Was The Hall of Fame Game Worth Watching? Anthony and Andrew Debate

Author Anthony Gargano and Dylan MacKinnon

August 4th, 2023 10:52 AM

Last night Anthony Gargano was in his element. Football was back. The first pre-season game of the year took place. Jets vs Browns in the annual Hall of Fame game. And even though none of the starters played, Anthony was locked in, because it is Football. He was enjoying watching Dorian Thompson- Robinson and Zach Wilson duel. Butt Andrew? Not so much.

So in Anthony’s opening Diatribe, there was a bit of a debate between host and producer about the merits of pre-season Football. Is it a fun sign that the sport we love is back? Or a pale imitation of the real game played mostly by guys who won’t make the team. Andrew was giving Anthony a hard time, comparing it to watching Lou Marson take at-bats back in the day at Phillies Spring Training, but Anthony was not having it.

You can listen to their full debate, along with Anthony’s thoughts on yesterday’s Phillies win, in his full Opening Diatribe below:

Where do you stand on the Hall of Fame game? Did you watch it? Or like Andrew were you out on watching the Jets and Browns backups play?

You may also enjoy:

Where Every Eagles Player Falls On the NFL Top 100 Players List

• 100) DeVonta Smith

  DeVonta Smith is not just the first Eagles player to make the list, he is the first player period. Coming off a 1000-yard season, Smith comes in at 100 according to his peers. He made a name for himself last season with highlight reel catches. Including the one vs the Niners in the playoffs that probably was not actually a catch. But even if you take that away, there were so many times last year when he wowed us by coming down with a ball he had no business catching.

  The Slim Reaper was clutch last year 😤 @DeVontaSmith_6
  
  Did he do enough to grab an #NFLTop100 spot?
  
  📺: First 10 names revealed July 24th on NFL+ pic.twitter.com/VuwURzTfVJ

  — NFL Films (@NFLFilms) July 18, 2023

  So is the ranking fair? Maybe. It is tough to tell until more of the list is revealed. The only other WR ranked above him, for now, is Terry McLaurin. Which is fair enough. McLaurin has 3 straight seasons of 1000+ yards and has not exactly had great QBs throwing to him. Smith is great but is going into his 3rd season. For now, 100 feels fair. But given all the promise he has shown, he could continue to climb the list. He had 1,196 yards and 7 TDs last season, and that was as the 2nd option on a team that throws it less than most great teams.

  Unless there is someone on the rest of the list that is egregious to put over him, Eagles fans can hold off on the outage for now of where Smith was ranked by his peers.

• The Rest of 100-91

  Other guys ranked above him in 100-91 include

  99) DeMarcus Lawrence- Edge- Cowboys

  98) Tristan Wirfs- OT- Buccanneers

  97) Harrison Smith- FS- Vikings

  96 ) Trevor Lawrence- QB- Jaguars

  95) Jamaal Williams- RB- Lions

  94) Terry McLaurin- WR- Commanders

  93) Eric Kendricks- LB- Chargers

  92) Marlon Humphrey- CB- Ravens

  91) Dalvin Cook- RB- Free Agent

  Trevor Lawrence at just 96 is surprising. His regular season was inconsistent, but late in the season, and when the games mattered most, we saw how talented he is. But it is probably fair for now until he proves himself more.

  DeMarcus Lawrence is not the player he once was. He is still good but had just 6 sacks. His place on the list feels more like respect to a guy who has been great for so long. But if he is on the list, so should Fletcher Cox, who is at a similar point in his career. But something tells me Cox, Josh Sweat, and Brandon Graham will all be left off the list.

  

  (Photo by Tom Pennington/Getty Images)

• James Bradberry- Snubbed

  Ok, this one we can get outraged by. The NFL released 110 through 101. And somehow, James Bradberry came in at 107. A Second Team All-Pro CB is not a top 100 player in the league… make it make sense.

