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| Thursday, August 5, 2021 |
| It's finally here. I repeat, it's finally here! There is going to be actual NFL football on TV tonight and I don't want to say I've been counting, but it's been 179 days since the last time there was a game. |
| Sure, the Hall of Fame game isn't quite on the same scale as the Super Bowl, but it's the Super Bowl of preseason games, so we're going to treat it like a Super Bowl in today's newsletter. You're going to get a preview podcast, a list of players to watch and I'm even going to make a prediction on the game. |
| As always, here's your weekly reminder to tell all your friends to sign up for the Pick Six newsletter. To get your friends to sign up, all you have to do is click here and then share this link with them. |
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| 1. Today's show: Hall of Fame game preview |
| It's not often we spend 40 minutes previewing a PRESEASON game on the Pick Six Podcast, but that's what we did for today's episode to celebrate the return of football. With the Cowboys and Steelers set to meet in Canton, we thought it made sense to have Jared Dubin (our resident Cowboys homer) and Bryan DeArdo (our resident Steelers homer) on the show to preview the game. |
| With most of the Cowboys offensive stars being held out tonight, Dubin is going to be watching the team's defense. After a horrid 2020 season, Dubin wants to see if they've improved and that's mainly because he thinks the only way the team can be successful this year is if the defense gets better. |
| "I think [the Cowboys success in 2021] depends on whether the defense is really bad or just regular bad," Dubin said. "If they're the 20th best defense in the league, I think they'll be a pretty good team. If they're the 30th best defense in the league, then I think it's going to be difficult." |
| On the Steelers' end, DeArdo will be watching for rookie running back Najee Harris, who's expected to get some playing time. Pittsburgh also has an interesting battle going on at backup QB and both players trying to win that spot -- Mason Rudolph and Dwayne Haskins -- are expected to get some playing time tonight. |
| To listen to today's episode -- and to follow the podcast -- be sure to click here. |
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| 2. Cowboys and Steelers players to watch in the Hall of Fame game |
| If you plan on watching the Hall of Fame game tonight, you might want to make a mental note right now that the game is on Fox. The only reason I'm pointing that out is because the game is usually NBC, but they have the Olympics, so Fox will be carrying the game for the first time ever (Kickoff is at 8 p.m. ET). |
| Now that you know where to watch the game, let's take a look at who you should be watching in the game, starting with the Steelers. DeArdo made a list of five players he'll be watching closely. |
| Here are three players from that list: |
| QB Dwayne Haskins: "The former first-round pick has been transparent about challenging Rudolph to be the Steelers' No. 2 quarterback. A strong performance on Thursday night would certainly help his cause." RB Najee Harris: "Harris has enjoyed a strong start to training camp. Specifically, Harris has shown the ability to get to the second and third level of the defense. Let's see if he can did it in a game."C Kendrick Greene: "Green is part of a revamped Steelers offensive line that lost Pouncey, tackles Alejandro Villanueva and Matt Feiler and guard David DeCastro this offseason. The unit is looking to make up for its lack of experience with physicality, particularly when it comes to run blocking." |
| To check out DeArdo's full list, be sure to click here. |
| As for the Cowboys, they have 16 players who won't even be traveling to Ohio, including Dak Prescott, Demarcus Lawrence and Amari Cooper. However, there will still be plenty of players to watch on the Dallas side and to make things easier, our Patrik Walker made a list of guys you should keep your eye on. |
| QB Garrett Gilbert: "The backup QB job is Gilbert's to lose, so how he handles this version of the Steelers defense -- after nearly upsetting them in jaw-dropping fashion last season -- will tell a lot about his progress or lack thereof."LB MIcah Parsons: "All eyes will be on the Cowboys first-round pick in his first snaps on an NFL field, and especially after he's become one of the shining stars in training camp."CB Kelvin Joseph: "The Cowboys took a risk using their second-round pick on Joseph, and not because of his talent. On the field, he's a game wrecker at cornerback, and that's why they opted to roll the dice, but things got off to a rocky start when he missed OTAs/minicamp and showed up out of shape, before ultimately getting himself together and now quickly showing Dan Quinn why they took the chance they did." |
