🏈 Charlotte’s Wild, Exciting, Very Fun NFL Top 10 List

Charlotte Wilder provides a list of narratives she’s excited to watch unfold this NFL season. [View in browser]( [FOX SPORTS INSIDER WITH MARTIN ROGERS] In today’s FOX Sports Insider with guest writer Charlotte Wilder: The NFL season is quickly approaching, which means it’s time to take a look at what we’re most excited to see unfold in 2021 ... we take a look at why Alabama’s SEC streak could come to an end this season ... and we wish Breanna Stewart’s a happy 27th birthday. It took me a long time to admit this, but I live for drama. One of the biggest reasons I love sports is because I love mess and gossip, and almost every game or personnel decision is accompanied by both. Following the NFL is so much fun because the league tries to pretend it isn’t dramatic while perpetuating soap opera storylines. The battles for succession, the subtweets, the lows of failure and the highs of success — it’s all there, even when coaches respond to questions with one-word answers. Most season "previews" focus on teams' prospects for success and the Xs and Os of the game. This one doesn’t. This is a list of the narratives I am excited to watch unfold. So if you also live for gossip (or football!), please, come right this way. Travis Kelce’s next move [STORY IMAGE 1] Kelce is up to something. Earlier this summer, the Chiefs’ tight end dropped the bomb that we’ve all been saying his last name wrong for, well, ever. It is apparently pronounced Kelse (as in pulse), not Kel-see (as in Chelsea). Then he shaved his signature beard, a feature so integral to his face that I honestly didn’t realize he had a beard until he got rid of it. This is a man who is either going through an early midlife crisis or drumming up attention for the launch of a clothing line. I can’t wait to see what other non-football-related changes he has up his sleeve and what his grand endgame is. Because there has to be one. He is, after all, a man who once had his own reality television show. Danny Dimes’ play of the year Few things brought me greater joy in 2020 (which was, admittedly, a joyless year) than watching Daniel Jones run so fast that he tripped over his own feet. It was such an earnest play, you know? He was trying so hard that he surpassed his own capacity for speed and went tumbling toward the end zone. As someone who has historically been overeager, I related deeply. I do not mean this to sound like I’m making fun of Jones. I really, truly loved it. I hope Jones provides us with more moments of athletic brilliance, even if they’re legitimately good instead of endearingly bad. You could give me another trip, but heck, I’ll also take a 70-yard touchdown bomb. When performed by a man who looks like Eli Manning’s son — if Eli Manning’s son were an econ major at Duke — any athletic feat becomes a little more entertaining. Mac Jones [STORY IMAGE 2] That’s it. Just Mac Jones. I’m a Pats fan — sue me. Julian Edelman inevitably joining his old New England pals in Tampa, and Tom Brady winning his millionth Super Bowl I’m a nihilistic Pats fan — sue me. The Bengals’ offensive line I almost lost my mind when Joe Burrow blew out his knee last year. I — and anyone else who watches football — had been saying all season that the Bengals were going to get the rookie seriously injured. That's because the team neglected to shore up its offensive line, a component essential to protecting the No. 1 pick in the NFL draft. It was so obvious that Burrow’s season wasn’t going to end well, yet coach Zac Taylor just plowed ahead and made Burrow throw, run and take hits far more than any quarterback should. Burrow got sacked more times in one game than he did in his entire last season at LSU. The bottom line is that Burrow has mostly recovered (even though some of his teammates say he’s still playing tentatively), and the Bengals have taken some steps to fix their colander-like pass protection. Taylor fired offensive line coach Jim Turner and brought back Frank Pollack, a hire most people in the Bengals' orbit seem to like. While the team passed on taking tackle Penei Sewell with the fifth overall pick, it did make some personnel changes that could help. Time will tell. The bottom line remains: Protect Joe Burrow. Trey Lance’s bajillion-mph throws [STORY IMAGE 3] Not to get ahead of myself — and no offense to Jimmy G — but Lance could be the best thing that has happened to San Francisco since Jerry Garcia. I mean, did you see this? How many yards Derrick Henry rushes for Henry is the human equivalent of a brick house that grew legs and can run a 40 faster than the speed limit of suburban streets. I spent most of last season arguing that he should be league MVP, but running back is unfortunately not the sexiest position in the NFL (read: they’re not quarterbacks). Regardless, watching Henry play football is a thing of beauty, and if he has another 2,000-plus-yard season, perhaps some folks will finally see the light. Chicago saying the Bears will win the Super Bowl after Justin Fields wins a game [STORY IMAGE 4] Something I admire deeply about Bears fans is their ability to be at once wildly optimistic and deeply resigned to the fact that