2025 NFL Week 1 Predictions

Jalen Hurts faces Dak Prescott in the NFL Season Opener as the Philadelphia Eagles attempt to defend their Super Bowl Title.

Chris Ransom Last Updated: September 4, 2025.

Dallas Cowboys 0-0-0	Versus	Philadelphia Eagles 0-0-0

Chris Ransom's Pick

Hank Hill from King of the Hill and assistant GM and Director Of College Scouting Dale Gribble finally got back to the playoffs since taking over for Lumberg in 2020. Dallas is 47-33 since 2020.

Here is this weeks hot take from Hank Hill.

Kick Philadelphia's ass. We got a rare opportunity to beat the Super Bowl Champions in the season opener.

Why the Dallas Cowboys Will Win: Dak Prescott has Tyler Guyton at left tackle, Tyler Smith at left guard, Cooper Beebe at center, Tyler Booker a 2025 first round pick out of Alabama at right guard, and Terence Steele at right tackle. Dak Prescott has four offensive linemen that the Dallas Cowboys drafted on rookie deals.

Having weapons like CeeDee Lamb as your flanker wide receiver and George Pickens as your secondary wide receiver helps since Dak Prescott has two wide receivers who have experience as a number one wide receiver. Jalen Tolbert is the slot receiver when Dallas runs three wide receiver sets. KaVontae Turpin is your number four wide receiver for depth. Tight end Jake Ferguson is the starting tight end, Luke Schoonmaker a 2023 second round pick out of Michigan won the backup tight end job. Dallas does not have a good third string tight end.

Dallas has Javonte Williams as their number one running back. Miles Sanders is the Dallas Cowboys backup running back. Jayden Blue is the Dallas Cowboys third string running back after being the Dallas Cowboys 2025 fifth round pick.

Dallas has Dante Fowler jr. at 4-3 right end, Kenny Clark at 4-3 defensive tackle, Osa Odighizuwa at 4-3 defensive tackle, and Marshawn Kneeland at 4-3 left end. Sam Williams is the backup 4-3 right end, Mazi Smith as well as Solomon Thomas are the backup 4-3 defensive tackles, and Donovan Ezeiruaku is the backup 4-3 left end.

Dallas is starting Damone Clark at 4-3 right outside linebacker and Kenneth Murray at 4-3 middle linebacker. Dallas will also have DeMarvion Overshown their 2023 third round pick out of Texas healthy as a 4-3 left outside linebacker when he comes back from the PUP list. Jack Sanborn will fill that role for now though. Marist Liufau came very close to taking the 4-3 right outside linebacker job from Damone Clark.

Dallas has Trevon Diggs at field cornerback. Dallas has Kaiir Elam at boundary cornerback. DaRon Bland is their nickel cornerback. Shavon Revel Jr. and Caelen Carson begin the season on injured reserve.

Malik Hooker and Donovan Wilson are the starting safeties with both safeties having the versatility to play strong safety or free safety. Dallas doesn't have the safety depth you'd want if something happened to Hooker or Wilson for a second year in a row.

Former Notre Dame center back Brandon Aubrey is now the Dallas Cowboys kicker. I actually found an archive of my Aubrey scouting report from the 2017 MLS Super Draft when Toronto F.C. took Brandon Aubrey in the first round of the 2017 MLS Draft. After Aubrey failed in the MLS, he went to the USFL and had success as a kicker there before receiving a contract to join the Dallas Cowboys in the NFL. Brandon Aubrey dominated in his first NFL season. Bryan Anger is the punter. KaVontae Turner the number six wide receiver on the Dallas Cowboys depth chart is the kick returner and punt returner for the Dallas Cowboys.

Why the Philadelphia Eagles Will Win: Philadelphia has Jalen Hurts at quarterback. Philadelphia has Jordan Mailata at left tackle, Landon Dickerson at left guard, Cam Jurgens at center, Tyler Steen at right guard, and Lane Johnson at right tackle. Philadelphia also has Drew Kendall as a backup center.

Philadelphia has A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith two wide receivers that are capable of being number one options at wide receiver. Smith played flanker receiver as a rookie, but became the secondary wide receiver once Philadelphia traded for A.J. Brown in the first round of the 2022 NFL Draft. Jahan Dotson is the slot receiver. John Metchie III is the number four wide receiver for depth with Johnn Wilson out ofr the year.

Dallas Goedert remains a top 10 tight end in the NFL making him another asset in the passing game for quarterback Jalen Hurts. Grant Calcentera remains the backup tight end to Dallas Goedert. Kylen Granson is the third string tight end. Philadelphia has more depth at tight end this season versus last season when they won Super Bowl 59.

Philadelphia has Saquon Barkley as their starting running back, Will Shipley the former Clemson running back from the 2024 NFL Draft is the backup running back after being the third string running back as a rookie. A.J. Dillon is the third string depth. Ben VanSumeren is the starting fullback. Philadelphia is deep at a lot of positions offensively and will be a force in the NFC as long as Jalen Hurts is healthy at quarterback, A.J. Brown is healthy at wide receiver, DeVonta Smith is healthy at wide receiver, Jordan Mailata is healthy at left tackle, Lane Dickerson is healthy at left guard, and Lane Johnson is healthy at right tackle.

Philadelphia did well transitioning from a 4-3 to a 3-4 defense under defensive coordinator Vic Fangio in 2024. Jalen Carter is going to start at 3-4 right end, Jordan Davis will start at 3-4 nose tackle, and Moro Ojomo is now starting at 3-4 left end.

Philadelphia has Jalyx Hunt at 3-4 right outside linebacker, Zach Baun starting at 3-4 middle linebacker after playing outside linebacker at Wisconsin and on the New Orleans Saints, Jihaad Campbell their 2025 first round pick out of Alabama is filling in for Nakobe Dean at 3-4 middle linebacker until week 5 with Campbell possibly moving to right outside linebacker when Dean returns, and Nolan Smith starting at 3-4 left outside linebacker. Philadelphia has Josh Uche as their backup 3-4 right outside linebacker. Jeremiah Trotter Jr. and Smael Mondon Jr. are are the two backup 3-4 middle linebackers until Nakobe Dean returns. Azeez Ojulari is the backup 3-4 left outside linebacker.

Philadelphia has Quinyon Mitchell at field cornerback, Cooper DeJean as the boundary cornerback covering number two wide receivers, and Kelee Ringo as the nickel cornerback. Adoree' Jackson is the dime cornerback and Jakorien Bennett is the quarter cornerback.

Philadelphia has Sydney Brown to start at strong safety and Reed Blankenship will start at free safety. Philadelphia has Andrew Mukuba as a backup safety for depth.

Philadelphia has Jake Elliott at kicker. Jake Elliott is the only asset Philadelphia has on special teams, but having a top five kicker is crucial when you need points.

Prediction: Philadelphia is a 8.5 point favorite at -8.5. The over or under is 46.5 with 73% of the public betting on Philadelphia. The money line is +300 for Dallas and -355 for Philadelphia. I like Philadelphia to win and Dallas cover with the over at +300. Bet $400 on this game for Dallas and win up to $700 as long as the Eagles win by 8 or less.

Final Score Eagles 38 Cowboys 31

Who Draft Utopia Picked


Chris Ransom	Oren Shiri	Tony Mario	Joseph Potter	Andrew Kermish	Tracy Porter	Wes Langley	William Yanish	Daniel Keyser

0-0	0-0	0-0	0-0	0-0	0-0	0-0	0-0	0-0

Kansas City Chiefs 0-0-0	Versus	Los Angeles Chargers 0-0-0

Chris Ransom's Pick

We're back for the 2025 NFL Season. You can follow our weekly predictions crew. Jesse Lucas won the first year in 2014-2015. Jason Bantle and myself now have two championships after I won the NFL Pickem Champion Trophy for most accurate predictions against the spread in 2020-2021 and had the most accurate NFL predictions again in 2022-2023. Oren Shiri, Tanya Holmes, and Wes Langley have one pickem title too back in 2021-2022. Lisa Donovan got her first pickem Championship two years the best record in the country last year in 2023-2024. Andrew Kermish had the best pickem record on Draft Utopia in 2024-2025 with 203 games, but ESPN's Matt Bowen had 204 games correct and won the National pickem pool with Andrew finishing third in the country. Tony Mario replaces Jason Bantle after a decade of outstanding contributions at Draft Utopia. William Yanish and Daniel Keyser also join our NFL Predictions pool. Send me your predictions on Facebook, Twitter, or LinkedIn to be eligible for prizes should you have a perfect week. You will also see each Draft Utopia members record from the season at the bottom of the screen including my record with Who Draft Utopia picked replacing Who Everyone Else Picked which is the new change I rolled out for 2025.

Why the Kansas City Chiefs Will Win: Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes has Josh Simmons a 2025 first round pick out of Ohio State at left tackle, Kingsley Suamatia a 2024 second round pick out of BYU at left guard, Creed Humprhey at center, Trey Smith at right guard, and Jawaan Taylor starting at right tackle. Wanya Morris is the backup left tackle, Hunter Nourzad is the backup center, and Jaylon Moore is the backup right tackle for depth.

Kansas City has Xavier Worthy as their flanker wide receiver, Rashee Rice as their secondary wide receiver when he comes back from his six game suspension and Marques Brown as their slot receiver. Marques Brown will be the number two wide receiver the first six games. JuJu Smith-Schuster the number four wide receiver will be the slot receiver for the first six games. Jalen Royals a 2025 fourth round pick out of Utah State is the number four wide receiver until Rashee Rice returns and will be the number five wide receiver once he returns. Tyquan Thornton is the number five wide receiver and the number six wide receiver once Rashee Rice returns. Marques Brown is out tonight, so Rashee Rice and Xavier Worthy will be the top two wide receivers in week 1. Travis Kelce is the best tight end in the NFL as well as the main receiving option on this offense. Noah Gray is the backup tight end. Jared Wiley is the Kansas City Chiefs third string tight end. Robert Tonyan is the fourth string tight end on the Kansas City Chiefs.

Isiah Pacheco is the starting running back. Kareem Hunt is the backup running back. Clyde Edwards-Helaire is the third string running back. Elijah Mitchell is the fourth string running back. Brashard Smith a 2025 seventh round pick is the fifth string running back. Carson Steele, an undrafted Free Agent out of UCLA who was the third string running back last year got demoted to the Kansas City Chiefs practice squad. The Kansas City Chiefs have six different running backs that they can utilize which leads me to believe they will use two running backs by committee with the surplus and depth that the Kansas City Chiefs have at running back.

Kansas City has Mike Danna at 4-3 right end and George Karlaftis at 4-3 left end. Felix Anudike-Uzomah is the backup 4-3 right end and Charles Omenihu is the backup 4-3 left end when he gets activated off of the PUP list. Ashton Gillotte their 2025 third round pick out of Louisville is the backup 4-3 right end while Felix Anudike-Uzomah begins the season on injured reserve. Kansas City had Chris Jones and Derrick Nnadi the two starting 4-3 defensive tackles. Omar Norman-Lott their 2025 seconnd round pick and Jerry Tillery are back as backup 4-3 defensive tackles.

Kansas City has Drue Tranquill at 4-3 right outside linebacker, Nick Bolton at 4-3 middle linebacker, and Leo Chenal at 4-3 left outside linebacker. Kansas City still has depth on the defensive line, but their lack of depth at linebacker compared to when the Chiefs won Super Bowl 58 does concern me to a point.

Kansas City has Trent McDuffie at field cornerback for the fourth year in a row. Jaylen Watson is the boundary cornerback. Kristian Fulton is the nickel cornerback. Nohl Williams their 2025 third round pick out of California is the dime cornerback. Joshua Williams is the quarter cornerback. Chamarri Conner is the starting strong safety, and Bryan Cook is the starting free safety in the final year of his contract. Jaden Hicks is the third safety for depth.

Kansas City has Harrison Butker at kicker. Kansas City also has Matt Ariaza at punter.

Why the Los Angeles Chargers Will Win: Los Angeles Chargers quarterback Justin Herbert has a good offensive line with Joe Alt at left tackle, Zion Johnson at left guard, Bradley Bozeman at center, Mekhi Becton at right guard, and Trey Pipkins III at right tackle. Los Angeles had to adapt quickly after Rashawn Slater suffered a season ending injury at left tackle. Andre James the backup center and Jamaree Salyer who can play either offensive tackle or guard spot are the only two offensive linemen that the Los Angeles Chargers have for depth.

Los Angeles has Ladd McConkey their 2024 second round pick out of Georgia at flanker wide receiver after McConkey had a dominant rookie season, Keenan Allen as their secondary wide receiver, and Tre Harris their 2025 second round pick beat out Quentin Johnston for the slot receiver job. Quentin Johnston, the Los Angeles Chargers 2023 first round pick out of TCU is the number four wide receiver on the Los Angeles Chargers depth chart. Johnston started year two as the number four wide receiver, but was the number two wide receiver by the end of the year despite having a career high 7 receiving touchdowns he didn't improve on his drops. Derius Davis is the number five wide receiver. KeAndre-Lambert Smith a 2025 fifth round pick is the number six wide receiver.

Los Angeles has Will Dissly as their starting tight end, Tyler Conklin as their backup tight end, and Oronde Gadsden II is their third string tight end. Omarion Hampton their 2025 first round pick out of North Carolina as starting running back. The Los Angeles Chargers have Najee Harris who had four straight seasons of 1,000 rushing yards in Pittsburgh as their backup running back. Hassan Haskins is the third string running back. Scott Matlock is the starting fullback.

The Los Angeles Chargers have Otito Ogbonnia at 3-4 right end, Teair Tart last years backup 3-4 nose tackle is now the starting 3-4 nose tackle, and Da'Shawn Hand at 3-4 left end. Justin Eboigbe a 2024 fourth round pick out of Alabama is the backup 3-4 defensive end and Jamaree Caldwell the Los Angeles Chargers is the backup 3-4 nose tackle.

The Los Angeles Chargers have Khalil Mack at 3-4 right outside linebacker, Denzel Perryman at 3-4 middle linebacker, Daiyan Henley at 3-4 middle linebacker, and Tuli Tuipulotu complimenting him at 3-4 left outside linebacker with both edges having the ability to win one-on-ones against left tackles or right tackles. Los Angeles has Bud Dupree as their backup 3-4 right outside linebacker, Junior Colson a 2024 third round pick as one of their backup 3-4 middle linebackers with Troy Dye as the other backup 3-4 middle linebacker, and Kyle Kennard their 2025 fourth round pick as their backup 3-4 left outside linebacker. Caleb Murphy out of Ferris State is their third string 3-4 outside linebacker.

The Los Angeles Chargers have Donte Jackson at field cornerback, Cam Hart a 2024 fifth round pick out of Notre Dame is the boundary cornerback, Tarheeb Still another 2024 fifth round pick out of Maryland is the nickel cornerback, Benjamin St-Juste is the dime cornerback, and Ja'Sir Taylor is the quarter cornerback. Los Angeles has Derwin James at strong safety and Alohi Gilman at starting free safety. RJ Mickens a 2025 sixth round pick is the backup strong safety and Elijah Molden is the backup free safety.

The Los Angeles Chargers have Cameron Dicker as the starting kicker and JK Scott as the starting punter. Derius Davis ended up as the return specialist as a rookie starting at both kick returner and punt returner which comes as no surprise to anyone who saw him in Mobile at the 2023 Reese's Senior Bowl as Derius Davis enters his third season as the return specialist on the Los Angeles Chargers.

Prediction: Kansas City is a 3.5 point favorite at -3.5. The over or under is 45.5 with 60% of the public betting on Kansas City. The money line is -155 for Kansas City and +145 for Los Angeles. Take Kansas City to win cover with the under at -155. Bet $245 on this game for Kansas City and win up to $400 as long as the Chiefs win by 4 or more.

Final Score Chiefs 24 Chargers 20

Who Draft Utopia Picked


Chris Ransom	Oren Shiri	Tony Mario	Joseph Potter	Andrew Kermish	Tracy Porter	Wes Langley	William Yanish	Daniel Keyser

0-0	0-0	0-0	0-0	0-0	0-0	0-0	0-0	0-0

Tampa Bay Buccaneers 0-0-0	Versus	Atlanta Falcons 0-0-0

Chris Ransom's Pick

Tony Mario's NFL Power Rankings for 2025 will be back soon. NFL Power Rankings.

Why the Tampa Bay Buccaneers Will Win: Baker Mayfield did well in his first year as a starting quarterback, but I'm not sure he does as well without his offensive coordinator Dave Canales. Baker Mayfield has Tristian Wirfs at left tackle, Ben Bredeson at left guard, Graham Barton their 2024 first round pick is the starting center, Cody Mauch is at right guard after being the Tampa Bay Buccaneers 2023 second round pick out of North Dakota State entering his second year, and Luke Goedeke is entering his third season as well as his second season at right tackle. Tristian Wirfs will miss the first four weeks of the regular season meaning Baker Mayfield will have less time than usual to get rid of the football.

Tampa Bay has Mike Evans as their flanker wide receiver, Emeka Egbuka the Tampa Bay Buccaneers 2025 first round pick out of Ohio State is going to be the secondary wide receiver for the first four weeks with Chris Godwin beginning the season on the PUP list, and Tez Johnson Tampa Bay's 2025 seventh round pick begins the year as the slot receiver with Jalen McMillan Tampa Bay's 2024 third round pick out the first eight weeks of the season. Sterling Shepard is the number four wide receiver right now, but he will be the number six wide receiver when both Chris Godwin and Jalen McMillan return from injuries.

Cade Otton Tampa Bay's 2022 fourth round pick at tight end enters his second season as Tampa Bay's starting tight end. Payne Durham their 2023 fifth round pick is the backup tight end. Devin Culp their 2024 seventh roun pick out of Washington was the fourth string tight end last year. Ko Kieft a 2022 sixth round pick out of Minnesota is the third string tight end. Tampa Bay has incredible tight end depth as they look stronger in terms of depth than in 2023 despite not having a star tight end. Cade Otton showed flashes of being a star at times in 2024. I think Tampa Bay will be even better at tight end with some of their tight ends in contract years.

Tampa Bay has Bucky Irving their 2024 fourth round pick out of Oregon is their starting running back, Rachaad White is their backup running back and Sean Tucker last years fourth string running back is now the third string running back.

Tampa Bay has Logan Hall at 3-4 right end, Vita Vea at 3-4 nose tackle, and Calijah Kancey at 3-4 left end. Greg Gaines is the backup 3-4 nose tackle and Elijah Roberts a 2025 fifth round as their backup 3-4 left end replacing William Gholston.

Tampa Bay has Yaya Diaby at 3-4 right outside linebacker and Haason Reddick at 3-4 left outside linebacker. Tampa Bay also has Lavonte David and SirVocea Dennis at 3-4 middle linebacker. Anthony Nelson is the backup 3-4 right outsie linebacker, Deion Jones as their backup 3-4 middle linebacker, and Chris Braswell a 2024 second round pick out of Alabama is the backup 3-4 left outside linebacker. Tampa Bay has quite a bit of depth on the front 7 despite David Walker Tampa Bay's 2025 fourth round pick being out of for the season with a season ending injury.

Tampa Bay has Zyon McCollum at field cornerback, Jamel Dean at boundary cornerback, and Benjamin Morrison a 2025 second round pick out of Notre Dame as the nickel cornerback. Jacob Parrish Tampa Bay's 2025 third round pick out of Kansas State is the dime cornerback, but he could end up starting week 1 at nickel cornerback since Benjamin Morrison has been dealing with a hamstring injury for three weeks and got ruled out in week 1. Kindle Vildor is the quarter cornerback. Tykee Smith is the starting strong safety and Antoine Winfield Jr. is the starting free safety.

Chase McLaughlin is the starting kicker. Riley Dixon is the starting punter. Tez Johnson is the kick returner and punt returner for Tampa Bay.

