The Athletic Football Show: A show about the NFL

We know it's not very humble to say, "I told you so." But...we told you so! At this time last year, we highlighted Cole Bishop and Kris Jenkins - among others - as potential x-factors. And for better or worse, both Bishop and Jenkins were x-factors during the 2025 season. So, we're running it back. Robert Mays, Dave Helman, and Derrik Klassen bring you 15 more players that could be x-factors for their teams in 2026.

0:00 Welcome to the show
2:21 Vita Vea & Jalen Carter news
15:00 Jared Wilson
18:30 Will Campbell
21:21 Barrett Carter & Demetrius Knight
28:52 Anthony Belton
34:54 Terrance Ferguson
40:35 Matthew Golden
47:11 Travis Hunter
51:25 Tyleik Williams
55:05 Tate Ratledge
59:45 TJ Sanders
1:00:12 Pat Bryant
1:00:38 Lathan Ransom
1:02:50 Donovan Ezeiruaku
1:03:32 Several 49ers

Join The Athletic Football Show Discord Server: http://discord.gg/theathleticfootballshow

Host: Robert Mays
Co-Hosts: Derrik Klassen and Dave Helman
Executive Producer: Michael Beller
Senior Producer: Katy Duffy
Social Producer: Scott Krinch

Follow Robert on Bluesky: @robertmays.bsky.social
Follow Derrik on Bluesky: @qbklass.bsky.social
Follow Dave on Bluesky: @davehelman.bsky.social
Follow Robert on X: @RobertMays
Follow Dave on X: @DaveHelman_

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 single person in the NFL—players, head coaches, coordinators, position coaches, executives, you name it—has something at stake every season. But some people have more at stake in one individual season than most everyone else. So who has the most at stake in 2026? Robert Mays, Derrik Klassen and Dave Helman answer that question on this episode of The Athletic Football Show.

0:00 Welcome to the show
2:27 Zac Taylor
10:40 Todd Bowles
14:59 Baker Mayfield
21:48 Kyler Murray
28:46 Kevin O'Connell
34:53 Monti Ossenfort
44:23 Brian Daboll
49:13 Chris Ballard
54:00 Quentin Johnston
58:26 George Pickens
1:00:39 Jermaine Johnson
1:01:21 Tariq Woolen
1:03:05 Pick your Ram
1:03:22 2024 receivers

Join The Athletic Football Show Discord Server: http://discord.gg/theathleticfootballshow

Host: Robert Mays
Co-Hosts: Derrik Klassen and Dave Helman
Executive Producer: Michael Beller
Senior Producer: Katy Duffy
Social Producer: Scott Krinch

Follow Robert on Bluesky: @robertmays.bsky.social
Follow Derrik on Bluesky: @qbklass.bsky.social
Follow Dave on Bluesky: @davehelman.bsky.social
Follow Robert on X: @RobertMays
Follow Dave on X: @DaveHelman_

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.

*GENERIC TRUMPET BLASTS SOUNDING A CALL TO ARMS* That's right, training camp is here and the 2026 NFL season is basically underway. We have plenty of questions around the league as all 32 teams open camp across the next few days, so many that we can't possibly get into all of them. This episode of The Athletic Football Show is reserved for our biggest questions as training camp begins. Robert Mays and Dave Helman find themsleves wondering about topics such as the Texans offensive line, the Raiders' development plan for Fernando Mendoza, the new-look Bills defense, and plenty more.

0:00 Welcome to the show
2:12 Patrick Mahomes
3:55 Chiefs offense
5:53 Jaguars skill positions
9:45 Seahawks running backs
14:45 Ravens offense & Bills defense
21:27 Vikings QB competition
24:26 Vikings run game
26:24 Falcons QBs
30:44 Fernando Mendoza sitting
40:14Year 2 of Cam Ward
42:25 Eagles & Commanders offenses
42:56 Texans offensive line
46:22 Nic Scourton injury
47:47 Eagles receiving core
49:50 Mike McDaniel transformation
51:43 Late camp signings

Join The Athletic Football Show Discord Server: http://discord.gg/theathleticfootballshow

Host: Robert Mays
Co-Host: Dave Helman
Executive Producer: Michael Beller
Senior Producer: Katy Duffy
Social Producer: Scott Krinch

Follow Robert on Bluesky: @robertmays.bsky.social
Follow Dave on Bluesky: @davehelman.bsky.social
Follow Robert on X: @RobertMays
Follow Dave on X: @DaveHelman_

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 2025 Cowboys offense ranked fifth in EPA/play and eighth in DVOA. The man at the head of that was first-year offensive coordinator Klayton Adams, who arrived in Dallas after a two-year run as the Cardinals offensive line coach. The Cardinals were a top-10 rushing offense by EPA/rush and DVOA in both of Adams' seasons there. In other words, he certainly appears to have a strong grip on how to put together a successful, multi-faceted offense in today's NFL. He dove into his process, and a whole lot more, with Robert Mays on this episode of The Athletic Football Show.

Join The Athletic Football Show Discord Server: http://discord.gg/theathleticfootballshow

Host: Robert Mays
Executive Producer: Michael Beller
Senior Producer: Katy Duffy
Social Producer: Scott Krinch

Follow Robert on Bluesky: @robertmays.bsky.social
Follow Robert on X: @RobertMays

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 have long understood wide receiver as a premium position in the NFL, but the natural evolution of offenses and schemes has influenced everything—including the way you want to build out and balance your wide receiver corps. So what's the ideal way to put the pieces together in today's NFL? Matt Harmon from Yahoo Sports joins Robert Mays to fit it all into place on this episode of The Athletic Football Show.

0:00 Welcome to the show
4:09 What should your receiver group look like?
9:43 First piece of a receiver room
13:53 Building around a WR1
25:51 Impact on offense as a whole
32:31 What to surround a WR1 with
43:12 Impact of heavy personnel
48:35 Ideal skill sets for receivers in heavy personnel
56:09 Underrated skill sets for receivers
59:45 How to project a WR success in NFL
1:03:07 Changing landscape of slot receivers
1:07:43 Examples of properly-built receiver groups
1:11:42 Deploying pure speed

Join The Athletic Football Show Discord Server: http://discord.gg/theathleticfootballshow

Host: Robert Mays
Co-Hosts: Derrik Klassen and Dave Helman
Executive Producer: Michael Beller
Senior Producer: Katy Duffy
Social Producer: Scott Krinch

Follow Robert on Bluesky: @robertmays.bsky.social
Follow Derrik on Bluesky: @qbklass.bsky.social
Follow Dave on Bluesky: @davehelman.bsky.social
Follow Robert on X: @RobertMays
Follow Dave on X: @DaveHelman_

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.