is extra about their confidence in drafting corners and Steve Spagnuolo’s capability to develop them. It is also value noting that Watson, Williams and security Bryan Cook dinner are all eligible without spending a dime company after this season. The Chiefs have numerous selections to make about their secondary.
What else are you listening to this week?
Graziano’s notes:
• There are a selection of theories bouncing across the league relating to Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow, who adopted up final week’s gloomy information convention with a surprisingly poor efficiency by himself and the whole workforce in Sunday’s 24-0 loss to the Ravens. That recreation eradicated the Bengals from the playoffs, and Burrow continued to look uncharacteristically despondent afterward. Receiver Ja’Marr Chase even stated, “You by no means know what he is perhaps going by way of.”
A few the folks whom I’ve spoken to about this fear that Burrow may very well be happening a street much like former Colts QB Andrew Luck, who retired early as a result of he grew weary of continually rehabbing accidents. However I additionally spoke to a few individuals who insist Burrow is obsessively aggressive, loves soccer and is simply down about the best way this season has gone from a win-loss standpoint.
Regardless, this offseason looms giant for Burrow and the Bengals, who’re assured of their first shedding season since Burrow’s 2020 rookie 12 months and can miss the postseason for the third 12 months in a row. There’s additionally hypothesis across the league about the way forward for coach Zac Taylor, and the workforce has main roster questions on the defensive aspect of the ball, the place excessive draft picks have not panned out and the swap from Lou Anarumo to Al Golden at defensive coordinator did not change a lot. Burrow stays the centerpiece of every part the Bengals do (many appear to imagine his relationship with Taylor is among the causes Cincinnati may keep the course at coach), and getting/maintaining him glad might be on the prime of their offseason precedence record.
1:28
Rex Ryan: Joe Burrow is the one one attempting to convey it for Bengals
Rex Ryan believes Joe Burrow is disgusted with the efficiency of his teammates after their loss to the Ravens.
It is essential to notice that Burrow has by no means stated he is sad in Cincinnati and has taken alternatives, even not too long ago, to explicitly state the alternative. However his latest feedback about his personal happiness and the best way he and the workforce performed Sunday in a must-win recreation aren’t serving to tamp down the skin hypothesis that issues aren’t nice between him and the Bengals.
• Dolphins coach Mike McDaniel has made a quarterback change late in Tua Tagovailoa’s disappointing season. This is the mathematics on the place issues stand with Tagovailoa and the Dolphins. He has $54 million in totally assured compensation in 2026. That breaks down as a $39 million wage and a $15 million choice bonus that must be exercised between the primary and third days of the 2026 league 12 months in March. Moreover, on the third day of the 2026 league 12 months, $3 million of his $31 million 2027 wage turns into totally assured. So if he is on Miami’s roster as of 4 p.m. ET on March 13, the Dolphins might be on the hook for $57 million assured.
In the event that they have been to launch him earlier than that date, they’d nonetheless need to pay him the $54 million in 2026 money and would soak up $99.2 million in useless wage cap expenses. (They might unfold that out over two years in the event that they designated him a post-June 1 launch, however they’d nonetheless take $67.4 million in useless cash expenses on their 2026 cap and the remaining $31.8 million in 2027.) If Miami have been to discover a technique to commerce Tagovailoa earlier than March 13, the buying workforce would develop into chargeable for the $54 million in 2026 wage and bonuses, and the Dolphins’ dead-money cost would drop to $45.2 million. In the event that they traded him after March 13, presumably they’d be on the hook for the $15 million choice bonus, whereas the brand new workforce would take the $39 million wage; the Dolphins’ useless cash cost could be $60.2 million.
None of that is even near supreme, clearly, as it might depart Miami in a horrible cap state of affairs and in addition and not using a quarterback. The Broncos took $80 million in useless cash expenses (unfold over two years) after they launched Russell Wilson in 2024, and so they managed to make the playoffs final season and at the moment maintain the 1-seed within the AFC playoff discipline for this season. So large useless cash expenses do not essentially kill a workforce’s probabilities. However one of many causes it has labored for Denver is it discovered a first-round QB in Bo Nix who might play instantly.
