The NFL has always has had constant change. But, this year, there might be more than ever.
In addition to the usual subtle changes, there will be at least a dozen very noticeable changes. You’ll see them on the sidelines, where two women are joining the coaching ranks and an old face is returning in a new place after a brief hiatus.
You’ll see it on the field where a couple of quarterbacks who’ve shown Most Valuable Player potential in the past will be in situations where they should return to that level. You’ll see a change at the top of the quarterback hierarchy and a couple of rookie quarterbacks make sudden impacts. You’ll hear one team that was laughable for decades mentioned seriously as a Super Bowl contender.
There also will be cosmetic change with one team switching to ugly, untraditional uniforms. Finally, the biggest change of all won’t be from the people who play the game, but from those who officiate it.
Here’s a look at a dozen ways in which the NFL will look different in 2019:
12. Only a matter of time before Daniel Jones takes over
For several seasons, fans of the New York Giants have been saying that quarterback Eli Manning, now 38, is washed up. Still, he’s managed to hold onto his starting job. But this will be the season in which Manning finally is benched and an era will end. Manning will open the season as the starter, but it doesn’t take a genius to realize that’s not going to last long. The Giants used a first-round pick on Duke’s Daniel Jones. Look for him to take over no later than midseason. Aside from star running back Saquon Barkley, the Giants don’t have a lot of talent. They might as well get Jones in the lineup to start building their future and sit a quarterback whose best days are clearly behind him.
11. The Jets’ new uniforms aren’t going to fly
The Jets caused a stir in April, when they unveiled new uniforms and team officials billed the colors as “Gotham green,’’ “spotlight white’’ and “stealth black.’’ At least we’ll still see remnants of the old green and white. But when the Jets wear black jerseys, they also will wear black pants. There’s something that’s just plain wrong with that. The Jets just aren’t going to look right in uniforms that look nothing like what Joe Namath wore.
10. Bruce Arians is back, but in a new place
After a tearful retirement in which he said he was “done’’ coaching, Bruce Arians walked away from the Arizona Cardinals after the 2017 season. But, at 66 and with a history of health problems, Arians put himself back in the game. This time, it’s with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, a franchise that hasn’t been to the playoffs since 2007. This sounds like a job for a much younger man, but Arians said he’s up for the challenge. Surprisingly, the quarterback guru said one of the major reasons he took the job was because the Bucs have Jameis Winston, who has been highly inconsistent in his first four years. If Arians can turn Winston into a true franchise quarterback, it will be the biggest accomplishment of the coach’s career. But Arians has something bigger in mind. A lot of skeptics have said he will only coach for a year or two and retire again. Not true according to Arians. When I interviewed him a few months ago, Arians said he plans to coach until the Bucs win a Super Bowl. He could end up coaching for a very long time.
9. Big Ben is on his own
There always has been a portion of the population that has said Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger has had success only because he’s benefited from a strong supporting cast. Things are different this year. Receiver Antonio Brown and running back Le’Veon Bell are gone. Roethlisberger is going to carry this offense. At 37 and with two Super Bowl championships in his past, this is the year in which Roethlisberger will get the chance to show if he truly is a franchise quarterback. The Steelers like to say the departures of Brown and Bell translate into addition by subtraction. Yes, they were headaches, but they’ve been the best in the league at their positions. It’s not like the Steelers have brought in anything close to an upgrade at either position. Roethlisberger is going to have to play better than he ever has for the Steelers to even have a chance at the playoffs.
8. Patriots could have a challenger in AFC East
Ugly uniforms aside, the Jets are a team on the rise. Quarterback Sam Darnold showed promise as a rookie last year, and Adam Gase has replaced Todd Bowles as the head coach. Gase, who took the Dolphins to the playoffs in his first season before they took a big step back, was unable to turn Ryan Tannehill into a franchise quarterback. That’s why Gase wasn’t a popular hire among New York fans. But maybe they should take a closer look because he could turn out to be a nice fit. Offensively, Gase relies heavily on the short and medium passing game and that matches up well with Darnold’s skill set and early signs are that the coach and quarterback already have developed a close relationship. But the biggest change of all is the arrival of Bell, who sat out all of last season after refusing to sign the franchise tender the Steelers placed on him. Bell is a significant rushing and receiving threat. He should thrive in the zone-rushing scheme that Gase employs. The Patriots are the obvious favorites in the division. But, if anyone can challenge them, it will be the Jets.
