‘Dus je wilt dat ik zeg hoe belangrijk de kont van een man is in de evaluatie?’ vroeg Mike Mayock lachend. “Je doet dit echt, hè?”

Jarenlang zijn de bescheiden menselijke hurken belangrijke indicatoren geweest voor voetbalscouts bij het beoordelen van spelers. Mayock, de voormalige algemeen directeur van Las Vegas Raiders, is met tegenzin geïnstalleerd als leider van de Cult of the Caboose sinds hij in de jaren 2010 meerdere keren naar de romp verwees als NFL Network-draft-analist, wat hem een ​​geweldige bron maakt voor een verhaal over stoelen.

“Door de jaren heen noemde ik het op televisie een stroomgenerator, en eigenlijk moest het een beetje schattig en grappig zijn, met een kern van waarheid. Het werd gewoon een beetje representatief voor een sterk onderlichaam, ‘zei Mayock. En ja hoor, YouTube staat vol met clips waarin Mayock verwijst naar de ‘bubbel’-kont van een speler.

“Ik heb het meerdere keren in de uitzending van de combinatie gezegd tot het punt dat het bijna gênant was omdat onze cameramannen foto’s van de man van achteren zouden maken om het te illustreren,” zei Mayock.

Hij is tenminste in goed gezelschap. Volgens Georgia-coach Kirby Smart is zesvoudig Super Bowl-winnende hoofdcoach Bill Belichick een mede-liefhebber van de derrière. In een video die vorig jaar op X werd geplaatstSmart beschreef de tijd dat hij zich bij Belichick voegde om te kijken hoe verdedigende lijnwachters het 40 meter lange sprintje liepen bij de NFL-combinatie. Smart, destijds de verdedigingscoördinator van de Dolphins, was in de war toen Belichick de oefening van achter de startlijn bekeek.

“Ik dacht: waarom zijn we hier? Je kunt de finish niet timen”, zei Smart. Dolfijnencoach Nick Saban, een vriend en voormalig collega van Belichick, had volgens Smart het antwoord: “Bill kijkt graag hoe groot hun kont is als ze op een afstand van 40 meter neerkomen, omdat hij de grootste wil contracteren. defensieve lijnwachters die hij kan contracteren.”

Er zit wetenschap achter dit enigszins griezelige stukje scouting, de ‘kiem van de waarheid’ die Mayock noemde.

“In brede zin heeft spierhypertrofie (grootte) betrekking op spierkracht”, zegt dr. Alexandra DeJong Lempke, assistent-professor aan de afdeling Fysische Geneeskunde en Rehabilitatie van de Virginia Commonwealth University. “Meestal duidt een grotere spier op een groter vermogen om kracht te produceren. Dus als je denkt aan sprinten en explosieve bewegingen, dan komt dat vooral voort uit de glute maximus om die explosieve eerste stap te zetten.”

Voetbalcoaches weten dit al jaren, ook al kunnen ze het niet als een Ph.D.

“Het is een van de grootste spiergroepen. Het is een drijvende kracht achter je heupen. Het is wat je vooruit stuwt. Het is wat kracht in de grond legt”, zegt Luke Day, hoofdkrachtcoach aan de Universiteit van South Carolina. “Je weet dat die speler het potentieel heeft om veel kracht te creëren, omdat die spiergroep zo belangrijk is.”

De eerste keer dat Day ontdekte dat er een verband bestond tussen ezels en atletisch vermogen, was op een voetbalkamp aan de Universiteit van Miami (Ohio) met krachtcoach Dan Dalrymple, nu de hoofdkrachtcoach van de Denver Broncos. “Het eerste wat Dalrymple zei, was letterlijk: ‘Jullie komen hier binnen en jullie hebben een leeg blik, dan willen we jullie niet'”, zei Day. “Ik hoorde dat als 13-jarige, dus ik wilde er zeker van zijn dat ik hurkte, zodat ik een grote kont had.”

Day is nooit gestopt met werken in de gewichtsruimte, en hij is nooit gestopt met geloven in de kracht van het achterste. “Het is een attribuut van atletisch vermogen”, zei hij. “Hoe meer mensen in je team er een hebben, hoe beter.”

“De grootste hefboom die je op je lichaam hebt, is je heup, dus de grootste krachthoek die je hebt is van de knie tot je middel”, zei Dwayne Ledford, aanvalslijncoach van Atlanta Falcons. “Bij voetbal draait alles om krachthoeken.”

Ledford wordt herinnerd aan de kracht van het achterste, zowel op het werk als thuis. Toen hij de aanvallende lijncoach was bij NC State, gaf Wolfpack-krachtcoach Tim Rabas commentaar op de lichaamsbouw van Ledfords toen vierjarige zoon, Hudson. ‘Hij zegt: ‘Led, die kerel zal sterk zijn.’ Ik heb zoiets van: ‘Waar heb je het over?’ Hij zegt: ‘Kijk naar zijn achterste ketting. Die kerel staat achter hem aan”, zei Ledford. “Zelfs nu maken mijn vrouw en ik er grapjes over. ‘Kijk eens naar die achterste ketting, man.’

Het blijkt dat Rabas, nu assistent op de menselijke prestatieafdeling van de Carolina Panthers, misschien iets op het spoor was.

“(Hudson) heeft de macht”, zei Ledford. “Hij staat op het punt elf te worden en hij geeft me alles wat ik wil terwijl ik met hem worstel.”

Dus ja, ezels zijn belangrijk voor coaches. Dat betekent dat ze belangrijk zijn voor scouts, die peuken onderzoeken zolang voetballers ze hebben.

“Toen ik een jong kind was en met scouting begon, hoorde ik de term ‘anker’. Ik dacht: wat is anker? Het is een grote klootzak,’ zei Falcons-assistent-GM Kyle Smith. “Een van de eerste dingen die je leert als je met scouting begint, is het anker. Grote konten, grote achterkanten, achterste ketting – rug, kont en hamstrings – zo anker je.

Old-school scouts zouden lijnwachters van hun lijst schrappen nadat ze ze gewoon door een gang hadden zien lopen, zei Smith. “Je ziet een man voorbijlopen en je zegt: ‘Kan niet ankeren. Je hoeft geen bandje te bekijken. ”

Het ligt niet alleen op het gebied van de scrimmage. De Caboose Correlatie wordt op alle posities gebruikt als atletische indicator. Voormalig NFL-gokker Dustin Colquitt zei dat de gesprekspunten tijdens zijn exit-interviews aan het einde van het seizoen met Andy Reid, hoofdcoach van Kansas City, over het algemeen vrij saai waren, op één na.

‘Hij ging bij me zitten en zei: ‘Je bent naar de Pro Bowl geweest en we hebben je niet veel te zeggen. Maar verlies je kont niet. Gokkers moeten grote konten hebben. Zodra het lijkt alsof je vanuit fysiek oogpunt bergafwaarts gaat, ben je hier weg. Blijf doorgaan. ”

Het belang van de achterkant is zo belangrijk voor NFL-scouts en coaches dat ze hun eigen taal hebben bedacht om ernaar te verwijzen.

“Vroeger noemden we het de ‘Zetel van de Macht'”, zegt Chip Morton, voormalig hoofdcoach van Washington Commanders en Cincinnati Bengals, nu senior associate director kracht en conditie bij South Carolina.

Er zijn tal van andere achterwerkgerelateerde eufemismen. Drie algemeen managers van de NFL met een scoutingachtergrond bevestigden lachend het verband tussen peuken en spierkracht bij het team in Indianapolis, maar alle drie weigerden het onderwerp officieel te bespreken. Eén van hen zei dat hij het een ‘houthakkerskont’ had horen noemen en deed vervolgens – midden in een drukke Starbucks in het JW Marriott – na hoe het dragen van een grote lading brandhout iemands bilspieren kon versterken.

Toen Pat Kirwan in de jaren tachtig op scouting was voor de Buccaneers en Cardinals, bestempelden scouts prospects met een ‘hoge butt-factor’ en noteerden dit op alle schriftelijke scoutingrapporten.

“We korten altijd alles af, dus in een scoutingrapport zou het gewoon ‘HBF plus 9’ of ‘plus 10’ zijn”, zegt Kirwan, die later coachte en personeelsfunctionaris was voor de New York Jets en nu gastheer is van een NFL-radio. tonen voor SiriusXM. “We zouden ze er een numeriek cijfer voor geven.”

Clemson-verdedigingslijnwachter Tyler Davis herinnert zich dat een voormalige assistent-coach van de Tigers tegen een teamgenoot vertelde dat hij ‘een Coca-Cola-buit’ had. Hij begreep de verwijzing naar frisdrank niet.

“We hadden bij Clemson allerlei modewoorden die rondslingerden”, zei Tigers running back Will Shipley (zijn favoriet is “pesten terug”). “In de voetbalomgeving is het gewoon iets waar mensen naar op zoek zijn, vooral voor de explosieve atleten.”

Er is ook frasering voor de andere kant van het spectrum. Als een coach een speler ‘licht in de kont’ noemt, weet die speler dat zijn tijd in het team misschien kort is.

“Ik had een tackle die licht in de kont was”, zei Kirwin. “Zodra de verdedigende jongens dat zagen, gingen ze hem onder druk zetten. Ze wisten dat hij zijn gewicht niet kon laten vallen en een bullrush kon stoppen. Ze kunnen er vrij snel achter komen wie ze in de maling nemen.”

Een speler die wat coaches en scouts ‘NoAssAtAll’-pillen noemen, heeft werk te doen in de gewichtsruimte, zei De Atletiek‘s Nate Tice, een voormalige universiteitsvoetballer en NFL-medewerker. Toen Jim Nagy, uitvoerend directeur van Senior Bowl, college-wedstrijden scoutte voor de Kansas City Chiefs en Seattle Seahawks, schreef hij eenvoudigweg ‘hangbroek’ als hij zich zorgen maakte over het verankeringsvermogen van een aanvallende lijnwachter.

“Je krijgt af en toe een uitzondering, maar als je een man hebt met een grote, oude bolle kont en hij hurkt in huis of heeft een gekke acceleratie of een geweldige verticale of brede sprong, dan vraag je je nooit af waarom,” zei Day. “Als je een man hebt die wordt verplaatst of uit de salon wordt gegooid en hij plat ligt – er staat niets achter hem – dan is dat het eerste dat in je opkomt.”

Voor universiteitscoaches kan de ontwikkeling van de derriere vooral belangrijk zijn om aan te geven welke spelers op de middelbare school groter zullen worden naarmate ze ouder worden. Ze beschouwen het als een kwestie van vertrouwen dat het lichaam van een speler zijn achterste zal inhalen.

“Het klinkt raar, maar ik ga naar deze rekruteringsfuncties, en ik neem mijn vrouw mee en ik zeg: ‘Heb je zijn kont gezien?'” zei Day. “Ik ben er helemaal opgewonden over, en ze zegt: ‘Waar heb je het over, gek?'”

Bij de NFL-combinatie in februari voorspelde Shrine Bowl-scout Owen Riese dat Texas Tech-veiligheid Tyler Owens de volgende dag geweldige atletische testcijfers zou behalen.

‘Je zult merken dat hij aan de achterkant goed bedeeld is,’ zei Riese. “Normaal gesproken zijn jongens die explosiever zijn, beter bedeeld achterin. Er zijn jongens die moeite hebben met het vinden van een broek, zoals: ‘Ik heb taillemaat 34, maar ik moet echt maat 40 dragen, want anders passen ze niet rond mijn kont.’

De volgende dag kwam Owens binnen een centimeter van het breken van het wereldrecord in het brede springen door 12 voet, vijf centimeter te springen vanuit een staande start. Zijn algemene atletische score van 89, vastgesteld door Next Gen Stats, markeerde hem als de meest atletische veiligheid in de draftklasse van dit jaar.

Owens kwam naar het huis, niet wetende dat er zoveel verkenners naar hem zouden kijken. ‘Ik denk dat ze ons (daarom) in die kleine compressieshorts hebben,’ zei hij. “Ze willen zien of je gespierd en in stukken gesneden bent.”

South Carolina wide receiver Xavier Legette, die een sprint van 4,39 seconden over een afstand van 40 meter aflegde en een verticaal van 40 inch op de maaidorser plaatste, is sinds het einde van zijn collegiale seizoen gestaag op de diepgang gestegen, zelfs in een druk veld met wideouts.

‘Wacht maar tot je die bijenachter ziet,’ zei Day.

De meest begaafde prospect van dit jaar is de verdedigingslijnwachter uit Texas, Byron Murphy, “wiens kont en benen boomstammen zijn”, aldus Eric Galko, directeur voetbaloperaties bij Shrine Bowl.

‘Denk je dat dit lijkt op het uiterlijk van Aaron Donald,’ zei Galko. “Het is een enorm voorspellende maatregel. Veel teams meten het nu, of het nu via biomechanica is of met een echt meetlint, gewoon om er zeker van te zijn dat ze een idee hebben van wat je potentieel als atleet is.

In feite kan de kont zelfs een maatstaf voor het hart zijn.

“Het is niet alleen een weerspiegeling van hun kracht, maar het laat ook zien: ‘Kan het deze man iets schelen?'”, zei Galko. “Ik weet niet of er een direct verband bestaat tussen hoeveel je squat en hoeveel je geeft om je onderlichaam en succes in de NFL, maar ik wed dat er een verband bestaat tussen het hebben van een sterke onderhelft en iemand zijn die werkt hun kont af in de gewichtsruimte.

“Geen woordspeling bedoeld.”

(Illustratie: Eamonn Dalton / De Atletiek; foto’s: Justin Casterline, Kevin Sabitus / Getty Images)

Feb. 2, 2023 began like any other morning for Amit Patel. He was sitting in his cubicle on the ground floor of EverBank Stadium, home to the Jacksonville Jaguars. Patel, a manager in the team’s financial department, was closing out the last cycle of expenses, as he did at the beginning of each month.

When Jaguars chief financial officer Mark Sirota asked Patel to come to Sirota’s office, he thought it might be to discuss a new project. But then Patel got there and Sirota lowered his voice and asked Patel to shut the door behind him. Sirota then told Patel a delegation from NFL security was in a suite upstairs waiting to talk to him.

Sirota escorted Patel through the office, then the bowels of the stadium. As they made their way to an elevator, Patel looked back and saw a contingent of human relations officials and team security trailing them. When he arrived on the fourth floor and stepped into a suite, he was met by one of the team’s lawyers and three men in suits, one of whom was sitting behind a laptop.

“I already knew they had everything on the computer in front of them. My entire gambling history,” Patel, 31, told The Athletic in an interview from his attorney’s office in Jacksonville last week.

When the NFL security team asked where Patel got the money to place the bets they had discovered, he lied. He said it was from family wealth and cryptocurrency. When they asked whether they could have access to his phone and computer, he looked to the Jaguars’ lawyer for advice, only to realize the lawyer was there to protect the team, not him. He handed his devices over and the lawyer took him for a walk around the concourse. As they walked, Patel feverishly calculated what those security officials might identify as they transferred data from his computer and phone.

When his boss later asked him for his password to the company’s virtual credit card program, Patel knew it was over. He was caught.

FBI investigators subsequently discovered that Patel, over a four-year period, had embezzled more than $22 million from the Jaguars by creating fraudulent charges on the club’s virtual credit card and then covering his tracks by sending falsified files to the team’s accounting department. Patel’s attorney said the vast majority of what he stole he gambled away via online sports gambling sites. The government said he also used the money to fund a jet-set lifestyle and to purchase vehicles, a condominium, a designer watch worth over $95,000 and other extravagances.

Last Tuesday, in U.S. District Court in Jacksonville, Patel stood before a judge, voice quivering, and said he was “ashamed” of his actions. The prosecution asked for a sentence of 84 months, emphasizing the scale of his fraud, the media attention the case received and the message it would send to others who might “steal millions and live like a king.” Patel’s attorney asked for probation, citing his client’s gambling addiction and subsequent recovery efforts as reasons for leniency.

Patel received a 78-month sentence.

In his first interview since he pleaded guilty last year, Patel said that after months of anticipation, dread and unease, he feels a sense of relief to finally face his punishment.

