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The latest
Running back and wide receiver NFL odds for 2019 season | SB Nation
Devante Adams, DeAndre Hopkins and Travis Kelce are all co-favorites going off at +1200 each on those NFL odds to finish with the league’s lead in receiving touchdowns. Beckham Jr., JuJu Smith-Schuster, Julio Jones, and Antonio Brown are all right behind the leaders at +1600. Brown led the pack last season with 15 receiving touchdowns; Adams has finished runner-up in touchdown catches each of the last three seasons.
2019 NFL season: Tom Brady, Drew Brees still top QB rankings | NFL.com
3 Patrick Mahomes
It is always difficult to rank an individual who has such a limited body of work, but when that limited work is so special, you have to weigh it differently. The hard part is, while last season was his first as an NFL starting quarterback, he was also the best quarterback in football in 2018, so wouldn’t that make him No. 1? I could make that argument, but I don’t want to put that kind of pressure on a 23-year-old kid who is still developing as a quarterback (which is scary, given that he just threw for 5,097 yards and 50 touchdowns while winning the MVP award). Very few can bottle up a spectacular season and repeat it, but I do believe -- based off what I saw last season -- this young man will be great again in 2019.
He was as good in the pocket with his decision-making as he was outside of it, which says a lot, because all people want to talk about are his no-look passes and 40-yard across-the-body bombs. Mahomes has shown he has the ability to beat defenders conventionally or by playing backyard, sandlot football. No matter how he plays the game, though, the young passer knows how to win.
NFL Best And Worst Bargains On Defensive Line: Chris Jones And Star Lotulelei | Forbes
Best Value
Kansas City Chiefs DT Chris Jones: Jones had a monster third season. A second-round pick in 2016, Jones had 6.5 sacks and four forced fumbles in 2017 before a massive 15.5 sacks and two forced fumbles in 2018. He set an NFL record with a sack in 11 consecutive games.
His salary-cap charge of $1.98 million ranks just 68th among interior defensive linemen, according to OverTheCap.com. As he enters the final year of his four-year rookie deal, a massive payday awaits. He showed up for the start of training camp rather than forcing the issue by holding out.
“I’m letting my agents handle it,” Jones said. “That’s why I hired those guys. … Of course, I’d love to spend the rest of my career here. We’ll work it out. I’m not worrying about that.”
NFL’s top quarterback-wide receiver duo? Saints, Patriots combos sizzle | NFL.com
Nate Burleson: How do I choose any pair but the reigning league MVP and his speedy sidekick?
It’s hard not to pick the Kansas City Chiefs’ Patrick Mahomes and Tyreek Hill. Mahomes threw for 5,097 yards and 50 touchdowns on his way to claiming the league MVP award in his first season as Andy Reid’s starter. And Hill is the most electric player in the NFL right now. Hill was the best receiver in the league last season on throws of 20-plus air yards, per Next Gen Stats. On 42 deep targets, he had 18 receptions for 714 yards (tops in the league in each category). This type of production could only be achieved by someone who routinely beats the coverage and has an absolute gunslinger passing him the ball. It might be years before a defense figures out how to stop this pair.
Chiefs could be even more explosive on offense this season | Yahoo Sports
Mahomes was an unknown quantity heading into last season, when he was given the reins of coach Andy Reid’s complex offense following the offseason trade of Alex Smith. But he quickly proved that he was more than just a system quarterback from Texas Tech’s air-raid factory, showing an uncanny ability to dissect defenses and make the proper read before unleashing one of the strongest arms in the NFL.
One year later, Mahomes has a full season of experience behind him. He has had time to look over game films, diagnosing and digesting how defenses began to counter him. He has poured himself into losing what he called ‘’baby fat,’’ and he spent hours over the summer fine-tuning his footwork.
’’He knows it’s a great challenge,’’ Reid said. ‘’You come out your second year, it’s a huge challenge. These great defensive minds in the National Football League had an opportunity to study you and the offense for that matter. He’s fired up about that and he’s taking on that challenge.’’
