Ranking the NFL’s top 10 cornerbacks, plus looking at top 25 players age 25 or under entering 2023

Welcome to the Tuesday edition of the Pick Six newsletter!

I don’t know if you’ve looked at a calendar lately, but we’re exactly one week away from the Fourth of July. This means that you have one week to find all the illegal fireworks that you can get your hands on so that you can have the biggest fireworks display in your neighborhood. 

Speaking of fireworks, we’ll have plenty of them in today’s newsletter. For instance, Derek Carr was practically spitting out fireworks during a recent interview where he was asked about how he now feels about the fact that he got benched by the Raiders. We’ll be covering Carr’s comments, plus we’ll be ranking the top 10 corners in the NFL and taking a look at the top 25 players under the age of 25. 

As always, here’s your daily reminder to tell all your friends to sign up for the newsletter. We’ll be delivering NFL news here all summer. To get them signed up, all you have to do is click here. Let’s get to the rundown. 

1. Today’s show: Breaking down Browns offseason

It’s time for another episode of our “All 32” series, and for today’s show, we’re focusing on the Cleveland Browns. By the way, if you don’t know what our “All 32” series is, it’s where we pass the dead part of the offseason by devoting an entire episode of the podcast to each individual team.

Anyway, to talk about how things are going in Cleveland, we brought on the best radio host in northern Ohio, Ken Carman from 92.3 The Fan in Cleveland. We love talking to Ken whenever we can because he somehow stays upbeat even though he’s been covering a team that hasn’t won a division title since 1989. 

Here are a few topics host Katie Mox and Will Brinson covered with Carman: 

• What will Cleveland’s offense look like with Deshaun Watson? Although the Browns have Nick Chubb, Carman thinks that the Browns are going to throw the ball more in 2023 “I think in a lot of ways, they are going to be ‘throw the ball, throw the ball, throw the ball,'” Carman said. “They’re going to be in shootout games [playing in the AFC] and I think they’re going to put it in Watson’s hands a lot.” Carman also added that he doesn’t think the Browns coaching staff is worried at all about the fact that Watson struggled during his time on the field last season. 
• How many games can the Browns win? The oddsmakers have the Browns over/under total set at 8.5 this year and Carman thinks they’re definitely going to hit the over. Carman has the Browns finishing 10-7, which would likely put them in the playoffs for the second time in four years. Carman thinks the first four weeks will be pivotal for the Browns. “It’s very important to start off 2-2 [or better], get to that Week 5 bye, settle everyone down and get going,” Carman said. The Browns open the season with the Bengals, Steelers (away), Titans and Ravens in the first four weeks and their season could almost be over before it even starts if they lose those three division games. 

Carman spent a full 25 minutes talking about the Browns, and if you want to hear everything he had to say, you can listen to today’s show here. You can also watch today’s show on YouTube by clicking here.

2. Ranking the NFL’s top 10 corners heading into the 2023 season 

As you may or may not have noticed, we love to rank things here at CBSSports.com, and because of that, we thought we would spend the next few weeks ranking every position group heading into the 2023 season. 

After spending the past five days on the offensive side of the ball, we’re finally heading over to the defensive side of the ball today with our ranking of the top corners. 

The top 10 list below was put together by Jared Dubin, and if you’d like to tell him how perfect it is, you can do that by clicking here. That link will take you to his Twitter profile, where you can also argue with him if you don’t like his list. 

Top 10 corners for 2023

1. Sauce Gardner, Jets
2. Patrick Surtain II, Broncos
3. Jalen Ramsey, Dolphins
4. Darius Slay, Eagles
5. Jaire Alexander, Packers
6. D.J. Reed, Jets
7. Marlon Humphrey, Ravens
8. Trevon Diggs, Cowboys
9. Jaycee Horn, Panthers
10. Stephon Gilmore, Cowboys 

My first takeaway from this list is that the Jets could be unstoppable this year. Not only did they get Aaron Rodgers, but they’ll also be going into the 2023 season with the top cornerback tandem in the NFL, according to Dubin’s rankings. Although Gardner and Reed both played in New York last year, the Jets didn’t really know what they had in the duo just yet since Gardner was a rookie and Reed was going into his first year with the Jets after four seasons in the NFC West.  

