PATRIOTS ADD MAJOR OFFENSIVE WEAPONS IN OUR THREE-ROUND MOCK DRAFT, PLUS FULL DETAILS ON NFL'S CHRISTMAS PLANS
Welcome to the Thursday edition of the Pick Six newsletter!
Draft season doesn't start heating up until we start pumping out our three-round mock drafts, which means draft season is officially heating up, because we've got a three-round mock draft today. With the 2024 NFL Draft just 28 days away, we'll be going nearly full draft in today's newsletter.
Not only do we have our monster mock draft, but we'll also be taking a look at some possible landing spots for Drake Maye and Michael Penix Jr. Also, in non draft-related news, if you're the type of person who likes to plan things nine months in advance, we'll be going over all the details of the NFL's Christmas plans for the upcoming season.
As always, here's your weekly reminder to tell all your friends to sign up for the Pick Six newsletter. To get your friends to sign up, all you have to do is click here and then share this link with them. Let's get to the rundown.
1. Three-round mock draft: We predict how the first 100 picks will pan out
As of today, we're exactly four weeks away from the start of the 2024 NFL Draft, so to celebrate, we're unveiling our first three-round mock draft of the year.
There are a total of 100 picks in the first three rounds this year and Josh Edwards got a little crazy this week and decided to project every single one of them.
Now, we're not going to go through all 100 picks here, but we are going to check out what Josh has in store for the top three teams in the draft during the first three rounds:
BEARS First round (No. 1 overall):
COMMANDERS First round (No. 2 overall):
PATRIOTS First round (No. 3 overall):
As you can see, Edwards has the Patriots reloading their offense with their first three picks.
If you want to see how the the first three rounds pan out, then be sure to check out Josh's entire mock draft by clicking here.
For more draft coverage, you can hear in-depth analysis twice a week on "With the First Pick" -- our year-round NFL Draft podcast with Ryan Wilson and Rick Spielman. You can find "With the First Pick" wherever you get your podcasts: Apple Podcasts, Spotify and YouTube.
2. Landing spots for Drake Maye and Michael Penix Jr.
When it comes to NFL Draft stock, today is a huge day and that's because North Carolina and Washington are both holding their pro days, which means Drake Maye and Michael Penix Jr. will both have a chance to show off their stuff.
With that in mind, we thought today would be the perfect day to check out a few possible landing spots for each player. Not only are these landing spots based on which team might be the best fit for each player, but they're also based on whether a team actually has a realistic show of landing the player.
Let's check out Maye's top two landing spots:
- 1. Vikings (11th and 23rd overall picks in first round). "With Kirk Cousins now on the Falcons, Maye would walk into one of the best situations for a rookie quarterback. He would have one of the best collections of pass-catchers in the entire NFL immediately: 2022 NFL Offensive Player of the Year Justin Jefferson, two-time Pro Bowl tight end T.J. Hockenson and 2023 first-round wide receiver Jordan Addison. Plus, Pro Bowler Aaron Jones at running back, someone the Packers utilized as a threat in the passing game for years."
- 2. Commanders (Second overall)."This offseason, Washington traded Howell to the Seahawks, meaning it's all in on finding its next franchise QB. ... They have some solid playmakers on the roster already in Pro Bowl wide receiver Terry McLaurin, 2022 first-round wideout Jahan Dotson and 2022 third-round running back Brian Robinson Jr. The Commanders added touchdown magnet Austin Ekeler, three-time Pro Bowl tight end Zach Ertz and Pro Bowl center Tyler Biadasz."
You can see our full list of landing spots for Maye here.
As for Penix, his list of landing spots is slightly different, because there's no real consensus on where he's going to go in the draft. Of our six draft gurus here at CBSSports.com, two of them have Penix going as high as 23rd, but two others have him out of the first round entirely.
So where will Penix end up? Here are the top two spots on our list.
