Predicting the top 10 offenses of 2024
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Hello, I'm Nate Tice and welcome to Football 301. Twice a week on Tuesdays and Thursdays, me, Charles McDonald, Matt Harmon, and others are going to break down, preview, recap, cover the NFL, NFL Draft,

Maybe a little college football, everything else in between. I don't know if you guys heard, it's a year-round sport. But so get ready for deep dives on X's and O's, game day strategy. Hear exactly why your favorite player scored that first touchdown or exactly why maybe your favorite team blew that last third down stop. Plus, you know, a few lists, ranking shows, get the juices flowing a little bit.

And that's exactly what we're going to do on episode one and two of Football 301. We're going to start with the top 10 offenses for the 2024 NFL season on this episode. Top 10 defenses on Thursday, which you'll be hearing tomorrow since this comes out on Wednesday. But to help me do that, I already mentioned them. They are going to be regulars on this show, and they're extremely talented. They're smart.

Occasionally funny. And, you know, I'm not gonna say which one, but you know, but both are featured on Yahoo. Both are fantastic. First is Mr. Charles McDonald. Mr. Forverts, how you doing today, Charles? Doing good. Sometimes I feel more occasionally smart than occasionally funny. But for you, my friend, I will try to be as smart as I can.

All the time. Excited to launch this show. It's going to be a lot of fun. I think we're going to have a lot of fun along the way. A lot of hijinks, a lot of laughs, and lots of learning, which is what you're in a 301 class for. I never made it to one in college, but now I finally get to be a part of one. That's all it was. That's what they don't tell you. They say it's all boring first, and then fun's actually the 301 class, and that's where you get to hang out with the cool kids. But...

Now for the funny one. Oh, remember of our three man, the creator of a reception perception, Mr. Matt Harmon. What's going on? I was like, please don't put that pressure on me to be the funny one. I try. I'm going to do my best, but we'll see what happens. No, I'm excited to be here, man. Excited to launch this show is going to be great. Nate, I've been a fan of yours for a long time. I'm happy to really officially be collaborating in this manner. That's going to be electric. And of course, Charles, you know, we've

We go way back, buddy. So I'm excited to I'm excited to talk ball with you guys, you know, once a week here as many times you'll have me. I'm in this show in particular. I'm very excited for. Yeah, like Matt said, it's gonna be different kind of two and three man iterations of this group. You know, maybe a few hours dropping in and out, but you're gonna hear this on Wednesday, but will be Tuesday and Thursday from here on out. Season starts. Camp started. It's done. My golf day is done. It's gone. It's bye bye. So but enough words. What's

Let's rank some stuff. Today, we're going to do top 10 offenses for the 2024 season. You can interpret this how you want. You can be total points. You can be total yards, but we're going to be going by DVOA, formerly Football Outsiders, now FTN, but it's easier for people, if you even care, to track this to see how we did throughout the season. We're going to be tracking it. We might have a little competition, a little contest for this as well. I'm deciding right now, but I know it'll happen in New Orleans. That's all I got for you, which

which is perfect. It's a great city to have a punishment and reward. Right. It's great. So, yeah, let's just get going. We're going to go reverse order. We're going to start at 10. If anyone had matches, you'll hear us get going and hear us have all our thoughts on it. But let's start with Matt. Matt, start us off with number 10. Number 10 offense for the 24 NFL season. Yeah, number 10 for me is the Buffalo Bills. I will say, I don't know if you guys felt the same way, but really, if I sit down and think about

15 to nine. Like if I'm ranking the whole league, that was, that was really like a big clump. So there's plenty. If you're pissed off, once you hear the rest of my list or any of the other guys list and your team's not featured here, it was a close call. Okay. But I ultimately ended up going with Buffalo for a couple of different reasons. One, they have Josh Allen, who's one of the two best quarterbacks in the planet on my opinion, in my opinion. So how far can they really fall? And you mentioned it, Nate reception, perception, the site that I do receiver analysis is,

I think that this receiver room, this pass catching group in general is actually a little bit better and certainly more interesting than maybe the public thinks. So ultimately those are the two reasons why I went with the bills with, with Alan. I think it's a, it's a floor setting move. And I do think those receivers can kind of fit into some interesting roles here as they move into what I guess this would be like,

version 3.0 4.0 of the Josh Allen experience in Buffalo and I think he can be a pretty good one yeah that's fun Charles you had him at 6 I also had him at 10 I'll share my thoughts in a minute but Charles you had him at 6 a little juicy

Is this some Josh Allen-ism to this grading or just the Bills offense? What else do you want to harp on this offense since you have a six? It's mostly Joshy related. I mean, he's amazing. If you can't get Mahomes, it's like Josh Allen, Lamar Jackson, that next tier to me. Even though I don't have the Ravens in my top 10 list, which we'll get to later. But I do have them six here mainly because...

I think I'm a little bit higher on this offensive line than most people, especially on the interior. I'm a big fan of Osiris Torrance. They played well last year. Deion Dawkins, I don't understand how that body type works the way it does, but he's still a pretty good left tackle. And then when you look in the backfield...

You got Josh Allen, James Cook, who played pretty well last year, especially down the stretch last year after they switched offensive coordinators. And it was kind of like a tale of two seasons where they couldn't really run the ball the first half, but they're really good throwing. In the second half, they had some struggles throwing, but they're really good on the ground. And I think James Cook can kind of pick up where he left off there. And I'm also with that. I don't know if this receiving room is as terrible as maybe people make it seem. Because, yeah, you have...

Keon Coleman and Hubert who you're breaking in Curtis Samuel is you know a bit of a journeyman at this point in his career but the tight end room should be strong from a receiving standpoint and there's a target vacuum now that Stefan Diggs is in Houston even though they did kind of struggle to get him the ball over the back half of last season last year I think this is it's a good setup that were pretty balanced offense I think they'll be able to score a lot I

I still think the Bills can win a division. I think they can still win a playoff game. Maybe I'm unreasonably behind this group, but I think the floor with some of the pieces they have on the offensive line plus the backfield kind of will help them at least stay buoyant for the upcoming season. Going off of Matt's head too, it's like my honorable mention list is going to be just as fun as this ranking. We'll get to those at the end, but it was this group of like 8 to 13 offenses that

like ranking eight to 13 were kind of the same tier. The bills one, as I did more and more notes and more and more kind of like putting this show, like my notes for the show together, I was kind of like,

hey, I can get behind this. Wow. Maybe I'm watching too much of the House of the Dragon season two right now. And I just keep coming back to like, yeah, you have an army, but we have a dragon. Like, that's Josh Allen. That's why I just kind of started diving in. I actually even watched a few of the late season games because it's kind of funny how your memory works, especially when you get older. But this run game was a top five run game when it was all said and done. They are fifth in success rate on running back runs. So we're not even including Josh Allen's legs here.

But Josh Allen's legs are the biggest weapon in the game. It's the most devastating weapon in the game. He had a design runner scramble 89 times last year. 66 of those were successful plays for the Bills. That's a smidge under 75%. And for reference, mid 40% is good for a run game. 50% is like an all-time rushing season.

75% on a workload that's like a second running back for a team, that's insane. And so on top of it, him running the ball, their run game, the whole line, they're kind of going burly. Like they put McGovern at center of science science, which Charles alluded to. I think they're kind of leaning into a little bit more power run, which they did last season too. But the last thing, I kind of want to break the connotation, I think, of Josh Allen as this crazy horse guy.

can't hit the broadside of a barn. You hope that he just like can laser in. He's a supremely accurate quarterback now. He just tries a lot of stuff. But I looked at one little stat here. Can't get to true media yet, but we'll get to that. But so they're going on sports info solutions. I looked at dropbacks that were quick game or just a standard three or five step drop back from the gun. So without play action, without RPOs, 25 quarterbacks had 200 or more pass attempts of those types of pass steps last year.

Josh Allen was first in completion percentage with Jared Goff, 71.1%. First in catchable ball rate, over 90%. Second and third were Mahomes and Dak, if you think this is an empty stat. Second in success rate, only behind Jared Goff, but he had higher usage than Goff. At 53%, over 50 is insane. He's at 53%. Second lowest bust rate on these plays. Only Dak was better. And he was seventh in yards per attempt, but this team was 20th in yards after catch per reception last year.

This dude's the dude. It's crazy to me when we've kind of maybe some football media hype him up and people are going like, ah, whatever. He's a dummy. It's like, no, this guy is supremely talented. So that's really where I start and kind of end with. But you guys mentioned the receivers kind of being a little underrated. I love Khalil Shakir. I think he's just a nice role player. Keon Coleman's going to be fun. I know, Matt, you like him as like a power slot, right? Like kind of.