Rookie Quinn Ewers might theoretically be a 2026 beginning choice if he reveals sufficient in these remaining three weeks. However transferring on from Tagovailoa would in all probability require the Dolphins to be gamers in that Mac Jones/Kyler Murray/and so forth. second-chance QB market in the event that they need to compete subsequent 12 months. Not an incredible spot for whoever their subsequent basic supervisor seems to be.
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• Talking of Nix and people red-hot Broncos, I spoke over the weekend with veteran tight finish Evan Engram, who has performed with all kinds of quarterbacks in his time with the Giants, Jaguars and now Broncos. He stated the factor that has impressed him about Nix is his want and talent to shortly repair errors. “You already know when you will have a gamer,” Engram informed me. “He is a man who’s going to go on the market and make no matter play he must make, whether or not it is together with his arm, together with his ft, no matter is required in that second. He clearly has super confidence. He is had video games or moments he is needed again, however the coolest factor about him is, when he makes a foul play, immediately it is like, ‘I’ll get this mounted.’ So he has that confidence and that capability to make performs within the pocket together with his arm, and he is additionally in a position to right issues in a really fast time period.”
Coach Sean Payton is maintaining the Broncos very a lot conscious of their objectives and what’s in entrance of them. He has preached the significance of profitable the division and claiming the AFC’s prime seed, which is why there wasn’t a celebration within the postgame locker room on Sunday, regardless that their victory over the Packers clinched Denver a playoff spot. The Broncos nonetheless have extra they need to accomplish. “Sean’s been very open and actual about our objectives,” Engram stated. “So now it is, ‘Let’s end. Let’s not again in.'”
Payton is attempting to develop into the primary head coach in historical past to win the Tremendous Bowl with two totally different groups. The Broncos can clinch the 1-seed this weekend with a victory over the Jaguars and losses by the Patriots, Payments and Chargers.
Fowler’s notes:
• Bucs coach Todd Bowles’ profanity-laced tirade Thursday evening had been constructing. In actual fact, simply minutes earlier, Bowles had addressed the workforce with much more scathe, unleashing in a approach that he hadn’t all season. He made it recognized he was going to do the identical on the rostrum. One workforce supply described the postgame scene as Bowles’ effort to get up a workforce in a slumber.
Losers of 5 of the previous six, the Bucs are urgent on offense and reeling on protection. They’re enjoying third-string offensive guards and the go rush is poor. These should not straightforward fixes at this stage. However from what I am informed, a part of Bowles’ frustration that spilled over final week is expounded to the shortage of complete buy-in on elements of the 53-man roster. That is not an issue with gamers like Baker Mayfield or Mike Evans, who was so visibly shaken by the last-second loss to Atlanta that he entered the tunnel towards the locker room earlier than Zane Gonzalez’s kick went by way of the uprights. A few of the youthful gamers, nonetheless, are nonetheless studying methods to be professionals with an edge and killer intuition and must shed the “glad to be right here” mentality. Middle Graham Barton stated it finest: “All of us need to look within the mirror.”
1:03
Schrager: This Bucs defeat is the only worst loss this complete NFL season
Peter Schrager explains how the Buccaneers have put their season in jeopardy after Thursday evening’s loss to the Falcons.
The Bucs nonetheless imagine they’re higher than the Panthers. Beating them twice (Weeks 16 and 18) will guarantee a fifth consecutive division title. However this can be a workforce that is failing to show the late-season swap like in earlier seasons, and the defensive points should not simply correctable. At the least they’re constructed to win a shootout. The receiving corps is perhaps the league’s finest pound-for-pound. The workforce is particularly excited in regards to the return of Jalen McMillan, who picked up the place he left off within the preseason with two catches for 38 yards. Emeka Egbuka has hit the proverbial rookie wall, so do not be stunned if McMillan’s profile grows. On protection, Zyon McCollum was positioned on injured reserve, and the Bucs needs to be getting rookie nook Benjamin Morrison (who has missed the previous month) again in time to fill the spot.
• In a well-recognized script, Steelers coach Mike Tomlin shrugged off portrayals of his demise with back-to-back wins. This is my learn on Tomlin’s future with the workforce after making a couple of calls … Tomlin’s contract runs by way of 2026 with an choice for 2027, as ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported. A few of Tomlin’s previous offers have included an choice, which is considerably frequent within the NFL. Usually, the workforce has picked them up. They might do the identical this offseason. However one supply predicted, “If they do not, and Tomlin has success in 2026, the workforce would most probably lengthen him.”