- 1. Raiders (13th overall)."Becoming the next face-of-the-franchise quarterback of the Las Vegas Raiders comes with the prize of being able to throw to one of the best wide receivers in the league in three-time First Team All-Pro Davante Adams. Sure, they have Gardner Minshew and 2023 fourth-round pick Aidan O'Connell, but neither has inspired the confidence that they can be more than bench fill-ins."
- 2. Broncos (12th overall)."It would personally be fun to see Penix's ball flying 70 yards through the thin air that exists in the Mile High City, and to see him work with Sean Payton. ... If Denver is unable to trade up into the top five, it could potentially trade back a few spots in the first round and then select Penix if it thinks pick 12 is a touch too high."
We listed a total of five possible landing spots for Penix and you can check those out here.
3. Why the Chargers might be the most fascinating team to watch in the first round of the 2024 NFL Draft
Normally, you don't hear too much about the team that holds the fifth overall pick in the draft, but you might want to pay attention to them this year and that's because it's the Chargers who might end up being the most fascinating team to watch in the first round.
Since there's a chance we could see a QB go off the board with each of the first four picks, the Chargers could end up being the first team to select a non-quarterback. CBSSports.com's Jordan Dajani thinks we all need to keep a close eye on the Chargers and to sell us on that fact, he broke down everything we could see them do with the fifth pick.
- Trade down."The Chargers could be that premier trade-down team if the Bears, Commanders and Patriots all stay in their current spot. Especially considering the fact that the Giants pick right after the Chargers, and they could be in the mix for a possible trade-up to grab a QB."
- Draft a receiver. "The Chargers traded Keenan Allen away to Chicago and released Mike Williams this offseason, so they are absolutely in the market for a receiver. Their room does not look as bad as Arizona's, but L.A. still could take a pass-catcher with its first pick. If Harrison goes fourth, Nabers could go fifth or vice versa."
- Draft an offensive lineman."The Chargers are expected to upgrade the offensive line over the course of the draft, and that could start in the first round. Jim Harbaugh riffed on the value of the offensive line at the league's annual meeting, pointing to the fact that it's the one position group that depends on no other position group to be good, while every other position group relies on the offensive line to be successful."
The fact that Jim Harbaugh is running the team and the fact that he's totally unpredictable also adds a spicy element to the Chargers' draft plans.
If you want to see Jordan's full breakdown of what the Chargers might do, be sure to click here.
4. Three teams voted against the NFL's new kickoff rule
The NFL's 32 owners voted to approve some dramatic new kickoff rules this week, but not every owner was on board with the decision.
Although the proposal ended up getting approved, it wasn't done unanimously. The final voting tally for the rule was 29-3.
So who were the three teams that voted against it? Glad you asked. Let's take a look.
- Packers. Although the Packers are the NFL's only publicly owned team, the public doesn't get to vote at the owners' meeting. Instead, that honor goes to team president Mark Murphy, who voted against the kickoff rule. Murphy wanted to see the NFL give the new rule a test run in the preseason, which is why he voted against it. "Our issue was that it's such a major change, my thought -- our thought -- was it makes sense, really, to have, maybe, as a trial or experiment in the preseason to see what, there's going to be some unintended consequences, I think, and I just felt it made sense to have a trial," Murphy said, via PackersNews.com.
- 49ers. Team owner Jed York is concerned that there could be some unintended consequences with such a drastic rule change and the NFL won't be able to fix it. "They're going from that to trying to reintroduce the play into the game and make it more of a real play as opposed to a ceremonial play. I'm 100% for that," York said, via SI.com. "I just want to make sure with something that's brand new that we have the opportunity to address it during the middle of the season. ... I'm just sure that there's going to be tweaks to it and I'd rather tweak it if we have to in the middle of the season." Basically, if the rule is a total failure and doesn't work the way the NFL is hoping it will work, York wanted the league to be able to tweak the rule if that was needed.
- Raiders. As the owner, Mark Davis handled the vote for the Raiders, but he hasn't yet explained why he voted against the kickoff rule, so it's unclear why he was against it. That being said, Davis is a chatty person and the next time he's available for comment, it's almost a guarantee that he'll be asked about it and he likely won't duck away from answering the question.
