The latest
Picking the most underrated NFL players at every position | ESPN
Edge rusher: George Karlaftis, Kansas City Chiefs
If you want to find an underrated edge rusher, there’s a general rule to follow: Look for someone who ranks a lot higher in pressures than sacks. That means he’s getting to the quarterback and causing negative plays for the opponent, even if he isn’t getting the press.
In 2024, Karlaftis was that guy. He followed up a 10.5-sack season in 2023 with eight sacks last season, but his pressure total was far more impressive. Karlaftis was tied for 14th in the NFL with 44 pressures. He added 11 more pressures in three playoff games and had three sacks against the Texans in the AFC divisional round.
Most underappreciated players on each AFC team | PFF
Kansas City Chiefs
TE Noah Gray · Age: 26Gray’s got two things propping up his underappreciated bonafides: 1) He’s just one of the many pass-catchers to cycle into Patrick Mahomes ’ sights over the years; and 2) He’s a non- Travis Kelce tight end in K.C., toiling in relative anonymity at the same position on the same team as one of the most famous people in the country. It would be silly on multiple counts to suggest Gray will be the “next Kelce,” as if anyone could just jump onto that Hall of Fame trajectory. But it would make sense for Gray’s role in the offense to keep expanding, with the 35-year-old Kelce’s yards-per-catch mark (8.5) plunging in 2024, while Gray reached new highs in usage (49 targets) and production (437 receiving yards, five receiving TDs). Mahomes has thrown 1,175 passes to tight ends since he became the Chiefs’ starter in 2018, 347 more than any other NFL QB in that span. Obviously, much of those went to Kelce. And while we don’t know what life will look like for Mahomes and Co. after Kelce moves on, it seems safe to say that Gray — who signed a three-year extension in 2024 — will figure heavily into the picture.
Saquon Barkley says 2024 Eagles are top-5 team in NFL history | NFL.com
If his many endorsements weren’t a clue, Saquon Barkley is still basking in the glow of a career year that ended in a Super Bowl triumph over the Kansas City Chiefs.
It could be influencing his rationality when judging where his 2024 Philadelphia Eagles rank in football history. Barkley confidently claimed his team was one of the greatest ever assembled in the history of the NFL when speaking with Philadelphia teammates Reed Blankenship and Cooper DeJean on their “Exciting Mics” podcast.
“I firmly believe when you look at our team that we had last year — I know we’re not looking too far into the past — but our team last year, I think we’re a top-five team of all time,” Barkley said in an episode that was published on Thursday. “I tell my boys this all the time. We started off 2-2, and we lost to Washington. Jalen [Hurts] got hurt that game. But if you really look at the season outside the first four games, it was belt to ass. How dominant you guys were on defense and how dominant we were on offense and special teams, people don’t realize how great of a team that actually was.”
Broncos legend reveals fiery blueprint to vanquish Patrick Mahomes | Sports Illustrated
While Justin Herbert of the Los Angeles Chargers and Geno Smith of the Las Vegas Raiders will prove daunting, [former Denver Broncos cornerback Aqib Talib] is certain that Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes is the top target for the Broncos defense to aim for and take down, especially considering the Kansas City Chiefs have won the division the last nine years.
“Nuts got to be on the floor, man. You can’t be scared to play man against him. A lot of teams get scared to play man against him, and that’s when Pat do what he do,” Talib told his former Super Bowl teammate Bennie Fowler. “We’ve got the DBs to play man against him. We’ve got the rush. Blitz the hell out of him. Hit him. Create turnovers, bro. If we don’t come out with two turnovers, we ain’t going to win. Like Chris [Harris Jr] said, we’ve got to leave the game with two personal fouls. [We’ve] got to set the tempo as we’re the big dogs. But we’ve got to play man, we’ve got to blitz him and we’ve got to hit him, bro.”
Travis Kelce apologizes for saying he’ll be ‘miserable’ in Brazil | Men’s Journal
During last week’s episode of the New Heights podcast, which was recorded before the NFL officially even announced the schedule, Kelce made it pretty clear that he was not happy about the prospect of playing in Brazil.
“There’s just something about getting closer to the equator. I don’t want to put on a football uniform doing that. I’ve been in Jacksonville in September and that’s [freaking] miserable,” Kelce said last week.
Kelce suggested that the game was going to be “miserable.”
“I will say this, if it’s humid, I’m gonna be miserable,” he said last week. “… If it’s hot and humid, and it’s kind a what I’m expecting, I’m going to be miserable but we’re going to find a way to get a win.”
During this week’s episode of the New Heights podcast, however, Kelce seemed to change his tune as he expressed his excitement for the game and apologized for his comments the previous week.
“Can’t wait to get down there and see all the Brazil fans and how they get rocking for some American football,” the Chiefs star said. “Sign me up! Don’t get me wrong, I love playing in Arrowhead and I love playing in America, but I’m down for at least one or two international games.”
These 5 Chiefs stories you saw on Facebook aren’t actually true | Kansas City Star
Headline: Chiefs’ first-round pick Josh Simmons agrees to surprisingly low contract
Verdict: Misleading at best.This piece aims to praise Chiefs first-round left tackle Josh Simmons for accepting a “surprisingly low” $14.6 million contract, while saying the amount was “notably modest compared to other first-rounders, such as No. 12 pick Tyler Booker ($22.5 million) or No. 6 pick Ashton Jeanty ($35.8 million).”