Why the Atlanta Falcons Will Win: Atlanta has Michael Penix Jr. drafted out of Washington eighth overall in the 2024 NFL Draft in his first full season as the starting quarterback. Kirk Cousins is now the backup quarterback.

Michael Penix Jr. will have Jake Matthews at left tackle, Matthew Bergeron at left guard, Drew Dalman at center, Chris Lindstrom at right guard, and Elijah Wilkinson at right tackle thanks to Kaleb McGary the blindside to Michael Penix Jr. out for the year since McGary is right tackle for a left handed quarterback in Michael Penix Jr. while Jake Matthews would only be the blindside if Kirk Cousins or a right handed quarterback is starting. The swing tackle Storm Norton is out for the first eight weeks and his backup Tyrone Wheatley Jr. is out for the first four weeks. Basically Atlanta is gonna be rotating between Elijah Wilkinson, Tyrone Wheatley Jr. when he comes back, Storm Norton when he comes back, and Jack Nelson, Atlanta's 2025 seventh round pick out of Wisconsin whose currently the backup left tackle to Jake Matthews at the right tackle position with Atlanta's right tackle spot for left-handed quarterback Michael Penix Jr. being a bigger mess than the Cleveland Browns quarterback room in 2025.

Atlanta has Drake London as their flanker wide receiver, Darnell Mooney who began his career as a number one wide receiver in Chicago before being supplanted by D.J. Moore last year is now a number two wide receiver as he compliments Drake London quite well. Ray-Ray McCloud is Atlanta's slot receiver. Jamal Agnew and Khadarel Hodge are the backup wide receivers. Outside of Drake London and Darnell Mooney this wide receiver core doesn't excite me.

Atlanta still has Kyle Pitts their 2021 first round pick drafted fourth overall out of Florida as the main starting tight end. Kyle Pitts can thrive as long as he's healthy. My issue with Atlanta is their depth at tight end was so much better two years ago with Jonnu Smith and MyCole Puritt were on this roster. Charlie Woerner, San Francisco's third string tight end last year doesn't move the needle for me as a pass catcher despite being an okay blocker in San Francisco. Teagan Quitoriano is the third string tight end and he did well with Houston. Honestly, I got more confidence in Quitoriano than Woerner, but as long as Kyle Pitts stays healthy Atlanta will be okay at tight end.

Bijan Robinson is the starting running back and Tyler Allegeier is the backup running back. Both running backs are expected to see lots of carries with Allegier getting significant playing time despite being the second running back on Atlanta's depth chart. Atlanta has an undrafted running back as their third string running back. Bijan Robinson and Tyler Allegeier have ran by committee the last two years and Atlanta's depth behind those two running backs is awful. If one of those running backs goes down the other guy essentially becomes the bellcow in the running game and if both running backs go down this becomes a one dimensional offense.

Atlanta's new defensive coordinator switched this defense from a 3-4 to a 4-3 defense. Jeff Ulbrich was the New York Jets defensive coordinator and interim head coach last year after Robert Saleh got fired. Atlanta has Leonard Floyd at 4-3 right end, Ruke Orhorhoro at 4-3 defensie tackle, David Onyemata at 4-3 defensive tackle, and Arnold Ebiketie at 4-3 left end. James Pearce Jr., Atlanta's second 2025 first round pick out of Tennessee is the backup 4-3 right end and Jalon Walker Atlanta's first 2025 first round out of Georgia is the backup 4-3 left end. Zach Harrison and Brandon Dorlus are the backup 4-3 defensive tackles. Bralen Trice, the third string 4-3 defensive end is currently on injured reserve to start the season.

Atlanta has Kaden Elliss at 4-3 right outside linebacker, Divine Deabolo at 4-3 middle linebacker who played 4-3 right outside linebacker in all four seasons with the Las Vegas Raiders and JD Bertrand as a 4-3 left outside linebacker when Atlanta runs a 4-3 defense with only two cornerbacks. Atlanta is expected to play a combination of a 4-2-5 nickel defense and a 4-3 defense with Atlanta mainly playing a 4-2-5, but when they play 4-3 situationally, JD Betrand will be in as a 4-3 left outside linebacker.

A.J. Terrell, Atlanta's field cornerback is the only healthy cornerback at the moment. Atlanta is starting Mike Hughes who was awful at nickel cornerback for Kansas City and just as awful at dime cornerback for Detroit at boundary cornerback against number two wide receivers for the second year in a row. Billy Bowman Jr. Atlanta's 2025 fourth round pick that I had a second round grade on beat out Dee Alford for the nickel cornerback job in camp. Billy Bowman Jr. was a strong safety at Oklahoma, but he will be used in the exact same capacity as Josh Metellus was used on the Minnesota Vikings when Minnesota had Camryn Bynum and Harrison Smith at safety moving Metellus over to nickel cornerback. Dee Alford is the dime cornerback now. Clark Phillips III who won the nickel cornerback job as a rookie before missing time with injuries early in the season was demoted to dime cornerback in his sophomore year and he is now demoted to the quarter cornerback in year 3. Jesse Bates III moves from free safety to strong safety because Xavier Watts, Atlanta's 2025 third round pick that I had a first round grade on won the starting free safety job next to Jessie Bates III.

Younghoe Koo is one of the best kickers in the NFL. Atlanta's kicker asserted himself as a top 5 kicker last season.

Prediction: Tampa Bay is a 1.5 point favorite at -1.5. The over or under is 46.5 with 59% of the public betting on Tampa Bay. The money line is -130 for Tampa Bay and +110 for Atlanta. I like Atlanta to win and to cover with the under at +110. Bet $195 on this game for Atlanta and win up to $300 as long as the Falcons lose by 1 or less.

Final Score Falcons 19 Buccaneers 17

Who Draft Utopia Picked


Chris Ransom	Oren Shiri	Tony Mario	Joseph Potter	Andrew Kermish	Tracy Porter	Wes Langley	William Yanish	Daniel Keyser

0-0	0-0	0-0	0-0	0-0	0-0	0-0	0-0	0-0

Cincinnati Bengals 0-0-0	Versus	Cleveland Browns 0-0-0

Chris Ransom's Pick

You can go to Fanpicks and enter the Promo Code draftutopia to win $20 dollars. We also have a Draft Kings advertisement on our home page so you can go there to sign up for Fantasy Football as well.

Why the Cincinnati Bengals Will Win: Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow will have Orlando Brown Jr. at left tackle, Dylan Fairchild their 2025 third round pick out of Georgia at left guard, Ted Karras at center, Lucas Patrick at right guard, and Amarius Mims at right tackle. Cincinnati has Jalen Rivers their 2025 fifth round pick as a swing tackle as both the backup left tackle as well as the backup right tackle from Miami FL, Dalton Risner is the backup left guard, Matt Lee their 2024 seventh round pick from Miami FL is the backup center, and Cody Ford is the backup right guard. Cordell Volson was Cincinnati's starting left guard, but he's on injured reserve at the moment.

Cincinnati has Ja'Marr Chase as their flanker wide receiver, Tee Higgins as their secondary wide receiver even though you can argue he's good enough to be a number one target when Chase is injured, and Andrei Iosivas is the slot receiver. Jermaine Burton is the number four wide receiver after being the number five wide receiver as a rookie. Charlie Jones, Cincinnati's 2023 fourth round pick out of Purdue is the number five wide receiver. Mitchell Tinsley is the number six wide receiver.

Mike Gesicki is the Cincinnati Bengals starting tight end. Drew Sample is the backup tight end. Noah Fant is the third string tight end. Tanner Hudson went from backup tight end in 2023, to third string tight end in 2024, to fourth string tight end in 2025, but still made the Cincinnati Bengals final roster. Erick All Jr. their 2024 fourth round pick out of Iowa missed all of last year and was expected to miss all of this season when he tore an ACL back in March.

Cincinnati has Chase Brown Cincinnati's 2023 fifth round pick out of Illinois entering year three as the starting running back. Samaje Perine the long-time backup running back to Joe Mixon is back as the backup running back. Tahj Brooks their 2025 sixth round pick out of Texas Tech is the third string running back. Cincinnati has depth everywhere except quarterback and as long as Joe Burrow is healthy the sky feels like the limit for the Cincinnati Bengals over the next four years.

Cincinnati has Trey Hendrickson at 4-3 right end and Joseph Ossai complimenting him at 4-3 left end. B.J. Hill and T.J. Slaton Jr. compliment Hendrickson and Ossai at 4-3 defensive tackle on the inside. Myles Murphy their 2023 first round pick is the backup 4-3 right end and Shemar Stewart their 2025 first round pick out of Texas A&M is the backup 4-3 left end. Kris Jenkins Jr. a 2024 second round pick out of Michigan and McKinley Jackson a 2024 third round pick out of Texas A&M are the backup 4-3 defensive tackles. Cam Sample is the third string 4-3 right end and Cedric Johnson will be the third string 4-3 left end when he returns from injured reserve. Howard Cross III is a third string 4-3 defensive tackle as the undrafted defensive tackle out of Notre Dame that I had a third round grade on made the Cincinnati Bengals final roster.

Cincinnati has Demetrius Knight Jr. their 2025 second round pick out of South Carolina replaces Germaine pratt at 4-3 right outside linebacker and Logan Wilson remains at 4-3 middle linebacker. Cincinnati can use Barrett Carter their 2025 fourth round pick as a 4-3 left outside linebacker, but he will probably be the main backup middle linebacker to Logan Wilson in a 4-2-5 defense with Oren Burks being the main backup to Demetrius Knight Jr. at 4-3 right outside linebacker.

Cincinnati has Cam Taylor-Britt at field cornerback, D.J. Turner took the boundary cornerback job as a rookie as Cincinnati now has their top two cornerbacks on rookie deals for one more year, and Daxton Hill, Cincinnati's 2022 first round pick is the nickel cornerback. Josh Newton, Cincinnati's 2024 fifth round pick out of TCU is the dime cornerback after showing enough potential to be a number one field cornerback nt he season finale. Jordan Battle is the starting strong safety with Geno Stone starting at free safety. Tycen Anderson is the backup safety.

Cincinnati has Evan McPhearson at kicker and Ryan Rehkow at punter. Charlie Jones is the return specialist.

Why the Cleveland Browns Will Win: Joe Flacco is the starting quarterback. Dillon Gabriel, Cleveland's 2025 third round pick out of Oregon is the backup quarterback. Shedeur Sanders Cleveland's 2025 fifth round pick out of Colorado is the third string quarterback. Deshaun Watson is on the PUP list, but has been practicing regularly, so he could be cleared soon..

Joe Flacco has Dawand Jones at left tackle, Joel Bitonio at left guard, Ethan Pocic at center, Wyatt Teller at right guard, and Jack Conklin at right tackle. Cleveland also has KT Leveston as the swing tackle as both the backup left tackle as well as the backup right tackle, Teven Jenkins is the backup left guard, Luke Wypler is the backup center, and Zak Zinter is the backup right guard.

Cleveland has Jerry Jeudy as their flanker wide receiver, Cedric Tillman as their secondary wide receiver and Jamari Thrash as their slot receiver at slot receiver. Isaiah Bond an undrafted rookie is the number four wide receiver. DeAndre Carter is the number five wide receiver. Cleveland has David Njoku as their starting tight end and Harold Fannin Jr. their 2025 third round pick as their backup tight end. Cleveland has Jerome Ford as the starting running back, Dylan Sampson their 2025 fourth round pick is the backup running back, Raheim Sanders who went undrafted is the third string running back. Qunshon Judkins their 2025 second round pick out of Ohio State still hasn't signed his rookie deal.

Cleveland has Myles Garrett at 4-3 right end, Mason Graham their 2025 firstround pick at 4-3 defensive tackle, Maliek Collins at 4-3 defensive tackle, and Alex Wright at 4-3 left end. Cleveland has Joe Tryon-Shoyinka as their backup 4-3 right end to Myles Garrett,Shelby Harris is the backup 4-3 defensive tackle to Maliek Collins, Michael Hall Jr. is the backup 4-3 defensive tackle to Mason Graham, and Isaiah McGuire is the backup 4-3 left end as well as the backup to Alex Wright even though McGuire is clearly the better of those two. Michael Hall Jr. has been ruled inactive for week 1, but everyone else on Cleveland's injury report is active for week 1.

Cleveland has Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah at 4-3 right outside linebacker when he comes back from the NFL injured list with Mohamoud Diabate starting at 4-3 right outside linebacker when he comes back. Right now Devin Bush is the starting 4-3 right outside linebacker. Carson Schwesinger a 2025 second round pick out of UCLA that I didn't think much of is 4-3 middle linebacker, and Jerome Baker at 4-3 left outside linebacker until Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah or Mohamoud Diabate returns with Devin Bush starting once one of those two comes back.

Cleveland has Denzel Ward at field cornerback, Greg Newsome II at boundary cornerback with Martin Emerson tearing his ACL in his contract year, and Cameron Mitchell at nickel cornerback. Grant Delpit is the starting strong safety and Ronnie Hickman is the starting free safety.

Cleveland has Andre Szmyt at kicker. I'm not sold on Corey Bojorquez at punter, but the Cleveland Browns like him. Cleveland DeAndre Carter as their return specialist, but might need upgrades at both kicker and punter this offseason.

Prediction: Cincinnati is a 6.5 point favorite at -6.5. The over or under is 47.5 with 51% of the public betting on Cincinnati. The money line is -115 for Cincinnati and +105 for Cleveland. Take Cincinnati to win and cover with the over at -115. Bet $185 on this game for Cincinnati and win up to $300 as long as the Bengals win by 7 or more.

Final Score Bengals 31 Browns 17

Who Draft Utopia Picked


Chris Ransom	Oren Shiri	Tony Mario	Joseph Potter	Andrew Kermish	Tracy Porter	Wes Langley	William Yanish	Daniel Keyser

0-0	0-0	0-0	0-0	0-0	0-0	0-0	0-0	0-0

Miami Dolphins 0-0-0	Versus	Indianapolis Colts 0-0-0

Chris Ransom's Pick

Draft Utopia airs on Talkshoe. We have a show on as well as our usual weekend show on Talkshoe and Restream which livestreams what I do on Talkshoe to Youtube showcasing the visuals I use when breaking down things on my podcast. The Draft Utopia podcast is already underway with season 15 of Draft Utopia kicking off you can watch the videos in of seasons 13-15 on Restream in the playlist below with the most recent episodes from season 15 at the top of the playlist.

Why the Miami Dolphins Will Win: Miami Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa is the starting quarterback. Zach Wilson is the backup quarterback. Quinn Ewers a 2025 seventh round pick that played on Texas is the third string quarterback.

Tua Tagovailoa has Patrick Paul their 2024 second round pick out of Houston at left tackle, Jonah Savaiinaea a 2025 second round pick out of Arizona at left guard, Aaron Brewer at center, James Daniels at right guard, and Austin Jackson is the blindside at right tackle for left handed quarterback Tua Tagovailoa. Kendall Lamm us the backup left tackle, Daniel Brunskill is the backup interior offensive lineman at left guard, center, as well as right guard, and Larry Borom is the backup right tackle.

Miami has Tyreek Hill as their flanker receiver and Jaylen Waddle as their secondary wide receiver even though Waddle showed ability to be a number one target before Miami traded for Tyreek Hill. Malik Washington a 2024 sixth round pick out of Virginia is the number slot receiver. Nick Westbrook-Ikhine is the number four wide receiver for depth. Tahj Washington a 2024 seventh round pick is the number five wide receiver for depth.

Darren Waller is Miami's starting tight end. Miami is a team that could upgrade at tight end as Darren Waller retired last offseason. Darren Waller did get ruled out for week 1.

Miami has De'Von Achane, Miami's 2023 third round pick out of Texas A&M as their starting running back with Achane having enough experience of a full-time starter, Jaylen Wright Miami's 2024 fourth round pick is the backup running back, and Ollie Gordon IV Miami's 2025 sixth round pick out of Oklahoma State is the third string running back. Fullback Alec Ingold enters year three as the Miami Dolphins fullback. Jaylen Wright is going to miss multiple weeks, which means Ollie Gordon IV could be Miami's backup running back.

Miami has Zach Seiler at 3-4 right end, Benito Jones at 3-4 nose tackle, and Kenneth Grant Miami's 2025 first round pick out of Michigan at 3-4 left end. Matthew Butler who played defensive tackle on the Las Vegas Raiders last season is the backup 3-4 right end, Jordan Phillips a 2025 fifth round pick out of Maryland is the backup 3-4 nose tackle, and Zeek Biggers a 2025 seventh round pick out of Georgia Tech is the backup 3-4 left end.

Miami has Bradley Chubb at 3-4 right outside linebacker, Jordyn Brooks at 3-4 middle linebacker, Willie Gay Jr. at 3-4 middle linebacker, and Jaelen Phillips at 3-4 left outside linebacker. Matthew Judon is the backup 3-4 right outside linebacker. Chop Robinson, the Miami Dolphins 2024 first round pick out of Penn State enters year two as the backup 3-4 left outside linebacker. Tyrel Dodson and K.J. Britt are the backup 3-4 middle linebackers.

Miami has Storm Duck at field cornerback covering number one receivers. Rasul Douglas will play boundary cornerback covering number two wide receivers which is a role that he's done well in over the years. Kader Kohoo is the nickel cornerback, but he suffered a season ending injury. Jason Marshall Jr., the Miami Dolphins 2025 fifth round pick out of Florida will play nickel cornerback this season. Jack Jones is the dime cornerback. Cam Smith is the quarter cornerback, but he's on injured reserve. Ifeatu Melifonwu is now Miami's strong safety and Minkah Fitzpatrick is Miami's free safety. Ashtyn Davis is the third safety for depth.

Miami has Jason Sanders at kicker and Jake Bailey at punter, but Jason Sanders will miss the first 4-6 weeks of the regular season. Riley Patterson fills in for Jason Sanders. Malik Washington is the return specialist at kick returner and punt returner for the Miami Dolphins.

Why the Indianapolis Colts Will Win: Anthony Richardson the fourth pick in the 2023 NFL Draft out of Florida started the year before a season ending injury shut him down early in 2023. Anthony Richardson entered the season as the favorite to be the starting quarterback, but Daniel Jones won the starting quarterback job.

Daniel Jones has Bernard Raimann at left tackle, Quinton Nelson at left guard, Tanor Bortolini a 2024 fourth round pick out of Wisconsin at center, Matt Goncalves a 2024 third round pick out of Pittsburgh at right guard, and Braden Smith at right tackle. Jalen Travis a 2025 fourth round pick out of Iowa State is the backup left tackle, Danny Pinter is the backup center, and Blake Freeland one of their draft picks out of BYU is the backup right tackle, but Blake Freeland is currently on injured reserve.

Indianapolis has Michael Pittman Jr. as their flanker wide receiver, Josh Downs as their secondary wide receiver when fully healthy, and Alec Pierce as their slot receiver. Adonai Mitchell the Indianapolis Colts 2024 second round pick out of Texas is the number four wide receiver. Anthony Gould a 2024 fifth round pick out of Oregon State is the number five wide receiver, but he feels like nothing more than a career backup. Ashton Dulin is the number six wide receiver.

Tyler Warren, the Indianapolis Colts 2025 first round pick out of Penn State is the starting tight end. Mo Alie-Cox is the backup tight end. Drew Ogletree is the third stright tight end. Will Mallory beat out Jelani Woods for the fourth string tight end job.

Indianapolis has Jonathan Taylor as their starting running back, but the Colts are in trouble if he goes down again. Tyler Goodson is the backup running back. DJ Giddens a 2025 fifth round pick out of Kansas State is the third string running back. If DJ Giddens becomes the backup, the Colts could have some running back depth. Right now, the Indianapolis Colts running game will continue to lean on Jonathan Taylor as their bell cow at running back.

