Episode 1 - Preseason Preview: Position Battles and Projections for the NFL

The Fresh Takeoff podcast discusses the preseason preview, position battles, and projections for the NFL. They highlight three players to watch during the preseason: Dalton Kincaid of the Buffalo Bills, Skyy Moore of the Kansas City Chiefs, and Jackson Smith-Njigba of the Seattle Seahawks. They also discuss Anthony Richardson, the rookie quarterback for the Indianapolis Colts, and Joey Porter Jr. of the Pittsburgh Steelers. Lastly, they analyze the sleeper teams for the upcoming season, starting with the Denver Broncos. 🎵 Welcome to The Fresh Takeoff, your go-to podcast for in-depth football and basketball insights. My name is Brian, and I'm joined by my knowledgeable co-host, Damon. And in this episode, we're diving into the preseason preview, position battles, and projections for the NFL. Tune in as we analyze position battles, spotlight players to watch, unveil sleeper teams, and discuss potential Super Bowl contenders for the 2023 season. For our first segment, we have Player Watch Preseason Edition. Get ready for the upcoming season of Player Watch, as we highlight three players to follow during the preseason. Damon, who's the first player that you're highlighting for this upcoming preseason? The first player that I'm going to be looking at to have a pretty good preseason is going to be Dalton Kincaid of the Buffalo Bills. He was selected in the first round as the 25th pick by the Bills. In his last year with Utah, he had a very good season. He put up almost 900 receiving yards at 890, and eight total touchdowns in 12 games played for the youth. In the year prior before that, he also had eight touchdowns, but only 510 receiving yards, nearly doubling the total amount of receiving yards he had in this previous year. I think this player has a lot of, has a chance of having a lot of upside. He'll come into the league probably more than likely not starting. He'll probably be the second in command behind Dawson Knox of the Bills, but I think that's okay for him. He's a 6'4", 240-pound tight end, so he's a very, very big player. And I think just him being, you know, second and seeing a player like Dawson Knox, who's also a very good player in the league, gives him a lot of time to develop and develop more skills and hopefully be able to help push the Bills to that Super Bowl, Super Bowl ring that they're looking for. Yeah, I think Dalton Kincaid's a really good pick. I think the Bills, what they're really hoping for is that he can push Dawson Knox at least for that first tight end spot, but if he doesn't get it, then the Bills have a really solid second tight end that they could use in two tight end sets. The first player I have is Skyy Moore, the wide receiver for the Chiefs. With Nicole Hartman and Juju Smith-Schuster leaving in free agency, I believe there's an excellent opportunity for Moore to take over the slot receiver spot. He's competing with rookie Rashi Rice, who the Chiefs took in the second round of the 2023 draft. Skyy Moore didn't have the best season last year. He didn't really get many touches, only having 33 targets and 22 catches for 250 yards and no touchdowns. So not the best, but with 45 percent of targets up for grabs this upcoming season, I still believe that Moore has a chance to emerge as a critical target in the Chiefs' offense. Yeah, I agree with that for you. All eyes, you know, are going to be on Travis Kelsey. So having Sky Moore come into that league with a great, great quarterback like Patrick Mahomes gives him a chance to be a great player for that team and possibly in the league. Yeah, definitely. Who's the second player that you're looking at for this preseason? The second player that I'm looking at to hopefully have a breakout year is going to be Jackson Smith-Njigba for the Seattle Seahawks. I'm looking at him because he has a great, great receiving court already in Seattle behind DK Metcalf and Tyler Lockett. And I'm looking at him because he'll be able to learn a lot of great things from him. You got a big body in DK Metcalf, big and fast, and then you have also a speedster in Tyler Lockett to look behind. Last year, Jackson Smith had kind of an injury-riddled season. He only played three games and had five receptions for 43 yards. But I think what the Seahawks were looking at was the year that he had before that. And the year before, prior in 2021, he had 95 receiving yards for 1,600 yards and nine touchdowns. He used to say mostly what he was known for in that season was his game against Utah, which he used to say was his breakout season, after he already had his breakout season, where he put up three touchdowns for over 300 yards. I think already with that offense behind, you know, Gino Smith having a comeback year, DK, Tyler Lockett, and Kenneth Walker III, putting Jack Smith's jig on that offense can make it one of the most dangerous ones in the league. Yeah, I definitely agree. I think having him as a third wide receiver behind DK Metcalf and Tyler Lockett for a quarterback like Gino Smith III, who's really emerged in this league, I think that offense is gonna be really scary. The second player that I'm looking at for this upcoming preseason is Anthony