The Cowboys also landed two corners on Dubin’s list thanks to the addition of Gilmore, who was acquired by Dallas in one of the more underrated trades of the offseason (The Cowboys only had to give up a 2023 fifth-round compensatory pick to get him from the Colts). 

If you want a detailed explanation of Dubin’s rankings, be sure to click here so you can check out his entire story. 

3. Top 25 players who are 25 or under entering 2023

If you look at rosters around the NFL, you’ll notice that for the most part, football is a young man’s game. Due to that fact, we make a special list every offseason of the 25 best players who are 25 or under and that list is out today. 

Cody Benjamin ranked this year’s class and here’s a look at the top 10 players on his list along with their age (The age listed below is how old they’ll be when the season starts):

1. WR Justin Jefferson (24), Vikings
2. QB Jalen Hurts (25), Eagles
3. DE Nick Bosa (25), 49ers
4. LB Micah Parsons (24), Cowboys
5. WR Ja’Marr Chase (23), Bengals
6. QB Justin Herbert (25), Chargers
7. CB Sauce Gardner (23), Jets
8. CB Patrick Surtain II (23), Broncos
9. OT Tristan Wirfs (24), Buccaneers
10. WR CeeDee Lamb (24), Cowboys

Two things that jump out of the top 10 for me: The Cowboys are the only team with two players in the top 10, so I’m guessing they probably feel pretty good about their future. Also, the top 10 is going to have a drastically different look next season since three of the players on the list won’t be eligible in 2023, including both quarterbacks. 

By the way, if you’re wondering what the rules were for the age cutoff here: Players qualified for this list as long as they are 25 or younger when the 2023 season officially begins on Sept. 8, so if they were to turn 26 on Sept. 9, they’d still qualify. 

Anyway, if you want to see Cody’s full ranking of all 25 players, be sure to click here.  

4. Five young players who need to prove themselves in 2023

Now that we have our list of the top 25 players who are 25 or under, we’re going to take a look at five players who didn’t make the list. During this week’s episode of “With the First Pick,” former Vikings general manager Rick Spielman was asked to name a few players 25 or younger who need to prove themselves in 2023. 

Here are five guys that Spielman mentioned: 

• 1. DE Chase Young, Commanders. “Guys who come off an ACL, the first thing to come back is movement straight forward, but for them to break down and change direction or to bend, that’s something that I didn’t last year that I did see from his college career and his first year when he won [2020] Defensive Rookie of the Year. I think that will get better going into this season. If he can get that, then I think he’s going to make a lot of money. He’s either going to get franchised or go out on the open market.”
• 2. OL Austin Jackson, Dolphins. “He started at left tackle his rookie year, but he struggled at left tackle and then moved inside to guard. I thought he was worse as a guard because he had never played there and things happen a lot quicker inside. Last year, they move him back outside to right tackle, but he dealt with ankle issues that landed him on injured reserve after playing only two games.”
• 3. RB Alexander Mattison, Vikings. “He’s going to get the chance to be the bellcow for them. … He’s always played second-fiddle to Dalvin Cook. This is going to be a big year for him. They give him a two-year extension [for $7 million], which really doesn’t count to me. That’s a prove-it type deal for him to show he can be the lead back. He’s big, physical, powerful. He’s not nearly as explosive as Dalvin Cook, but phenomenal kid and great work ethic.” 
• 4. WR Kadarius Toney, Chiefs. “He had a lot of durability issues with the Giants and didn’t pan out [before being traded to the Chiefs]. When a player goes to a different team during the season, it’s very difficult to learn the playbook because they’ll probably give you only a certain amount of play, so you can learn those plays faster. He should have a full load of understanding that offense and a better relationship with Patrick Mahomes.”
• 5. RB Rachaad White, Buccaneers. “For Tampa to have success on the offensive side of the ball, he’s [White] going to need to have a big year. He split time with Fournette last year, and I thought in the second half of last year, he was better than Fournette.”

For a closer look at these five players, be sure to check out our full story here. You can also listen to this episode of “With the First Pick” by clicking here. 

