Welcome to the Tuesday edition of the Pick Six newsletter!
When it comes to the NFL's gambling policy, there are only two rules that players need to follow: Don't bet on any NFL-related events and don't place any bets from inside of an NFL facility.
Apparently, those two rules are tough to follow because we have another gambling investigation going on right now. We'll be covering that today, plus we'll be taking a look at some under-the-radar players in the AFC who could turn into stars this year. Also, I'd like to wish a happy birthday to DeAndre Hopkins. I hope your birthday wish isn't to play for the Cowboys or Jaguars, because it seems that those two teams don't want you. All right, now that I've ruined DeAndre's birthday, let's get to the rundown.
As always, here's your daily reminder to tell all your friends to sign up for the newsletter. To get them signed up, all you have to do is click here. All right, let's get to the rundown.
1. Today's Show: NFL player props with Jason La Canfora
After a brief absence from the show, we welcomed Jason La Canfora back to the Pick Six Podcast. Every show with La Canfora is a wild ride, and today's episode was no different. One of his favorite things to talk about is gambling, so that's exactly what we did today, but with a twist.
For today's episode, JLC, Will Brinson and Katie Mox played a few rounds of "Would you rather." They were given a prop bet and then they had to decide if they would rather bet Player A or Player B to win it.
One of the first bets they debated was who will lead the NFL in passing yards this year: Would you rather bet on Justin Herbert (+750) or Patrick Mahomes (+420)? Surprisingly, JLC went with Herbert.
"I'm going Herbert," La Canfora said. "I don't buy the Chargers defense and I don't totally buy Brandon Staley and I think Herbert is going to be chasing way more games."
Betting Herbert isn't as a crazy as it sounds. The Chargers QB finished second in the NFL in passing yards in each of the past two seasons. In 2022, he finished behind Mahomes. In 2021, he finished ahead of Mahomes, who ranked fourth overall in passing yards.
Katie, Brinson and JLC also debated between who they'd rather bet on out of Trevor Lawrence and Tua Tagovailoa. To hear that debate and the other NINE debates they held, you'll definitely want to listen to today's episode, which you can do here. You can also watch today's show on YouTube by clicking here.
2. NFL investigating Colts player for brazen violation of league's gambling policy
On the heels of five players being suspended in April, the NFL is now investigating another player for violating the league's gambling policy: Colts CB Isaiah Rodgers.
Here's a look at why Rodgers is being investigated:
- Rodgers allegedly bet on Colts games. If there's one cardinal sin you don't want to break in the NFL, it's gambling on NFL games, which is something that Rodgers is being accused of doing. According to ESPN.com, Rodgers placed roughly 100 bets with some of those coming on Colts games.
- How much he was betting. Based on how much he was gambling with, it seems that Rodgers was doing this for fun. Apparently, most of his bets were for $25 to $50, but he did place at least one bet that was for more than $1,000 (It's not clear if that was an NFL-related bet).
- How Rodgers placed the bets. The Colts corner had a friend open an online gambling account and then the bets were placed through that account. Right now, it's not clear how the NFL caught wind of the situation.
- Rodgers apologizes. It's pretty clear that Rodgers is guilty here and that's because he's already apologized. In a post on social media, Rodgers said he wants to take full responsibility for his actions. "I know I have made mistakes and I am willing to do whatever it takes to repair the situation," Rodgers wrote on Thursday. "The last thing I ever wanted to do was to be a distraction to the Colts organization, my coaches, and my teammates. I've let people down that I care about."
Rodgers is a 2020 sixth-round pick who has slowly been earning more and more playing time with the Colts. In 2021, Rodgers played in all 17 games for Indy, with one start. In 2022, he started nine games for the Colts. Rodgers is going into the final year of his rookie deal, but the Colts will have him under contract for one more year if he gets suspended for the entire season.
3. C.J. Stroud ranks the top five quarterbacks in the NFL
If you were to sit down and rank the top five quarterbacks in the NFL, there's a good chance that your list would not be the same as C.J. Stroud's. As a matter of fact, I guarantee it. Seriously, grab a pencil right now and write down your list of the top five quarterbacks in the NFL. I'm 99.9% sure you won't have the same list as Stroud.
The Texans rookie was recently asked to rank the five best quarterbacks in the league and although four of the names on his list were obvious ones, he decided to throw an absolute curve ball with his fifth name.
According to Stroud, here are the five best quarterbacks in the NFL (via the Caps Off Pod):
- Jalen Hurts
- Patrick Mahomes
- Joe Burrow
- Josh Allen
- Justin Fields
I think we can all agree that the most shocking thing about this list is that Mahomes isn't at the top. Just kidding, that's the second-most shocking thing because the most shocking thing is that JUSTIN FIELDS IS INCLUDED ON THIS LIST. Stroud could have put Lamar Jackson at five or Aaron Rodgers or Justin Herbert or Tua Tagovailoa or Trevor Lawrence, but instead, he went with Fields.
If I've learned one thing this offseason, it's that whenever you ask an NFL player to rank the top five players in their position group, things always seem to get somewhat interesting. Two weeks ago, Pittsburgh's Darnell Washington left Travis Kelce off his ranking of the five best tight ends in the NFL. A few days after that, Davante Adams ranked Calvin Ridley as the fourth-best receiver in the NFL. Speaking of Ridley, he's actually a part of our next topic, so let's get to it.
4. Under-the-radar AFC players who can be stars in 2023
There's no one who knows more about going under the radar than Tyler Sullivan, which is why we asked him today to come up with a list of one under-the-radar player from each AFC team who could turn into a star in 2023.
