Ranking NFC contenders by tiers, plus top QBs for 2024 draft and ‘Hard Knocks’ team gets selected

Hello and happy Wednesday, folks. John Breech has been so busy diving into the Bengals’ upcoming season (more on that below) that you’ve got me, Cody Benjamin, to deliver all of today’s news from around the NFL.

This is the Pick Six Newsletter. Now let’s get to it. (And please, do yourself a favor and make sure you’re signed up to receive this newsletter every day! You don’t want to miss our daily offerings of everything you need to know around the NFL.)

We’ve got Breech’s Bengals report, Alvin Kamara news, NFC rankings and much more:

1. Today’s show: Inside the Bengals, previewing Cincy’s 2023 season Getty Images

Resident Bengals expert John Breech may not be delivering today’s newsletter, but that’s partially because he was busy dishing out facts, figures and predictions on the “Pick Six NFL Podcast,” where he joined Katie Mox to preview the upcoming season. Some highlights from their conversation:

Catch the full episode (and subscribe for all kinds of daily NFL talk) right here.

2. Alvin Kamara pleads no contest, will likely face suspension

The star Saints running back will no longer face a felony charge as a result of his plea deal, which stems from his alleged involvement in a 2022 nightclub fight. That’s good news for Kamara, who will still be required to do community service and pay $100,000 in victim medical bills. But it also means a suspension could be on the horizon, with the NFL likely to discipline him, according to the personal conduct policy. Jamaal Williams is the next man up in New Orleans at the position.

3. NFC tiers: Eagles, 49ers, Cowboys headline ranking of 16 teams Getty Images

Which NFC contenders are for real? And which ones have a lot of work to do? We sorted all 16 of the conference’s clubs into five different tiers, ranging from title-worthy to rebuilding. Just three made it into the uppermost section: the Eagles, Cowboys and 49ers.

The gap between these three and the rest of the conference feels pretty substantial. The Cowboys are technically the least qualified among the trio, failing to reach the NFC Championship game since 1995, but they’ve won 12 games in back-to-back years, upgraded at two premium spots with Brandin Cooks and Stephon Gilmore, and possess some of the game’s best young defensive talent in Micah Parsons, Trevon Diggs and DaRon Bland. Conservative coaching remains a concern with Mike McCarthy, and QB Dak Prescott is still in search of a defining late-year run, but as is often the case, America’s Team has the star power.

The Eagles and 49ers, meanwhile, have combined for five NFC Championship appearances and two Super Bowl bids in the last six years. San Francisco is a bigger question mark due to a convoluted QB situation; Brock Purdy was unusually poised as a rookie, but he’s coming off elbow surgery and a small sample size of NFL production, and the alternatives, Trey Lance and Sam Darnold, are reclamation projects in their own ways. Even so, coach Kyle Shanahan constructs the closest thing to a QB-proof system in the league, and he’s still got a defense with imposing playmakers at every level.

Philly probably owns the NFL’s best all-around roster for a second consecutive year, thanks to general manager Howie Roseman’s crafty ways. QB Jalen Hurts has the makeup to be a perennial MVP candidate, provided his physical rushing doesn’t take him off the field, and the weapons across the board — A.J. Brown, DeVonta Smith, Haason Reddick, Darius Slay — coupled with an all-star O-line bode well. The biggest roadblocks to another Super Bowl trip may well be internal; while facing a tougher schedule, coach Nick Sirianni will be juggling new coordinators on both sides of the ball.

4. Jets will be featured on 2023 ‘Hard Knocks’

It’s official: The NFL has informed the Jets they will be the headliner of this year’s edition of HBO’s annual preseason reality show, as ESPN and NBC Sports reported. New York had publicly and privately resisted as much, preferring to enter the Aaron Rodgers era without excess cameras, but alas, Gang Green will be the featured team for 2023. It’s good news for fans, because there probably isn’t a franchise with more reality-TV potential, thanks in large part due to Rodgers’ blockbuster arrival.

5. Draft prospect primer: Top QBs for 2024 USATSI

It’s never too early to look ahead to next year’s potential draft gems, and that’s exactly what Garrett Podell has done, forecasting the best quarterbacks set to enter the NFL in 2024. The No. 1 guy on his rundown, to no surprise: USC’s Caleb Williams.

It’s essentially impossible to tank in the NFL because of how few games there are relative to other sports, plus if a player dials their effort level below all-out, an injury is likely to occur. That being said, Williams is a tank-worthy quarterback prospect. The comparison to reigning NFL and Super Bowl MVP Patrick Mahomes gets thrown around a little too lightly in casual conversation these days, but Williams is a passing prospect who warrants such praise. There are always things that can be nitpicked about quarterback prospects, but Williams has all the tools and traits desired in a modern-day NFL quarterback. His potential ceiling is dominant franchise cornerstone.

6. Big-name cornerbacks trade barbs on Twitter

It’s not the NFL offseason without a social media spat. This week, longtime cornerback Asante Samuel riled up Twitter by suggesting that “the New York media” has inflated the value of Jets star Sauce Gardner, the reigning Defensive Rookie of the Year. Gardner wasn’t the only one to respond in defense; 2023 Hall of Famer Darrelle Revis, himself a Jets icon, joined the conversation to declare Samuel a “hater,” while other big-name defensive backs, including D.J. Reed, Darius Slay and C.J. Gardner-Johnson, later joined a Twitter Spaces conversation to unpack the debate. “Why can’t we all just get along?” Slay asked at one point.