7. There’s a new MVP candidate
In his first full season as Houston’s starting quarterback, Deshaun Watson led the Texans to the playoffs. His numbers were excellent, as he threw for 4,165 yards and 26 touchdowns (with only nine interceptions) and rushed for 551 yards and five touchdowns. The only disturbing thing was that he was sacked 62 times (fifth-most in a season in NFL history). But the Texans made a huge move last week by trading for Cleveland running back Duke Johnson and that should ease the pressure on Watson somewhat. Johnson made his mark with the Browns as a receiver out of the backfield. That will give Watson a nice safety valve to turn to when he’s under pressure. Brown never even reached 400 rushing yards in any of his four seasons in Cleveland. But that should change in Houston. Coach Bill O’Brien emphatically has said the Texans traded for Johnson because the view him as a three-down back. Whatever Johnson’s ends up being, the Texans have added another offensive weapon and that could allow Watson to emerge as an MVP candidate.
6. Aaron Rodgers will be Aaron Rodgers again
After coach Mike McCarthy was fired during last season, stories came out about how dysfunctional his relationship with quarterback Aaron Rodgers had become. That explained why Rodgers hadn’t played like an MVP since he won the award for the second time, back in the 2014 season. Rodgers has a strong personality, and the reports said that his ego clashed with McCarthy’s. Rodgers already has been critical of new coach Matt LaFleur for holding joint practices during training camp. Rodgers needs to stop that immediately. If Rodgers can find a way to get along with his coach, he can be an MVP candidate again.
5. A new look for Tampa Bay’s staff
Even before his team began the offseason program, Arians made history. He made the Bucs the first team to have two women on the coaching staff by hiring Lori Locust as assistant defensive line coach and Maral Javadifar as assistant strength and conditioning coach.
In 2015 with the Cardinals, Arians made Jen Welter the first female assistant coach in NFL history. If Arians is as progressive with his gameday strategy, he might make the Bucs into a contender.
4. The Browns are a Super Bowl contender, seriously
We’re talking about the Browns, so everything is relative. But, at least in the Cleveland area, there’s belief that the Browns are a Super Bowl contender. That may seem like a stretch for a team that went 7-8-1 last year and has a new head coach in Freddie Kitchens. But look a little closer and there could be something to this kind of talk. Last year, quarterback Baker Mayfield threw 27 touchdown passes, the most ever by a rookie. The Browns had a busy offseason, highlighted by the trade for wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr. Mayfield and Beckham could instantly become one of the league’s top passing duos. At the very least, the Browns are a legitimate playoff contender.
3. Move over, Brady and Brees
In recent years, the conversation about the league’s top quarterbacks has started and ended with Tom Brady and Drew Brees. Those two veterans still are going strong, but it’s time to add a new name to that conversation: Kansas City’s Patrick Mahomes. Last year was his first season as a full-time starter, and he put up spectacular numbers, throwing for 5,097 yards and 50 touchdowns with just 12 interceptions. Mahomes is only going to keep getting better.
2. The next little thing
The rule of thumb in the NFL used to be that a quarterback should be at least 6-foot-2. But Brees and Russell Wilson have shown that you don’t need that type of stature to excel, and that should be enforced with the arrival of Kyler Murray. Even though he started only one year in college and considered a career in professional baseball, Murray showed enough talent to convince Arizona to select him with the first overall pick in this year’s draft. In his one season as a starter at Oklahoma, Murray threw for 4,361 yards and 42 touchdowns, while also rushing for 1,001 yards and 12 touchdowns. With a dual threat such as Murray, the Cardinals instantly may have a dynamic offense. There have been a lot of dual-threat quarterbacks through the years, but Murray has the potential to be the best since Michael Vick. In fact, Murray could be better because he’s a more accurate passer than Vick.
1. Revenge of the Saints
New Orleans coach Sean Payton has a Super Bowl championship on his resume, but his greatest impact on the NFL might have come this offseason. Payton used every bit of his clout to get league owners to make a major rule change. Offensive and defensive pass-interference penalties, including non-calls, now are subject to challenge and replay review. It’s no wonder Payton was so passionate. In last season’s NFC Championship Game, Rams cornerback Nickell Robey-Coleman clearly interfered with New Orleans receiver Tommylee Lewis. But no call was made, and that might have cost the Saints a trip to the Super Bowl.
The only hitch is that the NFL went back and forth on whether to allow challenges in the last two minutes of each half and in overtime. The final decision was to allow only booth replay reviews at those times. The controversial play in the NFC Championship Game came in the last two minutes, but it clearly would have been overturned with a booth replay. Payton’s lobbying has made it likely that other teams won’t have to endure what the Saints did.
Pat Yasinskas has covered the NFL since 1993. He has worked for The Tampa Tribune, The Charlotte Observer and ESPN.com and writes for numerous national magazines and websites. He also has served as a voter for the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
