Welcome to the Thursday edition of the Pick Six newsletter!
You guys probably won't care about this news, but I'd like to announce that after this week is over, I will be taking at least a six-month hiatus from eating hot dogs. I've had at least one hot dog for every meal since Tuesday and I'm not sure how much more I can take. To be honest, I think I've eaten more hot dogs over the past 48 hours than Joey Chestnut ate on the Fourth of July and I still have leftover hot dogs that need to be eaten. Please send help.
Anyway, that will be the last time you hear about hot dogs from me today. Let's get to the rundown.
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1. Today's show: Breaking down the Rams offseason and predicting how they'll do in 2023
Once again, it's time for another episode of our "All 32" series, and for today's show, we're focusing on the Los Angeles Rams. For those of you who don't know what the "All 32" series is, it's where we pick one team for an episode of the podcast and break down everything about their offseason while also predicting how their 2023 season will play out.
To talk about how things are going in Los Angeles, we brought on Jourdan Rodrigue, who might know more about the Rams than anyone. Not only does she cover them for The Athletic, but she also hosts a podcast called "11 Personnel."
Here are a few topics host Katie Mox and Will Brinson covered with Jourdan:
- What do the Rams need to do to turn things around this year? After an ugly 2022 season where several key players missed time due to injury -- including Matthew Stafford, Cooper Kupp and Aaron Donald -- Jourdan thinks a big key to the 2023 season will simply be keeping everyone healthy, especially Stafford. "He's coming in saying he's feeling better than he has in forever," Jourdan said. "He certainly looked the part in spring. He had a full workload, which he didn't have at all last summer and last spring. Keeping him as functional as possible [is key]." Stafford missed eight games last season due to multiple injuries.
- How many games can the Rams win? The Rams had an ugly year in 2022, going 5-12. Their over/under for 2023 is set at 6.5. So how does Jourdan think the season will play out? "I do think that they think that they'll be better than some of the external noise," Rodrigue said. "I give them seven wins this year, but I think that's me being more optimistic." A seven-win season would definitely be a disappointment for Sean McVay, who only has one losing season in his six years as head coach.
Jourdan spent nearly 30 minutes talking about the Rams, and if you want to hear everything she had to say, you can listen to today's show here. You can also watch today's show on YouTube by clicking here.
2. Ranking the NFL's top 10 EDGE rushers heading into the 2023 season
For the past two weeks, we've been ranking every positional group in the NFL, and believe or not, we have finally reached the end. OK, so it's not the actual end, but it's the end of our rankings on the defensive side of the ball and we'll be going out with a bang today by ranking the top 10 EDGE rushers in the NFL.
Today's ranking is coming to you from CBSSports.com's Jeff Kerr.
Let's check out his list.
Top 10 EDGE rushers for 2023
1. Nick Bosa, 49ers
T-2. Myles Garrett, Browns
T-2. T.J. Watt, Steelers
4. Micah Parsons, Cowboys
5. Haason Reddick, Eagles
6. Maxx Crosby, Raiders
7. Matthew Judon, Patriots
8. Brian Burns, Panthers
9. Za'Darius Smith, Browns
10. Trey Hendrickson, Bengals
My one takeaway from this list is that I almost feel sorry for Lamar Jackson. Yes, he just signed a $260 million contract, but I'm not sure that would be enough to get me on the field in the AFC North, where he has to face Garrett, Watt and Hendrickson two times each (The Ravens also face the 49ers this year, so Jackson will be playing a total of five games against the top three players on this list).
If you want a detailed explanation of Kerr's rankings, be sure to click here so you can check out his entire story.
3. One underappreciated player for each NFC team
If you look around the NFL, every team definitely has some unsung heroes on their roster, and since those players rarely get recognized, we decided to recognize them today by making a list of the most underappreciated players in the league. Today, we're going to take a look at the NFC side of things.
CBSSports.com's Jeff Kerr went through every roster in the NFC to find each team's most underappreciated player. Here's what he came up with for five of the teams:
- Packers: WR Christian Watson
- Giants: WR Darius Slayton
- 49ers: FS Tashaun Gipson
- Commanders: QB Sam Howell
- Panthers: CB Jaycee Horn
If you want to check out Kerr's full list, which includes all 16 NFC teams, then be sure to click here. And just in case you're wondering, we'll have our list of AFC players tomorrow.
4. NFL X-factors: One player from each team who could be a game-changer this year
Now that we've made it through our list of underappreciated players, we're going to flip things around and look at a list of players who are definitely appreciated for their contributions. We had Jared Dubin go through every roster in the NFL to come up with one offensive player on each team who could end up having a major impact on his team's success this year.
