It is, indisputably, time to start thinking Super Bowl for these teams in the latest installment of the Preseason Power Rankings Countdown. Once again, we will not reveal who the teams are in this episode description, but we will provide these clues from our conversations: Team 12: Will this be the best third-place team in football? And what do we make of the newness of it all (or the maybe lack of good-ness in the linebacking corps)? Team 11: Let’s see just how much competent quarterback play a...
Aug 22, 2022•1 hr 2 min
It’s a special emergency episode of the The MMQB NFL Podcast, as Conor and Gary delve into the final (maybe?) settlement of the Deshaun Watson suspension. Watson did a 180-degree turn on his apology soon after word of the settlement came out. What might Roger Goodell and the league think about that? And is there any mechanism in that settlement for this suspension to go past 11 games? Also, looking at the messaging coming out of Watson’s camp—from his agent, his private quarterbacks coach and th...
Aug 19, 2022•20 min
We’re in the middle of the NFL’s middle, then moving toward the top of the middle as Conor and Gary continue their four-at-a-time season preview countdown. This episode features two teams with Super Bowl titles in the past five years, lots of quarterback questions, and plenty of blind trust. Once again, we will not reveal who the teams are in this episode description, but we will provide these clues from our conversations: Also Team 16: The second half of a tie carried over cliffhanger-style fro...
Aug 15, 2022•56 min
It’s time to get into the middle-iest of the NFL’s middle, as Conor and Gary continue their four-at-a-time season preview countdown. This episode features two 2021 playoff teams, one underdog darling and one former underdog darling of whom we’ve talked about quite a bit. Once again, we will not reveal who the teams are in this episode description, but we will provide these clues from our conversations: Team 20: Taking on the crushing noise that will define 2022. Team 19: Let’s get carried away w...
Aug 08, 2022•58 min
Conor and Gary welcome back Jenny Vrentas of the New York Times to delve into all things Deshaun Watson once again. A discussion of why Sue Robinson’s factual determinations in her ruling are much more significant than the number of games she suggested for a suspension, how the door was flung open for the NFL to determine its own punishment, and how all of it should force the NFL to confront some of its outdated stances (and terminology) regarding sexual violence. Plus, what’s next as the NFL mo...
Aug 04, 2022•49 min
The third episode of Conor and Gary’s team-by-team, four-at-a-time season preview countdown is here, and they’re getting into the teams that should be entering 2022 with playoff aspirations (of varying degrees). Once again, we will not reveal who the teams are in this episode description, but we will provide these clues from our conversations: Team 24: A way to program the quarterback to carry out one of three tasks: Quick throw, throw away, or crumple like a deflated Christmas decoration. Team ...
Aug 01, 2022•1 hr 15 min
One long-awaited quarterback contract got done this week, but as with all things Cardinals-front-office-and-Kyler Murray since the team’s wild-card round meltdown in January, it wasn’t without loads of negativity and drama. Specifically, the now infamous “homework clause” that appears in Murray’s record-setting deal, the cause of tremendous embarrassment for the star QB this week. Conor and Gary welcome MMQB Business of Football columnist and former Packers team president Andrew Brandt, to discu...
Jul 29, 2022•38 min
The second episode of Conor and Gary’s team-by-team season preview countdown has arrived, and this one is chock full of underserved optimism. And ties! Once again, we will not reveal who the teams are in this episode description, but we will provide these clues from our conversations: Team 27: Just send them over to the B Field for now—they’ll be ready for you to watch them in 2023. Also Team 27: It’s time for professional football coaches and professional football players to assemble and form a...
Jul 25, 2022•56 min
It’s that time of year, when Conor and Gary ignore the beautiful summer weather, retreat to their respective basements, and take on the Herculean task of previewing the 32 teams, podcast-style, four at a time. But this year, it comes with a twist! Rather than simply going division by division, it’s a power ranking, unveiled from the 32nd best team to the best, all over the course of eight Monday shows. Thus, the first episode in this installment? The four worst teams heading into the 2022 season...
Jul 18, 2022•53 min
It was an unexpectedly rocky year for last season’s crop of rookie QBs. Now, it’s time to examine: Are better days ahead in 2022? To help answer that question, Conor and Gary welcome Charles McDonald of Underdog Fantasy. What does Doug Pederson do for Trevor Lawrence? What was behind Zach Wilson’s absolutely erratic play out of structure last season? Is this Trey Lance thing going to work out in San Francisco? Some appreciation for the cursed early career of Justin Fields, the lack of speed arou...