“I’m dealing with the consequences of something that happened a year and a half ago. I’ve been a completely different person since then through my recovery,” Patel said. “I’m dealing with something that’s happened in the past when I was a different person.”

Patel had roughly two dozen friends and family on hand at his sentencing, some of whom made statements vouching for his character. His older brother said he was the prototypical golden child who excelled at sports and school only to be derailed by alcohol abuse and gambling addiction. His high school teacher said he was a “model student.” His girlfriend insisted he was a good person who had taken responsibility for his actions and committed to a life of sobriety.

Government attorneys described him as a fabulist who conned his company and enjoyed the spoils. Court filings included pictures of Patel partying at swanky hotels, flying on private planes and flashing expensive bottles of champagne. In that filing, the prosecutor handling the case wrote that Patel continued to “enjoy the finer things” even after he was fired. Megha Parekh, the Jaguars chief legal counsel, issued a blistering assessment of Patel, stating that his actions invited an inordinate amount of scrutiny on the organization and diverted key resources and time from current employees: “He was our teammate and he betrayed us.”

Those depictions, while seemingly in contrast, coexist in Patel’s retelling, and he frequently toed the line between expressing remorse for his actions and ascribing those actions to a problem outside his control.

“I was battling with a secret addiction that nobody knew about,” Patel said. “Everyone thought I was doing great, dandy. You know, on Instagram they see you having fun, you’re with your friends and family, but there’s a mental demon inside.”

Patel grew up in a strict household where his parents, who immigrated from India, expected academic excellence from their two sons. He said he was impacted greatly by two losses earlier in his life: Patel’s father died of a heart attack when Patel was 13, and one of his best friends died in a car accident nine years later when he was in college. By that time, Patel said his drinking, drug use and gambling were all-consuming.

But Patel also had an abundance of love and support coupled with ambition and opportunity. He was, as the government attorney described in court, an example of the American Dream. Popular and well-liked among his classmates. Elected class president at the Paxon School for Advanced Studies in Jacksonville. Captain of his high school lacrosse team. And he had an entrepreneurial spirit, dabbling in e-commerce and side projects that suffused him with cash and freedom.

Like many people his age, Patel was drawn to gambling during the online poker boom of the early aughts and the ubiquity of fantasy sports. He said he first experienced the rush of gambling on a cruise trip to the Bahamas the summer before he left for college. The cruise featured a poker tournament and, though his mom forbade him to enter because he had previously squandered money on online poker by using her credit card, his stepfather slipped him a $100 bill.

A crowd formed around the poker table and he was in the middle of it all, winning the tournament and a $2,000 prize. He paid his mother back for a portion of the cruise and bought his then-girlfriend a necklace. He later posed for a picture with the money splayed out on a table and made that his Facebook profile avatar.

Patel enrolled at Florida State in 2010 but said the combination of partying and gambling led him to switch from his major of choice (engineering) to something more manageable (accounting). Poor grades prompted his transfer to Flagler College as he prioritized gambling over all else. He took a bus to an in-person poker tournament at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel in Hollywood, Florida, where he finished 15th out of about 1,500 entrants, winning almost $7,500. But he was able to return to FSU for an MBA. Out of college, he went to work for Deloitte, and while there he used his corporate credit card to fund his gambling habit. But he avoided trouble because his brother helped him pay it off.

In 2018, he landed his dream job with the Jaguars, a team he grew up supporting. By that point, he’d progressed from playing fantasy football to betting on baseball via offshore accounts to placing wagers on essentially anything he could. “You wake up in the middle of the night and you’re betting on Turkish women’s volleyball,” he said.

He’d ignore his mom’s calls, forget to brush his teeth, stay up late into the night, constantly refreshing his phone for scores and highlights while his girlfriend slept next to him. Once, in Las Vegas, he drove to the Nevada/Arizona border just so he could place a daily fantasy sports bet, which isn’t permitted in Nevada. When his bank account was low, he’d sell personal items, donate plasma, take out payday loans or rustle up work doing cell phone repairs. There were times he’d visit the ATM multiple times in a day, depositing and depleting.

“The worst part is there’s always a win around the corner,” Patel said. “And so that’s what you’re always chasing.”

In September 2019, Patel, then a mid-level employee with the Jaguars, was in the hole from gambling losses, his credit card maxed out. He was drunk, trying to think of a way to dig himself out of debt and feeling the “itch.” That’s when he allowed himself to consider using funds from the company VCC program he managed.

“I mean, the devil inside me is like let me just deposit $25,000 from the card. I’ll turn it into $50,000. I’ll put the $25,000 back,” Patel said.

Given the level of attrition and lack of oversight within the Jaguars’ depleted accounting and finance department, the prospect of getting caught seemed low. In corporate finance, there is a concept called the fraud triangle: Opportunity. Incentive. Rationalization. Patel had all three.

The hole deepened as Patel’s gambling losses mounted. And so he continued using funds obtained from the Jaguars VCC program to place astronomical bets via FanDuel and DraftKings in hopes that he’d win big and save himself. Patel said his VIP rep at FanDuel would add 10 percent to his account for every $600,000 he spent, in addition to entry fees that were refunded and travel perks he was comped. A spokesperson for FanDuel declined to comment as the company still considers the situation an “ongoing matter.”

In the early days of the scheme, Patel would see an unannounced meeting placed on his calendar and believe the team had figured out his subterfuge. As the years passed and his actions went undetected, that fear never abated, he said, but he just couldn’t stop.

He’s not sure what tipped off NFL security early in 2023. (Employees of NFL teams are forbidden from betting on games.) But he recounted some brazen moves he made in the months before his termination. Twice, he bet on the Jaguars – once while he was in Kansas City for a game against the Chiefs — an $18,000 six-way parlay involving five UFC fights and the Jags covering the spread. (The five fights went his way, he said, but the Jags didn’t cover.) Later, he said he bet “a few hundred thousand dollars” on a Jaguars-Titans game, another loss. He also tried to withdraw money from a wire to place bets through FanDuel, which triggered a notification from the anti-money laundering team at the site. (He said his account was suspended after he unsuccessfully answered questions about the source of his funds.)

“I was so far in the hole I was like ‘Maybe I can win a million really quick on this game and pay them back,’” he said. “I was desperate.”

In the immediate aftermath of getting fired by the Jaguars, Patel did not stop gambling. Instead, he continued scrambling to try to win and pay the team back. An absurd idea, he recognizes now, considering the sum he owed.

Patel was in rehab by the time the FBI got involved. His attorney referred him for alcohol and drug abuse, as well as gambling addiction. He cooperated with the government’s investigation and in December 2023 pleaded guilty to charges of fraud and an illegal monetary transaction.

In the 99 days he spent in rehab, Patel said he felt guilt and shame for the pain he caused his loved ones, friends and coworkers. But he also felt grateful. “I was so glad to be out of that torturous, endless cycle in my head,” he said.

Gambler’s Anonymous works similarly to Alcoholics Anonymous. You work the 12 steps. Identify the “character defects” that contribute to addiction. Patel still battles those, with perfectionism and ego surfacing more prevalently than he would like.

He bristled at the suggestion that he was a neophyte and historically bad gambler, as one report suggested. He was bothered by news accounts that only one person attended his plea hearing in his defense. (He told friends and family not to attend, he said.) And he pushes back on the government’s assertion that he was driven solely by greed.

He contends that he bought some luxury items to flip for profits to subsidize his gambling, while also acknowledging that he was frittering away money on a country club membership, spa services and more. Though the majority of the money he stole from the Jaguars ended up with FanDuel or DraftKings, the government contends that Patel transferred over $5 million to his PayPal and other financial accounts.

He admits he enjoyed the trappings that came with having access to millions of dollars but said the cost of certain trips and events were reimbursed by the online betting sites, an incentive for him to continue spending with them: “They just give you this illusion that you’re winning because they’re just making so much money off of you that they need to keep you happy and keep you gambling,” he said.

Patel said he still has urges to gamble — the most recent one came a few months ago when he got an email from the Hard Rock Hotel Casino group, commemorating the opening of its new sportsbook. Patel talked about it in the GA meeting he organized; the group now meets regularly in a local church.

“Not everyone will get addicted to gambling,” Patel said. “But everyone can get addicted.”

Patel will continue treatment while incarcerated. He is slated to begin his sentence within the next 90 days. His attorney requested he be placed at the federal facility closest to his family in Jacksonville. When he gets out, he’ll be put on a payment plan – $250 a month directed to the Jaguars. Both the prosecuting attorney and the judge acknowledged he is unlikely to ever pay back the entire sum he stole from the NFL franchise.

Said Patel: “I’ve just got to deal with these consequences and move on with my life and see how much I can use this to help a lot of other people.”

(Illustration: Eamonn Dalton / The Athletic; photos: Don Juan Moore, Julio Aguilar, Perry Knotts, Don Juan Moore / Getty Images; courtesy of U.S. Attorney)

Ze gingen met veel tamtam de NFL binnen en hadden hoge verwachtingen dat ze ooit zouden behoren tot de beste verzameling talenten die de NFL op hun positie had gezien. Maar slechts drie jaar later lijkt de quarterback-draftklasse van 2021 grotendeels op één grote mislukking.

Terwijl NFL-teams hun beoordeling van een andere veelgeprezen groep quarterbacks voortzetten in de aanloop naar de draft van april, werden twee van de vijf QB’s die in de eerste ronde van 2021 waren opgesteld (Justin Fields en Mac Jones) slechts geruild voor een schamele compensatie. Een derde (Trey Lance) bereidt zich voor om jaar 2 in te gaan als back-up voor zijn tweede team. En een vierde (Zach Wilson) gaat een onzekere toekomst tegemoet in de NFL.

Trevor Lawrence – de nummer 1 keuze – is de enige quarterback uit de eerste ronde van 2021 die nog steeds wordt gezien als het antwoord voor zijn tekenteam, de Jacksonville Jaguars. Maar zelfs Lawrence moet nog uitgroeien tot een transformerende ster. Ondertussen is Wilson duidelijk in zijn laatste dagen bij de New York Jets, die hem zullen ruilen of afsnijden. Lance is een back-up voor de Cowboys, verhandeld naar Dallas nadat Brock Purdy het overnam als leider van de aanval van San Francisco. Fields is zojuist verscheept van Chicago naar Pittsburgh. En de Patriotten gaven Jones in wezen aan de Jaguars, die hem zullen gebruiken als Lawrence’s back-up.

In plaats van te wedijveren met de draftklasse uit 1983 van Hall of Famers John Elway, Jim Kelly en Dan Marino, zal de QB-klasse uit 2021 in plaats daarvan dienen als een waarschuwend voorbeeld over hoe vaak teams missen als het gaat om talentevaluaties, projecties en ontwikkelingsplannen.

Maar wat ging er mis? Waarom zitten deze ooit aangekondigde quarterbacks nog steeds vast in ontwikkelingsfasen en/of grenzen ze aan het failliete gebied?

Een onderzoek van elke situatie brengt enkele gemeenschappelijke thema’s en antwoorden aan het licht.

Lawrence en de Jaguars

Lawrence heeft nog niet de elitestatus bereikt, maar hij komt het dichtst in de buurt van een franchise-quarterback die dit stel heeft opgeleverd. Hij is 20-30 als starter met 58 touchdownpassen, 39 onderscheppingen en een voltooiingspercentage van 63,8. Zijn enige winnende seizoen (9-8 in 2022) leverde een playoff-optreden op (Jacksonville werd 1-1 in het ‘postseason’) en een Pro Bowl-selectie nadat hij slaagde voor 4.113 yards, 25 touchdowns en slechts acht onderscheppingen. Lawrence en de Jaguars deden in 2023 echter een kleine stap achteruit de play-offs gemist na een op en neer jaar dat eindigde met een 1-5 slip.

Hoewel Lawrence worstelde met consistentie, denken de meeste NFL-talentbeoordelaars nog steeds dat hij veelbelovend is. Ze geloven dat zijn ontwikkeling werd belemmerd door een rookieseizoen dat werd gekenmerkt door disfunctie en toxiciteit onder Urban Meyer, die werd ontslagen na een start van 2-11. De Jaguars vervingen hem door Doug Pederson, die goed was voor Lawrence, hoewel enkele van de nauwkeurigheidsproblemen die de QB op de universiteit vertoonde tegen DB’s van het hoogste niveau (zie met name de LSU- en Alabama-matchups) hem naar de NFL zijn gevolgd. Lawrence speelde in 2023 ook een aantal blessures. Gezondheid en nog een seizoen in het systeem van Pederson zouden zijn ontwikkeling moeten bevorderen, maar de Jaguars moeten ook een hoogwaardige nummer 1-ontvanger vinden om Calvin Ridley te vervangen om de 24-jarige Lawrence verder te helpen.

Wilson en de Jets

Wilson’s voorontwerptrainingen en collegegamefilm toonden zijn ontsnappingsvermogen en een improvisatie-tovenarij die talentbeoordelaars aan Aaron Rodgers deed denken. Maar BYU werd in 2020 niet geconfronteerd met toptalent en concurreerde met scholen van Conference USA, American Athletic, Sun Belt en Mountain West-conferenties, en de sprong naar de NFL bleek veel steiler voor de nummer 2-keuze dan de Jets ooit hadden gedacht.

Wilsons drie Jets-seizoenen waren een ramp. Hij is 12-21 als starter met 23 touchdownpassen, 25 onderscheppingen en een voltooiingspercentage van 57,0, plus meerdere benchings. Achteraf gezien had Wilson nooit zo vroeg in de draft moeten gaan als hij, en moest hij ook achter een ervaren starter zitten om zowel mentaal als fysiek geleidelijk te leren en zich te ontwikkelen.

Wilson staat nu voor een onzekere toekomst. De Jets proberen hem te ruilen nadat hij opnieuw moeite had als starter na Rodgers’ achillesblessure die het seizoen eindigde in week 1. En hoewel de eerste week van free agency behoorlijk wat quarterback-bewegingen kende, is Wilsons naam niet eens aan elkaar gekoppeld. aan teams in geruchten over mogelijke deals. Als Wilson wordt geschrapt, denken sommige rivaliserende talentbeoordelaars dat iemand een vlieger op hem zal afzetten als back-up-/terugwinningsproject.

Lance en de 49ers

San Francisco wist dat Lance een project zou zijn: de quarterback kwam uit de staat North Dakota met slechts één volledig seizoen aan ervaring (2019) nadat COVID-19 hem beroofde van een volledige juniorcampagne. Toch achtten de 49ers Lance het waard om van nummer 12 te wisselen en hem derde te maken in het algemeen klassement.

Na een seizoen achter Jimmy Garoppolo ging Lance 2022 in als starter van San Francisco, grotendeels dankzij het feit dat Garoppolo nog steeds herstellende was van een schouderoperatie buiten het seizoen. Maar in twee wedstrijden voltooide Lance slechts 15 van de 31 passes (48,4 procent) voor 194 yards, geen touchdowns en een onderschepping voordat hij een enkelbreuk opliep en de rest van het seizoen miste. De opkomst van Purdy later datzelfde seizoen, in combinatie met Lance’s voortdurende ontwikkelingsstrijd in het laagseizoen en het trainingskamp van 2023, zorgde ervoor dat de 49ers hun geduld verloren. Ze ruilden Lance naar Dallas voor een keuze in de vierde ronde, en Lance bracht het hele seizoen door als de derde quarterback van de Cowboys, zonder een moment te nemen.

De 49ers hadden een grove fout gemaakt in hun beoordeling van Lance, die uiteindelijk veel rauwer bleek te zijn, minder dynamisch als atleet en lang niet zo natuurlijk als werper als ze dachten. Dat wil niet zeggen dat Lance zich op een dag niet kan ontwikkelen tot een kwalitatieve NFL-quarterback. Maar de 49ers bevonden zich in een urgente situatie toen ze probeerden te profiteren van de kansen die ze hadden met een selectie die klaar was voor het kampioenschap. Teamofficials besloten uiteindelijk dat ze geen tijd hadden om te wachten tot Lance zich zou ontwikkelen, en kozen Sam Darnold als hun nummer 2 quarterback, omdat ze Lance vervangbaar achtten.

