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USA Today
10-03-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
Lions sign D.J. Reed: Grading Detroit's $48 million new cornerback
Lions sign D.J. Reed: Grading Detroit's $48 million new cornerback Carlton Davis had arguably his best season in coverage in 2024, but that proved to be his lone year as a Detroit Lion. Fortunately, Detroit moved quickly to grab another veteran boundary cornerback in free agency. Less than 30 minutes after Davis signed with the New England Patriots, the Lions came to terms with former New York Jet corner D.J. Reed. At three years and $48 million, he'll make $4 million less in annual average salary than Davis, providing a little financial relief for a team with a roster led by a high-priced quarterback and defensive studs (Brian Branch, Aidan Hutchinson) careening toward expensive extensions. Reed can be an upgrade from Davis. While his 2024 was a mess in all the ways most sloppy Jets seasons are, he still allowed just an 80.4 passer rating when targeted. Opposing wideouts have caught less than 59 percent of targets thrown his way in three of the last four seasons. He doesn't turn 29 until November, which suggests he should be able to play out the two big money years on his partially guaranteed contract at a similar level. Now he'll be the veteran leader atop a depth chart that features 2024 draft picks Terrion Arnold and Ennis Rakestraw. Detroit's -0.12 expected points added (EPA) per pass play allowed gave it the league's fourth-best passing defense, per NFL Pro. Swapping Davis for Reed at a reasonable cost ensures that unit can be just as disruptive in 2025 as it was last fall. Grade: A-
Boston Globe
13-02-2025
- Sport
- Boston Globe
The NFL award winners have been announced, and here's one voter explaining his ballot
Some of my choices were consistent with the majority of voters. Others were quite different. I'll try to explain my thought process. MVP Winner: Bills quarterback Josh Allen My ballot: Allen, Lamar Jackson, Jared Goff, Saquon Barkley, Sam Darnold Tough call between Allen and Jackson, who were 1 and 1A. Jackson had better numbers, but I chose Allen because he also had phenomenal stats, led his team to a better record and higher playoff seed than Jackson, and had far less help on offense, with a new, mostly unproven supporting cast. Get Starting Point A guide through the most important stories of the morning, delivered Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. Enter Email Sign Up The only questionable decision is leaving Joe Burrow, who finished third, off my ballot. Burrow had a huge year stat-wise, and it's not his fault that the Bengals' defense stunk. But I need more than fantasy stats for an MVP. I value winning for this award, and Burrow went 9-8 and missed the playoffs. It's a head-scratcher that Darnold, a big part of the Vikings' 14-3 record with great stats to match, finished 10th in voting. Advertisement Bills quarterback Josh Allen led his team to a better record and higher playoff seed than the Ravens' Lamar Jackson, and had far less help on offense. David J. Phillip/Associated Press Offensive Player of the Year Winner: Eagles running back Saquon Barkley My ballot: Barkley, Ja'Marr Chase, Derrick Henry, Jahmyr Gibbs, Kyren Williams Easy choice, even with Chase, Henry, and others compiling historic seasons. I generally value quarterbacks for MVP, and try to award OPOY to non-QBs. Defensive Player of the Year Winner: Broncos cornerback Patrick Surtain My ballot: T.J. Watt, Andrew Van Ginkel, Trey Hendrickson, Zaire Franklin, Nick Bonitto This was by far the toughest vote, as there was no defender who stood out above the rest. I place the most value on impact plays — sacks, interceptions, forced fumbles, touchdowns, tackles for loss, and passes defended. Then I blend in advanced analytics from NFL Pro (which gives me access to some, but not all, Next Gen Stats), Pro-Football-Reference, and a paid service called OptaStats to make my final choices. The AP doesn't provide stats, so that's what I worked with. Advertisement I landed on Watt, as he finished top 10 in sacks (11.5), led the NFL with six forced fumbles, tied for second with four turnovers caused by his pressure, and is most often the main focus of every offense's game plan. But I don't love the pick, and could have been convinced to vote for Hendrickson, who led the NFL with 17.5 sacks and 46 'quick pressures,' or Van Ginkel, who filled up the stat sheet with 11.5 sacks, two pick-sixes, and a forced fumble. Apparently, I missed the memo on Surtain. Not only did I leave him off my ballot, I was the only voter out of 50 who didn't have him on the All-Pro first team (I put him second team behind Derek Stingley and Denzel Ward, who led the NFL with 19 passes defended). Surtain might be the best cornerback in the NFL, and had a fantastic season, with four interceptions, a pick-six, two touchdowns allowed, 11 passes defended, and a 59.1 passer rating allowed, according to NFL Pro. I probably should have switched Surtain and Ward on the All-Pro ballot. But that is not a résumé that screams DPOY. Only two other cornerbacks have won DPOY since Deion Sanders did in 1994, and it's because they were head and shoulders above everyone else. Charles Woodson in 2009 led the NFL with nine interceptions and three pick-sixes, plus four forced fumbles, 18 passes defended, and two sacks. Stephon Gilmore in 2019 led the NFL with six interceptions and 20 passes defended, and finished second with two pick-sixes. Surtain's résumé doesn't come close to either. Advertisement Surtain locked down a lot of receivers this year, and probably would have compiled even better stats had opponents not shied from him (56 targets ranked 