Welcome to the Friday edition of the Pick Six newsletter!
As most of you probably already know, we’re only 233 days from Super Bowl LVIII. I’m just kidding, no one knows that except for me and the only reason I even know that is because I Binged it 45 seconds ago (Sorry, Google, I’m a Bing guy now).
Speaking of the Super Bowl, we’ll be taking a look at some early best bets about who’s going to win it all. We’ll also be ranking the NFL’s 10 best offensive tackles today.
As always, here’s your daily reminder to tell all your friends to sign up for the newsletter. To get them signed up, all you have to do is click here. Let’s get to the rundown.
1. Today’s show: Breaking down the Bears’ offseason
If you’ve been reading the newsletter every day this week, then you may have noticed that the Pick Six Podcast has a slightly new formula now that the dead of the offseason is here. We’re doing a daily “beat writer breakdown” where a beat writer from an NFL team joins the podcast to talk about what they’ve seen this offseason and what’s to come.
After hitting the Dolphins, Patriots and Giants earlier this week, we’ve got the Bears today.
To talk about how things are going in Chicago, we brought on Courtney Cronin, who covers the Bears for ESPN and also sometimes serves as an entertaining guest on “Around the Horn.”
Here are a few topics that host Katie Mox and Will Brinson covered with Cronin:
- Will the Bears’ offensive line hold up? The Bears are going to have a revamped offensive line this year with the additions of first-round pick Darnell Wright at right tackle and veteran Nate Davis at right guard. “It’s a great sign for this team that the offensive line is solved. The starting five — barring injury — is set, and that’s a big rarity,” Cronin said. “They’ve made upgrades. The two spots on the right side of the offensive line were a necessity [to upgrade].” With the offensive line upgraded, Cronin thinks that could help Justin Fields and not just for the obvious reasons. If Fields has more time to throw, that could make him more comfortable, which should make him a better quarterback.
- Is there chemistry between Fields and D.J. Moore? Speaking of Fields, he got a new receiver this year in the form of D.J. Moore, who was acquired by the Bears in the trade that sent the No. 1 overall pick in the draft to Carolina. “The first time we saw them practice was May 23,” Cronin said of Fields and Moore. [After practice], Moore called their connection on the field a ‘work in progress.'” After a month of practicing, Cronin noted there was definitely an improvement in the chemistry between Fields and Moore by the time that minicamp rolled around in June.
Cronin spent a full 25 minutes talking about the Bears, and if you want to hear everything he had to say, you can listen to today’s show here. You can also watch today’s show on YouTube by clicking here.
2. Ranking the NFL’s top 10 tackles heading into the 2023 season
As you may or may not have noticed, we love to rank things here at CBSSports.com. And because of that, we thought we would spend the next few weeks ranking every position group heading into the 2022 season.
After ranking the NFL’s top 10 quarterbacks, running backs and receivers earlier this week, we’re going to move on to offensive tackles for today. That’s right, we’re ranking the big uglies. The top 10 list below was put together by Jeff Kerr, and if you’d like to tell him how perfect it is, you can do that by clicking here. That link will take you to his Twitter profile, where you can also argue with him if you don’t like his list.
Top 10 offensive tackles for 2023:
1. Trent Williams, 49ers
2. Lane Johnson, Eagles
3. Laremy Tunsil, Texans
4. Tristan Wirfs, Buccaneers
5. Andrew Thomas, Giants
6. Terron Armstead, Dolphins
7. Jordan Mailata, Eagles
8. Rashawn Slater, Chargers
9. David Bakhtiari, Packers
10. Penei Sewell, Lions
One thing that sticks out right away about this list is that the NFC seems to have all the best tackles with four of the top five and, seven of 10 overall playing in that conference. Also, Jalen Hurts should probably feel pretty good about his protection this year since the Eagles were the only team that landed both of their starting tackles on this list.
If you want a detailed explanation of Kerr’s rankings, then be sure to click here so you can check out his entire story.
3. Every NFL contender seems to have at least one red flag
There should be a lot of good teams in the NFL this year, but no matter how good they are, they’re not perfect and I know that because every single contending team has at least one fatal flaw. Cody Benjamin took a look at the teams that are expected to be the best in the league this year and then he poured cold water on them by pointing out their Achilles heel.
Here’s a look at the one red flag for three of the top contenders:
- Bengals: They revamped their secondary. “They’re counting on new, young faces throughout the defensive backfield, where Eli Apple, Jessie Bates III and Vonn Bell all left via free agency. Daxton Hill and rookie DJ Turner bring speed, but they lack experience.”
- Chiefs: Another year of questions at wide receiver. “We aren’t foolish enough to doubt Patrick Mahomes, regardless of his receiving corps; 2022 proved, after all, that he doesn’t need a Tyreek Hill to own the rest of the NFL. But once again, they figure to be pretty dependent on tight end Travis Kelce, who’s still in peak form but will be 34 in October. If he were to go down, they’re counting on guys like Kadarius Toney and rookie Rashee Rice.”
- Cowboys: Mike McCarthy is taking over play-calling duties. “After a mutual split with OC Kellen Moore, head coach Mike McCarthy is taking over as Dallas’ primary play-caller. Though he probably deserves more credit for guiding back-to-back 12-win seasons, his older-school, oft-conservative tendencies could surface to a greater degree now that he’s directly in charge of Dak Prescott and Co.”
Cody revealed the fatal flaw for 15 different teams and if you want to check out his full list, be sure to click here.
