Latest news with #rookiequarterback
Yahoo
21 minutes ago
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How to ride Titans' upside in futures market
Jay Croucher assesses the Tennessee Titans' ceiling with rookie quarterback Cam Ward under center and how a fortified offensive line and head coach Brian Callahan gives the team "upside" in the futures market.
New York Times
2 days ago
- Sport
- New York Times
Four scary stats that must change in 2025, plus readers' pick the best football movie
Inside: Before the flood of training camp reports, I'm spotlighting stats for four NFC teams to fix in 2025 — starting with Caleb Williams and the Bears. Plus: The league's highest-paid non-quarterback and the best football movies of all time, as voted by you. This article is from Scoop City, The Athletic's NFL newsletter. Sign up here to receive it directly in your inbox. David Carr never had a chance. He remains the only rookie quarterback to take more sacks (76) than Caleb Williams did last season (68), and he led the league in that stat in three of his four full seasons. Watching all 76 of those sacks taught me two things: There's no lowlight reel of all 68 of Williams' sacks, but watch him take 15 in two games and you'll see a quarterback who can often blame his offensive environment. Former offensive coordinator Shane Waldron's scheme rarely got receivers open, and asked too much from the rookie quarterback and his below-average line. Chicago finished 32nd in total yards, though Williams' final stat line was closer to his fellow rookies than you might expect: Still, the Bears were determined to give Williams the chance Carr never got. They paid up for rookie head coach Ben Johnson, who immediately revamped the interior of the Bears offensive line and added receiving weapons. Optimism abounds in Chicago, for now. Johnson's progress is one of 10 storylines to watch during training camp, while the competitions in New York and Dallas, plus the health of a key Panthers defender, are likely to impact three more NFC stats: Giants: 6.0 yards per pass. Only the Browns saw their average pass fall shorter than the Giants, who also completed the league's second-fewest deep passes (63) and scored a league-low 15 passing touchdowns. Deep threats WR Malik Nabers and WR Darius Slayton should pair nicely with Russell Wilson, who had the league's third-highest passer rating on throws of 20-plus yards in 2024. Advertisement Cowboys: Six rushing touchdowns. While WR George Pickens is justifiably Dallas' entry in The Athletic's list of 32 players to watch in training camp, I'm more interested in learning who leads the Cowboys backfield. Javonte Williams, Miles Sanders and fifth-round pick Jaydon Blue are jockeying to lead a unit that ranked 27th in rushing yards per game (100.3) and 32nd in rushing scores. Panthers: 31.4 points allowed per game. The league's worst defense allowed the most points and yards per game (404.5) in 2024. Improvement should be immediate with the return of star DE Derrick Brown, whose health is crucial to their run defense, and free-agent additions at all three levels. You can follow along with The Athletic's live training camp blog, which promises to have plenty of contract-related updates. Such as ... It is rare for a player's third contract to reset the market, and even rarer for that player to be a non-quarterback on the wrong side of 30. Like most offensive linemen, the usual rules failed to stop T.J. Watt. Though he'll turn 31 in October, the Steelers' star edge rusher was given a three-year, $123 million extension that makes him the highest-paid non-quarterback in NFL history, when sorted by average per year: Watt earned this by recording a combined 30.5 sacks and league-leading 10 forced fumbles while playing 17 regular-season games in each of the past two seasons. It's a mild surprise given his age, but Watt remains elite and should be atop the leaderboard until Micah Parsons, 26, signs his deal. Meanwhile, 30-year-old Trey Hendrickson — the only player with more sacks (35.0) than Watt since 2023 — just raised his asking price. I am once again begging the Bengals front office to sign players early. Watt's $108 million guaranteed hints