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May 11: In an effort to resolve his legal situation as expeditiously as possible, Layne recently pled guilty to three misdemeanor charges — possession of criminal tools, speeding, and driving without an operator’s license — as Josh Alper of Pro Football Talk details. He received a six-month suspended sentence, but he will not serve any of that sentence if he pays a $500 fine, forfeits a handgun, and performs 32 hours of community service.
Theoretically, Layne could still be suspended by the league, but getting rid of the felony charge that he was facing can’t hurt. With the offseason departures of Steven Nelson and Mike Hilton, Layne stands to get an uptick in playing time in 2021.
Apr. 24: Steelers cornerback Justin Layne has found himself in hot water. The 23-year-old was arrested early Friday morning “on suspicion of felony transportation of a firearm inside of a vehicle,” per ESPN’s Ben Baby.
Layne was also charged with a pair of misdemeanors: “driving with a suspended license and exceeding speed limits.” According to police, the player was pulled over after he was observed going 89 miles per hour in a 60 mph zone. Police searched the car after smelling marijuana, and they proceeded to find a loaded pistol (via NFL.com). The player didn’t have the proper license for a conceal-carry permit. Layne later acknowledged the gun was his.
Police also learned that Layne “had an outstanding warrant for failure to appear on a traffic violation in another jurisdiction.” Following his arrest, he was granted release on a personal bond, with his next court appearance coming in early May.
“We are aware of the incident but still gathering information,” the Steelers said in a statement. “We will have no further comment at this time.”
Following a standout career at Michigan State, Layne was selected by the Steelers in the third round of the 2019 draft. After barely playing during his rookie season (despite officially appearing in 10 games), he saw more time on the field in 2020. He finished this year having appeared in all 16 games, collecting 22 tackles.
Trickalicious - I don't think it is fair that the division rivals get to play the Lions twice. The Lions NEVER get to play the Lions, let alone twice.
PFF analyst and former NFL QB Bruce Gradkowski unveils his 32-team NFL QB rankings for the 2021 NFL season. Patrick Mahomes leads the pack, with Tom Brady and Aaron Rodgers following closely behind.
Justin Fields was the only quarterback in college football to rank in the top 10 in both passing and rushing grade. While Fields' rushing ability will certainly help at the next level, it's his downfield accuracy that could make him special — he had the highest accuracy rate on passes thrown 10 or more yards downfield (65%) in 2020.
The Bears put up just 40 passing touchdowns on 10-plus-yard throws during the Trubisky era (30th in the NFL). It will be interesting to see how Matt Nagy and his staff utilize Fields’ skill set. The rookie will have to play quicker and more decisive at the next level because he needs space to release the ball and the pocket collapses a lot faster and tighter in the NFL.
A fresh start does players wonders, especially at the quarterback position. It also doesn’t hurt when you get a vote of confidence and your team takes Penei Sewell to protect you over some highly sought-after first-round quarterbacks. The Rams were third in the league in play-action pass attempts and tied for fifth in screen pass attempts. It will be imperative that the Lions help their QB and design an offense around what he’s comfortable with. Goff has a top-five passing grade when he has a clean pocket, is in rhythm and targets intermediate throws 10-19 yards downfield. He struggled when targeting 20-plus yard throws in the same scenario, earning the 29th-ranked passing grade out of 36 qualifying quarterbacks.
Getting the ball downfield in 2020 was a struggle, whether it was missed throws or negatively graded throws. This is probably why Goff led the league in passing yards on completions of 5 yards or less a season ago. The Lions seem to be building around Goff, and this is exactly what he needs to get his confidence back up so he can play at a high level again.
Trickalicious - I don't think it is fair that the division rivals get to play the Lions twice. The Lions NEVER get to play the Lions, let alone twice.
Andrews’ skill set marries well with what the Ravens want to do in the passing game. He’s a big target who can work down the seams, and he has come up big in the red zone. His 12 red-zone touchdowns over the past two seasons are tied with Kelce for the most at the position.
Andrews is also one of the few tight ends in the league who has served as his team’s primary target in recent years. Andrews (185) and Marquise Brown (160) are the only players on the team with 100-plus targets since 2019. It will be interesting to see if that changes following the Ravens’ additions at wide receiver this offseason. Oct 4, 2020; Detroit, Michigan, USA; Detroit Lions tight end T.J. Hockenson (88) celebrates after scoring a touchdown against the New Orleans Saints during the third quarter at Ford Field. Credit: Tim Fuller-USA TODAY Sports
Tight end is a position where it often takes players a year or two to acclimate to life in the NFL. We saw Hockenson start to do just that in 2020, raising his PFF grade from 60.5 as a rookie to 75.4 this past season.
