1. PURE ECSTACY: Commanders vs. Bills. We deserve this Super Bowl. Two electric offenses, two shaky defenses, and most importantly—no Chiefs. The total in this game could rival the Commanders/Lions Divisional tilt (55.5) and provide us with 60-straight minutes of big plays. Please, football gods. We’re begging you.

2. THE TWO BEST TEAMS: Bills vs. Eagles. I really wanted to put the Commanders vs. Chiefs here, but not having to watch the Chiefs in another Super Bowl is a bigger imperative than getting to watch the Commanders. The last time Jalen Hurts and Josh Allen got together for a duel it resulted in a 37-34 OT shootout.

3. HIGH RISK, HIGH REWARD: Commanders vs. Chiefs. Jayden Daniels upsetting the Chiefs would be euphoric, but the risk of a veteran Chiefs team exerting their will on this bright-eyed and bushy-tailed Washington squad would be too devastating to endure.

4. LAAAAAME: Chiefs. vs. Eagles. If I wanted to watch the Chiefs play the Eagles in the Super Bowl and see lots of shots of Donna Kelce I’d fire up the replay of Super Bowl LVII on NFL Films. This matchup would have like a 43-point total and be a total slog. ANYTHING BUT THIS.

If you think my definitive rankings are wrong, let me know on X.

1. Way-Too-Early Fantasy Football Rankings: 2025’s top-3 RBs

2. Recapping 2024: The Utilization Awards

3. Watercooler: Coaching shakeups

   
   

Quench Your Hard-Earned Thirst With Mike’s Hard Lemonade 🍋

The NFL playoffs are here, and for some, it's game time—while for others, it's heartbreak. No matter how your season ended, Mike’s Hard Lemonade is here to remind you: Hard Days Deserve a Hard Lemonade.

_{MIKE’S IS HARD. SO IS PRISON, DON’T DRIVE DRUNK® PREMIUM MALT BEVERAGE. ALL REGISTERED TRADEMARKS, USED UNDER LICENSE BY MIKE’S HARD LEMONADE CO., CHICAGO, IL}

Way-Too-Early 2025 Fantasy Football Rankings: Breaking Down The RB Tiers

• by Ian Hartitz

You: It's entirely too early to rank and tier RB ahead of the 2025 season.

Me: So what?

Presenting: My way-too-early breakdown of the fantasy RB landscape ahead of next season. As always: It's a great day to be great.

Tier 1: League-winning ballers

RB1: Eagles RB Saquon Barkley

• One cool stat: Nobody was tackled at the 1-yard line and did NOT score a TD on the same drive more than Barkley (11 times!) in 2024. Sheesh.
   

• Offseason storyline to watch: Will the Brotherly Shove be outlawed? I doubt it, but yeah—the only real potential red flag for Barkley ahead of 2025 is simply the idea that nobody can be that freaking good two seasons in a row. Barkley turns 28 in February, so we aren't looking at age cliff concerns just yet, and Barkley will once again profile as one of the league's most-fed RBs behind arguably the game's single-best offensive line. The "players with X amount of touches in a season regress afterward" studies are often noisy due to small and arbitrary sample sizes. Consider this: Barkley would have been the PPR RB9 last season without scoring a single touchdown. Anyone actively fading the man in 2025 is simply betting on injuries that don't even exist.

RB2: Falcons RB Bijan Robinson

• One cool stat: Over the last 10 years only eight RBs have surpassed 3,000 total yards and 20 TDs in their first two seasons: Alvin Kamara, Saquon Barkley, Jonathan Taylor, David Johnson, Christian McCaffrey, Jahmyr Gibbs, Ezekiel Elliott, and, you guessed it, Mr. Bijan Robinson.
   

• Offseason storyline to watch: There really aren't any holes to overly worry about here. Robinson turns 23 on Jan. 30, just racked up the second-most touches in football, and is playing behind PFF's reigning 11th-ranked offensive line that has only one starter entering free agency. So yeah, mostly just hoping that Michael Penix turns out to be the real-deal Holyfield.

RB3: Lions RB Jahmyr Gibbs

• One cool stat: Gibbs' 6.4 yards per touch is the ninth-highest mark among any RB with at least 200 touches in a season since 2000. There really wasn't a more dangerous back in the run and pass game last year.
  

• Offseason storyline to watch: The absence of Ben Johnson will force Gibbs and Co. to at least somewhat adjust to a new playcaller. The return of four offensive line starters and basically every meaningful key party elsewhere makes it unlikely the Lions revert back to pre-2022 form; just realize a small crack in the continuity at hand here adds at least some hesitation to (again) projecting Gibbs for a monster season. Although, on the other hand, maybe the next OC will be more willing to split the backfield 60/40 in his favor.

