We\u2019ve passed the midpoint of preseason. The regular season is drawing near. It\u2019s starting to feel like we know so much about each team \u2026 and at the same time, we know absolutely nothing. Who\u2019s going to win the NFC North? How about the NFC West? Are the Patriots going to be kings of the AFC East \u2014 or will it be the Bills? The Ravens and Eagles are really back, aren\u2019t they?\u00a0Aren\u2019t\u00a0they?! Can the Bengals finally \u2026 not get in their own way? Let\u2019s make sense of the league and the never-ending news cycle. This is Sound Smart, where I try to spin forward, dive deeper, think outside the box and read between the lines. The Philadelphia Eagles would\u2019ve seen a flag on just about every play during their joint practices with the New England Patriots last week. Philly had as many as 13 men in the huddle. On purpose. On every play, receiver DeVonta Smith would stroll into the huddle (not wearing a helmet) and listen to the play call. Then he\u2019d stand back with the backup quarterbacks to watch the play unfold. Smith, who is dealing with a hamstring injury, is getting every mental rep he can. “[It\u2019s] helping my process every play \u2014 hearing a play call, hearing the words coming out of Jay\u2019s [Jalen Hurts] mouth, and just overall \u2026 what I’m thinking of, what I see, and things like that,” Smith said Wednesday. It would\u2019ve been hard enough to get promoted from WR2 to WR1 in the wake of the A.J. Brown trade. But Smith also has to learn a new offense under freshly-hired OC Sean Mannion \u2014 without taking many reps in the month of August. So that makes it all the more important to hear every play. It\u2019s a new language. And given how much the Eagles will be counting on Smith, he has to make up for lost time. And then there\u2019s the other extra guy who was in the huddle \u2014 admittedly less frequently. That was rookie receiver Makai Lemon, who is also nursing a hamstring injury. It\u2019s a similar story. It\u2019s hard enough to be a rookie, with the added pressure of being a first-rounder. But he is expected to contribute immediately as the team\u2019s WR2. There are even more layers of complication for the newbie. “It’s a challenge because he’s not out there getting the actual reps,” Hurts said of Lemon last week. “But just being intentional with the walkthroughs, being intentional with the moments we have off the field and after practice.” For some teams, it can feel like training camp is dragging on forever. I\u2019m not sure it\u2019ll feel like that for the Eagles. It must feel more like they\u2019re up against the clock, even with a few weeks until the first regular-season game against the Washington Commanders. The one advantage that the Eagles have is that \u2014 even without their top receivers in the lineup \u2014 their quarterback has been through this. Hurts has had a new offensive coordinator in all but one of his seven seasons in Philly. “I don\u2019t know it any other way,” he said. The other advantage is that the Eagles have three-time Pro Bowl running back Saquon Barkley. He seems to be this offense\u2019s identity \u2014 it starts with him. He\u2019ll have a major role in the running game and passing game. And even though the Eagles\u2019 passing attack struggled mightily with inefficiency and turnovers against the Patriots, Barkley didn\u2019t have issues finding room to run. The more you listen to the way Barkley talks about Mannion, the more you can hear his confidence in this new system. “When you talk to the coaches, everybody keeps mentioning it. [It\u2019s] the work that he’s putting in,” Barkley said of the new OC. “I don’t think there’s really anybody that can beat him into the building. I think he’s still the last one to leave the building. I think that’s pretty cool when you have a guy that\u2019s that bought in.” I have a ruling on the Dexter Lawrence trade. I saw him intercept Bears QB Caleb Williams in joint practices \u2014 and I\u2019ve seen enough. It\u2019s a win for the Bengals. OK, I\u2019m sort of kidding. But if you remember,\u00a0I was a fan of the trade when the Bengals got the two-time All-Pro defensive tackle from the New York Giants in April. So now that Lawrence is proving to be a game-wrecker for Cincinnati, I will begin my first victory lap. The Bengals traded the 10th overall pick in a package that got them Lawrence. On the clock at No. 10, the Giants took tackle Francis Mauigoa. The players available included safety Caleb Downs and edge Rueben Bain, among others. They\u2019re good players. They\u2019re not likely to be as impactful as Lawrence in 2026. And that\u2019s what really matters to the Bengals. Because QB Joe Burrow is tired of losing. He\u2019s thinking about the Super Bowl. This year. “You know, I’m tired of saying, ‘Next year, next year, next year.’ This is it,” Burrow told reporters. “Life is too short to keep pushing things down the road, and I’m trying to instill some urgency and some intensity in everybody to go and be great every day and try to go make it happen.” Lawrence is helping carry out that vision. The Bengals need to keep investing in that vision. Fernando Mendoza\u2019s second preseason game left me wanting more \u2014 not always in a good way. Before we dive in, I want to rewind to his first outing against the Arizona Cardinals. In that game, Mendoza looked \u2026 solid. Nothing exceptionally good or bad. But it was a performance he needed to build on, if he was going to put additional pressure on presumed starter Kirk Cousins. Because, to be clear, Mendoza looks solid on the whole. If the Raiders wanted to play him, they could. And he\u2019d struggle and learn on the job. But that\u2019s not what they want. They want him to be better than Cousins before he plays. And that\u2019s just not where Mendoza is at \u2014 yet. In the first preseason game, he put together a nice drive, which included a chunk play to Malik Benson and an anticipation throw (which seemed to demonstrate pre-snap confidence in reading the defense) in the red zone for a 6-yard touchdown to receiver Jack Bech. Those were plays where Mendoza’s timing was ideal. But there were others when he was late to throw \u2014 when he waited too long and missed his window. That made perfect sense. He has taken more than twice as many snaps under center in just these two preseason games (13) than he did in his entire season at Indiana (6). This will take time. So back to his second preseason outing. You probably know by now that he threw an interception, which the Texans returned for a touchdown. It was a rookie mistake, with Mendoza looking off a throw that he could make and turning to the wrong checkdown at the wrong moment \u2014 too late. It\u2019s a play he needs to throw away. Mendoza, again, looked a beat late on several plays. And then there was the stuff beyond his control. He took a sack that wasn\u2019t his fault, with pressure coming up the middle instantaneously. He took pressure much quicker than expected on a screen pass, which ruined the timing of the play, which could have gone for 50 yards \u2014 but ended up with nine. I still like Mendoza. I still think he\u2019ll start at some point this season. And while the Raiders would love for him to show progress (which he has!), they also have made it clear they\u2019d prefer to keep him on the bench for as long as possible. His interception was the perfect excuse to do just that. He can make these rookie mistakes in practice, where he can do them behind closed doors \u2014 and without external scrutiny. If that\u2019s what they really want, that\u2019s what they can now do. Eli Manning famously rejected the San Diego Chargers leading into the 2004 NFL Draft. Peyton Manning famously returned to Tennessee and college football rather than land with Bill Parcells’ Jets in 1997. Would their nephew, Texas QB Arch Manning, do something similar ahead of the 2027 NFL Draft? There are a few strong candidates to lock up the No. 1 overall pick in 2027. The Jets and Cardinals make sense. But after the Cleveland Browns named Deshaun Watson as QB1, no other team is in a better position to get the top pick. Cleveland’s quarterback situation would be considered untenable for any other organization. The Browns have a plan, which is that they\u2019ll explore Watson (and probably QB Shedeur Sanders, too) in 2026 and likely draft their next franchise QB in the upcoming class, which is supposed to boast several elite prospects. It\u2019s actually not that bad of a plan. Objectively, no one wants to play Watson. Sanders has yet to live up to his “LEGENDARY” brand name. But if there was any season to tank, this would be it, with a swath of outstanding QB prospects eligible for next year\u2019s draft. Unless \u2026 well, the plan could backfire. If the Browns pick at No. 1, then it\u2019s possible that a handful of the elite prospects won\u2019t want to land in Cleveland. And if one guy stays in school, that could lead others to follow suit. The biggest flight risk might be the top projected prospect, Manning. He might be the highest-profile prospect since Peyton. “I\u2019ve spent a lot of time with Archie [Manning] and [Arch\u2019s dad] Cooper [Manning],”\u00a0draft analyst Todd McShay said on the “Brandon Walker College Football Show.” “I\u2019ve spent a lot of time in\u00a0Thibodaux, Louisiana, talking to the Manning family. The 2027 draft is not \u2014 by any stretch \u2014 a guarantee that Arch is going to be in it.” Oregon Ducks QB Donte Moore, in play to be the No. 1 prospect, is only a redshirt junior. Same with South Carolina QB LaNorris Sellers, who could play his way into first-overall contention. The good news is that there are others: Notre Dame\u2019s C.J. Carr, Ohio Sate\u2019s Julian Sayin and USC\u2019s Jayden Maiava. The Browns should end up with a good QB if they\u2019re picking at No. 1. But it\u2019s worth considering whether they might repel the best of the best. If Manning