The Athletic Football Show: A show about the NFL

Get your tickets for the live show! https://lh-st.com/shows/09-01-2026-the-athletic-football-show-with-robert-mays/

Tired: Ranking. Wired: Drafting. On this episode of The Athletic Football Show, Robert Mays, Derrik Klassen and Dave Helman draft who they think will be the best defenses in the NFL. Three drafters, five teams apiece, whoever's quintet ends the season with the best EPA per play wins. Derrik is on the clock...

0:00 Welcome to the show
4:35 Houston Texans
10:14 Seattle Seahawks
16:02 Los Angeles Rams
22:01 Philadelphia Eagles
27:21 Denver Broncos
33:00 Cleveland Browns
42:23 Pittsburgh Steelers
49:18 Baltimore Ravens
53:30 Minnesota Vikings
59:09 Jacksonville Jaguars
1:06:01 Buffalo Bills
1:12:36 Kansas City Chiefs
1:15:44 New York Giants
1:20:20 New England Patriots
1:20:45 New Orleans Saints
1:20:57 Dallas Cowboys
1:25:50 Los Angeles Chargers
1:29:11 Indianapolis Colts
1:31:39 Recap
1:33:09 LIVE SHOW!

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.

Get your tickets for the live show! https://lh-st.com/shows/09-01-2026-the-athletic-football-show-with-robert-mays/

Nick Emmanwori. Parker Washington. Darnell Wright. All of these guys weren't necessarily getting a ton of attention at this time last year, and then they went on to completely swing how good their teams were. Who could do the same in 2026. Allow Robert Mays, Derrik Klassen and Dave Helman to bring you the players who could swing the 2026 season on this episode of The Athletic Football Show.

Accompanied watching: Texans training camp notebook (https://youtu.be/dW-SINQBEiU), Seahawks training camp notebook (https://youtu.be/2C5ZH-Qm-wE).

0:00 Welcome to the show
3:46 Marlon Humphrey
10:53 Nnamdi Madubike
17:01 Garrett Bradbury
20:32 Bears left tackles
24:15 Ed Oliver
31:35 Rashan Gary
34:43 Cobie Durant
38:35 Derrick Brown
48:48 Jadarian Price
55:40 Josh Jobe
1:01:25 Keylan Rutledge
1:06:12 Jayden Higgins
1:10:00 AJ Brown
1:20:51 TAFS live show!

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.

No matter how well you know the NFL, a handful of teams every year are going to throw you for a loop on the doorstep of the season beginning. That doesn't mean they'll be bad, or even that you think they'll be bad. It just means you can't quite put a finger on what they're going to be and how they're going to play. Robert Mays, Derrik Klassen and Dave Helman name the teams they can't quite figure out in 2026 on this episode of The Athletic Football Show.

0:00 Welcome to the show
4:41 Packers
18:42 Saints
28:41 Chargers
38:11 Vikings
44:41 Cardinals
52:59 Patriots
1:05:28 Commanders
1:08:35 Chiefs

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.

Robert Mays wrapped up his west coast swing at the end of last week, before heading down to the southeast and mid-Atlantic on his training camp travels. That means you get Michael-Shawn Dugar on the Seahawks; Josh Kendall on the Falcons; Nicki Jhabvala on the Commanders; and Jeff Zrebiec on the Ravens on this episode of The Athletic Football Show

Rundown (timestamps are approximate)
Seahawks 4:52
Falcons 36:22
Commanders 54:25
Ravens 1:20:09

Host: Robert Mays
With: Michael-Shawn Dugar, Josh Kendall, Nicki Jhabvala, Jeff Zrebiec
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.

August comes with salt air, the rust on your door, and a whole bunch of hollow training camp storylines. But how many of those storylines are actually worth believing? Derrik Klassen and Dave Helman dig into the running back market, the Vikings QB competition, Aaron Donald, and more of the trendy storylines coming out of training camp.

Accompanied reading: Alec Lewis on Vikings run game, https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/7494772/2026/08/06/minnesota-vikings-run-game-training-camp/

0:00 Welcome to the show
0:53 Jahmyr Gibbs contract and disclaimer
2:48 Bijan Robinson/Jonathan Taylor contracts
8:46 Aaron Donald & Los Angeles Rams official workout
14:32 Jakobi Lane & Baltimore Ravens
18:33 Tylan Wallace nostalgia
19:26 JJ McCarthy vs Kyler Murray
23:56 Frank Smith & Minnesota Vikings run game
27:59 Bud Clark & Seattle Seahawks
32:38 Philadelphia Eagles receivers
35:53 KC Concepcion/Denzel Boston & Cleveland Browns
37:33 Browns trade for Spencer Rattler?
43:00 New Orleans Saints optimism
44:20 Darnell Wright & Chicago Bears contract
48:37 MarShawn Lloyd & Green Bay Packers
50:26 Packers offensive line
52:40 Max Iheanachor & Pittsburgh Steelers
56:18 Dexter Lawrence & Cincinnati Bengals

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

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

Follow Derrik on Bluesky: @qbklass.bsky.social
Follow Dave on Bluesky: @davehelman.bsky.social
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.