Purdy (de laatste keuze van het ontwerp van 2022) overtrof de verwachtingen zo dramatisch dat hij de potentieel verlammende misrekeningen van Lance door San Francisco General Manager John Lynch en coach Kyle Shanahan compenseerde. Ondertussen zou het vermogen om te leren van Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott zonder de last van verwachtingen en een tikkende klok op de lange termijn het beste kunnen zijn voor de ontwikkeling van Lance.

Velden en de beren

Fields bracht één seizoen door onder Matt Nagy, die na die 6-11-campagne werd ontslagen, en moest daarna opnieuw beginnen onder Matt Eberflus en aanvallende coördinator Luke Getsy. Eberflus en Getsy veranderden Fields (de nr. 11 keuze) in een veel meer rennende quarterback dan hij ooit was bij Ohio State, en Fields bleek dynamisch als een rusher. Hij sloot de campagne van 2022 af met 1.143 meeslepende yards en voegde zich bij Michael Vick en Lamar Jackson als de enige quarterbacks die zich in een seizoen naar 1.000 yards haastten. Fields was echter veel minder dynamisch als passer en gooide voor slechts 2.242 yards, 17 touchdowns en 11 onderscheppingen, terwijl hij de NFL leidde in zakken (55) en onhandige pogingen (16). De voortdurend slechte staat van de aanvalslinie van Chicago speelde ook een rol in de strijd van Fields.

Fields boekte gematigde verbeteringen in jaar 3, maar miste nog steeds consistentie als passer. Fields heeft schijnbaar moeite om het veld goed te zien, en rivaliserende scouts en coaches vragen zich af of hij zich ooit echt op zijn gemak voelde in het systeem van Chicago. Uiteindelijk was Fields het product van een slecht ontwikkelingsplan en had hij nooit het voordeel dat hij speelde voor coaches die echt in hem geloofden of een goed begrip hadden van hoe een aanval op zijn sterke punten kon worden afgestemd. Eberflus ontsloeg Getsy na het seizoen 2023, maar de verhuizing kwam te laat voor Fields, die de Bears zaterdag ruilden tegen de Steelers. Van Chicago wordt verwacht dat hij USC-quarterback Caleb Williams als nummer 1-keuze zal opstellen.

Een reset is waarschijnlijk het beste voor Fields. Hij begint zijn Steelers-hoofdstuk als back-up van Russell Wilson, een voormalig Super Bowl-kampioen die Fields kan helpen de defensieve concepten van de NFL verder te begrijpen en hoe hij zijn mobiliteit kan gebruiken als hulpmiddel om het spel uit te breiden, terwijl hij werkt aan het verder verfijnen van zijn passingsvaardigheden.

Jones hielp Alabama een nationaal kampioenschap te winnen, maar werd nooit gezien als een dynamische NFL-prospect. Het spelen voor Nick Saban bereidde hem misschien beter voor op het professionele spel, maar Jones werd door veel talentbeoordelaars beschouwd als iemand met het laagste plafond van zijn mede-quarterbacks in de eerste ronde vanwege de gemiddelde fysieke gaven.

Jones, 15e genomen door New England, had een solide rookieseizoen. Hij versloeg Cam Newton voor de startbaan en slaagde voor 3.801 yards, 22 touchdowns en 13 onderscheppingen, waarmee hij de Patriots hielp met 10-7 te gaan en de play-offs te bereiken. Maar hij ging achteruit in jaar 2 nadat Josh McDaniels zijn baan als aanvallende coördinator van New England had verlaten om de Raiders te coachen. Bill Belichick schakelde vervolgens de voormalige defensieve coördinator Matt Patricia en de voormalige coördinator van de speciale teams Joe Judge in om de aanval te leiden in plaats van Jones een echte aanvallende coördinator te geven. De legendarische hoofdcoach/roosterarchitect slaagde er ook niet in de vaardigheden van de Patriots voldoende te versterken. Ondanks de aanwerving van Bill O’Brien als aanvallende coördinator bij het ingaan van Jones’ derde seizoen, slaagde de quarterback er nooit in zijn effectiviteit te herwinnen en werd hij af en toe op de bank gezet terwijl hij als starter met 2-9 scoorde.

De situatie van Jones is een perfect voorbeeld van teammismanagement. Ondanks zijn beperkingen (gemiddelde armkracht en atletisch vermogen), blonk hij uit op de universiteit, terwijl hij omringd werd door superieur talent dat de druk op hem hielp verlichten. Hij slaagde als NFL-groentje omdat de zeer creatieve McDaniels begreep hoe hij zijn tekortkomingen het beste kon maskeren en hem voor succes kon positioneren. Belichick dacht dwaas dat Patricia en Judge hetzelfde konden doen. Zonder de aanstootgevende tovenarij van McDaniels en het ontbreken van een getalenteerde ondersteunende cast stortte Jones met beide benen op de grond. Nu is hij in Jacksonville als Lawrence’s back-up – een rol die het beste bij zijn vaardigheden past.

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Over vijf weken zal de volgende lichting quarterbacks van de sterrenuniversiteit met veel tamtam de NFL betreden en in de verwachting dat ze het fortuin zullen veranderen van de teams die knappe draft-keuzes zullen investeren om ze te verwerven. Van de Bears en Patriots – respectievelijk de eigenaren van de eerste en derde keuze van de draft – wordt verwacht dat ze opnieuw hun best zullen doen om een ​​franchise-quarterback te vinden. De Commanders, Vikingen, Raiders en Broncos konden ook quarterbacks opstellen.

Hun succes zal grotendeels afhangen van het vermogen om de fouten te vermijden die zijn gemaakt door de Jets, 49ers, Bears, Patriots en zoveel andere teams vóór hen: slechte talentprojectie, overgewaardeerde vooruitzichten en het onvermogen om de quarterbacks te voorzien van adequate coaching of roosterondersteuning.

(Topfoto’s van Trey Lance, Justin Fields en Mac Jones: Christian Petersen, Michael Reaves en Chris Unger / Getty Images)

We’re four days into NFL free agency and nearly 100 of my top 150 players are off the board, along with dozens of other signings and a handful of trades. Here are my biggest insights from the first week of the new league year.

Live updates: Free agent news from around the NFL
FA tracker: New teams and contract details for the top 150 free agents
Best available players: Who is still on the market?
Numbers: The best and worst free agent deals

Losing four players from the front seven of your squad can be devastating for many teams. Vikings edge players Danielle Hunter, DJ Wonnum and Marcus Davenport and linebacker Jordan Hicks all left for various deals elsewhere.

But Minnesota had a plan and replaced them with Jonathan Greenard (two years younger than Hunter), Andrew Van Ginkel (young, up-and-coming player) and Blake Cashman, whose football IQ, range and ability to slip blocks got him into a three-down create inside linebacker. and an upgrade over Hicks. That trio gives the Vikings a better defensive package going forward than what went out the door. Sometimes plans need to flow, and the Vikings’ decision makers made me believe in their evaluation skills, which I previously had some doubts about.

I also like the move to Sam Darnold for $10 million on a one-year deal, while leaving Kirk Cousins ​​to Atlanta for $45 million per year for four years. The money saved can still be used by upgrading their third wide receiver spot and extending Justin Jefferson at wideout.

Without a doubt, this must be what GM Jason Licht did to the Buccaneers’ roster this past week. No GM has protected their roster and re-signed their core guys like Licht. After killing Pro Bowl safety Antoine Winfield Jr. had tapped, he re-signed quarterback Baker Mayfield and wide receiver Mike Evans and found a way to keep linebacker Lavonte David. Licht also brought back defensive tackle Greg Gaines and safety Jordan Whitehead, who was part of the 2020 Super Bowl championship team. The band reunites just in time.

Bucs GM Jason Licht calls this one of “the greatest free agents of all time” to play players like Mike Evans, Antoine Winfield Jr. and re-signing Lavonte David – players who could be in the Hall of Fame.

— Rick Stroud (@NFLSTROUD) March 13, 2024

Licht also acquired a third-round pick to replenish his roster with some youth on draft day by trading cornerback Carlton Davis (who had a hefty cap number in the final year of his contract) to the Detroit Lions. In my opinion that was a smart move. Sportsbooks have made the Atlanta Falcons clear favorites to win the NFC South after adding Cousins ​​and others, but I’d still favor the Bucs after they maintained continuity.

If this were a game of old-fashioned “Battleship,” the Ravens’ ship would be at the very least veering starboard and perhaps on the verge of tipping over. Considering the number of free agents Baltimore had pending, this was to be expected, as I wrote last week.

The Ravens kept Justin Madubuike and added Derrick Henry, but they have already lost Patrick Queen, John Simpson, Gus Edwards, Geno Stone and Ronald Darby, while Jadeveon Clowney, Odell Beckham Jr. and Kevin Zeitler are still on the market. Add to that the decision to move on from starting right tackle Morgan Moses (let’s call this “friendly fire”), and they’ve taken their share of hits.

Rebuilding this roster will challenge GM Eric DeCosta and his staff at the highest level. They always have a plan in place if something happens, so I have no doubt their answer will be clear. I’m just concerned that this excessive amount of change will lead to a natural adjustment period, which may take some time. Nobody wants to turn a renovation into a renovation. Time will tell how much change a roster can absorb.

The Giants added proven but still emerging players to the offensive line: former Green Bay Packers guard Jon Runyan Jr. and former Las Vegas Raiders guard/tackle Jermaine Eluemunor. It’s rare to add two starting offensive linemen who have a clear body of work. These were two of the top five linemen on our free-agent board. Eluemunor was very good at right tackle for the Raiders in 2023, but can also play guard. That flexibility is valuable, considering the problems Evan Neal tackles in the right way. Runyan has excellent initial speed and the ability to involve his lower body in contact, which is rarely seen anymore in our world of spread offenses.

Oh yeah: Adding Brian Burns — who was my top-ranked player before he was franchise-tagged and the closest thing to Micah Parsons I’ve seen on tape recently — for second- and fifth-round picks is like adding a first-round talent on draft day. Any team would make that trade. The Giants struck in an opportune manner.

Yes, they lost Saquon Barkley and Xavier McKinney, two of my favorite players in this class, but it’s hard to justify paying big money at running backs and safety for a team that isn’t anywhere near contending. Improving the offensive line and landing Burns will help them immensely.

Favorite signing

Fantasy owners, take note. I liked the Los Angeles Chargers and added Edwards from the Ravens. I had thought all along that Barkley would be a culture upgrade for new coach Jim Harbaugh and his vision for the Chargers’ new offense. But as Barkley’s contract numbers increased, Edwards became more attractive.

He brings a full toolbox and good production with slightly less dynamic athleticism. The Ravens’ running backs committee kept Edwards’ grades down, but he’s a better player than that. He’ll be a 235-pound bellcow for a Chargers team looking to add toughness and physicality to its new identity.

Most confusing signing

I wasn’t surprised at how many expensive veteran safety items were released before release. I am shocked that teams are still adding veteran safeties who have marginal athletic ability. The Chicago Bears’ signing of Kevin Byard was a prime example. The Philadelphia Eagles bet on Byard at the trade deadline last season, acquiring him from the Tennessee Titans. Not only did it not work, but it went very badly.

In a passing league, it is very difficult to hide players who struggle in space, whether in coverage or tackling. There is no longer a ‘box safety’ position. Byard was a great player a few years ago, but he’s clearly lost a step. Bears fans have to hope things turn out differently when he joins his third team in six months.

Deepest positions remaining

Rarely is it possible not at all to find quality edge pass rushers or offensive perimeter speed on the open market. This year, there are options for both on the market, even after the free tree has been picked of its low-hanging fruit. Clowney and Van Noy — who each signed after camps opened last fall — and Chase Young and Bud Dupree can all still contribute to teams looking to upgrade and rush the passer. Teams probably won’t have to pay retail prices for it either.

The same can be said about wide receiver. Vastly underrated Lions wideout Josh Reynolds can still make an impact as a solid WR2 or WR3. Beckham, who everyone loves to hate, is still very explosive and can change games. I realize this year’s draft is chock full of good young prospects, which could impact the market, but these guys are proven commodities who could deliver great returns at the right price.

The value phase has arrived

There is usually a lull in free agency after the initial flurry of big-money signings and press conferences, before the market settles into the ‘finding value’ phase. As far as I see, the market has already reached that stage. I see players willing to take less than premium deals to avoid being left without a seat when the music stops.

Guys like Gaines (back to the Bucs for one year, $3.5 million), Zack Baun (to the Eagles for one year, $3.5 million), Nick Harris (to the Seattle Seahawks for one year, $2.51 million) and Saahdiq Charles (to the Titans for one year, $2.5 million) could normally linger on the market for weeks or months after their markets failed to materialize. Instead, they signed quickly and teams were able to find some value in those deals.

I appreciate agents for doing their homework – most likely at the company’s Indianapolis location, during meetings with teams – and team builders for identifying down-the-line guys who fit them. These value deals are a great way to build depth and have contributors ready when injuries strike.

Are teams getting wiser?

With the $30 million increase in the salary cap, teams are spending money freely, but I think teams – this year more than other years – are also spending money more wisely. Normally at this stage I would have questions about various signings where the plan seems difficult to justify. I have very few of those question marks through four days of the free-agent shopping season.

My goal in free agency was always to fill needs and check as many boxes as I could, within my limits, before the draft. This allows you to draft without worrying too much about needs, more often than not using the best players available rather than reaching for worse players in the early rounds. This has been a proven philosophy for years, and I think teams are following it and using valuable signings to fill gaps and add flexibility.

(Photos of, from left, Kwesi Adofo-Mensah, Brian Burns and Kevin Byard: Adam Bettcher, Grant Halverson, Mitchell Leff/Getty Images)

Qwan’tez Stiggers sat alone in a dark hotel room, a thousand miles from anything familiar. He drew the curtains tight to block out the world so he could focus on the avalanche in his head.

It was spring 2023, and two weeks earlier, he’d left his fiancee and family in Atlanta and flown to Canada for an opportunity he never saw coming — the one where he was going to get it all back.

Stiggers’ mind fixated on the clock and the telephone. The former kept ticking. The latter stayed silent. He missed home. He worried this entire thing was foolish. “You don’t get do-overs in life,” he thought. Sometimes, it’s just too late.

“They forgot about me,” Stiggers told himself. “Again.”

The football world did forget about Stiggers. It also rediscovered him — but not before he rediscovered himself. Now, with Stiggers on the edge of a potential spot in the 2024 NFL Draft, his story reads like a major motion picture with all the bells and whistles.

In that room, though, it was just dark.

The call Stiggers was waiting on was from the Toronto Argonauts. When Toronto’s coaches got their 2023 camp tryout roster, they asked one another why the kid from Georgia had no college next to his name. They’d soon learn their new DB did receive a football scholarship out of high school, but he walked away from it, crushed beneath the weight of depression and tragedy.

When Stiggers got to camp, he figured he’d be the first guy cut. He’d made two friends in practice, both of whom had played in the NFL; neither made the team. Stiggers was done waiting. He put the lights on, grabbed some shoes and headed to the coaches’ room.

“What’re you doing here?” a puzzled coach asked when he arrived.

“What’s going on?” an annoyed Stiggers replied. “Nobody called me.”

The last three years of his life had been a whirlwind. He’d gone from a heartbroken college dropout driving for DoorDash and washing trucks to the edge of professional football in the blink of an eye, all without ever having played a snap in college. Before he got on the plane to Canada for his tryout with the Argonauts, Stiggers told his boss at the truck wash to clock him out, figuring he’d need another shift upon return. The GM of the team had first reached out to him via Instagram.

This couldn’t be real. They’d forgotten about him. Just like everybody else.

Except …

“We don’t call you,” the coach replied, “if you’ve made the active roster.”

Every player’s path to the draft is unique, special and unforgettable. But for Qwan’tez Stiggers, the kid who went pro straight from high school (sort of), the journey — at least the part he’s in now — is an actual fairy tale.

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Kwanna Stiggers lost track of how many times she’d forged her son’s name on a sign-up sheet. At least a dozen. In late 2021, with the world starting to reopen post-pandemic, Kwanna spent hours online searching for anything football-related in the Atlanta area that could be attended in person.

She didn’t care what it was — a camp, clinic, workout group, pickup game, fantasy league …

If it had football in the name, she signed up Qwan’tez. “Whether he wanted to or not,” she recalls in that stern, caring tone of love and courage — the one reserved for mothers and their sons.