The latest fantasy nuggets, silliness, and NFL gossip from our merry band of football nerds:

🏅 Who were the most and least utilized players this year? We have awards.

🏆 Who is the 2024 Fantasy Football MVP? Ian and Dwain dressed up for the occasion.

🕵️ A hint on who the Titans are taking at 1.01?? Hmm.

🪓 The Jags are finally shaking things up. Better late than never.

🚀 Meanwhile, the Bucs keep their guy. Very bullish for fantasy purposes.

😆 A.J. Brown roasting Slay for a weird tattoo. Oof.

🚶A diabolical Fantasy Football punishment. Get those steps in.

📰 More OC news. The Cowboys and Patriots make moves.

2024’s Utilization Awards

by Dwain McFarland

It's award season, and what better way to review the 2024 NFL Season than with some good ol’ utilization data?

Using the data that matters most, we will hand out awards across 11 categories, keeping an eye toward the 2025 Fantasy Football season along the way.

Underperformer of the year

For the under- and overperformers of the year, you will see three numbers next to their names.

1. Utilization Score.

2. Fantasy points per game.

3. The difference in fantasy points per game and expected fantasy based on their Utilization Score comps.

Nominees:

• George Pickens | WR | Steelers (7.4, 12.7, -1.9)

• Tony Pollard | RB | Titans (7.8, 13.1, -1.3)

• D'Andre Swift | RB | Bears (7.2, 12.5, -1.3)

• Breece Hall | RB | Jets (8.3, 14.9, -0.9)

• Travis Kelce | TE | Chiefs (8.8, 12.3, -0.9)

• Garrett Wilson | WR | Jets (8.1, 15.3, -0.8)

Winner: George Pickens

Pickens averaged 1.9 points per game less than his Utilization Score comps over the last four seasons of data. He ranked 15th in target share (27%), fourth in air-yards share (44%), and 10th in end-zone target share (44%). However, he ranked only 35th in fantasy points per game.

In part, we can thank our old nemesis, Arthur Smith. The Steelers ranked 25th in pass attempts per game (34) and 29th in dropback rate over expected (-5%).

In a nutshell, Pickens' target share and air yards were WR1-worthy, but in this offense, his raw targets (7.2) and air yards per game (99) fell into the WR2 range.

Mr. Utilization Score

Only the best of the best were in contention for the Mr. Utilization Score award. To be considered, you needed an elite score of 9.0 or higher. Only six players reached that summit.

Nominees:

• Ja'Marr Chase | WR | Bengals (9.4)

• Alvin Kamara | RB | Saints (9.3)

• Trey McBride | TE | Cardinals (9.3)

• Bijan Robinson | RB | Falcons (9.1)

• Brock Bowers | TE | Raiders (9.1)

• Malik Nabers | WR | Giants (9.0)

Winner: Ja'Marr Chase

Before diving into Chase, let's briefly discuss Kamara and Robinson since neither was written about in any section above.

Some will scoff at including Kamara, but the utilization doesn't lie. He struggled to close out the season thanks to injuries and the decimation of the Saints roster, but the 29-year-old back averaged 18.9 points over 14 contests. In 10 games with Carr, he averaged 20.4.

Robinson barely missed the cut as a nominee for most improved. His Utilization Score climbed from 8.2 to 9.1, and his fantasy points per game catapulted from 14.8 to 19.9. Over the season's first six weeks, it looked like Robinson might have been a mistake as a mid-round one selection. However, from Weeks 7 to 18, he averaged the third most points (22.3) and boasted the No. 1 Utilization Score.

Robinson is in the RB1 overall conversation for 2025 fantasy drafts. He offers the best blend of talent, every-down role potential, and age of any back on the board. He was the runner-up for Mr. Utilization.

However, there can only be one Mr. Utilization, and Chase was the slam-dunk choice. His 9.4 Utilization Score was the eighth-highest on record since we began keeping track in 2020. This was Chase's second time to lead all WRs, he notched a 9.7 Utilization Score in 2022.

No other non-quarterback scored more fantasy points per game than Chase (23.7), and he notched high-end finishes across multiple utilization categories.

• Targets per game: 10.1 (2nd)

• Catchable targets per game: 8.2 (1st-tied)

• End-zone targets per game: 1.1 (2nd-tied)

He was only the sixth receiver in history to win the NFL Triple Crown, leading the league in receptions (127), yards (1,708), and touchdowns (17). The only other wide receivers to do that:

• Lance Alworth | Chargers (1966)

• Jerry Rice | 49ers (1990)

• Sterling Sharpe | Packers (1992) 

• Steve Smith Jr. | Panthers (2005)

• Cooper Kupp | Rams (2021)

Congratulations to all our nominees and winners, but Chase gets an extra-big shoutout as 2024's Mr. Utilization. Way to go, Ja'Marr!

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