stays in school, he’ll see the Jets, Cardinals and Browns draft QBs in Round 1. So that means avoiding some of the historically awful franchises for a QB. It’s a long way away. But it already makes sense. The good news for Stroud is that he entered the NFL as a serviceable quarterback. The bad news for Stroud is that, in 2026, he\u2019s roughly as serviceable. As the Texans and Stroud begin negotiations on what the QB is worth, they are apparently not particularly close,\u00a0per ESPN\u2019s Adam Schefter. And I can imagine why. Stroud is the same guy who gave Caleb Williams advice after a game, with the Texans QB speaking down to Williams, like Stroud had years of NFL experience \u2014 like he was an accomplished vet. The moment lacked self-awareness. And now Stroud probably wants to get paid like an accomplished vet. Maybe those demands, again, lack self-awareness. In all likelihood, the Texans will have to pay Stroud. But not before making him prove himself \u2014 and get that nasty taste of the team\u2019s last playoff run out of the Texans\u2019 mouths. 1. I think I\u2019m worried about Titans QB Cam Ward again. Last week, I felt like I was being a little melodramatic about Ward\u2019s calamitous first preseason outing. Because it\u2019s only preseason, right? But yet again this week, Ward looked like one of the worst QB1s who played. Last week\u2019s excuse was that the sample size was too small. But that sample is getting bigger and nothing has changed. I\u2019m still worried. 2. I think this throw from Rams QB Stetson Bennett was utter nonsense. How did he do it? 3. I think a few rookie receivers are coming back down to earth. There were a few names during the early weeks of training camp who seemed to be the next Randy Moss: Chiefs receiver Cyrus Allen, Browns receiver Denzel Boston, Saints receiver Jordyn Tyson. Allen literally seemed like the second coming of Tyreek Hill \u2014 but then he was WR5 in the preseason game this weekend, going in after Tyquan Thornton and Jaylen Royals. Boston had all the hype before the team got into pads, but I\u2019ve seen his name fade since then. And Tyson, who was a human highlight reel at Saints camp, suffered a serious hamstring injury that\u2019s going to mean he misses some time. 4. I think a few rookie receivers are\u00a0not coming back down to earth. All you fantasy folks out there, keep an eye out for receivers Ja\u2019Kobi Lane (Ravens), De\u2019Zhaun Stribling (49ers) and Caleb Douglas (Dolphins). I also like Allen a lot, even with this rearrangement of the depth chart. He might not be Hill 2.0, but he\u2019s still probably going to be good. 5. I think I\u2019m relieved Raiders RB Ashton Jeanty is OK. He went down in practice on Sunday with an ankle injury, but he appears to be OK per multiple reports. He will likely miss some of the regular season. But man, it would\u2019ve been truly awful to see him miss the season before it began, particularly after such a disappointing rookie year behind a crappy offensive line. 6. I think Ben Johnson loves keeping Caleb Williams humble. There was a throw that made the rounds on social media from the Chicago Bears QB. Williams targeted tight end Colston Loveland on a seam route near the end zone, and the QB put the ball in a hard-to-reach spot. Who was at fault? Should Loveland have caught it? Johnson cleared up any confusion:\u00a0“I probably would go somewhere else with the ball on that one.” Loveland should never have been the target. Receiver Kaden Davis was wide open underneath. This is the philosophical battle between Johnson and Williams: Take the killshot or take the easy ones.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
We\u2019ve passed the midpoint of preseason. The regular season is drawing near. It\u2019s starting to feel like we know so much about each team \u2026 and at the same time, we know absolutely nothing. Who\u2019s going to win the NFC North? How about the NFC West? Are the Patriots going to be kings of the<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/onlinebettingnewyork.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33323"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/onlinebettingnewyork.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/onlinebettingnewyork.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/onlinebettingnewyork.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=33323"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/onlinebettingnewyork.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33323\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/onlinebettingnewyork.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=33323"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/onlinebettingnewyork.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=33323"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/onlinebettingnewyork.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=33323"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}