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| Friday, June 4, 2021 |
| It's National Donut Day and I have 17 donuts in front of me that need to be eaten, so I'm going to have to keep this intro short today. |
| On a somewhat related note, I have to say, June is filled with underrated holidays. Not only do we have National Donut Day, but there's also National Corn on the Cob Day (June 11), Flag Day (June 14), Father's Day (June 20) and National Onion Ring Day (June 22), which are four of my favorite holidays. |
| Speaking of rings (that aren't made of onion), the Buccaneers have finally found out when they'll be getting their Super Bowl rings and we'll be covering that today. Also, we'll take a look at the one under-the-radar NFL star who could get traded before the season. |
| With that in mind, let's get to the rundown. |
| As always, here's your weekly reminder to tell all your friends -- young or old -- to sign up for the newsletter. To sign up, all you have to do is click here and then share the link. |
| 1. Today's show: Ranking 2021's best triplets |
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| Last week, Jared Dubin released his annual ranking of the NFL's best triplets and just so there's no confusion, he was not ranking actual triplets. Instead, Dubin went through and ranked all 32 NFL teams based on the strength of their top three skill players (QB-RB-WR/TE). |
| Whenever you make a ranking here at CBSSports.com, you have to answer for that ranking and you do that by joining Will Brinson on the Pick Six Podcast, which is exactly what Dubin did today. For Friday's episode, Brinson grilled Dubin about his ranking, which surprisingly didn't have the Chiefs at No. 1. Instead, Dubin went with the Packers triplet set of Aaron Rodgers, Aaron Jones and Davante Adams. |
| Two teams Dubin likes his year are the Rams and Ravens. Although the Rams only ranked 10th overall, Dubin thinks they might have actually been under-ranked. |
| "If all goes well, this ranking will look low by the end of the season," Dubin said. |
| As for the Ravens, who ranked ninth, Dubin thinks people are sleeping on Lamar Jackson after the quarterback went through a "down" season in 2020. |
| "Lamar, for having such a horrible year that people freaked out about all season, he finished eighth in QBR last year. If that's his floor, that dude is really, really good," Dubin said. |
| Dubin and Brinson went through all 32 teams in the triplets rankings and if you want to hear them break it all down, be sure to click here so you can listen to today's show and follow the podcast. |
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| 2. NFL Insider Notes: One blockbuster trade that could be on the horizon |
| For the past month, 99% of all trade rumors in the NFL have revolved around either Aaron Rodgers or Julio Jones. Although there's a chance both of those players will eventually get traded, there's another star player you should be keeping your eye on for a possible trade and that player is Chandler Jones. |
| According CBS Sports NFL Insider Jason La Canfora, things aren't exactly "rosy" between Jones and the Cardinals right now and that could lead to the 31-year-old eventually being dealt away. Jones is headed into the final year of his contract and has zero guaranteed money left in the deal. The Cardinals haven't held any serious extension talks with Jones, and now, it seems that he's slightly disgruntled about that. |
| From La Canfora: |
| "Jones has yet to show up at an offseason practice (like Julio), despite living year-round near the facility. This is a team leader who has done nothing but represent the team with class on and off the field, and someone who could be held up as an example to others. Yet he is a no-show. Oh, and he deleted every reference to the Cardinals from his social media, a telltale indicator if there ever was one. And he hasn't put anything back. |
| I'm going to go out on a limb and suggest that he probably isn't fired up to play out an expiring contract -- one with zero guarantees or protections whatsoever -- for a team that couldn't wait to throw a bag of money at DeAndre Hopkins last year, or J.J. Watt early this offseason, but seems beyond content to just let Jones go out and have to prove something all over again." |
| Although Jones missed 11 games last season due to a torn biceps, he's proven that he's one of the best pass-rushers in the NFL when he's healthy. During his second year with the Cardinals in 2017, he led the NFL in sacks with 17. Two years later, he followed that up with a 19-sack season that ranked second in the NFL. Basically it's baffling that the Cardinals haven't hammered out a long-term deal with Jones and if you want to know why a trade could happen before the start of the season, you're going to want to click here so you can read La Canfora's entire story. |
| 3. Two starting QB competitions that might already be over |
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| If the Bears and Texans were planning to hold a competition for their starting quarterback jobs this year, it appears those plans have been thrown out the window, because it kind of seems like both teams already know who their Week 1 starter is going to be. |
| Bears |
| After the Bears traded up to draft Justin Field with the 11th overall pick this year, some fans in Chicago were hoping that Fields would be able to beat out Andy Dalton in a competition for the starting job. However, it's starting to seem like there's not going to be a competition because the Bears are going to give the job to Dalton. |
| According to Pro Football Talk, the Bears have already "promised" Dalton that he's going to be the team's Week 1 starter. Now, this doesn't mean Dalton is going to be the starter all season, but it does mean he's going to go into the year as the starter and if he wins games, there's a good chance he'll be keeping the job all year. |
| The fact that Dalton has been promised the job in Week 1 isn't a huge surprise. For one, just look at the Bears' schedule. The team opens the season on the road against the Rams in primetime and it probably won't help Fields' confidence very much if the first game of his career involves Aaron Donald trying to destroy him for four straight quarters. Dalton seems like a lock to start at least through the first two weeks (The Bears play the Bengals in Week 2, so Chicago will likely give Dalton a chance to get revenge on his old team). |
| One other factor here is Matt Nagy. The Bears coach was the Chiefs' offensive coordinator in 2017 when they kept Patrick Mahomes on the bench during his rookie year and Nagy is likely more than happy to try that strategy again this year with Fields. |
| Texans |
