After the strangest offseason period in recent history, NFL training camps are finally starting to open. Over the next few days teams will return to the practice field in what is a new world for everyone. Most offseasons provide some interesting storylines to follow, but in every conceivable way 2020 is simply a different year.
For example, Charles McDonald, who does tremendous work covering the league for the New York Daily News, tweeted this recently:
He’s right. There is a reason – or more – to watch every single team in the league this year.
To that end, here are some of the best storylines to watch as training camps open.
The Philadelphia Wide Receiver Room
Despite winning the NFC East last season and hosting a playoff game on Wild Card Weekend, the Philadelphia Eagles had some issues on the offensive side of the football. Due to a combination of injuries and poor play, Carson Wentz led the Eagles to the playoffs throwing to a mix of players at the wide receiver position, including former quarterback Greg Ward Jr., Mack Hollins and the inconsistent Nelson Agholor.
That led to an influx of new talent at the position this offseason. Despite using an early-round pick last year on a wide receiver (second-round pick J.J. Arcega-Whiteside) the Eagles again dipped into the WR pool early in the draft. This time they tapped into the Big 12, selecting Jalen Reagor in the first round.
However, the Eagles were not done adding at the position. They drafted two more wideouts on Day Three in downfield threats John Hightower out of Boise State, and Quez Watkins out of Southern Mississippi. On the same day, they swung a trade for the speedy Marquise Goodwin. That led some to believe – when combined with comments made by general manager Howie Roseman and head coach Doug Pederson – that the Eagles were becoming more of a downfield team.
We will soon find out for sure.
Cam Newton versus Jarrett Stidham
The worst-kept secret at the 2020 NFL Scouting Combine in Indianapolis, outside of the fact that the true stars of the Combine were the security dogs, was that Tom Brady was leaving the New England Patriots.
Anyone who ran such stories to the ground heard from the organization that nothing was official, but was also told various versions of the following line: “The team really likes the Stidham kid.” Dating back to drafting Jarrett Stidham in the fourth round of the 2019 draft, the organization has been excited about the development he made during last year’s training camp and throughout the season.
So when the Brady move to Tampa Bay became official, many wondered what that meant for the future of the Patriots’ quarterback room. But those same stories were again recycled. The team really likes the young passer. Even defensive back Devin McCourty spoke highly of the Auburn product, talking about how the rookie got the Patriots’ defense ready each week in practice.
That led those in the media to believe that Stidham really was the future, and when the Patriots passed on every available quarterback during the draft, those thoughts were cemented. Trust me, I wrote almost 3,000 words on how Stidham was the plan.
Thankfully, from my perspective, buried at the end of that piece was this little nugget: “Now yes, there are creative ways to get around the cap and structure deals. If the team wanted to, they could probably find a way to get a deal done with [Cam] Newton. And yes, in a vacuum Newton is a better quarterback than Stidham right now. And yes, as Doug Farrar recently argued Newton could fit in New England’s offense.”
Man I’m glad I slid that little qualifier in.
Because that is exactly what happened. The organization brought in Newton on a veteran minimum deal buoyed with incentives. But now, is he guaranteed the job? Or will Stidham have the inside track on the spot given his year of service with the team? This is one of a few quarterback battles to watch.
The MVP versus the Incumbent
Our next quarterback battle to watch comes from the Windy City, and a team that might be seeing its window closing before their eyes. Back in the 2017 NFL Draft, the Chicago Bears held the third-overall selection and needed a quarterback. Well, you probably know the rest of this story, but just in case you’ve been quarantined longer than the rest of us, with Deshaun Watson and Patrick Mahomes on the board, Ryan Pace and the Bears traded up one spot in the draft to select Mitchell Trubsky, the third-team 2016 All-ACC performer.
The move has not exactly panned out as Bears fans have hoped.
When Trubisky struggled this past season, it became accepted by everyone inside and outside of the organization that competition was needed. It came in the form of a trade, as the Bears sent a fourth-round pick to Jacksonville in exchange for former Super Bowl MVP Nick Foles.
Foles credits Matt Nagy with rekindling his love for the game, and putting him on a path to his title run with the Philadelphia Eagles. He knows Nagy’s offense and has shown an ability to come up big in pressure moments, even if he comes with a bit of high-variance to his play.
Now, in uncertain times and with questions about how extensive training camp might be, Pace and Nagy have perhaps one last season to make a run, or their seats will go from hot to non-existent. Perhaps the incumbent gets the first shot, but you have to imagine patience will be thin.
Especially with a former Super Bowl MVP waiting in the wings.
