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NFL Top 100

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It’s the offseason still, which means fans are obsessing over data as their Fantasy Draft looms, and with the NFL Top 100 list being released by the NFL Network this week, fans and players are up in a tizzy.

This annual list compiled by the NFL is always good for motivating players, as professional athletes are fuelled by ego, so telling someone that they are ranked ’89th’ when they feel like they should be ‘#1’ is quite common.

We’re not going to look at the whole list in this post, instead focusing on the Top 10 players provided by the NFL

We’ll look at the top 10 ranked players by the NFL Network for the 2023 season, and decide if we agree or disagree, and slot in the person we think should be there. Sound good?

NFL Top 10

1. Patrick Mahomes-AGREE

Patrick Mahomes is our top player for 2023, after another commanding performance and Super Bowl in 2022. Mahomes is the best playmaker in the league, whether it’s consistently finding Travis Kelce ANYWHERE on the field, to his amazing baseball and side throws. In 2022 the NFL world claimed that Joe Burrow was going to win it all, but then came Mahomes and set the records straight.

2. Josh Allen-DISAGREE

Josh Allen is a great QB, but if 2022 was any indication, there is still a lot to be done in Buffalo. Allen has a tendency to force the ball down the field on long attempts, which made the Bills either playing catch-up, of Josh getting picked. With all the drama going on in Buffalo, and changes to the AFC East, maybe the Bills time has passed.

Our #2-Joe Burrow

3. Joe Burrow-DISAGREE

We had Joe Burrow in second place to Mahomes, after two solid years of playoff contention. Burrow has had to contend with depleted O-lines, injuries to his wide-receivers, and to himself, but still this LSU boy continues to deliver competitive performances. The Bengals have made the changes to support Burrow this season, and the only way is up!

Our #3-Tyreek Hill

4. Nick Bosa-DISAGREE

Nick Bosa is a beast, and has an amazing impact on pushing the 49ers D into the directions that they need to go. But number 4 ranked player in the NFL? One could argue that TJ Watt (when healthy) has more of a dramatic effect on D in changing game tempo.
Bosa is good, but maybe not that good.

Our #4 Travis Kelce

5. Myles Garrett-DISAGREE

Garret is a monster in the trenches, and can single-handedly change a game, combined with the whole Browns D, but number 5 is pretty high for a guy who has had some up and down seasons.
This good be a pivotal year for Myles, especially if Deshaun finally comes into gear.

Our #5-Justin Jefferson

6. Travis Kelce-DISAGREE

When you look at the TE stats, and how much of an impact player Kelce is, it is truly amazing. Probably the best TE to play the game, Kelce continues to deliver across the middle of the field, shaking of tiny defenders with ease.
The tandem of Mahomes-Kelce is the most consistent point-scoring machine in the NFL.
Hard to see if slowing down in 2023.

Our #6-Josh Allen

7. Justin Jefferson-DISAGREE

JJ is the top wide receiver in the NFL right now, and is top of the list in most fantasy drafts for 2023. It’s a shame that he has Kirk Cousins as a QB, but the Vikings still look like top candidates for the NFC North title. Jefferson is a beast, that’s why we had him earlier up at #5.

Our #7-Nick Bosa

8-Micah Parsons-AGREE

Micah Parsons IS the Dallas D, becoming one of the best edge rushers in the NFL. While most people shudder at the thought of watching the Cowboys play, seeing Micah on the field is an absolute delight.
Dallas has a lot to do this season if they want to pip the mighty Eagles, but Parsons will be one of the keys to shut down D.

9-Aaron Donald-DISAGREE

Oh the poor Rams. They spent to buy a Super Bowl, and now they are stuck with some thing, and often injured talent. Donald is 32 years old and missed 5 games to injury in 2022, so it’s surprising that the NFL Network ranked him so highly on this list.

Our #9-Chris Jones

10-Trent Williams-DISAGREE

There is no denying that Trent Williams is the best left tackle in the league, and definitely belongs in the top 15, but top 10 might be a stretch. There are a lot of pieces to the San Francisco D, and Williams is deffo a big part of it.

Our #10-TJ Watt

That’s it for review of the NFL Top 100 put out by the NFL Network. Who do you think should be in the top 10?

 

 

Bear Down

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We swapped out one Ryan for another, on this special Bear Down podcast!

Bear Down

Usually our podcast is bolstered by a Bills and a Bears fan, but with Ryan Cull still on vacay with the fam-jam, we’ve brought in our friend, and Bears fan Ryan Andrews on this one. It feels all NFC North!