at future plans to build around a rookie-contract quarterback. There's plenty more on the extension in Mike DeFabo's story. Last week I asked for your thoughts on the best football movies of all time. Thousands responded, including a producer of "Invincible." Here are your top five: An inspiring message, overcoming prejudice with a shared goal, and Denzel Washington — plus an extra appearance by my editor, Jason Kirk — combine to make the greatest football movie of all time. Your pick for most overrated football movie was "The Blind Side," with many readers citing questions over its accuracy given the shocking legal case against the Tuohy family. Advertisement If you're looking for drama, follow the NFLPA. Executive director Lloyd Howell Jr. stepped down after a tumultuous few weeks, with reports ranging from hidden arbitration decisions to charging the union for visits to strip clubs. Then one of the favorites to replace Howell, JC Tretter, former NFLPA President, resigned from the organization. Netflix could work with that. For everything else, I'll point you to the New York Times' list of the 100 best movies of the 21st century. Just don't let it distract you during fantasy football draft season. Priorities, folks. 📈 Aging gracefully. Tom Brady made it work. Brett Favre did, too. Can Aaron Rodgers join the list of quarterbacks who've succeeded over 40? Mike DeFabo searched for an answer within the history of aging quarterbacks. 📊 The next generation of college football quarterbacks promises to be better than the 2025 class. The Athletic's ranking of all 136 projected starters had Arch Manning lower than you'd expect. 💬 More headlines for Belichick? The former Patriots head coach fired another shot in his ongoing feud with Robert Kraft, saying he took a "big risk" by coaching the Patriots. ⭐ Fantasy football strategy: Shoot for the stars, urges Michael Salfino in an outline of his "if-you're-not-first-you're-last" strategy. ▶️ Thursday's most clicked: Vic Tafur's take on the win totals of all 32 NFL teams. 📫 Enjoyed this read? Sign up here to receive The Athletic's free NFL newsletter in your inbox. Also, check out our other newsletters.
Yahoo
3 days ago
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Kevin Stefanski deliberately protecting Colorado Buffaloes football's Shedeur Sanders during Browns training camp
Kevin Stefanski and the Cleveland Browns coaching staff are slow-rolling Colorado Buffaloes football's Shedeur Sanders' development this offseason for a deliberate reason: They don't want the 'Grown QB' to be exposed during the difficult early portion of the team's schedule. 'The excitement surrounding Browns rookie quarterback Shedeur Sanders is palpable, but there's a major reason the organization appears in no rush to throw him into the starting lineup – a murderous early-season schedule that would challenge even the most seasoned NFL veterans,' the Orange and Brown Talk Podcast crew, comprised of Mary Kay Cabot, Dan Labbe, Scott Patsko, and Ashley Bastock, wrote. Many are aware of Cleveland's deliberate slow-roll. ESPN's Harry Douglas tabs the Browns' seventh game of the season against the Miami Dolphins at home as the likeliest NFL debut of the 'Grown QB.' 'Game 7, that's when the Cleveland Browns play the Miami Dolphins. And if Shedeur Sanders goes into training camp and he's lights out, and he's playing very well in preseason, there's gonna have to be conversations that it might be earlier than that. Because what you don't want to do, if you're Kevin Stefanski, is have a guy show that he is the guy, but you not play him. Then you're gonna have some controversy when it comes to your roster and older players who are trying to win right now,' Douglas said on ESPN's 'Get Up.' Stefanski has been giving Sanders fewer plays to run than Dillon Gabriel, Kenny Pickett, and Joe Flacco, and has not deployed Shedeur against first-team defenders. Many a quarterback has sputtered under a fraction of the spotlight in their first NFL homes. With the revenue and interest he generates, Sanders needs to be protected as an asset until it's clear he is ready to either sink or swim in this league. Stefanski is way ahead of the curve on that.
