NFL training is 3 weeks away | 1st & North

They called last night's match between Belgium and the United States one of the biggest Monday night football events in sports history, but the U.S. fell flat with another round of 16 exit in the World Cup. But hey, we have Monday night football to now look forward to. Three weeks till training camp, nine weeks till week one of the football season. Hello everyone and welcome into First and North. I'm Cassie Carlson. Joining me this week we have Jennifer Hammond from Fox Detroit, Tim Van Born from Fox Milwaukee, and Dawn Mitchell from Fox Minneapolis. So as we put the United States' run in the World Cup to bed and wake up after sleeping on that dud of a performance last night. Jen, I'll start with you because you're wearing the USA shirt so you still feel the pride. What did you think of the run for the U.S. men's national team? You know what, I am still repping and I still feel a little sick to my stomach over that performance because they played their worst possible game in the biggest possible moment on that stage and to see all of the build-up, the excitement before the game, all of the fans flooding through the streets of Seattle. It was just a blast to watch and also the way that they all busted out and country road at every drop, you know, at every at every moment. It was really cool to watch and I think it brought a lot of people together and I still feel good about it but it's just unfortunate that they really beat themselves instead of the other way around. Yeah, Tim, a lot of the conversation about the World Cup was how it would capture a new audience here in the states. Do you feel like this tournament did that? I think so. We're all from Fox, obviously. Ratings have been huge, so much hype, so much attention, so much activity, enthusiasm around these matches, the viewing parties, etc., etc. and obviously in this country people wanted the Americans to continue and it was a letdown on Monday night. It reminded Packer fans, I think, of the old fail Mary game with the replacement refs on a Monday night in Seattle and everybody walked out of there like what the heck happened. It was kind of the same thing last night. Dawn, what did you think of the World Cup and what's been the reaction just in Minneapolis? Any watch parties? Well, a lot of watch parties but the reaction is now the entire country feels like a Vikings fan. That's what some people were saying or Minnesota sports fan just to be honest. So, you know, whenever they can just kind of hurt themselves they do but, you know, I just I agree with you. This team did not play like the team that we saw in games prior. It was like they're not even themselves. So, they shot themselves in the foot. They didn't play well. Their big players did not step up in a big game. So, it was just another disappointing. We called it Monday night football. Let's hope the real Monday night football is a lot better than this one the other night. Yeah, everyone's here just licking their wounds. I kept seeing a tweet circulating that was along the lines of what's the comparison in the NFL world to Christian Pulisic and I did see some Vikings comparisons in there. That's a conversation for another show on another day. Training camp three weeks away. Some key NFL dates I do want to run through. Sunday, August 30th. That is going to be cut down day where the 53-man rosters are set. Trade deadline is November 10th. That is right after week nine. The Bears actually have their bye that week. Super Bowl, February 14th, Valentine's Day combined. March 1st through the 8th in Indy. Free agency starts a day later on March 9th. Owners meetings March 21st through the 24th and the draft is April 29th through May 1st in Washington DC. So, it's a little bit of a different schedule with free agency starting just the day after the combine ends, which is going to make these meals at St. Elmo's in downtown Indy extra interesting. We know that's where all the conversations start typically of, you know, GMs, head coaches talking about the needs on their roster, late nights with those conversations being held over a couple of drinks. I think it's going to be interesting with that condensed format that this is going to go from one thing to another and those conversations are going to be upped as they are down in Indy. Tim, I would love to know your opinion of just with that different schedule. There's usually a week in between that allows every team to get their act together and flip their minds from going to looking at all the draft prospects to what vets they want to bring in. Do you like the switch? I think it's going to be interesting to see. You and I have obviously compared some restaurant reviews and suggestions during the combine. Yeah. Did you get there? I mean, come on, Cassie. But, you know, one thing about the combine I've always enjoyed is that the GMs and the coaches seem very relaxed, right? No one's going to lose a game during the combine. So, I always enjoyed kind of the vibe around that. I suspect that's going to change a little bit with free agency right on the heels of that because there is going to be more negotiation. There's going to be some more pressure, a little more intensity, I think, all the way around. How it actually leads into what moves are made and when, I guess, remains to be seen. I have the wait and see attitude toward it, but how's it going to affect the vibe