To listen to the latest edition of the podcast, just click here and let your worries wash away in this engaging new edition.

Among some of the things Ryan and Wade talk about in this one includes:

Where the Bears

With two Bears fans on, the big elephant in the room needs to be addressed: ‘Are the Bears going to stay in Chicago proper?’

Ryan is from Illinois, so he has his own thoughts on Soldier Field, as well as the potential of moving the team up to Arlington Heights where they are looking for some state help in financing.

How long will it take to put this whole thing together anyhow?

Offseason Idiocy

As far as off-season arrests have been, this has been one of the quieter years than past. Have young NFL players stopped doing stupid things? Have mobile phones made it tougher to be clean in the offseason? Or are young players finally fearful of losing a career path?
Kinda, sorta.

Vikings rookie wide receiver Jordan Addison pulled a bonehead move this week, when he was caught speeding over 140 mph in a 50 zone. Not so bright. Luckily, no one was injured, but still a stupid move for someone trying to make a team impact this season. Hopefully the veterans in the locker room are relentless to Jordan.

Topping this stunt isn’t hard if you’re Jaguars player Chris Claybrooks, who has been arrested on domestic violence charges for the second time in four months.
It’s doubtful that Jacksonville will want to hang on to this liability with anger management issues.
Hopefully he can get the help he needs, but it won’t be in the NFL.

Comm and Go

Dan Synder is finally out, as the Washington Commanders sale has finally been approved to billionaire Josh Harris.
Most in the league are happy to see Snyder go, after tanking a venerable franchise through shadiness and a ‘hands on’ approach to coaching, despite having no training there.

For many fans, comes the real question. ‘are you going to change the team name again?’
While some harken for a return to the classic ‘Washington Football Team’, others are pushing for a name that addresses reparations (a buzzword in America these days).

However it goes, Washington still has a lot of rebuilding to do. With one of the worst stadiums in the NFL, declining numbers, and the lack of a real fan draw could see them fall back into a purgatory of trying to fight the NFC East, while battling themselves.

Giant Fail?

The NY Giants are currently dealing with the Saquon situation which is quickly spiralling out of control.

To mitigate the damage, and offer a little roster hope, the Giants signed Cole ‘anti-vax’ Beasley, and often cut running back James Robinson.
Robinson was the belle of the Jaguars ball only a few years ago, that has seen him slip and slide around the AFC East.
As for Beasley, he’s just there to slop up from the injuries.

Madden 24

Madden is back, so warm up you thumbs and prepare to get whooped online by some 10 year old in his basement.

Of course the big thing about Madden these days is ego, as players toss the toys from the pram as soon as they don’t secure that sweet 99 rating.

The new Madden has been released, and only a few are elite members of that 99 club. So congrats Patrick Mahomes, and Justin Jefferson, you deserve it.

We’ll also have more NFL fantasy news coming up in the next few weeks, so watch this space!

Draft Eve

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Are your NFL stockings hung by the fireplace with care, in hopes that Draft Eve will bring your team the talent to spare?

Welcome to the giddiness of the 2023 NFL Draft, as we bust your ear drums open with some banter of how we see the first bit of the draft going, and all the saucy news that will make up the hot gossip of trades around the week.
Buckle up!

Wade McElwain and Ryan Cull dust off their other life, and hop back into the NFL saddle as the cobwebs are off to start 2023!

If you would like to listen to the full Draft Eve podcast, you can click here for the Soundcloud, or find us on iTunes and Spotify as well.

Aaron ‘Jet’ Rodgers

Well it’s official kids, Aaron Rodgers is finally following in the footsteps of Brett Favre and moving off to the Big Apple.
The deal is finally done in a swap of rounders and Woody goes ‘all in’ on hoping that the guru veteran take them to the playoff land.
For both teams it’s a chance to finally move on to the season with the Draft now a focus on how they are going to surround them.
Giving Rodgers a solid o-line and a big old tight end might be some of the keys that he needs.
Rodgers will once again be wearing his Golden Bear 8, perhaps trying to channel his inner youth in a cleanse to start over.
8 could also be the number of interceptions he throws in a game given his predecessors.
Given the move to a 17 week season, the alignment means that an NFC North and NFC battle zone could see a 25% chance of the Packers playing the Jets again this year. The Jets won in 2022, maybe they could do it again.

Tom Brady

Nothing. Who cares. Made you look.

