Ho Ho Ho, Happy Tuesday!

Oh baby, oh baby the Denver Broncos are back on top of the AFC West.

Bo Nix does it again in the clutch, and the Broncos defense stonewalled Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs as time expired. Honestly that might’ve been game of the year in the NFL. It was back and forth, it was physical, and it came down to the very last play.

You want to know who the Chiefs are missing? Blake Bell.

If the Chiefs had Bell right now, they could score when they got to the one yard line. I can’t believe no NFL team used him in the Belldozer package that helped him scored 24 rushing touchdowns in his first two years at OU before he switched to TE.

Can we talk about Jonah Coleman and Emmett Johnson though??? My RB3 and RB4 in the 2026 draft class, respectively, both went off in Sunday’s battle for the AFC West. Here were my final grades on both guys.

In other QB news, Lamar Jackson will likely miss the rest of the season with a thumb injury he sustained on the first play of the game against Buffalo. This does not bode well for Baltimore, as Tyler Huntley also went down. They will be starting Joe Fagnano moving forward. Here was my 2026 NFL Draft evaluation on the UCONN rookie:

Fagnano ranked as my 12th QB in the 2026 class. It’s his team in Baltimore now, and you have to wonder if the Ravens are willing to move off aging RB Derrick Henry. He’s turning 33 at the top of 2027 so the best the Ravens can get is a late round draft pick. I just don’t see how they recover from the loss of Jackson. Now there are reports he could be traded in the offseason.

I told you this was a possibility back in June.

It’d be fun to watch Jackson navigate a franchise change at this stage in his career. What play caller can build a structure that he can succeed in? He’s clearly one of the most athletic QBs to ever play the position but he’s going to need a perfect system to thrive.

Why not the New York Jets?

Hear me out. As of today, all three of the Jets’ first round picks are inside the top 10. They have significant draft capital to make a move and secure their next franchise QB.

If all it took were a couple first rounders to fix your QB problem with a former league MVP, I think I’d do that 10 times out of 10.

How about the Chicago Bears? They just went into Seattle and punked the world champs. The addition of Jeffrey Simmons cannot be overstated. The dude was an absolutely wrecking ball out there in his bright orange sleeves. Some players are simply built different, and Simmons fits that mold. He dominated the game from start to finish last night.

Da Bears are legitimate Super Bowl contenders. Nobody can dispute that at this point.

The initial rankings for the College Football Playoff come out tonight at 7pm eastern. Since the 12-team playoff, teams that ranked #1 in the initial poll have made it to the quarterfinals each year — both by virtue of a bye.

However, neither team has hoisted the CFP Trophy. Oregon began the 12 team era with the top spot in 2024 but finished short of the national championship, losing in their first playoff game, in Eugene, against Ohio State. In 2025, Ohio State started the initial CFP poll on top but lost to Indiana during the regular season before being eliminated in the playoff by 10-seed Miami in the quarterfinals.

The team at the top of the initial rankings has lost by an average of 15 points in home games both years. Is Miami’s fate written in stone, or do they have the ability to make a run back to the national championship?

Big 12 Teams: Texas Tech, Utah, BYU

Texas Tech and new QB Tommy Castellanos picked up a huge win against Arizona on Saturday. Both Utah and BYU got wins as well, leading up to what should be a top 10 matchup this weekend. Utah is the fastest rising team in the country and one of only three remaining undefeated teams.

Big 10 Teams: Indiana, UCLA

Indiana won on Saturday, but it looked horrible. So horrible in fact that QB Josh Hoover was benched in favor of Grant Wilson. He promptly came in and threw for 156 yards and a touchdown in a huge comeback overtime victory. Is Wilson having an Alex Moran BMS type moment, and more importantly can he lead Indiana back to another national title?

ACC Teams: Miami

This one is the most simple. Miami is the top team in the country. The interesting piece with the ACC is Wake Forest, who are likely to rank inside the top 15. It will be fascinating to see how the committee sorts out 1-loss Wake Forest compared to multiple 2-loss SEC teams. If I had to guess, the Demon Deacons may end up closer to 15 than 12, with multiple 2-loss SEC teams ahead of them.

SEC Teams: Georgia, Kentucky, Alabama, Texas

Kentucky and Alabama had byes last week, so I think they are firmly in. Georgia took down Florida, so they could be as high as #2. The key piece here is Texas. I think the committee will rank them over Ohio State now that the Buckeyes have lost their starting QB and received its second loss. I could even see Ole Miss, LSU and Tennessee all ranking ahead of a team like Wake Forest.

Group of Five Team: New Mexico

The Lobos cracked the AP Top 25 for the first time since ____ and have only one loss on the season — a 14-6 defeat in Norman against Oklahoma.

Notre Dame: The committee will definitely include Notre Dame. And they could be as high as number 5 or 6.

College Football Playoff Initial Bracket Prediction:

First Two Out
13. Ole Miss
14. LSU

Game of the Week: No. 1 Miami at No. 7 Notre Dame — This is the game I’ve been waiting for all season. A true 2027 NFL Draft QB battle between Miami’s Darian Mensah and Notre Dame’s CJ Carr. A loss for Notre Dame is going to make an interesting CFP decision if they finish 10-2 with no conference championship.