Jul 14, 2022•1 hr 11 min
It was centuries ago that the Baker Mayfield trade talks first started up, and last week we finally reached the end of the road with he would-be-Cleveland-Browns franchise QB mercifully shipped off to Carolina for a conditional 2024 fifth-round pick. Conor and Gary discuss a deal that left pretty much everyone unsatisfied, whether it be the draft compensation, the split of his salary, the paycut, or the domino effect on the Panthers’ QB depth chart. What does it mean for Mayfield, for Ben McAdoo...
Jul 11, 2022•50 min
Some not terribly sharp people might dismiss the Ravens for a lack of Super Bowl championships over the past four seasons, but on this show, Conor and Gary cover just how Baltimore is positioning itself for consistent championship contention by exploiting roster-building inefficiencies. The wide receivers grabbed the headlines this offseason, but what does it mean to collect quality tight ends in a league with so few? Plus, why offensive linemen who aren’t tackles can anchor a front five, the im...
Jul 04, 2022•27 min
The Golden State Warriors won the NBA title, the Los Angeles Rams won the Super Bowl, and each team was accused of “buying” their championship. With that in mind, Conor and Gary welcome SI NBA writer Rohan Nadkarni back to the show to discuss just what it means to “buy” a championship, why it’s an absurd accusation, and why more teams should be doing precisely what those champions did. Then, the trio fires off a number of takes, ranging from Tua to Russell Wilson to Nathaniel Hackett to all kind...
Jun 30, 2022•57 min
In honor of the release of Conor’s annual underrated players list (one player for each of the 32 teams!), Conor and Gary take a trip down the list to review its most interesting names. On this episode, a look at a slot receiver who deserves more of an opportunity, a veteran left tackle who’s getting a little more of his due, a productive young pass rusher emerging in the strangest of places, a first-round defensive back who reinvented himself with a new team, and a defensive tackle who enables a...
Jun 27, 2022•47 min
It’s been a surprisingly busy week in the NFL, with developments in the Deshaun Watson cases, an off-the-rails congressional hearing concerning Daniel Snyder, and the retirement (we think) of an all-time great. So Conor and Gary welcome in SI NFL Insider Albert Breer to break it all down. First, now that all but four of the civil complaints against Deshaun Watson have been settled, what is the NFL timeline regarding league discipline going to be like? And why is this process going to be much dif...
Jun 23, 2022•52 min
Conor and Gary have—rightfully—spent quite a bit of time discussing Deshaun Watson over the past few weeks. Now, with reports surfacing on Friday that the NFL plans to argue for a “significant” suspension of Watson, it’s a good time for everyone to turn their attention toward Baker Mayfield. If Watson is suspended for the season would Mayfield play out the final year of his rookie contract in Cleveland, knowing he’d be leading a playoff-caliber roster? Or would he try to start establishing himse...
Jun 20, 2022•43 min
With Conor recording from a secret location somewhere in these great United States, he and Gary link up via satellite phone to talk about three big contracts and one bad tweet. First a look at Aaron Donald’s deal, and what Donald wanted on and off the field (beyond a large sum of money) to return to the Super Bowl champs. Then, the importance of Cooper Kupp in a world that’s gone mad for wide receivers. Then, a discussion of the Hunter Renfrow deal, and what it means that a complementary weapon ...
Jun 13, 2022•34 min
Deshaun Watson continues to be the biggest NFL story in recent memory, and thanks to the continued, exceedingly thorough reporting of Jenny Vrentas, it is not going to go away anytime soon. With that in mind, Conor and Gary welcome Jenny back to the show! A discussion of her latest investigative piece for the New York Times, which covers Watson and the expanding number of women not among the civil complainants who are sharing accounts of his problematic behavior during massage therapy sessions. ...
Jun 09, 2022•36 min
While Conor and Gary eagerly await word on their applications to Tight End University, they take a broader look at the market while addressing the question: Why don’t tight ends get paid more than they do? Breaking down the guys at the top of the market, the lack of depth at the position across the NFL, the tight end’s role in the NFL’s trendiest offense, and who could break through and get that monster contract. Then, a look at the Lamar Jackson contract situation, what the quarterback should b...
Jun 06, 2022•34 min
In a very special episode, Peter King returns to his old stomping grounds as the godfather (or something) of The MMQB helps Conor and Gary make sense of what you might call “the hot topics” going on around the NFL. It seems that Colin Kaepernick won’t be signing with the Raiders in the short-term, so what do we make of his workout with the team? Who is going to buy the Denver Broncos, and how much money will it cost? How will Roger Goodell handle the potential Deshaun Watson suspension? Is Mike ...
