I wrote my first Substack article! Inspired by @dannyheifetz.bsky.social (and his incorrect recollection of Mario Kart colors), but also why looking at DVOA is super cool and will help you win fantasy football. Enjoy! substack.com/@mikescmike/...

Teams starting 0-2 miss the playoffs 89% of the time. This year that includes Chiefs Dolphins Jets Texans Titans Browns Giants Bears Saints Panthers

NFL rule change for 2025! (#2) Onside kicks can happen at any time when a team is losing. Last season they were limited to the 4th quarter. They still have to be declared (boo!) but the kicking team can now stand a little further forward on the 35 yd line (about a yard closer than previously).

NFL rule change for 2025! Regular season OT: Now BOTH teams have a chance to score in overtime. Previously OT ended if the first team with possession scored a TD. This mirrors the change that was made to playoff OT last year, so now all OT allow both teams to have the ball.

LRZ has left the #NFL to resume his rugby career! He has 55 days until domestic rugby starts up again and is looking to get ready for the new season. The dream is over.

Got an email the other day from NFL UK & IRE saying there's still plenty of tickets available for the UK games. Not surprised given the increased cost this year! The near 100% price hike is absolutely appalling. I hope the empty seats serve as a lesson to the money grabbers, but I know it won't.

Aaron Rodgers goes to the Steelers! (Finally!) It's a win-win for the Steelers. If he's good. That's a win. If he's bad, the Steelers have 12 picks in next year's draft (I think the most of any team), and a high first could see them amass a pick package to make a move on a promising rookie QB.

It's official! NFL players can be part of flag football teams at the 2028 Olympics. Feels like the US just locked up the first gold of the games 3 years in advance!

That's really going to skew the average!

The more I think about Derek Carr retiring, the less I understand it, monetarily in 2025. Carr stays = paid $40M guaranteed. Carr cut (post June 1st) = paid $20M Carr "retires" = paid $10M. If injured why not stay and get paid $30M extra to rehab. If he wants out, get cut for $10M more. 🤔🤔🤔

The UK & IRE opponents are in! Croke Park: VIKINGS Vs Steelers Spurs: VIKINGS Vs Browns Spurs: BRONCOS Vs Jets Wembley: RAMS Vs Jaguars Minnesota are the first team to do back-to-back international away games! Pack 2 weeks worth of underwear guys!!!

Better news for LRZ with regards to the Jags WR depth chart!

The Steelers trade away WR George Pickens to the Dallas Cowboys. I think we can all agree that this needed to happen if the Steelers have any hope of getting Rodgers into the building. Rodgers and Pickens would have collided and formed a neutron star, destroying all life.

If you see an article saying LRZ's status at the Jags has changed, don't panic and don't bother reading it. The Jags just went to 91 players on their off-season squad by bringing in 2 new players. The limit is 90 so they activated the status LRZ has as an IPP player which allows them to have 91.

Over $1M in very avoidable fines. Or less than 1% of a Kirk Cousins contract.

🚨🚨UK&IRE SIGNING ALERT!🚨🚨 Dante Barnett has been signed by the Bengals! The 280lb Defensive Tackle from Birmingham ran a 4.6 second 40 yard dash in testing! Good luck and we hope you have the roster later this summer! Congratulations Dante! 🎉

🚨🚨UK&IRE SIGNING ALERT!🚨🚨 Mapalo "Maz" Mwansa has signed with the Panthers! The 20 year old grew up in Peterborough, and was studying at Loughborough Uni before joining the #NFL IPP. All eyes on Carolina this summer to see if he can make the roster! Congratulations Maz! 🎉

The Browns signing Diontae Johnson feels very "on brand"

From the Falcons:

Draft day 3 started 5 hours ago!

If the Browns had selected Sanders at pick #5 he'd have got a 4 year, $40.8M contract. At pick 144 he gets a $4.6M contract. Good business by the Browns. Still better than a slap in the face for Sanders.

Kenny Pickett Joe Flacco Dillon Gabriel Shedeur Sanders Deshaun Watson Maybe they'll play multiple QBs at once. Imagine the laterals!!

@dannybkelly.bsky.social @craighorlbeck.bsky.social @dannyheifetz.bsky.social JACK SAWYER!!! THE HERO!!! A STEELER!!!

Rounds 4-7 start at 5pm (BST) today. Much more civilised! Remember the key names 👇 🇨🇮🇬🇧

QB Tyler Shough (pronounced Shuck) gets drafted at pick 40 to the Saints. The 25 year old QB spent 12 years in college, completing 19 Bachelor's Degrees. He was born in 1962 and is a veteran of World War 1. He old.

I'm not saying that the fall of Sanders has anything to do with the media circus that follows him. To be clear, I'm not saying that.

Round 2 starts at 12am BST 😴 Recap tomorrow. UK/Ireland names to watch for: 🤞 Mapalo "Maz" Mwansa Dante Barnett Aaron Sexton

Anyone else see a draft pick of someone other than QB/WR/RB/TE and just think: "BOOOOO! I WANT MORE RUNNY CATCHY!"