Justin Herbert versus Tyrod Taylor
One more quarterback battle to watch as training camps open takes place out west. For the first time in a long time (14 years to be exact) the now-Los Angeles Chargers open training camp without Philip Rivers as their assumed starter. After making four starts over his first two years with the organization, Rivers took over as the full-time starter for the the 2006 season and started every game for the team since that moment.
But now, Rivers is in Indianapolis, reunited with former coaches Frank Reich and Nick Sirianni. That means the Chargers are turning to a new face under center, either Tyrod Taylor or their first-round pick, Justin Herbert.
One might expect a first-rounder to have the inside track on the job, but these are not normal times. Will Taylor get the nod due to his time with the organization, or will the promise of Herbert drive the team in the direction of the rookie? Taylor has been through a similar situation before, a few years ago with the Cleveland Browns. That year he broke camp as the starter, but before long it was the Baker Mayfield show. Will we see something similar in the year ahead?
Joe Brady in Carolina
The LSU Tigers produced some storylines of their own last season, during their ascent to the top of the college football world. Of course there is Coach O himself, a tremendous story of perseverance. Yes, their quarterback is another one. But then there is Joe Brady, the young offensive mind who was the Tigers’ passing game coordinator. There were not your father’s LSU Tigers on offense, or even your older brother’s. This was suddenly a modern passing game very different than the offense we are used to seeing down in Death Valley.
One of the biggest changes was the move to more five-man protection schemes. During their 2018 season, the Tigers logged over 300 passing plays with six or more men in protection. Last year, that number cratered to just 89. But it paid dividends for LSU. “Not only does LSU bring in more EPA per play with five or fewer pass-blockers compared to plays with six or more, but they are allowing a pressure rate that’s 6% less with five pass-blockers.”
Part of that has to do with the quarterback – and we will get to him in a moment – but Brady’s scheme has a role to play as well. His offense is a blend of the modern and the traditional, as many route concepts have their origin in Bill Walsh’s West Coast offense, which Brady learned during his time in New Orleans under Sean Payton. But the Tigers also incorporated many run/pass option designs into their playbook, putting defenders in conflict and giving the quarterback favorable opportunities in the passing game.
That is the offense that Brady is bringing to the NFC South, where he will be reunited with Teddy Bridgewater as his quarterback. The two spent a season together in New Orleans, and Bridgewater should be very familiar with what Brady wants to run offensively. He’ll also have some weapons in Curtis Samuel, D.J. Moore, Robby Anderson and yes, Christian McCaffrey. The offensive line has some questions, but as we saw from Brady last year, quick reads/throws and five-man protection schemes can still reduce pressure on the passer.
Tracking Brady’s offense in the NFL is a storyline I will be certainly paying close attention to in the weeks ahead.
Joe Burrow in Cincinnati
Speaking of Joe Brady…
Joe Burrow built himself into the first-overall selection last season as the triggerman for Brady’s passing game, and he rides that success into the AFC North as the assumed starting quarterback for the Cincinnati Bengals in Week 1. During LSU’s run to a National Championship Burrow checked every single box you want to see from a draft prospect at the quarterback position. He displayed accuracy to all levels of the field, textbook footwork, elite pocket management skills and yes, the competitive toughness to step into an NFL huddle and be a leader.
Now he’ll step into a huddle with a healthy A.J. Green, an emerging Tyler Boyd, the speedy John Ross and one of the NFL’s best running backs in Joe Mixon. Yes, the Bengals have some questions up front but this could be a sneaky good offense in 2020.
Especially if Burrow transitions to the league as we expect he will.
The Jamal Adams situation
It’s no secret how we feel here at Touchdown Wire about Jamal Adams. Adams is listed near the top of our Top 11 safeties in the league, and like players such as Derwin James, Tyrann Mathieu and Minkah Fitzpatrick, Adams is part of the new generation of safeties that can play in a variety of roles on a given drive.
To that point, last season Adams set a career-high marks in quarterback pressures (25), sacks (7) and QB hits (7), while still being effective in coverage. Opposing passers posted an NFL quarterback rating of just 79.1 when Adams was targeted in coverage.
But why is Adams a storyline worth watching as training camps open? Because while the talented safety is currently a New York Jet, he might not be for much longer. Adams has demanded a new contract, and since the organization is holding off on giving him a new deal, the safety has demanded a trade and is expected to holdout as camp begins. There have been rumored potential trades associated with Adams dating back to last season – including one with the Dallas Cowboys – and you can expect no shortage of suitors if the Jets look to move him.
Tompa Bay
For two decades Tom Brady has been the face of the New England Patriots, and in a sense the NFL itself. But after six Super Bowl rings, numerous more Super Bowl appearances, and two distinctly different runs at the helm of a dynasty, Brady is taking his talents south.