And I think that's interesting, though. I know you had hesitations on it, but with him and Kincaid, I think this could work because of just how they do formation stuff. They can kind of play a little inverse game where Kincaid's on the outside and Coleman's in the slot, kind of like what the Lions do with Laporta and St. Brown. So...

It's coming together for me. I'm visualizing this offense, and that's why I put him at 10. No, totally. And I wonder on your Josh Allen point if there's almost like a bit of a... Look, nobody's a bigger fan of Stefan Diggs than me going back to the Vikings days, but...

I wonder if like there's a little bit of a weight off of his shoulders at this point just because of where that relationship was, number one. And also Diggs, I think, was a declining player last year, not just in the back half of the season. I think he was a guy that had lost his vertical separation ability throughout the course of the year. They were just kind of running hot on some 50-50 balls early in the year, which bled into the production. And that stuff doesn't.

translate over the course of the season, which is why I think the production fell off in the back half. But there's still that pressure to get that number one receiver 140 targets, especially when it's a guy that's as vocal and as competitive as Stefan Diggs. So we have now this collection of guys in this room that I think can play. I'm a big Curtis Samuel fan, and I think he can play outside as a man coverage beater. They're

He hasn't been paired with a lot of good quarterbacks, dating back to Washington and then Carolina. But that guy can beat man coverage. You didn't see Sam Howell's passing stats last year? Dude, don't even get me started on the Sam Howell stuff this early into this podcast iteration. That was a battle I was fighting last year, man. A battle that nobody needed to fight, so that's how I spend my time. But...

There's going to be plenty of those on the show. I believe it. Curtis Samuel. Plenty of hills to die on. I've been dying on the Curtis Samuel Hill for a long time. He can beat man coverage on the outside. I think with Keon Coleman, like you mentioned it, if you look just through the course of my prospect charting, like the guys that are sub 35th percentile

press and man coverage beaters at college and then have gone on to be successful pros. It's all like big slot receivers, which I agree with you there. I don't think he's going to run all of his routes from the slot for sure. Like there's going to be times where he's on the line of scrimmage as the perimeter receiver, but they can do things to get him open in that way. And I also like, nobody wants to think about this, but,

They sign MVS. They sign Chase Claypool. They sign Matt Collins. I'm obsessed with the idea of like the sacrificial X receiver as modern NFL offenses are doing all this fun stuff with pre-snap motion, motion at the snap. That's mostly going to be like your front side flanker slot players. Somebody's got to just be on the boundary and just

run wind sprints and clear stuff out. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

And they're all dirty work guys. All those guys block. This run game is going to be dynamite. I really do. They're on to something. They really figured it out in the second half of the year. Some of Joe Brady's stuff, you know, there wasn't that much difference between Dorsey and him as far as concept wise. Some increases and some use, but it was like, oh, he's using this more out of this. And it's like one snap a game.

He used motion more on these on past plays. There's one snap. It was like, yeah, that's going to skew it a little bit. But I think it's still but I should also say this is he's above board for me. Like he's not a I think he's above average at the very least as a play caller and everything. But yeah, again, they my only negative I'd say for this and this is has a little bit of hesitancy was they had they're the luckiest team as far as O-line health last year. Ninety seven percent of their snaps were by their starting five offensive line.

So that is, you know, is there some regression there? Their depth isn't fantastic. I like the Van Praan, the center they drafted from Georgia. I like it's kind of like a backup piece that they maybe can, you know, just in case in there. I like him a lot more longer term and everything. But, you know, I

Got a lot to cook with here in Buffalo. Uh, Charles though, who'd you have a 10? Cause we, that was Matt and I both had the bills at 10 and you had the bills at six, but who is your number 10? The Atlanta Falcons. And I'm going to tug at your, I'm going to tug at your heartstrings here. Cause now that you are on this side of the fence and the media, we have talked a lot over the last two years about the Atlanta Falcons and you've kind of stepped into my world about how frustrating that team can be. Um,

And I think last year, as bad as it went for them, and even 2022, I say to a better degree, there's so many drives where you watch them and it's just a machine. Like they are cruising down the field. Run game looks great. Play action passes is working. Then they get to like the 25 yard line and it all just...

craps out you mean the red zone channel the red zone the red zone where they they were usually on there for low lights more than highlights last year but i think if you just if you can get where kirk cousins was last year before he got hurt and i don't think this is me just coping as a fan to say it's like he was playing the best football of his career last year before he got hurt

If you can get that version back with Drake London, with Kyle Pitts, with B. John Robinson, you still got Algier in the backfield and the offensive line can take a step because they have some young guys on the interior. I don't see why they can't be a top 10 unit, like a fringe top 10 unit. I even think...

You know, having Mooney as a wide receiver, too, is a nice compliment to Drake London. I don't think this will be a world-beater offense. I don't think it'll be great or, you know, like super elite. But I do think that they have enough pieces and just enough on the offensive line where they can flirt with top 10 status. So I give them number 10. Matt, where are you at with the Falcons' offense? Yeah, I consider them...

And I think they have two and a half really, really good skill position players. And I Kyle Pitts is the half just because I'm kind of a I'm a Kyle Pitts centrist. Like, I'm not one of these like fantasy dorks that are all the way out on Kyle Pitts at this point. But I'm not in there. I'm not in the crew that's like completely willing to write off everything. Like, I think last season he definitely just wasn't 100 percent healthy. That's why I'm going with the half there. But.

Drake London's awesome. I think they can maximize Drake London by moving him around the formation because he's mostly just been a boundary receiver in Arthur Smith's offense. I think he's like a natural fit with what they're probably going to do with Zach Robinson. Bijan Robinson is obviously great. They have pretty good players on the offensive line. I just with the Cousins uncertainty, you know, coming off the Achilles injury. That's why they just barely missed my list. But overall, I'm high on this unit. Yeah.

Yeah, I have them as a top half unit, but not quite top 10. But if they sneak into the spot 10, 8, somewhere around here, I would be shocked. But shoot, even if they're like 13, that's a pretty significant. Dude, I would take that in a heartbeat. Are you kidding me? Oh my God. We're not going to talk about the defense, though.

No, I, the Falcons, oh my God, so frustrating because on this iteration, this version of the show last year, I had a hot, spicy take on the Falcons offense that just blew up in my face. But that, and why I like the offense though was I like the offensive line. I don't think it's great, but I think it's,

Fine. And I think it's not true glaring weakness. They were kind of disappointing for me last year. Chris Lindstrom, I thought, had a rough first half of the year. Came on in the second half of the year. Didn't affect that PFF grade, though. Right tackle, you know, Cale McGarry, like, you know, he's limited. But in this type of offense, it works. It's run game and play action. This is a McVay-Rams-Ramsey.

I think a type of offense that they're going to run, which I think is going to be great for Bijan because he's going to be on the field doing all those things. Hopefully they're doing even more under center. There was more of a gun run game last year. I think Bijan would be a really good under center back. He's got everything.

But yeah, I just couldn't get over the hump. I don't like Mooney as much as most people do. I think he's more of a three and he's kind of slot only ish to me, but he has some juice and I think it's fine. Rondell Moore is more of a gadget guy than like a true two or anything. Yeah, he was a running back last year. And I love London, though. I think we all do on this pod. I think he's a star. He's the guy that's going to break out really in this offense. I think you guys already hit on that.

Pitts, I guess, is already injured. So I kind of just couldn't get all the way there. And you got almost a 40-year-old quarterback coming off the kill. He's 36. Okay. I know. We're in the same class. Once you're in your 30s, you just start rounding up and up and up. That's the same. Yeah, might as well be the same.

It's the same. I love that tweet where it's like, here comes the old man who can barely get out of bed in the morning. All this guy, 31 years old. Look at him go. I feel the same way. I can't get up. I know. All right. So we're going to number nine here. You guys both have the same team, I believe, at number nine. And that is the Philadelphia Eagles. Charles, let's start with you.

