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| Tuesday, May 30, 2023 |
| Welcome to the Tuesday edition of the Pick Six newsletter! |
| Ladies and gentlemen, let the countdown to the 2023 NFL season officially begin. As of today, we are just 100 days away from the first game of the season. The opener will happen on Sept. 7 when the Chiefs host the Lions. Of course, that game will only happen if the Lions can actually field a team, which is a 50-50 proposition at this point considering how many players they've lost to gambling suspensions. |
| To celebrate today's milestone, we'll be giving you 100 things you need to know about the 2023 season, plus we'll be taking a look at the top free agents left on the market. |
| 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. All right, let's get to the rundown. |
| 1. 100 things to know about the 2023 NFL season |
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| I'm not sure how it happened, but we are now just 100 days away from the start of the 2023 NFL season. Cody Benjamin loves to celebrate things like this, so to help us celebrate the fact that the new NFL season is just 100 days away, he decided to come up with a list that consists of 100 things to know about the 2023 season. |
| I thought about covering all 100 things here, but this is a newsletter, not an unabridged book, so we're going to take a look at five of the nuggets from Cody's list: |
| Chiefs going for rare back-to-back Super Bowl wins. "The Chiefs are looking to become the first team to repeat as Super Bowl champs since the Patriots in 2003-2004. They're coming off a 38-35 shootout win over the Eagles in Super Bowl LVII, their second title in four seasons"Don't bet on the Browns. "Cleveland may face one of the steepest competitions for a division title this year. Besides the reigning AFC runner-ups in the Bengals, the AFC North features the Steelers, who haven't had a losing season in 20 years, and the Ravens, who made the playoffs in 2022 despite star QB Lamar Jackson missing the final five games of the season due to injury."Get ready to see a lot of flexing. "This is the first NFL season in which flex scheduling will be instituted for "Monday Night Football." Starting in Week 14 and running through Week 18, games can be flexed in and out of the prime-time "MNF" slot. Thursday night games can also be flexed this year." Several teams will be rocking new uniforms. "Several teams will sport new or retro uniforms this year. The Cardinals unveiled entirely new uniforms that incorporate large 'Arizona' wordmarks this spring. The Panthers revealed they've tweaked their shade of blue to more accurately reflect their original colors. The Seahawks are set to wear 1990s-era throwbacks at some point, while the Buccaneers have teased the return of the "creamsicle" alternates worn from 1976-1996. The Eagles, meanwhile, will reintroduce Kelly green, worn from 1985-1995, as an alternate look, marking the first time they've used the color since 2010." Playoff rematches galore. "This year's regular-season schedule will include 14 playoff rematches from 2022, the most in NFL history. That includes a rerun of last year's Super Bowl, between the Eagles and Chiefs which will be played Nov. 20 in Kansas City." |
| If you want to check out all 100 nuggets from Cody's list, be sure to click here. |
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| 2. Ranking second-year quarterbacks based on how big of a leap they'll take in 2023 |
| When it comes to the 2022 NFL Draft, there weren't a lot of breakout stars at quarterback. Only one QB was even drafted in the first two rounds (Kenny Pickett) and the best rookie QB last year was arguably the guy who was taken with the last pick in the entire draft (Brock Purdy). |
| The QB class didn't have a great year in 2022, but it could get better in 2023 and that's where Chris Trapasso comes in. The CBSSports.com NFL Draft writer decided to rank each 2022 QB based on their chances of taking a huge leap forward in 2023. |
| Let's take a look at his ranking: |
| 1. Kenny Pickett. "Pickett is in an environment where he could thrive: George Pickens looks bound for superstardom. Allen Robinson was added in the offseason. Diontae Johnson is an established possession target who gets open regularly. Lightning-bug Calvin Austin III returns from a serious rookie-year injury. Then there's Pat Freiermuth at tight end and third-round pick Darnell Washington from Georgia. The offensive line should be more reliable in Year 2 of the Pickett era with Round 1 selection Broderick Jones and critical free-agent guard signing Isaac Seumalo from the Eagles." |
| 2. Brock Purdy. "Purdy was the most relevant Mr. Irrelevant of all time. He optimally operated Kyle Shanahan's super QB friendly system and guided the 49ers to the NFC title game. Now, rehabbing from the serious arm injury he suffered early in the NFC title game defeat, Purdy won't necessarily be able to start Week 1, but he still seems to be the guy in San Francisco." |
| 3. Desmond Ridder. "Ridder's in a compelling spot. He was a third-round pick, didn't really flash as a rookie and plays for a run-oriented head coach. Then again, the Falcons personnel department has drafted an offensive skill-position player inside the top 10 in each of the past three drafts. Bananas. Atlanta also quietly boasts one of the NFL's most reliable offensive lines. Ridder has a fair amount of arm talent and tested like a supreme athlete at the quarterback spot at the 2022 combine. With Bijan Robinson and Co. in the backfield, it's hard to envision Ridder getting the opportunity to throw it 30-plus times very often." |
| If you want to read Trapasso's full ranking, you can do that here. |
| 3. Top 10 free agents left on the market |
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| With DeAndre Hopkins set to be a free agent, we figured that now would be a good time to take a look at the best players still available in free agency. |
| After two and a half months of free agency, you'd think that all the biggest names would be locked up by now, but surprisingly, there are quite a few talented players left on the market. To give you an idea of who's still out there, CBSSports.com's Jeff Kerr went through and made a list of the best player who's still available at each position. |
| Here's a look at some of the biggest names on the list: |