4. Early best bets to win the Super Bowl
I hope you read Cody’s entire list of flaws, because now, we’re going to throw those flaws out the window and figure out which team we should bet on to win the Super Bowl this year. R.J. White, who’s our gambling guru over at SportsLine, revealed some of his favorite best bets for Super Bowl LVIII.
Usually, White’s content is behind a paywall, but since I like to give things away for free, we’re going to look at some of his best bets here.
First, let’s look at who has the best odds to win it all in 2023:
- Chiefs: +600
- Eagles: +750
- 49ers: +850
- Bills: +900
- Bengals: +1000
- Cowboys: +1500
- Jets: +1500
- Every other team is +2000 or more
Now, let’s take a look at who R.J. likes:
- White’s favorite play among the top five favorites? The Bengals. “Giving the Bengals longer odds than the Bills to win the Super Bowl makes no sense to me. Cincinnati has as good a franchise quarterback under center, more continuity in the coaching ranks over the last few years, more depth at receiver and now a top-tier left tackle to continue the improvement the offensive line showed late last year prior to suffering multiple injuries. This might be the second-best team in the league and the one that I believe has the best shot of challenging the Chiefs in the AFC.”
- White’s favorite among team that are +2000 to +3500? The Ravens (+2200). “The Ravens have an elite quarterback and coach tandem that has not been able to reach its upside in recent years. I’m certainly intrigued by the addition of offensive coordinator Todd Monken and what might be at least solid talent and depth at receiver for the first time in a while.”
- White’s favorite long shot? Seahawks (+4000). “Geno Smith played like a dark horse MVP candidate for much of the season, and the defense finally started to find its feet later in the year. They also added a lot of talent in the offseason, particularly in the draft with a number of premium picks. If the QB situation ultimately keeps the 49ers from being a runaway team in the NFC West, the Seahawks could compete for the division and potentially the No. 1 seed.”
That’s only a small taste of what White had to offer in his story. If you’re looking to make an early Super Bowl bet, then you should definitely check out his entire article here.
Remember, if you want to read a story on SportsLine, you do need a subscription, but trust me, it’s totally worth it. Not only do you get loads of quality gambling content, but you also get a free trial of Paramount+. If you want to sign up, just go here.
5. 10 NFL veterans who could have a career year
If you would have told someone last August that Geno Smith was going to have a career year in Seattle, they probably would have laughed until they physically couldn’t laugh anymore. However, you would have gotten the last laugh, because Geno did have a career year.
With that in mind, Garrett Podell sifted through every roster in the NFL to find some veterans who could have a career year in 2023. To qualify for this list, there was only one rule: A player has to have completed at least three full seasons in the NFL.
All right, let’s get to the list:
1. Chargers QB Justin Herbert. “Herbert finally has a new offensive coordinator in former Cowboys OC Kellen Moore. Moore paired with Herbert, who has the most passing yards (14,089) through a player’s first three seasons in NFL history and the second-most passing touchdowns (94) through a player’s first three seasons in NFL history, will likely lead to many more fireworks at SoFi Stadium.”
2. Buccaneers QB Baker Mayfield. “If there’s going to be any quarterback who follows in Geno Smith’s 2022 footsteps to go from career castoff to a solid starting quarterback/potential Pro Bowler in 2023, it’s Baker Mayfield. The Buccaneers QB enters the upcoming season with many parallels to Smith’s career, one of which is being on his fourth team while facing what’s likely his final chance to be considered an NFL starter.”
3. Cowboys RB Tony Pollard. “Pollard’s 5.9 yards per touch led the NFL among players with at least 200 touches in 2022. … If Pollard can maintain a similar yards-per-touch average on a higher workload, he could play like one of the best running backs in the entire league in 2023.”
Podell actually listed 10 veterans who could have a career year and if you want to check out his full list, be sure to click here.
6. Extra points: Sean McDermott gets extension from Bills
It’s been a busy 24 hours in the NFL, and since it’s nearly impossible to keep track of everything that happened, I went ahead and put together a roundup for you.
- Bills hand out two key extensions. Sean McDermott has been coach of the Bills since 2017, and it looks like he might make it through an entire decade as their head coach. The team announced on Friday that McDermott has signed an extension that will keep him in Buffalo through 2027 (His previous contract was set to expire in 2025). General manager Brandon Beane also got an extension and he’s also now under contract through 2027. Since hiring Beane and McDermott in 2017, the Bills have made it to the playoffs fives times in six seasons.
- Commanders sale could be finalized as soon as July 20. The NFL has taken one giant step closer to getting rid of Daniel Snyder. According to the Washington Post, the league’s finance committee is set to give its stamp of approval to Josh Harris’ $6.05 billion bid. With that obstacle out of the way, the NFL has scheduled a special meeting for July 20 where the league’s 32 owners will vote to approve Harris, which feels like a mere formality at this point.
- Deion Sanders undergoes emergency surgery. The former NFL legend is expected to undergo an emergency surgery today that will treat multiple blood clots. There was some speculation that Sanders might have to have his left foot amputated, but he said that won’t be necessary. If you want more details on the harrowing situation, you can read the full story here.
- Dalvin Cook thinks he’d be a perfect fit for the Dolphins. The former Vikings running back seems to be eyeing the Dolphins. Not only would it allow him to return home — he’s from Miami — but he also thinks he would be a perfect fit in Mike McDaniel’s offense, “As a running back you look for a certain scheme and I know the scheme that I’m good in, and that’s outside zone, and that’s what the Miami Dolphins run. So it’s like, you know, it’d be a perfect fit,” Cook told Sirius XM this week. You can check out his full comments by clicking here.
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Author: John Breech
June 23, 2023 | 2:12 pm