The NFL's goal with the kickoff change is to create more returns while also cutting down on the injuries that came with the high-speed collisions that occurred under the old kickoff rules. As long as those two goals are accomplished, the league will likely stick with the new kickoff rule follow the upcoming one-year trial.
5. Details on the NFL's Christmas games for 2024
The NFL gave us quite the Christmas surprise this week: Just three months ago, the league said there wouldn't be any Christmas games in 2024 since the holiday was falling on a Wednesday, but someone clearly had a change of heart.
Apparently, the decision to play on a Wednesday was so surprising that it even caught a few owners off-guard, according to CBS Sports lead NFL insider Jonathan Jones.
Here are a few details on the NFL's Christmas plans for the upcoming season:
- There will be a doubleheader. For the past two years, the NFL has scheduled a tripleheader on Christmas, but for the 2024 season, it will be a doubleheader. This will mark the first time in 88 years that the league has scheduled two games on the same Wednesday. This is the one day of the week where the NFL almost never plays. From 1949 through 2023, there have only been two Wednesday games and one of those (Ravens-Steelers) only happened because it got postponed multiple times in 2020 due to COVID.
- How the schedule will work. To make the Wednesday games happen, the four teams involved in the Christmas doubleheader will play on Saturday in Week 16 (Dec. 21) and then turn around and play the Dec. 25 game Week 17. The NFL felt comfortable with this set up since the four-day break is done every week when teams play a Thursday game following a Sunday game. There is actually an upside to playing on Christmas and that's the fact that the teams involved will get 11 days off before Week 18, which will give them a chance to get fresh at the end of the season. As for how the schedule will work, my guess is that we'll see a tripleheader on Saturday, Dec. 21, which will give the NFL a little bit of leeway since there will be six teams to choose from for the two games on Christmas.
- TV plans not set. CBS and Fox have both televised a Christmas game in each of the past two years, but that not might not be the case this year. According to SI.com, the NFL is putting the games up for bid, which means the networks willing to pay the most money will get the games.
- Why the NFL changed its mind. Although the league originally said there wouldn't be any Wednesday Christmas games in 2024, it's easy to see why there was a change in thinking here. The three games that aired on Christmas last year averaged 28.7 million viewers, which is an astronomical number. Also, all three games ranked in the top 10 for the most-watched regular-season games in 2023.
Although we're getting two Wednesday games this year, Roger Goodell made sure to note this week that Wednesday games will not be a normal thing and that they'll only happen when Christmas falls on a Wednesday. You can read more about the NFL's Christmas plans here.
6. Extra points: Jadeveon Clowney has a new team
It's been a busy 24 hours in the NFL, and since it's nearly impossible to keep track of everything that happened, I went ahead and put together a roundup for you.
- Panthers sign Jadeveon Clowney. The former No. 1 overall pick is headed to Carolina after signing a two-year, $20 million deal on Wednesday. It's a homecoming for Clowney, who grew up in Rock Hill, S.C., which is just 30 miles outside Charlotte. You can check out the full story on his signing here.
- Broncos add Josh Reynolds. After spending two-and-a-half seasons in Detroit, Reynolds is now headed to Denver after agreeing to terms with the Broncos on a two-year deal worth up to $14 million. Reynolds didn't have a huge season in 2023, but he did catch a TD pass during Detroit's 31-23 win over the Buccaneers in the divisional round of the playoffs.
- Eagles lose key executive. Philadelphia's front office is about to take a huge hit with the loss of Jake Rosenberg, who was one of Howie Roseman's top executives. Rosenberg, who is a salary cap expert, had been with the team since 2012. The 48-year-old is hoping to eventually land a GM job with another team. You can read more about his exit here.
- Jayden Daniels set to meet with six different teams. The LSU quarterback has been a busy man this week. Not only did he go through his pro day on Wednesday, but he's now expected to meet with at least six teams, including the Commanders, Patriots, Giants, Vikings, Broncos, and Raiders. You can read more about his busy week here.