| To check out Patrik's full list of Cowboys players to watch, be sure to click here. |
| The Steelers are currently a 1.5 point favorite in the game and although early preseason games are notoriously tough to predict, my first NFL bet of the year is going to be on the Steelers. During the preseason, I generally go with the team with A. The better coaching staff and B. Deeper stable of quarterbacks. Also, the Steelers have won three straight preseason openers. |
| Prediction: Steelers 24-17 over Cowboys (And please don't get used to this, because I definitely won't be predicting every preseason game). |
| 3. NFLPA wants to see daily COVID testing of vaccinated players |
| During the 2020 NFL season, every player in the NFL was tested daily for COVID-19. However, that hasn't been the case this year and that's because any player who has been vaccinated only has to get tested once every two weeks (Unvaccinated players still get tested every day). |
| Due to the fact that the vaccinated players can still spread COVID, the NFLPA wants to see them get tested more often than once every 14 days. According to Browns center J.C. Tretter, who also happens to be the NFLPA president, the player's association wants to avoid a situation where someone who's vaccinated unknowingly catches COVID and then walks around the team facility for two weeks spreading it to others. |
| "I think we're just setting ourselves up for failure if we don't [test more often]," Tretter told ESPN. "You can't go 13 days straight without testing people in the building with the breakthrough cases and now the ability of vaccinated people to transmit the Delta variant. You're going to start getting positives and not know where it came from because you're not testing people, and it's just not worth the risk." |
| With the latest data showing that the Delta variant spreads faster than the earlier form of COVID, Tretter wants to see more tests done so that the NFL can make it through the entire season without canceling a game, just like the league did in 2020. |
| "Nobody wants to do the protocols, and I think that's an accurate statement countrywide," Tretter said. "No one wants to take mitigation steps. It's not fun. It's not enjoyable. But the only thing that stops us from having a season is transmission. So I think guys understand that we have to take the necessary steps to stop transmission or else. I would rather wear a mask than not get paid six weeks of pay." |
| There's no guarantee that players will agree to these new protocols, but the NFLPA is going to push for them anyway. |
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| 4. Presenting the NFL's 2021 survivor squad |
| For the second straight year, Jared Dubin is giving us his survivor squad. If you don't have any idea what a survivor squad is, don't worry, I didn't either until about five minutes ago. Basically, the goal is to make something similar to a Pro Bowl roster, but with one huge catch: You can only use one player from each team. |
| The Chiefs might be the best team in the AFC, but you can't put both Patrick Mahomes AND Tyreek Hill on the Survivor Squad because Kansas City is only allowed to have one player on the team. |
| With that in mind, let's check out the offensive players on Dubin's survivor squad: |
QB: Aaron Roders, Packers
RB: Dalvin Cook, Vikings
WR: D.K. Metcalf, Seahawks
WR: A.J. Brown, Titans
Slot: CeeDee Lamb, Cowboys
TE: George Kittle, 49ers
TE: T.J. Hockenson, Lions
LT: Laremy Tunsil, Texans
LG: Ali Marpet, Buccaneers
C: Corey Linsley, Chargers
RG: Brandon Scherff, Washington
RT: Lane Johnson, Eagles
Flex: Ja'Marr Chase, Bengals |
| If you want to see the defensive starters and the coaching staff from the survivor squad, be sure to click here. The one thing about the defensive starters is that none of them can come from the 13 teams listed above. |
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| 5. Raiders front office chaos continues |
| Over the past eight weeks, there's been a mass exodus from the Raiders front office and no one seems to know why they're leaving, but whatever the reason is, the team has to be at least somewhat concerned that four key executives have resigned since June. |
| Here's at look at the resignations that have come in so far. |
| July 19: Team president Marc Badain. Badain had been with the team since 1991 and he also spearheaded the move to Las Vegas, which is one reason why his resignation was so shocking. With the Raiders scheduled to play their first game ever in front of fans at Allegiant Stadium this year, it's surprising that he didn't stick around for that. Late July: V.P. of strategy and business development Brandon Doll. This is another guy who had been with the team for years before quitting. Doll, who was going into his ninth year with the Raiders, worked closely with Badain to help make the Vegas move happen, according to the Sports Business Journal. Other resignations: CFO Ed Villanueva Club controller Araxie Grant. Sports Business Journal reported on Wednesday that these two both resigned in June. If Grant had been the only one to resign this offseason, it probably wouldn't have raised too many eyebrows and that's mostly because she hadn't been with team for even a year yet. However, Villanueva had been with the team for 18 years and when you see four of your team's top business executives leave in a span of six weeks, that doesn't paint a great picture. |