in Indy, Cassie? That is the impact I'm trying to monitor. So, are you saying less fraternization and maybe more serious, less late nights? I don't know. Those agents are going to be the folks to watch in Indy coming up during the combine with everything happening right after that event. All right, it is list season. As we know, PFF released their quarterback rankings, but before we get into that, three-time Super Bowl champion offensive lineman Mark Schlereth had this to say when talking about if Caleb Williams is a good quarterback. So, at this particular point in time, Caleb Williams isn't a good quarterback. If you're ranking that class, you put Jaden Daniels ahead of him, you put Drake May ahead of him, I put Bo Nicks ahead of him. You have this generational talent who's supposed to be a great quarterback. He's not a great quarterback. He's a great playmaker, and when it comes to off-schedule football, the guy is probably about as good as it gets. He is Kyler Murray with more height. So, the first issue I have with what Schlereth said right there is that he would put Jaden Daniels ahead of Caleb Williams and his quarterback rankings from that draft class. I think it's totally fair to put Drake May ahead of him right now, but part of what makes Caleb Williams good right now is that he is fully available, and he talked about that ahead of taking on the Vikings, that J.J. McCarthy has had a hard time staying on the field, and Caleb Williams has yet to miss a game. I think it's fair to criticize the fact that his completion percentage is low. 58 percent is not going to put you in the upper echelon of quarterbacks in the NFL, but I listened to something that Schlereth said on the radio here in Chicago on ESPN 1000, and he talked about the fact that Caleb Williams is not a good quarterback right now because of his footwork and his timing, and I think that is a fair criticism of Caleb Williams heading into year three. I also think it's one thing that Ben Johnson and quarterback's coach JT Barrett have worked on with Caleb Williams last year, and they're going to continue to work on this year, figuring out a way to link up eyes, foot, feet, and timing, and I think if you were to watch Caleb Williams' tape from last year, a lot of times you feel like he wasn't able to hit his first read and go through his reads quickly and on time, and I think that's going to be a point of emphasis going into the season, while also, as we talk about, being able to take the checkdowns, take the things that are given to him, and then save the Superman plays for when needed. Now, the eliteness that he has in the fourth quarter, I think that's something that you can't find in all those quarterbacks and you want to have in your QB, and while I don't think seven comeback wins in the fourth quarter is going to be replicated this year, I do think that is why many people are listing Caleb Williams in their top 10 of quarterbacks right now, so while the basics need work, I don't think it's, I think it's like a two-fold answer, where it's like, I see where his criticism is coming from, but I also think it's pretty outlandish to put Jaden Daniels ahead of Caleb Williams right now. PFF rankings are based off of three seasons of performance, with PFF passing grade, wins above replacement, and EPA per draftback forming the foundation, so here are the top five. Josh Allen, Joe Burrow, Lamar Jackson, Patrick Mahomes, and Matthew Staufford. I think those are all fair. Now, within the division, this one shocked me. Jordan Love at six, followed by Caleb Williams at 13, Jared Goff, 16, and Kyler Murray, 21. Tim, I'll go to you first. Should Jordan Love be in the top 10, just outside the top five? I'm a Jordan Love believer. That list, the surprise for me on that is not Love at six. It's Goff being down a little bit more than I would have expected. You know, Love, if you look at the stats of the last three years, he's a great TD to interception ratio guy. He bits the ball down the field. He moves the Packers, and they pile up the numbers, and they haven't really had a number one receiver to go to, so you look at Jordan Love's numbers right here. Those are very compelling numbers. That's who the Packers have committed to. Obviously, they gave him the contract going into the last season, and they believe in Jordan Love. He has played up to that level. The supporting cast has kept the Packers from doing more in the postseason than Jordan Love has. Jennifer, I mean, I'm in agreement with Tim that equally a surprise that Jared Goff is at 16. Are you? I'm absolutely stunned, and it's mostly because of the numbers that you look to. I mean, they've got one of the most prolific scoring offenses in all of the NFL, let alone in the NFC, and also the fact that he's got a 68 percent completion percentage coming off 2025. He was second in touchdowns last year, second in passing yards. Jared Goff has done nothing but achieve at a high level for the Detroit Lions in his four years here. I mean, they've had a top scoring offense the last four seasons, and with guys like Gibbs, St. Brown, Williams, I mean, they are a tremendous offensive threat, and I think he's going to just keep getting better and better. And one of the most interesting things, too, about Jared Goff is he's really smart. He's like an extra coach on the field. From Ben Johnson to now Drew Petzing, everyone who has ever worked around Jared Goff