The players on this list range from wide receivers to quarterbacks to head coaches. So who made the cut? Let's find out.
- Cowboys: WR Brandin Cooks. "The Cowboys getting a real No. 2 wideout across from Lamb -- especially one who has deep speed -- should open things up considerably for an offense that needs to figure out a way to keep opposing defenses from condensing the field on it in big games."
- Falcons: QB Desmond Ridder. "The Falcons bypassed the quarterback position in both free agency and the draft this offseason, electing instead to move forward with their 2022 third-round pick under center. Ridder's numbers from last season don't exactly scream future star, but we all know that rookie performance isn't necessarily directly indicative of how a player will perform in the future. Atlanta seems confident in Ridder, and has surrounded him with high-level playmakers at tight end (Kyle Pitts), wide receiver (Drake London) and running back (Bijan Robinson) in the last three drafts."
- Ravens: OC Todd Monken. "Monken is charged with opening up and modernizing the passing-game concepts to complement the diverse, efficient run game the Ravens have built since Lamar Jackson assumed the starting job."
- Giants: TE Darren Waller. "He's only two years removed from having gone 90-1145-3 and 107-1196-9 in back-to-back seasons, but he's only played in 20 of 34 games over the past two seasons. ... And he'll turn 31 early in the season. How much is left in the tank will determine whether he can be a true alpha passing option for Daniel Jones, which the Giants probably need him to be."
Dubin's full list included a total of 32 X-factors (one for each team) and if you want to see who else made the cut, then be sure to click here.
5. Ranking the NFL's top 10 duos heading into 2023
Over the course of human history, there have been some iconic duos, ranging from Sonny and Cher to Batman and Robin. In the NFL, having a solid duo can be the difference between having a good team and a great team.
With that in mind, Jared Dubin went through and ranked the top 10 duos in the NFL this year. For a duo to qualify for this list, they basically had to adhere to four rules:
- Play (or coach) on the same side of the ball
- Contribute to the team's offensive or defensive success
- Can be from the same position, but not a prerequisite
- Can be the two best players (or coaches) on that particular side of the ball
All right, now that the rules are out of the way, let's check out Dubin's top five:
1. Chiefs: Andy Reid and Patrick Mahomes
2. Cowboys: Dan Quinn and Micah Parsons
3. 49ers: Kyle Shanahan and [insert any great YAC player like Christian McCaffrey or Deebo Samuel]
4. Bengals: Joe Burrow and Ja'Marr Chase
5. Eagles: Jason Kelce and Lane Johnson; A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith
Not surprisingly, every single team in the top five made it to the playoffs last year and four of the five have made it to the Super Bowl at least once over the past four seasons (As everyone is probably well aware, the Cowboys are the one team that has not).
Dubin's ranking actually consisted of 10 duos, and if you want to see his entire list, be sure to click here.
6. Extra points: Former Bengals star rips organization
It's been a busy 24 hours in the NFL, and since it's nearly impossible to keep track of everything that happened, I went ahead and put together a roundup for you.
- Corey Dillon rips the Bengals. The former Bengals star, who still stands as the team's all-time leading rusher, ripped the organization during a recent interview with The Athletic. Dillon's biggest problem with the franchise is that he's not in the Ring of Honor. He's also unhappy that he hasn't been inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Dillon finished his 10-year career with 11,241 yards, which is the 20th most in NFL history. After spending seven years with the Bengals (1997-2003), he spent the final three seasons of his career in New England, where he would end up winning a Super Bowl with the Patriots. You can read more about Dillon's rant here.
- Supplemental Draft is set. For the first time since 2019, the NFL is holding a Supplemental Draft this year, but it doesn't look like there will be much drama. The July 11 draft is only going to have two eligible players: Former Jackson State WR Malachi Wideman, and former Purdue WR Milton Wright. You can read more about those two players here and if you want to see my supplemental mock draft, be sure to click here. Just kidding, there's nothing to click. I don't have a supplemental mock draft.
- Commanders hit by retirement on offensive line. Chase Roullier has decided to hang up his cleats for good. The veteran center, who started 63 games for the Commanders after being drafted in the sixth-round back in 2017, decided to call it quits due to injury issues. Due to injuries, Roullier only played in a total of 10 games over the past two seasons combined.
- Mike Vick thinks Andy Reid is the greatest coach of all time. When we released our annual coaching rankings this week, Andy Reid was at the top. Not only is he at the top of our list, but he's also at the top of Vick's list. "I was actually thinking this year like, after Andy won the Super Bowl, he only got two, but he went to like four or five NFC Championship Games [and] every year [the Chiefs were] in the AFC Championship game," Vick said, via USA Today. "He might be the greatest coach of all time." You can read Vick's full comments here.