76th in the league, per NFL Pro). But I don't understand why he was such an overwhelming pick, and it feels like it was based more off reputation. I need more than reputation to vote for DPOY — I need cold, hard stats. Sanders in the '90s was also the NFL's best cornerback who was avoided by opposing quarterbacks, yet he only won DPOY once, in a year in which he recorded three pick-sixes. Surtain's teammate, Bonitto, had the better résumé, with 13.5 sacks, two forced fumbles, and two touchdowns. I'm also surprised I had the only ballot to include Franklin, who filled up the stat sheet — he led the NFL with 173 tackles, plus two interceptions, 3.5 sacks, five forced fumbles, and six passes defended. When Ray Lewis won DPOY in 2000, he had 137 tackles, two interceptions, three sacks, and no forced fumbles. Broncos cornerback Patrick Surtain was named Defensive Player of the Year, but was it based on reputation? Adrian Kraus/Associated Press Coach of the Year Winner: Kevin O'Connell, Vikings My ballot: Andy Reid, Dan Campbell, O'Connell, Dan Quinn, Jim Harbaugh So many worthy choices. And O'Connell was outstanding, in resurrecting Darnold's career and in leading the Vikings to a 14-3 record with a journeyman quarterback. But it is a joke that Reid, who has a .730 win percentage, five Super Bowl appearances, and three titles with the Chiefs, has never won Coach of the Year in 12 seasons in Kansas City. Reid will go down as one of the best ever, and could secure the all-time wins record, yet has won the award just once, in 2002 with the Eagles. Advertisement Reid deserved it this year. The Chiefs hardly had the best roster, particularly on offense. Yet they went 11-0 in one-score games, and finished with a league-best 15-2 record (15-1 before they benched everyone in Week 18) and the AFC's No. 1 playoff seed. That's coaching at its finest. Assistant Coach of the Year Winner: Lions offensive coordinator Ben Johnson My ballot: Joe Brady, Johnson, Brian Flores, Steve Spagnuolo, Arthur Smith Johnson is a worthy choice, guiding the Lions to the No. 1 scoring offense. But I was more impressed with Brady, who in his first full year as offensive coordinator helped Josh Allen cut his interceptions from 18 to six, while leading the Bills to the second-most points in the Allen era (30.9 per game). Offensive Rookie of the Year Winner: Commanders quarterback Jayden Daniels My ballot: Daniels, Brian Thomas, Brock Bowers, Bo Nix, Bucky Irving The easiest vote on the ballot. Defensive Rookie of the Year Winner: Rams defensive end/outside linebacker Jared Verse My ballot: Calen Bullock, Verse, Braden Fiske, Edgerrin Cooper, Mike Sainristil I got a lot of flak for being the only person to vote for Bullock, who finished eighth. My question would be, what were the other voters watching? Bullock, the Texans' third-round safety out of Southern Cal, was outstanding. He led all rookies, and finished sixth in the NFL, with five interceptions. According to NFL Pro, Bullock allowed an opponent's passer rating of 39.7 — 11 catches on 28 targets for 139 yards and two touchdowns allowed. He played in 17 games and started 13. He made a play on the ball on 39.3 percent of targets, the highest rate of any player with 150 coverage snaps (Bullock had 577). And the analytics loved Bullock — he finished third among qualifying defensive backs with a minus-18.6 'completion rate over expected,' and eighth with a minus-21.8 in 'Coverage Expected Points Added.' Advertisement Verse had a terrific season, and I voted him second. He finished seventh in pressure rate (16.8 percent) and 'quick pressures' (27), and tied for second with four turnovers off pressure. But pressure can be a little overrated without context — did it result in a sack or turnover, or was the pass still completed? — and Verse's 4.5 sacks were a little light in my view. Voters appeared to miss the boat on Texans safety Calen Bullock. Ashely Landis/Associated Press Comeback Player of the Year Winner: Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow My ballot: Sam Darnold, Burrow, Damar Hamlin, Christian Gonzalez, Kyler Murray After Joe Flacco beat out Hamlin last year, the AP tried to clarify that this award is meant 'to honor a player who has demonstrated resilience in the face of adversity by overcoming illness, physical injury or other circumstances that led him to miss playing time the previous season.' That last part, 'other circumstances,' is impossibly vague. And the AP later confirmed that it wouldn't reject votes for Darnold or similar players. So I was one of eight to vote for Darnold, who was one of the best stories of the season. I heard this criticism a lot: What did Darnold come back from, stinking? Yes, that's right. He came back from stinking — 'other circumstances,' in my view. He was a forgotten man entering 2024, and had an awesome season. What did Burrow come back from — Ben Volin can be reached at
USA Today
07-02-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
2025 NFL Pro Football Hall of Fame inductees include Jared Allen, Antonio Gates
This year's NFL Pro Football Hall of Fame class only featured four former players, a bit of a surprise considering how big last year's class was. However, these four players are icons in the game, from one of the best tight ends to ever play the game to one of the most ferocious pass-rushers ever to sack opposing quarterbacks. The honorees were unveiled during Thursday night's NFL Honors ceremony in New Orleans. While there were no quarterbacks inducted in this year's class, these four players were very deserving to have themselves enshrined in Canton among the game's best talents. Let's look at this year's Pro Football Hall of Fame class and recall last year's class while we're at it, too.