their team will blow it. Despite excitement about first-round draft pick Fields, Coach Matt Nagy has been adamant that veteran QB Andy Dalton will start, perhaps because his hair so perfectly matches the Bears' uniforms. Some fans believe that Fields could be the savior of Chicago and also that Nagy could screw up his development or not play him at all (I’m sure some think Fields could turn out to be a bust, but let’s not go there yet). But if Fields usurps Dalton for the starting position this season and wins his first NFL game, Chicago’s optimism could take over, and the city might very well decide that a Super Bowl win is on the horizon. Until the first time Fields loses. I love sports. Sam Darnold’s MVP-caliber season with the Panthers The most Jets thing in the entire world would be getting rid of Darnold, only to have him absolutely thrive with Carolina under Matt Rhule. The race to the bottom — who will tank? One of my favorite NFL traditions is when two teams are inevitably winless heading into Week 7, kicking off the Battle Of Who Can Be Worse. Which then kicks off the speculation as to "Who will draft Spencer Rattler?" and prompts fans to root against their own team in hopes of securing the highest possible draft pick. There's nothing like losing to win. It's almost as good as gossip. [STORY IMAGE 5] Here’s what others have said ... Phil Simms, CBS: “Mac Jones played for Nick Saban. He knows the mentality on how to act and how to handle himself.” Colin Cowherd, The Herd: “You're going to get a buy in with Trey Lance... He looks the part. He's bigger than Jimmy G. He's more athletic and throws a deep ball as good.” Emmanuel Acho, FOX Sports: “Justin Fields will have the best success of all rookie QBs for the first six years of his career.” [IN OTHER WORDS] - Nick Saban’s squad has run all over the league, but in his SEC Preview, [FOX Sports College Football Writer RJ Young says that could change in 2021](. - College football season is finally here, and [FOX Sports Betting Analyst Sam Panayotovich has some advice on a Week 0 contest between Nebraska and Illinois](. - With the start of college football, [NFL Draft Analyst Rob Rang pinpoints the best time to see each of his top 10 pro prospects](. [THE INTERNET IS UNDEFEATED] [THE INTERNET IS UNDEFEATED]( Happy Birthday, Breanna Stewart! Already considered to be one of the most accomplished women’s basketball players of all time, Stewart is a two-time WNBA champion, a two-time WNBA Finals MVP, a three-time WNBA All-Star and the 2018 WNBA MVP. In college, Stewart led the UConn Huskies to four national championships and was named the Final Four’s most outstanding player all four of those years. Wishing you a happy, healthy 27th birthday, Breanna! [VIEWER'S GUIDE] Friday Night SmackDown (FOX, 8 p.m. ET) Find out what’s next for SmackDown after the return of Becky Lynch and Brock Lesnar. Boston Red Sox at Cleveland Indians (Saturday, FS1, 4 p.m. ET) Nathan Eovaldi takes the mound for the Boston Red Sox, who take on Cal Quantrill and the Cleveland Indians. San Diego Padres at Los Angeles Angels (Saturday, FS1, 9 p.m. ET) Fernando Tatis Jr. and the San Diego Padres go up against Shohei Ohtani and the Los Angeles Angels. Cleveland Browns at Atlanta Falcons (Sunday, NBC, 8 p.m. ET) Baker Mayfield and the Cleveland Browns take on Matt Ryan and the Atlanta Falcons in a preseason matchup. [BET OF THE DAY] [BET OF THE DAY] Odds provided by [FOX Bet]( SEC Football Champion Alabama: -162 Georgia: +250 Texas A&M: +1200 Florida: +1800 Stop us if you’ve heard this before … the SEC is absolutely LOADED this season. Alabama is listed as the favorite to take home the SEC title once again this season, and rightfully so. The Crimson Tide return an abundance of talent and have the ability to simply reload at key positions, including QB, where former five-star standout Bryce Young is set to take over. Georgia also returns a lot of talent and has the second-best odds at +250, followed by Texas A&M at +1200. If you’re looking for a team with better odds, take a glance at Ole Miss at +3000. The Rebels return standout QB Matt Corral, who leads an offense that can put up 50 points in any game. But if you want to play it smart and safe, go with the program that has won five of the past seven SEC titles … Alabama. [WHAT THEY SAID] “The most valuable player is the one who makes the most players valuable.” — Peyton Manning [FOLLOW FOX SPORTS] [Twitter]( [Facebook]( [YouTube]( [Instagram]( Download FOX Sports App: [Fire TV]( [Roku]( [Google Play]( [App Store]( [Fire TV]( [Roku]( [App Store]( [Google Play]( Also available on these devices: [fireTV | AppleTV | ROKU | Google Chromecast | XBOX ONE | SAMSUNG Smart TV] [fireTV | AppleTV | ROKU | Google Chromecast | XBOX ONE | SAMSUNG Smart TV] Trademark & Copyright Notice: ™ and © 2021 Fox Media LLC and FOX Sports Interactive Media, LLC. All rights reserved. Please do not reply to this message. If you do not wish to receive emails like this in the future, please [unsubscribe](. FOX Sports respects your privacy. Click [here]( to view our Privacy Policy. Fox.com Business & Legal Affairs - Manager Digital Media P.O. 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