Qwan’tez Stiggers first fell in love with football at age 8. He and his older brother, Qwantayvious, played pee-wee ball for the Georgia Rattlers. Younger brother followed older brother to The B.E.S.T. Academy, a small, all-boys public middle and high school in northwest Atlanta.

By Qwan’tez’s sophomore year, he was 5 feet 5. His only full-time role was as the kicker, one fast enough to chase down returners. He grew 4 inches ahead of his junior year and moved to defensive back. By his senior season, he was nearly 6 feet tall and starting to thrive on the field.

Stiggers played for a tiny high school, limiting exposure, and caught a super late growth spurt, limiting it further. He still managed to garner attention from some small schools in the region, landing on Division II Lane College in Tennessee ahead of the 2020 season.

Then, just before the world stopped in February 2020, Stiggers’ father, Rayves Harrison, was involved in a car accident that left him in a coma. Even as Stiggers headed to school in the fall, his father’s condition hadn’t improved. During a visit home in September, Stiggers was with his girlfriend (now fiancee), Cheyenne McClain, when Kwanna called with the message they’d all feared. Rayves, to whom Quan’tez referred as his biggest fan, had died.

Football no longer mattered. Nothing really mattered. By the end of that weekend, Stiggers had decided to quit school and stay home to help his family.

At least, that’s what he wanted to do.

In reality, he couldn’t do anything.

“I couldn’t focus,” he says. “It was like a period of time where I’d try to do something — anything — and then a picture of my dad would just pop up in my head. Didn’t matter what it was. And it would just shut me right down.”

He began to drift. Stiggers worked for DoorDash and InstaCart before landing at a Blue Beacon truck wash near home. His depression deepened. There were times when he tried to play football again; he even reached out to schools, trainers, coaches — anyone he’d known from when he was recruited. No one had time.

When it came to his place in the football world, Stiggers felt like a pebble at the bottom of the ocean. Anxiety, fear and grief had left him in a perpetual state of feeling stuck.

Kwanna continued her search for anything that might reignite the smile football gave her son, serving as one half of a rock for Qwan’tez that never budged. Cheyenne formed the other half. Sadly, she understood everything Qwan’tez was going through.

In October 2019, Cheyenne’s sister, Jessica Daniels, was murdered. After waking to the sound of gunshots outside her southwest Atlanta home, Jessica got out of bed to get on the ground and was fatally shot by a stray bullet. She was 18. Cheyenne’s world collapsed. PTSD, anxiety and waves of depression left her numb, a feeling that was still there the morning Kwanna called Qwan’tez to tell him his father had died.

Depression can be like a deep hole with steep sides and no ladder. Sometimes, the only way out comes when someone else falls in. When Cheyenne saw that familiar pain begin to take over the person she loved, she started climbing.

Motivated to help Qwan’tez battle the same type of grief she was still trying to process, Cheyenne began working with Kwanna to support him and help him find joy again. Which, for Qwan’tez, meant restarting his football career.

Cheyenne told him to be brave and bold. “Never give up,” she’d say over and over when the idea became too difficult. They’d sit in the car every night and talk for hours — about his dad, about her sister, about their futures. In losing herself in the quest to help someone she cared about, Cheyenne began healing from her own loss.

Qwan’tez says he’s like the male version of Cheyenne, and she the female version of him. Together they just fit. They’ve known each other forever. Everything she likes, he likes. His passions are her passions. He loves her, and she loves him. Unconditionally.

How’d she manage to find the strength to pick herself up, almost in a blink, so she could help pick up Qwan’tez? She just did. Her person needed her. Sometimes, that’s all it takes.

“Seeing him being strong made me sit back and think,” Cheyenne says. “(I was with) someone who was (handling this), and it was sort of me having to help him become strong. And that made me strong.”

The small excuses stopped, and Qwan’tez became inspired again. He kept lifting and running. He called anyone he knew who might be able to help him train. If he couldn’t find anyone, he did it himself. One foot in front of the other, one day at a time.

Then, after more than a dozen failed sign-ups, Kwanna finally found a winner while scrolling through Facebook: Fan Controlled Football (FCF), an indoor, semi-pro, seven-on-seven football league housed in Atlanta. It completed its debut season in 2021, and as the 2022 season approached, Qwan’tez Stiggers was back in playing shape.

FCF was a long way from the NCAA or NFL, but it was football. And every time Stiggers buttoned his chinstrap, he felt like he could breathe again. There was no pressure, just a chance to play again. He made a team immediately and, as the youngest player in the league, returned a pick six in his first game. Quickly, he earned a rep as one of the FCF’s top defenders.

One of the coaches involved with Fan Controlled Football in 2022 was longtime college and pro coach John Jenkins, who spent a large chunk of his five-decade career in the Canadian Football League. When Jenkins discovered Stiggers’ story, talent and age, he made a call and sent some tape to a contact in the CFL.

Then, during a shift at the truck wash, Stiggers’ phone buzzed. It was an Instagram message from Vince Magri of the Toronto Argonauts, asking him for some basic information and a contact address. Days later, a tryout contract appeared in his mailbox. Stiggers sent it to everyone he knew, trying to confirm it was real. It was.

When Qwan’tez put pen to paper, Kwanna knew two things to be true: A mother’s drive remained undefeated, and her son was smiling again.

“It was like, ‘OK, yes,’” Kwanna recalls. “He got his fight back.”

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There’s an old saying in football: If you’re good enough, they’ll find you.

They might take a while, but they will find you. Qwan’tez Stiggers is living proof of it. He’s said people have told him he has “the perfect story,” an actual fairy tale of someone who was lost and found again.

From a purely football sense, though, Stiggers’ story is not unlike that of a lot of kids living in large metropolitan areas. He was a good football player in high school, very good by his senior season, and talented enough to play at any college in the South. Recruiting, though, is a numbers game in more ways than one, and time does not wait for talent. It sounds illogical, but it’s true.

One of the biggest combine snubs this year, imo, was Toronto Argonaut DB Qwan’tez Stiggers:

5113 203
30 1/4 arm
8 7/8 hand

Stiggers, per source, still currently has seven top 30 visits scheduled. Lions are one of those seven.

— Nick Baumgardner (@nickbaumgardner) March 2, 2024

If you play at a school the size of a needle in a football-crazed state the size of a haystack, your odds of getting lost increase. The churn of big-time football is grueling, and it forgets about people all the time.

Then again, cornerbacks who’ve never played a snap of college football don’t usually show up at a CFL training camp — at age 20 — and pick off four passes in the first two days. Stiggers did. He moved from third-string to the starting lineup after a teammate suffered an injury in the first preseason game.

“I never went back to the bench,” Stiggers says.

A natural defensive back with fluid hips, burst in his lower half and terrific ball skills, Stiggers plays with confidence and patience in man coverage, and he’s big enough at 5-11 and 203 pounds to hit and instinctive enough to play multiple positions in a secondary. Argonauts coaches went from thinking this whole thing was some kind of joke to trusting the youngster as their top player on the back end.

Stiggers played 16 games with the Argonauts last season, making 53 tackles and five interceptions, earning the CFL’s Most Outstanding Rookie award. The whirlwind ride led Stiggers to the door of agent Fred Lyles, who found the prospect through contacts with the Argonauts.

Lyles, who now operates NZone Sports Management, has repped several talented corners over the years, players such as A.J. Bouye and Chris Harris Jr.

“This kid,” Lyles says, “is as good as they were.”

Lyles burned up the phones over the winter trying to get Stiggers more attention, which eventually led to an invite to the East-West Shrine Bowl. Stiggers spent a week in Dallas working out in front of the entire NFL, more than holding his own. By the time the game ended, he’d heard from all 32 teams.

This will be one of the most unique stories of the 2024 #NFLDraft cycle.

Stiggers, who never played college football, when from an arena league to the @TorontoArgos, won CFL Rookie of the Year, and has real interest from almost all 32 teams.

Because he never went through a…

— Eric Galko (@EricGalko) January 17, 2024

As of last week, Stiggers had seven formal pre-draft visits scheduled. He’s hoping to add more after his pro day at B.E.S.T. Academy on March 15, one that, again, will be attended by a gaggle of NFL scouts eager to learn the story of the kid who somehow skipped college football.

He and his family, which now includes a son, Legend, can’t wait to tell it to them.

When Stiggers called Cheyenne and told her he’d made the Argonauts, “I cried,” Cheyenne says. “It was overwhelming. We have a son, and it was just like, ‘OK, my son now has a role model to look up to.’

“(Legend) loves sports, loves football. Every time he sees a football, he’s calling for Dada.”

Stiggers’ return to competitive football brought him structure when he needed it. He has a hard time putting his excitement about everything that’s happened over the past two years into words, as he’s still in it.

Life is still hard without his father — football and so many other things remind him of times spent with his dad. He’s still grieving that loss. He always will be. Only now, when the waves of sadness come, they serve as motivation to set a strong example for Legend, to make sure he cherishes every day spent with him and Cheyenne.

Stiggers is excited about his draft prospects and hopeful to hear his name called this spring, perhaps earlier than some of the players who received an NFL combine invite over him. Mostly, though, he’s just hopeful.

In some ways, he has football to thank for that. But in more ways, the thank-yous are reserved for the loved ones who continued to push him toward his destiny, even when it felt lost forever. It turns out, life does offer do-overs to those who work for them. There are ways out of that deep hole.

And so long as you have people around you who are willing to help you up, hope can be everlasting.

“I feel like he can help change the thought process of younger people,” Kwanna says. “No matter what your path is, whatever you choose to do in life … you can do it.

“Nothing is ever too late.”

(Top photo: John E. Sokolowski / Getty Images)

This year’s NFL free agency began with a bang late Sunday night, when quarterback Russell Wilson announced on social media he would join the Pittsburgh Steelers. League sources said it’s a one-year deal.

Wilson was allowed to negotiate early with teams after the Denver Broncos told Wilson last week they would be releasing him from his mammoth contract. The legal tampering window for everyone else began Monday at noon ET. Players and teams can officially sign deals when the new league year begins Wednesday at 4 p.m. ET.

We’re grading all the noteworthy deals, many of which will include players from our list of the top 150 free agents, so keep checking back to see how your favorite teams and players are faring. (Players are listed below in order of their free-agent ranking.)

Live updates: Free-agent news from across the NFL
FA tracker: New teams and contract details for the top 150 free agents
Best available players: Who’s still on the market?

Texans land edge rusher Danielle Hunter

Grade: A

Randy Mueller’s Top 150 ranking: No. 1

Already boasting a talented young pass rusher in Will Anderson Jr., the Texans pull off a move to make their defense that much more formidable, adding Hunter — the top edge rusher on the free agent market.

Hunter, who agreed to a two-year, $49-million deal, is coming off a career year, recording 16 1/2 sacks to go with 83 tackles (a league-best 23 for a loss). It was his fifth double-digit sack season for the eight-year veteran.

Eagles add RB Saquon Barkley

Grade: B-plus

Randy Mueller’s Top 150 ranking: No. 2

Another running back comes off the market as the former Giants star heads to NFC East neighbor Philadelphia. Barkley, who played on the franchise tag last season, lands a three-year deal that could pay him up to $46.75 million and includes $26 million guaranteed. Barkley will not reset the running market with this deal, but if he meets incentives, he could draw an average salary of $15.83 million, which would be the second-most for running backs in NFL history.

The Eagles wanted to upgrade their rushing attack despite receiving a 1,000-yard season from newcomer D’Andre Swift last season. Philadelphia let Swift depart via free agency to the Bears, however, and zeroed in on Barkley, who has recorded three 1,000-yard seasons in the last six years, and came close last season (962 rushing yards and six touchdowns on 247 carries). Barkley just turned 27, but the Eagles expect him to continue to produce like one of the top backs in the league, which would add a welcome element to an offense that features dual-threat quarterback Jalen Hurts and the dynamic wide receiver tandem of A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith.

Falcons add QB Kirk Cousins

Grade: A

Randy Mueller’s Top 150 ranking: No. 3

Kicking off a new era under recently hired head coach Raheem Morris, the Falcons also are starting over at quarterback after landing the four-time Pro Bowl passer on a four-year, $180 million contract that comes with a $50 million signing bonus and $100 million guaranteed.

Cousins had spent the last six seasons in Minnesota. He now heads South, where he reunites with Morris, who was an assistant during Cousins’ early years in Washington.

Cousins is coming off a season shortened by a torn Achilles, but has looked good in recent workouts and is expected to be ready to go by the start of the season. Cousins not only has familiarity with Morris, but he will also recognize elements of Atlanta’s offensive scheme because Falcons coordinator Zac Robinson learned under Vikings coach Kevin O’Connell when both were assistants with the Rams in 2020 and 2021.

The NFC South is wide open, so Cousins and the Falcons, who boast a roster full of young, up-and-coming talent, could make some noise immediately.

Browns keep edge rusher Za’Darius Smith

Grade: A

Randy Mueller’s Top 150 ranking: No. 4

The Browns wanted to hold onto Smith, who was a nice complementary pass rusher opposite Myles Garrett. Cleveland and the 11th-year veteran agreed to a two-year deal worth $23.5 million. Smith recorded 27 tackles, 5.5 sacks and 20 quarterback hits last season with the Browns, who ranked first in the NFL in total defense and sixth in sacks (49).

Raiders add DT Christian Wilkins

Grade: A

Randy Mueller’s Top 150 ranking: No. 5

Eager to bolster the interior of a line that features the talented Maxx Crosby on the edge, the Raiders added Wilkins, the top defensive tackle outside of Chris Jones. Wilkins, who recorded nine sacks for the Dolphins last season, is expected to sign a four-year deal worth $110 million with $85.75 million guaranteed.

Wilkins drew interest from the Vikings, Browns, Texans and Lions, but opted for Las Vegas, where head coach Antonio Pierce and defensive coordinator Patrick Graham seek additional impact players to bolster their attack in the trenches.

Vikings add edge Jonathan Greenard

Grade: B

Randy Mueller’s Top 150 ranking: No. 6

It appears likely they will lose pass rusher Danielle Hunter to free agency, so the Vikings are bringing Greenard into the mix. The 27-year-old recorded 12 1/2 sacks and 48 pressures for the Texans last season. Hunter’s deal features $42 million in guaranteed money, according to The Athletic’s Jeff Howe.

The Vikings are hoping that last year’s career year was a sign of things to come from Greenard and not just a flash in the pan. He had eight sacks as a second-year pro in 2021, but just 1 1/2 sacks in an injury-shortened campaign in 2022. He rebounded with his first double-digit sack season in 2023. If he can stay healthy, Greenard has the potential to be a real force up front for Brian Flores’ defense, which is among the most blitz-happy in the league.

Packers add RB Josh Jacobs

Grade: A

Randy Mueller’s Top 150 ranking: No. 7

Hoping to provide young quarterback Jordan Love the support of a more effective rushing attack, the Packers agreed to a deal with the two-time Pro Bowl running back. Jacobs, who has recorded 1,000-yard campaigns in three of the last five seasons with the Raiders, was regarded as one of the top backs on the market, along with Saquon Barkley, Derrick Henry and Austin Ekeler.

He should help ensure balance to Green Bay’s offense, which wants to establish the run and then capitalize on big plays downfield out of the play action. It’ll be interesting to see how this impacts the role of Aaron Jones, who is in the final year of his contract.

Packers add S Xavier McKinney

Grade: A

Randy Mueller’s Top 150 ranking: No. 8

After opting to let safety Darnell Savage depart earlier in the day (he agreed to terms with the Jaguars), the Packers upgraded with McKinney, who agreed to a four-year deal worth $68 million.

McKinney has great range and ball skills and should help shore up the back end of a Packers defense that ranked among the bottom third in the league in takeaways. It now finds itself in transition after coach Matt LaFleur switched defensive coordinators in the offseason, firing Joe Barry and luring Boston College head coach Jeff Hafley to Green Bay.