has kind of ruminated about how intelligent he is and what a great playmaker he is. I think the only thing that hurts him is maybe his performances in some of the biggest games of his career. You can look back to the Super Bowl with the Rams, also the NFC Championship game with the Lions in 2023, and as well that playoff game two years ago against the Washington Commanders. It was really one of Goff's worst games. But the thing that also is his superpower is the chip he has on his shoulder. And Jared Goff will be the first guy to tell you he doesn't have one. He's not motivated. He doesn't hear that. But when you watch and listen to his response to questions about the criticisms against him, you know darn well that he hears it, and it drives and motivates him. And I expect him to have a tremendous year this season, especially with that revamped offensive line. Dawn, I know that Kyler Murray is looking forward to a new start in Minnesota, and every week we talk about the competition. If it's a true competition between him and JJ McCarthy, I kind of feel like him being ranked 21st is a very fair ranking, giving the restart and how he's trying to, again, kickstart his career in a new place. You know, it's funny because I'm listening to all of you say, oh it's not fair. I'm like, yeah, 21 seems pretty fair for Kyler Murray. I mean, considering he's only had one full season, and if we can say full since 2021, last year he only had five starts. So I feel like we're going on what his potential can be. And I know when you look at these rankings, they don't field in how long have they been with an offense, right? How long have they been with this head coach, blah, blah, blah, blah. But when you just break it down to brass tacks, I mean, 72.2 PFF had for his passing grade for last year in those five starts. But what is five starts? So you have to look back to 2024, where he had some big-time throws. Like 27 of them were really big-time throws. And also he really did well by moving his feet and carrying the ball. 7.3 yards per carry, which was second back then in the NFL. But that's one year to go on in the past five. So I think 21 is really fair. And now it's also J.J. McCarthy got honorable mention. And you talked about the feet work when it comes to Caleb. And you know, that was the number one diss on J.J. McCarthy when it came to Kevin O'Connor. He's like, we've got to work on his feet. We've got to work on his feet. But then his accuracy was down. So I was surprised that J.J. McCarthy was even an honorable mention, to be honest. So I think one is fair. And then the honorable mention for me was a bit surprising. Some might argue that J.J. McCarthy just didn't have to throw the ball all that much while he was at Michigan. So the accuracy and the footwork was never really put to test. We need to take a timeout when we return on First and North. What projected starting lineups are the best and worst in the league? And Micah Parsons get in the crew together for some summer workouts. Caleb gets it away. He's got to do it. You cannot make this up. What an electrifying season for the Chicago Bears and the city of Chicago. I'm Cathy Carlson. It's the offseason. We're keeping the excitement going all year long. They are positioned to make some moves from the combine. The tape tells the story to the draft. Welcome to Chicago. Everything to get you pumped for another wild ride. The offseason. Friday night at six on Fox Local. Welcome back to First and North. I'm Cathy Carlson at our Fox 32 studios in Chicago, joined by Jennifer Hammond in Detroit, Tim Van Voren in Milwaukee, and Dawn Mitchell in Minneapolis. Let's keep this list theme going. ESPN ranked NFL rosters best projected starting lineups. Top five Rams. No surprise there. Eagles, Seattle, Buffalo, Baltimore. If we go in the division, Lions six, Packers 10, Bears 17, and Vikings 22. So let's run through it again. Jennifer, starting with you. Lions just outside the top five. I think there is a league-wide consensus that if you just look at weapons alone on offense, they have so much firepower now paired with a new offensive coordinator. Absolutely. And I'm surprised slightly that they aren't top five. Each of the last four seasons, Detroit has had a top five offense in touchdowns, in yards, and they have been absolutely a machine throughout the seasons. But, you know, I think it's a what have you done for me lately league and the fact that they've seen some injury miscues with Laporta and they've had some problems with the offensive line in 2025. That probably dropped them down to just a little bit. But the thing about Jameer Gibbs that makes this kid an undeniable top weapon, even an MVP consideration guy, is the first three seasons in the NFL, he is the only back in the league to finish with at least 11 touchdowns, 1,200 yards, and 50 receptions. So he has been nothing short of spectacular. And I think with that new revamped offensive line, it keeps coming back to that. And we'll even touch on it again later on in the show, but he is going to be even more explosive this year. And I think the most important thing to realize is that when Jared Goff can complete 68% of his passes and get the ball and spread it around to guys like Williams and Amin Ra, who is an absolute stud, this Lions offense is going to continue to be in the top 10, if not top five again this season. Tim, you were talking about weapons on the