  The players who just missed this year's #NFLTop100 cut: 👇
  
  110. Quandre Diggs
  109. Cordarrelle Patterson
  108. Kevin Byard
  107. James Bradberry
  106. Joel Bitonio
  105. T.J. Hockenson
  104. Jimmie Ward
  103. Alvin Kamara
  102. Jordyn Brooks
  101. DK Metcalf pic.twitter.com/cx0SxqfB4D

  — NFL Films (@NFLFilms) July 25, 2023

  No CB had a better passer rating allowed (51.8) than Bradberry. Only two QBS in the league had a QB rating lower than that. Remember the Eagles-Niners game in the playoffs. Josh Johnson’s Qb rating, after he 7 for 13 with 74 yards, gave him a better QB rating than that. He was the epitome of a shutdown corner last season. We rarely ever saw him get beat. He also had 3 picks. Him not making the list makes zero sense. Maybe it is just skewed by people’s last memory of him being the penalty that pretty much ended the Super Bowl.

  What we can take away from this list, is that DeVonta Smith got ranked higher than DK Metcalf. So at least there is that.

• No Eagles in 90-81

  No Eagles fell into 90 through 81.

  90) DeAndre Hopkins -WR-Titans

  89) Marshon Lattimore- CB- Saints

  88) Aidan Hutchinson- DE- Lions

  87) Chris Lindstrom- OL- Falcons

  86) Justin Fields- QB- Bears

  85) Laremy Tunsil- OT- Texans

  84) Za’Darius Smith- LB- Browns

  83) Terron Armstead- OT- Dolphins

  82) Tua Tagovailoa- QB- Dolphins

  81) Christain Wilkins- DT- Dolphins

  Justin Fields and Tua Tagovailoa over Trevor Lawrence is certainly interesting. Other than that nothing seems too egregious.

  

  (Photo by Michael Reaves/Getty Images)

• No Eagles in 80-71

  The Eagles also did not appear among the names in 80-71.

  80) Mark Andrews- TE- Ravens

  79) Dre Greenlaw- LB- 49ers

  78) Talonoa Hufanga- S- 49ers

  77) Geno Smith- QB- Seahawks

  76) Tariq Woolen- CB- Seahawks

  75) Trey Hendrickson- DE- Bengals

  74) Garrett Wilson- WR- Jets

  73) Budda Baker- S- Cardinals

  72) Lamar Jackson- QB- Ravens

  71) DeForest Buckner- DT- Colts

  A few interesting things here. For one, Andrews coming in at 80. That means either Dallas Goedert was ranked above Andrews, feels unlikely, or was left off altogether.

  Two, how is Lamar Jackson only 72? The former MVP had injuries hold him back last season, but you would think his reputation and the fact he is only a few years removed from winning MVP, would get him more respect from that. And while we are on the subject of QBS, Geno Smith? Geno is better than Trevor Lawrence? Okay.

  We also get another WR ranked over Devonta Smith. Is Garrett Wilson better than Smith? That one is tough. Wilson did have a better rookie season than Smith did. And Smith had much better QB play last season. But Smith was also sharing targets with AJ Brown, whereas Wilson was the main weapon on his team. You could quibble with it, but it is not so egregious. We will see what Wilson does this year now that he has a real QB.

  

  (Photo by Rob Carr/Getty Images)

   

• Darius Slay Comes In at #65

  Finally another Eagle on the list. After coming in at 77 last year, Slay gets bumped up to 65. His spot on the list should come as no surprise. It is clear his peers in the NFL respect him way more than the media does. They voted him to the first-ever NFLPA All-Pro Team. Whereas most media organizations leave him off their CB rankings.

  https://twitter.com/DovKleiman_Vid/status/1684614574283030540?s=20

  It feels like a fair place for him on the list. There was a lot made of his “late-season struggles”, but in reality, he was pretty damn good all year long. The Eagles allowed the least passing yards per game for a reason. They had Darius Slay and James Bradberry both playing at a high level. . We know James Bradberry was snubbed from this list. But at least Slay gets recognized.