Eagles at number nine. I'm really concerned about the fit between Jalen Hurts and Kellen Moore, but it's just a respect to the talent. It's like, I don't really see, unless they have wild injuries, I don't really see how this is actually a bad offense. Could it be inconsistent and frustrating? Definitely. I think that that's probably going to be the case, but anything worse than top 10 with the players you have assembled, I think would be a pretty big failure. That's

pretty good yeah matt matt matt your feelings on kello more eagles offense where you stand with them saquon barkley fancy shares i have no idea how to feel about that one either but yeah how do you feel about the i almost feel the same way as what charles just said which is like these players are too good um although i i grappled with the fact that the spoiler bangles are not in my top 10 and i i kind of feel the same way of that i have similar questions which is just like

What type of offense is this going to be? We'll save the Bengals discussion because they're going to come up for at least one of us in the top 10 here. But with Kellen Moore, same thing. What he's done does not exactly map onto what Jalen Hurts has been for the Philadelphia Eagles. But...

which is a pretty significant question. So maybe I shouldn't just be like, once I put that aside, once I put that aside, I mean, AJ, besides that, AJ Brown is like an incredible receiver. I think he could have had 2000 yards last year if that offense didn't fall apart. I mean, he was pacing that way in the first half of the season and there was no drop off

and his individual play. I don't think Devonta Smith had his best year last year, but he's a player I'm still extremely high on, I think is one of the best twos in the league. You mentioned Barkley. Yeah, obviously from like a fantasy perspective, it's just, is he going to go score touchdowns or are they going to keep doing the tush push, which is still, it's still a pretty significant advantage if we're just talking about an offense moving the ball down the field. So yeah, this was really more of a, these players are probably better than yours. So I feel like even at ninth, that would almost kind of be

disappointing if they're the ninth best offense in the league based on how good these players are. So that was sort of the compromise between the coaching and everything and that sort of big question, but how good these players are. Yeah, I did not have the Eagles though. They were my sacrificial lamb. Eagles fans already love me, so it'll be great. But yeah, but I'm not, again, I think

This is the end run offense to me. It's too good to fail. And, but it's just like, I don't know if it's real. It's kind of, the players are very good. I just, I think what Charles said, his first take on it, it might have up and down moments, but I don't know how good it is. And it like really like once it comes down to playoff time and everything, the Kellen Moore, Joan Hurts marriage, I've mentioned this before on your guys' pods is one of my most. Yeah.

fascinating thing I'm looking at in the entire NFL losing Jason Kelsey is huge more bigger than most offenses I mean period not just because it's talent but also his mental side so I kept them off but I'm not saying they're 18th I'm saying they're more like 11th you know they just missed the cup for me I'm already spoiling the honorable mentions but anyways uh but my number 19

I know. It's great. No, I can't have it without it. Every time I do a ranking show, they're not happy with me. So screw it. So here we go. So we're going number nine, though. This is spicy for me. I'm going with the Colts.

And this is kind of my bullish takes on Anthony Richardson and Shane Steichen coming together. That Colts offensive line was one of the most improved units in the entire NFL last year. Any position, anything. It was remarkable. They went from absolutely garbage to good with a lot of the same personnel. Health helps. But I'm a little smoky with this hot take. Anthony Richardson, Jonathan Taylor only had one snap together on the field last year. Crazy.

I just want to see this run game. I want to see these two on the field with that offensive line and with those two in the backfield. Last year with Gardner Minshew and Zach Moss back there, they finished 8th in rushing DVOA and 13th in EPA parallel down rushes. So...

This was a top half rushing game without the dudes there for most of the steps. So, yeah, let's see what we go there. I like all the complimentary pieces. I like the tight ends. I like the receivers are interesting. Pittman, I think, is a very low end one high and two, but a good, good, good, good player. Same with Josh Downs.

maybe we get some out of ad mitchell this year so talented but i love that pick um yeah and i'm just really really high on anthony richardson i think he's going to improve in leaps and bounds this year so i think this offense at the very least is going to be very fun they're on the game pass team you know version multi-view youtube tv they're not a sponsor but i'll throw that out there the multi-view i'm going to really enjoy that well i always have the colts game up there so yeah colts very excited to watch this offense at number nine over the eagles

over some other teams that I'm sure people will be very happy about. I was so excited to get out of the fantasy space, stretch my legs, get away from that. You can't have a fantasy conversation and not have outrageous Anthony Richardson hype. And here we have the Colts as the ninth best offense in the league. I love it, though. If Anthony Richardson can...

Just be what he was to start last year. I think this whole, which is not perfect. There's some consistent accuracy concerns, but this ecosystem is set up to go for a young quarterback. So I get where your thought process is here. And I've always liked Steigen because we have similar...

Offensive upbringing. His is a way more extended and vast experience than mine, but just as far as how he does things, they don't use a lot of motion, which is different than a lot of NFLs right now. It's a feature, not a bug. And I think that's easier on the quarterback. It's easier on the offensive line. It's a clean picture for those guys. And I think that's why you saw some easy kind of gains early in that season. So yeah, I'm just excited to watch it. I think this offense is going to be sick. But as you know, Matt, is that

quarterback rushing yards is the biggest hack of fantasy football. Has anyone told you that? Maybe one day. Everyone loves talking about that.

So here's another one. We're going on to number eight here. Matt, you have a team that neither of us have, which is actually pretty shocking at your number eight spot. And who would that be? Which offense? Yeah, I have Baltimore Ravens here. They were top six in EPA per play success rate last year. And I get... And neither of us do. I was a little surprised that neither of you guys had them. One, because they have the quarterback. I mean, it's similar to the argument that we just had with the Bills where...

this is a guy who sets the floor for you at some point. Like if Lamar Jackson's healthy and he went, he's number one, he's, he's sick. He's missed like three days of camp with an illness already, which of course he had. That's how you, that's how you know football's back. Yeah. Let's get that. Get that Lamar Jackson illness out of the way early. But as long as he's out there for 17 games, I struggle to see how this is not a top 10 offense. There's definitely turnover and potential issues on the offensive line. And like you guys can speak to that for sure. But Lamar,

And I think there are generally questions about the skill position players, but I love the Derrick Henry edition. I think every human being who covers football loves the Derrick Henry edition. But even in the past, catching basketball,

like group there. Mark Andrews is back healthy. I think Isaiah likely showed some stuff that they might want to try to get those two guys on the field together. And I think they can, because Andrews has basically been a detached from the formation tight end and he could, he can do some slot receiver for stuff for them. Zay flowers was awesome. Awesome. As his own beater last year, that was like a critical development. Him and Lamar need to, I think work on timing and chemistry on like big in breaking routes for sure. But he can also run out breaking routes. I don't know if he's a true number one, but I,

probably a better receiver than Lamar has ever had. And Nate, for God's sakes, like you and I are supposed to be the last holdouts on Rashad Bateman Island, except the people who run the Ravens can't stop talking about him. So, I mean, I'm trying to be negative on him. So maybe it'll be positive this year. So yeah, try to reverse jinx my baby. I understand the reverse jinx, but I do think Bateman has shown more on film than he has in the, in the stat sheet. So if he can, again, big, if I get it, if he can stay healthy, I'm,

Along with Lamar staying healthy, I do think they have enough players here to cobble together a top 10 offense. Second year in the system with Todd Monken doesn't help either. It doesn't hurt either. Charles, why'd you keep him off? I'm going to just poop all over you. I think that this might be the worst offensive line of football this season. Like, really. I like Todd Lindenbaum. I think he's a stud. That's one of five. Ronnie Stanley has been extremely up or down since he's gotten his...

You know, his ACL and his Achilles injuries, that hasn't really been an avenue that has worked well for them. And they've even like split time with him during games where they have him playing part time reps and they put someone else in like Patrick McCurry was the guy that would spell Ronnie sometimes.

that seems to me like it would be dubious that he could just go ahead and last another season and play well. Andrew Voorhees is a former seventh round pick who hasn't started really before. Ben Cleveland hasn't played well when he's been in the lineup as a starter at guard. And Roger Rosengarden is a rookie starting at right tackle who I, I, I like his upside as a pass pro guy, but in the run game, I kind of expect him to get tossed out of the club as a rookie. Um,

I just don't really see. I understand that it's kind of like the similar argument to Buffalo, but I am deathly afraid of this offensive line. They lost a ton of snaps. They lost a lot of veteran presence from last season. Zyler's gone. John Simpson's gone. Morgan Motz is gone. That's three starters, and you're replacing them with a rookie. One guy in Ben Cleveland who hasn't played well when he's been in, and Andrew Voorhees, who is a second-year seventh-round pick. I don't really see how this works.

