NHL Best Bets for Tuesday (11/19)
Kenneth Le
The preseason is over, teams have cut their rosters down to 53 and the NFL season is officially on the horizon. Teams have had months to build out their roster and make the improvements they needed to be competitive for the 2023 season.
This article is a callback to early in the offseason when each team’s offensive needs were identified ahead of free agency and the NFL draft and how well each team attacked those needs.
Baltimore Ravens
Pre-Offseason Need: A legitimate option at wide receiver
It is hard to say whether the Baltimore Ravens got a legitimate wide receiver this offseason, but it certainly wasn’t due to a lack of effort. Baltimore added Odell Beckham with a $15 million contract in free agency and also used their 2023 first-round pick on Boston College’s Zay Flowers. These two will be added to established, oft-injured veteran Rashod Bateman. This unit is certainly upgraded from last year’s leading receivers Demarcus Robinson and Devin Duvernay, so in that way, Baltimore improved. However, time will tell if any of these options can emerge as an alpha wide receiver in Baltimore’s new offense.
Buffalo Bills
Pre-Offseason Need: A running back who can handle early down work
The Buffalo Bills moved on from Devin Singletary this offseason and replaced him with a combination of Damien Harris and Latavius Murray to serve as their early down hammers. The early expectation is that James Cook will have an opportunity to earn the lead role in this offense, but time will tell considering he’s averaged fewer than 10 touches per game in every season since he was in high school. If the final preseason game was any indication, Harris should have a defined role in this offense and will serve as the goal line back for this time. How Buffalo decides to split the other carries is a bit more ambiguous at this time.
Cincinnati Bengals
Pre-Offseason Need: Solidify tight end
The Bengals got a successful season from Hayden Hurst during 2022 (52 receptions for 414 yards and two touchdowns) but opted to let the veteran tight end walk in free agency. Cincinnati seemed poised to add to their team from a deep tight end class, but instead went with the cheap veteran route again, signing free agent Irv Smith. The veteran tight end never found his footing in Minnesota’s passing attack due to injury issues and is coming off a season that saw him produce career lows in receptions (25), receiving yards (182) and receiving touchdowns (2). Cincinnati will undoubtedly hope he can find a career resurgence in their offense.
Cleveland Browns
Pre-Offseason Need: Add wide receiver help
Cleveland avoided making a huge splash at wide receiver but added very solid complementary pieces to their passing attack to hopefully help Deshaun Watson return to his status as a top-five quarterback in the NFL. First, the Browns added Elijah Moore in a trade with the New York Jets. Moore had a strong rookie season with the Jets before regressing in 2022 (37 receptions for 446 yards and a touchdown) while feuding with the coaching staff. He will be used all over the field with Cleveland and adds an explosive element to the offense out of the slot. Cleveland also used a third-round pick on Tennessee’s Cedric Tillman. The rookie struggled with injuries during the 2022 season but was exceptional in 2021 (64 receptions for 1,081 yards and 12 touchdowns). He won’t see a huge role without injuries ahead of him on the depth chart, but he certainly adds more depth to the receiving corps.
Denver Broncos
Pre-Offseason Need: Running back help
The Broncos jettisoned most of the running backs who took snaps for them during the 2022 season, a hodgepodge group of veterans that included Latavius Murray, Mike Boone, Marlon Mack and Chase Edmonds. That left Javonte Williams and his surgically repaired knee as the only player in the backfield heading into the offseason. The Broncos didn’t aggressively target the backfield in free agency but did add a solid veteran option in Samaje Perine. Perine is coming off one of his best NFL seasons with Cincinnati (95 carries for 394 yards and two rushing touchdowns with 38 receptions on 51 targets for 287 yards and four receiving touchdowns) and will factor in heavily to start the season while Williams returns to full strength. He will be a consistent presence in the backfield for Denver as a receiving back.
