Five top story lines for the 2023 season: QBs, QBs and more QBs
1. Can Chiefs and an underpaid Mahomes repeat?
Four words you didn't expect heading into Thursday's NFL regular-season opener between the Lions and Chiefs at Kansas City: Patrick Mahomes is underpaid at $45 million a year. Three more players leapfrogged the Chiefs quarterback in salary since last season, when he won his second Super Bowl ring, second Super Bowl MVP and second league MVP before his 28th birthday. One of them, Jalen Hurts ($51 million), lost the Super Bowl to Mahomes. Another one, Justin Herbert ($52.5 million), lost the AFC West to Mahomes by 3 1/2 games. Just imagine now if Mahomes and coach Andy Reid's retooled supporting cast can become the first champion to repeat since Tom Brady and the 2004 Patriots. Last year's offensive tackles — Orlando Brown and Andrew Wylie — are gone. So are key receivers JuJu Smith-Schuster and Mecole Hardman Jr. But Mahomes is back and ready to stamp beyond any doubt K.C. as the next dynasty in the first year of the NFL's post-Tom Brady era.
2. Can Hurts and the Eagles be unseated in the NFC?
A year ago, Hurts was a bridge quarterback who could run, and the Eagles were an OK team coming off a 9-8 season. Today, Hurts is a dual-threat superstar, and the Eagles are the NFC's model franchise. Things flip fast in today's NFL. Philly kept some key free agents such as cornerback James Bradberry and replaced others with shrewd moves like trading for running back D'Andre Swift and using first-round picks to replenish the league's best defensive line with Georgia's Jalen Carter and Nolan Smith. Philly also has an elite offensive line and two of the best receivers in A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith. Both coordinators were lost to head coaching jobs, but Hurts should have comfort with Brian Johnson, who was promoted from quarterbacks coach. No NFC East champion has repeated since 2004 (Eagles). No NFC champion has repeated since 2014 (Seahawks). The 2023 Eagles might do both. And more.
3. Heads up, Patrick! AFC is (over)loaded at QB
Just when you thought the balance of quarterback power couldn't get any more lopsided between the conferences, Brady retires, and four-time league MVP Aaron Rodgers joins the AFC (Jets) after 18 years in the NFC (Packers). The NFL isn't wasting any time pitting the 39-year-old Rodgers against the AFC's kiddo QBs, sending Josh Allen and the Bills to MetLife Stadium for the season's first "Monday Night Football" game. Allen is one of the seven 20-something star quarterbacks who led their AFC squads to the playoffs a year ago. Mahomes sits No. 1 followed by Allen, Cincinnati's Joe Burrow, Jacksonville's Trevor Lawrence, the Chargers' Justin Herbert, Baltimore's Lamar Jackson and Miami's Tua Tagovailoa. Pittsburgh's Kenny Pickett went 7-5 as a rookie last year. Deshaun Watson lurks in his first full season of play in Cleveland. And Russell Wilson just might have something to say again with Sean Payton back in the league and coaching the Broncos.
4. Out with the old, in with Young in Carolina
This could be some kind of turnaround season for new Panthers coach Frank Reich. Thanks to a pitiful NFC South, Brady's retirement in Tampa and the arrival of Alabama quarterback Bryce Young as Carolina's No. 1 overall draft pick and Day 1 starter, Reich has a fighting chance to go from being fired by the Colts during the 2022 season to winning NFL Coach of the Year in 2023. Reich inherits a team that went 7-10 — 6-6 with interim coach Steve Wilks — while joining Atlanta and New Orleans in finishing only one game behind division winner Tampa Bay, which replaces Brady with Baker Mayfield. The other new coaching hires in the NFL — Payton, Arizona's Jonathan Gannon, Indianapolis' Shane Steichen and Houston's DeMeco Ryans — inherit teams that finished further than four games out in their division. Anything is possible, though. The NFL is riding a 33-year streak of at least four new teams making the playoffs.
5. New coordinators, expectations for Jackson, Herbert
The two highest-paid players in NFL history for the moment are Herbert ($52.5 million per season) and Jackson ($52 million). Both are superbly talented. They're also 0-1 and 1-3 in the postseason, respectively. So much, much more is expected of the 25-year-old Herbert and the 26-year-old former league MVP Jackson. Enter new offensive coordinators Todd Monken to assist Jackson's passing attack in Baltimore and Kellen Moore to help Herbert translate great passing stats into more wins in Los Angeles. The Ravens ditched run-first Greg Roman for the wide-open Monken, who returns to the NFL after winning two national championships as Georgia's OC. The Ravens also gave Jackson better targets in Odell Beckham Jr. and first-round pick Zay Flowers. In L.A., Herbert has 14,089 yards and 94 touchdowns in just three seasons. He's also 25-24 as a starter. Can Moore, the former Cowboys coordinator, and his aggressive play-calling take Herbert to the next level after falling short of that goal for Dak Prescott in Dallas?
