The end of June is usually a slow period for NFL news, but um, someone must have forgotten to tell the NFL that because the last 24 hours have been kind of crazy.
Over the past day alone, we've seen:
1. An active NFL player came out as gay for the first time ever.
2. A player got arrested because he had an Uzi in his car.
3. A player got shot four times, which I'm only noting here because he somehow miraculously escaped serious injury and he might actually be able to play THIS SEASON.
Also, Eli Manning got hired by the Giants, a Cardinals rookie got arrested for driving 40 mph over the speed limit and Tom Brady called another QB a "Mother ------." We'll be covering all of that today, which means I should probably stop yapping now so we can get to the rundown.
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1. Today's show: Ranking the top 10 quarterbacks in the NFL
If you read this newsletter every day, you've probably noticed that we've been ranking every position group in the NFL over the past few weeks. The man in charge of ranking the top 10 quarterbacks in the NFL was Cody Benjamin and he joined the Pick Six Podcast on Tuesday to discuss his list with Will Brinson.
According to Cody, the top three quarterbacks in the NFL heading into the 2021 season are:
1. Patrick Mahomes, Chiefs
2. Aaron Rodgers, Packers
3. Russell Wilson, Seahawks
Of course, Brinson isn't the type of host who wants to focus on the top three. Instead, Brinson decided to grill Cody about two of his snubs: Ryan Tannehill and Matthew Stafford. The two guys also talked about why Tom Brady didn't make the top three.
If you want to know why Stafford and Tannehill got left off the list or who Brinson would have put on his list, then you're definitely going to want to listen.
To listen to today's episode -- and to follow the podcast -- be sure to click here. You can also check out Cody's entire top 10 list by clicking here.
2. NFL world reacts to Carl Nassib becoming first active player in league history to come out as gay
Carl Nassib made NFL history on Monday when he became the first active player to come out as gay. The Raiders defensive end shared the news on Instagram.
"Just wanted to take a quick moment to say that I'm gay," Nassib said. "I've been meaning to do this for a while now, but I finally feel comfortable enough to get it off my chest. I really have the best life. I've got the best family, friends and job a guy could ask for."
During his Instagram video, Nassib also announced that he was donating $100,000 to The Trevor Project, a confidential crisis support service for LGBTQ youth.
There have been several gay players who came out after their career ended (like Kwame Harris and Ryan O'Callaghan), but this is the first time that an active player has come out (Michael Sam came out before the 2014 NFL Draft, but he never played in an NFL regular-season game).
One reason players are hesitant to come out is because they're afraid of how they'll be treated around the NFL, but if Nassib's announcement was any indication, more players might be encouraged to come out because of the way Nassib was embraced.
Here were a few of the reactions from around the league:
- Roger Goodell released a statement: "The NFL family is proud of Carl for courageously showing his truth today," Goodell wrote. "Representation matters. We share his hope that someday soon statements like this will no longer be newsworthy as we march toward full equality for the LGBTQ+ community."
- Raiders coach Jon Gruden has this to say: "I learned a long time ago what makes a man different is what makes him great," Gruden said, via ESPN.com.
- Raiders owner Mark Davis also weighed in: "These are personal decisions. It's 2021, and he's a Raider," Davis told the Las Vegas Review-Journal. "If he's happy, I'm happy. It takes courage. I thought we got to the point where this wasn't [a story]. It doesn't change my opinion of him as a man or as a Raider."
Nassib also got public voices of support from guys like J.J. Watt, Saquon Barkley and Julian Edelman.
3. Predicting every game on the Chiefs' 2021 schedule
Now that the month of June is here, that means the dead part of the NFL offseason is upon us and although things can get kind of boring during this 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 heading to the AFC West where we're going to take a look at the defending AFC champion Chiefs.
Our Jordan Dajani went through Kansas City's entire schedule and picked out all the games the Chiefs are going to win and all the games they're going to lose (Spoiler alert: We're not expecting them to lose very many).
Here's a look at how Dajani sees the Chiefs doing in three key games, along with the final record he sees them ending up with:
- Week 1: Browns at Chiefs. "The Browns have not been good in season openers. They lost by 32 to the Baltimore Ravens last year and by 30 to the Tennessee Titans in 2019. You have to go back all the way to 2004 for when the Browns won in Week 1. Their winless streak isn't ending here." Prediction: Kansas City 31-24 over Cleveland.
- Week 2: Chiefs at Ravens. "Patrick Mahomes has never lost to Lamar Jackson, but that has a lot to do with the Chiefs defense as well. Baltimore did go out and acquire a few intriguing weapons this offseason, but I feel comfortable taking the Chiefs here." Prediction: Kansas City 28-23 over Baltimore.
- Week 15: Chiefs at Chargers. "This could be a potential trap game for the Chiefs if the Chargers remain healthy. I'm giving them a surprising loss here as they'll be playing on the road on a short week with this Thursday game." Prediction: L.A. Chargers 31-28 over Kansas City.
Overall, Dajani is predicting that the Chiefs will end the season with a 14-3 record and if that happens, that will almost certainly earn them a sixth straight division title. It would also set the Chiefs up well for making a run at a third straight Super Bowl appearance.
If you want to see Dajani's prediction for each game, click here to check out his entire story.
4. Ranking the top 10 corners heading into 2021
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 2021 season.