Richardson, the rookie quarterback for the Colts. Richardson is an absolute physical specimen, standing at 6'4 and weighing 235 pounds. Despite being a starter for only one season at the University of Florida, I believe his potential is sky high. There are many questions about his accuracy, as he completed only 53.8% of his passes in 2022. The exciting part is Richardson will be working under new head coach Shane Steichen, who has an impressive track record in developing quarterbacks. He played a significant role in developing Jalen Hurts in Philadelphia and Justin Herbert in Los Angeles, and I believe with Steichen's guidance, Richardson could become a game changer for the Colts. Yeah, I agree with you there. Literally just a genetically modified specimen, I would say, as a quarterback, being 6'4 and 240 pounds. Also, just having him probably could have come in the league with one of the biggest arms in the league, which is crazy to think about just as a rookie player. And I think he also is gonna help the Colts be that quarterback they've finally been looking for. They had a couple years with, they had a year of Matt Ryan, Phillip Rivers, some other fill-in players, and I think he'll finally be able to help finally find that solidified quarterback the Colts have been looking for since Andrew Luck. Yeah, the Colts are definitely looking for stability. I'll take him as the fourth overall pick in this 2023 draft. Who is the third player that you're looking at for this preseason? The third player that I have on my radar is going to be Joey Porter Jr. of the Pittsburgh Steelers. I'm looking at him because he had a very good year last year coming in, coming third in the Big Ten with pass deflections with 11. You could look at his overall college stats and say he didn't do too much. He only had one reception over his four years of playing for Penn State. But I like him because he's a big body cornerback, 6'2, 180 pounds. He's very fast, athletic, but also that his father was also a part of the Pittsburgh Steelers organization. I think when you have someone as close even as your father telling you, teaching you about the culture of the Steelers, I think that already gives them an upside before you even joined the team, before you even started practicing in training camp. And especially since you play most of his higher education, high school and college football in the state of Pennsylvania, I think that just brings in more aspiration and motivation to be good. And the Steelers have always been a team that's been known for having very good defensive teams, great at developing defensive players. And I think him being with that organization and knowing someone who's been with that organization just gives them even more upside to be great. Yeah, I think that's a really good pick. A lot of mock drafts had Pittsburgh Steelers taking Joey Porter Jr. at their first their first pick, which was midway in the first round, which they used to get Broderick Jones, which was definitely a need for them at left tackle. And then they ended up getting Joey Porter with the first overall pick in the second round. So I think that was an absolute steal for them. And having him learn under his, I believe his favorite player, Patrick Peterson, only going to be good for him. The last player that I'm looking at is Michael Meyer, the tight end for the Raiders. This Notre Dame standout has drawn comparisons to the legendary Jason Witten because of his amazing blocking skills and pass catching ability. He had over 800 receiving yards each year in his two college seasons with seven touchdowns in 2021 and nine in 2022. I think his versatility makes him a valuable asset for virtually any offense. And with the Raiders, I think Meyer has a chance to make a significant impact as a playmaking tight end. I believe he'll be the go-to target for their quarterback in red zone situations. I think Devontae Adams might have a say in some of that, but I think he has the ability to become that go-to red zone tight end. Yeah, I agree with you there. I remember seeing him play for Notre Dame and he was always a player that stood out to me on the field, no matter who they were playing, always a big body target that their quarterback was looking for. So I think him going to that team, especially with Darren Waller going to, I believe the Jaguars now, I'd say. He went to the Giants. Giants, Giants. I think him going there, Michael Meyer being with the Raiders is going to be a good, good asset to have on the field. And with that, that is the end of our first segment. Join us in the second segment for Sleeper Team Showdown. For our second segment, we have the Sleeper Team Showdown. Join us for the Sleeper Team Showdown as we analyze three underrated teams that could surprise the league by making it to the playoffs. Who's the first team that you're looking at? The first team that I'm going to be looking at to have a hopefully an up and coming season is going to be the Denver Broncos. I'm looking at them mostly due to their head coaching change they have bringing in Sean Payton, who's been a proven winner in the league, Super Bowl winning coach himself. And I'm also looking at him to uplift the game of Russell Wilson. Last