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Five (!!) days until the season kicks off. The greatest No. 5? Packers great Paul Hornung, followed by Hall of Fame kicker Morten Anderson, and then either Donovan McNabb or Joe Flacco?
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What can’t Bijan do?
My colleague Jeff Howe polled 20 NFL insiders — coaches, execs, etc. — on various questions, including who might win 2026 MVP. Quarterbacks got 18 of those votes. Bijan Robinson got the other two.
The odds are against him. Each of the past 13 MVPs have been passers. No non-QBs have won the award since 2012 Adrian Peterson (2,314 total yards), and they rarely finish second, either.
Todd Gurley’s 2,039-total-yard 2017 came closest.
Running backs just don’t win MVP anymore, but Robinson isn’t your typical running back. The 24-year-old ranked third on the NFL’s top-100 list for 2026, behind only Josh Allen and No. 1 Myles Garrett.
Robinson accounted for roughly 40 percent of the Falcons’ yards last season, averaging a league-leading 135.2 yards from scrimmage. He was also doing things like this as a 2023 rookie?!
And he sounds like the nicest guy ever? Our Josh Kendall spoke with multiple teammates and former staffers who worked with Robinson. None had anything bad to say.
“Might be the best human I’ve ever met in my life,” Dolphins punter Bradley Pinion said.
“If there were 100 humans to represent humanity, we’re going to recommend that guy be on that short list,” Falcons offensive lineman Chris Lindstrom said. “The athletic ability, the talent, the quality of human he is.”
“It’s true. He’s a saint,” said Donald Nguyen, the director of sports medicine at Robinson’s alma mater, Texas. (Not a New Orleans Saint, which would be a harsh insult in Atlanta.)
The one complaint Josh was able to unearth? Music taste. Though based on the anecdotes — a teammate complaining about Tame Impala?! — Robinson is again a model for us all.
This is the type of person we should aspire to be, even if we don’t quite measure up athletically. Now let’s hear from Ted.
What Ted’s Seeing
Based on my conversations with eight defensive play callers and assistant coaches, 49ers coach Kyle Shanahan remains the NFL’s most respected play caller.
Last season cemented his place, as the 49ers finished sixth in points per drive and second in offense DVOA, FTN’s efficiency metric that accounts for strength of schedule, despite dealing with multiple injuries to key players, including quarterback Brock Purdy missing eight games.
“He’s the best in the business because he can adapt better than anybody. It doesn’t matter who’s lining up, whether you got Jauan Jennings — like, he’s a good player, but he shouldn’t be your best wideout,” an AFC defensive coach said. “Shanahan’s finding ways to get guys open and win games with no (George) Kittle, no Jauan (Jennings), no Purdy. He does an incredible job.”
Shanahan schemed up multiple 100-yard games for Kendrick Bourne, and even journeyman Demarcus Robinson had 111 yards in the playoffs against the Eagles. Before that, neither had a 100-yard game since 2022.
Defensive coaches believe Shanahan is unique because he also understands the techniques that defensive players use and their individual weaknesses, and he knows exactly how to expose them.
He’s one spot ahead of McVay and two ahead of Ben Johnson, with all three in the elite tier of play callers. After Johnson, the rankings become a lot more debatable. Back to Jacob.
Scoreboard drama
Earlier this week, images emerged of old scoreboard discrepancies in New England. Years ago, the video screen projected an extra set of uprights for opponents, while Patriots kickers saw a less distracting image.
Most, myself included, assumed Bill Belichick was the mastermind. That’s a compliment, a testament to his greatness, not an attack on his character (because this is perfectly legal).
“The full story is apparently a bit less sinister and a lot less provocative,” Chad writes, having unearthed the backstory. It was apparently kicker Stephen Gostkowski, not Belichick, who raised the issue. Per Chad:
💬 “During his field goal attempts, the team showed video of him on the huge boards behind the uprights, as it did on all field goal tries, for both home and away teams. It’d be easier and less distracting, he noted, if that could be changed to a static image.”
“So, the Patriots checked with the league, which made it clear that, during a field goal attempt, video boards in the stadium have to either show all-22 camera angles (which the Patriots had been doing) or static imagery.”
That’s still something. Knowing it was distracting, the Patriots adjusted the video when Gostkowski kicked, but kept it on the all-22 for opponents. Savvy.
In this week’s news related to Belichick, his controversial Hall of Fame snub led to a significant overhaul of the voting process. Good. And his GM at North Carolina just resigned. That’s probably also good for the Tar Heels, based on how last season went.
Extra Points
🚀 SpaceX to NFL. A rocket scientist pursued his dreams and became a staff member with the Vikings. It’s an inspiring journey about following your passion. Enjoyed this story by Alec Lewis.
📊 2026 predictions. Our annual decision-maker survey is linked again here. Insiders expect Josh Allen to win his second MVP, which might be difficult if the grass in Buffalo isn’t fixed. Yikes.
📺 2027 draft prospects. College football Week 1 offers plenty of NFL prospects to watch for. Top of Dane Brugler’s list is Miami QB Darian Mensah, playing Stanford tonight at 9 p.m. ET.
📓 John Harbaugh on leadership. Readers wrote in questions for the Giants coach, which turned into what I’ll call a short guidebook for leaders.
▶️ Most-clicked: Zak Keefer’s profile on the relentless Baker Mayfield, who saw his career “taken down to the studs” before bouncing back.
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