From running backs to receivers to quarterbacks to kickers, we're going to be ranking everyone and since there's a zero percent chance that you're going to agree with each ranking, I'm going to be sharing the Twitter handle of each author so you can argue with them about their ranking on social media.
Today, we're going to be ranking the top 10 cornerbacks heading into the 2021 season. This list was put together by Patrik Walker and if you'd like to tell him how perfect it is, or if you'd like to argue with him, you can do that by clicking here.
Top 10 corners
1. Jalen Ramsey, Rams
2. Jaire Alexander, Packers
3. Tre'Davious White, Bills
4. Xavien Howard, Dolphins
5. Stephon Gilmore, Patriots
6. Marlon Humphrey, Ravens
7. Marshon Lattimore, Saints
8. Marcus Peters, Ravens
9. Denzel Ward, Browns
10. J.C. Jackson, Patriots
If you want a detailed explanation of the ranking, be sure to click here so you can check out Walker's entire story.
5. NFL's make-or-break players (and coaches)
When you're trying to put together a list of "make-or-break" players in the NFL, sometimes making that list can be easy. For instance, Aaron Rodgers is definitely the "make-or-break" player for the Packers. If he's in Green Bay this year, then the Packers are a Super Bowl contender. However, if he refuses to play, there's a good chance we could see the Packers miss the playoffs.
Although Rodgers is an obvious choice as the Packers' "make-or-break" player in 2021, the choice isn't so obvious for many of the NFL's other teams and that's where Jason La Canfora comes in. The CBS Sports NFL Insider went through all 32 teams and came up with one "make-or-break" person for each team.
Here's a look at few players who could make or break things for their team this season.
- Buccaneers: Tom Brady. "The GOAT tries to slay Father Time yet again. Normally, we would say this Disney plot is too ridiculous to be true, but this group might be even better this year with the transition/feeling-out process now behind it and a normal training camp ahead."
- Cowboys: Tyron Smith. "They go as the offensive line goes, and the old and beat up offensive line goes as the stud left tackle goes. And Smith's neck has been a problem. Dak Prescott's return and any rebirth from Zeke stems from the OL being elite again. That is pretty iffy at this point."
- Bears: Justin Fields. "How long will those in power wait to play their best quarterback? It's clear this won't be a fair fight at camp, and with jobs at stake at some point they turn it over to the rookie hoping he can keep them around. It's telegraphed for weeks."
- 49ers: Trent Williams. "Kyle Shanahan drafted him way back when and loves him and he may be the top left tackle in the game, but injuries have been a constant and this team has had bad injury luck and they need Williams to get where they want to go."
- Steelers: Ben Roethlisberger. "Father Time is undefeated and he has been whipping up on this future Hall of Famer for a few years now. Would be quite the comeback if the QB can hold him off."
- Bills: Cole Beasley. Are the Bills gonna become the team at the vortex of this vax/anti-vax stuff? The roster is loaded and expectations are Super Bowl-high for good reason, but the healthiest teams tend to thrive in this league and a locker room divided of science and quackery sounds suboptimal.
- Titans: Julio Jones. "They are going to have to score a lot of points to win, and he and A.J. Brown might form the best receiver tandem in the NFL if he can stay healthy."
- Raiders: Gus Bradley (defensive coordinator). "He had a heck of a time getting a loaded Chargers defense to be what many thought it should become. Now he takes over a team that has one of the worst defensive rosters in the NFL. Yikes."
The list above only includes one team from each division, if you want to see all 32 "make-or-break" players on La Canfora's list, be sure to click here.
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. By the way, I once worked at a newspaper where I was in charge of putting together police reports and thanks to the first few things in today's roundup, I am now having flashbacks to that.
- Frank Clark arrested on suspicion of having a concealed gun. The Chiefs defensive end was arrested over the weekend after police found an Uzi in his car. Clark was taken into custody on Sunday night and didn't get released until Monday. This was actually the second arrest of the offseason for Clark, who was also arrested in March for an incident where he allegedly had two loaded guns in his car.
- Cardinals rookie arrested for reckless driving. Arizona's first-round pick, Zaven Collins, was arrested on Sunday morning after police caught him excessively speeding. The linebacker was going 76 in an area where the speed limit was 35 mph.
- NFL player gets shot four times, somehow escapes serious injury. Vikings defensive tackle Jaylen Twyman had a harrowing experience on Monday. The rookie was shot four times in Washington D.C., but it appears he had luck on his side, because he was able to escape major injury. Although Twyman was shot in the arm, leg, buttocks and shoulder, his agent said he still might be able to play this year.
- Eli Manning getting his jersey retired. The Giants made two big announcements on Monday and both of them involved Eli Manning. Not only did they team hire Manning work in the front office, but the Giants also announced that they're going to retire his No. 10 jersey during the upcoming season.
- Tom Brady takes savage shot at anonymous QB. Brady will be appearing on HBO's The Shop: Uninterrupted this Friday and the premium network released a very interesting teaser for the show on Monday. After one unnamed team passed on Brady in free agency, here's how he reacted, "One of the teams, they weren't interested at the very end. I was thinking, you're sticking with that [Mother F-er at QB]?" This means that Brady clearly thinks pretty lowly of at least one QB in the NFL, although it's not clear who that QB is.