Titans add C Lloyd Cushenberry

Grade: A

Randy Mueller’s Top 150 ranking: No. 9

Second-year general manager Ran Carthon has attacked this offseason with the goal of upgrading the offense around young quarterback Will Levis and finding a reliable center to anchor the line is a big part of that. Cushenberry, a third-round pick out of LSU in 2020, steadily improved each season with the Broncos and now comes to Tennessee. His strength, athleticism and keen instincts are a big reason why he’s regarded as one of the best young centers in the game.

Eagles add edge rusher Bryce Huff

Grade: A

Randy Mueller’s Top 150 ranking: No. 10

Adding disruptive edge rushers ranked high on the Eagles’ shopping list this offseason, and they have acquired one in Huff, agreeing to pay him $51.1 million over three seasons. Huff, who went undrafted out of Memphis in 2020, had a breakout season with the Jets in 2023, racking up 10 sacks and 29 tackles as a rotational pass rusher. Now he’ll presumably move into a starting role with the Eagles, who hope he can continue to ascend and give new defensive coordinator Vic Fangio a force off the edge.

Giants add G Jon Runyan

Grade: B

Randy Mueller’s top 150 ranking: No. 11

The Giants have questions at running back (with Saquon Barkley now headed for Philadelphia) and quarterback, where Daniel Jones continues to disappoint. But they’re trying to at least ensure whoever lines up at those positions will have adequate pass protection and run support.

Runyan comes to New York from Green Bay, where he established himself as an effective and versatile interior lineman. He’ll try to help upgrade a line that surrendered a league-high 85 sacks in 2022.

49ers add pass rusher Leonard Floyd

Grade: B

Randy Mueller’s Top 150 ranking: No. 12

Could the 49ers’ long search for a reliable pass-rushing sidekick for Nick Bosa finally have come to an end? They certainly hope so after agreeing to a two-year deal worth up to $24 million. The 49ers gave Bosa’s former college teammate Chase Young a try via trade last season, but Young was wildly inconsistent. So, GM John Lynch turned his attention to the 31-year-old Floyd, a consistent and durable player who in the last four seasons has recorded 10-1/2, 9-1/2, nine and 10-1/2 sacks (and has missed only one game during that time). He will now reunite with his former Rams defensive coordinator Brandon Staley, a new assistant head coach for San Francisco.

Seahawks keep DE Leonard Williams

Grade: A

Randy Mueller’s Top 150 ranking: No. 14

Months after acquiring him in a midseason trade, the Seahawks are hanging onto Williams, giving the defensive lineman a three-year, $64.5 million deal. Williams, the sixth pick of the 2015 draft, had stints with the Jets and Giants, but has settled in nicely with Seattle. He recorded four sacks, 41 tackles (nine for a loss) and 11 quarterback hits in 10 games for the Seahawks.The Seattle defense will look different in 2024 as former Ravens defensive coordinator Mike Macdonald takes over for Pete Caroll and revamps the unit to fit his vision. But Williams will hold down a crucial role regardless.

Bills re-sign DT DaQuan Jones

Grade: B

Randy Mueller’s Top 150 ranking: No. 15

The Bills parted ways with a handful of defensive mainstays in recent days, but they’re holding onto one in the 32-year-old Jones, who has spent the last two seasons in Buffalo. Jones missed 12 games last season with a pectoral injury, but when healthy is disruptive in the trenches. In 2022, Jones had 38 tackles (three for a loss) and 11 quarterback hits, two sacks and a fumble recovery. He agreed to a two-year, $16 million deal with $10.5 million guaranteed

Giants add OT Jermaine Eluemunor

Grade: A

Randy Mueller’s Top 150 ranking: No. 16

Revamping their offensive line yet again, the Giants added the versatile Eluemunor, who started at right tackle in Las Vegas, but also can play left tackle. Eluemunor, whose deal is for two years, $14 million, is the second free-agent offensive line addition made by New York, which agreed to terms with guard Jon Runyan earlier Monday. The Giants gave up 85 sacks in 2023, making the line an offseason priority.

Steelers add LB Patrick Queen

Grade: A

Randy Mueller’s Top 150 ranking: 17

The Ravens made the tough call to forgo picking up the fifth-year option on Queen’s rookie contract after they paid Roquan Smith, and now they’ll have to face Queen twice a year as their 2020 first-round pick joins the rival Steelers. Queen, who agreed to a three-year, $41 million deal, is coming off a career-best 133-tackle season. He also had 3.5 sacks and six pass breakups, a forced fumble and a fumble recovery. The Pro Bowl linebacker will help fortify a Steelers defense that ranked 21st in the league in yards allowed, yet did hold foes to just 19.1 points per game (sixth best).

Jets add G John Simpson

Grade: B-plus

Randy Mueller’s Top 150 ranking: No. 18

Keeping Aaron Rodgers upright is the highest priority for the Jets, so they agreed to a two-year, $18 million deal with Simpson, who started all 19 of the Ravens’ games (regular season and playoffs) at left guard last season. While durable, Simpson does need to become more consistent, but the Jets are counting on the 2020 fourth-round pick to do just that.

Falcons add WR Darnell Mooney

Grade: C-plus

Randy Mueller’s Top 150 ranking: No. 19

Mooney, who agreed to a three-year, $39 million contract, certainly has big-play ability. He showed in 2021, his second NFL season, what a threat he can be, with 81 catches for 1,055 yards. However, Mooney hasn’t topped 500 yards in either season since then. The 2020 fifth-round pick leaves Chicago with 213 catches with 2,593 yards and 11 touchdowns. Can a fresh start and pairing with Kirk Cousins, Kyle Pitts and Drake London translate into a revival for Mooney?

Commanders add LB Frankie Luvu

Grade: B

Randy Mueller’s Top 150 ranking: No. 20

Badly in need of playmakers with sideline-to-sideline range thanks to misses in the draft and free agency, Washington agreed to a three-year, $36 million contract with Luvu, who is coming off back-to-back 100-plus tackle seasons with the Panthers. Luvu is now on his third team in seven seasons, but he has displayed steady improvement after entering the league as an undrafted player out of Washington State. Last season’s 125 tackles, five pass deflections and two forced fumbles all represent career highs.

Texans add DE Denico Autry

Grade: C

Randy Mueller’s Top 150 ranking: No. 23

Autry comes at a relatively affordable price for a pass rusher (two years, $20 million with $10.5 million guaranteed), and he will give Houston a complement to young Will Anderson Jr. But Autry is coming off his first double-digit sack season and is 34, so a decline is possible. That means Houston may not see the full return on its investment.

Cardinals add DT Justin Jones

Grade: C

Randy Mueller’s Top 150 ranking: No. 24

Arizona makes a move to beef up the interior of its defensive line, giving Jones a three-year deal worth $30.1 million with $19.75 million guaranteed. Jones is coming off his two most productive seasons (52 tackles, three sacks in 2022; 49 tackles, 4 1/2 sacks in 2023). His new deal represents a significant bump from his two-year, $12 million deal he played on in Chicago, where he did have his share of ups and downs. That raises the question of whether the Cardinals overpaid.

Chargers keep S Alohi Gilman

Grade: B

Randy Mueller’s Top 150 ranking: No. 28

The Chargers reward their 2020 sixth-round pick with a two-year, $11 million contract as he comes off of a career year (73 tackles, two interceptions, three forced fumbles and two fumble recoveries). L.A. has limited resources because of salary cap restrictions but still manages to keep a promising young player in the mix.

Commanders add S Jeremy Chinn

Grade: B

Randy Mueller’s Top 150 ranking: 29

In need of playmakers on the back end of their defense, the Commanders are hoping Chinn can recapture the form he sported in 2020 and 2021 when he recorded 117 and 107 tackles, respectively. He has battled injury in each of the last two seasons, but if healthy, the former second-round pick boasts great versatility as a hybrid safety/linebacker and will make his presence felt. At one year, $5.1 million, Chinn, who has played a combined 18 games the last two seasons, comes at a good price.

Jaguars add WR Gabe Davis

Grade: C-plus

Randy Mueller’s Top 150 ranking: No. 32

This may not be the wide receiver news the Jaguars and their fans most desperately want to hear. Leading wideout Calvin Ridley (1,016 yards, eight touchdowns) remained unsigned during the opening of the legal tampering window. But in Davis, the Jaguars get a solid No. 2 option on a three-year, $39 million deal. Incentives could bump his earnings up to $50 million.

Davis spent the first four seasons of his career as Stefon Diggs’ sidekick in Buffalo, averaging 682 yards and 6.75 touchdowns on 40.75 receptions a season. At 6-2, 225, Davis knows how to use his size to his advantage and plays with physicality, but still needs to execute with greater consistency.

Chargers add RB Gus Edwards

Grade: C

Randy Mueller’s Top 150 ranking: No. 35

The Chargers appear set to move on from Austin Ekeler and have reunited Edwards with his former Ravens offensive coordinator Greg Roman. Curious move. Edwards is a good runner, but he has always shared the workload and has never had a 1,000-yard season. He will come at a cheaper price than Ekeler, but Ekeler is one of the most versatile backs in the game. So unless the Chargers are planning on drafting someone as well and using him as the lead back (and Edwards as the complementary piece), the Chargers will likely see a drop-off here.

Ravens add RB Derrick Henry

Grade: B

Randy Mueller’s Top 150 ranking: No. 38

After allowing Gus Edwards to depart via free agency, the Ravens needed an impact running back in the worst way and have agreed to terms with the powerful Henry. The four-time Pro Bowl back and five-time 1,000-yard rusher agrees to a two-year deal worth up to $20 million. Henry is coming off of a 1,167-yard, 12-touchdown campaign and just turned 30 in January. The Ravens believe that he has enough left in the tank to serve as their workhorse back. If that’s the case — and that’s the only question in this scenario, given the mileage Henry has logged during his career — Henry will in turn ease pressure on Lamar Jackson, who has led the team in rushing more times than anyone within the organization would like. After years of piecing together a rushing attack with Jackson and a committee of backs, the Ravens could now have the ability to produce the most potent ground game (and most balanced offense) they have fielded in years.

Panthers add G Robert Hunt

Grade: B-minus

Randy Mueller’s top 150 ranking: No. 39

With protecting and developing second-year quarterback Bryce Young the highest of priorities, the Panthers made a move to fortify the interior of their offensive line. Hunt is a 2020 second-rounder who has played both guard and tackle, but he’s now viewed as a guard. Hunt has dealt with some injuries, but is big, physical and powerful. If he can remain healthy, he’ll make an impact. He will have good familiarity with the concepts of the Panthers’ offense because new coach Dave Canales runs an offshoot of the Shanahan offense that Mike McDaniel runs in Miami.

Patriots re-signing OL Mike Onwenu

Grade: B

Randy Mueller’s Top 150 ranking: No. 40

Amid great waves of change, the Patriots made continuity along their offensive line a priority. The 2020 sixth-rounder agreed to a three-year, $57 million deal with $38 million guaranteed. Onwenu offers great versatility with his ability to play both tackle and guard.

Panthers add DT A’Shawn Robinson

Grade: A

Randy Mueller’s Top 150 ranking: 41

Fortifying a defense that served as the bright spot last season, Carolina has added the ninth-year veteran on a three-year, $22.5-million deal. Robinson has great familiarity with Panthers defensive coordinator Ejiro Evero, having played for him when Evero was an assistant with the Rams, so the transition should be smooth.

Bears add RB D’Andre Swift

Grade: A

Randy Mueller’s Top 150 ranking: No. 45

Agreeing to a three-year deal worth a reported $24 million, the fifth-year veteran cashes in on a career season with the Eagles in which he served as a feature back for the first time. Swift rushed for 1,049 yards and five touchdowns on 229 carries; he also recorded 39 catches for 214 yards and a touchdown for Philadelphia. Regardless of what they do at quarterback, the Bears badly needed a reliable back after trying to piece together a rushing attack last season. Justin Fields led the team with 657 rushing yards while Khalil Herbert and D’Onta Foreman combined for 1,036 yards and six touchdowns. Swift receives a significant raise after playing on a one-year, $1.7 million deal last season.

David Montgomery was drafted by the Bears.
D’Andre Swift was drafted by the Lions.

And now, they’ve swapped teams.

Which player would you rather have in your backfield? pic.twitter.com/5fjpriT4Zb

— The Athletic (@TheAthletic) March 11, 2024

Steelers add QB Russell Wilson

Grade: B

Randy Mueller’s Top 150 ranking: No. 46

After two tumultuous years in Denver, Wilson gets a fresh start with Pittsburgh. He’ll sign a one-year deal for the league minimum (just over $1 million) to play for the Steelers while also earning the almost $38 million owed to him by the Broncos.

Adding Wilson creates an intriguing situation for the Steelers, who have said they remain committed to 2022 first-rounder Kenny Pickett. The former Pitt star has been rather mediocre, however. Presumably, Pickett and Wilson will battle for the starting job. Wilson’s resume certainly dwarfs Pickett’s, but does Wilson still have the skills to be an effective NFL starter after posting some of the worst numbers of his career in Denver? Multiple talent evaluators around the league believe the answer is yes and chalk up the struggles of 2023 and 2022 to two bad situations with the Broncos.

This is a low-risk move for Pittsburgh. If Pickett wins, the Steelers have a veteran mentor/backup in Wilson at a low cost. If Wilson wins the starting job, which he should if he does indeed still have his fastball, new offensive coordinator Arthur Smith has a crafty veteran capable of directing a unit that must contend with the Ravens, Bengals and Browns and their star quarterbacks.

Seahawks re-sign TE Noah Fant

Grade: C-plus

Randy Mueller’s Top 150 ranking: No. 47

Fant boasted great potential when he came to Seattle as part of the Russell Wilson trade. But he has just 82 catches for 900 yards and four touchdowns in the last two seasons combined. Fant, who agreed to a two-year, $21 million contract, has all of the tools to become a more impactful weapon for Seattle. Can new offensive coordinator Ryan Grubb help him maximize his potential?

Rams add G Jonah Jackson

Grade: A

Randy Mueller’s Top 150 ranking: No. 49

Aiming to extend Matthew Stafford’s career a bit further, the Rams are investing heavily in the interior of their offensive line after reaching an agreement with Jackson on a three-year, $51 million deal that features $34 million guaranteed. The Pro Bowl left guard became an instant starter for the Lions, who selected him out of Rutgers in the third round of the 2020 draft (Stafford’s final season with the team). Now Jackson will reunite with the quarterback and aim to solidify a line that has endured a good deal of change the last two seasons.

Jaguars keep C Mitch Morse

Grade: A

Randy Mueller’s Top 150 ranking: No. 52

After reworking the deal of guard Brandon Scherff, the Jaguars made another move to ensure Trevor Lawrence has the best possible pass protection, giving Morse a two-year, $10.5 million contract. Jacksonville was middle-of-the-pack in passing despite boasting a quarterback regarded as a generational talent coming out of college, and ranked among the bottom third of the league in rushing, so Morse should help coax the Jaguars toward improvement.

Packers re-sign KR Keisean Nixon

Grade: A

Randy Mueller’s Top 150 ranking: 55

The All-Pro kick returner lands a three-year deal worth up to $19.2 million. Nixon has led the NFL in kick returns the last two seasons, averaging 27.45 yards per attempt, earning All-Pro honors each year.

Vikings add LB Blake Cashman

Grade: B

Randy Mueller’s Top 150 ranking: No. 57

The VIkings continue their mission of upgrading a defense that ranked 16th in the league, adding Cashman on a three-year, $25.5 million deal. This is a bit of a projection signing because Cashman’s resume features just one season as a starter. However, the former Texans fifth-rounder was strong against the run and solid in pass-coverage while notching a career-best 106 tackles, five pass deflections and an interception in 2023. The Vikings now hope he can continue his ascent with them.

Commanders add RB Austin Ekeler

Grade: B

Randy Mueller’s Top 150 ranking: No. 60

One of the most versatile backs in the league over the last seven seasons (39 rushing touchdowns, 30 receiving touchdowns), Ekeler will now take his talents to Washington, where the Commanders are starting afresh with a new owner, general manager and head coach. The 29-year-old Ekeler is coming off an injury-hampered season (628 rushing yards and five touchdowns and 436 receiving yards and a touchdown after flirting with 1,700 all-purpose yards in 2021 and 2022). But he still can be an effective back as long as health is on his side. The two-year, $11.43 million deal is a good investment for Washington, and significantly less per season than running backs Saquon Barkley, Tony Pollard, Josh Jacobs and D’Andre Swift landed.