Houston Texans
Pre-Offseason Need: Draft the quarterback of the future
A Week 18 win against the Indianapolis Colts pushed the Texans into the second overall pick in the 2023 NFL draft. Thankfully, that put them in a prime position to add one of the rookie quarterbacks in a strong draft class. Despite consistent rumors throughout the offseason that Houston wouldn’t target a rookie signal caller, the Texans selected Ohio State’s C.J. Stroud with the second overall pick. In two seasons as the starter for the Buckeyes, Stroud completed 69.3% of his passes for 8,123 yards and 85 touchdowns and just 12 interceptions. Houston named him the starter for the first week of the NFL season and has seemingly checked the biggest box they had heading into the offseason.
Indianapolis Colts
Pre-Offseason Need: Find a quarterback with staying power
Indianapolis has tried a rotating cast of veteran quarterbacks since Andrew Luck’s abrupt retirement before the 2019 season. Indianapolis struggled with Jacoby Brissett in 2022 before turning to one-year veterans in Philip Rivers, Carson Wentz and Matt Ryan. That led to the team bottoming out in 2022 and putting them in a prime position to add a quarterback with the fourth overall pick in the 2023 NFL Draft. The Colts capitalized by gambling on the ridiculous upside of Florida’s Anthony Richardson. The rookie started just one season in college and produced modest passing statistics (54.7% completion with 2,549 yards and 17 touchdowns with nine interceptions) and strong mobility (161 carries for 1,116 yards and 12 touchdowns in his career). Richardson emerged as a top quarterback thanks to a ridiculous combine that saw him blaze a 4.43 40-yard dash at 6-foot-4 and 244 pounds. Time will tell if Indianapolis can develop him into an NFL-level quarterback, but at the very least they fulfilled the goal of finding a quarterback to be the face of the franchise for the near future.
Jacksonville Jaguars
Pre-Offseason Need: Solidify tight end
The Jaguars went into the offseason with a glaring need at tight end thanks to the pending free agency of 2022 starter Evan Engram. Jacksonville elected to franchise tag Engram before eventually signing him to a three-year extension, solidifying the position for the near future. They also took tight end Brenton Strange in the second round of the 2023 NFL Draft to provide depth and a developmental prospect at the position. Strange profiles as more of a blocker than a receiving weapon, but he still fulfilled a major need heading into the offseason. These moves should help Jacksonville remain one of the ascending offenses in the NFL heading into next season.
Kansas City Chiefs
Pre-Offseason Need: Bolster the wide receiver room
The Chiefs didn’t make any major waves in their receiver corps this offseason, opting to roll into 2023 with returning contributors Marquez Valdes-Scantling, Kadarius Toney, Skyy Moore and Justin Watson. However, Kansas City did try to upgrade where they could. They added a solid veteran in Richie James after a 2022 season with the Giants that saw him catch 57 passes for 569 yards and four touchdowns. The team also used a second-round pick on SMU’s Rashee Rice, who just completed a prolific college season where he caught 96 passes for 1,355 yards and 10 touchdowns. The Chiefs didn’t add a significant player to the receiver room, but with Patrick Mahomes under center, it is hard to blame them. They’ll choose to hope for development from their returning players instead.
Las Vegas Raiders
Pre-Offseason Need: Find a new quarterback
The Raiders needed to find a quarterback desperately after deciding to move on from veteran Derek Carr this offseason. Vegas added Jimmy Garoppolo during free agency after another solid but injury-filled season with the San Francisco 49ers. Garoppolo completed 67.2% of his passes for 2,437 yards and 16 touchdowns and four interceptions before a broken foot ended his campaign. The team may have also discovered a diamond in the rough in the NFL draft in former Purdue Boilermaker Aidan O’Connell. The 2023 fourth-round pick completed 71% of his preseason passes for 462 yards and three touchdowns and earned a spot on the roster. Should things go south for Garoppolo, there is a very realistic chance we see the rookie get some game action this season.