Indianapolis has Laiatu Latu their 2024 first round pick out of UCLA at 4-3 right end, DeForest Buckner at 4-3 defensive tackle, Grover Stewart back at 4-3 defensive tackle, and Kwity Paye their 2021 first round pick at 4-3 left end. Samson Ekubam is the backup 4-3 right end, Neville Gallimore will be the backup number three 4-3 defensive tackle, Adetomiwa Adebawaroe a defensive lineman out of Northwestern that I loved in the 2023 NFL Draft is the number four 4-3 defensive tackle, and Tyquan Lewis is the backup 4-3 left end. JT Tuimoloau is the third string 4-3 defensive end after being the Indianapolis Colts 2025 second round pick out of Ohio State.

Indianapolis has Jaylon Carlies at 4-3 right outside linebacker in their 4-2-5 nickel defense and Zaire Franklin at 4-3 middle linebacker in their 4-2-5 nickel defense. Cameron McGrone will play 4-3 left outside linebacker when the Indianapolis Colts bring a 4-3 personnel, but he will also play 4-2-5 right outside linebacker until Jaylon Carlies returns from injured reserve. Chad Muma is the backup 4-3 left outside linebacker, and with Jaylon Carlies on injured reserve, he would be the third linebacker in the lineup if Indianapolis deploys a 4-3 set even though the Indianapolis Colts are expected to run a 4-2-5.

Indianapolis will have Charvarius Ward as their number one field cornerback. Jaylon Jones a 2023 seventh round pick out of Texas A&M enters his second season as a full-time starter. Kenny Moore II last years nickel cornerback remaining at nickel. Xavien Howard is the dime cornerback, and Mekhi Blackmon, Minnesota's boundary cornerback before his season ending injury in 2024 is the quarter cornerback.

Indianapolis is starting Camryn Bynum at strong safety and Nick Cross a 2022 third round pick out of Maryland enters the final year of his rookie deal at free safety. Daniel Scott is the backup strong safety. Rodney Thomas II is the backup free safety.

Spencer Shrader is the Indianapolis Colts starting kicker. Some guy named Rigoberto Sanchez who I never heard of is the Indianapolis Colts punter. Anthony Gould will be both the return specialist as a kick returner and a punt returner.

Prediction: Indianapolis is a 1.5 point favorite at -1.5. The over or under is 46.5 with 51% of the public betting on Indianapolis. The money line is +100 for Miami and -120 for Indianapolis. Take Indianapolis to win and to cover with the under at -120. Bet $180 on this game for Indianapolis and win up to $300 as long as the Colts win by 2 or more.

Final Score Colts 16 Dolphins 14

Who Draft Utopia Picked


Chris Ransom	Oren Shiri	Tony Mario	Joseph Potter	Andrew Kermish	Tracy Porter	Wes Langley	William Yanish	Daniel Keyser

0-0	0-0	0-0	0-0	0-0	0-0	0-0	0-0	0-0

Las Vegas Raiders 0-0-0	Versus	New England Patriots 0-0-0

Chris Ransom's Pick

So far the only mock drafts I got up are NFL and NHL mock drafts. I do have one round mocks for both 2026 and 2027 though. My 2026 NFL Mock Draft is up. My 2026 NHL Mock Draft is up. My 2027 NFL Mock Draft is up. My 2027 NHL Mock Draft is up.

There's a lot of star power in the next two NFL and NHL Drafts. I told one of my friends that the NFL, NHL, and WNBA are about to enter bull markets with draft classes while the NBA, MLB, and MLS are expected to enter bear markets. If I'm wrong on this send me a DM on X or come on my podcast and tell me why I'm wrong.

I will do a 2026 NBA Mock Draft next, but I'm having trouble setting up the draft order. I also want to update the Fantasy Basketball section of our website. The top 10 of the 2026 MLB Draft looks strong, but its weak after that. I have been watching college soccer, but will wait until the MLS regular season ends to start a mock draft. Clemson midfielder Ransford Gyan looks like the guy that will headline the 2026 MLS Super Draft.

Why the Las Vegas Raiders Will Win: The Las Vegas Raiders Geno Smith at quarterback. Geno Smith has Kolton Miller at left tackle, Dylan Parham at left guard, Jordan Meredith at center, Jackson Powers-Johnson a 2024 second round pick out of Oregon at right guard, and and DJ Glaze a 2024 third round pick out of Maryland is the right tackle. Charles Grant their 2025 third round out of William & Mary is the backup left tackle. Caleb Rogers a 2025 third round pick out of Texas Tech is the backup left guard, Alex Cappa is the backup right guard, and Stone Forsythe is the backup right tackle. Center appears to be the only position that the Las Vegas Raidersneed to upgrade. I'm not high on Glaze, but he will get a year to prove himself.

Las Vegas has weapons in the passing game. Jakobi Meyers is the flaker wide receiver. Tre Tucker, the Las Vegas Raiders 2023 third round pick out of Cincinnati is the secondary wide receiver. Donte Thornton Jr. a 2025 fourth round pick out of Tennessee is the slot receiver. Jack Bech the Las Vegas Raiders 2025 second round pick out of TCU is the number four wide receiver after Amari Cooper chose to retire rather than rejoining the Raiders.

Brock Bowers, the Las Vegas Raiders 2024 first round pick is the number one tight end coming off a historically great rookie season. Michael Mayer is the number two tight end in two tight end sets as well as the backup tight end after being my top ranked tight end in the 2023 NFL Draft out of Notre Dame as well as the Las Vegas Raiders 2023 second round pick. Ian Thomas is the third string tight end.

Ashton Jeanty, the Las Vegas Raiders 2025 first round pick out of Boise State is the starting running back. Raheem Mostert is the backup running back. Zamir White last years starting running back is the third string running back. Dylan Laube a 2024 sixth round pick out of New Hampshire is the fourth string running back.

Las Vegas has Malcolm Koonce at 4-3 right end, Thomas Booker IV at 4-3 defensive tackle, Adam Butler at 4-3 defensive tackle, and Maxx Crosby at 4-3 left end. Tyree Wilson is currently the backup 4-3 defensive end to both Malcolm Koonce and Maxx Crosby entering year three after being the Las Vegas Raiders 2023 first round pick with the Raiders whiffing big time by drafting Tyree Wilson over Jalen Carter. Leki Fotu is the backup 4-3 defensive tackle at both spots.

Las Vegas has Germaine Pratt at 4-3 right outside linebacker. Elandon Roberts is the starting 4-3 middle linebacker. Devin White is the 4-3 left outside linebacker as well as the backup 4-3 middle linebacker in a 4-2-5 defense. Jamal Adams the former safety is the backup 4-3 right outside linebacker as well as the backup 4-3 left outside linebacker, Tommy Eichenberg a 2024 fifth round pick out of Ohio State is the third string 4-3 middle linebacker, and Cody Lindenberg a 2025 seventh round pick is the third string 4-3 right outside linebacker.

Eric Stokes is the field cornerback. Kyu Blu Kelly is the boundary cornerback. Jeremy Chinn a safety is the nickel cornerback. Darnay Holmes is the dime cornerback The other two safeties in Chris Smith II and Isaiah Pola-Moa are awful as the Las Vegas Raiders might have the worst safety tandem in the NFL.

Daniel Carlson is a top 10 kicker, but not a top 5 kicker. The rest of the Raiders special teams is a question mark outside of Carlson.

Why the New England Patriots Will Win: The New England Patriots Drake Maye the third overall pick in the 2024 NFL Draft out of North Carolina entering year two as the starting quarterback.

Drake Maye will have Will Campbell, New England's 2025 first round pick out of LSU at left tackle, Jared Wilson a 2025 third round pick out of Georgia at left guard, Garrett Bradbury at center, Michael Onwenu at right guard, and Morgan Moses at right tackle. New England has Verderian Lowe last years starting left tackle as the backup left tackle. Caedan Wallace kicks inside to guard after being New England's 2024 third round pick and backup right tackle as a rookie. Marcus Bryant the New England Patriots 2025 seventh round pick out of Missouri is the backup right tackle.

New England's has Stefon Diggs as their flanker wide receiver. Kayshon Boutte is the secondary wide receiver. DeMario Douglas is the slot receiver. Kyle Williams New England's 2025 third round pick out of Washington State is the number four wide receiver. Efton Chism III an undrafted wide receiver out of Eastern Washington is the number five wide receiver. Mack Hollins is the number six wide receiver. Ja'Lynn Polk, New England's 2024 second round pick out of Washington is on season ending injured reserve.

Hunter Henry will remain the starting tight end. Austin Hooper is the backup tight end.

New England has Rhamondre Stevenson as their number one running back. TreVeyon Henderson, New England's 2025 second round pick out of Ohio State is the number two running back. Antonio Gibson last years backup running back is now the third string running back.

New England looks much better offensively than a year ago. That should translate to the New England Patriots being much more competitive this season with Josh McDaniels back at offensive coordinator.

New England has Christian Barmore at 3-4 right end, Khyiris Tonga at 3-4 nose tacke, and Milton Williams at 3-4 left end. New England has Joshua Farmer a 2025 fourth round pick out of Florida State as the backup 3-4 nose tackle.

New England has Harold Landry III at 3-4 right outside linebacker, Robert Spillane at 3-4 middle linebacker, Christian Elliss at 3-4 middle linebacker, and Keion White as the starting 3-4 left outside linebacker. Anfernee Jennings is the backup 3-4 right outside linebacker and K'Lavon Chaisson is the backup 3-4 left outside linebacker. Marte Mapu and Jack Gibbens are the backup 3-4 middle linebackers.

New England has Christian Gonzalez their 2023 first round pick out of Oregon is the the number one field cornerback. Carlton Davis III is the boundary cornerback next to Chrstian Gonzalez. Marcus Jones last years nickel cornerback will play nickel cornerback. Craig Woodson, New England's 2025 fourth round pick out of California took the starting strong safety job from Kyle Dugger with the strong safety situation getting so ugly that Kyle Dugger got placed on the trade block with no trading partner. Jaylinn Hawkins took the free safety job from Jabrill Peppers and New England cut Jabrill Peppers to save cap space meaning Kyle Dugger will be the main backup at both strong safety and free safety now. Christian Gonzalez got ruled out for week 1, but I do not think that will matter since Jakobi Meyers is the only good wide receiver that the Las Vegas Raiders have.

New England has Andres Borregales their 2025 sixth round pick out of Miami FL at kicker and Bryce Baringer a 2023 sixth round pick out of Michigan State who was my top punter in the 2023 NFL Draft as the starting punter with Barringer entering year three as the starting punter. TreVeyon Henderson is the kick returner and Marcus Jones is the punt returner.

Prediction: New England is a 2.5 point favorite at -2.5. The over or under is 43.5 with 59% of the public betting on New England. The money line is +125 for Las Vegas and -145 for New England. Take New England to win and cover with the over at -145. Bet $155 on this game for New England and win up to $300 as long as the Patriots win by 3 or more.

Final Score Patriots 28 Raiders 24

Who Draft Utopia Picked


Chris Ransom	Oren Shiri	Tony Mario	Joseph Potter	Andrew Kermish	Tracy Porter	Wes Langley	William Yanish	Daniel Keyser

0-0	0-0	0-0	0-0	0-0	0-0	0-0	0-0	0-0

Arizona Cardinals 0-0-0	Versus	New Orleans Saints 0-0-0

Chris Ransom's Pick

Draft Utopia now has an E-Commerce Store on Teespring. Click on the word Teespring to be redirected to our shop to buy Draft Utopia merchandise.

Why the Arizona Cardinals Will Win: Arizona Cardinals starting quarterback Kyler Murray seems to have matured last offsesason and it is refreshing to see him take responsibility. Kyler Murray has Paris Johnson Jr. at left tackle, Evan Brown is back starting at left guard, Hjalte Froholdt is Arizona's starting center, Isaiah Adams, Arizona's 2024 third round pick out of Illinois is the starting right guard, and Jonah Williams is the startig right tackle. Arizona has Kelvin Beachum as their backup left tackle who will now be the main swing tackle with Arizona's backup right tackle on injured reserve the first four weeks once again. Jon Gaines II is the backup center, and Will Hernandez is the swing guard for depth once he returns from an injury. Christian Jones is the backup right tackle once he returns from injured reserve as this is his second year in a row on injured reserve to start the season after being a 2024 third round pick out of Texas. Will Hernandez, Arizona's swing guard has been ruled out for week 1. Jon Gaines II the backup center is questionable in week 1.

Arizona got a true number one flanker wide receiver for Kyler Murray in Marvin Harrison Jr. who was the best receiver in the 2024 NFL Draft. Michael Wilson is the number two secondary wide receiver. Zay Jones ais the slot receiver. Greg Dortch who began last year as the slot receiver is the number four wide receiver. Former Colorado wide receiver Xavier Weaver, who I had a fifth round grade on, made Arizona's final 53 man roster as an undrafted rookie and was the number six wide receiver in year one. Xavier Weaver got promoted to the number five wide receiver this season.

Trey McBride, Arizona's 2022 second round pick out of Colorado State took the starting tight end job from Zach Ertz in the second half of the 2023 season after seeing limited action as a rookie when Ertz got injured in 2022. Trey McBride was the best tight end in the NFC last year even though he didn't score a touchdown until late in the season. Tip Reiman, Arizona's 2024 third round pick out of Illinois took the backup tight end job from Elijah Higgins. Elijah Higgins is now the third string tight end.

James Conner remains the starting running back. Trey Benson, Arizona's 2024 third round pick is a good backup for James Conner in Arizona. Emari Demercado showed he could be a viable third string running back last year as he remains in that role.

Arizona has Justin Jones last years 3-4 right end, Walter Nolen, Arizona's 2025 first round pick who may play 3-4 nose tackle, and Bilal Nichols last years starting 3-4 left end, who might be their three best 3-4 defesive linemen at 3-4 right end, 3-4 nose tackle, and 3-4 left end all either on the PUP list or injured resreve to start the first four games this season. Darius Robinson, Arizona's 2024 first round pick out of Missouri will start at 3-4 right end, Dalvin Tomlinson starts at 3-4 nose tackle, and Calais Campbell at 3-4 left end. Dante Stills a 2023 sixth round pick out of west Virginia is the backup 3-4 right end for now until Justin Jones returns and L.J. Collier is the backup 3-4 left end for now until Bilal Nichols returns.

Arizona will start Josh Sweat at 3-4 right outside linebacker, Mack Wilson returns at 3-4 middle linebacker with Akeem Davis-Gaither complimenting him at 3-4 middle linebacker as Akeem Davis-Gaither deserves an opportunity to start after being a great backup role player at linebacker for many years with the Bengals. Baron Browning is the starting 3-4 left outside linebacker across from Josh Sweat. B.J. Ojulari the backup 3-4 right outside linebacker begins the year on the PUP list. Xavier Thomas a 2024 fifth round pick out of Clemson begins the year as the backup 3-4 right outside linebacker even though he will probably be the third string 3-4 right outside linebacker when B.J. Ojulari returns. Zaven Colins is the backup 3-4 left outside linebacker. Owen Pappoe a 2023 fifth round pick out of Auburn and Cody Simon Arizona's 2025 fourth round pick out of Ohio State are the backup 3-4 middle linebackers. Jordan Burch, Arizona's 2025 third round pick is the third string 3-4 left outside linebacker.

Arizona Cardinals 2025 second round pick Will Johnson is the number one field cornerback as I had Will Johnson in my top 5, but he fell to day 2 due to durability concerns. Max Melton a 2024 second round pick out of Rutgers enters year two and will be the boundary cornerback. Garrett Williams, the Arizona Cardinals 2023 third round pick out of Syracuse is the projected nickel cornerback. Denzel Burke Arizona's 2025 fifth round pick is the dime cornerback. Sean Murphy-Bunting is currently on injured reserve, but I think he's Arizona's fifth best cornerback and would be the quarter cornerback. Elijah Jones a 2024 third round pick out of Boston College will fill in at quarter cornerback until Sean Murphy-Bunting returns. Kei-Trel Clark is the number six cornerback. Jalen Thompson is back at strong safety. Budda Baker is back at free safety. Arizona is deep at cornerback, but doesn't have great safety depth if injuries occur at safety. Arizona may move a cornerback to safety if an injury occurs at safety with how deep Arizona is at cornerback.

Chad Ryland is Arizona's kicker. Greg Dortch is the return specialist at kick returner and punt returner.

Why the New Orleans Saints Will Win: Spencer Rattler the 2024 Senior Bowl MVP was drafted in the fifth round of the 2024 NFL Draft out of South Carolina beat out Tyler Shough, the New Orleans Saints 2025 second round pick out of Louisville for the starting quarterback job as Tyler Shough . Jake Haener the 2023 Senior Bowl MVP who was drafted in the fourth round of the 2023 NFL Draft by the New Orleans Saints got cut from the roster and is on the New Orleans Saints practice squad since nobody picked him up.

Spencer Rattler has Kelvin Banks Jr. a 2025 first round pick at left tackle, Trevor Penning at left guard, Erik McCoy at center, Cesar Ruiz at right guard, and Taliesa Fuaga their 2024 first round pick that played right tackle at Oregon State at right tackle after Fuaga played left tackle in the NFL as a rookie. Dillon Radunz is the backup left tackle, Asim Richards is the backup left guard, Luke Fortner is the backup center, Torricelli Simpkins III is the backup right guard, and Xavier Truss is the backup right tackle. The New Orleans Saints have five great starters on the offensive line, but the depth is absolutely awful if injuries occur. Trevor Penning is out in week 1 with a toe injury. Asim Richards the former Dallas Cowboys backup left tackle that was drafted in the fifth round of the 2023 NFL Draft will make his first career NFL start at left guard after playing left tackle at North Carolina. New Orleans traded a 2028 sixth round pick and a 2028 seventh round pick to get Asim Richards.

New Orleans has Chris Olave as their flanker wide receiver, Brandin Cooks is their secondary wide receiver, and Rashid Shaheed is the slot receiver. Devaughn Vele who was Denver's slot receiver is the number four wide receiver. Trey Palmer who was Tampa Bay's slot receiver as a rookie and number four wide receiver as a sophomore enters year three as the number five wide receiver.

New Orleans has Juwan Johnson as the starting tight end, Foster Moreau as the backup tight end, and Taysom Hill as their third string tight end. Moliki Matavao the New Orleans Saints 2025 seventh round pick out of UCLA is the fourth string tight end, but will begin the season as a backup tight end with Foster Moreau and Taysom Hill on injured reserve.

Alvin Kamara is the starting running back. Kendre Miller is the backup running back. Velus Jones Jr. makes the conversion from wide receiver to running back and is the third string running back. Devin Neal, the New Orleans Saints 2025 sixth round pick is the fourth string running back.

New Orleans is changing their defensive scheme from a 4-3 to a 3-4. Defensive coordinator Brandon Staley specializes in a 3-4 defense. New Orleans has Bryan Bresse at 3-4 right end, Davon Godchaux at 3-4 nose tackle, and Nathan Shepherd at 3-4 left end. Bresse and Shepherd are 4-3 guys with Godchaux being the only starter among that group having experience in the 3-4 defense.

New Orleans has Carl Granderson at 3-4 right outside linebacker, Demario Davis at 3-4 middle linebacker, Pete Werner at 3-4 middle linebacker, and Chase Young starting at 3-4 left outside linebacker. Cameron Jordan is the third pass rusher for depth as the backup 3-4 outside linebacker. Danny Stutsman a 2025 fourth round pick out of Oklahoma and Jaylan Ford a 2024 fifth round pick out of Texas are the two backup 3-4 middle linebacker. Most of these guys at pass rusher are 4-3 guys, but New Orleans has four really good 3-4 middle linebackers. I think the run defense will be good at stuffing runs in the middle, but will be suspect at stopping runs on the outside. I also believe the pass rush will struggle in this defensive scheme. Chase Young is out in week 1 with an injury, so Cameron Jordan will start in his place.