5. Derek Carr unloads on the Raiders, claims they made his wife cry

It’s been more than four months since the Raiders cut ties with Derek Carr and although time is supposed to heal all wounds, it doesn’t seem like anything has really healed yet when it comes to Carr’s feelings about his former team. As a matter of fact, when it comes to the seven stages of grief, I don’t think he’s quite made it past Stage 3 yet. 

The Saints new QB did an interview with the Fresno Bee over the weekend and Carr had a lot to say: 

• Carr still seems bitter that he got benched. The Raiders benched Carr with just TWO games left in the regular season, a move that still doesn’t sit well with the quarterback. “I was, for lack of a better term, I was very upset; I was mad,” Carr said. “You spend nine years in a place, you have all the records and you can play at a high level and for something to get in the way, whether it was whatever reason, money related or whatever, injury related, I would have said I don’t even want the money, just to play two more times in front of our fans. I didn’t get that opportunity. So, it definitely lit a fire inside me to keep going.”
• Carr knew he was going to be the fall guy for the Raiders at some point. After going through multiple head coaches during his nine seasons with the Raiders, Carr knew it was only a matter of time before the team turned on him, “If you win more games and you keep being productive, you stay there forever,” Carr said. “But we didn’t win enough games and that’s the kind of stuff that happens with all the turnover of coaches; with all the different things. Eventually, the last guy in the room is usually going to be out at some point. And that’s really what happened.”
• The Raiders made Carr’s wife cry. After getting benched, Carr knew there was no way he would be returning to Las Vegas, even if the Raiders had asked and that’s because the benching made his wife cry. “Once they made my wife cry, that was pretty much over,” Carr said. “Once they made her cry, that was out.”
• Carr will be rooting for the Raiders this season. Although Carr does sound slightly bitter toward the organization, he will be rooting for the team this season. “I have so many friends over there,” Carr said. “I want them to succeed. I want Jimmy to be healthy. I want him to play great, because that helps Davante (Adams). It helps Maxx (Crosby), Josh Jacobs. It helps all my friends, Kolton (Miller), Andre (James). I’m going to stop naming names because someone will get upset, but all my friends over there, I just want them to have success.”

For a full look at everything Carr had to say, be sure to check out our story here. 

6. Extra points: NFL might force Jets to be on ‘Hard Knocks’

It’s been a busy 24 hours in the NFL, and since it’s nearly impossible to keep track of everything that happened, I went ahead and put together a roundup for you. 

• Jets are bracing to be tabbed for ‘Hard Knocks.’ There are only four teams that the NFL can force to be on “Hard Knocks” this year — the Jets, Saints, Bears and Commanders — and it looks like the league is targeting one of those teams. According to PFT, the Jets are bracing to be picked, even though they’ve made it clear that they don’t want to be on the show. For a closer look at the situation, be sure to go here. 
• NFL’s Germany game sells out in just minutes. Tickets for the Chiefs-Dolphins game in Germany went on sale today and if you were trying to score some, I’m guessing you came up empty. Tickets for the game reportedly sold out in just 15 minutes, which isn’t all that surprising if you think about it. Not only does the game feature the defending Super Bowl champion Chiefs, but it will also mark the first time that Tyreek Hill gets to face his former team. 
• Brock Purdy progressing toward Week 1 start. After watching Brock Purdy undergo elbow surgery in March, the 49ers have been keeping their fingers crossed that he’ll be able to start in Week 1, and so far, things are going according to plan. Purdy is traveling to Jacksonville this week to hold a special throwing session with his personal QB coach Will Hewlett and orthopedic specialist Tom Gormely. The good news for the 49ers is that not only does Purdy’s arm continue to heal quickly, but he has 10 more weeks until San Francisco will be playing a game that counts. 
• Jaguars stadium undergoing a name change. The most confusing stadium name situation in the NFL just got more confusing. For the past five seasons, the Jags played at TIAA Bank Field, but now, the facility will once again be known as EverBank Stadium, the team has announced. And the reason I wrote “once again” is because the building used to be called EverBank Stadium before switching to TIAA Bank Field in 2018, but now, it’s back to EverBank for 2023.