Lions add edge rusher Marcus Davenport

Grade: B-minus

Randy Mueller’s Top 150 ranking: No. 61

An ankle injury cut Davenport’s lone season with the Vikings to four games. He recorded just two sacks and seven pressures. But at 28, and with a resume that includes 142 tackles, 21 1/2 sacks and seven forced fumbles in five seasons with the Saints, Davenport seemingly boasts the potential to have an impact for Detroit as long as he can stay healthy. The one-year deal is a low-risk investment for the Lions.

Jaguars add CB Ronald Darby

Grade: C

Randy Mueller’s Top 150 ranking: No. 62

Entering his 10th NFL season and about to turn 30, Darby lands with his sixth team, agreeing to a two-year deal worth up to $10 million. Darby provides good versatility, but struggles with durability, having played a full season just once in his career. He started seven of 16 games for Baltimore last season in his return from a 2022 torn ACL and recorded 28 tackles and seven pass breakups.

Dolphins add LB Jordyn Brooks

Grade: B

Randy Mueller’s Top 150 ranking: No. 63

The Dolphins are getting a run-stopping linebacker who has recorded 100-plus tackles each of the last three seasons while playing alongside Bobby Wagner. Brooks has also steadily improved in pass coverage. Brooks suffered a torn ACL in Week 17 of the 2022 season, but returned to action in Week 1 the following year. He had 111 tackles, 4.5 sacks and four pass breakups in 2023, which he now has cashed in for a three-year, $30 million deal.

Commanders add C Tyler Biadasz

Grade: B

Randy Mueller’s Top 150 ranking: No. 65

With their offensive line badly in need of an overhaul, the Commanders and new head coach Dan Quinn lured the Pro Bowl center to Washington. The Commanders last season ranked 27th in rushing and yielded the second-most sacks in the league (65), so Biadasz and other reinforcements (who could follow through free agency and the draft) meet a real need. Adding a quality, veteran center also is a smart move with Washington expected to use the No. 2 pick on a quarterback. Whether it’s Jayden Daniels or Drake Maye, the young passer will have the luxury of leaning on Biadasz to help identify blitzes and the necessary protections.

Vikings add edge rusher Andrew Van Ginkel

Grade: B

Randy Mueller’s Top 150 ranking: No. 67

Brian Flores gets a familiar face in Van Ginkel, a 2019 fifth-round pick who played under the Vikings defensive coordinator when Flores was head coach in Miami. Van Ginkel brings good versatility as an edge rusher capable of bringing pressure from either side. He also comes at an affordable price (two years, $20 million — $14 million guaranteed).

Buccaneers re-sign LB Lavonte David

Grade: A

Randy Mueller’s Top 150 ranking: 71

After locking up wide receiver Mike Evans and quarterback Baker Mayfield just before the start of free agency, the Bucs have retained another roster cornerstone. David agreed to a one-year deal worth $10 million.  The 13th-year veteran remains a force, having racked up 134 tackles (his 10th 100-tackle season) along with 4 1/2 sacks for the Bucs. The 34-year-old has shown no signs of a drop-off.

Bills keep edge rusher A.J. Epenesa

Grade: B

Randy Mueller’s Top 150 ranking: No. 76

The 2020 second-round pick will remain in Buffalo on a two-year deal worth up to $20 million after recording 6 1/2 sacks in each of the last two seasons as a rotational pass rusher. Epenesa wasn’t drafted in the second round (54th overall) to be a part-time player, but he and the Bills seem comfortable with his role, and he has found a way to maximize his opportunities in each of the last two seasons. It’ll be interesting to see if Leonard Floyd’s departure will translate into more snaps for Epenesa.

Jets add DT Javon Kinlaw

Grade: B-plus

Randy Mueller’s Top 150 ranking: No. 85

In need of big bodies to pair with Quinnen Williams, Robert Saleh reached back to his San Francisco days to bring the 2020 first-round pick to New York. Kinlaw battled injuries for much of his time in San Francisco, but when finally healthy, he made his presence felt. In 2023, Kinlaw recorded 25 tackles, 3 1/2 sacks, six quarterback hits and three pass breakups while starting all 17 games. The 49ers were expected to face competition in their efforts to retain Kinlaw, and their former defensive coordinator won. If Kinlaw, who agreed to a one-year deal, can stay healthy, this could wind up being a steal.

Dolphins add C Aaron Brewer

Grade: C

Randy Mueller’s Top 150 ranking: No. 86

Looking to further upgrade Tua Tagovailoa’s supporting cast, the Dolphins agreed to a three-year, $21 million deal with Brewer, the former Titans center. The only problem is Brewer gave up seven sacks in 2023, according to TruMeda, and the Dolphins have to do everything possible to protect Tagovailoa. Brewer is, however, a good run blocker, possessing the athleticism that makes him ideal for Miami’s zone-blocking scheme. Undrafted in 2020 out of Texas State, Brewer must take another leap forward in his development.

Bengals add TE Mike Gesicki

Grade: C

Randy Mueller’s Top 150 ranking: No. 88

Cincinnati adds a serviceable piece to the puzzle in the seventh-year veteran, who recorded 29 catches for 244 yards and a touchdown with New England last season. That was the least-productive season of Gesicki’s career since his rookie year in 2018. He did record two 700-yard seasons with Miami in 2020 and 2021. But a 362-yard 2022 campaign followed before he departed for New England. So, which version of the 2018 second-round pick are the Bengals getting? They certainly hope for something more closely resembling the 2020/2021 version. But at one-year, $3.25 million, this isn’t a high-risk move.

Vikings add QB Sam Darnold

Grade: C

Randy Mueller’s Top 150 ranking: No. 89

After losing Kirk Cousins to the Falcons, the Vikings are rolling the dice with Darnold, the third pick of the 2018 draft. Darnold failed miserably with the Jets and Panthers, but the Vikings are hoping that a season on the sidelines and classroom with Kyle Shanahan has turned the turnover-prone USC product (Darnold has thrown 63 touchdowns and 56 interceptions while fumbling 38 times) into a more fundamentally sound player and decision-maker.

Darnold got a one-year deal worth $10 million, so it’s a low-risk commitment for the Vikings. And Darnold will recognize large portions of Minnesota’s offense because coach Kevin O’Connell is a disciple of Sean McVay, who is a disciple of Shanahan. But this still feels like the Vikings, who might have made the playoffs for a second straight season if not for Cousins’ season-ending Achilles tear and poor depth at quarterback, are taking a gamble when other options had included Jacoby Brissett (now with the Patriots), Gardner Minshew (joined the Raiders) and Ryan Tannehill (still available).

Chiefs add TE Irv Smith Jr.

Grade: C

Randy Mueller’s Top 150 ranking: No. 91

Intriguing signing by the Chiefs. The 2019 second-round pick by the Vikings has spent the last two seasons in Cincinnati but hasn’t had a prolific role, recording a combined 18 catches for 115 yards and a touchdown in 12 games (six starts). His best season came in 2020 when he had 30 catches for 364 yards and five touchdowns. Smith is athletic and versatile enough to serve as a run blocker or line up in the slot or split out wide. But he hasn’t flashed enough to give reason to believe that he will have a significant enough role to ease pressure on Travis Kelce.

Texans add LB Azeez Al-Shaair

Grade: B-plus

Randy Mueller’s Top 150 ranking: No. 92

DeMeco Ryans pulls off another reunion with one of his former 49ers charges. Al-Shaair, who served as a rotational linebacker in San Francisco and left for Tennessee last season, is headed to Houston on a three-year, $34 million contract. Al-Shaair recorded 163 tackles, two sacks, four pass breakups and a fumble recovery for Tennessee and now joins the AFC South rival Texans and Ryans, who want to defend their divisional title.

Titans add RB Tony Pollard

Grade: B-minus

Randy Mueller’s Top 150 ranking: No. 93

It seemed highly likely that Derrick Henry would be moving on from Tennessee, and now that is essentially a surety. The Titans agreed to terms on a three-year, $24 million deal with Pollard, the former Cowboys running back. The 26-year-old Pollard isn’t as accomplished as Henry. He has two 1,000-yard seasons to his name compared to Henry’s five (including Henry’s 2,000-yard 2020 campaign). But Pollard is three years younger and has 1,268 fewer carries, meaning he could have longevity on his side.

Pollard’s first season as a feature back came in 2023, after he split time with Ezekiel Elliott to start his career in Dallas. But he proved versatile as a runner and pass-catcher out of the backfield. Pollard lacks the power of Henry, but the Titans apparently are looking for a different brand of running back to support young quarterback Will Levis. Pollard also is likely a cheaper alternative to Henry, who likely seeks an increase on last year’s earnings of $10.5 million.

Jets add QB Tyrod Taylor

Grade: A

Randy Mueller’s Top 150 ranking: No. 94

Determined not to make the same mistake they did last year by neglecting to sign a proven backup to Aaron Rodgers, the Jets added the well-traveled Taylor. The 34-year-old QB possesses all of the skills and smarts necessary to enter a game on short notice and keep his team afloat. He also can man the helm as an effective interim starter, something Zack Wilson, who is on his way out, could not do last year.

Giants add RB Devin Singletary

Grade: C

Randy Mueller’s Top 150 ranking: No. 97

Looking to fill the void left by Saquon Barkley’s departure for Philadelphia, the Giants add Singletary, who rushed for a career-high 898 yards on 216 carries last season while with Houston. Singletary is steady, but he’s not on Barkley’s level in terms of explosiveness, and will not command the attention from defenses that will ease pressure on Daniel Jones.

Jaguars add S Darnell Savage

Grade: C

Randy Mueller’s Top 150 ranking: No. 98

The Jaguars get a sixth-year pro who certainly has playmaking ability, but also lacks the consistency necessary to go from borderline solid to great. Savage recorded four interceptions and 75 tackles as a second-year pro in 2020, but his production has declined ever since.

Patriots reunite with QB Jacoby Brissett

Grade: A

Randy Mueller’s Top 150 ranking: No. 114

Looking for a fresh start at quarterback as they kick off the Jerod Mayo era, the Patriots are bringing back a familiar face in Brissett, whom New England drafted in the 2016 third round. Brissett agreed to a one-year $8 million deal with a potential $4 million more in incentives.

Brissett is the perfect bridge for the Patriots, who hold the third pick and could use that on a quarterback. He has played in a variety of systems, is durable and possesses strong leadership skills.

Raiders add QB Gardner Minshew

Grade: B

Randy Mueller’s Top 150 ranking: No. 120

After stepping in for an injured Anthony Richardson, keeping the Colts afloat and helping lead them on a surprise playoff hunt, Minshew lands in Las Vegas, where he’ll have a chance to start as the franchise begins a new era in earnest.

Minshew went 7-6 as a starter last season and threw 15 touchdown passes and nine interceptions. He will compete with Aidan O’Connell, who went 5-5 as a starter last season with 12 touchdown passes and seven interceptions. Minshew has proven he can make plays and win games in this league. But at the very least, the Raiders get a quality backup with starting experience.

Browns add QB Jameis Winston

Grade: C

Randy Mueller’s Top 150 ranking: No. 131

Last season showed why the Browns need a veteran, starter-capable backup to Deshaun Watson. Winston, who spent the last four seasons in New Orleans and went 6-4 as a starter while appearing in 21 games, certainly can step in and sling the rock around the yard. He’ll also fit well into any locker room. Winston, however, remains a roller-coaster at quarterback. If he’s called upon to provide the same stabilizing force and effectiveness Joe Flacco provided during last season’s playoff run, the Browns may wind up disappointed.

Giants add QB Drew Lock

Grade: B

Randy Mueller’s Top 150 ranking: 140

Daniel Jones’ days as Giants starter could be numbered after a 2023 campaign marked first by poor play and then a season-ending ACL tear. Jones is expected to make a full recovery, but he may return to competition from Lock — the 2019 second-round pick shipped by Denver to Seattle as part of the Russell Wilson trade. Lock has spent the last two seasons as Geno Smith’s backup. He went 1-1 in place of an injured Smith this past season and threw three touchdown passes and three interceptions. If Lock has developed while learning behind Smith, and if he can cut down on the turnovers, he could be an option for Brian Daboll and the Giants.

Commanders add QB Marcus Mariota

Grade: C

Randy Mueller’s Top 150 ranking: No. 144

It’s a good move in that Mariota will provide a much-needed veteran presence and mentorship to whomever Washington drafts with the No. 2 pick. It’s a shaky move if the Commanders expect much more than that out of Mariota, who went 5-8 in his last stint as a starter (Atlanta, 2022) while throwing for just 2,219 yards and 15 touchdowns along with nine interceptions.

Vikings add RB Aaron Jones

Grade: B-minus

Randy Mueller’s Top 150 ranking: NR

Minnesota needed a running back after releasing Alexander Mattison, last year’s leading rusher. Jones needed a home after the Packers released him upon signing Josh Jacobs. And so, the two former rivals will team up in hopes of blocking Green Bay from the NFC North. Jones has gone from fifth-round pick (2017) to Pro Bowl rusher (2000) with three 1,000-yard seasons to his name, and he should fit well in Minnesota’s system, because it’s very similar to Green Bay’s. The main question: Can Jones stay healthy? A hamstring strain limited him to just 11 games, 656 yards and two touchdowns last season, and he turns 30 this season. But at one year, $7 million, he comes at a reasonable price.

Colts re-sign DB Kenny Moore II

Grade: A

Randy Mueller’s Top 150 ranking: NR

In a move that reflects the evolution of the game and importance of depth at defensive back because of how heavily teams rely on the pass, the Colts have re-signed Moore to a three-year, $30 million contract that makes him the highest-paid nickel corner NFL history. The Pro Bowl back has averaged 2.4 interceptions and 7.8 pass breakups per season.

(Top photo of Danielle Hunter: Adam Bettcher / Getty Images)

SALT LAKE CITY — Scott Mitchell sinks into the soft gray sectional at 1 a.m.

Hey look, Barry Sanders is on television. It’s a promo for “Bye Bye Barry,” a documentary that debuted on Amazon Prime one hour earlier.

Watching Sanders was always a thrill, even when he was a teammate. Sometimes Mitchell was criticized for doing just that rather than following through with his play fake after handing off. The way Sanders moved was mesmerizing, and Mitchell couldn’t help himself.

Now the 56-year-old has time to watch television at 1 a.m. A few weeks earlier, he was let go from his job as a sports talk radio host for KSL Newsradio, a job he held for seven years.

Mitchell finds “Bye Bye Barry.”

There’s Sanders saying the Lions might have won some playoff games if they hadn’t let go of some players, including Mitchell’s predecessor, Erik Kramer. There’s head coach Wayne Fontes telling Sanders, “We had every piece but the quarterback.” There’s Eminem saying the Lions could have won more if Sanders wasn’t a one-man team. There’s Jeff Daniels joining the chorus.

Mitchell isn’t attacked as much as dismissed.

He seethes, gets off the couch, makes his way to his iMac, logs on to Facebook and begins to type. As soon as he finishes, he thinks he should delete it.

Nah. He hits “Post.”

---

  Scott Mitchell:    I just watched “Bye Bye Barry” on Amazon Prime and It wasn’t a very pleasant experience. I was Barry Sanders teammate for five years. I had a front row seat to some of the most amazing plays in NFL history. He will never have an equal as a pure runner in the NFL. I could argue there were several backs more complete, but I won’t. Barry was great!!

The 6-foot-6 Mitchell couldn’t do much with his feet, but with a left arm like Dumbledore’s wand, he didn’t have to. The ball left his big hand at the highest point and glided over the field, a gull over the sea. And the spin — it should have been the subject of a physicist’s thesis.

Greg Landry, Lions quarterbacks coach in 1995-96: “He could throw the heck out of the football, so accurate.”

Lomas Brown, left tackle: “Scott threw one of the prettiest balls — one of the tightest balls — I’ve ever seen. He could spin that thing, he really could.”

Herman Moore, wide receiver: “He threw probably the best ball that ever was thrown to me, just perfect passes. His was the easiest pass for me to catch.”

Marc Trestman, quarterbacks coach in 1997: “The ball always came out of his hand spinning, almost without effort. There was nothing he couldn’t do in the pocket.”