New Orleans has Alontae Taylor at field cornerback, Kool-Aid McKinstry at boundary cornerback, and Isaac Yiadom at nickel cornerback. Quincy Riley, the New Orleans Saints 2025 fourth round pick out of Louisville is the dime cornerback. Rejzhon Wright the former Oregon State cornerback is the quarter cornerback. Alontae Taylor may miss week 1 due to an injury. Justin Reid is the new starting strong safety and Julian Blackmon is the new starting free safety with New Orleans acquiring both safeties in Free Agency. Jonas Sanker their 2025 third round pick is the backup strong safety and Jordan Howden their 2023 fifth round pick out of Indiana is the backup free safety.

Blake Grupe is the starting kicker. Kai Kroger is the punter. Rashid Shaheed is the return specialist at both kick returner and punt returner.

Prediction: Arizona is a 6.5 point favorite at -6.5. The over or under is 42.5 with 70% of the public betting on Arizona. The money line is -270 for Arizona and +240 for New Orleans. Take Arizona to win and cover with the unde at -270. Bet $330 on this game for Arizona and win up to $600 as long as the Cardinals win by 7 or more.

Final Score Cardinals 24 Saints 17

Who Draft Utopia Picked


Chris Ransom	Oren Shiri	Tony Mario	Joseph Potter	Andrew Kermish	Tracy Porter	Wes Langley	William Yanish	Daniel Keyser

0-0	0-0	0-0	0-0	0-0	0-0	0-0	0-0	0-0

Pittsburgh Steelers 0-0-0	Versus	New York Jets 0-0-0

Chris Ransom's Pick

You can check out US Football Tips our newest partner with us at Draft Utopia. Feel free to compare our point spreads to theirs.

Why the Pittsburgh Steelers Will Win: The Pittsburgh Steelers got Aaron Rodgers at quarterback. Mason Rudolph is the backup quarterback. Skylar Thompson is the third string quarterback. Will Howard, Pittsburgh's 2025 sixth round pick out of Ohio State is the fourth string quarterback.

Aaron Rodgers has Broderick Jones their 2023 first round pick out of Georgia starting at left tackle, Isaac Seumalo is the left guard, Zach Frazier Pittsburgh's 2024 second round pick out of West Virginia will start at center, Mason McCormick a 2024 fourth round pick out of South Dakota State at right guard, and Troy Fautanu, Pittsburgh's 2024 first round pick out of Washington is the starting right tackle. Andrus Peat is the backup left tackle, Spencer Anderson is the backup left guard, Ryan McCollum is the backup center, Max Scharping is the backup right guard, and Calvin Anderson is the backup right tackle. Pittsburgh does not have great depth on the offensive line with the only solid players being Andrus Peat, Spencer Anderson, and Max Scharping.

Pittsburgh has D.K. Metcalf as the flanker wide receiver. Roman Wilson, Pittsburgh's 2024 third round pick out of Michigan is the secondary wide receiver. Calvin Austin III is the slot receiver. Scotty Miller is the number four wide receiver and Ben Skowronek is the number five wide receiver.

Pittsburgh has Pat Freiermuth as their starting tight end, Jonnu Smith is the backup tight end, Darnell Washington was my number two tight end behind Michael Mayer in the 2023 NFL Draft despite falling to the Pittsburgh Steelers in the third round as Georgia's complimentary tight end next to Brock Bowers. Washington showed me why he has starter potential when filling in for an injured Freiermuth despite entering training camp as the third string tight end before beating out Zach Gentry for the tight end two job as a rookie. Pittsburgh is also moving starting fullback Connor Heyward into the fourth string tight end role.

Pittsburgh has Jaylen Warren as their starting running back. Pittsburgh has Kaleb Johnson a 2025 third round pick out of Iowa asthe backup running back. Kenneth Gainwell is the third string running back.

Pittsburgh has Cameron Heyward at 3-4 right end, Keeanu Benton at 3-4 nose tackle, and Derrick Harmon their 2025 first round pick out of Oregon at 3-4 left end. Pittsburgh doesn't have the depth they had on the defensive line last year, but Derrick Harmon is an upgrade in the starting lineup. Cameron Heyward may sit out in week 1 and Derrick Harmon has been ruled inactive.

Pittsburgh has a top 5 edge rusher duo in the league with Alex Highsmith at 3-4 right outside linebacker and T.J. Watt at 3-4 left outside linebacker as this is one of the better pass rushing tandems in the NFL. Patrick Queen left Baltimore to go to Pittsburgh with Baltimore's 2020 first round pick and Payton Wilson, the Butkus Award winner that Pittsburgh drafted out of North Carolina State in the third round of the 2024 NFL Draft are the two starting 3-4 middle linebackers. Nick Herbig is the backup 3-4 right outside linebacker as the 2023 fourth round pick out of Wisconsin is the backup to Alex Highsmith at 3-4 right outside linebacker. Jack Sawyer a 2025 fourth round pick out of Ohio State is the backup to T.J. Watt at 3-4 left outside linebacker. Cole Holcomb and Malik Harrison are the 3-4 middle linebackers. Carson Bruner a 2025 seventh round pick out of UCLA is the third string 3-4 middle linebacker.

Pittsburgh has Jalen Ramsey at field cornerback, Darius Slay at boundary cornerback, and Joey Porter Jr. their 2023 second round pick out of Penn State who spent the last two years at field cornerback at nickel cornerback. Pittsburgh has three different cornerbacks that can cover a number one wide receiver, but the problem is they got zero depth if injuries occur with dime cornerback Corey Trice Jr. currently on injured reserve.

Pittsburgh has DeShon Elliott at starting strong safety and Juan Thornhill at free safety as their two starting safeties. Chuck Clark is the backup strong safety and Miles Killebrew is the backup free safety. Pittsburgh has good safety depth even after trading Minkah Fitzpatrick to Miami to get Jalen Ramsey.

Pittsburgh has Chris Boswell at kicker. Kenneth Gainwell will be Pittsburgh's kick returner while Calvin Austin III will be the punt returner.

Why the New York Jets Will Win: New York has Justin Fields at quarterback. Justin Fields has Olumuyiwa Fashanu, the New York jets 2024 first round pick out of Penn State at left tackle, John Simpson at left guard, Josh Myers at center, Joe Tippman moving from center to right guard thanks to a season ending injury of Alijah Vera-Tucker, and Armand Membou the New York Jets 2025 first round pick a right tackle out of Missouri as the right tackle. Max Mitchell is the backup left tackle and Chukwuma Okorafor is the backup right tackle, and Gus Hartwig made the New York Jets final roster as an undrafted free agent and I had Hartwig as a guy with starter potential, but Gus Hartwing is currently on injured reserve and will be the backup center when he returns. The worst backup on the New York Jets is backup guard Xavier Newman, the backup left guard as well as the backup right guard. Chukwuma Okorafor is listed as questionable for week 1 now.

The New York Jets Garrett Wilson as the flanker wide receiver, Allen Lazard is the secondary wide receiver, and Josh Reynolds is the slot receiver. The New York Jets have zero depth at wide receiver if injuries occur.

Mason Taylor the New York Jets 2025 second round pick out of LSU is the starting tight end. Jeremy Ruckert is the backup tight end. Stone Smartt the Los Angeles Chargers third string tight end last year is now the New York Jets third string tight end. Jelani Woods is the fourth string tight end.

New York has Breece Hall as their starting running back, Braelon Allen their 2024 fourth round pick as their backup running back, and Isaiah Davis a 2024 fifth round pick out of South Dakota State is the third string running back.

The New York Jets have Jermaine Johnson II a 2022 first round pick from Florida State as the starting 4-3 right end, Quinnen Williams as their starting 4-3 defensive tackle, Harrison Phillips as their other starting 4-3 defensive tackle, and Will McDonald IV a 2023 first round pick from Iowa State as their 4-3 left end. New York has good starters on the defensive line if both Jermaine Johnson II and Will McDonald IV can stay healthy, but the New York Jets depth on the defensive line is worse than last season.

New York has Quincy Williams at 4-3 right outside linebacker in a 4-2-5 nickel defense and Jamien Sherwood at 4-3 middle linebacker in a 4-2-5 nickel defense. Michael Clemons would play 4-3 left outside linebacker in a 4-3 set, but luckily for Clemons New York runs a 4-2-5 nickel defense.

The New York Jets have Ahmad "Sauce" Gardner at field cornerback covering number one wide receivers. Brandon Stephens is the boundary cornerback covering number two wide receivers as Stephens was a liability in Baltmore last year. Michael Carter II is back at nickel cornerback. Azareye'h Thomas the New York Jets 2025 third round pick out of Florida State is the dime cornerback. Qwan'tez Sittgers is the quarter cornerback. Tony Adams moves from free safety to strong safety and Andre Cisco is the new free safety. Malachi Moore, the New York Jets 2025 fourth round pick out of Alabama is the backup strong safety and Isaiah Oliver is the backup free safety.

Nick Folk is the starting kicker. Kene Nwangwu is the kick returner and Xavier Gipson is the punt returner.

Prediction: Pittsburgh is a 2.5 point favorite at -2.5. The over or under is 37.5 with 61% of the public betting on Pittsburgh. The money line is -150 for Pittsburgh and +130 for New York. Take Pittsburgh to win and cover with the under at -150. Bet $250 on this game for Pittsburgh and win up to $400 as long as the Steelers win by 3 or more.

Final Score Steelers 21 Jets 16

Who Draft Utopia Picked


Chris Ransom	Oren Shiri	Tony Mario	Joseph Potter	Andrew Kermish	Tracy Porter	Wes Langley	William Yanish	Daniel Keyser

0-0	0-0	0-0	0-0	0-0	0-0	0-0	0-0	0-0

New York Giants 0-0-0	Versus	Washington Commanders 0-0-0

Chris Ransom's Pick

I posted game film of Iowa State VS Kansas State onto Rumble. I will get game film of the three top 10 games from week 1 and any other games that are requested.

Why the New York Giants Will Win: New York Giants quarterback Russell Wlilson is the starting quarterback, Jaxon Dart, the New York Giants 2025 first round pick out of Ole Miss is the backup quarterback, and Jameis Winson is the third string quarterback. Russell Wilson Andrew Thomas at left tackle, Jon Runyan Jr. at left guard, John Michael Schmitz a 2023 second round pick out of Minnesota starts at center, Greg Van Roten is the starting right guard, and Jermaine Eluemunor is the starting right tackle. James Hudson III is the backup left tackle, Aaron Stinnie is the backup left guard, Austin Schlottman is the backup center, Evan Neal is the backup right guard after going from starting right tackle as a rookie to backup right tackle, to third string right tackle last year with him entering the final year of his rookie deal as the backup right guard, Marcus Mbow, the New York Giants 2025 fifth round pick out of Purdue is the backup right tackle. New York has surprisingly more depth than usual on the offensive line. Andrew Thomas has been ruled out for week 1, so backup left tackle James Hudson III will start at left tackle in relief of Andrew Thomas.

New York has Malik Nabers their 2024 first round pick out of LSU as their number one flanker wide receiver. Darius Slayton is the secondary wide receiver. Wan'Dale Robinson is the slot receiver. Jalin Hyatt, a 2023 third round pick out of Tennessee who won the Billetnikoff Award in 2022 is the number four receiver on this depth chart. Beaux Collins an undrafted wide receiver out of Notre Dame won the number five wide receiver job. Gunner Olszewski is the number six wide receiver for depth.

The New York Giants have Theo Johnson as their starting tight end. Chris Manhertz is the backup tight end. Daniel Bellinger enters the final year of his rookie deal as the third string tight end.

Tyrone Tracy Jr. a 2024 fifth round pick out of Purdue is the starting running back. Devin Singletary is the backup running back. Cam Skattebo a 2025 fourth round pick out of Arizona State is the third string running back.

New York has Rakeem Nunez-Roches at 3-4 right end, Dexter Lawrence at 3-4 nose tackle, and Roy Robertson-Harris at 3-4 left end. New York drafted Darius Alexander in the third round of the 2025 NFL Draft out of Toledo for depth at both 3-4 right end and 3-4 left end. D.J. Davidson a 2022 fifth round pick enters the final year of his rookie contract and is the backup 3-4 nose tackle to Dexter Lawrence.

Abdul Carter, the New York Giants 2025 first round pick out of Penn State as the starting 3-4 right outside linebacker. enters his third season in the NFL as the starting 3-4 right outside linebacker with Brian Burns complimenting him at 3-4 left linebacker. New York signed Bobby Okerke to a 4 year contract at 3-4 middle linebacker. Micah McFadden compliments Bobby Okereke 3-4 middle linebacker. Kayvon Thibodeaux is the situtational pass rusher.

Paulson Adebo is the field cornerback. Deonte Banks, the New York Giants 2023 first round pick out of Maryland was the field cornerback his first two years, but will now be the boundary cornerback. Dru Phillips, the New York Giants 2024 third round pick out of Kentucky is the nickel cornerback. Tyler Nubin their 2024 second round pick out of Minnesota is the starting strong safety. Jevon Holland plays free safety.

New York has Graham Gano as their starting kicker. Gunner Olszewski is the return specialist at both kick returner and punt returner.

Why the Washington Commanders Will Win: The Washington Commanders have Jayden Daniels starting at quarterback as the second overall pick in the 2024 NFL Draft out of LSU had a dominant rookie season guiding Washington to the NFC Championship game. Washington has Laremy Tunsil at left tackle, Brandon Coleman a 2024 third round pick out of TCU that played left tackle as a rookie moves inside to left guard, Tyler Biadasz returns at center, Andrew Wylie last years right tackle moves inside to right guard, and Josh Conerly Jr. Washington's 2025 first round pick out of Oregon beat out both Andrew Wylie and George Fant for the right tackle job.

Washington has Terry McLaurin as their flanker wide receiver, Deebo Samuel is the secondary wide receiver with Washington now having two wide receivers that have the experience to pay flanker wide receiver, and Noah Brown last years secondary wide receiver down the stretch is the slot receiver. Washington has Luke McCaffrey their 2024 third round pick out of Rice as the number four wide receiver as McCaffrey began in this role last year before becoming the slot receiver near the end of the season. Jaylin Lane, Washington's 2025 fourth round pick out of Virginia Tech is the number five wide receiver for depth.

Washington has Zach Ertz as their starting tight end, John Bates their 2021 draft pick out of Boise State is the backup tight end, and Ben Sinnott their 2024 second round pick out of Kansass State is the third string tight end. Washington also has Austin Ekeler as their starting running back with Jacory Croskey-Merrtitt a 2025 seventh round pick out of Arizona beating out Chris Rodriguez for the backup running back job. Chris Rodriguez is the third string running back.

Washington has Von Miller at 4-3 right end, Dorance Armstrong Jr. at 4-3 left end, DaRon Payne their 2018 first round pick, and Javon Kinlaw at 4-3 defensive tackle after Kinlaw beat out Jer'Zhan Newton who showed a lot of promise as a rookie for the 4-3 defensive tackle job. Washington doesn't have great depth at pass rusher, but Jer'Zhan Newton last years 2024 second round pick out of Illinois and Eddie Goldman are the backup 4-3 defensive tackles.

Washington has Frankie Luvu as their 4-3 right outside linebacker, Bobby Wagner is the 4-3 middle linebacker, and Jordan Magee a 2024 fifth round pick out of Temple won the 4-3 left outside linebacker job when Washington deploys a 4-3 personnel. When Washington plays a 4-2-5 nickel Jordan Magee will be the main backup linebacker at both outside and inside linebacker if something happens to Frankie Luvu or Bobby wagner

Washington has Marshon Lattimore to field cornerback, Trey Amos a 2025 second round pick out of Ole Miss the boundary cornerback, Mike Saintristl their 2024 second round pick is the nickel cornerback for the second year in a row. Will Harris replaces Jeremy Chinn as the starting strong safety and Jartavius Martin now known as Quan Martin is the starting free safety. Washington's depth at safety is weaker, but Percy Butler is an effective backup safety entering the final year of his rookie deal.

Mat Gay is the starting kicker. Austin Ekeler is the kick returner and Jaylin Lane is the punt returner.

Prediction: Washington is a 6.5 point favorite at -6.5. The over or under is 45.5 with 74% of the public betting on Washington. The money line is +225 for New York and -260 for Washington. Take Washington to win and cover with the under at -260. Bet $340 on this game for Washington and win up to $600 as long as the Commanders win by 7 or more.

Final Score Commanders 24 Giants 17

Who Draft Utopia Picked


Chris Ransom	Oren Shiri	Tony Mario	Joseph Potter	Andrew Kermish	Tracy Porter	Wes Langley	William Yanish	Daniel Keyser

0-0	0-0	0-0	0-0	0-0	0-0	0-0	0-0	0-0

Carolina Panthers 0-0-0	Versus	Jacksonville Jaguars 0-0-0

Chris Ransom's Pick

I posted a Youtube video of Kansas State middle linebacker Austin Romaine. I will try to get more film cuts up on the website.

Why the Carolina Panthers Will Win: Carolina Panthers quarterback Bryce Young, the first pick in the 2023 NFL Draft out of Alabama will have Ikem Ekwonu at left tackle as well as Carolina's 2022 first round pick out of North Carolina State, Damien Lewis at left guard, Austin Corbett at center, Robert Hunt at right guard, and Taylor Moton at right tackle. Carolina has the exact same offensive lne for the second year in a row. Brady Christensen is the backup left tackle and the backup left guard. Cade Mays is the backup center, Chandler Zavala their 2023 fourth round pick out of North Carolina State is the backup right guard, Yosh Nijman is the backup right tackle. Ikem Ekwonu has been downgraded to doubtful. Backup left tackle Brady Christensen will start the season opener in Jacksonville.

Bryce Young has Tetairoa McMillan Carolina's 2025 first round pick out of Arizona as his number one flanker receiver, Xavier Legette a 2024 first round pick out of South Carolina as his secondary wide receiver, and Adam Thielen was supposed to be the slot receiver before being traded to Minnesota. Jalen Coker was supposed to be the number four wide receiver, but after Theilen got traded he got promoted to slot receiver before landing on injured reserve. Hunter Renfrow was supposed to be the number five wide receiver, but he will begin the season as the slot receiver. Jimmy Horn Jr. a 2025 sixth round pick out of Colorado beat out David Moore who played slot receiver regularly for a top six wide receiver role, but he's now the number four wide receiver thanks to Thielen being traded to the Vikings and Jalen Coker on injured reserve. David Moore is the number five wide receiver thanks to the Thielen and Coker domino effect at wide receiver for Carolina.

Carolina has Tommy Tremble, Carolina's 2021 third round pick out of Notre Dame as their starting tight end. Carolina drafted Texas tight end Ja'Tavion Sanders in the fourth round of the 2024 NFL Draft as Sanders was my second best tight end behind Brock Bowers as Ja'avion Sanders led the tight end competiton early before Tomy Tremble own that job. Mitchell Evans a 2025 fifth round pick out of Notre Dame is the third string tight end.

Carolina has Chubba Hubbard as their starting running back, Jonathon Brooks was their 2024 second round pick out of Texas and he's still on the NFL injured list. Rico Dowdle fills in for Jonathon Brooks as a stop-gap backup running back. Trevor Etienne, Carolina's 2025 fourth round pick out of Georgia is the third string running back.

Carolina has Derrick Brown at 3-4 right end, Bobby Brown III at 3-4 nose tackle, and Tershawn Wharton who took the defensive tackle job from Derrick Nnadi last year down the stretch across from Chris Jones at 3-4 left end. Carolina has A'Shawn Robinson as their backup 3-4 right end, Cam Jackson a 2025 fifth round pick out of Florida that I thought had starter potential is the backup 3-4 nose tackle. Labryan Ray will be the backup 3-4 left end whenever he returns from injured reserve. Not only does Carolina have quality starters on their interior defensive line, the depth looks promising as well entering this season.