But I think the unit last year was better than the sum of their parts anyways. So I think that kind of makes me think maybe they can integrate these guys. I'm maybe just giving the organization the benefit of the doubt because they consistently pull this off. They move guys who've gone from guys at the right time and bring younger players in. They've pulled this off before. That's kind of my thought. But I will say, if there was one backfield that could survive not having blockers, it's probably Lamar Jackson and Derrick Henry. Right. Right. Right.

like that's the best way to what's the best way to beat a free blocker have Lamar that's kind of how it goes yeah or run them over Derek Henry yeah I this is a team that just missed they're kind of that tier that 8 to 13 14 tier I had and

Yeah, I'm more, I'm kind of more with Charles than Matt here that the offensive line always scares me. And like, yes, Lamar can make it all better, but I think that limits some of it. Like, you know, it limits how high they can go and also maybe lowers their floor because a poor offensive line can make things really dicey, especially play better defenses. AFC has, has, has a lot of good defenses and especially if you're playing a first place schedule. So that's, that's also kind of these worries that I have, but yeah,

Yeah, I'm trying not to talk about Bateman. I'm not going to talk about him until the season starts. I will get you to talk about Rashad Bateman before the season begins. I promise you. I want to. Someone did a cut up and I'm sorry I'm not crediting him. I want to say it was Spencer Schultz. He had a cut up of all the Rashad Bateman non-targets when he's like

beating this guy. It's a highlight reel. It's a highlight reel. It's like, yeah, I know. I don't want to talk about it, but if he's healthy, all these things, it could be good. Lamar actually has great chemistry with Nelson Aguilar. It's the most random quarterback receiver chemistry in the entire NFL, but he does. That was always the thing that I came back to last year. Aguilar really stepped up when he had to and the other receivers had injuries. Love Lamar. I love a lot of their players. The offensive line just has me dicey. As Charles said, it's one

positive for sure plus starter the rest it's it's if he Ronnie Stanley went from a top 15 non quarterback for me and I all the other positions to now you look like a future Hall of Famer at one point sad he did right before they signed him it was the most it's one of most tragic things that's gonna happen he like right before they signed him he like it

There's him, Tristan Wirfs, like all these guys, like he looked like one of the stars for for next decade. So, yeah, just kind of that's why it just kind of keeps me hesitating on them. But I still think they're going to be good. We have a number eight, though, or Charles has number eight. I'm sorry. Who do you have there, Charles? It's an absolute Packers and I'm the lowest here on them.

I think this is going to be a good unit. I just want to give these young pups some time to get back off the ground after last year. To the moon. To the moon. I'm pumping the brakes by saying I think they'll still be a top eight offense. And like, you know, top eight, you know, that's damn good. I know some Packers fans are going to be upset with me. But still, the only thing I'm concerned about here is I think there's got to be some Jordan Love progression coming.

The way you caught fire in the back half of last season, I think he could still be excellent this year and also not be statistically the best quarterback in football over a 17-game stretch. I think if he comes out and he puts up like,

top eight, top 10 EPA numbers, you're feeling really good about where you are with Jordan Love, especially at this stage in his career. So I'm not straight to the moon. I've got a couple of questions about their offensive line. I don't really love the idea of Jordan Morgan playing guard. I kind of liked him more as like a pure left tackle, but maybe I'm off on that, on that assessment and he rocks. But I have just a couple of questions on their offensive line. You still got Elton Jenkins though. Josh Myers is a solid player.

But I just want to see him do it again, which is why I can't go all the way to the moon. I'm going to go top eight,

offense and i think these young guys maybe have a couple bumps in the road but overall still a very good season for them oh shucks the top eight offense with like the youngest offense yeah the cheapest offense in the league oh shucks uh matt will will slowly accelerate this these takes with the packers so matt you have them at number six i'm higher so i'll just wait a minute but you have a number six how you feeling about the packers that kind of young crop of i'm

I'm going to call them studs, but yeah, we'll just hold off for a second. What do you feel about them right now?

I'm pretty high on Love. I think he checks all the boxes that I'm looking for in a quarterback that can win in today's NFL. And that skill position group, I mean, the tight ends are good. The running backs are good. The receivers are all good to some degree. I think Romeo Dobbs might... I mentioned the sacrificial X receiver earlier. He's like the perfect guy for that. Even when Jordan Love drew up his dream offense, he put...

Romeo Dobbs is the backside X receiver running a go route to clear things out for like Devante Adams. He's great in that role. I like Dontavian Wicks. I think he showed a lot as a rookie. Good route runner separates against man coverage. Christian Watson, I actually think could be

better as a less is more type of player. Like if they take some things off, I think they tried to put too much on him last year to start the year, do more design things with him. You know, get him kind of on big crossing routes. I think he's good in that role, but I don't think he's a featured receiver and Jaden Reed is,

Dude, I love Jaden Reed as a draft prospect. I love him. And I think he checked a ton of boxes as a rookie as well. Like, yeah, they used him in these gadgety type ways that I think people kind of have the Kadarius Tony type vibe of like, oh, he's just a design touches player. No, that guy's a real legit route runner, too. So I think they can get more even out of Reed, out of Wicks. And then again, I think Dobbs and Watson are pretty solid players as well.

And we'll just keep the hype train rolling. I have them at number four, the Packers offense, because yeah, the offensive line for me is I think they're more above average. This coaching staff helps them out a ton and they have depth. And that's where I always just kind of keep coming back to it is that they can withstand some blows, which is huge. But yeah, I'm I'm.

I'm all in on love. Maybe I'm buying the second half of the year too much, but I think even when they're struggling the first half, he was doing positive things that I was like, okay, maybe it's not happening this year. It did, but maybe it's not happening this year, but this is real. And so I think, you know, regression isn't linear or progression isn't linear and getting better isn't always linear. And these are all very young players, first, second year, third year players. They're all on their rookie contracts.

Man, like, but I'm saying if even if they get 5% improvement, a bunch of them, wow, this offense, I think, just go to a huge level. I think the run game is very creative. That's better than offensive line because they're very sound. They use motion really well. And I just think Love's a fun gunslinger. He knows what he's doing. Like, it's a little bit chaotic. Steven Ruiz messaged us today and said that Jordan Love plays like he's doing commentary for his own play.

you know, like he's like, he's like, Oh yeah, yeah. Fade back here. Ooh, sidearm. Like, you know, like that's how he plays. Yeah. Yeah. Like trick shot, you know, Kobe. But like, that's, yeah, that's a love place. So I, I just really, really like him. I'm a very, I'm, I'm kind of to the moon with this offense. I think they just set up in a nice spot. I think they do a lot of things. Well, you guys mentioned the receiver, so had him at my four spot and yeah.

I had to give him my top five. I had Jordan Love as a top five quarterback on Mina Kimes' draft show. That's spicy. Yeah, I'm buying a lot of stock on these guys because it's sound, it's explosive. They're kind of doing the things I think the smart offenses are doing right now, and I think it's just going to get even better this year. So, yeah. So with that, Love, we're going to go into an ad break, and then we're going to come back with my number eight selection, and we're going to keep rolling from there.

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And coming back from the break, I am going to get into my number eight selection that no one else had ranked, which actually kind of surprised me, not going to lie. But so I do want to talk about this. I had the bangles at number eight, which was...

I'm actually surprised myself. If you had told me when I first originally did this, I probably would have had the Ravens and Bengals maybe flopped. But I end up with the Bengals here and just looked at offensive line. I looked at they're going to have full beef on that offensive line, especially the tackles. Even if Zach Moss isn't Joe Mixon, he has a role that he can do. And especially in that type of offense, he has to be a simple, efficient runner. And then it all comes down to Joe Burrow's health. Even if Jake Browning played admirably in his place last year,

I just think that with him in there, this offense could be explosive. It could be efficient. They're adding new layers to it. I want to see what other layers they add. Maybe losing Tower Boyd might open other things up. Matt, you talked to Jamar Chase about him moving into the slot stuff. They're saying about kind of like him trusting him and everything. I think maybe this Kosicki signing will maybe open up, use him as kind of the wasted X, as you referred to on the spot earlier, Matt, him as the wasted X. Now Jamar Chase is in the number three spot or the slot spot.

Like that is maybe they open up that even more. So I who knows what happens with T. Higgins down the road, but he's here this season. So I just do think that this offense still has the pieces. It all comes down to Burroughs health, of course. But it makes sense to me as far as what they've done the last two years, what they've added to their offenses, to their offense, to their attack. And I think it's going to kind of keep going. Don't think it's top five. I think it's just below that just because the pieces they have.

You guys don't have them, though, in your top 10. Matt, what's your hesitation right now with the Bengals offense to maybe keep them out of this ranking? Yeah, first of all, I love the point about Jamar Chase moving inside more. That was something that he did say to me in February that he wants to do more of. And I even think they draft Jermaine Burton in the third round. I think he could be an instant impact perimeter receiver as well. And then you've got T. Higgins at X, and Burton is kind of your speed flanker, and they can do some stuff with Chase there. I guess the reason I left them off...