| The Deshaun Watson situation has kind of thrown a wrench into things. Due to Watson's legal situation and the fact that he wants out of Houston, it's pretty much a certainty that he won't be the Texans' starting QB this year. Besides Watson, the Texans have three other quarterbacks (Tyrod Taylor, Jeff Driskel and Davis Mills). |
| With Watson out, Tyrod Taylor seems pretty confident that he's going to be the starter this year. |
| "Deshaun has played at a very high level throughout his career," Taylor said this week. "I've been a fan of his and I know him personally, but the opportunity to be able to start here is something I look forward to." |
| Basically, Tyrod sounds like someone who expects to be the team's Week 1 starter and it wouldn't be surprising to learn that the team has already informed him of that. No matter how the QB situation plays out, it seems like the Texans have mentally moved on from Watson. |
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| 4. Buccaneers will soon be getting their Super Bowl rings |
| Tom Brady already has six Super Bowl rings and it's looking like he's going to be able to officially collect his seventh ring next month. |
| According to the Tampa Bay Times, the Buccaneers have finally set the date for their ring ceremony. The team is going to hold the event on July 22, which comes exactly two days before the start of training camp. No one has leaked a picture of the new ring, but when it comes out, there's a good chance that it will be worth more than your car. |
| Last year, the Chiefs were given a ring that featured 10.5 carats of gemstones, including 255 diamonds and 36 rubies. Teams usually put unique features on the ring to commemorate their entire season, so it won't be surprising if the Buccaneers put two Lombardi Trophies (It was their second Super Bowl win) and some sort of image of Raymond James Stadium (They were the first team to win a Super Bowl in their home stadium). |
| Brady will be receiving his seventh ring, which is the most of any player in NFL history. Not to be outdone, Rob Gronkowski will be collecting his fourth ring, which is the tied for the third-most in NFL history. If Gronk can win one more Super Bowl, he'll tie Charles Haley for the second-most rings of all-time. |
5. Predicting every game on the Rams' 2021 schedule
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| Now that the month of June is here, that means the dead part of the NFL offseason is almost upon us and although things can get kind of boring during that period, we're going to keep things spicy around here by going through and predicting every game on each team's 2021 schedule. |
| There are 32 teams and we'll be doing one team per day until we make it through every team. Today, we're taking a closer look at the Los Angeles Rams. |
| Our Cody Benjamin went through the Rams' entire schedule and made a pick in every single one of their games. Although Matthew Stafford seems like an upgrade from Jared Goff, Cody doesn't see the Rams' record improving with Stafford under center. As a matter of fact, Cody actually has them losing more games than they did last season with Goff. |
| With that in mind, let's check out his picks from three key games: |
| Week 2: Rams at Colts. "Matthew Stafford connects on a few deep shots against a Colts secondary more suspect than most realize, but Indy plays smart and tough, leaning on the ground and getting a couple of gutsy plays from Carson Wentz late to claim a close one at home." Prediction: Colts 27-24 over Rams. Week 3: Buccaneers at Rams. "Fresh off a divisional matchup with Atlanta in Week 2, the Bucs start slow after traveling all the way to the West Coast, with Jalen Ramsey picking off Tom Brady early to keep L.A. in front. Matthew Stafford struggles against Tampa's 'D,' but the Rams find a way to eke it out." Prediction: Rams 26-23 over Buccaneers. Week 9: Titans at Rams. "With Derrick Henry plowing through the trenches, Tennessee controls the clock early, then catches a break with a pair of takeaways. With a big Week 10 divisional game looming against the 49ers, Sean McVay's squad can't close it out despite a Matthew Stafford comeback attempt." Prediction: Titans 23-22 over Rams. |
| Overall, Cody is predicting that the Rams will end the season with a 10-7 record. Although that probably won't be good enough to win the division, that should be good enough to earn the Rams a playoff berth for the fourth time in Sean McVay's five seasons. |
| If you want to see Cody's prediction for each game, be sure to click here so you can check out his entire story. Coming on Monday, we'll be closing out the NFC West by going through the Cardinals' entire schedule and predicting every game. |
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| 6. Amazon eyeing Al Michaels for Thursday NFL games |
| When Amazon takes over the NFL's Thursday night package in 2022, it appears the tech company is hoping to do it with a splash. According to the New York Post, Amazon wants to hire NBC's Al Michaels to serve as the lead announcer for the games. |
| The 76-year-old Michaels has been at NBC since 2006 when he was added to be the network's lead voice on "Sunday Night Football." (Michaels was actually traded from ABC to NBC in a deal that involved a cartoon rabbit and you can read more about that strange deal by clicking here). |
| Trying to land Michaels might seem like a crazy idea for Amazon, but it's not completely far-fetched. Michaels is heading into the final year of his contract at NBC and the network has Mike Tirico ready to take over for him as soon as the 2022 season. If NBC wants Tirico in place for 2022, they could encourage Michaels to take the Amazon job. As noted by the Post, Michaels could take the Amazon job while staying in a minor role at NBC that could include calling at least one playoff game for the network. |
| Michaels' career calling NFL games actually started at CBS back in 1975. After that, he went to ABC, where he had a 30-year stint (1976-2006) that included 20 years on "Monday Night Football." |
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| | | | | Concacaf Nations League Final | | Memorial Tournament on CBS | The Concacaf Nations League final will take place on Sunday at Denver's Empower Field at Mile High and you can catch all the action on Paramount+! The United States and Mexico teams will play at 9 PM ET.
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| | The Memorial Tournament is one of the crown jewels on the PGA Tour slate, and the 2021 edition of the event has a field (and a new-look golf course!) to match. Watch the third round on Saturday at 3 PM ET and the final round on Sunday at 3 PM ET.
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