Carolina has D.J. Wonnum at 3-4 right outside linebacker once he gets back from the PUP list, Trevin Wallace at 3-4 middle linebacker, Christian Rozeboom at 3-4 middle linebacker, and Patrick Jones II at 3-4 left outside linebacker. Carolina has Nic Scourton their 2025 second round pick out of Texas A&M as the backup 3-4 right outside linebacker and Princely Umamielen Carolina's 2025 third round pick out of Ole Miss as the backup 3-4 left outside linebacker. Carolina has way more depth on the edge and on interior with the defensive line this year. The drawback is they are much thinner at 3-4 middle linebacker as it can be argued that Trevin Wallace and Christian Rozeboom are both downgrades over Shaq Thompson and Josey Jewell despite being younger.

Carolina has Jaycee Horn at field cornerback, Michael Jackosn at boundary cornerback, Chau Smith-Wade at nickel cornerback, and Akayleb Evans at dime corneback, Tre'von Moehrig at strong safety, and Nick Scott at free safety. Carolina drafted Lathan Ransom with their 2025 fourth round pick out of Ohio State as he will be the third safety for depth.

Carolina has Ryan Fitzgerald at kicker. Sam Martin is the punter. Jimmy Horn Jr. is the kick returner and Trevor Etienne is the punt returner.

Why the Jacksonville Jaguars Will Win: Trevor Lawrence got extended at quarterback. Jacksonville has Walker little at left tackle, Ezra Cleveland at left guard, Robert Hainsey at center, Patrick Mekari at right guard, and Anton Harrison at right tackle. Wyatt Milum, Jacksonville's 2025 third round pick out of West Virginia is the backup left tackle as well as the backup left guard. Jonah Monheim the Jacksonville Jaguars 2025 seventh round pick out of USC is the backup center. Cooper Hodges is the backup right guard, but he's currently on the PUP list with Chuma Edoga filling in for him. Wyatt Milum has been ruled out in week 1.

Jacksonville has Brian Thomas Jr. as their flanker wide receiver as a 2024 first round pick out of LSU, Travis Hunter their secondary wide receiver as a 2025 first round pick out of Colorado, and Dyami Brown as the slot receiver. Tim Patrick is an okay number four wide receiver. Parker Washington is the number five wide receiver.

Brenton Strange, Jacksonville's 2023 second round pick is the starting tight end which does not make sense since Strange ranked twenty out of twenty on my tight end rankings for the 2023 NFL Draft. Johnny Mundt Minnesota's third string tight end is the backup tight end. Hunter Long the Los Angeles Rams fourth string tight end is the third string tight end. This is without a doubt the worst tight end room in the entire league this year.

Jacksonville has Travis Etienne as the starting running back, Tank Bigsby as the number two running back, Bhayshul Tuten a 2025 fourth round pick out of Virginia Tech is the third string running back , and LeQuint Allen Jr. a 2025 seventh round pick out of Syracuse is the fourth string running back.

Jacksonville has a lot more depth at a lot of key positons. The problem is that the Jacksonville Jaguars have the worst tight end room in the entire league.

Jacksonville has Josh Hines-Allen at 4-3 right end, DaVon Hamilton at 4-3 defensive tackle, Arik Armstead at 4-3 defensive tackle, and Travon Walker at 4-3 left end. `Dawuane Smoot is the backup 4-3 right end, Austin Johnson is the backup 4-3 defensive tackle, Maason Smith a 2024 second round pick out of LSU is the number four 4-3 defensive tackle now being promoted from third string to backup, Emmanuel Ogbah is the backup 4-3 left end behind Travon Walker, and Khalen Saunders is the third string 4-3 defensive tackle.

Jacksonville has Foyesade Oluokun at 4-3 right outside linebacker in a 4-2-5 nickel defense and Devin Lloyd at 4-3 middle linebacker in a 4-2-5 nickel defense. Dennis Gardeck is starting at 4-3 left outside linebacker. Jack Kiser their 2025 fourth round pick out of Notre Dame is the backup 4-3 right outside linebacker, Ventrell Miller is the backup 4-3 middle linebacker, and Yasir Abdullah is the backup 4-3 left outside linebacker. Jacksonville has depth at linebacker for not just a 4-2-5 nickel defense, but a 4-3 base defense as well.

Jacksonville has Tyson Campbell at field cornerback, Jarrian Jones a 2024 third round pick out of Florida State is the new boundary cornerback, Jourdan Lewis the former Dallas Cowboys nickel cornerback is the new nickel cornerback, Travis Hunter the Jacksonville Jaguars 2025 first round pick is the dime cornerback, and Montaric Brown is the quarter cornerback. Eric Murray will be the new starting strong safety with Andrew Wingard at free safety. Antonio Johnson is the backup strong safety and Darnell Savage is the backup free safety. Jacksonville has a lot of depth on defense and that depth is going to make this defense much better this season. Montaric Brown has been ruled out for this game.

Jacksonville has Cam Little a rookie kicker out of Arkansas at kicker which I think was an solid decision by the Jaguars at kicker. Logan Cooke doesn't excite me as a punter yet he's back. Parker Washington is the return specialist both a kick returner and a punt returner.

Prediction: Jacksonville is a 3.5 point favorite at -3.5. The over or under is 46.5 with 60% of the public betting on Jacksonville. The money line is +155 for Carolina and -175 for Jacksonville. Take Jacksonville to win and cover with the over at -175. Bet $225 on this game for Jacksonville and win up to $400 as long as the Jaguars win by 4 or more.

Final Score Jaguars 31 Panthers 16

Who Draft Utopia Picked


Chris Ransom	Oren Shiri	Tony Mario	Joseph Potter	Andrew Kermish	Tracy Porter	Wes Langley	William Yanish	Daniel Keyser

0-0	0-0	0-0	0-0	0-0	0-0	0-0	0-0	0-0

Tennessee Titans 0-0-0	Versus	Denver Broncos 0-0-0

Chris Ransom's Pick

I started a new show called Under The Bleachers with William Yanish and Brandice Bell. Here's a playlist of all the episodes. Under The Bleachers is back for season 2.

Why the Tennessee Titans Will Win: Tennessee drafted Cam Ward first overall in the 2025 NFL Draft out of Miami FL. Cam Ward will be the day 1 starter in Tennessee after Will Levis had a season ending injury.

Tennessee Titans quarterback Cam Ward has Dan Moore Jr. at left tackle, Peter Skoronski Tennessee's 2023 first round pick who was Northwestern's left tackle entering year two at left guard, Lloyd Cushenberry III at center, Kevin Zeitler is the starting right guard, and JC Latham Tennessee's 2024 first round pick a right tackle at Alabama that was drafted seventh overall will move back to right tackle after playing left tackle as a rookie. Jaleyn Duncan is the backup left tackle and Jackson Slater is the backup left guard.

Tennessee has Calvin Ridley as their flanker wide receiver. Tyler Lockett is the secondary wide receiver. Elc Ayomanor a 2025 fourth round pick out of Stanford beat out Van Jefferson and Chimere Dike a 2025 fourth round pick out of Maryland for a for the slot receiver job despite Dike being drafted ahead of Ayomanor as I had Ayomanor graded higher which means Van Jefferson is the number four wide receiver with Chimere Dike being the number five wide receiver. This means Treylon Burks, the Tennessee Titans 2022 first round pick out of Arkansas goes from being a number one wide receiver as a rookie, to being the number two wide receiver in year two, to being the number four wide receiver in year 3, to being the number six wide receiver in year four.

Tennessee has Chigoziem Okonwko as their starting tight end whose in the final year of his rookie contract and Gunnar Helm a 2025 fourth round pick out of Texas as the backup tight end. Tennessee has Tony Pollard as their starting running back and Tyjae Spears their 2023 third round pick out of Tulane entering year three as the backup running back. Kalel Mullings a 2025 sixth round pick that played fullback out of Michigan is currently the backup running back until Tyjae Spears returns from injured reserve as Kalel Mullings beat out Julius Chesnut last years third string running back for the third string running back job. Tennesee has depth at wide receiver, but that feels like the only position the Tennessee Titans have depth at.

Tennessee has Jeffrey Simmons at 3-4 right end, T'Vondre Sweat, Tennessee's 2024 second round pick out of Texas will start at 3-4 nose tackle, and Sebastian Joseph-Day will start at 3-4 left end. Tennessee also has Shy Tuttle for depth behind T'Vondre Sweat.

Tennesee has Dre'Mont Jones at 3-4 right outside linebacker and Arden Key at 3-4 left outside linebacker. Cody Barton and Cedric Gray, Tennessee's 2024 fourth round pick out of North Carolina are the two starting 3-4 middle linebackers. Jihad Ward is the backup 3-4 right outside linebacker and Oluwafemi Oladejo the Tennessee Titans 2025 second round pick out of UCLA is the backup 3-4 left outside linebacker.

Tennessee has Jarvis Brownlee Jr. a 2024 fifth round pick out of Louisville came in and won the field cornerback job as a rookie last year, L'Jarius Sneed goes back to boundary cornerback where he excelled with the Kansas City Chiefs after starting last year as the Tennessee Titans field cornerback, and nickel cornerback Roger McCreary enters his fourth season at nickel cornerback. Tennessee has zero depth at cornerback if any of these three cornerbacks get injured as Sneed did miss time with injuries last year.

Tennessee has Amani Hooker at strong safety and Xavier Woods at free safety. Tennessee also has Kevin Winston Jr. their 2025 third round pick out of Penn State as the backup stong safety. Quandre Diggs is the backup free safety.

Tennessee has depth at nose tackle, 3-4 outside linebacker even though the depth is weaker than last year, and safety. Tennessee doesn't have depth at five technique for the second year in a row, no depth at 3-4 middle linebacker, and now Tennessee has no depth at cornerback.

Tennessee has Joey Slye at kicker and Johnny Hekker is back at punter. Chimere Dike will be the return specialist at both kick returner and punt retuner as a rookie.

Why the Denver Broncos Will Win: Denver Broncos quarterback Bo Nix won the starting quarterback job as a rookie after being Denver's 2024 first round pick taking Denver to the playoffs. Bo Nix has Garrett Bolles at left tackle, Ben Powers at left guard, Luke Wattenberg at center, Quinn Meinerz at right guard, and Mike McGlinchey the former San Francisco 49ers right tackle is now Denver's starting right tackle. Matt Peart the swing tackle and Alex Forsyth the backup center is the only backups I like on this offensive line. Denver's offensive line is better than you would think if their starters can stay healthy.

Courtland Sutton is the flanker wide receiver. Troy Franklin, Bo Nix's teammate at Oregon and Denver's 2024 fourth round pick is the as the secondary wide receiver. Marvin Mims Jr. is the slot receiver. Pat Bryant a 2025 third round pick out of Illinois is the number four wide receiver. Trent Sherfield is the number five wide receiver

Evan Engram is now the starting tight end. Adam Trautman Sean Payton's former tight end in New Orleans is now number two tight end.

J.K. Dobbins is now the starting running back. RJ Harvey, Denver's 2025 second round pick out of Central Florida is the backup running back. Jaleel McLaughlin last years backup running back is the third string running back.

Denver has John Franklin-Myers at 3-4 right end with D.J. Jones at 3-4 nose tackle. Zach Allen is the 3-4 left end. Denver's defensive line looks pretty good on paper with this trio as long as this trio can stay healthy. Malcolm Roach the backup 3-4 nose tackle is out in week 1.

Denver has Jonathon Cooper at 3-4 right outside linebacker, Alex Singleton at 3-4 middle linebacker, Dre Greenlaw at 3-4 middle linebacker, and Nik Bonitto at at 3-4 left outside linebacker. Jonah Ellis is the backup 3-4 right outside linebacker after being Denver's 2024 third round pick out of Utah. Nik Bonitto is the backup 3-4 left outside linebacker. Drew Sanders is injured for the third year in a row at 3-4 middle linebacker. Dre Greenlaw is out in week 1 and Denver does not have any depth at 3-4 middle linebacker with Greenlaw out of the lineup.

Denver has Patrick Surtain II at field cornerback, Riley Moss is the boundry cornerback, Jahdae Barron, their 2025 first round pick out of Texas is the nickel cornerback, Ja'Quaun McMillian last years nickel cornerback becomes the dime cornerback, and Kris Abrams-Draine their 2024 fifth round pick is the quarter cornerback. Damarri Mathis surprised everyone when he took control of the boundary cornerback job as a 2022 fourth round pick out of Pittsburgh. Talanoa Hufanga is the starting strong safety and Brandon Jones is the starting free safety.

Denver has Will Lutz at kicker and Jeremy Crawshaw a 2025 sixth round pick out of Florida at punter. Marvin Mims Jr. is the return specialist in addition to the slot receiver at both kick returner and punt returner.

Prediction: Denver is a 8.5 point favorite at -8.5. The over or under is 42.5 with 77% of the public betting on Denver. The money line is +330 for Tennessee and -380 for Denver. Take Denver to win and cover with the under at -380. Bet $420 on this game for Denver and win up to $800 as long as the Broncos win by 8 or more.

Final Score Broncos 24 Titans 13

Who Draft Utopia Picked


Chris Ransom	Oren Shiri	Tony Mario	Joseph Potter	Andrew Kermish	Tracy Porter	Wes Langley	William Yanish	Daniel Keyser

0-0	0-0	0-0	0-0	0-0	0-0	0-0	0-0	0-0

San Francisco 49ers 0-0-0	Versus	Seattle Seahawks 0-0-0

Chris Ransom's Pick

I started a dynasty football league with William Yanish and that will replace the BFFL as far as weekly updates go. Since I don't have logos for each team that I can put on the site like the BFFL, I'm just going to tell you whose on my team this week and provide scores, updates, and maybe add logos for other teams if William wants me to in the coming weeks. William is also my week 1 opponent.

My team has Joe Burrow, Patrick Mahomes, Justin Herbert, and Aaron Rodgers at quarterback with Burrow and Mahomes starting in super flex with Justin Herbert and Aaron Rodgers on my bench. This team has stability at quarterback until at least 2030 possibly another decade, and I will have to reload at quarterback by 2040 at the latest.

My running backs are Jonathan Taylor, Kyren Williams, Alvin Kamara, Najee Harris, Rhamondre Stevenson, and Buffalo Bills backup running back Ray Davis. Taylor and Kyren Williams are still in their twenties. Alvin Kamara is my flex running back while Harris, Stevenson, and Davis are on my bench. I got short-term stability at running back, but could consider a running back in dynasty next year if I keep my first round picks. I think 2027 is going to be stronger and am open to dealing all my 2026 capital to get more 2027 draft capital.

At wide receiver, I have D.J. Moore as my number one wide receiver, Emeka Egbuka, who I got at 1.10 after trading down in the rookie draft, is my number two wide receiver as I expect him to be one of the steals of the 2025 NFL Draft at wide receiver. I also have two flex wide receivers in Jameson Williams and Matthew Golden, my rookie draft pick at 2.05 after trading down again. My bench wide receivers include Khalil Shakir, Troy Franklin, Tyler Lockett, Josh Palmer, Romeo Doubs, and Jalen Royals my third round pick in our rookie draft. Getting Egbuka and Golden in the first two rounds at wide receiver was huge

My tight ends are Mark Andrews and Dallas Goedert with Andrews as my starting tight end and Goedert as my flex tight end. I also got Hunter Henry, Tyler Higbee, and fourth round pick Harold Fannin Jr. as a player to stash in case David Njoku leaves Cleveland after this season. The 2026 NFL Draft is stronger at tight end than the 2027 one. If Mark Andrews and Dallas Goedert leave Baltimore and Philadelphia after this season, this will be the area of my team that I have to tweak next offseason. Right now, I am favored to beat William in week 1.

William has Drake Maye, Spencer Rattler, Daniel Jones, and Justin Fields at quarterback. Outside of Drake Maye, I don't see another quarterback that can become a long-term starter. Tyson Bagent and Joe Milton are on his taxi squad. In his defense, he was going to take Justin Herbert in the third round of the standard draft before I picked him after opening the standard draft with three quarterbacks in Joe Burrow, Patrick Mahomes, and Justin Herbert. William will have to get another quarterback at some point if Rattler, Jones, and Fields do not take a leap this season. If Maye doesn't pan out he will need two quarterbacks, but we're both confident Maye will pan out now that he has a left tackle in Will Campbell.

William has Christian McCaffrey as his starting running back. Zach Charbonnet the number two running back behind Kenneth Walker III is his number two running back. Emannuel Wilson, Cam Skattebo, and Trey Benson are his bench running backs with Benson being the only backup of that group entering week 1. Running back feels like another area William may have to upgrade if Zach Charbonnet, Cam Skattebo, or Trey Benson doesn't become a full-time starter by the end of 2025. Jaylen Wright is on his taxi squad.

Wide receiver is probably William's deepest position with Ladd McConkey and Jaxon Smith-Njigba as his starters. He also has Josh Downs, Chrsi Olave, Ricky Pearsall, and Isac TeSlaa from the rookie draft in the fifth round as his flex receivers. Tez Johnson another fifth round pick is on his ench along with kyy Moore, Keon Coleman, third round rookie draft pick Tory Horton, Jordan Watkins a fourth round pick at wide receiver, Marvin Mims Jr., and Luther Burden III his second round rookie draft pick. This team is loaded at wide receiver.

Both of William's tight ends are rookies that are starting in real life. Colston Loveland was his first round pick in the rookie draft. Mason Taylor was his second fourth round pick at tight end in the rookie draft. Tight end could be an asset if both rookies pan out, but it could also be a liability if both rookies struggle. William's team is in a rebuild, but he has the wide receivers to win long-term and could have stability at tight end if the rookies pan out. Getting a second quarterback and a second running back in next years rookie draft have to be goals if this team doesn't win a lot of games in Dynasty.

Why the San Francisco 49ers Will Win: Brock Purdy has a terrific offensive line with Trent Williams at left tackle, Ben Bartch at left guard, Jake Brendel at center, Dominic Puni their 2024 third round pick out of Kansas at right guard, and Colton McKivitz at right tackle. Spencer Burford is the swing tackle, Colby Conor their 2025 seventh round pick out of Iowa is the swing guard, and Matt Hennessy is the backup center.

San Francisco has Brandon Aiyuk as their flanker receiver, Ricky Pearsall as their secondary receiver, and Jauan Jennings as their slot receiver. Russell Gage Jr. is the number four wide receiver, Jordan Watkins a 2025 fourth round pick out of Ole Miss is the number five wide receiver, and Skyy Moore is the number six wide receiver. Brandon Aiyuk is still on the PUP list, so he may miss week 1 which would make Pearsall the number one target, Jennings would play on the outside instead of the inside, and Russell Gage Jr. would play in the slot until Brandon Aiyuk returns. Jordan Watkins is out with an injury.

George Kittle is San Francisco's starting tight end. San Francisco's tight end depth is much weaker than last year, so San Francisco is in trouble if George Kittle goes down.

San Francisco has Christian McCaffrey as their starting running back whose considered the best running back when fully healthy after dominating in 2022 and 2023 before a season ending injury in 2024. Brian Robinson Jr. is the backup running back. Isaac Guerendo a 2024 fourth round pick out of Louisville is the third string running back. Jordan James a 2025 fourth round pick out of Oregon is the fourth string running back. San Francisco 49ers fullback Kyle Juszczyk is the best fullback in the NFL. San Francisco has the best running back, fullback, and depth of any team in the NFL. Jordan James is out i week 1. Christian McCaffrey is questionable to play in week 1.

San Francisco has Nick Bosa at 4-3 right end, Jordan Elliott at 4-3 defensive tackle, Kalia Davis at 4-3 defensive tackle, and Mykel Williams the San Francisco 49ers 2025 first round pick out of Georgia at 4-3 left end as their starters on the defensive line. Yetur Gross-Matos is the backup 4-3 right end behind Nick Bosa, Alfred Collins San Francisco's 2025 second round pick out of Texas along with CJ West San Francisco's 2025 fourth round pick out of Indiana are the backup defesnive tackles, and Bryce Huff is the backup 4-3 left end.

San Francisco has Dee Winters at 4-3 right outside linebacker, Fred Warner at 4-3 middle linebacker, and Luke Gifford as their 4-3 left outside linebacker as well as the backup to Fred Warner at middle linebacker in a 4-2-5 defense. Nick Martin San Francisco's 2025 third round pick out of Oklahoma State is the backup outside linebacker.