QB: Carson Wentz
RB: Ezekiel Elliott
WR: DeAndre Hopkins
TE: Cameron Brate
OT: Taylor Lewan
C: Rodney Hudson
OG: Dalton Risner |
DE: Frank Clark
EDGE: Leonard Floyd
CB: Marcus Peters |
| If you want to see the full list of available players, be sure to check out his entire story by clicking here. |
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| 4. One burning question for every team in the AFC South |
| With all the roster changes that have happened around the league this offseason, there are plenty of questions that each team will need to answer before we know if they'll actually be good in 2023. With that in mind, we've been going through each division to look at the biggest question for each team heading into the upcoming season, and today, we're going to cover the AFC South. |
| Here's one burning question that Jordan Dajani has come up with for each team. |
| Texans: Are they finally on solid footing? "In free agency, the Texans actually made some good moves. They signed safety Jimmie Ward, defensive tackle Sheldon Rankins, tight end Dalton Schultz, cornerback Shaquill Griffin, wide receiver Noah Brown and then traded for former Tampa Bay Buccaneers offensive guard Shaq Mason. In the draft, Houston selected a prospective franchise quarterback in C.J. Stroud, then traded up to No. 3 overall to take arguably the top player in this class in pass-rusher Will Anderson Jr ... It appears the Texans are finally on the right track." Colts: How quickly can Anthony Richardson navigate the NFL learning curve? "Richardson probably has the highest ceiling of all the quarterbacks in this class. He was quite literally the most athletic quarterback to ever go through the NFL Combine. He's tall, he's fast, he can jump high -- he's an athlete. However, the quarterback position requires more than that and it's understood that Richardson is not exactly the most polished passer. How quickly can Richardson navigate those learning curves? That's something that directly affects the Colts' ceiling in 2023 and beyond."Jaguars: Can they build on their 2022 success? "Doug Pederson is a Super Bowl-winning head coach and Lawrence appears to be a legitimate franchise quarterback. Those two factors should have fans optimistic about 2022 not being a flash in the pan ... The AFC South is a weak division, and the Jaguars deserve to be favorites heading into the 2023 season."Titans: Did Tennessee do enough on offense? "The Titans are not exactly known for their offensive prowess, but last year was especially abysmal. They averaged 296.8 yards per game (third worst in the NFL), and 17.5 points per game (fifth worst in the NFL) ... After firing offensive coordinator Todd Downing, the Titans opted against going outside the building for much-needed help, and instead promoted passing game coordinator Tim Kelly. You could argue the Titans' ceiling in 2023 hinges on how effective he is in his new role." |
| To read Dajani's full answer for each question, be sure to click here. |
| 5. NFL jersey buying guide: Best jersey pick for fans of each team |
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| We don't usually offer clothing advice in this newsletter and that's mainly because every NFL writer here at CBS Sports is a terrible dresser, but we're going to make an exception today. If you're thinking about buying an NFL jersey this summer to get ready for the 2023 season, then you're in luck because we have Cody Benjamin's annual jersey buying guide today. |
| This guide is simple: Cody picked out one jersey for each team that you need to buy if you're a fan of that team. Here's a look at six of the jerseys that he picked out: |
| Brown: 95 (Myles Garrett)Cowboys: 11 (Micah Parsons) Dolphins: 17 (Jaylen Waddle) Ravens: 8 (Lamar Jackson)Vikings: 18 (Justin Jefferson) 49ers: 85 (George Kittle) |
Am I slightly disappointed that Cody didn't include a single kicker on this list? Yes.
Am I going to give him the silent treatment for the next six weeks? Maybe. |
| I would have picked Justin Tucker (9) for the Ravens. |
| Anyway, if you want to see Cody's full list of 32 jerseys, then be sure to click here. |
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| 6. Extra points: DeAndre Hopkins to finally be released today |
| 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. |
| Cardinals haven't released DeAndre Hopkins yet. Although the Cardinals announced on Friday that Hopkins would be cut, that move hasn't happened yet. The NFL was shut down for Memorial Day weekend, which means the league didn't process any transactions. This means that Hopkins won't officially be released until 4 p.m. today. Because of this, a team could theoretically swoop in and try to make a last second trade for Hopkins, but that seems highly unlikely at this point. Texans get compared to 2017 playoff teams. Robert Woods seems excited about his new team. The receiver, who signed with Houston in March, recently said that the Texans remind him of the 2017 Rams. "I feel like this is a similar situation to when I came to L.A. with a young [Sean] McVay," Woods said, via USA Today. "Some say it was a rebuild. I feel like it was just a team buying into your coach, believing in the coach, believing in the system, and I think coach [Demeco] Ryans has that here." If Woods is right, that would mean good things for Houston. The 2017 Rams made it to the playoffs and then followed that up with a Super Bowl appearance in 2018. NFL investigating second wave of gambling violations. We've already seen five players get suspended due to gambling violations this offseason -- including four Lions players -- and it looks like there could be more. According to the Athletic, the NFL is investigating a second wave of potential violations of its gambling policy and one of the players being investigated is another Lions player . Someone might want to explain the gambling policy to everyone in Detroit's locker room. Trey Lance says he's 100%. The 49ers QB, who broke his ankle in September, says that he's now 100% healthy . That's good news for the 49ers, especially when you consider that Brock Purdy won't be practicing any time soon due to his injured elbow. Purdy might not be ready by Week 1, and if that's the case, then Lance will battle with Sam Darnold for the starting QB job. |
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