16 Going On 17 Going On 18

Author: Matt Iberger

Editor: Fran Attie

The 2020 NFL season was one for the books. While it went along with very few hiccups and all games were played, it truly encapsulated the strange year the entire world was facing. 2021 seemed to be the light at the end of the tunnel: fans were back, off-season workouts were mostly back to normal, and we were finally going to have regular football games again…

Then the NFL decided to keep us on our toes, and announced that this season would be the longest ever with 17 games. And with more football for fans and more money for the league, who wouldn’t be happy? Well, the players.

Football itself is a fantastic spectacle for the viewer; but take a look under the hood and we see it can often be a whole different story for those playing in that spectacle. Football is a destructive sport for the human body and, while one week may seem like nothing to us, every additional week does take its toll on players. You can say they are millionaires and have access to top tier medical care, but it would be naive to believe that NFL owners have the health and safety of players at the forefront of their minds.

An albeit smaller yet also warranted concern is how this messes with the season scheduling. 16 game seasons had a simplistic system to figure out what opponents your team would face next season depending on where they ended up in the standings. Again, not the biggest concern, but just somewhat of an annoyance when that 17th opponent is being picked.

Now, rumors are already swirling that the NFL has its eyes set on an 18 game season, with some guessing it could be implemented by 2030. If this was to happen, I would also like the NFL and the NFLPA to come to a compromise of also including a second bye week for teams in the season. Frankly, I would like a second bye week to be around even for a 17 game season to give players needed rest during the season. But seeing as that the opportunity for that has passed, the next best time would be if the NFL attempts to add an 18th game. At some point, players need to be their own best advocates for the NFL to care about their health and safety, though I know that is not the focus for most players in the short term since the average NFL career is only about 3 years. This also benefits the owners too, indirectly, as a second bye week would also extend the duration of the NFL season, and when the NFL is on, nothing else comes close to the amount of attention it garners. Making the season longer only adds to the influence and revenue of the league; a benefit for both owners and players.

It remains to be seen how a 17 game season will change the dynamics of the league, if it would at all, but my hope is that a longer season will open the door to more pro-player rules being made; larger rosters and greater research into better equipment among other things. I hope players and the league will eventually make strides in this area. At the end of the day, this will benefit not just one party, but the entire league and its brand.

SPORTS ARE OUR UNIVERS

Aaron Rodgers to Denver

Author: Jack Casabonne

Editor: Mark Awadallah

With one of the most well-balanced rosters in the entire NFL, the Broncos are looking to compete for a playoff spot in 2021, and thus hope to improve upon their abysmal 2020 record of 5-11. To help with that, Denver will be getting star receiver Courtland Sutton back from his knee injury last season. On the other side, Von Miller will also be returning to action after missing the entire season due to an ankle injury. The Broncos are entering the season with a loaded roster, sporting talent on both sides of the ball. However, their biggest need happens to be at the most important position in the game.

In a division that consists of quarterbacks like Patrick Mahomes, Justin Herbert, and Derek Carr, a talented player at the position is a must have. For the Broncos, however, they’re stuck in quarterback purgatory. Drew Lock is returning, following a disappointing sophomore season in which he failed to deliver on a promising rookie year. Throwing for 2,933 yards at a porous 57.3% completion percentage, Lock has yet to show that he should be a starting quarterback in this league. Combined with the fact that he only threw for one more touchdown than interception in 2020, it’s no wonder the Broncos made a move by acquiring journeyman Teddy Bridgewater. The 28 year old isn’t a long term answer at quarterback, or even an answer in the first place. Bridgewater threw for only 15 touchdowns in 2020, a season in which he disappointed Carolina enough to trade significant draft capital for Sam Darnold - another quarterback who’s failed to live up to expectations. With neither Lock nor Bridgewater being capable of leading a team towards the playoffs, what can new general manager George Paton do?

Not often does a player generate trade buzz following an MVP season. However, Aaron Rodgers is not your typical player, and his situation is anything but regular. The 37 year old has been at odds with his team since they elected to draft a quarterback in the first round of the 2019 draft, without even talking to him about the situation. Tensions have escalated so much so that at the end of April, he let members of the organization know that he did not want to return to Green Bay. If Rodgers truly won’t suit up for the Packers this season, then they need to find a way to generate as much value as possible for him. They also won’t deal him to an NFC team, which makes the Broncos a perfect trade partner.