year, you could say Russell Wilson probably had one of the worst years of his career, if not the worst. And this offseason has been a lot of talk about him putting in more work than he's ever done before, trying to uplift his game for a good year. I think with the Broncos, they have a very good defense, great young players in Patrick Sertain, Justin Simmons on that team. Last year, they're also one of the best defensive teams. They're number one for a decent amount of the year. And I'm sure finished the top five defensively for the whole year. I think what they're looking for more is just more from their offense. They have great, great receivers, Jerry Judy, Courtland Sutton on that team. I think just what they're looking for is just seeing better play from the office and Russell Wilson. And I think if they can get that even though they're in a very tough division with the charges and chiefs, I think they're they're looking prime to be a good team this year. Yeah, I don't think there's really much that Russell Wilson can do to have a worse season than he had last season. He's, he's been really good at throwing the deep ball. Statistically, he was the best server of the deep ball on the Seattle Seahawks. And he has two great receivers that can catch the ball. So I think if he can actually make those good throws with some good coaching, I believe the Broncos can be a really good team that could potentially make it to the playoffs. The first team that I have is the Pittsburgh Steelers. Last season, the Steelers record without their defensive powerhouse T.J. Watt was one in six. But when they had the best defensive player on the field, in my opinion, T.J. Watt, they improved significantly with an eight and two record. Even without Watt for seven games, the Steelers held their ground on defense, ranking 10th in the league in points allowed. However, their offense left much to be desired, finishing as the 26th best in the NFL. A lot of that was Matt Canada's play calling, which I think could definitely improve. I mean, there's not much, like Russell Wilson, there's not much he could do to have a worse season in play calling. And with a better offense this year in a developing George Pickens and a second year Kenny Pickett, who looks primed to have a breakout season. I believe the Steelers can definitely sneak into the playoffs and surprise a lot of teams. Yeah, yeah. I like that. Steelers got a lot of young, young, good, stellar players on that team. Also with hopefully having better play calling, maybe they can do more with Kenny Pickett coming into his second year. I think also what they're looking for is just hopefully T.J. Watt staying healthy. As you said with that record, that record, he's a big part of that team. So having him on the field is going to be what they need to be able to make the playoffs this year. Yeah, definitely. Those are some good points. Who's the second team that you're looking at to potentially make the playoffs? The second team that I'm going to be looking at here is going to be the Detroit Lions. I'm looking at them. They had a very good year last year. It was a very, everybody said they overachieved last year. Lions fans and Lions players would say they weren't. They're saying they expect to be that good, even better. And I'm sure that I'm expecting them to do that this year. They'll have another year of Jared Goff and Dan Campbell being able to work together. And I feel like with the leaving of Aaron Rodgers for the Packers gives them even more chance to be great in that division. They're very close to making the playoffs last year. They were tied with the Seattle Seahawks in record. A few things didn't go in their way. A few losses that they had prevented them from making the playoffs. But I think this year with all the players they have, Amon, St. Brown on that team, they were a very good offensive team. Maybe they have Aiden Hutchinson on a defense coming into his second year. Other players on there growing and getting better. I think they're a good team to see make an improvement and hopefully make the playoffs this year. Yeah, I think the Lions were a really exciting team last year, being on hard knocks with their coach Dan Campbell. I think there's a lot of things that the Lions can do and I think they'll be even more exciting this upcoming season. The second team I have is the Atlanta Falcons. Offensively, the Falcons were tied with the Giants at 25th in the league in points scored. And defensively, they were 23rd in the league in points allowed. In terms of margin of victory, they were tied at the Browns and Jets at 18th in the league. So the Falcons are pretty much middle of the pack to below average at pretty much everything. Falcons have much to work on if they want to compete for a playoff spot. But they have some very exciting young weapons on the offensive side like Kyle Pitts, Drake London, and now rookie running back Bijan Robinson, who looks to be potentially the best running back prospect since Saquon Barkley. I believe the Falcons have the potential to be one of the scariest offenses in the league if everything clicks. Yeah, yeah, I like that. The Falcons had a decent year last year and I think they're looking to improve on