Yahoo
4 days ago
- Sport
- Yahoo
Tyler Shough, Saints finally reach agreement on his first NFL contract
And that's that -- the New Orleans saints have agreed to terms on their contract with rookie quarterback Tyler Shough, the 40th overall pick in this year's NFL draft. It's a standard four-year deal valued at $10.795 million, and is fully guaranteed at signing (which was the holdup all along). Shough gets the guaranteed money he deserves, and the Saints get the QB with the best shot at starting this season. There won't be a distracting holdout to open training camp. News of Shough's new deal was first reported by ESPN's Adam Schefter. Shough, who turns 26 in September, had to spend more time in college than he planned after a series of injuries derailed his career. But he thrived last season at Louisville after transferring from Texas Tech, and before that, Oregon, where he backed up Los Angeles Chargers quarterback Justin Herbert. He's been busy this offseason working out with his teammates and veterans around the league, and now he's in for a heated competition to win the starting job. It'll be Shough, Spencer Rattler, and Jake Haener battling it out at Saints training camp. They don't have an NFL win between the three of them (and their seven combined career starts), and for that reason a lot of analysts and even the betting markets are low on New Orleans. Derek Carr wasn't a worthy successor to Drew Brees, but neither was Jameis Winston, Andy Dalton, Trevor Siemian, or the other passers who started games for the Saints the last few years. Whoever wins this contest will have an opportunity to write their own story; and the smart money says it'll be Shough. Now that this contract dustup is behind us, let's see if the kid can play. This article originally appeared on Saints Wire: Tyler Shough, Saints reach agreement on his first NFL contract
Yahoo
24-05-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
'Me vs. me': Shedeur Sanders, Dillon Gabriel focused inward in Browns QB competition
BEREA — Dillon Gabriel went to bed on the evening of April 25 as the only rookie quarterback on the Browns roster. By the time he went to bed the next day, the former Oregon quarterback had company. It wasn't just any company, either. It was the company of Colorado's Shedeur Sanders, one of the highest-profile players in the draft. Advertisement 'Yeah, I love it," Gabriel said on the second day of Browns rookie minicamp Saturday. "I love it because of who it is. I think just for us both, you can learn from one another. But also it's not just us two in the room. At least for right now it is. But going into the year, Kenny [Pickett], Joe [Flacco], and even Deshaun [Watson], just a bunch of guys who played a bunch of ball that we can all learn from one another.' Right now, the only two who are together are the two rookies. Pickett and Flacco, the other two healthy quarterbacks on the Browns roster, will be back next week when the veterans return to continue the offseason program. Getting to know the other quarterbacks on the roster will come in due time. For now, the two rookies who have only watched each other from afar through their college careers are now watching each other from close quarters. "Cool, normal," Sanders said of Gabriel. "Yeah, it's been normal. He's a real cool guy overall. You could tell, he always has a great mood, he's always in a good mood — I've only been around him two days though — but he always has a great mood. But overall I can tell he is a pretty good person." Advertisement For Gabriel, the moment Sanders was drafted changed the dynamic of his own acclamation to the professional ranks. It wasn't just about having to find a way to split reps during the course of minicamp, which the Browns managed to do by giving both quarterbacks ample chances with extensive 7-on-7 periods. It was about having to deal with an extra layer of attention on the rookie minicamp from outside parties. With Sanders' presence came multiple national outlets over the course of the two days that were open to the media. Gabriel, though, has been in his own spotlight — admittedly a much different one — during his six seasons in college. Playing at places like Oklahoma and Oregon, where he led the Ducks to a Big Ten championship and a 13-1 season, will manage to put the glare on a player, especially a quarterback. Cleveland Browns quarterback Shedeur Sanders (12) watches quarterback Dillon Gabriel (5) during day two of NFL rookie minicamp at the Cleveland Browns training facility on Saturday, May 10, 2025, in Berea, Ohio. Those kind of distractions are ones Gabriel's approach manages to block out. Advertisement 'Yeah, I mean, for me, life of simplicity is a life full of focus," Gabriel said. "Life of complexity comes with life with distractions. But, for me, I'm focused. I'm simple. I know what I want to accomplish." What both quarterbacks ultimately want to accomplish is to end up as the Browns' starting quarterback. Very little, if anything, done on the field during the rookie minicamp will determine how that competition ends up. The additions of Pickett and Flacco next week during the offseason program won't do it, either. It's something that will extend into training camp, at which point someone is going to end up getting the job. That makes the approach to the whole process one of an inward focus, not an outward one. Advertisement "I just feel like in life and everything, it's just me vs. me," Sanders said. "I can't control any other decision besides that. So I just try to be my best self at all times." Chris Easterling can be reached at ceasterling@ Read more about the Browns at Follow him on X at @ceasterlingABJ This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Shedeur Sanders, Dillon Gabriel focused inward in Browns QB quest