In case you were wondering, no UK/IRE players drafted... ...yet.

Teams that traded away 2026 first round draft picks. 1. Jags (to Browns) to get WR/DB Travis Hunter 2. Falcons (to Rams) to get Linebacker James Pierce Jr The Falcons had already taken Linebacker Jalon Walker 11 picks earlier. Anyone else getting Cousins/Penix flashbacks?

The exact details of the Hunter trade. Jags got Pick 2 (Hunter) Pick 104 (4th rd) Pick 200 (6th rd) Browns got Pick 5 (DT Mason Graham) Pick 36 (2nd rd) Pick 126 (4th rd) The Jags' 2026 1st Rd Pick

Fantasy relevant picks (PT 4 - Final): 23. WR Matthew Golden - Green Bay. First time in over 20 years GB have taken a first round WR 😲 (GM Josh Jacobs FTW) 25. Giants trade up for QB Jaxson Dart!! Needs to sit, but high end outcome is a better Lamar Jackson! If the coaches can stay that long!

Fantasy relevant thoughts (PT 3): 19: WR Emeka Egbuka - Bucs, great player, but how does he slot in (pun intended) with Evans, Godwin (who's projected to be ready for the season) and McMillan?? 22. RB Omarion Hampton - Chargers. LA just traded for Najee Harris, so is Hampton the back up 🤔

Fantasy relevant thoughts (pt2): 10. TE Colston Loveland - Bears, surprised they went for Brock Bowers Lite when they have a good pass catching TE in Cole Kmet 14: TE Tyler Warren - Colts, the other Brock Bowers Lite TE, they needed an easy button for Richardson, this is it! 🔥

Fantasy relevant thoughts (pt1): 1: QB Cam Ward - Titans, meh 2: WR/DB Travis Hunter - Jags, interesting, shame there's already a great WR1 in situ 6: RB Ashton Jeanty - Raiders, incredible RB Vs worst run blocking o-line in the league 😬 8: WR Tetairoa McMillan - Panthers, 🔥

Bad news for LRZ part 1: The Jags draft Travis Hunter. Bad news for LRZ part 2: Hunter was announced as "Wide Receiver, Defensive Back" It's telling which position was announced first.

Probably not going to stay up, despite 2 people showing interest (you 2 are now my favourites, fyi) But if you want to get awesome blow by blow live commentary @robertmays.bsky.social is excellent and is live on YT throughout www.youtube.com/live/36YzRJX...

The NFL Draft 1st Round starts at 01:00am Friday BST. I'm trying to decide if there'll be an audience awake at that time. Give this message a like if you're planning to stay up and want blow by blow commentary here on Bluesky. ❤️👇

If you only listen to one podcast before the draft this week. Make it this one. Go on. I'll wait.

Sales of Bob Rotella books are going to go up 1000% this morning.

In case you need help pronouncing Tyler Shough's surname, here's a little rhyme to aid you: "How much wood could a Tyler Shough chough if Tyler Shough could chough wood?"

Pat McAfee is live in Pittsburgh today. All eyes are on this to see if Aaron Rodgers makes an announcement about his career. Maybe if we all ignore him. He'll stop. Like a toddler. Don't reward this behaviour with attention.

I guess you could say he's all on his....

RIP Iceman. 😎

We're in the depths of the off season now. The owners have been discussing proposed new rules/rule changes. Some highlights: More camera usage, on reviews and first downs. Touchbacks to go to the 35 yd line. Tush push legality is still under review. Less than 4 weeks til the draft!

Stefon Diggs signs to the Patriots with a seemingly very large 3 year contract for a 31 year old, coming off an ACL injury with questionable locker room presence. But the guaranteed money is relatively low and you feel like Mike Vrabel won't take any crap. So probably good 🤷‍♂️

The Giants sign Russell Wilson. Wilson. Winston. DeVito. I maintain my QB memes only theory.

(5/5) The Jags 🐆 play Wembley again in 2025. But who would you like to see LRZ score a TD against from their designated non-division opponents? (There's some gooduns!) Chiefs 🏹 Chargers ⚡ Rams 🐏 Seahawks 🦅 Jets ✈️ Panthers 🐾 What do you reckon? 👇

(4/5) The Jets ✈️ also play at Tottenham, who do you want to see Justin Fields saunter past from these potential opponents? Browns 🟤 (saves on air miles!) Steelers ✨ (already in Ireland) Falcons 🪶 Panthers 🐾 Broncos 🐴 Cowboys 🤠 Opinions welcome 👇

(3/5) Browns 🟤 play at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. But which of these teams would you like to see Kenny Pickett throw against? (Excluding Divisional opponents) Bills 🦬 Dolphins 🐬 Packers 🧀 Titans 💪 Vikings 😈 49ers ⛏️ 👇Sound off!