• The Rest of 70-61

  Here is what the rest of 70-61 looks like:

  70) Joey Bosa- DE- Chargers

  69) Matt Milano- OLB- Bills

  68) Zack Martin- OG- Cowboys

  67) Amon-Ra St Brown- WR- Lions

  66) Jared Goff- QB- Lions

  65) Darius Slay- CB- Eagles

  64) Aaron Jones- RB- Packers

  63) Grady Jarret- DT- Falcons

  62) Bobby Wagner- MLB- Seahawks

  61) Deebo Samuel- WR- 49ers

  Okay, the first thing that sticks out here is Jared Goff. It feels like every day as more QBs get revealed, it makes the players who voted look worse.  Do players actually think Jared Goff is better than Lamar Jackson, or Trevor Lawrence? I know he had a bit of a career year last season. But I think this is reason enough to drug-test every single player who voted in the poll. What Qb will next be ranked way too high? I shudder to think Daniel Jones will come up at 54. If Goff is the 66th-best player in the league, I won’t rule it out.

  We also see the NFL’s largest crybaby make the list in Deebo Samuel. Does he deserve this spot? He was one of the best WRs in the league two seasons ago. But injuries limited him last season, and in 2020. Even when he did play last season, he did not look like the same guy. I can’t say he is better than Devonta Smith, DeAndre Hopkins, Garrett Wilson, or any other WR on this list so far. But he gets the respect based on how great he was in 2021.

  Amon-Ra St Brown being better than Smith is also questionable. They had similar stats, and Smith was sharing targets with Brown and Goedert. Meanwhile St Brown had twice as many targets as any other Lions player.

  

  (Photo by Stacy Revere/Getty Images)

• No Eagles in 60-51

  There were no Eagles ranked 60-51, but here is what those rankings look like:

  60) Trevon Diggs- CB- Cowboys

  59) Justin Simmons- FS- Broncos

  58) Jeffrey Simmons- DT- Titans

  57) Jordan Poyer- FS- Jordan Poyer

  56)  Dak Prescott- QB- Cowboys

  55) Tony Pollard – RB- Cowboys

  54) Brian Burns- DE- Panthers

  53) Mike Evans – WR- Buccaneers

  52) Jonathan Allen- DE- Commanders

  51) Aaron Rodgers- QB- Packers

  The weirdness at Qb continues. Is Dak really better than Lamar Jackson? In his last 28 starts, not counting the playoffs, he has 25 interceptions. Yes, he puts up big numbers, but we have also seen him come up small in a game they were eliminated in multiple times now. The same could be said about Lamar in the playoffs, but Lamar has had far worse weapons and doesn’t have the same interception problem. he also has an MVP to his name.

  Also Diggs over Slay? Honestly, James Bradberry should be ranked better than Diggs too. we know Bradberry was left off, but no CB was better in coverage. Meanwhile, Diggs tends to get picked on. A lot of times the best corners interception numbers start to drop as QBs learn to target them less. Diggs keeps getting targeted, despite his skill at getting picks? Why? Because the reward is worth the risk. If Diggs doesn’t get the pick, it can lead to huge yards.

  Aaron Rodgers is also interesting. On paper, it seems crazy. But after the year he just had, it may be generous. But we will see what he looks like now that he has a much better team around him. It could make the players look foolish.

  Anyway here is a reminder of when Trevon Diggs got beat by Travis Fulgham for no reason at all.

  FINAL: The @Eagles get back-to-back wins! #DALvsPHI #FlyEaglesFly
  
  (by @Lexus) pic.twitter.com/tKm8TwTgoE

  — NFL (@NFL) November 2, 2020

• Haason Reddick Ranked 48

  Tough crowd. Apparently having the 2nd most sacks in the league is not enough to crack the top 40. In his first year with the Eagles, Reddick racked up 16 sacks, plus 3.5 more in the playoffs. He also forced 5 fumbles and recovered 3. It became a somewhat regular occurrence to see him coming around the edge, and just swipe down on the ball to knock it out of the QBs hands. And it was his strip sack vs Brock Purdy that set the tone against the Niners in the NFC Championship game and knocked Purdy out of the game.