And this is going to be a little bit of talking out of both sides of my mouth here with the Eagles thing where I sort of yada yada the disconnect potentially between Moore and Hurts.

I do think that this team is a little bit kind of caught in between two identities where I love what they did with Jake Browning in the back half of the year. You know, they get under center more. They have more explosive plays at a center. They run better play action stuff. I think their motion concepts were just better because this was like, Oh, we've got to do this stuff to, to elevate this quarterback. I, and Joe Burrow just hasn't really wanted to do those things. So if you, if like, this is cheap analysis, but,

three weeks into the season if you tell me they're running that type of offense especially because it looks like they're leaning into it with this offensive line being as big as it is like you want to get under center and like run the piss out of the ball yeah right so yeah if three weeks in the season you're telling me they're doing that i think i'd actually probably have them closer to seven than 11 which is where i'd have them right now that's a great point all right uh yeah that's it's funny it's like

Everyone wants him like pictures. Joe Burrow is like this traditional type of quarterback. And he's like all gone all the time. Like he hates turning his back to the defense. I get that. I hated it, too. I'm not Joe Burrow's dear. But it's kind of funny. You don't see a lot of quarterbacks these days kind of just got no.

Like, I am not doing that. But some quarterbacks just don't. Charles, you kept them out of your top 10. Kind of similar feelings with Matt. Anything else? Yeah. Anything else that kind of make you hesitate? It's that, like, basically the same offensive concerns. Like, if they're going to piddle around like that shotgun three yards in a cloud of dust passing game from last year, I'm not interested. But it's that and it's the offensive line. I'm a little concerned about this. And mostly because I...

I think due to financial reasons, they're not going to start their two best offensive tackles, which I would say are Trent Brown and Amarius Mims. But I think, you know, due to the commitment they have to Orlando Brown, he's probably going to start over one of those guys. And maybe due to the draft commitment, Trent Brown could be on the bench when I don't know if that's great. The rest of the offensive line is just like,

okay, it's fine. It's fine. So it's just how are they going to play? How does the tackle situation come out? And those are really concerns. Like I would probably put them at like 11 just because I think you have to respect Jamar, Burrow, and some of the other stuff that they've put together. But still a little shaky where I could see them having like a couple of reps. Yeah. No, totally get it. I know. It's one of these where it's like I trust the staff because they're just what they've done in the past. But again, Burrow might –

hurt his left wrist this time. It's just like, you know, I want to see 17 games out of you, man. But I know, but I'm just, I think I've just been the upside what I've seen before, but let's get to number seven here. You guys both have the same number seven ranking. Matt, what starts off? What, who do you have a number seven here? Well,

I guess you could speak for Charles as well to start us off. But yeah, yeah. Yeah. Who do you guys have? Number? Yeah, we both have Rams at seven. I know for me, I love the synergy of this group together. They've got what looks like an ass kicking offensive line. You know, I was going to say much was made of the beef of that unit up front. Nate, you've talked a ton about like the run game transformation. I know we talked about that on my show with the Rams and, you know, I'm

I think the receivers working in this type of offense to make so much sense. It's not a deep receiver room. I think it's pretty much Puka cup. And then DeMarcus Robinson gave me some interesting things. I don't know how much to count on that going forward. Cause he's been a journeyman player, but those two receivers block their asses off. They're going to be great on these in breaking routes, but cup also still, uh,

I think his best separation work against specifically man coverage at this point is working on outbreaking routes, which, you know, Stafford will fire those passes in there as well. So I think there's still the synergistic identities really good. Love the transition they made last year. And this is, again, Matthew Stafford is a floor setter for sure here. But I think the way that McVay has designed this design, this offense and some of the players here, I think, can push them into a higher ceiling than just that.

Charles, how are you feeling about the Rams right now? Other than that, you haven't met number seven, right? Why do you have, I don't know. I feel like seven might be too low, but how I feel about them kind of now I think about it, but I think seven, I don't, I think that seven is a good number just like in this range. Cause to be honest with you, I always cop out and do tears instead of just listening. So, Oh, you, you can, you can, it's not good for content. It's, it's, it's, no one's going to remember. I say Drake may want a Caleb Williams won't be all.

Oh, they remember. One is the first letter of the alphabet and one is the second letter of the alphabet, buddy. It's all the same thing. That's it. That's all I remember. But with the Rams, I am really, really excited really to watch this run game. They're going to run people over. Steve Avila, he should be the heaviest center in football now. Probably a good margin at around 330 pounds. And then they have...

You know, good guard play around them. They signed Jonah Jackson. The running back room is good with Kyron Williams and Blake Corum. Like this should be a good offense. I guess the only thing that really gives me pause is where like where is Cooper Cup at right now? Yeah, that that's the only thing that kind of gives me pause before I push them into like that elite tier because Puka's great.

I think that he's probably going to have close to about what you did last year if he gets the same target volume, but

Cooper Cup. I just don't know where he's at in his career right now. And I think that having his presence will actually boost him into probably like that top three range if he can get back to where he was in like 2022 or 2021. I'm very bullish on the Rams. I have them at five. They but I just like you guys are saying, I think the offensive line with all the beef they have, they get themselves. Like, I still think that what the Rams did in the last year.

18 months has just been so cool. Just, just, they went back to the drawing board. They went back to one Oh one football. I'm not trying to make a joke because ours of our title of our podcast, but they just went right back to it and went back to like, what are we good at? What's our personnel good at? And their personnel was,

Run you the F over. That's what we were good at. And then we'll just have Stafford get into passing downs and rip it. They combined two offenses into it. It was great. I haven't seen a lot of offenses be able to do this where they could totally package two passes.

Totally different plays, like a Madden player shifting the audible all the way over to a different formation and a different play based off the look because they have Stafford's brain and his arm and they have decent protection. And they have receivers that kind of can get open and great. Yeah, it just it all comes together really nice. And I like the backs. You guys already mentioned them. I think Corum makes total sense in this type of run game. He's great on duo runs, great on at you runs, getting vertical and then breaking you off after that.

it all makes sense. Even they went after Colby Parkinson at tight end. He is a great wide tight end. So be on the lookout for more two tight end looks from this offense. I know this is an offense that's lived in 11, three wide receivers, but that's how maybe the Cooper Cup you ease some of his slots, some snaps. Let's have Colby Parkinson and Tyler Higby do the dirty work and let's not have Cooper Cup blocking DNs anymore. That'd be great. So I...

Yeah, I know. I think they're just they found layers and answers sometimes inadvertently, it seems like, but it just all comes together. And I just like where they're at as kind of like a team team building and mindset and everything. So like I said, I have them as a top five, number five. I

I, like Charles said, if it all clicks, they could be a top three. Like they could go to supernova. Um, when they were all healthy last year, Kyron Williams, Cooper cup, Pukunuku and Stafford, this was one of the best offenses statistically in the last 20 years. It's just that they all have to be healthy and on the field. So, uh, let's get on moving to my number seven, which is the Texans.

You guys have them have a little higher, but I won't steal your thunder yet. But I have the Texas at seven. I think, yes, there's been a lot made about Joe Mixon and Stefan Diggs and all these things. But I'm looking at the offensive line. You hear a lot of offensive line talking this pod. That's right. It's important because this offensive line matters because they're going to run the ball as much as you want to see CJ Stroud. Check it 700 times. It's not the formula. This is a Shanahan offense. So they're going to. But it's, you know, they trust Stroud a little bit more to do more straight drop back stuff.

but they're going to have a commitment to the run game because it just makes life easier for everybody else. So it all comes down to them to see how high this offense goes. I trust the weapons. Nico Collins is a star. If you read anything Matt has written on him, like he is just, he's incredible. Like just absolute true. Number one X. Diggs, I think they can find a role. They have some dirty work guys that can do other things that can maybe help out the run game as well. Yeah. And Stroud's just phenomenal. Yeah.

He's fantastic. He's a guy that could ascend to a top five guy, like solidify, I should say, as a top five guy this year. He's a real deal, smart, accurate, old school type of quarterback. And he's just awesome to watch. So I haven't met seven. This was almost a bit of a hedge. I wanted to go a little bit higher. Just some of the offensive line. I have to see it. I just have to see this in action. I have to see this run game in action. Joe Mixon hasn't even practiced yet in camp. So I just have to see it until I can maybe go a little higher. But I think it's going to be good offense. Nonetheless,

Charles, we'll go into sending order. You had him a little bit higher. What's your thoughts on the Texans this year? This is my Jordan love. I'm just to the moon. I'm buying all the stock as much as I can. I have concerns about this Texas defense, but the Texans offense...

