The Titans and Shedeur Sanders are all being honest, which we think is very cool. Take our surveys and tell us what you think in the comments!
There are two weeks left until the NFL Draft which means this is the last real chance for any kind of serious changes to be made in the minds of NFL decision-makers.
It stands to reason that most of them have made decisions on matters relative to the top of the order given that they have had several months to figure this and that out. Obviously crazy things have happened before (and will continue to do so), but this last period here is mostly about refinement (not in a Severance way).
Here at The Skinny Post we, Michael Peterson and RJ Ochoa, are fans of all kinds of refinement (including the Severance way) and today have refined a handful of important topics with the draft on the horizon. Tell us what you think about each topic by taking the surveys, and talk through it with your fellow fans in the comments!
The Tennessee Titans cancelled their private workout with Shedeur Sanders
Photo by Stacy Revere/Getty Images
RJ:
Over the weekend it was reported that the Tennessee Titans and Shedeur Sanders mutually agreed to cancel the Colorado quarterback’s workout with the team. This was effectively the team and player saying that they both know that they will not be celebrating the No. 1 overall pick together which means Miami’s Cam Ward likely will be the guy.
Honestly I find this kind of behavior refreshing from everyone involved. So much about the NFL Draft is obvious and inevitable, but we get standard lines offered to us like we aren’t aware of that.
Good for the Titans and Shedeur!
Michael:
I firmly agree here. In a business world where not many interactions are direct and to the point, it’s cool to see a high-profile prospect and a team who could feasibly take him let it be known publicly that no one has to keep wondering about their possible connection. Both sides, and the rest of the football world, can move on knowing it’s Ward to the Titans at No. 1.
This should happen way more often, but I understand why it doesn’t. Teams want to keep everything close to their chest. But in the cases where it truly does not matter, let that stuff go!
Coincidentally, now everyone gets to talk about Sanders’ teammate Travis Hunter and whether or not he’s going to the Browns over someone like Penn State’s Abdul Carter.
From one Colorado Buffalo to another goes the spotlight.
Roger Goodell is apparently in favor of revamping playoff seeding to make end-of-season games more impactful
Michael:
At last month’s annual league meetings, the idea of playoff reseeding was proposed by the Detroit Lions. Reportedly, the NFL ASKED the Lions to propose it because they already like the idea themselves.
Per Pro Football Talk’s Mike Florio, it was evident that Goodell wanted a new playoff seeding structure and it was only more apparent when Goodell looked visibly “irritated” from the resistance in the room.
So I’m all for this idea. I don’t think a sub-.500 team that won their division deserves a home playoff game. I think divisional winners deserve a locked-in playoff spot and that’s it. Let the best teams by record in each division get a home game. Let’s not make it any more complicated.
Some have brought up the idea of reseeding after the Wild Card round, but I think that’s an extra irrelevant and unneeded step.
RJ:
Like with my stance on the tush push, I am going to be very blunt and direct here. Given that we just celebrated the Titans and Shedeur for this I think that it should be celebrated.
Anyone who is in favor of this idea is a whining complainer.
Has it happened a few times where a team with a below-.500 record won their division and hosted a playoff game? Sure. Obviously.
Can we say that some of them got beat in the Wild Card Round and proved the point? Obviously. Consider the 2022 Buccaneers or 2020 Washington Football Team (who Tampa Bay beat on the way to winning the Super Bowl, no big deal).
But think about the 2010 Seattle Seahawks. Without them hosting a playoff game as the winner of the NFC West, even with a below-.500 record, we would have never experienced the Beast Quake. And you know what? The Seahawks won that game! With a below-.500 record they beat the reigning Super Bowl Champion New Orleans Saints. Is that not proof that this idea is silly?
I understand that oftentimes a division will have several good teams, but to the point about the Lions… it was the Minnesota Vikings who drew the short end of that situation last year. We all remember that.
Those Vikings lost in the Wild Card Round! With their mighty 14-3 record, they lost on the road to a Los Angeles Rams team that was only 10-7… and that game wasn’t even in the Rams’ actual home building as the team had relocated due to the tragedy of the LA wildfires.
It is beyond annoying how the NFL tries to cater rule adjustments to each and every single hypothetical. If this rule change were to pass it would completely invalidate the meaning of divisions and I am firmly against it.
…if that isn’t obvious.
Which NFL player would be good at Hot Ones?
Photo by Lisa Lake/Getty Images for Raising Cane’s
RJ:
In case you missed it last week, Philadelphia Eagles running back Saquon Barkley was a guest on the latest episode of Hot Ones. If you do not know what this is… it is a talk show where the guests have to answer questions while eating chicken wings that get progressively hotter which makes the conversations entertaining.
Saquon did fairly well for people who have been on the show, but it got me thinking as to which NFL players would do best and be relatively unfazed. My answer is a bit of a cheat since he is retired and now in the Pro Football Hall of Fame… but I am going to go with Joe Thomas.
Consider that Joe was incredible for just about every moment of his career and did not let anything on the field phase him which included playing for the Cleveland Browns. As a Wisconsin dude he obviously can put down a lot of different things. I imagine he would handle the wings of death with relative ease.
Michael:
I love this question.
I’m going with Chiefs center Creed Humphrey because he has experience being on camera (Saturday Night Live) and crushing it so I have to assume he’d do well in a much more natural situation a.k.a eating chicken wings.
In all honesty, there’s almost too many players to name here and you couldn’t go wrong with any trench player. Big guys, a camera, and food is a pretty strong combination that rarely ends without some semblance of entertainment.
If I went down your same path and chose a retired player, I’d have thrown Jason Kelce in there. I don’t think I need to explain more. It would be pure cinema.
The Panthers signed a Coastal Carolina basketball player on Monday. Name a current college basketball player who you would want to see get a shot in the NFL
Photo by Alex Slitz/Getty Images
Michael:
I want to say Cooper Flagg because he’s just so dang talented for his age, but that’s a cheap way to answer. Instead of the NBA draft’s top prospects, I’m going with Rutgers’ Dylan Harper, the No. 2 consensus prospect behind Flagg.
Harper is 6’6, 215 pounds and has some of the best handles I’ve seen all year. It’s the type of stuff that makes you wonder how he even does it. He splits defenders in a heartbeat and will blow past you in a flash.
Football players are football players and basketball players are basketball players for a reason, but Harper’s athletic ability really makes me wonder just how much damage he could do on the gridiron.
RJ:
We are writing this on National Championship Monday for full context so I am going to keep things topic and go with Walter Clayton Jr. of the Florida Gators.
WCJ has drawn basketball comparisons to Steph Curry because of how he can seemingly pull off magical 3s at the moment he most desperately needs them, and I would like you to imagine his weird-ish movement skills working inside as a slot receiver.
It feels like Walter could make the perfect kind of dude there that would just absolutely work opposing defenders and grind out tough yards. Give me WCJ and let’s prosper.