outside for Jordan Love earlier, the Packers being in the top 10. Do you think that's a fair number, let's say at the start of the season, when you don't know when Micah Parsons is going to be back, nor Tucker Craft? I think that's what you're hitting on here. And I think if you look at the Packers, Cassie and Dawn and Jen, you know, the last three years or so, where are the Packers? They're close, but they're just outside the elite group. And that's kind of where they're listed here. Close, but just outside the elite group. To me, that's kind of a summation of Packers football. Knocking on the door, if this goes right, if that goes right, if this guy's healthy, if that guy's healthy, well, they're right there. But if something holds them back, they're just outside. That's, I think, the way they're being viewed right here. Micah Parsons is probably not going to be back at the first month or so of the regular season. Tucker Craft in a better position physically, but that's an x-factor or an unknown that people are just not ready to commit to yet for Green Bay. Good, but just outside that elite group. Yeah, and I think the Bears being in the bottom half of the NFL is actually surprising to me. While I feel like a lot of position groups have a lot to prove still, the pieces are still there. And I think you could argue that they're on the cusp of being like the Lions, where on offense at least, they have the weapons in the building. It's now seeing them emerge as they get more and more experience. They are very young right now. A lot of guys in year two, a lot of guys in year three, including Caleb Williams and Roma Dunzey, where all eyes are going to be on them. But I think if you look at the offensive line alone, they are considered one of the best units in the entire NFL. And that is the backbone of this offense, which Ben Johnson is going to rely on heavily, knowing that they didn't add much to the defensive line. And so there's a, you can have a take on theory and approach of how the Bears want to win games next year. And I think a lot of it is going to be by being a high-powered offense. As Caleb Williams said on Max Crosby's podcast, he wants to be the number one offense in the league and having the defense come up with big moments in their secondary, rather than relying on the defensive line to get to opposing quarterbacks as much. But with the weapons they have in Colston Loveland, Roma Dunzey, Luther Burden, DeAndre Swift, Kyle Mnungai, Caleb Williams, the offensive line with the protector of the year and Joe Tooney on it, I think 17 is kind of low. Dawn, what do you think of the Vikings being at 22 on this list? You know, when I saw 22 at first, I was like, oh, I think that's low. And then the reality sets in, well, they don't know who's a quarterback ad nauseum. Their offensive line is in question. Once again, they're running backs. They have Aaron Jones back. And I think Jordan Mason's really going to be something, but they really have to figure out the platooning situation there. But you know, when you come out of the gate and you have Justin Jefferson and you think, oh, stud power, right? Jordan Addison, if he can stay out of trouble off the field, you add a Jawan Jennings, you add TJ Hawkinson. You're like, they have all of these weapons, but who's going to be the guy throwing the ball? Who's going to be the guy protecting the guy throwing the ball? You know, what are they going to do with the guys going to split open the field? So the more and more I kind of did the mental check down in my brain, I'm like, 22 is kind of fair, especially since they didn't go to the playoffs, but just on paper, I always visualize and just how I see it just a little bit higher, at least maybe 15 to 18. I don't know why we're like getting into the twenties kind of hurts a little bit, but sometimes as they say, reality hurts, they have to change it. They have to show it with wins. They have to show it with what they can do on the field. So they've got a lot of proving to do this year. All right. When we're talking about strengths and weaknesses of each team, the list says the Lions strengths are their offensive playmakers, which we just touched on. Biggest weakness is their secondary, which everyone knows with the injuries to Kirby Joseph, Brian Branch, and now Terry-Ann Arnold being released as he goes through some legal issues. Jennifer, the X-Factor, Blake Miller, a rookie right tackle. What do you think of that being the X-Factor? Yeah, I think that's a really fair assessment of this offense at this point in time. I mean, it's no surprise that everybody is looking at the Lions offensive line as really the unit that will kind of tell which way this offense is going to go this season. And protecting Jared Goff is job one. We talk about footwork. He's not particularly mobile. He is a guy that is always much more comfortable when he's in a sturdy pocket and he's got a little bit of time to release the ball to all of his playmaking weapons. But I think the other thing about the Blake Miller assessment about him being kind of the X-Factor is also that it moves Pené Sewell over to the left tackle position with the departure of Taylor Decker. So now you've got Pené on the blind side. He played it before. He's comfortable there. But it's going to take them time to come together. And we saw it a couple seasons ago when they were kind of revamping the offensive line. It