The former top-10 pick recorded both receiving and run-blocking grades of at least 70.0 in 2020. He’s not ever going to offer the kind of tantalizing receiving ability that made Pitts the highest-drafted tight end in NFL history, but he does offer a solid all-around game that can make him a top-10 tight end in the league year in and year out.
Trickalicious - I don't think it is fair that the division rivals get to play the Lions twice. The Lions NEVER get to play the Lions, let alone twice.
With the 2021 NFL Draft in the rearview mirror, PFF projects the starting lineups for all 32 NFL teams ahead of the 2021 NFL season. Jimmy Garoppolo remains the starter in San Francisco, while Justin Fields and Trevor Lawrence take the reins from Day 1.
This is one of the weaker position groups on one of the weaker rosters in the NFL. Tracy Walker’s PFF grade has steadily regressed in each of his first three seasons, from 89.8 as a rookie in limited action to 73.5 in 2019 and 51.0 this past season. He still figures to be top man on the depth chart heading into 2021.
Dean Marlowe is heading into his seventh season out of James Madison, but he has never played 250 defensive snaps in a season. He could get an opportunity in Detroit after being buried behind Jordan Poyer and Micah Hyde in Buffalo these past few seasons. Will Harris is the other safety likely to factor into the competition.
Don’t be surprised if Detroit looks to add another veteran safety on the open market leading up to the 2021 season.
Trickalicious - I don't think it is fair that the division rivals get to play the Lions twice. The Lions NEVER get to play the Lions, let alone twice.
No glimmer of hope can be redeemed from Okudah’s rookie year — if that were the only sample I had to work with, I’d be conjuring optimism out of thin air. However, we know Okudah was an elite college cornerback, and we also know that almost every rookie corner was routinely torched in 2020. The scheme Detroit employed also wasn’t helping anybody, so we have to assume that Okudah is better than the player we saw last season. How much better is the big unknown.
Trickalicious - I don't think it is fair that the division rivals get to play the Lions twice. The Lions NEVER get to play the Lions, let alone twice.
After making a splash in free agency, the Cleveland Browns further bolstered their secondary in the 2021 NFL Draft, landing them on this list of most improved secondaries.
The Lions’ secondary had some of the most room to improve of any group in the league following a 2020 season in which the group allowed a 114.9 passer rating (second-highest in the NFL, behind only the Houston Texans). Detroit didn’t make many splashy moves in the secondary, but the team added several solid players. Nov 8, 2020; Orchard Park, New York, USA; Buffalo Bills wide receiver John Brown (15) catches a pass in front of Seattle Seahawks cornerback Quinton Dunbar (22) during the second quarter at Bills Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Rich Barnes-USA TODAY Sports
In free agency, Detroit signed Quinton Dunbar and Corn Elder. Dunbar disappointed with the Seattle Seahawks last season — a year that was derailed by injury and off-the-field questions — but he’s just one year removed from an excellent season in Washington. Dunbar was the second-highest-graded cornerback in the NFL in 2019 (87.6). It’s unrealistic for Detroit to expect that kind of performance next season, but he was certainly worth a one-year, $1 million flier as the No. 60 overall player in PFF’s free agent rankings entering the offseason.
Elder isn’t all that exciting of an addition, but he did provide solid play for the Carolina Panthers in the slot last year, earning a 68.5 overall grade on over 400 snaps. He figures to replace the combination of Justin Coleman and Darryl Roberts at that spot for the Lions in 2021.
Detroit then went out and spent its first non-offensive or defensive line pick on Syracuse cornerback Ifeatu Melifonwu in the third round of the 2021 NFL Draft. The Lions landed Melifonwu — the 70th-ranked player on PFF’s Big Board — with the 101st overall selection. He has rare physical tools at his size but just needs a bit more polish to make the most of that skill set.
Assuming Jeffrey Okudah takes an expected step forward in his second season, Detroit’s cornerback group should improve in 2021.
Last edited by Futureshock; May 19, 2021, 08:24 AM.
Trickalicious - I don't think it is fair that the division rivals get to play the Lions twice. The Lions NEVER get to play the Lions, let alone twice.