In three years at Utah, Mitchell set 10 NCAA records and became the 11th leading passer of all time. Miami chose him in the fourth round of the 1990 draft, and he was embraced and empowered by the great Don Shula, who handed Mitchell a playbook on his first day and told him he would be calling his own plays in practice. Mitchell learned how to be a pro by backing up Dan Marino, passer of passers.

Mitchell loved being a Dolphin and bonded easily with many of his teammates. The South Florida lifestyle suited him. But it was a dead-end job, and after two seasons without attempting a pass in a game, Mitchell volunteered to play for the Orlando Thunder of the World League. He threw for the second-most yards in the league and led the Thunder to an 8-2 record.

That year, he also joined Freeman McNeil, Marcus Allen and nine other players in an antitrust suit against the NFL that resulted in unrestricted free agency for the first time in the league’s history.

Then, in Week 6 of the 1993 season, Marino tore his Achilles and Mitchell had his showcase. He was named NFL offensive player of the week after his first game as a starter. Then he was named offensive player of the month.

In the first year of free agency, Reggie White was the grand prize. In 1994, it would be Mitchell. The Dolphins wanted to make him the highest-paid backup in the league with an unheard-of-at-the-time $1.5 million-per-year offer, but richer overtures followed.

The charming Fontes came to Mitchell’s home and showed him the cigar he would light if Mitchell signed with Detroit. The Vikings handed him an 11-page booklet explaining why he was the only quarterback they wanted. Saints coach Jim Mora gave him a 90-minute sales pitch. Rams coach Chuck Knox pledged that, with Mitchell as his QB, no one would call him “Ground Chuck” anymore.

Mitchell had misgivings about how Fontes had used — or misused — quarterbacks in the past but decided to sign a three-year, $11 million deal with Detroit that included a $5 million signing bonus, the second largest in NFL history at the time and $500,000 more than White received from the Packers the year before. Lions GM Chuck Schmidt flew to South Florida to hand Mitchell the check.

“It was a blue check. More zeros than I had ever seen, ever,” Mitchell says. “And I was nervous, like, we need to get this in the bank.”

After making the deposit, he and Dolphins center Jeff Dellenbach celebrated at Burt and Jack’s, Burt Reynolds’ waterfront Fort Lauderdale restaurant. They ordered the two largest lobsters in the house — six-pounders — and a pair of filets so massive they needed to be butterflied to cook evenly.

The celebration ended when Mitchell arrived in Detroit.

  Scott Mitchell:    I am so tired of hearing that I was the reason Barry Sanders never won the Super Bowl. I’m so tired of hearing that I wasn’t a good QB. My only response is F### you all! That includes Eminem and Jeff Daniels.

The Lions made the NFC Championship Game two years prior and were loaded with former or future Pro Bowlers. All they needed, the narrative went, was a quarterback.

Mitchell probably was resented in his own locker room because of that blue check. And because he wasn’t Kramer, a well-liked part-time starter over three seasons. Brown believes Lions management failed to properly integrate Mitchell into a veteran team that was “still upset with them letting Erik Kramer go.”

When he got to Detroit, Mitchell sensed something was off, but he wasn’t sure what. “I just felt like I was interrupting a party,” he says. “Of all the places I played, Detroit was the one where I felt the most disconnected from my teammates.”

Moore was the exception. The quarterback and receiver recognized that they needed one another and bonded through shared commitment. They eventually could tell what the other was thinking without words or gestures. Moore says it is no coincidence that Mitchell was his quarterback all three years he was voted first-team All-Pro.

But Mitchell didn’t concern himself enough with chemistry, relationships, even reading the room. He would host a yearly dinner for the offense — buying prime steaks, fresh stone crabs from Florida and cheesecake from Chicago — but his focus, almost his sole focus, was being the best passer he could be. Naivete led him to believe he could succeed in any situation if he just applied himself more. It resulted, Mitchell believes, in being perceived as aloof and unapproachable.

“Scott was Scott,” Brown says. “Mostly to himself. Kind of quiet.”

In his first eight starts, Mitchell threw 11 interceptions and completed 48 percent of his throws. He was booed in his first game at the Pontiac Silverdome — and every subsequent game. He was struggling against the Packers in Week 9 when he suffered a broken right hand and was lost for the season.

In a 2012 radio interview, Brown said he purposely missed a block on the play that knocked Mitchell out for the season. Brown’s recollection of the play was faulty — he handled his assignment well while Sanders failed to pick up a blitzing safety — but he acknowledges his disgust with Michell’s play and regrets his ill intent.

“I was pissed off during the game,” he says. “I mean, I was mad.”

Mitchell wasn’t aware of Brown’s feelings during their playing days, but the lineman’s admission hurt him. “I’d never do that to another person, let alone a teammate,” Mitchell says. “I felt I got thrown under the bus for no reason. I don’t see Lomas. I don’t talk to Lomas. I don’t want to either.”

After the season, teammates presented him with a trophy featuring a turkey on top — the “Wanker of the Year” award given annually to the biggest complainer.

“I didn’t know if it was a joke, or if they were saying I was kind of a dick,” he says. “It could have been either one.”

  Scott Mitchell:    I can’t even tell you what a disappointment it is to hear my own coach, Wayne Fontes, who went out in free agency and actively pursued me to the point of begging me to come to Detroit, say that he wanted Joe Montana and Warren Moon, and that the only thing missing from the team winning the Super Bowl was a quarterback. A little support from the coach may have gone a long way. Wayne never had my back!

The 1995 season began with the Lions losing three games they easily could have won. Fontes called some of his team leaders to his office. One of them — Mitchell thinks it was safety Bennie Blades — said, “You brought this quarterback here to throw the ball. Let him throw it.”

Tom Moore, who had been promoted to offensive coordinator in the offseason, met with Mitchell. Detroit’s offense was reimagined using the same take-what-the-defense-gives-you, audible-based system Moore and Peyton Manning later used to set records and win a Super Bowl in Indianapolis.

“We changed our strategy,” Mitchell says. “We stopped forcing Barry Sanders on people.”

In Mitchell’s first 15 games with the Lions, he averaged 23 pass attempts. After the meeting with Moore, he averaged 37 attempts per game. Detroit won 10 of 13 and led the league in yards. Mitchell was the NFL’s second-leading passer behind MVP Brett Favre.

“That year we put up statistically was because of Scott and his ability,” Brown says.

But that was the regular season. In a 58-37 wild-card-round loss to the Eagles, Mitchell was intercepted four times and Sanders rushed for 40 yards.

With Mitchell flinging it at a similar rate the next season, the Lions started 4-3. Then Fontes pulled him in the middle of a series during a three-interception game against the Giants. The next night, Mitchell showed up at the team Halloween party dressed as his coach: a pillow under his shirt, a cigar — and Mickey Mouse ears.

He was warming up for a practice later that week when he pulled a muscle off his ribs. He was so determined to play that at 5:30 a.m. the next day, he drove 45 minutes to Henry Ford Hospital, where they stuck a four-inch needle into his ribs and kept it there for 12 minutes to deaden the pain. He passed out the first time, then went back every subsequent morning for another.

It helped his pain but not his passing. “I just couldn’t throw,” Mitchell says. “It was the damndest thing.”

Mitchell started six more games, all losses, performing poorly. Tired of being told he sucked, he stopped going to grocery stores, restaurants and movies.

After the season, Lions owner William Clay Ford asked Mitchell what he should do about Fontes, who had a 66-67 record in nine years. Mitchell never felt like he was one of Fontes’ guys, but he says he told Ford there was nothing wrong with the team and asked him not to change the offense. “We just need more time,” the quarterback told the owner. “Just give us more time.”

Ford fired Fontes and hired Bobby Ross, a former Army lieutenant who coached like one. In Mitchell’s first meeting with his new coach, Mitchell said he thought the offense had much more potential than it had shown. Ross told him Herman Moore told him the same thing and asked if they were in cahoots. “And then he goes, ‘All you guys are interested in is your stats,’” Mitchell says.

According to Mitchell, Ross barred him from meeting with new offensive coordinator Sylvester Croom and told him not to speak with Ford or his son, William Clay Ford Jr., with whom Mitchell had become friendly. The Lions had already decided to double down on Mitchell by giving him a four-year, $21 million contract extension with an $8 million signing bonus, but Ross hadn’t had a say in the decision.

Sanders refused to report until the Lions adjusted his contract so his average per year exceeded Mitchell’s. Mitchell long suspected Sanders didn’t think much of him, and the relationship had difficulties.

“It was challenging to play with him,” Mitchell says. “A lot of those other running backs of the day weren’t going to get you behind the chains very often, and we were behind the chains a lot with Barry. If you didn’t run Barry the right way, it was hard, and it put everyone else in a bind.”

In most offenses, Mitchell would have taken former Bengals teammate Corey Dillon over Sanders. Or Emmitt Smith. Or Marshall Faulk. Or Terrell Davis.

“When we used (Sanders) the way we did in Tom Moore’s offense, I’d take him over anyone,” Mitchell says. “But what made it great was our willingness to throw the football.”

With Croom replacing Tom Moore, the offensive philosophy changed, de-emphasizing the passing game.

“Sylvester got so stuck on Barry and running the ball that a lot of guys were forgotten,” Mitchell says. “Barry rushed for 2,000 yards and it was all wonderful, but we could have been so much more. … It was an amazing opportunity lost.”

In Ross’ first year, Trestman served as a sounding board for Mitchell and a bridge to Ross. But he left after the 1997 season and was replaced by Jim Zorn, who clashed with Mitchell about almost everything. The Lions made the playoffs but lost 20-10 to the Bucs. Mitchell had 78 passing yards in the third quarter when he left the game on a stretcher with a concussion. Sanders rushed for 65 yards.

After opening the 1998 season with two losses, Mitchell was benched in favor of rookie Charlie Batch. His Lions career was over. Detroit traded Mitchell to Baltimore in the offseason for third- and fifth-round picks.

“Us failing wasn’t about Scott as much as it was failing to put the right coaching, schemes and systems around him,” Brown says.

“Scott had an offensive line. He had a running back. He had receivers,” Herman Moore says. “Some of the coaches that came in were so rigid that it was their way or the highway. In that regard, we were all set up to fail because there was no collaboration.”

Mitchell was the opening-day starter for the Ravens the next season but was benched after the second game. In 2000, he signed with the Bengals as a backup and started five games late in the year. He returned to Cincinnati the following season but never started again.

During a preseason game against the Lions, he planned to fire a pass at the sideline to bean Ross. He didn’t do it, but after retiring, he called his former coach to apologize for his rancor nonetheless. Mitchell says Ross appreciated the call and told him, “For what it’s worth, I never should have benched you.”

For the next two years, Mitchell practiced every day as if he would be starting an NFL game soon. He called Cowboys coach Bill Parcells repeatedly to ask for a chance. Parcells never called back. The Raiders finally asked him to come to Oakland for a workout. When he arrived, the tryout was delayed. Then it was canceled.

Mitchell went home and set up for another practice. Then it hit him. It was over.

“I fell to the ground,” he says. “And sobbed uncontrollably.”

  Scott Mitchell:   Bottom line. Barry had everything in Detroit. Everyone loved him. Everything was built for Barry to succeed. In his 10-year career, he won one playoff game and everyone else was the problem? How many yards did Barry have in the playoffs in 94, 95, and 97? I’ll give you a hint: Not very many. We are all to blame for not winning a SB in Detroit, even Barry Sanders.

---

One of Mitchell’s earliest childhood memories was when he was about 2, staying with his grandmother and waking to the smell of Kentucky Fried Chicken, then sitting up in his crib and yelling, “I want Tucky Chicken!” It was the start of a lifetime of unhealthy eating habits.

In his book “Alive Again,” Mitchell acknowledges struggling with his weight during his playing career. He often gained 20 pounds or so in the offseason, but he always dropped the weight and says he never was fined for failing to make his prescribed playing weight of 235 pounds.

By 2014, Mitchell was 13 years and 125 pounds beyond his NFL days. Weighing 366 pounds, he became a contestant on the TV show “The Biggest Loser,” which had him doing eight hours of cardio a day and preparing his own healthy meals. It was hard, so hard he decided to quit in the middle of the show.

“At that point, I felt like I failed,” he says, wiping a tear.

It wasn’t about failing on “The Biggest Loser” as much as it was about failing in football, in life. He took a hike in the Santa Monica mountains and decided to rest. Alone, he sat on a dusty dirt trail. That’s when he says he heard a deep, booming voice: “If you quit now, you’ll regret this for the rest of your life.”

He woke the next morning and saw his football career in a different light. He realized adversity had shaped his character. Through his disappointments and failures, he became more forgiving — even of himself. He developed patience and perspective and discovered he was more resilient than he knew.

Mitchell didn’t quit the show. He lost 124 pounds. And he stopped feeling like a failure.

Since then, it’s been a struggle. Mitchell weighed as much as 418 last year but lost 35 pounds after starting a weight-loss drug and embarking on a workout program with his wife, Anne, whom he married last month. But in January his kidneys shut down, and after five days in the hospital, he developed blood clots in his lungs. He has since regained his health and expects to resume his weight-loss program soon.

He doesn’t talk much to Sanders, who was unavailable for this story. Hardly anyone does. Or ever did.

“He never said a word, ever,” Mitchell says. “After games, he’d just duck out the back door. And it was OK. But I was not close to Barry at all. I don’t know who he is.”

Mitchell has time for fly fishing, 18 holes and playing guitar, or trying to. And for hosting weekly cooking classes for any of his five adult children — you should taste his almond/coconut encrusted sweet chili salmon with cauliflower mashed potatoes and asparagus with lemon, garlic and feta cheese.

He has time to look for a new platform while remaining the color commentator for Utah football on ESPN 700. He has time to follow his old team. Mitchell hasn’t been to a Lions game in five years, but he pulls for Dan Campbell, Jared Goff and Lions fans.

He has time to start a non-profit to provide disadvantaged youth with STEM education and mentoring from athletes. He has time to drive a visitor to the airport.

In years gone by, passengers would remark about his driving — it was a problem to solve, a game of “Tetris.” How can I get to the destination as quickly and efficiently as possible? He gripped the wheel tightly, looked way down the road and didn’t say much, all focus on the challenge.

He’s not driving that way now.

He’s chatting, appreciating the sights. Here’s Point of the Mountain, which separates Salt Lake City and Provo and is the dividing line between Utah fans and Brigham Young supporters. It’s about 230 miles that way to Moab. Four hours this way is the Grand Canyon.

Mitchell is seeing things he never could have 20 years ago.

He believes the Lions could have won a Super Bowl if he had been properly supported. He wants the world to know it. That was the reason for that Facebook post. He needed to get it out and put it in his rearview mirror.

What would he have done differently if he could go back in time?

He looks out the window. The sun shines. In the distance, the Wasatch mountains wear white caps.

“If I knew what I know now,” Mitchell says, pausing, “I would have stayed in Miami.”

(Top illustration: Dan Goldfarb / The Athletic; photos: Vincent Laforet / Allsport via Getty; Dan Pompei / The Athletic)

The Denver Broncos’ decision to release star safety Justin Simmons can easily be written off as collateral damage and an unfortunate but necessary step toward recalibrating their salary cap.

But digging deeper, there seems to be a trend forming in Simmons’ position as a group of safeties have flooded the free agent market with teams seemingly prioritizing other parts of the roster. Kevin Byard, Jordan Poyer, Jamal Adams, Eddie Jackson, Quandre Diggs, Rayshawn Jenkins and Marcus Maye were all suspended (or designated as a post-June 1 reduction in Maye’s case), while Antoine Winfield Jr. was tagged into the franchise by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Kyle Dugger was tagged in transition by the New England Patriots and Xavier McKinney was not tagged in any capacity by the New York Giants.

There was a brief moment on Tuesday when McKinney appeared to be in prime position to monopolize the top end of the safety market in free agency. But within 48 hours, he was standing shoulder to shoulder with more peers than he probably expected.

Supply is about to exceed demand, which could reduce the value of the position. It’s unlikely to be as dramatic as the declining market for running backs, but seven NFL personnel managers and coaches said The Athletics something has developed, even if it only becomes a short-term trend.

