The kick-off of the 2016 NFL season almost upon us, and every team currently feels the glow of a perfect record. Yet a week from now, half the teams in the NFL will be most likely be on pace for an 0-16 season, hot seats will be lit and doubt will fill the air. So before the losses and disappointment arrive, let’s take an extra moment to savor this special time of year when every team is undefeated by celebrating the heroes of the pre-season. May they not soon be forgotten.
William Hayes, DE, Rams
The 31-year old veteran was the breakout star of this year’s Hard Knocks after Rams head coach Jeff Fisher revealed Hayes believes mermaids are real. But, wait, there’s more: the Winston-Sale State-educated Hayes also doesn’t believe that dinosaurs ever existed. Fisher told the HBO cameras that his defensive end got “really excited about the potential for moving out here [from St Louis to Los Angeles] because he knew he would be closer to mermaids here on the west coast.”
Magical thinking: for some it makes them believe in beautiful half-human, half fish creatures. For others, it convinces them that Jeff Fisher can finish a season better than 7-9 and that he deserves a contract extension. When Hayes’ playing days are over, there is definitely a position waiting for him in the Rams front office.
Cleveland Browns front office
It’s a rare opportunity to be able to applaud anyone related to the Cleveland football operation, but the Browns are finally being bad the right way. Cleveland kicked off the offseason by handling the draft surprisingly well. Instead of using the No2 overall pick on a questionable quarterback prospect like Carson Wentz or Jared Goff, they sent the pick to the Eagles for a huge haul of selections, including Philadelphia’s No1 pick in 2017. That deal only looks better now. Wentz struggled throughout the preseason and when the Eagles traded Sam Bradford to the Vikings, the Philadelphia pick the Browns now own got even closer to No1 overall.
The best competition for that top pick could come from the Browns themselves. Instead of going for mediocrity with a lineup featuring veterans like Josh McCown and Paul Kruger, the front office has cleaned house. Barkevious Mingo, Justin Gilbert and Andy Lee were traded, Kruger, Karlos Dansby, Donte Whitner and Brian Hardline were released. The Browns will give playing time to high-upside guys like Robert Griffin III, Terrell Pryor and Josh Gordon. The Browns could, and likely will be, awful. But it’s a new kind of awful. It’s awful with a plan. In Cleveland, that’s hope.
DeAngelo Williams, RB, Steelers
If Le’Veon Bell told people that he missed his drug tests because DeAngelo Williams stole his phone and deleted the appointments in his calendar, many would believe him. No one has benefitted more from Bell’s inability to avoid smoke-filled rooms and trainers rooms than Williams. After losing his platoon role in Carolina alongside Jonathan Stewart following the 2014 season, Williams signed with the Steelers to be solely a backup at the running back ancient age of 32.
But then Bell got suspended and hurt, and Williams ended up starting 10 games last season. In a rare opportunity for him to be a feature back, he ran for 907 yards and 11 touchdowns and picked up another 367 receiving yards – all among the best numbers of his 10-year career. When the news of another Bell suspension opened this year’s training camp, Williams – now age 33 and the oldest back in the NFL barring Barry Sanders’ long-awaited return to Detroit – became the guy who will get the bulk of the carries for a Super Bowl favorite at least through the month of September.
Trevor Siemian, QB, Broncos
The last time Trevor Siemian was a starting quarterback, he threw seven touchdowns and 11 interceptions for a Northwestern team that went 5-7, including a loss to Northern Illinois. Siemian was bad, but not quite bad enough to get benched until his college career ended a game early with a knee injury against Purdue.
It seemed likely that Siemian would have to use his degree in Communication Studies to land work, but he still planned to rehab his knee for the unlikely chance an NFL team happened to come calling for the 11th-rated passer in the Big Ten. “I don’t want to regret not trying five to 10 years from now,” he told the Chicago Tribune at the time. Siemian still may have to use that degree five to 10 years from now, but this year – right now – he’s the starting quarterback for the defending Super Bowl champions thanks to a perfect storm that made the Denver Broncos’ quarterback situation less-than-perfect.
Peyton Manning retired and Brock Osweiler unexpectedly left for Houston, making Siemian – taken by Denver in the seventh-round of the 2015 draft just six spots before Mr Irrelevant – the only QB left on the roster after the Super Bowl confetti stopped falling. A weak free agent class this offseason forced the Broncos to trade for Mark Sanchez and then the Broncos took Paxton Lynch at the end of the 2016 first-round, meaning all Siemian had to do to win the job was beat out the guy famed for the butt fumble and a rookie who has never played outside the spread offense.
Against those limited odds – and despite a troubling 70.4 quarterback rating in the preseason – Siemian did it, making the Broncos somehow both Super Bowl champions and underdogs. And if the defending champs are underdogs, maybe there really is good reason for the rest of the league to feel optimism as the regular season begins. Maybe this is finally the year everyone goes 19-0.
Dak Prescott, QB, Cowboys
Prescott was selected with the 135th overall pick in April’s draft. There were enough concerns about him as an NFL quarterback – primarily his footwork and mid to long-range throwing accuracy – that all 32 teams passed over him multiple times, including Dallas four times, as well as once earlier in the fourth-round to take Oklahoma defensive end Charles Tapper. But four months later, Prescott is being fitted for his Pro Football Hall of Fame jacket. Thanks to putting up big preseason numbers, Tony Romo’s injury and the Dallas Cowboys hype machine that even 4-12 seasons can’t kill, Prescott is the new “chosen one,” and the face of the 2016 QB draft class with Jared Goff and Carson Wentz struggling all preseason.
Prescott’s preseason production was undeniable impressive. It’s hard to quibble with a 78% completion percentage, five passing touchdowns to zero interceptions and two more touchdowns on the ground, but at risk of breaking major news the public may not be ready to handle: the preseason is the preseason. We may know as early as the Cowboys’ week one visit from the Giants if Prescott could be the next mid-round QB gem like Tom Brady and Russell Wilson, or the latest mid-round QB dud like ... any number of former NFL quarterbacks whose names you never knew.