I personally all the way in. I think that they can have a pretty special year. I think they can be great. I would be shocked if CJ Stroud didn't take the next step because I think we saw just from let's call it week one of the preseason, his rookie year through the end, he got so much better as a player. So I think there's room for him to improve. He's got the weapons. I'm with Nate on the offensive line. I have some questions there, but

CJ Stroud, we're to the moon, pal. I think he's going to be absolutely amazing this year.

Matt, thoughts on the Texans? I know they have some favorites of you. And you haven't even hired Charles. Charles, I'm at number five. Matt, where do you have Matt? I bought super high on Houston. I had him at three. So I'm definitely buying into the best possible outcome in the range of outcomes here. Because one, I mean, the offensive line I thought was like a clearly above average group. Like I think, you know, they ran through so many different combinations last year and Stroud played well through it. I think...

The run game just didn't really have the personnel to be good last year, but Mixon's been a much more effective back based on success rate on zone runs than he has on, on man gap runs. So I think he's a good system fit where I think Pierce has, it was like Damien Pierce was a good player as a rookie, just wasn't a fit for this system. I almost would love to see him like get traded just because he had a pretty decent rookie year. And,

I just think this is an upgrade for sure with mixing in the backfield. But yeah, I mean, to me, it's, it's CJ Stroud. I agree with you to the moon, Charles, a hundred percent. These receivers rock. I mean, yeah, you said, I love, I love Nico Collins. I think he's like a fringe top 10 receiver in the league. Like he, he was that good last year. Stefan digs like is definitely a declining player, but didn't completely fall off last year. And like tank Dell was electric as a rookie, like running. I know it's ironic to say this cause he's a small receiver, but running like

big boy outside breaking routes last season and Stroud has the stones to throw those passes. So I think that they have a quarterback who can unlock all areas of the field. They have receivers who can win in all three areas of the field and really like the digs part of it to me.

I think he's going to come in and be like CJ Stroud's third down answer. When they get in those drop back, it's like when they were, they didn't have like a third down offense. They were like a bottom 10 offense in terms of EPA success rate on third down because they,

I don't think their true drop back game really had as many answers, even though they have the quarterback for it. But like digs, the deep separation fell off, but still extremely high success rate in terms of getting open and reception perception on slants, flats, curls like that, I think is going to be where he wins for this team. Like give CJ Stroud somebody on third and six. Oh, he's going to be open quickly in the progression in the concept. And that, I think, takes them from being to me like, yeah, top three offense in the league.

This was the tier cutoff for me was the top seven was

was kind of my upper tier. And I think we're all the same. I think we all have the same top seven teams, give or take. And that's that, that to me was like, that's why the Texans are up in that tier is that like, even though you guys have a three and it's like, yeah, I totally could see it because like you said, even though they had juice Scruggs, who's a day two, who I thought the ballot of juice Scruggs, who I thought was going to be a like center only in the NFL. And just so you know, like a solid center only they had to play my guard.

just because they had to because they had nothing else to throw out there and stroud still managed to navigate it and managed to be productive in it and he's out he's doing the hard stuff so i'm with you guys i can see them being super high going to number six here really it's me again i'm actually the low low guy on this team and i think we all talked about a little bit like we kind of put them in the same little area here just to make sure we had them in there that because we all remember what happens in that end of the year

But this is DVA for the whole regular season. That's the Dolphins. Miami Dolphins, I have at number six. I don't know what else you can say. Last year, we almost called them a nickname offense where it's like they're at that great show on turf level. And then they fell off in the second half of the year. So that made us look like idiots. But I think with this Dolphins offense, it's speed explosive. We see what it can be. Tyreek Hill, Waddle, A-Chan, Mosert, they added more, too, as far as in the backfield, added even more speed.

It's always going to come down to the offensive line. I mean, that's just really, really, it's going to come down with the dolphins to us to, to us can operate this offense very well. But, you know, once we get into playoff time, that's a whole different matter as far as cold weather, as far as when offenses make them push the ball outside, that changes some things. But I think on a week to week basis, they're going to be able to blow out some bad defenses because they have just too much speed. Mike McDaniels, a genius. He's, he's up there for me. Top five guy easily as far as a play caller. So yeah,

Speed, speed, speed. I had him at six. You guys were a little higher. Matt, you had him at five. How are you feeling about the Dolphins? I think we kind of have a little bit similar tone maybe when talking about them. Yeah, they're like the most exciting offense in the league to watch early in the season, but they're kind of boring to talk about because, like you said, Tua's Tua, Tyreek is Tyreek, like McDaniel's McDaniel. I do think Jalen Waddell had a much better year than some of the stats show. Just was really unlucky with random injuries and stuff. People don't realize that he runs like

He's the on the line of scrimmage player. He doesn't get the layups and gimme's that Tyree Kill gets, which I don't think is a bad thing that Tyree gets that. You want to maximize your best receiver that way. But I just think Waddle's a player that's different in college. Exactly. Yeah. I think Waddle's a player who could be further maximized. So, I mean, they were second in DVOA last year in terms of offense. So we're predicting some sort of fall off here, but I don't really know why. I think it's just because I think it's a little bit of boredom, like I said.

That's kind of where I'm at. Charles, you're at my four, which I think, again, I think is fair. This offense can be explosive. We know where it's at, but how do you feel about the Dolphins? They're great, but do it when it's cold outside. Yep.

that's it that's it i know i know even though o-line wise it's like i you can't get too far ahead of yourself they may they've made it's the same story you can't go oh what if the line gets hurt it's like it's happened the last two years what do you think's gonna happen like and i'm interested in patrick paul see what he can be but he was a project guy for me that's uh that's in two years and see what he could be a tackle so that was my area of concern too was the offensive line with this team and and just like in pure drop back situations i'm at least like yep

interested if they can get anything out of obj or you know like maybe he's even a sacrificial x or or he's malik washington as a player i was high on i do think they could use like one more legit needle mover at receiver how much help does two in need bro

I mean, just like needle movers too much. You just need to go from, you know, you got these two guys all the way up here and then there's just kind of nothing in the middle. I need some, I need some bodies in the middle that aren't like river Craycraft or Braxton Berrios. So like some guys there, I'm not, I'm not making excuses for the quarterback, but still pro bowler.

Braxton Barry. My apologies. I can't believe you're forgetting about Alec Engold, the true needle mover of this offense. He actually is very important for this offense. But yeah, but he's the actual needle mover. We have already discussed three teams. Each of us have at five, the Rams, Texans and Dolphins. So after the break, we're going to get going at our number four pick and we're going to finish out with our top three. Stick around. See you after the break.

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They've published more than 30 peer-reviewed scientific articles describing their methods and effectiveness. Stay focused on what's important to you with Noom's psychology and biology-based approach. Sign up for your trial today at Noom.com. All right, we're on to the final four. Finally, I'm not the low guy on a team or the high guy on a team. Matt.

You have the lines at number four. Let's talk about the Detroit lines, the fighting Dan Campbell's. How are you feeling about them this year? I mean, again, there were five last year, so don't, don't say I'm, I'm coming in here like disrespecting the lines. I'm actually projecting a step forward here. Yeah. Again, you're in for five to four. Yeah. I love this offense. The run game is one of the most enjoyable to watch in the league. In my opinion, I love the way these two running backs play off of each other. I think the offensive line is, is like a bedrock here. Yeah.

my only like question about them is just what are they going to get out of Jameson Williams and how are they going to deploy him as a player to

for the most part last year, he was just a X receiver for them. Like on the last scrimmage, they, they did some fun, like gadgety stuff. The more he got going, I don't love that. Um, I, I know that you want him honestly, like running clear out routes for all these guys underneath, like St. Brown and Laporta and the run game as well. I think he's going to be almost more of an important figure on the offense. And he is a producer, if that makes sense. Um, just because again, he's going to open up so much space for these guys, but yeah,

I think he does need to take a step to be like a true number two receiver for this offense, not to have like, and again, Charles, same thing where like how much it helped us to a need. Like Jared Goff doesn't need everything in the world. They have great, they have great surrounding players here, but I think it will feel like something is missing if he doesn't develop into that. I,

I'm a number two receiver who can go out and win on the vast majority of the routes. And I do have a little bit of question about that. I think he came on and like his reception perception numbers were much better in the final five games in the first. I mean, the first three games, he was like a non-functional player. So what what is he? I think it's still a big question here that like if I'm breaking ties in the top four, that would just be the reason.