  This is the guy who finished 4th in the voting for Defensive Player of the Year. So unless there are only 3 more defensive players the rest of the way, him being just 48 makes very little sense.

• Lane Johnson Comes in at 41

  There is only 1 OT who has allowed 0 sacks over the past two seasons. Lane Johnson. Not Trent Williams, not Laremy Tunsil, and not Andrew Thomas. Just Lane. He has literally been perfect at his job, not allowing Jalen Hurts to even get hit by a guy he was tasked with blocking. He has the record for the longest streak of games without allowing a sack at 26. And that streak is still active.

  So why is he just the 41st-best player in the league? Who knows. The guy was playing with a torn abductor in the playoffs. And yet he shut Nick Bosa and Frank Clark down. 41 seems low all things considered.

  Here is what his teammate Jason Kelce had to say about Lane:

  “There are not many teams, there may not be any teams, that leave a tackle on an island as much as we do with Lane Johnson. And we do it, because we can do it. He is that good at pass blocking.”

  But this does at least mean the Eagles already have two top 50 players, with Jalen Hurts, Jason Kelce, and AJ Brown not yet appearing on the list. And you could definitely argue Lane and Haason deserve to be even higher given they literally outperformed everyone at their positions last season. It also now seems very likely that Jordan Mailata, Josh Sweat, Brandon Graham, and Dallas Goedert were all left off the list unless they somehow cracked the top 40.

• Rest of 50-41

  Here is how the rest of 50-41 looked in the rankings:

  50) Cameron Jordan- DE- Saints

  49) Patrick Surtain II- CB- Broncos

  48) Haason Reddick- EDGE-  Eagles

  47) Cooper Kupp- WR-  Rams

  46) C.J. Mosley- ILB-  Jets

  45) Cameron Heyward- DT- Steelers

  44) Jaylen Waddle- WR- Dolphins

  43) Demario Davis- OLB-  Saints

  42) Kirk Cousins- QB- Vikings

  41) Lane Johnson- OT-  Eagles

  You can’t look me in the eye and tell me that Kirk Cousins is a better Qb than Aaron Rodgers or Lamar Jackson. You just can’t. All due respect to the players who voted, but their Qb rankings get more and more baffling every week.

  The rest of this list besides Cousins and the Eagles players is tough to argue with. Jaylen Waddle was playing 2nd fiddle to Tyreek Hill, played with 3 different QBs due to the injuries to Tua and later Teddy Bridgewater, and yet still put up 1,356 yards and 8 TDs. Cooper Kupp had a down year due to injuries to not only himself but his QB but was coming off one of the best seasons by a WR ever. And Patrick Surtain is one of the best young corners in the league. All of that is fair. But Kirk Cousins the 42nd best player in the league? Okay…

  

  (Photo by Michael Reaves/Getty Images)

• Jason Kelce Comes In at 37

  Jason Kelce took a massive jump in the rankings. After his peers ranked him 71 last year, he comes in at 37 in 2023. Like his teammate Lane Johnson, Kelce just does not give up sacks. The last time he gave up a sack was 2021 when he gave up just 1. In fact, since 2018 he has given up just 6.5 sacks. With 2020 being the only season he gave up more than 1. Kelce also just never misses games. His Iron Man streak of 139 games is the 2nd longest active streak. All of this is why he has 5 All-Pros at the position. And he is probably the only Center in the league where his Jersey would be one of the best sellers on the team.

  So is 37 fair? For the best Center in the league, probably. It is not the sexiest position. Usually, Centers do not get tons of love. But he has done his part to change that. Kelce has helped changed center from a position where you don’t move too much, to one where you know see many guys emulating him and making blocks down the field. The only thing that could make the ranking wrong is if another Center gets ranked above him in the top 30.

