BRYAN KNOWLES grew up watching Joe Montana and Steve Young ply their trade at quarterback, so he has somewhat overly-inflated expectations of how quarterbacks should perform. This has certainly done him no favors over the past decade or so of watching the San Francisco 49ers. A graduate of UC Davis and San Jose State University, he has opted to eschew all the useful advice those august institutions have supplied him with and become a sportswriter instead. He’s been published at Bleacher Report and Fansided, and currently lives in Chicago with a wife who for some reason puts up with him.
Our annual look at slot/wide splits finishes with the bigger receiving targets. Should running backs such as Christian McCaffrey be treated like wide receivers? Why does Tarik Cohen keep putting up so much negative value? And how wide should you let Travis Kelce, George Kittle, and Jared Cook roam?
Previewing the 2020 season may turn out to be a fool's errand. Fortunately, Scramble for the Ball features just the right two fools for the job, as Bryan and Andrew brave the uncertainty of the Northern divisions.
Jimmy Garoppolo led the league in throwing to the slot, Dak Prescott lapped the field going out wide, and Matt Ryan had bizarre splits as our look at slot versus wide performance in the passing game continues.
Our annual look at receiving performance in and of the slot kicks off with the receivers. Tyler Lockett excelled in the slot, Amari Cooper earned a big new deal with his performance out wide, and Michael Thomas is just really good at everything.
Nickel remains the true base defense in the NFL, but 2019 saw dime packages continue their growth. Also, we learn why the 2019 Seahawks weren't as bad as the 2017 Browns.
Three-wide sets still rule the NFL but, at the 11th hour, some teams rediscovered the use of fullbacks and tight ends in 2019.
Our annual look at the passing game continues with the by now annual look at how you Can't Guard Mike.
A pair of future Hall of Famers bookend this year's look at passing plus-minus.
It's the year of the rookie and the year of the Tennessee Titans, as our annual look at the best players with the ball in their hands takes extensive stops in Nashville and Santa Clara.
So you think the greatest seasons under Mike Shanahan all came from the 1998 Broncos? Well, you're fairly perceptive, then.