About that. The NFL has a predetermined rookie salary scale based on each player’s draft position. So Simmons getting $14.6 million as the 32nd pick is lower than those players earlier in the first round for a good reason: He was drafted later.
A link to this report on Facebook also showed a quote from Simmons: “I don’t play for money; I play to become a Super Bowl champion with the Chiefs.” It’s a great quote … if Simmons had actually said it. However, he hasn’t said that in the two press conferences we’ve been a part of, and I find no evidence online of Simmons uttering that either; it also, strangely, doesn’t appear in the story associated with that quote.
The suspicious utterance still seemed to draw a lot of fans. More than 1,300 people interacted with the post on Facebook, with many praising Simmons for his unselfishness.
Around the NFL
Steelers owner Art Rooney expects Aaron Rodgers decision | CBS Sports
“A little while longer. I’ll say the same thing,” Rooney said this week, per ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler, echoing his previous stance from April 1.
CBS Sports’ Bryan DeArdo explained it’s time for the Steelers to “pull the plug on the Rodgers experiment” this week, suggesting the quarterback’s current value on the field after his inconsistent 2024 season isn’t worth the continued wait and rollercoaster timeline he has provided.
Rodgers biographer Ian O’Connor argues that a Rodgers decision comes before June 10.
“I do think there will be a happy ending, at least for him, and we will find out for the Steelers and their fan base,” O’Connor said recently on The PM Team with Poni & Mueller. “If I had $100 to put down, my feeling is he will be in uniform June 10th for the start of the mandatory minicamp.”
The four-time NFL MVP said in April he spoke with the Steelers on several occasions and has a deep respect for long-time coach Mike Tomlin.
“I’ve been upfront with them,” Rodgers said on “The Pat McAfee Show” at the time earlier this spring. “I’ve said, listen, if you need to move on, by all means… I am trying to be open to everything and not specifically attached to anything… I’m not holding anybody hostage.”
Lions DE Aidan Hutchinson ‘fully cleared’ following 2024 broken leg | NFL.com
Hutchinson was on a Defensive Player of the Year pace before suffering the devastating injury in Week 6. At that stage, the former No. 2 overall pick led the NFL with 7.5 sacks and was tied for fourth with 30 QB pressures, per Next Gen Stats.
After suffering the October injury versus Dallas, there was chatter that Hutchinson could attempt a return if the Lions made the Super Bowl. With Detroit bowing out in the Divisional Round, the idea remains hypothetical.
Hutchinson is in line for a massive extension and isn’t worried about the injury stalling his career. He views it simply as the next hurdle.
“I would say there’s motivation not from getting it taken away but me putting that on tape, and I had a lot of growth in those first five games to where I feel like you evolve as a player, and things were clicking at a high level,” he said. “I had a lot of thoughts at the time that were like, if I’m thinking about a golf swing, you have the good swing thoughts going on. Pass rushing, I had these good pass rush thoughts, good things going on. I feel like that’s just gonna carry over, and I’m going to continue to build on that. I think a lot of people believe that that is kind of my ceiling, but I still believe that I’m going to continue to push for those greater heights. I’m 24. I’m still a young dude. I don’t think that’s the peak. That’s the point.”
Peyton Manning: Jim Irsay turned Indianapolis into football city | NFL.com
Irsay, the team’s owner since 1997, died Wednesday at 65. A day later, appearing on ESPN’s “NFL Live,” Manning recalled the evolution of Indianapolis under Irsay’s stewardship of the franchise.
“When I got there, Indiana basketball, [auto] racing, the Indy 500 — that was it,” Manning said. “I think football was the third sport. Maybe not. Golf might’ve been in there. And all of a sudden, because of the commitment Jim made to winning … he goes out and hires Bill Polian, who had rebuilt the Buffalo Bills, had started the Carolina Panthers as a new franchise, takes them to the NFC Championship [Game], then he drafts Edgerrin James, obviously re-signs Marvin Harrison, who’s already there. And next thing you know, the Colts all of a sudden, ‘Hey, the Colts are beating Miami, they’re beating Buffalo, they’re winning their division. And all of a sudden, hey, the Colts are for real.”
In case you missed it on Arrowhead Pride
Ranking the Chiefs’ best draft picks under GM Brett Veach
1. Cornerback Trent McDuffie
Pick 21, first round of 2022You can argue that Trey Smith and Creed Humphrey were better values, but I’d still take McDuffie over them.
Whether in the slot or outside, McDuffie is one of the league’s best corners. He’s done everything at an All-Pro level, making him a true shutdown cornerback against any player in the league. The Denver Broncos’ Patrick Surtain II is the only other NFL player who can make that claim.
McDuffie’s rare skillset puts him at No. 1.
2. Center Creed Humphrey
Pick 63, second round of 2021Still, taking the NFL’s best center in the second round could push Humphrey to No. 1. Since he was a sixth-round pick, I wouldn’t quibble with Trey Smith at No. 2, either. I just think Humphrey is a higher-caliber player.
After the Super Bowl LV loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Kansas City had to overhaul its entire offensive line. Immediately identifying Humphrey as the man to hold the middle of the revamped line put a big feather in Veach’s cap. Humphrey will be the center for the majority of quarterback Patrick Mahomes’ prime years.