• The Rest of 40-31

  40) Quinnen Williams- DT- Jets

  39) Ja’Marr Chase- WR- Bengals

  38) Khalil Mack- EDGE- Chargers

  37) Jason Kelce- C- Eagles

  36) Jalen Ramsey- CB- Dolphins

  35) Christian McCaffrey- RB- Niners

  34) CeeDee Lamb- WR- Cowboys

  33) Matt Judon- EDGE- Patriots

  32) Justin Herbert- QB-Chargers

  31) Saquon Barkley- RB- Giants

  Justin Herbert here is interesting. it lets us know the players ranked Jalen Hurts over him. I can’t disagree, but most other lists have had Herbert over Hurts despite Hurts doing more so far in his career than Herbert. It is easy to look at Herbert and see the arm talent and get blown away. But Hurts has put his arm talent to us when it actually matters.

  Also of note, is that both Cee Dee Lamb and Ja’Marr Chase are on here. Meaning AJ Brown is ranked over both of them. Again, as an Eagles fan, I feel that is fair. But the Cowboys and Bengals writers will probably take issue with it. Statistically, all 3 put up similar numbers when healthy. Brown has more yards than Lamb, but Lamb has more catches. It’s close, but Brown balled out in the Super Bowl, so he got the edge this season.

  We now know both Hurts and Brown show up in the top 30, and maybe better. The Eagles should finish with 7 in the top 100, provided nothing crazy happened like one of Brown or Hurts being left off.

  

  (Photo by Courtney Culbreath/Getty Images)

• AJ Brown Comes in at 22

  AJ Brown’s peers voted him as the 22nd best player in the NFL. And barring some surprise, it looks like he will be ranked the 5th best WR in the league. The only top WRs who have yet to appear on this list are Justin Jefferson, Tyreek Hill, Stephon Diggs, and Davante Adams. And it is hard to quibble too much with them being over AJ Brown.

  Brown was great with the Titans, but with Jalen Hurts last season he really took his game to another level. He may be the best WR at making catches in traffic. We can go back to the Steelers game and see him make 3 long TD catches in traffic. Or there was the deep TD in the Super Bowl. He finished the regular season 4th in receiving yards (1,496), and 3rd in TDs (11). And if he was not limited in the middle of the season by injuries, his number may look even better.

  Brown is the 6th Eagles to make the list. There is likely only one more we will see in the Top 20, Jalen Hurts.

• The Rest Of 30-21

  30) Derwin James- S- Chargers

  29) Nick Chubb- RB- Browns

  28) Dexter Lawrence- DT- Giants

  27) TJ Watt- Edge- Steelers

  26) Jaire Alexander- CB- Packers

  25) Derick Henry- RB- Titans

  24) Roquan Smith- LB- Ravens

  23) Sauce Gardner- CB- Jets

  22) AJ Brown- WR- Eagles

  21) Austin Ekler- RB- Chargers

  Austin Ekler at 21 is very interesting. Outside, Ekler does not get a ton of play as the best RB in the league. But it seems the players have him in the top 3. They put him over Chubb, Henry, Barkley, and McCaffrey. Only Josh Jacobs and Aaron Jones have not been ranked yet. if you go just by rushing yards, he does not belong there. But Ekler is perhaps more dangerous as a pass catcher. Still, even counting receiving yard, Chubb, Henry, and McCaffrey all had more total yards than him.  And none of them have Justin Herbert throwing to them.

  

  (Photo by Douglas P. DeFelice/Getty Images)

• No Eagles in 20-11

  20) Myles Garrett- DE- Browns

  19) George Kittle- TE- Niners

  18) Minkah Fitpatrick- S- Steelers

  17) Maxx Crosby- DE- Raiders

  16) Stefon Diggs- WR- Bills

  15) Fred Wagner- LB- Niners

  14) Trent Williams- OT- Niners

  13) Davante Adams- WR- Raiders

  12) Josh Jacobs- RB- Raiders

  11) Aaron Donald- DT- Rams

  We know now Jalen Hurts, will be in the top 10. Joining 3 other QBs, Patrick Mahomes, Josh Allen, and Joe Burrow. Well deserved. Also is Trent Williams really that much better than Lane Johnson that he is 27 spots higher than him? Trent has given up 6 sacks since 2020.  Lane has given up 1, and 0 in the past two seasons. Feels like Trent gets a boost just because he plays LT. But in reality the RT goes against some of the best pass rushers now.