Jun 02, 2022•57 min
On Tuesday night, two massage therapists alleging sexual misconduct against Deshaun Watson appeared on HBO to put faces and voices behind their accounts, while Watson’s legal team continued to fight back publicly, both on and off the show. Conor and Gary discuss the potential effects of that “Real Sports” segment, the arguments Watson’s lawyers are making on his behalf, and the stubborn misconceptions about the Watson cases that just won’t go away. Then SI senior writer Stephanie Apstein joins t...
May 26, 2022•1 hr 14 min
It was just a few short years ago when it seemed that, across the NFL, every team was more or less satisfied with their quarterback situation. But with the 2022 season just a couple months away, somewhere in the neighborhood of one-third of the teams in the NFL are looking at some degree of—officially speaking—a “mess” at the QB spot. With that in mind, Conor and Gary are breaking down the specific degree of “quarterback mess” for 13 teams across the league. That means a discussion of Daniel Jon...
May 23, 2022•1 hr
In a very special episode of The MMQB NFL Podcast, Conor and Gary welcome Jenny Vrentas back to the show to cover a number of topics, starting with the investigation into the Raiders by Jenny and the team at the New York Times. Why is that franchise seemingly run like a disorganized mom-and-pop store rather than a billion-dollar enterprise? Why has there been so much turnover among their front-office leadership? And what would you do if Jon Gruden burst into your office to tell you you're do...
May 19, 2022•38 min
Conor and Gary have had a couple of days to chew on the NFL schedule after the league’s overwrought, (seemingly) months-long trickle of a release. Here’s what they settled on: First, the curious case of the Cleveland Browns’ utter lack of primetime appearances. How Deshaun Watson (very likely) affected that beyond just a potential suspension, and who it helps and who it hurts in Cleveland. Then, a look at five teams who got—maybe, perhaps, just a little bit—hosed by the schedule-makers, whether ...
May 16, 2022•43 min
Conor and Gary start off the show with a discussion of just what kind of broadcaster Tom Brady will be one day. (If he ever is a broadcaster, that is.) Then, Richard Johnson, resident college football and Jacksonville Jaguars expert, joins the show for a discussion on a number of topics. Why was the 2022 NFL draft not very good? Will the 2023 QB draft class be a little better or a lot better than this year's? What do we make of the Travon Walker pick, and can an NFL coaching staff really unl...
May 12, 2022•52 min
One thing to keep in mind as we move into the month of May: Just because the draft is over doesn’t mean we’re done with player movement in the NFL. So Conor and Gary took a trip through the best remaining free agents to see what kind of teams we could build. Welcome to the first annual (or, perhaps, last ever) Remaining Free Agents Draft. The exercise isn’t completely meaningless; there are plenty of useful players still out on the market, and they should start moving soon now that the compensat...
May 09, 2022•56 min
After a couple days to decompress and really let the 2022 NFL Draft sink in, Conor and Gary are ready to talk about draft grades. Specifically, Conor’s draft grades. A look back at the draft classes that earned the highest marks, the draft classes that earned the lowest marks, and why each team falls into its respective category. Then, a look at the continued limbo of Baker Mayfield and Jimmy Garoppolo and the roles their current teams played in them landing here. Plus, Tyrann Mathieu joins the ...
May 04, 2022•59 min
On Monday, the NFL said an investigation found "no evidence" to support the allegations of tanking made by former Browns head coach Hue Jackson. The team went 3-36-1 during Jackson's stint with the team and he believes the Browns front office should share some of that blame. Despite the league investigation clearing the Browns, that doesn't mean the team is innocent of the accusations made against the franchise. SI Staffers Conor Orr and Gary Gramling reviewed more than 1000 docu...
May 03, 2022•23 min
Sure, it isn’t the greatest draft class, but a couple surprise trades made Thursday night much more interesting than Conor, Gary or anyone else could have expected. A month ago, the Eagles had three picks in the teens of an underwhelming draft, and now they have a top-five veteran receiver, a 340-pound game changer for the middle of their defensive line, and still have two first-round picks in next year’s draft. Is anyone GM'ining better than Howie Roseman right now? Plus, the Cardinals make...
Apr 29, 2022•48 min
Really, it’s more like Pick 22 to 32, and then seven more picks ending at Pick 102, but you get it, right? The point is: Conor and Gary are running down the remaining 16 teams’ draft needs, including the seven teams who don’t have a pick in Thursday’s first round (as of now). That means lots of Packers talk—what are the chances they skip a Round 1 receiver again when they have *two* first-round picks? Also, how about the Chiefs and their back-to-back first-round picks? Will they rethink their se...
Apr 27, 2022•1 hr 22 min