Posted by Michael David Smith on May 19, 2021, 4:33 AM EDT
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The 49ers have been devastated by injuries in recent years, culminating in last season, when they lost so many key players to injuries that the team they fielded at the end of the season was almost unrecognizable compared to the team they fielded at the beginning of the season.
This year, the 49ers addressed that fact in the draft.
San Francisco General Manager John Lynch said that in this year’s draft, the 49ers added more weight to prospects’ medical reports, and were more careful about avoiding players whose past indicated they would struggle to stay healthy in the NFL.
“We did tangibly change some things, like our grading process,” Lynch said, via ESPN. “Not what the doctors are telling us, but how it’s delivered just to make it clear. Like, ‘OK, is this grade with a high risk or low risk?’ Just really clarifying that, and I think that was a positive step because it made probably easier. Like we’re not touching these guys, the ones that were really bad.”
Coach Kyle Shanahan said he wanted to avoid players with a history of injuries.
“So, we’re not saying that we’ll never take a risk again or anything, but we definitely wanted to make a point because of what’s happened the last couple of years, at least to try to avoid that,” Shanahan said.
Avoiding injuries could be the most important factor for the 49ers getting back to the playoffs.
Trickalicious - I don't think it is fair that the division rivals get to play the Lions twice. The Lions NEVER get to play the Lions, let alone twice.
Posted by Charean Williams on May 18, 2021, 2:56 PM EDT
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After 97 starts over seven seasons, right tackle Morgan Moses appears to have played his final game with the Washington Football Team.
Washington has given Moses permission to seek a trade, Ian Rapoport of NFL Media reports.
Moses is scheduled to make $7.75 million in 2021.
Washington drafted tackle Samuel Cosmi in the second round, so the plan likely is to make him the right tackle. The team recently signed left tackle Charles Leno, who started every game at left tackle for the Bears the past five seasons.
Washington also has veteran depth in Geron Christian Sr., a third-round choice in 2018 who made six starts at left tackle last season, and Cornelius Lucas, who made eight starts at left tackle last season. Saahdiq Charles, a fourth-round choice in 2020 who played two snaps as a rookie before going on injured reserve, can play tackle.
Trickalicious - I don't think it is fair that the division rivals get to play the Lions twice. The Lions NEVER get to play the Lions, let alone twice.
I like what they did with the secondary relative to what they spent, I'm more enthused with getting 4-5 proven secondary JAGs than spending big in a guy like Justin Coleman. It took a lot InstaGood to like that signing that off-season.
Posted by Mike Florio on May 18, 2021, 10:32 AM EDT
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An NFL team’s success is determined by the extent to which it exceeds expectations. If the Houston Texans win only one game in 2021, they will have exceeded expectations.
The Westgate sportsbook has the Texans as the underdogs in each of the team’s 2021 regular-season games.
The closest the Texans come to being favored to win a game comes in Week 12, when the Jets arrive as (for now) one-point favorites.
The Texans also are double-digit underdogs in five games, and they are favored to lose by a touchdown or more 10 times.
Houston has company. The Lions are underdogs in all games but one, a Week Eight pick ’em against the Eagles. Likewise, the Jaguars are favored in no games, with the exception of their two annual contests against the Texans.
Meanwhile, the Bengals have been saved from being underdogs in all of their 2021 games, thanks to playing the Lions and Jaguars this season.
Trickalicious - I don't think it is fair that the division rivals get to play the Lions twice. The Lions NEVER get to play the Lions, let alone twice.
The opening game of the 2021 NFL season will see the Bucs host the Cowboys. 
Layne was also charged with a pair of misdemeanors: “driving with a suspended license and exceeding speed limits.” According to police, the player was pulled over after he was observed going 89 miles per hour in a 60 mph zone. Police searched the car after smelling marijuana, and they proceeded to find a loaded pistol (via NFL.com). The player didn’t have the proper license for a conceal-carry permit. Layne later acknowledged the gun was his.
Oct 4, 2020; Detroit, Michigan, USA; Detroit Lions tight end T.J. Hockenson (88) celebrates after scoring a touchdown against the New Orleans Saints during the third quarter at Ford Field. Credit: Tim Fuller-USA TODAY Sports
Nov 8, 2020; Orchard Park, New York, USA; Buffalo Bills wide receiver John Brown (15) catches a pass in front of Seattle Seahawks cornerback Quinton Dunbar (22) during the second quarter at Bills Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Rich Barnes-USA TODAY Sports
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