Chiefs star wide receiver Tyreek Hill got the worst of the collision with cornerback Bashaud Breeland.
But Breeland, a cornerback, also felt bad after the hit during Tuesday’s drills.
“I didn’t see him in my line,” Breeland said. “I was just going to make a play on the ball. It was unfortunate that we had that collision.”
The team has spent the offseason getting better in pretty much every facet of its game in hopes of playing in its first Super Bowl in half a century. Plus, the Chiefs have quarterback Patrick Mahomes, who is kind of like Captain America and Iron Man rolled into one.
This week, The Star launches a comic book-themed series that will run periodically throughout the season. Mahomes and his teammates have captivated a city and its kingdom, and we hope to help kindle this excitement through another Super Bowl run.
“Volunteerism and charitable giving remain integral parts of the organization’s DNA, dating back to when the team first arrived in Kansas City in 1963,” Chiefs Chairman & CEO Clark Hunt wrote on the Community Report’s opening page. “Whether it was developing our new game-day tradition of recognizing area youth football teams or the Chiefs Women’s Organization expanding its number of outreach events, each is a chance for us to celebrate our community and the people who make it special.”
Top 3 things to know from Day 6 at Bills training camp | Buffalo Bills
With Mitch Morse in concussion protocol and Spencer Long sidelined with knee soreness, there were some anticipated changes for the starting offensive line and some unexpected ones.
With Morse and Long out, Buffalo had Russell Bodine at center and Jon Feliciano started at right guard. While those moves were expected, what wasn’t was seeing Ty Nsekhe get some starter reps at right tackle.
Around the league
Saints, WR Michael Thomas agree to record-breaking contract extension | Yahoo Sports
Thomas’ training camp holdout didn’t last long. He got the extension he wanted. And it was a huge one.
ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported Wednesday morning that Thomas and the Saints had agreed on a five-year $100 million extension with $61 million guaranteed. That’s the most guaranteed money for any non-quarterback offensive player in NFL history, Schefter said.
With that, Drew Brees’ top target will be back with the Saints. Thomas’ extension goes through the 2024 season.
Joe Mixon: Bengals’ offense will be ‘nightmare’ for D | NFL.com
“Schematically, you know Coach Taylor has come in, the way he’s got it set up, it’s crazy,” Mixon said, via the Dayton Daily News. “It’s night and day from what everyone has seen these past years from the old Bengals. Coach Taylor, he’s got it where it’s going to be a nightmare for the defense. I look forward to it. Everybody has to take it upon themselves to be the best of themselves in this offense. You can count on the people and leaders out there to deliver.”
In case you missed it at Arrowhead Pride
NFL players rank Patrick Mahomes as league’s fourth-best player for 2019
Mahomes made his NFL Top 100 debut in fourth place — the second-highest ranked quarterback behind Drew Brees of the New Orleans Saints — after only his first season as a starter.
Los Angeles Rams defensive tackle Aaron Donald topped this year’s list, followed by Brees in second place and Chicago Bears linebacker Khalil Mack in third. Rams running back Todd Gurley rounded out the top five.
Mahomes led the Chiefs to their third straight AFC West title and a long-awaited home playoff win by throwing for over 5,000 yards and 50 touchdowns, which set franchise single-season records in both categories.
It’s clear Mahomes’ play has earned him the respect of his peers — as evidenced by his placement in the Top 100 — but was there an argument for Mahomes to be number one?
Whaaat? Chiefs move cornerback Tremon Smith to the offense
Has Andy Reid dreamed up some exotic wildcat or RPO packages that require three speedsters — Tyreek Hill, Hardman and Smith — on the field?
Or is it just a way for the Chiefs to find another way to keep Smith — who has thus far not even had the opportunity to show us anything as a cornerback — on the roster as a backup kick returner?
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