that this year with the pieces that they brought in and what they're expecting from players that they have on the team. Yeah, definitely. Who's the third team that you're looking at to potentially make the playoffs? The third team that I'm looking at is, I'm going to stay in the same division as you with the NFC South, is going to be the New Orleans Saints. I'm saying the Saints because for the last few years, the Saints have been pretty much in the middle of the pack, pretty stagnant since Drew Brees has left. And this year with them getting Derrick Carr, I think that was the little bit of push they needed to hopefully improve their team. The Saints have been a pretty good defensive team. They have Alvin Kamara on offense. I think what they're also looking for is just Michael Thomas being able to stay healthy, giving Derrick Carr that number one receiver to throw to. They also have Chris Olave on that team who had a very good rookie season last year. I believe the Saints have a surefire chance to possibly be able to make the playoffs, especially with Tom Brady leaving the Buccaneers and retiring. Honestly, I think that division has opened almost all the teams in there. And I think with the Saints finally finding the quarterback they've been looking for, I believe Derrick Carr is one of the better quarterbacks in the league. And I think he can help them give that push that they look for to make the playoffs. Yeah, I think it'd be really interesting if the Atlanta Falcons and Saints started competing again as really tough rivals in the NFL. The last team that I am looking at is the Chicago Bears. Their point scored was at 23rd best in the league. And defensively, they were the worst by a lot. They gave up 14 more points than the second worst defense, the Arizona Cardinals. In terms of margin of victory, the Bears were tied for the worst team in football with the Colts at negative 8.1. The Bears have been very busy in the offseason, making some impressive additions to their roster with star receiver DJ Moore, linebackers Jermaine Edmonds and TJ Edwards to fill the spot of Roquan Smith leaving for the Ravens. Offensive linemen like Darnell Wright and Nate Davis from the Titans and a proven veteran defensive end in Yannick Ngokwe. I believe the Bears have pretty much filled every, about every hole in their roster. I mean, there's a lot of holes on their roster as they were statistically probably the worst team in football. And I think with Justin Fields blossoming into this star quarterback, I think the Bears could potentially sneak into the playoffs. Yeah, yeah, I like that Bears, I like that Bears pick right there. Yeah, they filled up a lot of holes that they have. Hopefully with their, the new linemen that they got this offseason, Justin Fields won't have to run for his life getting over a thousand yards rushing for a quarterback. And especially with DJ Moore being on, being on that receiving court gives him somebody to throw the ball to and hopefully be able to protect himself more and not have to run as often. So yeah, I like that pick, especially for the Bears. I think they're going to be a much better and improved team this year. Yeah, I definitely agree. That's the end of our second segment. Join us in the third segment for Inside the Crystal Ball, way too early contender picks. For our third and final segment, we make our early predictions for Super Bowl contenders on Inside the Crystal Ball, way too early contender picks. Damon, who's your first way too early contender pick? My first too early contender pick that I'm going to go with here is going to be the New York Jets. I'm going with them because of their addition with Aaron Rodgers. I'm just getting the elite quarterback like Aaron Rodgers, who's a Super Bowl MVP, multiple time NFL MVP like that, just brings a whole new kind of winning perspective to a team. That team was also, I believe, was pretty decent last year. 7'10 and record doesn't make them look as good as I think that team all around actually is. They have great offensive weapons and Garrett Wilson being a young up-and-coming player, along with defensive wise with Sauce Gardner, who was a rookie last year, being deemed the top quarterback in the league as a rookie, which is crazy to think about. I just think with the addition of Aaron Rodgers and him coming over with a few receivers and Alan Lazard and Randall Cobb just gives the young players they're looking for on offense, such as Garrett Wilson, a good little cornerstone piece to look at on how to improve their game and be better. I just think just having him on that team, even though they're in a very tough division, having those tough games against opponents that are very good, helps build you up for the playoff run that they're looking for and hopefully the Super Bowl that they'll make it to. I think just playing in those early tough games in the beginning of the year, learning and growing from them, just makes you a better team overall and I think it'll help benefit them if they're able to make the playoffs and make that push into the Super Bowl. Yeah, I agree. I think the New York Jets look to be one of the more exciting teams coming into the league. Getting Aaron Rodgers and having Joe