Game of the Week 2: No. 6 BYU at No. 3 Utah — This game is the single biggest Big 12 game of the season, and it’s hugely important to the state of Utah and the Mormon religion. I don’t need to elaborate. Soaking.

Game of the Week 3: FCS No. 2 Stephen F. Austin at No. 13 Lamar — The first FCS appearance in our game of the week! The Lumberjacks travel to Lamar in a pivotal matchup between the top two teams in the Southland Conference. In the FCS 24-team playoff (which FBS is scheduled to go to next season), the top 8 teams get a bye. The winner of this game will be in the driver’s seat for a playoff spot as well as an opening round bye. SFA cornerback Makai Frisby has a team-high 5 interceptions on the season. The 5-11, 164-pound sophomore could be a hot name in the transfer portal. On the other side, Lamar tight end Davin Driskell has scored 8 touchdowns on the season. He’s someone I’m going to do some work on and could be an intriguing priority late in the draft.

Game of the Week (SEC): The entire conference gets a game ball this week. We have bangers throughout.

No. 2 Georgia at No. 13 Ole Miss.
No. 8 Kentucky at No. 17 Tennessee
No. 10 Alabama at No. 14 LSU
No. 11 Texas at No. 19 Missouri
Oklahoma at No. 22 Florida
Texas A&M at No. 21 South Carolina

The entire SEC slate is insane. This is going to be one of the best days of college football maybe ever. There are SO. MANY. GAMES.

And nobody even cares about Oregon-Ohio State anymore but that’s also happening this weekend!

The NFL trade deadline is approaching (one week from today), and teams around the league are looking to buy and sell players depending on the direction of the franchise.

Meet Carlie Irsay-Gordon, the woman behind the dismantling of the Indianapolis Colts. I say dismantling in a good way. Think rebuilding. Understanding when it’s time to move in a different direction based on the information you are presented.

I really respect her process.

She’s down on the sidelines, learning the business of football from an operations perspective.

She’s already conducted multiple trades after the firing of GM Chris Ballard just a couple of weeks ago. The Colts sent star defensive tackle DeForest Buckner back to his former team, the 49ers, while sending Pro Bowl Guard Quentin Nelson to the Super Bowl Champion Seattle Seahawks. The NFC West is certainly profiting from the Indy fire sale.

It’s not just Irsay-Gordon and the Colts profiting from trades in the NFL.

It’s every team. Trades are happening more often than ever before. Trades also happen most often on Tuesday so get ready for a news dump today and next week on deadline day itself.

In fact, over the last 20 years, there have been 103 trades on Tuesday. That’s 52.3% of trades. Even removing the fact the deadline usually takes place on Tuesday and all deadline day trades, it’s still the most popular day.

Since 2022, there have been an average of 17 trades per year from Oct. 1 up until the trade deadline. That numbers is at 18 over the past two seasons and might continue to go up. There are rumored to be 20 trades when all said and done.

So what makes a good trade? And what the hell is CIG writing in her notebook? Nobody will every know, but I love the fact she’s left handed.

What makes a good trade is solely reliant upon the on-field outcome of the player you acquired.

Four of the last five Super Bowl champs have acquired a player at the deadline. But almost none of the players acquired were gigantic difference makers outside of a few splash plays per game.

2021 — Rams give up 2nd/3rd for Von Miller

2022 — Chiefs give up 3rd/6th for Kadarius Toney

2023 — Chiefs give up 6th for Mecole Hardman + 7th

2025 — Seahawks give up 4th/5th for Rashid Shaheed

None of these guys are game wreckers, but every single one of them made a game-changing play in a big moment. That shouldn’t be understated. Especially Hardman’s catch to win the Super Bowl.

My point is, the Myles Garrett and Jeffrey Simmons type trades haven’t historically led to Super Bowl success. It’s the more niche trades that you might not think that long about in the moment. Late round picks, and none earlier than a 3rd.

Here are some trades I think would make sense and can make a HUGE difference in winning a Super Bowl.

Tony Pollard to Green Bay — Regardless of the Packers sticking with Josh Jacobs despite more domestic violence allegations brought to the surface, the team still needs a ton of help in the backfield. Pollard can catch the ball out of the backfield and give Green Bay some explosiveness they desperately lack in the run game.

Jonathan Taylor to Minnesota — We’re talking about one of the best running back prospects I’ve ever evaluated. Minnesota lost its first game of the year to Detroit, largely in part because of what Jahmyr Gibbs did to the Vikings D. Minnesota doesn’t have a great run game at all. They should capitalize on Taylor’s availability.

Shemar Stewart to San Francisco — The Bengals seem to be done with the former first round pick. He’s barely playing right now, and I think a fresh start could do him well. San Fran ranks dead last in the NFL with just 7 total sacks.

Moro Ojomo to Jacksonville — Jags DT DaVon Hamilton was ruled out for the season following an injury against Indy. They need a guy who can come in and fill an immediate need. Ojomo is on the last year of his deal, so the timing makes sense for the down very bad Eagles.