Here’s what we’ve got for a Tuesday morning in the middle of May …
• Panthers coach Frank Reich revealed his plan for the spring over the week—and that plan is to have Andy Dalton running with the starters, at least to begin with—through OTAs and put No. 1 pick Bryce Young behind Dalton with the second team.
To some, it may seem like an unnecessary exercise. After all, five of 13 quarterbacks taken in the first round over the past four years have started Week 1, and 12 of the 13 were starting before the midway point of their respective rookie years. And the last three quarterbacks to go No. 1 (Trevor Lawrence, Joe Burrow, Kyler Murray) were essentially anointed starters from the minute they reported to their NFL teams, and didn’t seem worse off for it.
So why, if you’re Reich, delay the inevitable? In most cases such as this, it’d be to make sure a rookie earns, and is ready for what’s ahead. But I’m told that’s not really it here—there’s a far more functional reason Carolina is holding off on making Young the immediate starter.
I’m told the staff is trying to make sure the operation as a whole, in Reich’s first year, is running at an optimal level. Most of the Panthers veterans have been in-house for five weeks already, as the coaches try to keep pushing that level higher, with two weeks of on-field work under their belts as part of that. The rookies, including Young, are behind that pace.
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Reich, for obvious reasons, doesn’t want to slow the pace to accommodate any rookie he thinks has to progress. Which is to say now it’ll be up to Young to catch up to older teammates. When he does, the coaches will start transitioning and getting him more work with the guys he’ll be playing with in the fall (presuming he does, sooner or later, he will become the starter).
• One rookie who has immediately turned heads—Commanders CB Emmanuel Forbes.
The 16th pick in April’s draft came out flying in rookie minicamp—with a pick on the first day that reminded one Washington coach of Trevon Diggs—in how instinctively and aggressively Forbes went after the ball. And I sussed that comparison out after the coach’s initial reaction to the rookie’s weekend was simply, “Forbes is really f---ing good.”
Of course, the tape on the former Mississippi State star was spectacular. No one debates his reel was one of the best in the draft. His frame is the problem. And to be fair, in a noncontact minicamp setting, the sturdiness of that 6-foot, 166-pound body wasn’t going to be tested. So we’ll see, come summer and fall, how he answers those questions. But so far, so good.
• I’m excited to see Matt Ryan on CBS—I’ve talked a ton of football with him over the years, and he’s one of these guys who can really boil the complicated down to the simple, and make it relatable for everyone. As is the case with all former players, his ability to criticize will be a factor in how good he progresses, but the tools are there.
As for what level he can still play at on the field, it feels like the league has spoken on that. But that shouldn’t take away from what was a stellar career, nor should it cloud what he meant to the Falcons in 2008, when he had the unenviable task of trying to replace Michael Vick in Atlanta.
• I don't know whether the NFL’s decision to move a wild-card game to Peacock will prove to be a good one. NBC can make more money off the game going directly to consumer, of course, and the idea of something like this isn’t new. Ten years ago, networks bid on the Thursday Night Football package hoping to put it on cable—at the time, FS1, NBCSN and CBSSN. The league countered, basically saying, You’re not going to use TNF to prop up your cable stations; we’re going to use your over-the-air network to prop up TNF.
In this case, though, you had a network willing to pay nine figures to stream a playoff game, which, presumably, will boost subscriptions and create huge ad revenue, so the NFL bit, knowing these streaming services are the future. So as I said, maybe it works, maybe it doesn’t. Fewer people will watch, for sure. But the NFL can justify this as more than just a cash grab in saying it’s pursuing a younger audience and a stake in what’s ahead.
What’s really crappy about it, though, is the little detail that while it was pulling a reported $110 million out of thin air, simply for moving that game to a stream, it was conducting layoffs due to the economic “realities” of 2023, something the NFL has largely been immune to. I hope everyone remembers that the next time you hear a player ask for a little more guaranteed money than he’s getting.
• The Browns didn’t have a first- or second-round pick this year, but it does seem like they’re optimistic they have some rookies in the fold that’ll help their defensive front—and maybe right away. There are certain things you can see immediately from first-year players, and third-round DT Siaki Ika and fourth-round DE Isaiah McGuire gave their coaches those moments at the team’s rookie minicamp over the week: Ika with his power and explosiveness, and McGuire with his frame, length and ability to cover ground.
Throw in undrafted DE Lonnie Phelps and LB Mohamoud Diabate, both of whom have a shot to make the team, and the Browns are set up to be deeper in an area where they needed it last year (adding Za’Darius Smith should help, too).
Adam Cairns/Columbus Dispatch/USA TODAY NETWORK
• Great news that Seahawks rookie Jaxon Smith-Njigba was able to get through the weekend without incident. The hamstring issue that plagued him last year was often referred to as a “freak” thing by staff at Ohio State—he was first injured in the team’s opener against Notre Dame on Sept. 3, and tried twice, against Toledo on Sept. 24 and Iowa on Oct. 22, to come back from the injury after rehabbing. After reinjuring it on both occasions, he eventually made the decision to shut it down and prepare for the draft.
On each occasion, Smith-Njigba was able to get back to full speed, and what looked like full health, in practice, before the hamstring went on him on game day (it was explained to me where the hamstring was stretched, not popped). So, again, that it didn’t recur over a full weekend of football activity is a good step toward Seattle getting what could wind being a really good bargain with the 20th pick.
• I’d say Javonte Williams getting a clean bill of health in Denver is a bigger deal than it’s being made out to be. Before the 2021 second-round pick tore his ACL in September, the old Broncos staff had plans to give him a bigger role in trying to get Russell Wilson rolling. And going back to the summer, they’d seen star potential in the 220-pound battering ram.
If he’s all the way back, it’s not hard to see Sean Payton having similar designs for Williams.
• Forget about the idea that Quinnen Williams gets traded from the Jets. He’s a legit game-wrecker, and he waited an extra year (like Nick Bosa has in San Francisco) to get his big payday, so he’s justifiably not planning on taking a discount. But New York knows what it has and—with Aaron Rodgers aboard—is all in for 2023.
Also, it’s May, and with the summer holdout rules being what they are, this has become the time of year when players looking for new contracts rattle cages (see: Samuel, Deebo). So save your “destinations” stories on the star DT.
• Speaking of May, next week is a big one as far as offseason programs—with the start of actual football practice. Officially, it’s the beginning of Phase III for most teams, which is when 11-on-11, 9-on-7 and 7-on-7 drills are allowable for the first time.
And while that stuff is still voluntary, this is the point in the calendar where veterans being absent becomes a bit more significant.
• Congrats to Bills S Damar Hamlin on winning the PFWA’s George Halas Award, given to the player who overcomes the most adversity to succeed. I think we’re all excited to see where the resilience Hamlin has exhibited over the past four months takes him next.