Flacco on their team last year, running the quarterback position along with Zach Wilson, I think that's a huge upgrade. The first team that I have is the Buffalo Bills. Last season the Bills had the fourth best offense in terms of points scored, led by their superstar quarterback Josh Allen and their top three wide receivers Stephon Diggs. On the defensive end, the Bills had the second best defense in the entire league, proving to be one of the best, obviously the second best defense in the entire league. But what's most impressive is their margin of victory, the best in the league at 10.6 with only the 49ers coming close with the only other positive double-digit margin of victory. With one of the best passing attacks in all of football and a defense that hardly allows points, I believe the Bills have all the ingredients for a Super Bowl run. The only thing that can hold them back is their late game turnovers and special teams. Other than that, I believe the Bills have a great opportunity to make it to the Super Bowl. Yeah, I agree with you there. They've been in the playoffs for many years before. They've been close to that big game so many times, losing in tough playoff situations. I think this year that they have just as much of a chance as anyone else to make that Super Bowl push, especially with how close they've been. There's been a couple more rule changes in the NFL to make it easier for teams to deal with late game playoff situations. I think just with the Bills' experience that they've gained from the last few years that they can definitely make the Super Bowl this year. For my second Super Bowl sleeper team that I'm going to be looking at is going to be the San Francisco 49ers. I'm looking at this team because they were very close to making the Super Bowl last year. Didn't make it due to some injuries at the quarterback position with Brock Purdy coming down with a hand injury in the NFC Championship game. But I like this team because this team, I believe, is one of the most complete teams in the league. They had an elite defense last year along with just as much of an elite offense. They have playmakers on offense such as George Kittle, Deebo Samuel, Brennan Ayuk, and the addition of Christian McCaffrey in the offseason along with the great O-line they had. I believe gives them just as much of a chance to win the Super Bowl as any other team. I think their biggest issue on offense is just going to be revolving their quarterback situation. They're going to have a big, big training camp regarding Brock Purdy, Trey Lance coming back from injury, along with Sam Darnold joining the team to hopefully be able to figure out that quarterback position they're looking for. Defensive-wise, that defense is stacked with Nick Bosa, Alifongo on defense, Fred Warner being the head of that defense, their captain on defense. I think they're a very good team. I think they got Javon Kinlaw to run that D-line. I believe they're just a really great defensive team. I'm looking out for them to have an even better year with all those players coming together. Their biggest issue is just figuring out their quarterback. Hopefully, they don't come down with injury bug as they did last year, especially late in the playoffs like that. I think they can be poised. They've been close to making the Super Bowl prior years. They made it a few years ago in 2020, I believe. I think they have just as much chance now as they did then and possibly even be even better now. Yeah, I agree. The 49ers, in my opinion, are the most complete team in all of the NFL. The next team that or the last team that I have is the Cincinnati Bengals. Offensively, the Bengals scored the eighth-best points in the league last season, largely thanks to their top quarterback, Joe Burrow, and potentially the best receiving court in all of football, and Jamar Chase, T. Higgins, and their slot receiver, Tyler Boyd. Their defense was equally impressive, ranking the fifth-best defense and not allowing points. This well-rounded team also ranked sixth in margin of victory, showing they can dominate on both sides of the ball. They now have a newly improved offensive line to protect Burrow, a stingy defense, and an array of offensive weapons at their disposal. With all this, I believe the Bengals are one of the teams to watch in terms of competing for a Super Bowl, and Cincinnati can make a very deep playoff run. Yeah, I agree with you there. They were very close last year, making the Super Bowl, losing a close game to the Kansas City Chiefs. They made it the year prior to that, in the Super Bowl, losing only by three points to the Rams. I think this year, given the players that they brought into that team, more years for Joe Burrow, Jamar Chase on that offense, as you said, one of the best receiving quarters in the league, if not the best receiving quarter in the league. I think they're probably going to be a very good team again. And that is the end of our podcast. We'd like to thank you for joining us on the Fresh Takeoff podcast. Next week, we are looking to break down our fantasy rankings and some of the preseason games that we saw from the first week of preseason action. See you next week for more football and basketball insights.