Charles, you haven't met them. Yeah, I would say Jared Goff does need these things because they're not ranked this high because of Jared Goff. I don't know. That's a good point. Okay, so you have probably the best offensive line in football when you just look at consolidation of talent. Great tight end, Sam Laporta. Two good running backs with David Montgomery, Jameer Gibbs. You've got a number one wide receiver in the slot with Amon Ross St. Brown and the potential for more with Jameson. I mean, unless...

Unless Jared Goff like totally flounders or gets hurt, I don't really see how they could have a bad season on offense. And also, you have the... In the modern NFL, maybe the rarest thing of...

The continuity of an offensive coordinator who for three years in a row now has turned down jobs so that he could stay in Detroit and be the play caller for this unit. That's a luxury that most teams will not ever experience because usually those guys get snatched up so fast. So the expectations are high in Detroit. The floor is high in Detroit. And I think that

Those two things are true for good reasons. There's really no reason to be down on this unit with what we know about them right now. I didn't think this would be one of my takes going into this, but I have lines at number two.

Because, yeah, just the offensive line, just the O-line coaches go really good. Hank Fraley and just the line. Penny Sewell is a star, one of the best linemen in the entire league. Frank Ragnow, he's always going to miss games. That's just what he is. But when he's on the field, he is an absolute difference maker in this entire offense. Their on-off field splits when he was –

missed two games, two games and change. It was just drastic. Like golf, they could barely operate the offense without him on there. So that's very key. But I'm, I'm chasing that upside because of that line. It's so solid. Even with Christian Mahogany, their six round pick, that guy should have maybe been more of a third round, fourth round type, but he had some medical concerns there.

Lions offensive lineman, medical concerns. It kind of just seems going hand in hand with it. But Ben Johnson's great at what he does. Great at kind of the game plan. He designs red zone third down. He's one of the best at changing that up week to week and finding these weaknesses in the defense. Golf offers operates it really well, especially indoors. They only have three games that are outside this year and two of them in the last month. So they play 14 of their 17 games in a dome. Boom. This season.

That that's also something I'm kind of watching Jared golf play. Yeah, that matters. So that's also why I'm pretty bullish on this offense. They got two great running backs that have defined roles and also complimentary roles. It's that's really nice. You have Jameer Gibbs, who is so explosive, not saying like,

MVP or Offensive Player of the Year talk. I don't know why. Not MVP, but Offensive Player of the Year talk. I've seen some hype about that. All pro stuff. It's going to be a 50-50 split. It's going to be 60-40, 50-50. That's what this offense is. But I like it. Sam Laporta is a mismatch. Brock Wright's a good blocking tight end that the 49ers tried to pry away. And they matched it. Yeah. I already talked about Amon Ross St. Brown. I'm...

higher on Williams than I thought because they're asking him to do the real things. I know Matt, you're talking about, yeah, he's going to do out the clear out routes. He's kind of really lined up with this role. I think they're trying to make him a real receiver and trying, Hey, we're going to make you do the real route tree, not just running around goes and posts the corners the whole time.

So maybe they'll pay dividends. He's willing to do the dirty work, even if he's skinnier. But I'm projecting that he's going to just maybe improve this year. So I have them at number two. I'm very high on this offense just because they have a lot of answers and they show that they can get to those answers too. So going on to number three, I'm actually the low guy on this. I have the Chiefs at number three. Why do you hate the Chiefs? Oh, my God. Hey, careful. Bronze medal Chiefs.

I, I, I, but it's Mahomes, it's Andy Reed, it's Kelsey. Otherwise, why I don't have number one, which could be show number one or number two is just, you know, who's playing left tackle? Is Jawan Taylor earned that contract? Is Trey Smith have a bounce back year? If they do, then hell yeah, this probably be the number one offense. And they seem ticked off even though they won the Super Bowl. So figure that one. Yeah. Good luck. Yeah. The receivers. I like the theory of adding speed and opening up the deep ball.

who they casted, you know, to play those roles. I'll see. I'll see how I like it upon review, what my Rotten Tomatoes score of it will be. But I do like what they're trying to do and trying to add that explosive element to their offense and open it up a little bit for all the other stuff. So their run game is what needs to improve more than anything. It was a bottom six run game last year until the playoffs. That's why this offense felt so up and down along with the drops they had last year. Thankfully, Xavier Worthy doesn't have drop issues. Hey, you see the video that's been going around socials though? Dude,

To the moon, baby. To the moon. To the moon. You guys have them relatively to the moon. A big, smacking number two ranking. Charles, why do you have them at number two? I think we were both on the same page last year. The Chiefs offense was pretty underrated by the end of the season, I think, just in terms like they moved the ball pretty well. It didn't look easy at times.

it was with the wide receiver room that had an addiction to shooting themselves in the foot like that was their favorite thing to do like wake up in bed like man i got all 10 toes let me get rid of about three of them that that's what they were trying to do for every single game but that's what they were trying to do like every game last year and and again we've talked about this i don't know if like

Xavier Worthy and Hollywood Brown is the most exciting ads that you can make in a vacuum. But when you have Mahomes, I'm just trying to get on base. And they couldn't even get on base of wide receiver last year. So this is a really big improvement for them. And if they can just get...

any kind of consistency out of the running game, I think they're back to like burning people to death, like dragons and game of Thrones. This should be a really good offense. Matt, you also have number two, more, more, more Mahomes magic. You saw today they're moving Canary's Tony to running back. So that'll really, is this, I don't know.

He basically said his best snaps have been in the backfield. That's where he seems most comfortable. I watched all the snaps at wide receiver, buddy. And I mean, I think that's probably for the best. But no, on a serious note, I think Charles said it great, which is like this receiver room just needs to get on base. And I think Marquise Brown's a get on base type of receiver. I don't think he's a one. I mean, probably wouldn't even necessarily love him as a two. But as a three, you said it.

I think he's a good player. I think he's like a good, solid NFL receiver, which they did not have last year. I think his best routes to are in the intermediate area, which again, like nobody in that room. It was all like shot plays or Mickey Mouse routes to Rasheed Rice, who ran the highest slant route rate for any receiver I've charted since 2014. Yeah.

bubbles, crossers, slants, and like jet sweeps. Right. Like that was like his, it was, it was the Mickey mouse route package, but then worthy to like, I, I, I go back and forth on worthy as a player, which I know we're going to look stupid in two seconds when the season starts and he like, you know, bombs on the Ravens defense or whatever. Um, like part of me, just the analysis should just be like speedy receiver, go burr with Pat Mahomes or whatever. Like I get that, but, um, I,

I would have loved if they added one, like just real deal outside, like ball winning X receiver. That would have been great. But I, I do see the vision here. And I think just getting the receiver room to baseline is more than enough with Pat Mahomes to get them to the second offense for me. It's funny. My, I have a Hollywood Brown note and I said, I guess he's a number two, but ideally he's a high. Yeah, that's exactly how I feel. Yeah, that's,

That said, it is. And I say for Shear Rice, you know, it takes another step forward. You know, this could really work out for them. But I just think Rice does have star qualities. Like he moves with the ball like a star because he can get north rapidly. He can break tackles and all these things. But

How it all comes together is going to be really interesting. I'm curious how they use the tight ends. I like that Jared Wiley selection from TCU in the fourth round. I'm super interested in how they use him. I think they'll lean into some three tight end looks, too. Even more. And I think that becomes even more weaponized. So it's another kind of little scheme thing I'm curious to watch with them this year because they just always add little layers. But yeah, I had the Lions at number two. You guys had the Chiefs at number two. We all...

had the same number one team, and that is the San Francisco 49ers. Charles, why are the San Francisco 49ers your number one offense for the 2020 season? Because Brock Purdy is their quarterback, and they can still score like 33 points a game. That's it. That'll do it for our first episode of Football 301. You got all-world left tackle Brandon Ayuk. He already showed up to camp. Pretty weak holdout, my guy, because he's still in the...

The thing is, if you're still in a rookie contract, you actually can get that money recouped back. If you're on a second deal, you get $550,000 per day. So Brandon, you don't have to come to practice right now. I don't know why you're quitting already. But for the purposes of this argument, it really helps to have him in the fold. You got Trent Williams, Brandon Ayuk, Debo Samuel, George Kittle, Chris McCaffrey, Kyle Shanahan,

We've seen this offense be good in just about every iteration since like, let's call it 2019, when they had the little rough patch where Jimmy was hurt all the time before he started getting healthy again.