| It's unclear why everyone is jumping ship, but there are some theories. Peter King of NBC Sports has heard some speculation that the resignations might be related to the team's financial situation, which would make sense, since it was four business executives who quit. |
| "I heard lots of theories about why [Badain] left," King wrote on Aug. 2. "That he didn't approve of some of the spending by owner Mark Davis in the midst of a disastrous first financial season in Las Vegas (including Davis' decision to buy the WNBA's Las Vegas Aces), that he was just tired of the nonstop pace of running a franchise in a new city, that he and Davis were having significant disagreements on the direction of the franchise at a time when money was tight." |
| According to Jason Cole, who's on the Pro Football Hall of Fame selection committee and has had the inside scoop on the the Raiders for awhile, the Raiders "are in the process of hiring an outside law firm to deal with whatever issue is at the center of at least four top executives being dismissed/leaving the team." |
| Basically, this is a situation that is definitely going to be worth keeping an eye on. |
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| 6. Rapid-fire roundup |
| 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. |
Robert Griffin III finalizing a deal with ESPN. It looks like RG3 is going to be covering football this year instead of playing it. According to NFL.com, Griffin is finalizing a deal with ESPN that will allow him to cover both college and NFL football. However, it appears the deal will have an out so that RG3 can return to football if he finds a good situation. NFL head of officiating is calling it quits. Al Riveron, who has served as the league's Senior Vice President of Officiating for the past four years, has decided to retire. Considering this announcement is just hours before the first preseason game of 2021, I'm guessing this came as a slight surprise to the NFL. According to CBSSports.com's Jonathan Jones, replay duties this year will be shared by Walt Anderson and Perry Fewell.Washington bans Native America head dresses. Last year, Washington got rid of its Redskins name, this year, the team is taking another step to put the old name in the rearview mirror. Washington has announced that Native American ceremonial headdresses and and Native America face paint won't be permitted at FedEx Field. Todd Bowles gets an extension. The Buccaneers defensive coordinator will be sticking around Tampa for at least three more years after he got a new contract on Wednesday. It's not clear how much Bowles is being paid, but he is the highest-paid defensive coordinator in the NFL, according to ESPN.com, and that makes sense, because if you shut down Patrick Mahomes in the Super Bowl like Bowles did with his game plan, then you deserve to be the highest-paid DC. Raiders sign Gerald McCoy. The six-time Pro Bowler is taking his talents to Las Vegas. The Raiders had one of the worst defenses in the NFL last year, which is one reason why they decided to sign McCoy. However, it's not clear how much help he'll be considering he's getting old (33) and he hasn't played in a game since 2019.
Joe Looney retires just days after signing with the Giants. Apparently, the former Cowboys offensive lineman wasn't a huge fan of New York. Just days after signing a contract with the Giants, Looney decided that he would rather retire than suit up for the G-Men this year. Looney spent nine seasons in the NFL with three teams (49ers, Titans, Cowboys). Kenny Golladay expected to out until the end of August. Not only did the Giants lose Looney to retirement, but they're also going to be without Golladay for a few weeks. According to the New York Daily News, the receiver will be out two to three weeks due to the hamstring injury he suffered Tuesday. Kirk Cousins and Lamar Jackson both returning. The Vikings QB was activated off the COVID list today after sitting out for five days. As for Jackson, he's expected to be cleared on Friday as long as he tests negative for COVID. Aaron Rodgers not going to be hosting Jeopardy. The Packers QB was hoping to get the hosting gig, but it looks like the game show has decided to go another route. According to Variety, Jeopardy executive producer Mike Richards is in advanced negotiations to get the job, so it looks like Rodgers is going to have to keep his day job. |
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