San Francisco has Renardo Green, San Francisco's 2024 second round pick out of Florida State is the new field cornerback, Deommodore Lenoir is the boundary cornerback, and Upton Stout San rancisco's 2025 third round pick out of Western Kentucky is the nickel cornerback at nickel cornerback. Malik Mustapha their 2024 fourth round pick out of Wake Forest returns at strong safety with Ji'Ayir Brown the San Francisco 49ers 2023 third round pick out of Penn State as the starting free safety. Jason Pinnock is the backup strong safety who may fill in for an injured Mustapha in week 1. Marques Sigle a 2025 fifth round pick out of Kansas State is the backup free safety.

San Francisco has Jake Moody their 2023 third round pick out of Michigan starting at kicker. Thomas Morstead is the starting punter. Isac Guerendo is the kick returner and Skyy Moore is the punt returner.

Why the Seattle Seahawks Will Win: Seattle Seahawks quarterback Sam Darnold is the new starting quarterback with Geno Smith leaving Seattle. Drew Lock is the backup quarterback. Jalen Milroe, Seattle's 2025 third round pick out of Alabama is the third string quarterback.

Sam Darnold has Charles Cross at left tackle, Grey Zabel, Seattle's 2025 first round pick out of North Dakota State at left guard, Jalen Sundell barely won the starting center job, Anthony Bradford Jr. at right guard until Christian Haynes their 2024 third round pick out of Connecticut returns from injured reserve, and Abraham Lucas the starting right tackle. Josh Jones is the swing tackle and Jalen Sundell is the backup left guard if either Gray Zabel or Anthony Bradford Jr. injured with Christian Haynes out with Seattle not wanting to start either their 2025 sixth round pick at left guard or 2025 seventh round pick at right guard. Seattle doesn't want to play either guard, and I didn't have either guard getting drafted in 2025.

Seattle has Jaxon Smith-Njigba Seattle's 2023 first round pick out of Ohio State at flanker wide receiver, Cooper Kupp is their secondary wide receiver after playing flanker wide receiver his entire career while also winning Super Bowl 56 MVP, and Tory Horton, Seattle's 2025 fifth round pick out of Colorado State will be the slot receiver. Jake Bobo, Dareke Young, and Cody White are the backup wide receivers. Seattle enters week 1 fully healthy at wide receiver for the second year in a row. Jake Bobo and Dareke Young are inactive in week 1, so Seattle does not have a lot of depth at wide receiver this week despite all of their starters beign healthy.

Seattle has AJ Barner as their starting tight end, Eric Saubert as their backup tight end, and Elijah Arroyo Seattle's 2025 second round pick out of Miami FL as their third string tight end. Seattle lost Will Dissly after 2023 and cut Noah Fant earlier this offseason meaning Seattle is much weaker at tight end then two years ago and weaker at tight end than last year.

Seattle has Kenneth Walker III as their starting running back after Michigan State's former running back dominated as a rookie with Seattle in 2022. Zach Charbonnet a 2023 second round pick out of UCLA is now the backup running back. Kenny McIntosh, Seattle's 2023 seventh round pick out of Georgia is the third string running back after being the fourth string running back as a rookie for the second year in a row with Kenny McKintosh on injured reserve. George Holani is the fourth string running back when Kenny McIntosh is healthy, but right now he's the third string running back. Wesley Steiner the fullback that was expected to start is on injured reserve. Robbie Outzts a 2025 fifth round pick that was a backup tight end at Alabama won the starting fullback job despite Wesley Steiner getting injured.

Seattle has Jarran Reed at starting 3-4 right end, Byron Murphy II Seattle's 2024 first round pick out of Texas at 3-4 nose tackle, and Leonard Williams at 3-4 left end. Rylie Mills the Seattle Seahawks 2025 fifth round pick out of Notre Dame is the backup 3-4 right end, but he's currently on injured reserve. Jonathan Hankins the backup 3-4 nose tackle is also currently on injured reserve. Mike Martin the backup 3-4 left end is the only backup defensive linemen not injured.

Seattle has Demarcus Lawrence at 3-4 right outside linebacker and Uchenna Nwosu complimenting him at 3-4 left outside linebacker as these two guys are the starting edge rushers in Seattle for the 2023 season. Tyrice Knight and Ernest Jones IV are the starting 3-4 middle linebackers. Derrick Hall is the backup 3-4 right outside linebacker and Boye Mafe is the backup 3-4 left outside linebacker. Uchenna Nwosu, Boye Mafe, and Derrick Hall will all get reps at 3-4 left outside linebacker across from Demarcus Lawrence since Seattle thinks all three of those guys have a case to start next to Demarcus Lawrence. Uchenna Nwosu has been ruled inactive in week 1. Boye Mafe will start at 3-4 left outside linebacker next to Demarcus Lawrence in week 1. Derrick Hall should be the situational pass rusher.

Seattle has Devon Witherspoon back at field cornerback. Tariq Wolen dominated number two wide receivers at boundary cornerback during his rookie season out of UTSA going even as far as to be a finalist for Defensive Rookie Of The Year after being a 2022 fifth round pick with Tarqi Wollen entering the final year of his rookie deal. Josh Jobe is the nickel cornerback and he feels like an upgrade over Tre Brown, who replaced Michael Jackson in 2024. Nehemiah Prichett their 2024 fifth round pick is the dime cornerback.

Seattle will have Coby Bryant at strong safety and Julian Love at free safety when both safeties are fully healthy. Seattle's depth at safety still remains an issue.

Seattle has an under the radar top 10 kicker in Jason Myers at kicker. Michael Dickson isn't a bad punter. George Holani is the at kick returner and Tory Horton is the punt returner.

Prediction: San Francisco is a 2 point favorite at -2. The over or under is 43.5 with 58% of the public betting on San Francsico. The money line is -135 for San Francisco and +115 for Seattle. I like Seattle to win and to cover with the over at +115. Bet $185 on this game for Seattle and win up to $300 as long as the 49ers win by 1 or less.

Final Score Seahawks 24 49ers 20

Who Draft Utopia Picked


Chris Ransom	Oren Shiri	Tony Mario	Joseph Potter	Andrew Kermish	Tracy Porter	Wes Langley	William Yanish	Daniel Keyser

0-0	0-0	0-0	0-0	0-0	0-0	0-0	0-0	0-0

Detroit Lions 0-0-0	Versus	Green Bay Packers 0-0-0

Chris Ransom's Pick

I got College Scoreboards from the Scorestream app as well as NFL scores. I just feel like posting ten different scoreboards before getting to the article will cause readers to lose interest. Scoreboards for the ACC, Big 10, Big 12, SEC, and Mountain West are now up.

Why the Detroit Lions Will Win: Detroit Lions starting quarterback Jared Goff has a strong offensive line once again He's got Taylor Decker back at left tackle, Christian Mahogany, Detroit's 2024 sixth round pick out of Boston College that I had a third round grade on at left guard, Graham Glasgow at center, Tate Ratlidge Detroit's 2025 second round pick out of Georgia at right guard, and Penei Sewell at right tackle. Detroit cut Dan Skipper and does not have any depth on the offensive line if any of these players get injured on the offensive line.

Jared Goff has Amon-Ra St. Brown as his number one flanker wide receiver, Jameson Williams is the secondary wide receiver, Isaac TeSlaa, the Detroit Lions 2025 third round pick out of Arkansas won the slot receiver job despite me not having him getting drafted. Kalif Raymond last years slot receiver is the number four wide receiver. Dominic Lovett, Detroit's 2025 seventh round pick out of Georgia is Detroit's number five wide receiver.

Sam LaPorta had a great rookie season last year and managed to emerge as a top 10 starting tight end. Brock Wright is the number two tight end. Jahmyr Gibbs is expected to be the number one running back with David Montgomery complimenting Gibbs. Last year David Montgomery started with Jahmyr Gibbs complimenting him with Gibbs being eased in. Detroit has two number one running backs in their backfield. Craig Reynolds is the third string running back and Detroit Lions 2024 fourth round pick Sione Vaki a safety at Utah is the fourth string running back. Sione Vaki is out this week.

Detroit will have Aidan Hutchinson at 4-3 right end, D.J. Reader at 4-3 defensive tackle, Alim McNeil at 4-3 defensive tackle, and Marcus Davenport at 4-3 left end as their starters on the defensive line. Josh Pascal is the situational pass rusher, but he's on injured reserve. Levi Onwuzirike is the backup 4-3 defensive tackle to D.J. Reader. Both Alim McNeil and Levi Onwuzirike are on the PUP list. Tyliek Williams the Detroit Lions 2025 first round pick out of Ohio State may start at defensive tackle next to D.J. Reader in week 1 next to D.J. Reader with both Levi Onwuzirike and Alim McNeil possibly out with injuries.

Alex Anzalone is at 4-3 right outside linebacker, Jack Campbell Detroit's 2023 first round pick out of Iowa will start at 4-3 middle linebacker, and Derrick Barnes at 4-3 left outside linebacker as well as the backup 4-3 middle outside linebacker in a 4-2-5 nickel defense. Malcolm Rodriguez is the backup 4-3 right outside linebacker as well as the backup right outside linebacker in a 4-2-5 nickel defense.

Detroit currently has Terrion Arnold a 2024 first round pick out of Alabama at field cornerback, D.J. Reed is the boundary cornerback, Amik Robertson as their nickel cornerback. Ennis Rakestraw Jr. their 2024 second round pick did challenge Amik Robertson for the nickel cornerback job before his injury in the preseason. Avonte Maddox the former Philadelphia Eagles nickel cornerback is now the Detroit Lions quarter cornerback, but now he's the dime cornerback.

Jake Bates is Detroit's kicker. Jack Fox is punter. Kalif Raymond is the return specialist at both kick returner and punt returner.

Why the Green Bay Packers Will Win: Jordan Love enters his third season as the full-time starting quarterback on the Green Bay Packers. Jordan Love has Rasheed Walker at left tackle, Aaron Banks at left guard, Elgton Jenkins at center, Sean Rhyan at right guard, and Zach Tom at right tackle. Green Bay also has Jordan Morgan the Green Bay Packers 2024 first round pick out of Arizona as the backup left tackle and Anthony Belton a 2025 second round pick out of North Carolina State as the backup right tackle. Jacob Monk is the backup center once he returns from injured reserve.

Christian Watson, Green Bay's 2022 second round pick out of North Dakota State finished his rookie season strong after missing the early portion of the season with injuries and was the number one flanker wide receiver, but because Watson has such a notorius injury history, it is very obvious that Green Bay will let him walk after this season. It won't surprise me if Christian Watson ends up as a backup on Green Bay when he comes back from his injury, but he could also start if the other wide receivers on Green Bay struggle. Romeo Doubs Green Bay's 2022 fourth round pick out of Nevada is the secondary wide receiver, but will be Green Bay's number one flanker receiver until Christian Watson returns. Matthew Golden, the Green Bay Packers 2025 first round pick out of Texas is the number two wide receiver while Christian Watson is on the PUP list as many believe Matthew Golden will become the number one wide receiver to Jordan Love. Jayden Reed Green Bay's 2023 second round pick is the slot receiver. Dontayvion Wicks is the number five wide receiver on the Green Bay Packers. Savion Williams Green Bay's 2025 third round pick out of TCU is the number six wide receiver.

Jayden Reed, Dontayvion Wicks, and Savion Williams are all questionable for this game while Christian Watson is on injured reserve. Green Bay could be depleted at wide receiver with Reed, Wicks, Williams, and Christian Watson all out for this game leaving Matthew Golden and Romeo Doubs as the only healthy wide receivers meaning Green Bay would not have a slot receiver against Detroit.

Green Bay has Tucker Kraft a 2023 third round pick out of South Dakota State as the starting tight end. Luke Musgrave their 2023 second round pick out of Oregon State began as a starting tight end, but his injury history caused him to get demoted to second string.

Green Bay has Josh Jacobs as their starting running back Emmanuel Wilson is the backup running back thanks to Marshawn Lloyd being injured to start the season for the second year in a row.

Green Bay enters year two with a 4-3 defense. Micah Parsons will start at 4-3 right end, Devonte Wyatt will start at 4-3 defensive tackle, Karl Brooks will start at 4-3 defensive tackle, and Rashan Gary is the starting 4-3 left end. Lukas Van Ness is the backup 4-3 right end as a situational pass rusher. Nazir Stackhouse and Colby Wooden are the two backup defensive tackles. Micah Parsons is questionable for this game and if he is out Jared Goff will have a clean pocket. Even if Parsons plays, it will most likely be on a snap count.

Green Bay has Quay Walker as their 4-3 right outside linebacker in a 4-2-5 nickel defense with Edgerrin Cooper as the 4-3 middle linebacker. Isaiah McDuffie is the 4-3 left outside linebacker as well as the backup 4-3 middle linebacker in a 4-2-5 nickel defense. Ty'Ron Hopper a rookie drafted in the third round is the backup to Quay Walker.

Green Bay has Nate Hobbs at field cornerback. Keisean Nixon goes from nickel cornerback to boundary cornerback. Javon Bullard transitions from free safety to nickel cornerback. Carrington Valentine is the dime cornerback and Corey Ballentine is the quarter cornerback. Green Bay has Xavier McKinney at strong safety and Evan Stewart at free safety. Nate Hobbs is questionable, but he practiced in a limited capacity on thursday and friday after having a surgery for a torn meniscus back in August.

Brandon McManus is Green Bay's kicker. Keisean Nixon Green Bay's nickel cornerback is the kick returner and Jayden Reed is the punt returner.

Prediction: Green Bay is a 1.5 point favorite at -1.5. The over or under is 47.5 with 58% of the public betting on Green Bay. The money line is +125 for Detroit and -140 for Green Bay. I like Detroit win and to cover with the over at +125. Bet $175 on this game for Detroit and win up to $300 as long as the Packers win by 1 or less.

Final Score Lions 31 Packers 17

Who Draft Utopia Picked


Chris Ransom	Oren Shiri	Tony Mario	Joseph Potter	Andrew Kermish	Tracy Porter	Wes Langley	William Yanish	Daniel Keyser

0-0	0-0	0-0	0-0	0-0	0-0	0-0	0-0	0-0

Houston Texans 0-0-0	Versus	Los Angeles Rams 0-0-0

Chris Ransom's Pick

Jake Ellenbogen is one of the better Rams insiders on Youtube. We had him on the podcast. In one of his latest videos Jake brings on Cole Thompson a Texas resident that covers the Houston Texans from Texans Wire the USA Today Houston Texans webpage on USA Today's network. I'm lucky enough to be friends with both individuals, so feel free to take a listen to this game preview if my in depth game writeups bore the crap out of you.

Why the Houston Texans Will Win: C.J. Stroud the second overall pick in the 2023 NFL Draft out of Ohio State ended up winning Offensive Rookie Of The Year and took the Houston Texans to the Divisional Round as a rookie before doingn that once again as a sophomore. C.J. Stroud has Aireontae Ersery, the Houston Texans 2025 second round pick that played left tackle on the Minnesota Golden Gophers as the new at left tackle, Laken Tomlinson at left guard, Jake Andrews, the New England Patriots backup center as a rookie in 2023 that was drafted out of Troy got demoted to third string center in 2024 after New England signed Ben Brown, yet somehow Jake Andrews beat out Jarrett Patterson for the starting center job, Ed Ingram, the former Minnesota Vikings right guard beat out Juice Scruggs for the starting right guard job, and Tytus Howard at right tackle. Cam Robinson is the backup left tackle, Juice Scruggs is the swing guard, Jarrett Patterson is the backup center, and Blake Fisher is the backup right tackle as these moves on the offensive line strengthen the Houston Texans depth on the offensive line.

Houston has Nico Collins as their number one flanker receiver, Jayden Higgins, the Houston Texans 2025 second round pick out of Iowa State as their number two secondary receiver, and Christian Kirk is the stop gap at slot receiver this season until Nathaniel "Tank" Dell returns from a season ending injury he suffered in week 14 of last season against the Kansas City Chiefs. Houston took Tank Dell in the third round of the 2023 NFL Draft out of Houston as Dell should be fully recovered by 2026 if he isn't activated later in the season. Jaylin Noel, the Houston Texans 2025 third round pick out of Iowa State won the number four wide receiver job. Xavier Hutchinson a 2023 sixth round pick out of Iowa State is the number five wide receiver. Justin Watson is the number six wide receiver, and Braxton Berrios still made the Houston Texans as a number seven wide receiver largely due to the fact that Tank Dell is missing most of this season. Having all this depth at wide receiver is partially why Houston traded John Metchie III. Tank Dell, Christian Kirk, and Braxton Berrios are injured at wide receiver in week 1. This means the two Iowa State rookies Jayden Higgins and Jaylin Noel will start next to Nico Collins.

Dalton Schultz is the starting tight end. Cade Stover, the Houston Texans 2024 fourth round pick out of Ohio State is the backup tight end. Brevin Jordan is the third string tight end once he returns from injured reserve. The Houston Texans have two more tight ends on their practice squad in Harrison Bryant and Luke Lachey the Houston Texans 2025 seventh round draft pick with the Houston Texans having the luxury to move either tight end up to the main NFL roster as a third string tight end if they wish to do so.

Joe Mixon is the starting running back once he comes back from injured reserve. Nick Chubb is the starting running back until Joe Mixon comes back. Dameon Pierce is the backup running back, but will be third string once Joe Mixon returns. Dare Ogunbowale is the third string running back, but will be fourth string once Joe Mixon returns. Woody Marks, the Houston Texans 2025 fourth round pick out of USC is the fourth string running back, but he could be fifth string once Joe Mixon returns.

Houston has Danielle Hunter starting at 4-3 right end, Sheldon Rankins starting at 4-3 defensive tackle, Mario Edwards Jr. starting at 4-3 defensive tackle, and Will Anderson Jr. their third overall pick in the 2023 NFL Draft out of Alabama starting at 4-3 left end. Derek Barnett is the backup 4-3 right end with Darrell Taylor Jr. as the backup 4-3 left end. Tim Settle Jr., the former Buffalo Bills defensive tackle is the backup 4-3 defensive tackle with Folorunso Fatukasi being the other backup 4-3 defensive tackle. Dylan Horton is a third string defensive end and TommyTogiai is a third string 4-3 defensive tackle.

Houston has Henry To'oTo'o from Alabama at 4-3 right outside linebacker, Azeez Al-Shaair at 4-3 middle linebacker, and Christian Harris a linebacker at 4-3 left outside linebacker. Henry To'oTo'o and Azeez Al-Shaair will be the only starters at linebacker in 4-2-5 nickel packages. Houston also added E.J. Speed, whose the third string outside linebacker in a 4-2-5 defense as well as the main backup outside linebacker to both former Alabama linebackers in a 4-3 defense.

Houston has Derek Stingley Jr. at field cornerback, Kamari Lassiter won the boundary cornerback job as a 2024 second round pick out of Georgia, and Jalen Pitre is back at nickel cornerback. Jimmie Ward is starting at strong safety while Calen Bullock is starting at free safety as a 2024 third round pick out of USC. Houston signed C.J. Gardner-Johnson because Jimmie Ward is currently on injured reserve, but C.J. Gardner-Johnson is currently dealing with an injury, so Houston's number four safety M.J. Stewart could get his first NFL start since filling in for an injured Grant Delpit with the Cleveland Browns. Jaylin Smith, the Houston Texans 2025 third round pick is the number five safety and third string safety for depth when the other four safeties are all fully healthy.

Houston has Ka'imi Fairbairn at kicker. Tommy Townsend the Kansas City Chiefs punter signed with the Houston Texans. Dameon Pierce is the kick returner and Braxton Berrios is the punt returner.