No reason to doubt him now. I will be back, though, with some hate whenever that Brock Purdy contract gets signed. That's when I'll be back with my 49ers hate. But until then, it's too easy. Too easy for them. That's it. I think it's a great discussion of why I hate getting into the Brock Purdy discussions because I enjoy this offense so much. And I just don't want every conversation about the 49ers offense to devolve into where I have Brock Purdy in my quarterback rankings because this is the number one offense. That's why it's so awesome. Matt.

what are your feelings on the San Francisco 49ers and why do you have them at your number one spot? Yeah, I'm not going to say that I became fully purdy pilled by charting Brandon Ayuk from last year, but I kind of like got it for the first time in terms of like, yeah, why Shanahan really likes this guy running his offense. Cause, and I think this is good to have in the conjunction with the fact that Devante Adams clearly hates Jimmy Garoppolo so much. Like that's been a trending topic this off season. Like,

for watching this off or watching this offense, you know, prior to Purdy, it was just like, well, somebody rip the hard throws that are available, like the open big boy throws that are available in this offense. And none of those guys, like I don't care about their yards per attempt or any of that EPA, whatever. You can get a lot of expected points when you're getting your receivers a

over the middle, but who's going to take the real big boy like X receiver throws in this offense? And Purdy's the first guy really, I think, in a 49ers uniform to do that, which is just part of, I think, the appreciation here from Shanahan to Purdy. So yeah, I mean, like I said, I'm a little more positive on Brock Purdy than I was 365 days ago, really probably even like

like at the very end of the season after really going back and watching a lot of those plays. But yeah, I, you, I think he's just such a difference maker too. So these are the, like, are you clear the 90th percentile in success rate versus man zone and press coverage last year in reception perception. These are the, how is Kenny Garland? The following players. This only happened nine times since I've been charting receivers since 2014. So like almost 500 players basically.

Devante Adams, Justin Jefferson did it twice. Stefan Diggs did it twice. Antonio Brown did it three times. Michael Thomas and then now Brandon IU in 2023. So I think he is in that group of receivers. I don't think people quite still grasp that yet, just how good he is. And then obviously all these other players are extremely talented as well. So I just think, yeah, it's an offense that has everything. Embarrassment of riches.

right with a all-time play caller that just adds layers again to his offense yeah i yeah he's not going anywhere i know uh yeah that was so funny it's like you see the betting odds it was like minus 549ers it's like yeah that's that even the role players here are good though like juwan jennings is a really good role player uh i know ricky pierce on the pup like to start camp but i thought he was like a

quality prospect charles uh it was disgusted with the draft pick when we did our show on i don't get it i don't get it you were you were you i get it you were in a bad place then charles i'm willing to forgive you for your pierce auslander about 20 picks after panics yeah that was rough i wasn't yeah yeah they no but this offense though they still cmc

who's awesome. They still have Debo. They still have Kittle. Banged up at the end of the year, but they still have him. I actually like the Logan Thomas signing. I like that at tight end. Sneaky got a little pick up there, even though another... Pride of Lynchburg, Virginia. Tied in with injury. Oh, yeah. Well, yeah. Man, I...

I heard stories about him at quarterback at Vontag and his first ever pass attempt. I think they put him in the starter before him got hurt. So he trots in there and everyone's like, oh, okay, they're going to run the ball. And he just drops back and rips like a 20 yard seam. And then they're like, okay, the star is back. And then there's Logan Thomas just trot back off the field. But like, that's like my memory of Logan Thomas at quarterback. But I like that signing.

I think that makes sense for what they do. If Kittle goes down and gets hurt, he can do some things because he's so athletic and big. So I thought that was kind of a nice little kind of sneaky signing by them. But the offensive line, they got Dominic Poonie from Kansas, some reinforcements there. I like that. A guard.

Cole McKibbitz is there. He's alive. He's there, but they have Trent Williams. We'll talk about Trent Williams. It's always going to be the right tackle. That's going to be the thing here. Then you have Shanahan, who you have an offense last year stacked up as

literally one of the 25 best offenses since the turn of the century. Since we, since 2012, a team went to 32 teams. They return all these weapons. They have a little bit more depth, pretty, however you feel about them. Got another year of experience. That's only going to help. So it's like, even if you think he's the 16th best guy, he's going to get better. Like it's just, it's just math.

it's just like there's going to be improvement from there uh so i it's just too hard to come away from this offense they found answers even in the playoff run they found answers that's where purdy's creation comes in all these types of things so yeah there there are number one offense for the 2024 nfl season the san francisco 49er something honorable mentions real quick oh yeah one of the most fascinating things about this brand are you cold out so we'll say is

Like realizing that Jaden Daniels, who just got drafted into the NFL, is somehow within the same age range where he can be Brandon Aiyuk's best friend, who has played in the NFL for several years at this point. Because they were together at ASU at some point, which honestly kind of blew my mind the more I thought about it. Stunned.

The day I graded Desmond Ritter for the first time was the day I graded Jane Daniels for the first time. Ritter's at her year three. Ritter's is traded, yeah. Yeah, I remember that day. I watched them back to back from that class. I was trying to find it. I actually liked Daniels then. I didn't know it was a number two.

pick ever but yeah yeah so that's that's just good to show you but uh honorable mentions we mentioned a couple it was kind of each other ones that maybe we had bumped up there was any any others you guys want to throw in there it's kind of maybe some sneaky offense to watch the panthers matt you have a couple oh charles

no i would say the seahawks for an honorable mention yeah i was gonna say i had one yes i had the seahawks i had the cardinals just but that's more frisky yeah i had one spicy already i couldn't get even spicier than that but cardinals if this was you know a younger nate tice i would have been like cardinals top five uh but yeah i've learned my lessons but sneaky good offense this year i actually had

I don't think they're going to be top 10, but I'm going to watch them as a stealer. Okay. I just want to watch that run game. I just want to watch them beat some people up. I feel like we have to say, where are the Jets on this spectrum? I can't figure it out. I can't figure it out. Well, last year they were 32. Well, yes. They were very bad last year.

But like, how good is Rogers at this point to, to elevate? Like who knows? I can like, I consider them as a like potential bottom 10 offense just in this. I mean, but I, I still think they're the 22nd best offense and by DVO. I think that's enough for them to be like a good, like playoff team. But yeah, I don't know. Right. Yeah. Yeah. I,

I had them kind of like my others list. Yeah, I had them Cowboys kind of others list, kind of like, all right, I just can't get around with them. They're off. It's a line. Yeah. To me, it's...

too many f's yeah i know other teams too many f's vikings too many f's the vikings were team i was kind of thinking about like just a spicy honorable mention but uh rookie quarterback i feel like it's just too far away i think chargers are a spicy i can't do it again chargers chargers are in there my initial short list was 20 teams i just want everyone to know that that's so it's much harder to rank the bottom 10 than the top 10 if we're if we're being honest yeah

But well, look out for social. We'll be talking about some of those bottom teams. So yeah, just be on the lookout for that. But yeah, closing this out today. That was the top 10 offenses for the 2021 season. We will be doing a week being me and Charles doing the 2024 top 10 defenses because Matt is offense only. Don't you know? I'm scared to compete. No, this is great. Yeah. So we'll be top 10 defenses. You'll hear that by the end of the week. I am Nate Tice. You can find me at Nate underscore Tice on Twitter. That is Matt Harmon at

Matt Harmon underscore BYB and four verts Charles McDonald at four verts. Yeah, I just that's like people call me four verts in real life. I still haven't decided how I feel about it. Yeah. Yeah. It's more Game of Thrones stuff. You're like a smiling knight. Like you got like your own little like title there. But yeah, subscribe to us. Follow us. Rate us all wherever you find your podcast. Go watch us on YouTube. YouTube.com slash Yahoo Sports. Hopefully we can get some drawings or something in the future. Maybe once the game start. But we're also going to get a mailbag.

Start later in August. So, you know, be on the lookout for that. But send in your questions. We have an email account now. That's what they call them, right? An email account. Football301mailback at yahoosports.com. Emails are great. Videos and voicemails. I mean, we'll try and remember on Twitter if you want to send it to us on social media right there. But that would be great as well. Thanks to Brad and Addie for Behind the Scenes. Everybody Behind the Scenes that helps us out, helps us launch this. We are so excited to get going throughout the season. But we'll talk to you guys on Thursday. And we're out. See you guys next time.

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