Every year, a handful of teams have to convince themselves that a certain story they've been telling themselves all offseason will turn out to be true. Their success for the coming season hinges on it. One example for 2025...Ben Johnson is exactly what Caleb Williams needs. So what are the other stories that teams are telling themselves as we approach the beginning of training camp? Robert Mays and Derrik Klassen get into them on this episode of The Athletic Football Show.

Hosts: Robert Mays and Derrik Klassen

Executive Producer: Michael Beller

Producer: Michael Beller

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Theme song: Haunted

Written by Dylan Slocum, Trevor Dietrich, Ruben Duarte, Kyle McAulay, and Meredith VanWoert / Performed by Spanish Love Songs

Courtesy of Pure Noise / By arrangement with Bank Robber Music, LLC

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

July is here, which means training camps are just a few short weeks away. The football is getting closer, and that's reflected in this week's TAFS Mailbag. Robert Mays and Derrik Klassen answer a bunch more of your questions on this edition, including...How do you separate a player from his situation? How does a competing team correctly balance a desire to go all-in with the patience necessary to build a stable winner? What are your favorite single-season teams in NFL history? What does it mean for a quarterback to be creative? Hear their answers to those questions, and more, on this episode of The Athletic Football Show.

Hosts: Robert Mays and Derrik Klassen

With: Michael Beller

Executive Producer: Michael Beller

Producer: Michael Beller

Subscribe to The Athletic Football Show...

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Follow Robert on Bluesky: @robertmays.bsky.social

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Follow Beller on Bluesky: @mbeller.bsky.social

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Theme song: Haunted

Written by Dylan Slocum, Trevor Dietrich, Ruben Duarte, Kyle McAulay, and Meredith VanWoert / Performed by Spanish Love Songs

Courtesy of Pure Noise / By arrangement with Bank Robber Music, LLC

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Revisiting recent drafts can help inform what we think about the league in the present moment and the ways that teams make decisions. Especially when you've got Dane Brugler at your disposal. Dane joins Robert Mays on this episode of The Athletic Football Show to look back at the 2018 NFL Draft, a class that, in real life, saw Baker Mayfield, Saquon Barkley and Sam Darnold go 1-2-3, Josh Allen land with the Bills at No. 7, and Lamar Jackson taken off the board by the Ravens with the last pick of the first round. How would that draft go with the benefit of hindsight? And what can we take away from what happened then and what we now know?

Hosts: Robert Mays and Derrik Klassen

With: Dane Brugler

Executive Producer: Michael Beller

Producer: Michael Beller

Subscribe to The Athletic Football Show...

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Follow Robert on Bluesky: @robertmays.bsky.social

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Theme song: Haunted

Written by Dylan Slocum, Trevor Dietrich, Ruben Duarte, Kyle McAulay, and Meredith VanWoert / Performed by Spanish Love Songs

Courtesy of Pure Noise / By arrangement with Bank Robber Music, LLC

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

If you listen to a show like this, you already have an idea of how much modern technology is shaping the NFL. There's a decent chance, though, that its reach into what you watch on Sundays...and Mondays...and especially Thursdays is far greater than you suppose. And it's only increasing. Sam Schwartzstein, the analytics expert behind Amazon's Thursday night Prime Vision broadcasts, joins Robert Mays to discuss the future of football and where the marriage between tech and the sport is headed on this episode of The Athletic Football Show.

Hosts: Robert Mays and Derrik Klassen

With: Sam Schwartzstein

Executive Producer: Michael Beller

Producer: Michael Beller

Subscribe to The Athletic Football Show...

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Follow Robert on Bluesky: @robertmays.bsky.social

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Theme song: Haunted

Written by Dylan Slocum, Trevor Dietrich, Ruben Duarte, Kyle McAulay, and Meredith VanWoert / Performed by Spanish Love Songs

Courtesy of Pure Noise / By arrangement with Bank Robber Music, LLC

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Every now and again in this business, breaking news works in your favor. That was the case for us at The Athletic Football Show on Monday, when news of the Jalen Ramsey Dolphins/Steelers trade broke early in the morning. It became even more the case when the deal got stranger and more interesting, roping in Minkah Fitzpatrick, Jonnu Smith, and a couple of draft picks over the ensuing 90 minutes or so. Robert Mays and old friend Bill Barnwell break down the trade and its implications for both teams on this episode of The Athletic Football Show.

Hosts: Robert Mays and Derrik Klassen

With: Bill Barnwell

Executive Producer: Michael Beller

Producer: Michael Beller

Subscribe to The Athletic Football Show...

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Follow Robert on Bluesky: @robertmays.bsky.social

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Follow Bill on Bluesky: @billbarnwell.com

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Follow Bill on X: @billbarnwell

Theme song: Haunted

Written by Dylan Slocum, Trevor Dietrich, Ruben Duarte, Kyle McAulay, and Meredith VanWoert / Performed by Spanish Love Songs

Courtesy of Pure Noise / By arrangement with Bank Robber Music, LLC

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Mailbag Monday rolls on as we get deeper into summer and closer to the start of training camp. Among the questions answered by Robert Mays and Derrik Klassen on this edition...where would Baltimore fall among QB supporting classes in the NFC? Which contract-year players have the widest range of outcomes this season? What are the best single-offseason QB/coach upgrades of all-time? Hear their answers to those questions, and a whole bunch more, on this episode of The Athletic Football Show.