feels like it's been a work in progress like three of the last four seasons, especially since the retirement of Frank Ragnow. And I think it's going to be important for them to come together and get some time and reps. And I think the offensive line and perhaps the performance we see in week one for Detroit this year is going to be very different than we see in week five, maybe even 10 and into December, where Dan Campbell is really looking for this team to be clicking on all cylinders. Yeah, take some time to gel when it comes to the Packers. Biggest strength, safety, biggest weakness, interior due line, X-Factor, Tim, run-pass ratio. But I want to focus on the weakness because we've talked a lot about Micah Parsons' impact, Lucas Van Ness going into a big year. Do you have concerns with the interior of the defensive line? Actually, I like some of their young people, to be honest with you. They're going with bodies. They have a lot of proven players in there. But to get Devontae Wyatt back, he was another one of those players who was injured last year and definitely was part of the Packer downfall at the tail end of the season by not being on the field. So I actually am a little more bullish on that defensive line than some people are. We'll see. These are unknown players, but I think they've done a nice job shoring up in there. And I think some of these guys are going to be in the rotation, are going to be contributors. My personal X-Factor, and it's not on your graphic and it's not on a lot of people's list, but rookie kicker. I mean, I'm just a little bit reluctant on that. Trey Smack, it's a good name if it works, not so good if it doesn't. Yeah, and he's the only one on the roster, right? Yeah, right now. Well, they have another one who's largely a camp leg, Lucas Habersick, but they've committed to Trey Smack. They released Brandon McManus. They basically said this is Smack who was a draft choice. This is Smack's job. That's an X-Factor for me. All right. Bare strength, offensive line, weakness, defensive line, X-Factor, of course. Quarterback Caleb Williams, when it comes to the Vikings, their strength, the pass catchers, they now have the trio. Dawn, as you were talking about, the weakness is running back, X-Factor, interior offensive line. Dawn, I feel like you could argue that the weakness won't be running backs if the interior of their offensive line plays well. Absolutely. And I think, you know, everyone is saying, oh, X-Factor, you have to look at Will Fries. And Will Fries may not have had the best season last year, but he was the only one that was healthy. So that seems to be another song that keeps on playing the same tune for the Vikings. So you hear, OK, there's Brian O'Neal. He's a superstar. But how about the rest of the guys? Now, you know, Donovan Jackson, he's a young guy that's going to continue to get better. But at center, Ryan Kelly retires after all of those concussions. And so can Blake Brandel step up and be the guy that whomever the starting quarterback is can really rely on? So, again, yes, it's that offensive line that everyone says here, like they need to put money into the O-line. But when they do put money into the O-line, sometimes those people get hurt. So they have to find some stability there. And like I said earlier, if Jordan Mason can really hold it down at running back and help platoon, you know, Aaron Jones, who came back and signed another deal to come back. We know that he's getting a little bit older. Hopefully that won't be a question mark, but we all have to wait and see. And it all starts at the top with that quarterback story that I just can't wait to end. It'll never end. We'll be talking about it right here next week again, because why not, right? We need to take a time out still to come. The Pope receives a special gift from Caleb Williams that might be hinting at a new jersey. Join Cassie Carlson. If you get that, is that the determining factor? It's the final word for Chicago sports fans. What is the personality of a guy that you want to bring into the Bears? Chicago sports tonight. New episodes weeknights at six stream anytime on Fox local. All right. I don't know if you've heard if you live in Detroit, Milwaukee, Minneapolis, but the Pope is from Chicago and he continues to build his autographed Chicago memorabilia collection with an autographed Caleb Williams jersey on it. Williams wrote hashtag da Pope. I feel like that's so like whatever Gen X Gen Z he is. But now everyone's actually talking about the jersey itself because it's white and orange believed to be the rivalries jerseys that teams from the NFC North and AFC South will wear. I don't know. Have you guys seen any leaks of your rivalry jerseys? I have not. But I will tell you something that the Lions always have really dope jerseys. And I do think that goes back to the George Wendt Saturday Night Live skit da Bears. Yeah. Right. When he did da Pope. The only thing I'm disappointed in is that they didn't find a 14 for him because he is Leo the 14th. It should have been a maybe a numeral number, a Roman numerals on his jersey or something like that. Oh, of course he had a critique on what the quarterback gave the Pope. Does that say Indiana on the front? All right, we're ending the show. We gotta go. We're running out of time. There's always a dig for Jennifer, Tim and Don. I'm Cassie. We'll see you back here next week on First and North.