Sending Rodgers out West would be a best case scenario for Green Bay and Denver alike. Green Bay would be able to hold out for a haul, which likely will include multiple first rounders, as well as young ascending players. On the other hand, Rodgers will instantly make Denver not only a playoff contender, but a true competitor to hoist the Lombardi. A trade involving three 1st round picks, Bradley Chubb, and a few mid round picks could convince Green Bay to move their MVP signal caller, all while bolstering the Broncos offense and improving their odds to return to the Super Bowl for the first time since 2016.

Including significant draft capital alongside a 25 year old Pro Bowl pass rusher may seem like an overtrade to some. However, this league is dominated by stellar quarterback play, which puts a heavy emphasis on the position. A team like Denver can be solid on both sides of the ball, but without a top quarterback they have no real shot at competing. Furthermore, after seeing a 43 year old Tom Brady win a Super Bowl, there’s no reason Rodgers can’t compete for another 5 seasons. Coming off an MVP season, trading for Rodgers is Denver’s best bet to win another ring, rather than settling for mediocrity.

SPORTS ARE OUR UNIVERSE

Justin Fields, Mac Jones, & Armchair Analysis

Author: Matt Iberger

Editor: Fran Attie

It’s finally that time of the year again. When all the football junkies who have been surviving off past season’s highlights, letting their minds race with scenarios of all that could have turned out differently (Tampa Bay fans not included), are about to get some rest: the NFL Draft is upon us!

With less than 48 hours to go until the Jacksonville Jaguars are on the clock, sportswriters, NFL insiders, and even casual fans are making mock drafts faster than we can count. At the end of the day, however, that is all they are; mock drafts—mostly educated guesses on what we expect teams to do, away for a lot of fans to do their own armchair analysis. This is what I want to really focus on since most people seem to miss this point. A majority of people have no idea what NFL teams are thinking behind the scenes, and after any clear “can’t miss prospects” (who aren’t even can’t miss sometimes), it is really hard to say who goes where. The NFL Throwbacks Youtube channel does a great job of highlighting this in their “Hit, Miss or Meh” playlist, where they rate draft picks years after they have been drafted to see if they lived up to expectations. Looking at the 2017 NFL draft video and hearing some of the names makes you cringe, even more so when at the time the pick looked incredibly solid. There were a lot of “mehs” and “misses” in the first round (notable mentions: Solomon Thomas, OJ Howard, Evan Engram, Mitchell Trubisky), which just show how much of a guessing game the first round can be.

So, why do I bring this up? Simply put, despite all the evidence showing this, we still have a lot of people who fail to realize it. “Why did your mock put x players on y team? That’s so stupid!”. Well, to be quite frank, a lot of NFL teams are stupid (which is why all 32 are not equally competitive every year) and all have their own big boards with their own opinions on prospects. It is why you will sometimes see prospects skid or be drafted higher than usual since these NFL executives and scouts see a lot more than we do on what each player is really like. Every draft we have some sort of pot-stirring debate from the draft. Daniel Jones being drafted over Dwayne Haskins (or even at 6 in general) comes to mind, the Josh Allen bust or star debate, or the more recent Tua vs Justin Herbet debate on who the Dolphins should take at quarterback. The thing is, in the moment, these were all reasonable debates, and some of these still are being debated.

This year, it is Mac Jones versus Justin Fields going 3rd overall to San Francisco (or to a lesser extent, Zach Wilson versus Justin Fields for the Jets). Now, a player like Mac Jones who was projected second or less before the season, to mid/late first round during the season, to now top 3 seems like a crazy response to his present success. While fans each have their own particular order on the top 5 quarterbacks of this draft and reasonable film or stats to back it up, what can’t be debated is how little we know about how that will translate into the NFL. This isn’t just quarterbacks though, and I can make this same argument for the Devonta Smith vs Ja’Marr Chase crowd, or even the surge in Kyle Pitts hype in recent weeks. For any player there is a lot that goes into how successful they are and a mock putting a guy you think will be a bust at a higher spot than you like does not mean the world is ending. I am not even a Mac Jones truther myself and am pretty skeptical and agree that 3rd overall would seem fairly high, but the draft community is losing their mind as if there is no chance a Fields, Wilson, or even Lawrence could bust as well. I am not saying to quit the criticism of Mac Jones or any other prospect, but to say we know he’s going to bust seems to be jumping the gun. This could be Mitchell Trubisky all over again, or it could be Justin Herbert/Josh Allen where many people questioned them straight out and they made up for it.

The draft is a crapshoot, and it’s time we hop out of our armchairs and just enjoy making mocks and speculating for the sake of speculating. Sit back and enjoy the ride.