Tyler went through all 16 teams in the AFC; here's a look at five of his under-the-radar players:
- Jaguars: WR Calvin Ridley. "Ridley missed the entire 2022 season due to a gambling suspension, but if the 28-year-old can return to form, he could have a similar impact on Trevor Lawrence as Stefon Diggs did to Josh Allen and A.J. Brown did to Jalen Hurts, which makes Jacksonville a potential sleeping giant."
- Bills: CB Kaiir Elam. "The Florida cornerback had an up-and-down rookie year that saw him play just 13 games during the regular season due to injury. However, Elam ended his rookie season on a positive note in the postseason. He had a couple of notable plays in Buffalo's win over the Dolphins during Super Wild Card Weekend and then got the start in the divisional round against Cincinnati ... If he can carry that over into 2023 and be a consistent presence opposite of Tre'Davious White, the Bills will be well-positioned for a Lombardi Trophy."
- Jets: WR Mecole Hardman. "With Kansas City, the 25-year-old was used as more of a vertical threat, so if New York can unlock a new piece of his game, he'll be that much more dynamic with Aaron Rodgers. Don't sleep on what the speedy wideout could bring to this offense."
- Bengals: RB Chase Brown. "The Bengals selected Brown in the fifth round of the 2023 NFL Draft out of Illinois, but don't let that Day 3 selection make you overlook the up-and-coming back. He had a tremendous college season last year, rushing for 1,643 yards and 10 touchdowns while adding 27 catches for 240 yards."
- Broncos: TE Greg Dulcich. "Dulcich came out of nowhere in 2022 and was a bright spot for the Broncos offense in what was otherwise a forgetful season. He's already drawn praise from new head coach Sean Payton, who has coached tight ends like Jeremy Shockey, Jason Witten, and Jimmy Graham in the past. If Payton can get Russell Wilson back on track, it could be a true breakout season for Dulcich"
If you want to see the full list of under-the-radar players in the AFC, then be sure to click here.
5. One burning question for every team in the NFC West
After two weeks of asking burning questions, we've finally made it to the end, which is good news for me, because I'm pretty sure I have third-degree burns from all these burning questions.
We've gone through each division asking one burning question for each team, and today, we're on our final division: The NFC West.
Here's one burning question Garrett Podell has come up with for each team.
- 49ers: Who will be their starting QB? "While the team is maintaining hope that Brock Purdy can be ready to roll for Week 1 in September, there's a chance he could suffer a setback and not be ready for the start of the 2023 season. If that happens, who would start in his place? The options are Trey lance or Sam Darnold. The health of their quarterbacks will be one of the NFL's biggest storylines all year as it could heavily impact who the next Super Bowl champion will be."
- Seahawks: Can Geno Smith continue to play like a top-tier QB? "His performance in 2022 was so miraculous -- leading the NFL in completion percentage (68.8%), throwing a Seahawks-record 4,282 passing yards and ranking top five in the league in passing touchdowns (30) and passer rating (100.9) -- that he won 2022 NFL Comeback Player of the Year -- not for overcoming any injury, but rather eight years of unspectacular play on the field. If the Seahawks are going to be good, they'll need Geno to continue his top-tier play."
- Rams: Will they be a playoff contender? "The question that begs to be answered with the Rams in 2023 is simple: Can they stay healthy? If so, they have the stars to fight for a spot in the postseason thanks to the watered-down NFC. However, should things go sideways again in terms of their big three's health (Matthew Stafford, Cooper Kupp and Aaron Donald), general manager Les Snead and head coach Sean McVay could have a tough decision on their hands in regards to possibly starting a total rebuild."
- Cardinals: Will they tear it all down? "The Arizona Cardinals are in the first phase of a rebuild this offseason. They parted ways with both head coach Kliff Kingsbury and general manager Steve Keim in the wake of a 4-13 finish. Arizona has the Texans' 2024 first-round pick after trading out of the third overall pick this year. If Houston and Arizona are both bad, that gives the Cardinals two shots at ending up with the first overall pick, which could give them a shot at Caleb Williams if they want to pull off a total rebuild."
To read Podell's full answer to each of these burning questions, be sure to click here.
6. Extra points: 'Madden' cover being unveiled this week
It's been a busy 24 hours in the NFL, and since it's nearly impossible to keep track of everything that happened, I went ahead and put together a roundup for you.
- 'Madden' cover being released tomorrow. If you're wondering who's going to be hit with the "Madden" curse this year, we're all going to find out tomorrow. EA Sports announced this week that the cover will be unveiled on Wednesday. There has been some speculation that Josh Allen will be on the cover, but we won't know for sure until tomorrow. Also, the Bills are the last team that needs to be dealing with a curse. Maybe EA can change its mind before tomorrow.
- Ravens sign Laquon Treadwell. Odell Beckham isn't the only former first-round pick that the Ravens have added this offseason. The team has also signed Treadwell, who was selected by the Vikings with the 23rd overall pick in 2016. Treadwell has been a bust so far -- he only caught six passes last year in Seattle -- but the Ravens are hoping he'll be able to turn it around.
- Colts sign Breshad Perriman. After two quiet years in Tampa Bay, Perriman will now try to revive his career in Indianapolis. Perriman topped 500 yards receiving in both 2019 and 2020, but didn't even hit the 200-yard mark in either of the past two seasons.
- Cowboys cut receiver after arrest. Antonio Callaway's seven-month stint with the Cowboys is officially over. The receiver was cut on Monday in a move that came just days after it was revealed that he had been arrested in Miami last weekend for driving with a suspended license.
- Browns players hit by string of car thefts. A total of three Browns players have been robbed over the past few days, including two players who had their cars stolen. It's not clear if they're being targeted, but the latest carjacking came on Sunday when Greg Newsome had his car stolen at gunpoint, according to News 5 in Cleveland.