  

  (Photo by Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images)

• Jalen Hurts Named The 3rd Best Player In The League

  Has there ever been a bigger difference in one offseason for a player? Hurts went from a guy not even on the radar for this list, to the 3rd best player in the league, and the second-best QB.

  Hurts was fantastic last year. Nearly flawless. And not just as a runner, though he is great at that too. His pocket-passing stats last season were fantastic. His QB rating from the pocket was over 100 and led the league. Sure his counting stats dragged behind some other QBs on this list. But that is more because the Eagles ran it more, and also had big leads in many games making them throw it even less.

  He went up against Patrick Mahomes in the Super Bowl and looked just as good. he gave one of the best QB performances, especially from a losing team, ever. And that is not just my opinion, Chiefsd pass rusher Chris Jones said Hurts had the best Super Bowl performance from a QB he has ever seen. He said that despite being teammates with Patrick Mahomes.

  Just a different breed@JalenHurts | #FlyEaglesFly
  
  Stream #NFLTop100 on NFL+ pic.twitter.com/uSPfbf7YIj

  — Philadelphia Eagles (@Eagles) August 8, 2023

  Only Justin Jefferson and Patrick Mahomes were ranked above him. Which is fair, especially Mahomes. But Hurts certainly deserves to be this high. You could make the case that he should be two, but complaining about that feels like it is splitting hairs.

• The Rest of 10-1

  10) Chris Jones- DE- Chiefs

  09) Micah Parsons- Edge- Cowboys

  08) Josh Allen- QB- Bills

  07) Tyreek Hill- WR- Dolphins

  06) Joe Burrow- QB- Bengals

  05) Travis Kelce- TE- Chiefs

  04) Nick Bosa- Edge- Niners

  03) Jalen Hurts- QB- Eagles

  02) Justin Jefferson- WR- Vikings

  01) Patrick Mahomes- QB- Chiefs

  Nothing really to complain about here. All of this seems fair. As much as we hate the Cowboys, Micah Parsons belongs up here. The one guy who may be a bit overrated is Bosa. As great as he is, is he this much better than Reddick? That is more an argument for Reddick to be ranked higher though, not for Bosa to be pushed down too much. And there was nowhere to put Mahomes than number 1. He has a real chance to go down as the best QB ever if he keeps this up.

  

  . (Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images)

• Eagles Who Got Snubbed

  • James Bradberry
  • Jordan Mailata
  • Dallas Goedert
  • Landon Dickerson
  • Josh Sweat
  • Brandon Graham

  Each of these guys has a case to be in the top 100. James Bradberry, as we already mentioned, had the lowest passer rating against in the NFL. Graham and Sweat each had double digits. Mailata has been a rising star in the NFL. Dickerson outside the top 100 is probably fair, especially given how the best Guard in the league, Zack Martin, came in at 68. The position just does not get much respect. But he has become one of the better run blocking guards in the league, and he has the upside to break through into this echelon of player eventually. Dallas Goedert also has a case. But injuries kept his stats lower than they should be,, and Tight Ends also did not get a ton of respect on this list, with a  guy like Mark Andrews only showing up at 80.

  Once Jalen Hurts shows up in the top 10, that will give the Eagles 7 players in the top 100, after having 2 last season. Some, Lane Johnson, Haason Reddick, and maybe Darius Slay, should probably have been ranked higher. But Devonta Smith, AJ Brown, Jason Kelce, and Jalen Hurts all seem to have been ranked fairly.

  

  (Photo by Mitchell Leff/Getty Images)

• Where Every Eagle Was Ranked

  107- James Bradberry

  100- Devonta Smith

  65- Darius Slay

  48-Haason Reddick

  41- Lane Johnson

  37- Jason Kelce

  22- AJ- Brown

  3- Jalen Hurts

   

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Author Anthony Gargano and Dylan MacKinnon

Category:

• Eagles // NFL

Tags:

Anthony Gargano,Hall of Fame Game,New York Jets,NFL,pre-season football