Houston Texans quarterback Deshaun Watson was a top-five deep passer last year in his first season without All-Pro wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins. Watson is one of four quarterbacks to have a completion percentage over expectation of +6 percent or better on deep passes in each of the last two seasons. It helped that he was on a team that was forced to throw often to

New York Jets linebacker C.J. Mosley hasn’t played a complete game with the team since signing a record-setting contract in March of 2019. Mosley opted out of last season due to COVID-19. “There’s a little added chip [on his shoulder] because you’ve always got your fans that are going to heckle,” Mosley said. “When I get back on the field, I definitely want to make

Veteran offensive lineman Jared Veldheer said on Thursday that he plans to retire from the NFL after he was suspended for six games by the league due to a Clomid prescription. The 33-year-old said he was taking the medication because of “abnormally low” testosterone, which he suggested was “caused from pituitary damage suffered from repeated blows to the head.” Veldheer has retired before, but he

New England Patriots first-round quarterback Mac Jones, who was taken 15th overall in last month’s draft, has made a favorable impression on his teammates and coaches during organized team activities. “He has a swag to him that I didn’t know that he had at first,” receiver Kendrick Bourne said. “He’s out there confident, and that is what you need in a quarterback. Good energy, awesome

Dallas Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott (ankle) was back on the field during organized team activities this week, and tight end Dalton Schultz said that the football is “coming out the same as it was before the injury.” “From what I can tell, it looks like right where he picked back up off of. All looks the same to me. The ball is in my hands

Detroit Lions first-round offensive tackle Penei Sewell, who was the No. 7 overall pick of last month’s draft, will move to right tackle in his first season in the NFL after playing left tackle in college at Oregon. “It is not that easy,” Sewell said on Day 3 of organized team activities. “Man, it’s a whole different feel.” Sewell played the position in high school

Green Bay Packers running back Aaron Jones has noticed a difference in quarterback Jordan Love, who the organization traded up to select in the first round of the 2020 draft, during organized team activities this week. The Packers are still hoping they can convince Aaron Rodgers to play for them this year, but Love looks much different than the third-stringer that he was in his

Former Green Bay Packers linebacker James Burgess agreed to an undisclosed one-year deal with the San Francisco 49ers on Thursday, according to his agent, Drew Rosenhaus. Burgess signed with the Miami Dolphins in 2016 after going undrafted out of Louisville, but he was released before the start of the season. He spent time on the practice squad of three different teams before sticking with the

New York Jets wide receiver Corey Davis (shoulder) suffered what is believed to be a minor shoulder strain at organized team activities on Thursday when he went up for a ball and landed on his shoulder, according to sources. Dr. James Andrews will look at some scans on Friday, but team doctors think Davis will be fine after some rest. The former first-round pick broke

Cleveland Browns quarterback Baker Mayfield didn’t light it up on deep passes last season, but he was very effective when going deep on play-action passes. Mayfield recorded 426 deep passing yards on play-action passes in 2020, tying for second-most in the league. His 12 deep completions off play-action plays were the third-most in the league. Cleveland’s offense was at its best when they used a

Minnesota Vikings quarterback Kirk Cousins improved his completion percentage over expectation (+9.1 percent) last year after posting a completion percentage over expectation of +6.4 percent in 2019. His passer rating on deep balls dropped slightly from 121.5 to 114.6 and his touchdown-to interception ratio went from 9:1 to 8:2, but Cousins has remained very steady when looking downfield. He targeted receivers in tight windows on

Seattle Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson led the league in deep passing touchdowns with 13 last year. Four of those touchdowns came on the run, too, which was also an NFL-best. The veteran signal-caller has been the best downfield passer in the league since the inception of the Next Gen Stats era in 2016, leading the league in passing yards (5,369), passing touchdowns (56), completions (156)

Former Denver Broncos linebacker Brandon Marshall worked out for the San Francisco 49ers on Thursday, according to a source. Marshall was drafted by the Jacksonville Jaguars in the fifth round in 2012 out of Nevada, but he made his mark in the NFL in his six seasons with the Denver Broncos from 2013 to 2018. He has not played in the last two seasons but

Former Dallas Cowboys and Miami Dolphins safety Kavon Frazier signed an undisclosed deal with the Cincinnati Bengals on Thursday. Frazier was initially a sixth-round selection by the Cowboys out of Central Michigan in 2016, and he spent the first four seasons of his career in Dallas before joining the Dolphins for 15 games (no starts) last season. In five NFL seasons, the 26-year-old has 73

Los Angeles Chargers quarterback Justin Herbert, who won Offensive Rookie of the Year in 2020, also tied Baker Mayfield‘s rookie record for deep touchdown passes with 11. Herbert also had 415 passing yards and five touchdowns on deep passes when under pressure, both most in the NFL. He had five touchdowns on deep passes from under center, which was tied with Kirk Cousins for the

Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen improved his deep passing numbers last year with the help of wide receiver Stefon Diggs, finishing with the second-most deep completions to wide open receivers (10). Allen went from a -10.1 percent completion percentage over expectation in 2019 to +7.1 percent in 2020, the second-largest jump in the league behind Daniel Jones. The 25-year-old also led the NFL in deep

Green Bay Packers tight end Robert Tonyan caught 52 passes on 59 targets last season, posting the highest catch-rate difference among all pass-catchers by a wide margin. Tonyan’s 16.7 percent difference was the best in 2020 and the second-best in the history of the Next Gen Stats era, dating back to the start of 2016. He generated 4.2 yards of separation per target, the second-most

Buffalo Bills wide receiver Stefon Diggs led the league in receiving yards (1,535) last year in his first season with the team. Diggs’ 166 targets produced a league-high 127 receptions, and he was the only receiver to break 11 percent in expected catch rate. He had the most receiving yards (685) on play-action targets in the league and also caught 50 passes for 490 yards

Tampa Bay Buccaneers wide receiver Chris Godwin saw press coverage on just 10.5 percent of routes run in 2020, the fifth-lowest rate among receivers running at least 300 routes in the NFL. That was thanks to the presence of Mike Evans, Rob Gronkowski and eventually Antonio Brown last year. Once known for being primarily a deep threat down the middle of the field — he

Free-agent running back Todd Gurley II is visiting with the Detroit Lions on Thursday, according to a source. If he were to sign with Detroit, Gurley would be reunited with quarterback Jared Goff and join the backfield with another former Georgia standout in D’Andre Swift. Gurley, a three-time Pro Bowler and two-time first-team All-Pro with the Los Angeles Rams, posted career-lows in carries (195) and