Posts by @Mason Thompson

Many had the Chargers pegged for a long route to the postseason and potentially the Super Bowl. I for one had them ranked third overall in my preseason power rankings behind only the Patriots and Saints. The team had plenty of drama before the regular-season opener as Melvin Gordon was holding out for a new contract. Gordon would eventually end his holdout before week four. Superstar safety, Derwin James missed a significant amount of time with a foot injury suffered in mid-August. James would return by week 11, but it was too little too late.

The Carolina Panthers were poised to make a deep playoff run in the 2019 season. Cam Newton finally seemed to be fully healthy and with a supporting cast consisting of Christian McCaffrey, D.J. Moore, Curtis Samuel, and the returning Greg Olsen, the offense had a ton of potential. Luke Kuechly finally seemed to have some help on defense with the drafting of Brian Burns and the signing of Gerald McCoy.

The Bengals were the ultimate wild card in a changing AFC North during the offseason. While Cleveland had all of the media talking about them, Pittsburgh was without two of their star offensive playmakers, and Baltimore lost key starters on defense, Cincinnati was the ultimate dark horse in the division. That was before the injuries ended Jonah Williams and A.J. Green’s season before they started. The Cincinnati Bengals were a complete disaster going 2-14, including an 0-11 start.

Everyone knew that the Dolphins weren’t going to be competitive during the 2019 season. The team was set to “tank” for Tua Tagovailoa. The team started 0-7, sending off key players such as Laremy Tunsil, Kenny Stills, Kenyan Drake, and Minkah Fitzpatrick for draft picks. During this stretch, the team was switching between Ryan Fitzpatrick and Josh Rosen as the starting quarterback. Once they turned and stood pat with Fitzpatrick, the team found success, resulting in a 5-4 finish and an overall record of 5-11.

It’s early April of 2018, a few weeks before the NFL draft. Analysts are going back and forth between who the Browns should take with the first overall pick. Mocks have the Browns taking Sam Darnold, Josh Allen, Josh Rosen, and Baker Mayfield. Darnold and Rosen are the first two on most boards. With Baker having “character” concerns, Allen having severe accuracy problems, and Lamar Jackson haters aplenty, Darnold and Rosen seemed like the two safest bets at the quarterback position.