Why the Los Angeles Rams Will Win: Matthew Stafford is still the quarterback, but the Los Angeles Rams have Jimmy Garoppolo as their backup, and Stetson Bennett IV, the Los Angeles Rams 2023 fourth round pick out of Georgia as the third string quarterback. Los Angeles has Alaric Jackson at left tackle, Steve Avila moves back to at left guard, Coleman Shelton is the starting center, Kevin Dotson is the right guard, and Rob Havenstein is starting at right tackle. D.J.Humphries is the backup left tckle, Beaux Limmer is the backup left guard, and Warren McClendon Jr., the Los Angeles Rams 2023 fifth round pick is the backup right tackle.

Los Angeles has Puka Nacua as their flanker number one wide receiver, Davante Adams is the secondary wide receiver, and Tutu Atwell is the slot receiver. Jordan Whittington a 2024 sixth round pick out of Texas is the number four wide receiver after being the number six wide receiver as a rookie. The Los Angeles Rams drafted Pittsburgh wide receiver Konata Mumpfield in the seventh round of the 2025 NFL Draft as Konata Mumpfield is the number five wide receiver.

The Los Angeles Rams have amazing depth at tight end too. Tyler Higbee is the starting tight end. Colby Parkinson who played most of last year as the number one tight end when Higbee was injured is the number two tight end. Terrance Ferguson, the Los Angeles Rams 2025 second round pick out of Oregon is the third string tight end. Davis Allen got some experience as a backup tight end in his sophomore season, but now he is the fourth string tight end once again for the first time since his rookie season.

Los Angeles has Kyren Williams as their starting running back with Blake Corum their 2024 third round pick out of Michigan as the number two running back. Jarquez Hunter, the Los Angeles Rams 2025 fourth round pick out of Auburn is the third string running back.

Los Angeles saw Braden Fiske a 2024 second round pick out of Florida State that was my second best defensive tackle behind Jer'Zhan Newton taking over for Aaron Donald at 3-4 right end with Fiske doing a great job there. Poona Ford as the starting nose tackle, and Kobie Turner a 2023 third round pick out of Wake Forest was one of the best rookies at 3-4 left end. Larrell Murchison is the backup 3-4 right end to Braden Fiske. Ty Hamilton, the Los Angeles Rams 2025 fifth round pick out of Ohio State that I had a starter potential grade on is the backup 3-4 nose tackle to Poona Ford as Hamilton enters a great situation where he can learn under Ford for two to three years and start for the Rams in the final year of his rookie deal in 2028 when Ford becomes a UFA. Tyler Davis their 2024 sixth round pick out of Clemson is the 3-4 left end which is a role that might actually suit him better than nose tackle since Davis was 290 coming out of Clemson.

Los Angeles will have Jared Verse at 3-4 right outside linebacker and Byron Young a 2023 third round pick out of Tennessee starting at 3-4 left outside linebacker. Omar Speights who went undrafted in the 2024 NFL Draft is one of the undrafted rookies to win a starting job as he will start at 3-4 middle linebacker despite the fact that I had a fourth round grade and starter potential on Speights a year ago and Nate Landman who will compliment Speights feels like an upgrade over Christan Rozeboom. Nick Hampton a 2023 fifth round pick out of Appalachian State is the backup 3-4 right outside linebacker and Josaiah Stewart, the Los Angeles Rams 2025 third round pick out of Michigan is the backup 3-4 left outside linebacker. The Rams have Troy Reeder and undrafted middle linebacker Shaun Dolac who I had graded as a late round pick that could develop into a starter as their two backup 3-4 middle linebackers.

Los Angeles has Darious Williams at field cornerback, Akhello Witherspoon at boundary cornerback, Quentin Lake at nickel cornerback, Decobie Durant as their dime cornerback, and Emmanuel Forbes, the former Washington Commanders 2023 first round pick at quarter cornerback. Kamren Curl is the starting strong safety and Kamren Kinchens one of their two 2024 third round picks out of Miami FL is the starting free safety after beginning last season as a backup before becoming a full-time starter in the middle of the season where he started next to Curl and never looked back.

Joshua Karty is the starting kicker as the Los Angeles Rams got my top kicker in the 2024 NFL Draft. Ethan Evans enters his second year as the starting punter after being a 2023 seventh round pick. Jordan Whittington is the kick returner and Xavier Smith is the starting punt returner.

Prediction: Los Angeles is a 3.5 point favorite at -3.5. The over or under is 44.5 with 59% of the public betting on Los Angeles. The money line is +140 for Houston and -150 for Los Angeles. Take Los Angeles to win and cover with the over at -150. Bet $250 on this game for Los Angeles and win up to $400 as long as the Rams win by 4 or more.

Final Score Rams 27 Texans 20

Who Draft Utopia Picked


Chris Ransom	Oren Shiri	Tony Mario	Joseph Potter	Andrew Kermish	Tracy Porter	Wes Langley	William Yanish	Daniel Keyser

0-0	0-0	0-0	0-0	0-0	0-0	0-0	0-0	0-0

Baltimore Ravens 0-0-0	Versus	Buffalo Bills 0-0-0

Chris Ransom's Pick

Year two of my 12 team playoff is underway. Unlike last year with my preason projections, this poll will include updated records from week 1 inlcuding rankings. Also, I try to put undefeated teams over 1 loss teams in my AP polls for fun until the official rankings come out. If a one loss team lost by one score to a ranked opponent and their tape looked good with that team keeping the game competitive, I will consider moving them up or down.

Ohio State 1-0

Ohio State managed to defeat number one Texas 14-7 in a defensive game. Ohio State took a 14-0 lead in the fourth quarter with Matt Patricia frustrating Arch Manning in his debut as Ohio State's defensive coordinator before Arch Manning threw a garbage time touchdown. Ohio State appears to have reloaded on the defensive line with Ohio State having guys like Sonny Styles and Caleb Downs emerge as stars on defense. Jeremiah Smith is the best offensive player in college football with Smith being my top player in the 2027 NFL Draft and Caleb Downs being my top player in the 2026 NFL Draft. Carnell Tate and Max Klare compliment Jeremiah Smith quite well at wide receiver and tight end. Davison Igbinosun and Jermaine Matthews Jr. compliment Caleb Downs at cornerback, and Ohio State has five star recruit Devin Sanchez as their dime cornerback. James Peoples and Jayson Ball are a solid running back tandem as quarterback Julian Sayin showed a lot of poise. My favorite college football teamm claims the top spot after beating Texas in week 1 for now.

Penn State 1-0

Penn State has Drew Allar back at quarterback, Nicholas Singleton back at running back, Kaytron Allen at running back, Devonte Ross at wide receiver, Olaivavega Ioane at left guard, Dani Dennis-Sutton at defensive end, Zane Durant at defensive tackle, A.J. Harris at cornerback, and Zakee Wheatley at free safety. Penn State had 9 players with upside to be All Stars potentially Pro Bowlers even after losing Abdul Carter and Tyler Warren with the players I mentioned. Trebor Pena at wide receivet, Tony Rojas at right outside linebacker, and Amare Campbell at middle linebacker are a few more guys to watch. Penn State was my preseason pick to win it all.

LSU 1-0

LSU quarterback Garrett Nussmeier played well enough to win in a 17-10 road victory after losing four offensive linemen as his 232 passing yards rank tenth among all FBS quarterbacks in week 1. Harold Perkins Jr. looked good in his first game back from a season ending injury at 3-4 right outside linebacker. The LSU cornerback tandem of Ashton Stamps and Mansoor Delane may be their best cornerback tandem since Patrick Peterson and Morris Claiborne played on LSU. Aaron Anderson, Nick Anderson, and Barion Brown could develop into quality wide receivers. Bauer Sharp is a solid replacement to Mason Taylor. Kaiden Perry is a good running back. LSU is stacked with playmakers despite losing four starters on the offensive line. Clemson has a really good defense. LSU should perform better offensively moving forward. LSU was my preseason pick to win the SEC.

Georgia 1-0

Georgia dominated Marshall in the season opener. Georgia and Texas were the two preseason favorites to win the SEC for the second year in a row. KJ Bolden the top safety in the 2027 NFL Draft is the Georgia Bulldogs best overall player. The only other three players that I could see becoming stars are C.J. Allen at middle linebacker, Oscar Delp at tight end, and Daylen Everette at cornerback. Georgia has some other guys that could be high end starters in the NFL like Monroe Freeling at left tackle, Earnest Greene III at right tackle, Zachariah Branch at wide receiver, Noah Thomas at wide receiver, Dilln Bell at slot receiver, and Lawson Luckie the number two tight end. I think Gunner Stockton is worse than both Stetson Bennett and Carson Beck, but his supporting cast feels just as good as the last two Georgia quarterbacks.

Miami FL 1-0

The Miami Hurricanes defeated a top 10 team for the first time since defeating Notre Dame in 2017. Carson Beck played well in this game thanks to protection by his offensive tackle Francis Mauigoa. The real star was defensive end Ruben Bain Jr. who might be the best defensive end in the 2026 NFL Draft. Charles Brantley and OJ Frederique Jr. is a very strong cornerback duo for the Miami Hurricanes. Mark Fletcher Jr. is a solid running back and Jordan Lyle isn't bad either with those two running backs stepping up after losing Damien Martinez. CJ Daniels is back at wide receiver. Alex Bauman is a guy that I think can be better than Elijah Arroyo down the road. The Miami Hurricanes earned this spot in the top five for now after a narrow week 1 win.

Oregon 1-0

Oregon has one of the most complete offenses in the country. Dante Moore did well at quarterback and Isaiah World did a good job replacing Josh Connerly Jr. at left tackle. Matayo Uiagalelei is the 4-3 right end. Makhi Hughes is the starting running back. Dillon Thieneman is a really talented safety. Iapani Laloulu and Theran Johnson give Oregon a great cornerback tandem. Other players like Emmanuel Pregnona t left guard, Kenyon Sadiq at tight end, Teitum Tioti at left outside linebacker, Bryce Boettcher at middle linebacker, and defensive tackle Bear Alexander are players to watch. Both Oregon and Penn State feel like they are on a collision course for the white out in Happy Valley in a few weeks.

Texas 0-1

Texas has Arch Manning at quarterback. Texas also has a running back trio of Quintrevion Wisner, CJ Baxter, and Jerrick Gibson with all three of these running backs having higher ceilings than Jayden Blue, the Dallas Cowboys fifth round pick. DeAndre Moore Jr. and Ryan Wingo both have ability to be number one wide receivers. Jack Endries takes over for Gunner Helm at tight end. DJ Campbell is the lone returning starter on the offensive line at right guard with Texas losing four out of five starters on the offensive line. Colin Simmons is an amazing edge rusher that can play either 4-3 defensive end or 3-4 outside linebacker with senior Ethan Burke complimenting him at defensive end. Anthony Hill Jr. is the best middle linebacker in the country with Trey Moore complimenting Anthony Hill Jr. at right outside linebacker. Malik Muhammad and Jaylon Guilbeau are a great cornerback tandem with Michael Taaffe at free safety. When looking at the depth charts of Texas and Ohio State closer, it is easy to see why this was a 14-7 defensive slugfest with both Texas and Ohio State having multiple NFL cornerback prospects. Ohio State had 4 NFL cornerbacks and 5 NFL defensive backs while Texas only has two of their three cornerbacks from last years roster back. Texas was the preseason number one team, but is still the favorite to win the SEC.

Clemson 0-1

Clemson was the preseason favorite to win the ACC. Cade Klubnik looked rusty in the opener and after one week it is obvious the Clemson quarterback has the lowest floor between him Garrett Nussmeier, and Drew Allar. Clemson has a wide receiver quadro of Antonio Williams, Bryant Wesco Jr., T.J. Moore, and Tyler Brown. Clemson also has T.J. Parker and Peter Woods on their defensive line with T.J. Parker at defensive end and Woods at defensive tackle. Sammy Brown is a good right outside linebacker that has a shot to be a 2027 first round pick. Avieon Terrell and Ashton Hampton are both cornerbacks that could be first round picks in both 2026 and 2027 which explains why LSU's offense was held to 17 points. Clemson only lost by a touchdown to LSU, so I will respect the AP's decision to leave them at 8.

Notre Dame 0-1

Penn State, LSU, Clemson and Texas were my final four teams in the preseason with Notre Dame at 5. Ohio State is the top ranked team, so that would be my super six right now. Notre Dame cannot lose anymore games, if they lose to Texas A&M in two weeks, that may be the end of Notre Dame making any serious run towards returning to the College Football Playoff. CJ Carr is the starting quarterback. Jeremiyah Love is the best running back in the country with the other star weapon on Notre Dame being Malachi Fields are weapons on Notre Dame. Will Pauling compliments Malachi Fields at wide receiver for Notre Dame. Leonard Moore is a really good shutdown cornerback and my top cornerback in the 2027 NFL Draft. Drayk Bowen is a good middlelinebacker. Anthonie Knapp was a first round prospect in my first 2027 NFL Mock Draft after his strong play at left tackle as a freshman, but he struggled against Ruben Bain Jr. after Ruben Bain Jr. missed most of 2024 recovering from a hamstring injury. Billy Schrauth at left guard Charles Jagusah at right guard compliment Anthonie Knapp on Notre Dame's offensive line.

South Carolina 1-0

South Carolina has quite the team with this being South Carolina's best roster since they lost the SEC Championship to Auburn. LaNorris Sellers is the starting quarterback, Rahsul Faison is the starting running back, Nick Harbor is your wide receiver, Jamon Meredith could be a first round left tackle in 2027 after starting as a true freshman, Trovon Baugh is a solid right guard that could develop into an NFL starter. On defense, South Carolia has Dylan Stewart as that sack artist pass rusher. Gabriel Brownlow-Dindy takes over at defensive tackle as he might be better than both Tonka Hemingway and T.J. Sanders. DQ Smith is the starting free safety and the best player on South Carolina's secondary this year.

Arizona State 1-0

I have to put a Big 12 team in the playoff. Right now last years Big 12 Champions, Arizona State are still the team to beat, but you can make a compelling case for Iowa State, the team that lost to Arizona State in the Big 12 Championship won in week 0 and is currently 2-0 heading into a home contest with Iowa. Arizona State quarterback Sam Leavitt and wide receiver Jordyn Tyson already look like they are both in midseason form. Kayne Udoh, last years starting running back at Army took over for Cam Skattebo. Jalen Moss at wide receiver and Chamon Matayer at tight end are the other guys on Arizona State's offense that can develop into serious NFl prospects. Arizona State has Xavion Alford a safety with the upside of a Pro Bowler. I'm not sure what his floor looks like yet. Keyshau Elliott is their best linebacker at right outside linebacker. Arizona State plays Mississippi State on the road and Iowa State hosts Iowa for the right to be 3-0. Those non conference games will reveal the favorite in the Big 12.

South Florida 1-0

South Florida has one NFL prospect on their entire team in Jhalyn Shuler their right outside linebacker. South Florida routed Boise State, last years group of five team that entered the top 25 ranked 25th in a blowout at Raymond James Stadium winning 34-7. The most exciting week 2 game is the game featuring two ranked teams playing each other with Michigan facing Oklahoma in Norman, Oklahoma. The only other games that sound remotely intriguing involve Iowa VS Iowa State, the Big Noon Kickoff game and South Florida travels to Gainsville next week to take on the number thirteen Florida Gators who ranked behind number 11 Illinois and number 12 Arizona State in this weeks AP Poll. Right now Illinois my dark horse to play Penn State in the Big 10 Championship and Florida would be my first two out of this 12 weekly 12 team playoff. South Florida is the top group of five team right now, but other group of five teams like Tulane, James Madison, Liberty, UNLV, Navy, Memphis, Boise State if they win out, and UTSA if they win the American Athletic Conference with Owen McCown at quarterback despite the opening week loss to Texas A&M will all have a chance to claim dibs on this years group of five spot.

Why the Baltimore Ravens Will Win: Lamar Jackson is coming off of his second MVP regular season as the Baltimore Ravens quarterback since being drafted with the last pick in the first round of the 2018 NFL Draft out of Louisville. Many will argue Lamar should have gotten a third MVP last year. Lamar Jackson's backup quarterback is Cooper Rush whose easily one of the ten best backup quarterbacks in the NFL given his experience with the Dallas Cowboys in recent years.

Lamar Jackson has Ronnie Stanley at left tackle, Andrew Vorhees at left guard, Tyler Linderbaum at center, Daniel Faalele at right guard, and Roger Rosengarten is starting at right tackle. Baltimore drafted Carson Vinson in the fifth round of the 2025 NFL Draft out of Alabama A&M with Carson Vinson as the backup left tackle. Ben Cleveland is the backup left guard, Corey Bullock is the backup center, Emory Jones Jr the Baltimore Ravens 2025 third round pick was a right tackle at LSU, but he will be a right guard in the NFL when he comes back from injured reserve, and Joseph Noteboom who began last year as the Los Angeles Rams left tackle is now the backup right tackle. I am expecting Noteboom to be the swing tackle since that would give both rookies more time to develop and learn the Baltimore Ravens offense.

Baltimore's top three wide receivers are Zay Flowers, Rashod Bateman, and DeAndre Hopkins playing in the slot. Baltimore has Tylan Wallace as their number four wide receiver, LaJohntay Wester the Baltimore Ravens 2025 sixth round pick out of Colorado as the number five wide receiver, and Devontez Walker as a number six wide receiver for depth. Baltimore not only has a better slot receiver in DeAndre Hopkins over Nelson Agholor, they have better wide receiver depth this season.

Mark Andrews is still one of the leagues best tight ends. Baltimore also has Isaiah Likely as their number two tight end. Charlie Kolar is the third string tight end, but Isaiah Likely is dealing with an injury, so Kolar will be the backup tight end in week 1.

Baltimore has Derrick Henry as their starting running back, Justice Hill as their backup running back, Keaton Mitchell as the third string running back, and rookie Rasheen Ali is the fourth string running back. Patrick Ricard is the starting fullback on the Balitmore Ravens and is one of the leagues better fullbacks. Patrick Ricard is out with an injury, but Baltimore may not need him with all of their depth at running back.

Baltimore has depth at quarterback, running back, wide receiver, tight end, and everywhere on the offensive line. I would make the argument that the Baltimore Ravens have more offensive depth than any team in the entire NFL this season and the crazy part is the Baltimore Ravens were my preseason pick to win Super Bowl 59 last season.

Baltimore has Justin Madubuike at 3-4 right end, Travis Jones at 3-4 nose tackle, and Broderick Washington Jr. at 3-4 left end. Aeneas Peebles, the Baltimore Ravens 2025 sixth round pick out of Virginia Tech is the backup 3-4 defensive end and John Jenkins is the backup 3-4 nose tackle.

Baltimore has Odafe Oweh at 3-4 right outside linebacker and Kyle Van Noy at 3-4 left outside linebacker. Roquan Smith and Trenton Simpson are quite the tandem at 3-4 middle linebacker. Tavius Robinson is the backup 3-4 right outside liinebacker and Mike Green, Baltimore's 2025 second round pick out of Marshall that had a consensus first round grade is the backup 3-4 left outside linebacker David Ojabo is the third string 3-4 right outside linebacker. Adisa Isaac the third string 3-4 left outside linebacker is out with an injury. Teddye Buchanan, Baltimore's 2025 fourth round pick out of California is the backup 3-4 middle linebacker for depth if anything happens to Roquan Smith or Trenton Simpson. I like Buchanan as a backup, but do not believe he's an NFL starter.

Nate Wiggins, Baltimore's 2024 first round pick out of Clemson is the field cornerback, Jaire Alexander is the boundary cornerback, Marlon Humphrey is the nickel cornerback, Chidobe Awuzie is the dime cornerback, and T.J. Tampa, Baltimore's 2024 fourth round pick out of Iowa State is the quarter cornerback. All five of these cornerbacks can cover number one, number two, or number three wide receivers. These corners can blanket x, y, or z receivers. They can shut down your flanker wide receiver, secondary wide receiver complimenting your flanker, or shut down your slot receiver. Heck, if a team plays four or five wide receivers, you have the personnel in dime and quarter packages to prevent deep passes. Kyle Hamilton is the starting strong safety and Malaki Starks, Baltimore's 2025 first round pick out of Georgia is the starting free safety. Ar'Darius Washington would have been nice to have, but he suffered a season ending injury in training camp.