Hosts: Robert Mays and Derrik Klassen

With: Michael Beller

Executive Producer: Michael Beller

Producer: Michael Beller

Subscribe to The Athletic Football Show...

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Follow Robert on Bluesky: @robertmays.bsky.social

Follow Derrik on Bluesky: @qbklass.bsky.social

Follow Beller on Bluesky: @mbeller.bsky.social

Follow Robert on X: @robertmays

Follow Derrik on X: @QBKlass

Theme song: Haunted

Written by Dylan Slocum, Trevor Dietrich, Ruben Duarte, Kyle McAulay, and Meredith VanWoert / Performed by Spanish Love Songs

Courtesy of Pure Noise / By arrangement with Bank Robber Music, LLC

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The 2024 rookie quarterback class was a big story from the moment that it put six players in the first round of the draft. The group had about as diverse a range of rookie season experiences as possible, from J.J. McCarthy missing the season due to injury, to Jayden Daniels leading the Commanders to the NFC Championship Game. What was 2024 really like for the five guys who played? And what are realistic expectations for all of them (other than McCarthy) going forward. Robert Mays and Derrik Klassen give their diagnosis on the former, and prognosis on the latter, on this episode of The Athletic Football Show.

Hosts: Robert Mays and Derrik Klassen

Executive Producer: Michael Beller

Producer: Michael Beller

Subscribe to The Athletic Football Show...

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Follow Robert on Bluesky: @robertmays.bsky.social

Follow Derrik on Bluesky: @qbklass.bsky.social

Follow Robert on X: @robertmays

Follow Derrik on X: @QBKlass

Theme song: Haunted

Written by Dylan Slocum, Trevor Dietrich, Ruben Duarte, Kyle McAulay, and Meredith VanWoert / Performed by Spanish Love Songs

Courtesy of Pure Noise / By arrangement with Bank Robber Music, LLC

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Every NFL season includes multiple instances of teams surprising us on the positive side of the ledger (hello 2024 Broncos and 2023 Texans) and the negative side (oh, hi 2022 Buccaneers and 2020 Eagles). Are there any threads those teams share? Any traits that repeat themselves year after year that can help inform how we're looking at the 2025 season? Robert Mays and Derrik Klassen dig into the types of teams we consistently overrate, and those we regularly underrate, on this episode of The Athletic Football Show.

Hosts: Robert Mays and Derrik Klassen

Executive Producer: Michael Beller

Producer: Michael Beller

Subscribe to The Athletic Football Show...

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Follow Robert on Bluesky: @robertmays.bsky.social

Follow Derrik on Bluesky: @qbklass.bsky.social

Follow Robert on X: @robertmays

Follow Derrik on X: @QBKlass

Theme song: Haunted

Written by Dylan Slocum, Trevor Dietrich, Ruben Duarte, Kyle McAulay, and Meredith VanWoert / Performed by Spanish Love Songs

Courtesy of Pure Noise / By arrangement with Bank Robber Music, LLC

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We at The Athletic Football Show like to think that we've established our thoughtful, incisive bona fides. But we aren't above a Taco Bell meal and a slapstick comedy every now and again. We, too, have our guilty pleasures. How does that translate to the football world? Robert Mays and Derrik Klassen let you in and indulge in their guilty pleasure NFL storylines on this episode of The Athletic Football Show.

Hosts: Robert Mays and Derrik Klassen

Executive Producer: Michael Beller

Producer: Michael Beller

Subscribe to The Athletic Football Show...

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Follow Robert on Bluesky: @robertmays.bsky.social

Follow Derrik on Bluesky: @qbklass.bsky.social

Follow Robert on X: @robertmays

Follow Derrik on X: @QBKlass

Theme song: Haunted

Written by Dylan Slocum, Trevor Dietrich, Ruben Duarte, Kyle McAulay, and Meredith VanWoert / Performed by Spanish Love Songs

Courtesy of Pure Noise / By arrangement with Bank Robber Music, LLC

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Our fine listeners once again did not disappoint when we opened the mail over the weekend. Robert Mays and Derrik Klassen tackle questions on evaluating play callers based on the talent at their disposal, the worst QB rooms of the past decade, the new Protector of the Year Award, current players becoming coaches, low-expectations teams that can make the playoffs, and a whole lot more on this episode of The Athletic Football Show.

Hosts: Robert Mays and Derrik Klassen

With: Michael Beller

Executive Producer: Michael Beller

Producer: Michael Beller

Subscribe to The Athletic Football Show...

⁠Apple⁠

⁠Spotify⁠

⁠YouTube⁠

Follow Robert on Bluesky: @robertmays.bsky.social

Follow Derrik on Bluesky: @qbklass.bsky.social

Follow Beller on Bluesky: @mbeller.bsky.social

Follow Robert on X: @robertmays

Follow Derrik on X: @QBKlass

Theme song: Haunted

Written by Dylan Slocum, Trevor Dietrich, Ruben Duarte, Kyle McAulay, and Meredith VanWoert / Performed by Spanish Love Songs

Courtesy of Pure Noise / By arrangement with Bank Robber Music, LLC

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.