Draft Drama

We all know that the draft brings with it the joy of seeing your team jiggle it up to prime for a new run, but it’s also that dirty drama drama that accompanies it.
What’s the deal with Derek Henry? Is Dalvin Cook going anywhere? Has everyone forgot about Lamar? Lamar is missing y’all!
With a bucket load of free agent talent out there, and not a lot of cash to back it up, could there be some people that have to suck it up for cheap?
Welcome to 2023.

Draft Picks

In some ways it feels like kind of a ‘meh’ draft, because there isn’t really anyone with ‘pizza-azzle’ to ignite a flurry of excitement.
That being said, in an injury prone league of increased play time, the more bodies the better.
Big, young, fat men with questionable diets lead the focus, as DE, OT, C’s and BLT’s are the hunger of many a GM.
Any why not? After seeing so many QB’s get smashed by inept lines of fourth stringers, and the knowledge that just one of these kids could change the whole dynamic of a line.
QBs will sill be the focus though, but the cost of living crisis has also made some cuts to the height of the top talent.
Woe is the short man in this new game, where the Tua’s and Kyler’s college shuffle didn’t translate to a league where smackdown and field vision are more prevalent.

International Games

Okay folks, the big news is only weeks away. Word is that we will get the announcement of the full NFL in London games on May 4th, 2023!  That’s right, cancel your plans that day, as we your world is about to change.
We will not only know who plays the Buffalo Bills, Tennessee Titans, and Jacksonville Jaguars, but also the dates.
We will NOT know anything about that though for a while. Please watch the NFLUK website for that, as they will have all the legit news.
Please make sure that you don’t buy any tickets online before the official news, as they are deffo a big scam.
Check out out socials. You have our permission. You can also touch them if you want.
It’s been a long offseason.

Feb Football News

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Holy crap, is football really over? Has anyone started to go through withdrawal yet, or get a massive case of the shakes?
Well, we can help you out with a round up of some of the latest Feb Football news.

If you are suffering from some of these symptoms, try to digest the following, and make sure you watch plenty of old games.
The XFL is also on, but ughhh…so let’s start there.

XFL

Can you smell what the Rock is cooking? ‘Cause it’s smells a bit undercooked, as the XFL kicked off its third incarnation in mid Feb 2023.

When Vince McMahon first birthed the XFL in 2001, many had hoped that the league might remain and offer a building block of rosters for the NFL.
Sadly it collapsed just like his WWE dreams, before it was saved by one of his former employees.

The Rock had tried to revive the league, partner it with the CFL, then took a safety in 2021 when the then ‘coronavirus’ punched any hopes of the league restarting right in the throat.

So how did it do on its return to the airwaves in 2023?
Meh.
Ratings are down huge from 3.3 million in 2020, to well under 1.6 million for the new games.

To put that in perspective, that’s LESS than both the launch of the AAF and the 2022 debut of the USFL, which brought in over 3 million viewers.

The XFL does benefit from being on both ABC and ESPN, so there is hope for the league if they continue blasting it to bored fans.

Not so easy for us to watch in the UK though, with games not starting til roughly 1am.

Some clever clog on Reddit made a concept for an XFL expansion. We’ll just leave that here for you.

Chad Ocho

NFL legend Chad Ochocinco has dropped a big bomb on fans that he actually lived at the Cincinnati stadium during his first two years in the league.

Ever clever and good for sound bites, Ocho revealed on a recent podcast that given the Bengals stadium had showers, food, video games and more, it made sense for him to live there to save some dosh.

While no one can officially confirm that Ocho did actually live there for 2 seasons, it would be on par with the behaviour of a celebrated bon vivant of the league.

How cool would it be to play Madden on the Jumbotron when you had the stadium to yourself?

Pay Brady

Tom Brady needs money y’all, so someone else has just dumped a truck load of cash to his Florida bachelor pad.

SiriusXM has renewed Tommy’s ‘Let’s Go’ podcast with former NFL’er Larry Fitzgerald and broadcaster Jim Gray, for more cashola.

TB12 isn’t required for his 10 year broadcasting deal with FOX, in which he will make another $375 million.

Of course that won’t mean anything, if the Dolphins or 49ers get to that point in the season where they just need one top QB to get them to the promised land.

He’ll be back…

Free Agents

As we all patiently wait for the 2023 NFL Draft, eyes are on some of the top prizes in the game, and where they might end up next season.

Some of the big guys everyone will be watching includes:

Lamar Jackson

Will the Ravens be foolish enough to part with Lamar, or are they planning on building a team around him?
The ‘will they’ or ‘won’t they’ has become so infuriating with Baltimore, it feels like the romantic twist in a bad sitcom.
We predict that he will stay in Baltimore for next year and beyond.