To Tampa Bay, where he will now sling the rock for Bruce Arians.
There are so many fascinating angles and subplots to this singular storyline. For starters there is the fact that Brady, set to turn 43 next month, is playing in a different system for only his second head coach in the league. Then there is the fact that Brady might have the best group of weapons around him since the days of Randy Moss and Wes Welker. In addition to Mike Evans and Chris Godwin, Brady has talent at the tight end spot in the form of O.J. Howard and Cameron Brate.
Oh and he convinced his buddy Gronk to come out of retirement.
Simmering below all of this is another simple question: Brady or Belichick? This has been a staple of debates in bars and at water coolers around New England for years, and now that question might finally get answered in 2020.
Can Buffalo climb the mountain?
Tom Brady’s departure from the AFC East – coupled with the other questions facing his former team – have opened the door to the possibility that a team other than the New England Patriots will win the division for the first time since 2008.
The team poised to make such a run? The Buffalo Bills. Coming off a playoff appearance of their own last season, the Bills might have put together a winning formula to step into the Patriots’ spot. It begins with their defense. Last season the Bills again finished as a Top 10 team in defensive DVOA, checking in at the sixth spot after a second-place mark in 2018. They are led by a pair of talented safeties in Micah Hyde and Jordan Poyer, but truth be told this Bills’ defense has talent at all three levels. Bills fans are adamant that Tre’Davious White – and not Stephon Gilmore – is the best cornerback in the game, and they could have an argument. Matt Milano and Tremaine Edmunds are a nice young linebacker duo, and up front the Bills run guys like Ed Oliver, Jerry Hughes and Mario Addison at opposing passers.
Speaking of passers, that might be where the question lies. Josh Allen has perhaps surpassed expectations, but that is likely due to the consensus opinion on him coming out of the University of Wyoming. His athleticism ahs translated well to the pro game – as has his arm strength – but he still struggles with consistency. Especially in the downfield passing game, whch was his calling card in college.
Enter Stefon Diggs. The former Minnesota Viking was one of the most productive and dangerous downfield targets a season ago, and adding Diggs to this receiver room might give Allen the downfield threat he needs to improve that part of his game. If he can just be better than the passer that posted an Adjusted Completion Percentage on downfield throws of only 30.9% – ranking him 23rd out of 24 qualified passers – the Bills might just reach the summit.
Are the Cardinals back?
Six quarterbacks are looking to take that “year two quarterback leap” in 2020, among them Daniel Jones, Gardner Minshew, Drew Lock, Dwayne Haskins and Jarrett Stidham (yes he counts). But the overwhelming favorite is Arizona Cardinals passer Kyler Murray.
And with good reason. While Murray did not light the world on fire as a rookie, he performed well enough to be named the AP Offensive Rookie of the Year. He completed 64.4% of his passes for 3,722 yards and 20 touchdowns, against 12 interceptions, and added another 544 yards rushing and four rushing touchdowns. He also showed an ability to make throws from the pocket, including anticipation throws, traits which were a question mark during his draft cycle.
Speaking of additions, the Cardinals made one of the biggest additions this offseason when they added elite wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins in a trade with the Houston Texans at the start of free agency. So Murray could be looking at a 10 personnel package (no one used this 4 WR – 1 RB group more in the NFL last year than Arizona) of Hopkins, Christian Kirk, Larry Fitzgerald and one of the Andy Isabella/Hakeem Butler/KeeSean Johnson trio at WR, with Kenyan Drake at the running back spot. That…is a dangerous group.
So yes, if you are making bets this offseason, placing some on Murray and the Cardinals is a good one to make.
Football in the age of COVID-19
Let’s face facts. There is really one overarching story this preseason that will overshadow the rest of them: How can football work in an age of COVID-19?
We all want to see football in the fall and we all pray for the health and safety of the players, coaches, training staff, stadium staff, and their families. But the impact of this global pandemic has crossed into every aspect of life, and football is no different. What protocols are teams putting into place for testing, and what happens when a positive test is returned? How can training camp take place with so many players in one place for extended periods of time? Are teams going to implement bubbles, or something similar, to prevent any outbreaks?
Beyond these issues, what about the impact of these protocols and the virus itself on the teams, and the game? How will coaches prepare their teams for a season without preseason games? How will players on roster bubbles make a case for themselves without preseason games? Are the players going to be in shape for camp, or will this resemble the training camps of the 60s, with players using this time to get back into shape? What will the level of play be like during Week 1?
Looking into the future, what happens when a big name player has a positive test late in the season, prior to a contest with playoff implications?
In years past, the previous ten storylines would be dominating headlines. But 2020 is unlike any year we have seen in recent history, and until things change, this story is the story.