Los Angeles Chargers
Pre-Offseason Need: A deep threat in the passing attack
The Chargers desperately needed a wide receiver who could take the top off a defense. Instead, they used a first-round pick on TCU’s Quentin Johnston, a contested catch specialist who flashed significant yards-after-catch ability during his career with the Horned Frogs. It was expected that he would show above-average speed, but he ran just a 4.57 40-yard dash at the NFL combine in the winter. The Chargers did invest an additional draft pick on Johnston’s teammate Derius Davis, a diminutive receiver with the kind of speed (4.36 40-yard dash) to keep teams honest. Davis profiles as more of a return specialist at this point in his career, so the Chargers will be rolling with a big but slow receiver corps once again in 2023.
Miami Dolphins
Pre-Offseason Need: Find a workhorse running back
The Dolphins were linked to plenty of workhorse running backs this offseason, working to sign Dalvin Cook or trying to trade for Jonathan Taylor. Ultimately, both of these attempts fell flat, leaving the Dolphins with a backfield featuring Raheem Mostert (181 carries for 891 yards and three touchdowns), Jeff Wilson (176 carries for 860 yards and five touchdowns with the 49ers and Dolphins) and rookie De’Von Achane (196 carries for 1,102 yards and eight touchdowns with Texas A&M in 2022). Wilson will start the year on injured reserve, but expect a split backfield between all three options throughout the season. This team may remain in the Jonathan Taylor sweepstakes through the trade deadline, so this need could still be filled.
New England Patriots
Pre-Offseason Need: Hire a real offensive coordinator
The Patriots had needs on offense, but their biggest need was getting a real NFL offensive coordinator to call plays after the failed Matt Patricia experience in 2022. New England met that goal by bringing back Bill O’Brien after a successful stint with the Alabama Crimson Tide in college. Many will remember the unfortunate end of his coaching tenure with the Houston Texans, but Alabama’s offense produced the number one overall pick in 2023 and scored 33.7 points per game while averaging 477.1 yards per game. Simply hiring O’Brien should provide a significant upgrade across the board for the Patriots next season.
New York Jets
Pre-Offseason Need: Find a quarterback who can win now
The Jets would have been a playoff team if they had gotten above-average quarterback play from the trio of Zach Wilson, Joe Flacco and Mike White last season. That led the team to work this offseason to acquire a quarterback who could take full advantage of one of the best defenses in the NFL and offensive weapons like Garrett Wilson and Breece Hall. Enter Aaron Rodgers. The veteran quarterback is coming off a poor season by his standards (3,695 yards and 26 touchdowns with 12 interceptions) but had won back-to-back MVP awards in 2020 and 2021. There is a gamble hoping a 39-year-old quarterback can stay healthy, but if he does the Jets will be a formidable team in the AFC in 2023.
Pittsburgh Steelers
Pre-Offseason Need: Upgrade the offensive line
Pittsburgh’s offense collectively struggled in 2022 and one of the main reasons was a porous offensive line. The Steelers addressed those issues aggressively this offseason, signing former Philadelphia Eagle Isaac Seumalo to play guard and moving up in the NFL draft to select Broderick Jones in the first round. Both players will upgrade the unit and allow Kenny Pickett to develop and fully utilize the array of weapons at his disposal in 2023. This offense could be one of the most improved in the league next season.
Tennessee Titans
Pre-Offseason Need: Keep adding NFL-level wide receivers
Everyone hopes Treylon Burks will take a significant jump in his second season. However, this team needed a massive infusion of talent at the wide receiver position after trotting out a corps that included Robert Woods and Nick Ikhine-Westbrook for most of the 2022 season. The Titans attacked the wide receiver position by adding DeAndre Hopkins once he hit the open market after his release from the Arizona Cardinals. Hopkins isn’t in his prime any longer, but he proved that he can still be extremely effective out wide last season, catching 64 of 96 targets for 717 yards and three touchdowns in a bad offense last season. Hopkins should pull coverage and help Burks out on the perimeter, making this a more formidable passing attack than it was four months ago.