Geno Smith

Geno was initially seen as a stop gap solution when he beat out Drew Lock to captain the Seahawks last season. Then Geno went off, and the whispers of ‘MVP’ started circling given the way he was able to sling some Seattle wins together.

So will the Seahawks pony up and pay the man?
Seems pretty bloody likely given how well he played for what he was paid.
Had their running game not gone to crap, maybe they could have made the post season.

Derek Carr

This Carr cracker crumbled in 2023, after his much hyped Las Vegas Raiders ate a big turd-burger despite some pretty marquee talent.

Carr is gone from Vegas despite promising fans that the Raiders would be the last team he would play for. He can still sling the pig skin, so it makes sense that he plays a few more years, before taking his fugly-jug to the broadcast booth next to his gorgeous bro.

We see Derek Carr heading down to New Orleans next year to lead the Saints to a losing record.

London Games

Are you ready for the Bills, Titans and Jaguars to come to London this year?

Us too, and we’ll let you know more as soon as we hear about it.

Make sure you check here for all the latest news, and thanks for reading our Feb Football News.

https://www.nfl.com/uk/international-games

 

 

Super Bowl 57

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After 20 something weeks of exciting play, it’s finally time for the big game, as we make our predictions for Super Bowl 57 in Arizona.

It is a Super Bowl of historics, not only featuring two brothers playing each other, but also the first time that two black quarterbacks have faced each other in the big game.
It does feel that we are on the precipice of the new dynasty of heroes to emerge.

To make your life easier, Wade and Ryan have compiled all of their thoughts on the big game in this easy to listen to podcast.
All you have to do is sit back, kick your feet up, and listen to two Canadians in London try to figure out the big game.

Here’s the link to the podcast:

Kansas City Chiefs (14-3) vs 1-.5 Philadelphia Eagles (14-3) + 51

It’s the teams with the best two records in football, as it feels right that these two are battling it out on the final game after both teams showcased dynamic play throughout the season.
The Chiefs come into the big game as another underdog, a role they seemed to have thrived in during the playoffs.
Mahomes was able to shake off the curse of Burrows, but he wasn’t able to shake off an ankle injury, which will have all eyes on his mobility on Sunday.
The wide receiver corps is a bit a broken toy syndrome, with all of them in the workshop trying to cobble together their bodies before giving it there all.
Kansas City was even more short-handed against the Bengals, and were somehow able to thrive on the back of their D, and the stellar play of Chris Jones.
Patrick Mahomes is the best player in the league right now, it just depends on whether the rest of his team will play at the top of their game.
Philadelphia Eagles are technically in a ‘rebuilding’ year in 2022, but oh look at them go.
Philly was able to do what most teams failed to this season, make incremental gains to be a bit better than they were last year.
Their O line is top notch, boasting the best protection in the league.
Philly’s D is also humming, notching up 70 sacks, spread out amongst a dynamic team of pass rushers.
The only thing that seems to have dropped as of late is QB Jalen Hurts.
Hurts started the season on fire, but a mid-season injury seemed to take not only a bit of a spring our his step, but also the deep-ball out of his game.
If it turns into a shoot-out, the Eagles are going to need to find ways to get that ball DEEP, because this is where Mahomes thrives.
Ryan is picking the Chiefs in this one, as his AFC faithfulness believes that Mahomes and Kelce are just too good to be stopped.
He likes this one to go down to the wire, but that the red, white and yellow will be hoisting the Lombardy Trophy.
Wade is going with the Eagles, as the strength of their D, the protection from their O line, and the various running options at their disposal makes them too much to cover for a spread out D.
He thinks that the game will be close, but could actually see it get out of hand in an Eagles blow out if the Chiefs can’t keep their composure.
Ryan-Chiefs 27 Eagles 23
Wade-Eagles 26 Chiefs 23

Prop Bets

Here are a few prop and fun bets that we are looking at for Sunday.
-Mahomes UNDER 290.5 yards passing
-Gainwell OVER 19.5 receiving yards
-NO missed PATs -380
-First sack-Josh Sweat +1000
-Boston Scott-Anytime Touchdown -550
-Gatorade poured over winning coach will be BLUE +400

Super Bowl Trivia

How much do you know about the Super Bowl heading into Sunday?
Ready to take on our tough SuperBowl Quiz?
Just click here to play along!
That’s it for us for this week! Have fun on Sunday and enjoy the game!