Baltimore has Tyler Loop, Baltimore's 2025 sixth round pick out of Arizona as the starting kicker replacing Justin Tucker and Jordan Stout at punter. Justice Hill is the projected kick returner on Baltimore with LaJohntay Wester the other sixth round pick along with Tyler Loop being the punt returner on the Baltimore Ravens.

Why the Buffalo Bills Will Win: Josh Allen finally won his first MVP last season. Josh Allen has a great offensive line with Dion Dawkins at left tackle, David Edwards at left guard, Connor McGovern at center, O'Cyrus Torrence at right guard. and Spencer Brown at right tackle. Buffalo and Tampa Bay were the only teams that weren't effected by injuries on the offensive line in 2023. Buffalo is moving Connor McGovern back to center where he played at Penn State after losing Mitch Morse Morse with David Edwards getting a second chance to start at left guard on a team friendly deal after being a backup to Connor McGovern at left guard in 2023. Buffalo saw their offensive line stay fully healthy for the second year in a row in 2024. Sedrick Van Prann, a 2024 fifth round pick out of Georgia that I had a third round grade on is the backup center as center is the one position that Buffalo has depth at on this offensive line. Kendrick Green and Dan Feeney are good enough to be backup guards on Buffalo, but both players are on the Buffalo Bills practice squad.

Buffalo has Khalil Shakir as thier flanker wide receiver, Keon Coleman Buffalo's 2024 second round pick out of Florida State is the secondary wide receiver, and Joshua Palmer as their top three wide receivers. All three guys can play flanker wide receiver, secondary wide receiver, or slot receiver. Curtis Samuel is their number four wide receiver, Elijah Moore is the number five wide receiver, Tyrell Shavers is the number six wide receiver as an undrafted free agent, and Gabriel Davis who was Jacksonville's number one wide receiver for a brief period before being supplanted by Brian Thomas Jr. is on the Buffalo Bills practice squad as the number seven wide receiver. Gabriel Davis has the talent to jump Tyrell Shavers, but will he do enough to earn a promotion. That remains to be seen.

Dalton Kincaid, Buffalo's 2023 first round pick out of Utah supplanted Dawson Knox as the starting tight end following the injury to Dawson Knox in 2023. Jackson Hawes, the Buffalo Bills 2025 fifth round pick out of Georgia Tech is the third string tight end.

Buffalo has James Cook as the starting running back as he enters his second season as a full-time starting running back. Ray Davis, Buffalo's 2024 fourth round pick out of Kentucky did well as the backup running back as a rookie after jumping Ty Johnson on the depth chart with a strong showing in training camp. Ty Johnson is the third string running back. Reggie Gilliam is back at fullback. Buffalo has more depth at wide receiver and tight end than last year with Buffalo being just as deep at running back.

Buffalo has Joey Bosa at 4-3 right end, Ed Oliver at 4-3 defensive tackle, Daquan Jones at 4-3 defensive tackle, and Gregory Rosseau their 2021 first round pick as the starting 4-3 left end. A.J. Epenesa is the backup 4-3 right end with T.J. Sanders Buffalo's 2025 second round pick out of South Carolina as a backup defensive tackle along with Deone Walker the Buffalo Bills 2025 fourth round pick as the other backup defensive tackle. Landon Jackson, Buffalo's 2025 third round pick out of Arkansas is the backup 4-3 let end.

Buffalo wanted to ease their 2025 rookies at defensive tackle into the lineup by keeping them on third string as long as possible. Michael Hoecht got suspended and honestly, Hoecht might be a third stringer on Buffalo when he comes back if Landon Jackson impresses with limited reps since I believe Landon Jackson has a higher ceiling than Michael Hoecht. The other defensive tackle that got suspended is Larry Ogunjobi who will be needed after he returns from his suspension if either or the rookie defensive tackles struggles right out of the gate. DeWayne Carter Buffalo's 2024 third round pick out of Duke as the backup 4-3 defensive tackle to Ed Oliver as a rookie, but suffered a season ending injury in year two which is why the rookie defensive tackles got promoted to second team. DeWayne Carter will have to compete with the rookie defensive tackles in camp next year for a roster spot entering year three which won't be easy with the loser of that competition being the third string defensive tackle on Buffalo. Javon Solomon is the third string 4-3 left end with Michael Hoecht being the third string 4-3 right end. Buffalo has six different defensive ends and six different defensive tackles for the defensive line on their 4-3 base defense that also runs a 4-2-5 nickel defense when everyone is healthy. Former Buffalo Bills defensive tackle Jordan Phillips is also on Buffalo's practice squad, but Buffalo has more confidence in their rookies over Phillips, who once complimented Ed Oliver at defensive tackle at one point.

Buffalo has Matt Milano at 4-3 right outside linebacker and Terrell Bernard at 4-3 middle linebacker on plays where Buffalo deploys a 4-2-5 nickel defense. Buffalo has Dorian Williams as the 4-3 left outside linebacker and the backup outside linebacker in a 4-2-5 nickel defense. Shaq Thompson is the backup 4-3 middle linebacker to Terrel Bernard.

Buffalo has Tre'Davious White back at field cornerback covering number one wide receivers, Christian Benford did well at boundary cornerback covering number two wide receivers before taking the number one cornerback job after White got injured in Buffalo a few years ago, and Taron Johnson at nickel cornerback covering slot receivers in nickel packages. Maxwell Hairston, Buffalo's 2025 first round pick out of Kentucky will be the dime cornerback once he returns from injured reserve. In the meantime, Dorian Strong, Buffalo's 2025 sixth round pick out of Virginia Tech that I had an early fourth round grade on with starter potential is the temporary dime cornerback until Maxwell Hairston comes back. If Strong plays well enough, Buffalo could have a situation where Hairston has to go from quarter cornerback to working his way up the depth chart like their former 2022 first round pick Kaiir Elam who started out as a number one cornerback entering Buffalo Bills training camp in 2022 before sliding his way down the depth chart. Dane Jackson, who played boundary cornerback next to Tre'Davious White early in his NFL career is now on the Buffalo Bills practice squard. Tre'Davious White is out in week 1 and so is 2025 first round pick Maxwell Hairston. The only other cornerback on the Bills active depth chart is 2025 sixth round pick Dorian Strong, so Dorian Strong will compliment Christian Benford on the outside with Taron Johnson staying at nickel cornerback.

Buffalo has Taylor Rapp last years backup strong safety back on a team friendly deal as the starting strong safety and Cole Bishop the Buffalo Bills 2024 second round pick out of Utah as the starting free safety. Cole Bishop couldn't beat Damar Hamlin for the free safety job as a rookie, but he finally did enough to win that job as a sophomore. Jordan Hancock, the Buffalo Bills 2025 fifth round pick out of Ohio State had to convert from nickel cornerback to safety, but played well enough to earn the number four safety job on the Buffalo Bills roster. Former Buffalo Bills legend Jordan Poyer is also on the Buffalo Bills practice squad.

Buffalo has Tyler Bass at kicker. Tyler Bass is the only asset on Buffalo's special teams. I don't trust Brad Robbins at punter or Brandon Codrington the return specialist at both kick returner and punt returner. Buffalo placed Tyler Bass on injured reserve on Friday. Buffalo signed Matt Prater to replace Bass until he comes back.

Prediction: Baltimore is a 1.5 point favorite at -1.5. The over or under is 50.5 with 51% of the public betting on Baltimore. The money line is -115 for Baltimore and +105 for Buffalo. I like Buffalo to win and to cover with the under at +105. Bet $195 on this game for Buffalo and win up to $300 as long as the Ravens win by 1 or less.

Final Score Bills 28 Ravens 21

Who Draft Utopia Picked


Chris Ransom	Oren Shiri	Tony Mario	Joseph Potter	Andrew Kermish	Tracy Porter	Wes Langley	William Yanish	Daniel Keyser

0-0	0-0	0-0	0-0	0-0	0-0	0-0	0-0	0-0

Minnesota Vikings 0-0-0	Versus	Chicago Bears 0-0-0

Chris Ransom's Pick

I just cannot stand ESPN's Monday Night Football Coverage. Monday Night Football On KDKA is back with Bob Pompieni, Mark Madden, Andrew Filiponi, and newcommer Rich Walsh. Tonight the gang is in Chicago.

Pompieni: Welcome to Monday Night Football. Bob Pompieni along with Mark Madden, Andrew Filiponi, and Rich Walsh covering ESPN Monday Night Football on KDKA from Chicago for this classic between two sophomores from the 2024 NFL Draft. It's former Michigan national Champion J.J. McCarthy VS Chicago Bears quarterback Caleb Williams.

Madden: Welcome to the state of Illinois. Here is where the National Sports Card Convention takes place where you can get a J.J. McCarthy rookie autograph for $300, a Caleb Williams rookie autograph for $700, or an Arch Manning rookie autograph for $900. You also have the Big 10 Headquarters.

Filiponi: Those events are in Rosemont. This is Chicago, the Windy City.

Madden: I have to recap what happened in Chicago this Summer. Some of Pittsburgh's finest card shop owners were at this convention.

Walsh: I sold Digimon cards and Hello Kitty keychains on Ebay at the convention. Not only did this convention have sports cards, there were non sports cards too like Star Wars, Pokemon, Magic The Gathering, Yugioh, Politicians, and other celebrity autorgraphs.

Filiponi: Guys, can we get to our winners for the final game of week 1. This is a pretty bland take that has nothing to do with the dump that is Soldier Field.

Pompieni: That's a good point Poni. Guys who wins this game?

Madden: Tonight the Super Bowl virgins from Minnesota head to the Windy City. Chicago has their best quarterback since Jim McMahon, their best quarterback in 40 years. Give me the Chicago Bears. I just wish Mike Ditka was still coaching them. Outside of Mike Ditka and Lovie Smith, none of the Chicago Bears head coaches have done squat over the past forty years.

Filiponi: Rex Grossman got Chicago to a Super Bowl asshole. Caleb Williams hasn't done shit yet, but maybe he turns the corner under new head coach Ben Johnson.

Walsh: Give me the Super Bowl virgins from Minnesota. This pass rush will baptize Caleb Williams by sacking him until he develops common sense. Poni, you got the tiebreaker vote, who do you like?

Filiponi: Bears win in a shootout. What's your score Madden?

Madden: Chicago wins 2-0. Montez Sweat sacks J.J. McCarthy for a safety and that is the only score of the game. An angry Minnesota Vikings fan retaliates by throwing a purple dildo at Caleb Williams. Caleb Williams and Angel Reese can talk about how they got nearly assaulted by dildos in their next zoom call, coffee meeting, or whatever adult athletes in Chicago do.

Pompieni: That's it. I'm so pissed I'm not even announcing tonights sponsor. In the 80's the NFL had replacement refs. In the 2010's there were replacement referees. In the 2020's I have replacement announcers for tonights game. Replacing Mark Madden is stand up comedian Frank Caliendo who will impersonate John Madden as well as Jim Rome. Replacing Andrew Filiponi is Kirk Herbstreet. Replacing Rick Walsh is Peter, Kirk Herbstreet's dog. Walsh you are such a disgrace I replaced you with a dog. You'll get to hear the replacement announcers on Monday Night Football call this Vikings VS Bears game after these commercials. Next week the replacement anouncers will cover one of the the two Monday Night games with Mark, Poni, and Walsh covering the other Monday Night Game.

Why the Minnesota Vikings Will Win: Minnesota Vikings starting quarterback J.J. McCarthy has Christian Darrisaw at left tackle, Donovan Jackson, Minnesota's 2025 first round pick out of Ohio State at left guard, Ryan Kelly at center, Wil Fries at right guard and Brian O'Neill at right tackle. This is an effective offensive line when fully healthy, but the Vikings do not have any depth behind these five starters. Walter Rouse could be a decent swing tackle andd Blake Brandel is a decent guard.

Justin Jefferson is a number one flanker receiver for Minnesota, but he's also the best wide receiver in the NFL. Jordan Addison is going to start out as the secondary wide receiver on this depth chart after his three game suspsension. Adam Thielen is the slot receiver when Jordan Addison returns from his suspension, but he's the secondary wide receiver right now. Jalen Nalor is the slot receiver for three more games. Tai Felton, Minnesota's 2025 third round pick out of Maryland is the number five wide receiver on this depth chart when everyone else is healthy. Rondale Moore is on season ending injured reserve.

Minnesota has T.J. Hockenson as thier starting tight end, Josh Oliver as their backup tight end as well as a number two tight end in two tight end sets, and Ben Yurosek an undrafted tight end that played college at both Georgia as well as Stanford became the Minnesota Vikings third string tight end. Ben Yurosek made the final roster due to Gavin Bartholomew, Minnesota's 2025 sixth round pick out of Pittsburgh going on injured reserve.

Aaron Jones is the starting running back. Jordan Mason is the backup running back. Ty Chandler is the third string running back. Minnesota has great depth at running back and tight end, but their depth everywhere else on offense is awful. C.J. Ham, Minnesota's fullback is on injured reserve.

Minnesota has Jalen Redmond whose been Minnesota's best 3-4 defensive linemen in training camp at 3-4 right end, Javon Hargrave at 3-4 nose tackle, and Jonathan Allen at 3-4 left end. Minnesota does not have good depth at 3-4 defensive line.

Minnesota has Andrew Van Ginkel at 3-4 right outside linebacker, Blake Cashman at 3-4 middle linebacker, Ivan Pace Jr. at 3-4 middle linebacker, and Jonathan Greenard at 3-4 left outside linebacker. Dallas Turner, Minnesota's other 2024 first round pick is the backup 3-4 right outside linbeacker. Kobe King, Minnesota's 2025 sixth round pick out of Penn State is the backup 3-4 middle linebacker.

Byron Murphy Jr. is the field cornerback and Isaiah Rodgers is number two boundary cornerback. Minnesota has Jeffrey Okudah at nickel cornerback. Minnesota has Josh Mettellus at strong safety and Harrison Smith at free safety. Harrison Smith has been ruled out at free safety in week 1.

Minnesota Vikings kicker Greg Joseph is a top 10 kicker. Minnesota has question marks at punter, kick returner, and punt returner on special teams heading into the season.

Why the Chicago Bears Will Win: Caleb Williams the first pick in the 2024 NFL Draft out of USC enters year two as the starting quarterback. Tyson Bagent is the backup quarterback with Bagent getting a two year extension this summer.

Caleb Wiliams has Braxton Jones their 2022 fifth round pick out of Southern Utah who won the left tackle job as a rookie entering year four at left tackle, Joe Thuney at left guard, Drew Dalman is the Chicago Bears starting center, Jonah Jackson starting right guard, and Darnell Wright rounds out this offensive line after the Chicago Bears drafted the Tennessee right tackle tenth overall in the 2023 NFL Draft. Chicago has Ozzy Trapilo their 2025 second round pick out of Boston College as the swing tackle as both the backup left tackle as well as the backup right tackle, Luke Newman a 2025 sixth round pick out of Michigan State as the backup left guard, Ryan Bates as the backup center, and Kiran Amegadjie their 2024 third round pick out of Yale as the Chicago Bears backup right guard, which was the first position Amegadjie played at Yale during his freshman season before transitioning to left tackle.

Chicago has D.J. Moore as their number one flanker wide receiver after trading the first pick in the 2023 NFL Draft away to Carolina for D.J. Moore. Rome Oduzne, who was also drafted in the top 10 of the 2024 NFL Draft out of Washington along with Caleb Williams is the number two wide receiver. Olamide Zaccheaus is now the slot receiver, but will only play situationally when Chicago deploys three receivers with two wide receivers and two tight ends in their default formation. Devin Duvernay is the number four wide receiver. Luter Burden III, the Chicago Bears 2025 second round pick out of Missouri that was my top wide receiver in the 2025 NFL Draft entered training camp as the favorite to win the slot receiver job, but he's now fifth on the Chicago Bears wide receiver depth chart behind both Olamide Zaccheaus and Devin Duvernay making Luther Burden III the number five wide receiver on this depth chart.

Chicago is going to run a two tight end set in their offense with two starting tight ends on their depth chart. Chicago has two special tight ends in Colston Loveland Chicago's 2025 first round pick out of Michigan that was drafted tenth overall and Cole Kmet who got a contract extension after being a 2020 second round pick out of Notre Dame will be the two starting tight ends this season. Chicago also has Durham Smythe, but he's mainly a backup tight end and if either of these tight ends get injured, I expect Chicago to deploy a three wide receiver set like most NFL teams. Chicago has D'Andre Swift as their starting running back, Roschon Johnson as the backup running back, and Kyle Monangai, Chicago's 2025 seventh round pick out of Rutgers that I had a second round grade on as the third string running back. Roschon Johnson is the only player on Chicago that may be inactive in week 1.

I love Chicago's depth at quarterback, running back, wide receiver, tight end, and on the offensive line. I loved Chicago's depth in every area outside of the offensive line last year. Chicago made the necessary improvements offensively under first year head coach Ben Johnson.

Chicago has Montez Sweat at 4-3 right end, Grady Jarrett at 4-3 defensive tackle, Gervon Dexter at 4-3 defensive tackle, and Dayo Odeyingbo at 4-3 left end. Andrew Billings and Chris Wills are the backup 4-3 defensive tackles. Shemar Turner, Chicago's 2025 second round pick out of Texas A&M is the third string 4-3 defensive tackle.

Chicago has T.J. Edwards entering year three at 4-3 right outside linebacker as well as right outside linebacker in a 4-2-5 nickel defense. Chicago Tremaine Edmunds as their new 4-3 middle linebacker as he will also play middle linebacker in a 4-2-5 nickel defense. Ruben Hyppolite II, Chicago's 2025 fourth round pick out of Maryland will play 4-3 left outside linebacker in a 4-3 scheme, but when Chicago runs a 4-2-5 nickel defense, he will be a backup to T.J. Edwards at right outside linebacker. Noah Sewell is the backup middle linebacker to Tremaine Edmunds in a 4-3 and a 4-2-5 nickel defense. T.J. Edwards hasn't practiced the first two days. If he is not a full practice on saturday, he is out in week 1.

Chicago has Jaylon Jones at field cornerback, Tyrique Stevenson at boundary cornerback, and Kyler Gordon is currently holding the nickel cornerback job. Terrell Smith, Chicago's 2023 fifth round pick out of Minnesota is currently the dime cornerback, but suffered a season ending injury. Jaylon Jones returns as the quarter cornerback with all of Chicago's top four cornerbacks from last year returning, but he will be the dime cornerback this season with Terrell Smith suffering a season ending injury. Jaylon Jones has been limited in practice.

Jaquan Brisker is the starting strong safety. Kevin Byard is the starting free safety. Elijah Hicks is the backup strong safety and Jonathan Owens is the backup free safety.

Chicago has Cairo Santos as their starting kicker and Tory Taylor their 2024 fourth round pick out of Iowa as their starting punter. Devin Duvernay is the return specialist at both kick returner and punt returner.

Prediction: Minnesota is a 1.5 point favorite at -1.5. The over or under is 44 with 61% of the public betting on Minnesota. The money line is -115 for Minnesota and +105 for Chicago. I like Chicago to win and to cover with the over at +105. Bet $195 on this game for Chicago and win up to $300 as long as the Vikings win by 1 or less.

Final Score Bears 28 Vikings 20

Who Draft Utopia Picked


Chris Ransom	Oren Shiri	Tony Mario	Joseph Potter	Andrew Kermish	Tracy Porter	Wes Langley	William Yanish	Daniel Keyser

0-0	0-0	0-0	0-0	0-0	0-0	0-0	0-0	0-0

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Who Draft Utopia Picked

Chris Ransom's Pick

Who Draft Utopia Picked

Chris Ransom's Pick

Who Draft Utopia Picked

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