“(It’s part of a) larger financial trend,” one executive said. “The market got too high for the overall impact of the position.”

To be fair, it’s impossible to separate Simmons’ release from quarterback Russell Wilson, whose release will result in $85 million in dead cap space against the Broncos. Simmons, 30, may not be at the top of his game anymore, but rival teams still consider him one of the game’s best safeties, and his leadership is impeccable. But the $14.5 million in savings is significant for a team in serious financial disarray following Wilson’s release. The Broncos will have to make a series of tough contractual decisions until Wilson’s money comes off the cap.

“(Simmons) is too expensive considering everything else they have to do,” one coach said. “Russell Wilson is an expensive divorce.”

In that respect, Simmons’ release is unique.

But that’s not the whole story. Despite all of Simmons’ positive attributes, a few executives realized why he wasn’t necessarily worth the cap, and the argument focused more on the position as a whole.

As the league has become more pass-happy, teams are much more likely to overspend on quarterback, wide receiver, offensive tackle, edge rusher, cornerback and defensive tackle.

As a result, they have had to make cuts at other positions, whether it be running back, inside linebacker or safety. Of course there are always exceptions, but that has become the general model. More than $100 million in cash salary was lost on the safety position by 2024, according to Thursday morning. Nick Korte from Over The Cap. At almost $40 million, that was the most of any position.

This is crazy! No loyalty for anything or anyone in this league!
Dude has been a consistent All Pro and Pro Bowler and a staple for Denver!! What’s really going on with this exodus in protections?

— Nino (@qdiggs6) March 7, 2024

As one executive noted, there was a small group of safeties in free agency in 2023, and Jessie Bates (four years, $64 million with Atlanta) was the only player to earn a huge contract. Carolina’s Vonn Bell, Cleveland’s Juan Thornhill and Dallas’ Donovan Wilson were the only others to sign deals worth at least $20 million total. These four were among nine security guards signed for at least $6 million annually.

“Although the market wasn’t nearly as strong (in 2023), you saw teams unwilling to pay,” one executive said. “I think we’re going to see a trend where teams aren’t willing to pay too much for this feature.”

Philosophically, what’s happening may be more similar to what happened to linebackers than to running backs. To some extent, smart defensive coordinators have figured out ways to make safeties and linebackers in specific packages interchangeable commodities. And some of the better slot cornerbacks have taken on safety responsibilities, either in a game plan role or on a full-time basis.

Meanwhile, running backs are easier to find in the draft, and younger players with less mileage are becoming valuable commodities at a position where injuries take their toll, especially when only one is typically on the field at a time.

This actually provided a counterpoint. It’s relatively rare for a newcomer to make an impact, so the veteran market should be more attractive in that sense. It may not feel tangible, but it’s usually not difficult to figure out which cornerbacks are being affected by the safety play around them, for better or worse.

“You’re often looking for defensive coordinators who can get (players) to safety because there aren’t enough of them,” one executive said. “You would think the NFL (veteran) would have more value, but that’s not what happens.”

Some of what happened this week may be largely a coincidence – or at least not indicative of a larger trend about the position. Of the above eight safeties recently released, seven are on the wrong side of thirty. Adams, the exception, has an extensive injury history, playing just 10 games over the past two seasons.

Meanwhile, of 10 sureties on multi-year deals worth at least $10 million per year, Minnesota’s Harrison Smith is the only player older than 30. Like any other position, teams are more willing to hand out market-defining contracts to their younger ones players. Winfield and Dugger are almost certain to skew these numbers further in favor of youth if they turn their tags into extensions. McKinney is also a candidate to join the $10 million club.

So while there certainly appears to be a developing trend, there are several reasons that may explain why so many safety products have flooded the market lately. Teams prioritize positions with more impact, but age and casualties don’t differentiate anywhere on the depth chart.

“With so many (safeties) being released, teams don’t feel the need to overpay,” one coach said. “But I don’t see a long-term safety trend toward paying less like what happened to the running back market.”

(Photo by Justin Simmons: Grant Halverson/Getty Images)

One year ago, NFL executives emerged from the scouting combine thinking the Chicago Bears were open to trading the first pick in the draft. They were right. This year, sentiment from NFL front offices holds that the Bears will use the top pick, acquired from the Carolina Panthers one year ago next week, on USC quarterback Caleb Williams.

Checking in with decision-makers this time of year provides a snapshot of their expectations coming out of the combine. What they think might happen in early March evolves as the draft nears, partly because coaches become more involved in the process. But I find value in taking a snapshot to establish a baseline.

I’ve put together a rough top 10 based on conversations with six executives during and after the combine. Clear themes emerged for quarterbacks, offensive linemen and receivers, with some intrigue surrounding a QB prospect whom teams haven’t assessed as fully.

Last year, execs correctly projected seven of the top 10 players selected. Bijan Robinson, Jalen Carter and Darnell Wright were the three players landing in the actual top 10 without appearing in the March 2023 projection.

Execs narrowly missed on offensive lineman Peter Skoronski (Tennessee picked him 11th). They missed on cornerback Christian Gonzalez, who went 17th to New England. And they whiffed on quarterback Will Levis, who was not selected until the 33rd slot — a reminder that when QBs fall, they can plummet, because only a subset of teams will consider one early in a given year.

This year, the general theme was for quarterbacks to go first, then offensive linemen, then wide receivers, with some overlap between those two final positions. Only a couple of defensive players made the projected top 10.

We are not projecting potential trades below because there are too many possibilities. Finding logical homes for the highest-ranked players based on the order as it stands today captures the general feel at the moment.

Four players appeared in the top 10 on all six ballots: Caleb Williams, Jayden Daniels, Drake Maye and Joe Alt.

Five players appeared on five of six ballots: Dallas Turner, Marvin Harrison Jr., Rome Odunze, Olu Fashanu and Malik Nabers.

JC Latham appeared on four ballots. Jared Verse appeared on three. Brock Bowers appeared on two. Chop Robinson and Byron Murphy II each appeared on one.

The top 10 picks below have been formed from a consensus of the six ballots. Nabers and Latham were not selected in the top 10 because there was no consensus on where either would land, but they would be part of any consensus top 10 overall.

Most also thought J.J. McCarthy would be selected among the top 10, probably to a team that traded up, such as the Denver Broncos. But none of the six execs penciled him in for one of the teams already picking in the top 10, at least not yet.

1. Chicago Bears: Caleb Williams, QB, USC

Vote distribution: Williams 6

All six execs had the Bears selecting Williams and trading incumbent starter Justin Fields. All endorsed Chicago heading down this path.

“I would be evaluating the other quarterbacks like crazy right now and saying, ‘What if I moved down to two or three and got a historic return?’” one of the execs said. “Would I still be getting a franchise quarterback?”

The strongest concern voiced regarding Williams was his tendency to hold onto the ball longer than is ideal for a timing-based offense. In a worst-case scenario, that could lead to more third-and-long situations, robbing an offense of consistency. But the feeling among execs was that Chicago should not hesitate in making Williams the first selection.

2. Washington Commanders: Jayden Daniels, QB, LSU

Vote distribution: Daniels 5, Maye 1

Five of six execs had Daniels heading to Washington in this slot. One of the five initially had Maye, then changed to Daniels a few days later.

“I think people struggle with Maye’s mechanics,” this exec said.

The one holdout for Maye in this slot said he heard Commanders general manager Adam Peters was “really into” Maye. The fit could be appealing. Maye and incumbent Commanders starter Sam Howell were teammates at North Carolina. Howell could open the 2024 season as the starter if the Commanders wanted to give Maye time to assimilate.

Another exec left open the possibility that Michigan’s McCarthy could compete with Daniels and Maye for this slot.

“If he throws well,” this exec said of McCarthy, “he is competing for the No. 2 spot. I don’t see him overtaking them, though.”

The Athletic’s Randy Mueller predicted months ago that McCarthy could rise into the top five as teams and specifically coaches learned more about him, before it was known whether McCarthy would enter the draft. Mueller, a three-time GM and one-time NFL Executive of the Year, also thinks analysts are overrating Maye based on prototypical size, and that some teams will not have Maye rated as highly.

“I think that whole quarterback thing between McCarthy and Maye is yet to play out,” a former GM said. “The other two I think are more set.”

For now, all six execs projected Maye being selected second or third.

“Could you say McCarthy could go in the top five? Yes,” the former GM said, “because everybody had him on the back burner this fall. And then Michigan was not centered around the quarterback like Oregon or Washington was, so he was not going to put up monster numbers. But then when you start looking at the talent and the makeup, he looks pretty good to people.”

Vote distribution: Maye 5, Daniels 1

Every exec had the Patriots selecting a quarterback in the first round. Maye was the choice more by default than because anyone thought New England was particularly high on him.

“I think they would probably rather have Jayden Daniels, but I’ll put Maye in there,” one exec said.

One GM whose team already has a franchise quarterback thought McCarthy would be “a huge reach” in this spot, but he conceded New England could make a bold selection with Eliot Wolf running the draft room.

“I think they go quarterback,” this GM said. “Do they take a shot at J.J.? Eliot won’t be afraid to if he believes in the player. Just look at what his dad has done.”

Ron Wolf famously acquired Brett Favre from the Atlanta Falcons three decades ago.

“Ron Wolf’s son is going to go for the biggest, fastest, most talented athlete in most cases,” a different exec said.

Vote distribution: Joe Alt 2, Dallas Turner 2, Marvin Harrison Jr. 2

There was zero consensus on Arizona in this slot. I gave Turner to the Cardinals because their defense badly needs reinforcements.

“Turner is squarely in the top 10 now,” one exec said, citing the Alabama product’s 4.46 in the 40-yard dash.

We could have sent Harrison or Alt to the Cardinals just the same.

“I think they have to go pass rush if they stay there,” one of the execs said. “It could be Dallas Turner. Verse might be a safer pick. I would think they will be looking to move down. There is enough rush, even a Chop Robinson, to get him lower. Seven (Titans) and six (Giants) could trade up for a tackle.”

Trading down from this spot makes perfect sense, perhaps regardless of how the top three picks play out.

“I would expect them to trade the pick,” one of the execs said. “Look at how they moved back last year, and then the fact that this is going to be an attractive spot because it allows someone to come up from a distance to get the player they want.”

This exec was picturing one of the quarterback-needy teams vaulting into this spot for McCarthy or Maye. The Cardinals have already committed to Kyler Murray as their quarterback. Moving back to, say, the 12th slot in a trade with Denver could still deliver the eighth-best non-quarterback in the draft for a team already set at the position.

“That is a perfect distance maybe for Arizona to go back, load up on picks, including a first next year, and there are still players there that are going to have equal opportunity to have a significant impact,” the exec said. “They could get the No. 1 corner, the No. 2 edge guy, still a good tackle, still a good receiver.”

Arizona has been a popular destination for Harrison in mock drafts. While four of the six execs projected Harrison to be the first receiver selected, Nabers and Odunze also got votes, and Harrison wasn’t necessarily seen as the best by a wide margin.

“I think they’ll take Marvin Harrison because I think he is the most talented, solid, all-the-way-around guy,” another exec said. “Let me put it to you this way: I see him being the best available player at that time. If you don’t look at him as better than Odunze or Nabers, then yeah, maybe you go with Alt or Dallas Turner. But they gotta keep giving their quarterback some players, too, and I think Marvin Harrison is going to check every box, and is more talented.”

Vote distribution: Alt 2, Fashanu 2, Turner 1, Nabers 1

The first four execs polled sent an offensive lineman to the Chargers, figuring the pick would make sense symbolically for the team’s old-school coach, Jim Harbaugh. But there was some strong pushback against this idea as well, which we’ll get to in a moment.

“Joe Alt might be the safest and most complete of the tackles,” one exec said. “They have a left tackle. They could play him at right tackle. You are going to want to give the quarterback a run game, and then you are going to want to protect him for the first time in his career.”

Solid thinking, but is it solid value?

“That is one thing I just don’t get,” another exec said. “Taking a guy to play right tackle, I just don’t understand that. Alt is clean, and I love Alt, but with pass rushers, there is a big difference in the value of the position to me. We can find a right tackle.”

This exec penciled in Turner for the Chargers. Another leaned toward the offensive line initially but thought Nabers would make the greater impact.

“To get Herbert a guy like Nabers would give them some L.A. fireworks,” he said.

6. New York Giants: Marvin Harrison Jr., WR, Ohio State

Vote distribution: Harrison 2, Nabers 1, Odunze 1, Latham 1, Alt 1

Four of the six execs had the Giants selecting a receiver, but there wasn’t strong conviction regarding which receiver would be the choice, partly because the top three wideouts could go in just about any order.

An exec who sent Harrison to the Cardinals at No. 4 settled on Odunze for the Giants.

“Nabers is more speed, while Odunze is more possession, big, strong, physical,” this exec said. “They might go with Odunze just because they took the speed guy out of Tennessee (Jalin Hyatt) last year, and this would be a good complement.”

The Giants need help on their offensive line, but they’ve invested recent high draft choices in the position. The exec sending Latham to the Giants noted that the team seems to like SEC players. What about a quarterback?

“If you are the Giants and J.J. McCarthy is there, I think you have to take him,” one exec said. “That doesn’t mean they will do it. They desperately need offensive line. Let’s just give them Alt. I could see them saying, ‘If Jones doesn’t work this year, we will have another top 10 pick next year and worry about it then.’”

Vote distribution: Fashanu 2, Latham 1, Alt 1, Nabers 1, Verse 1

Four of the six execs sent an offensive lineman to the Titans.

“They have not replaced Taylor Lewan, and they need to do that,” one of the execs said. “The guy they took last year (Skoronski) was really a guard. They need a left tackle.”

The lone exec sending a defensive player to the Titans did so based on what he knows about Tennessee’s GM, Ran Carthon.

“I think they go with the best pass rusher,” this exec said. “Ran would probably rely on his 49er days, probably take Verse. I have not personally studied Verse and Turner enough to have a strong opinion, but that is my gut based on what I have seen.”

8. Atlanta Falcons: Jared Verse, Edge, Florida State

Vote distribution: Verse 2, Turner 2, Robinson 1, Latham 1

The execs generally thought the Falcons would address their quarterback situation in free agency or by trade, although one GM offered up another possibility.

“They are the most likely to trade to 1 and get Caleb Williams, or trade for Fields,” this GM said.

Adding young pass rush help for a veteran defense wouldn’t be as exciting. It could be the best option.

“You can’t take another offensive skill player, can you?” one of the execs said. “I don’t see a quarterback necessarily because I think they are going to sign Russell Wilson. They could go corner, too, but I’ll give them a pass rusher.”

Another exec cautioned against ruling out a receiver, noting that the Falcons could still use help at the position. But he thought defense was more likely.

9. Chicago Bears: Rome Odunze, WR, Washington

Vote distribution: Odunze 3, Nabers 1, Harrison 1, Byron Murphy II 1

Odunze was the highest-rated receiver available in this scenario and a straightforward pick for a team that targeted its franchise quarterback at the top of the draft. The Bears also could find a defensive player for their defensive-minded coach, Matt Eberflus, under the thinking that Williams would unlock more from their receivers, led by DJ Moore.

“To pair Caleb with a top-tier receiver, both of them young, both with a lot of time, yeah, it would be really hard not to do that,” one exec said.

10. New York Jets: Brock Bowers, TE, Georgia

Vote distribution: Bowers 2, Nabers 1, Odunze 1, Fashanu 1, Latham 1

None of the execs thought selecting a tight end in this slot would be a sound move.

“When you are picking in the top 10 and you need offensive line help and you take a tight end, that is malpractice,” the exec sending Fashanu to the Jets said. “You can’t do that. That is just ridiculous.”

Another exec said the Jets needed to select a tackle in this slot, or trade back and select one. But he didn’t necessarily think the Jets would do that.

“It is hard in the top 10 to not take a building-block position, but the Jets are in a unique spot because they have to win this year or they don’t have jobs,” this exec said. “You are getting weapons for Aaron Rodgers and he is going to scheme it for you. They have swung and missed on so many offensive linemen. I would think they go offensive line in free agency.”

(Top photos of, Drake Maye, left, and Jayden Daniels: Grant Halverson, Jonathan Bachman / Getty Images)