NFL Stories Worth a Look or Listen: Why Aaron Rodgers' Trade Demand Is Different

Each week, the 33^rd Team shares some links and information regarding NFL stories, articles and podcasts we find valuable...

Author: Nora Princiotti

Three things you need to know:

In Julio Jones and Jalen Ramsey, recent stars have made trade demands and gotten their wish, but they both were sitting on a team looking to build for the future; Aaron Rodgers is on a win-now roster.
Teams retain the hard power over players through contract, but there’s also a soft power for star players based on their fan appeal. Some players may want to flex that power with public comments to gain leverage over their team.
Although the NBA is firmly in a player empowerment era, the NFL is still somewhat behind due to non-guaranteed contracts, much larger rosters, and the relatively more entrenched fan bases.

Author: Ben Linsey

Three things you need to know:

Jonah Williams’ career has been derailed by injuries. He missed the entire 2019 season and played 10 games in 2020. In the games he did play last season, he ranked second among six rookie or second-year tackles in PFF grade. Health is his major concern.
Robert Hunt played his rookie season at RT but with Miami’s trade of Ereck Flowers he should bump inside to guard. Guard suits his skill sets better; he graded 70th percentile in run blocking grades on both gap and zone runs. He had a 65.8 overall grade at OT.
Ethan Pocic is coming off his best season as a Seahawk. He finished the 2020 season with the best PFF season of his career (59.8) while staying healthy. He played his highest number of snaps in 2020; if health cooperates, it should allow him to continue to improve.

Episode: 687. Influence of Baseball Analytics, First Look at Jaguars Minicamp & Thoughts on Possible CFP Expansion

Three things you need to know:

Heading into the 2022 draft, everything should return to normal in terms of scouting. Those teams that “punted” on their 2021 draft picks for future picks will have a larger sample size of games for the players, and scouts will be able to return to visiting facilities.
More teams need to go for 2-point conversations. The analytics say the chances of hitting at least one of two 2-point conversations is just as good as the FG chances.
The college football playoff expansion is a good idea. It may minimize some of the importance of the regular season, but it gives more teams a shot at the Championship. It opens up recruiting opportunities for more teams.

with Mike Sando and Randy Mueller

Three things you need to know:

Although most of the all-time coaches are associated with a great QB, Andy Reid has succeeded with multiple different QBs in several different schemes on his way to 221 wins, sixth in league history.
When Jamison Crowder was on the field last season, the Jets had 13 TD passes to 7 INTs. When he was off, it was 3 TDs to 7 INTs.
The Titans are one of 156 teams since 2000 to win 11-plus games in a season. Tennessee ranks dead last of those teams for defensive EPA per game.