In any other case, not a lot has modified with the dynamics round his future, about which either side will inevitably talk about in some unspecified time in the future within the offseason. I used to be reminded by a number of people who Tomlin is fiercely loyal to Pittsburgh as a metropolis and group. I’d be not less than mildly stunned if he realistically entertained being anyplace else. And the Steelers have redirected the season with wins over the Ravens and Dolphins, forcing a transparent path to the playoffs (win in Week 18 over Baltimore, and the Steelers are in).
“There is not any panic within the constructing,” a supply stated. “That is how weeks like [Week 14] repay. The folks there [including team president Art Rooney II] aren’t on social media. It is business-like there. Mike identifies what the issue is and he digs into the movie together with his employees to repair it. It is actually that straightforward.”
• The stress is mounting on Pete Carroll in Las Vegas after the workforce has struggled to remain aggressive at 2-12. This is my sense after asking round Tuesday: The Raiders knew 2025 could be a little bit of a slog attributable to some roster deficiencies, however they hoped they might keep aggressive — not less than extra so than this season’s horrific level differential of minus-167, trailing solely the Titans (minus-169). One workforce supply acknowledged, “It wasn’t presupposed to be this unhealthy,” and that one thing might want to change.
Whether or not eradicating Carroll is that change has not been crystallized. However the proverbial scorching seat chatter does not look like going away. As one supply with data of the Raiders’ operation famous, what the workforce wants is what it thought it had with Antonio Pierce — a high-energy first-time head coach with a excessive ceiling. The Raiders did not have sufficient endurance to seek out out whether or not Pierce (who went 4-13 in his solely full season in Vegas, saddled by unhealthy quarterback play) might mature into that. Both approach, the Raiders look like at risk of a second consecutive one-and-done within the prime management position.
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• Ohio State is seeking to strengthen its grip on the NFL Rookie of the 12 months award. Egbuka and Patriots operating again TreVeyon Henderson are prime candidates to develop into the seventh Buckeyes participant to earn an offensive or defensive ROY award since 2016. No different college has greater than two recipients throughout that span. Henderson is tilting the chances in his favor after speeding for 490 yards and 6 touchdowns over the previous 5 video games, whereas Egbuka’s manufacturing (58 catches, 870 yards, six touchdowns) compares with different prime rookie receivers comparable to Carolina’s Tetairoa McMillan (59 catches, 851 yards, six touchdowns). The record of former Buckeyes with the award is spectacular: Texans quarterback C.J. Stroud (2023), Jets broad receiver Garrett Wilson (2022), Saints defensive finish Chase Younger (2020), 49ers defensive finish Nick Bosa (2019), Commanders cornerback Marshon Lattimore (2017) and Payments defensive finish Joey Bosa (2016). Penn State and LSU are tied for second with two recipients.
• Rams broad receiver Davante Adams is a protracted shot for Thursday evening vs. the Seahawks, however the Rams should not ruling him out, holding out hope. A supply considers Adams week-to-week after he reaggravated a hamstring difficulty. So it is primarily a hamstring pull. Often gamers do not come again from that on three days’ relaxation for a Thursday evening recreation, however let’s examine what the Rams resolve right here.
• Bears receiver Rome Odunze (foot) is taken into account “week-to-week proper now,” per a supply. Whereas the workforce is all choices with Odunze’s nagging foot difficulty, inserting him on injured reserve could be not less than a light shock. It is sensible to maintain his availability open, even when he sits every week. However like with Adams, let’s examine what the workforce decides.
• Packers security Evan Williams (knee) might miss a number of weeks after getting injured Sunday towards Denver. The harm just isn’t thought of extreme, and Williams is hoping to not miss any time, however Inexperienced Bay, which is notoriously cautious with accidents, is ready to be with out him within the quick time period. Williams leads the workforce in interceptions with three.
• Ravens nook Chidobe Awuzie, who’s having a pleasant bounce-back season after Tennessee launched him, is coping with a midfoot sprain, I am informed. There’s an opportunity he could make it again by Sunday however lacking not less than every week is on the desk.
