NFL 100: Expectations for the league's centennial season

With the Labor Day weekend officially behind us, there may be sadness for some as summer’s conclusion draws near, but for football fans, this means one exciting thing: football is back!

Starting this week, the National Football League kicks off another exciting season showcasing 32 teams battling it out to earn one of two spots in Super Bowl LIV in Miami. However, this season carries a little more importance than the average season.

This season is the NFL’s 100th season. Yes, you read that correctly.

Together the football world is celebrating 100 years of kickoffs and kneel-downs, flashy runs and unbelievable catches, players destined for greatness right from the draft and others rising from the bottom, and dynasties continuing or underdogs shocking the world under showers of confetti.

In the months leading up to Thursday night’s game featuring two of football's primordial teams, the Green Bay Packers and Chicago Bears, the stage could not have been set better for this ceremonious season.

Once-dynastic-turned-sleepy NFL franchises have awoken from their slumber and completely changed the landscape of the league. Several stars and coaches are now on new teams, causing joy for some and questions for others in terms of their respective teams' future. Competitions between long-established veteran players and up-and-coming rookies have opened as belief in the former’s time being up looms.

There has been much discussion about possible expectations for the 100th season as things have evolved, and now these are the ones that stand out as solid with opening kickoff just hours away.

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#1 The Dolphins go from “Miami Miracle” to Miami rebuild

Miami Dolphins are all set to tank this season

Across several seasons in the recent past, the Miami Dolphins have never been considered more than one of the NFL’s mediocre franchises. However, now they will be the next team to undergo the unpredictable and burdensome rebuild.

The organization has seen their one shining moment in the past several seasons be the “Miami Miracle” against the New England Patriots last season. The veteran presence and culture surrounding their team, however, has failed to help them reach playoff-contender status. The Ryan Tannehill experiment was filled with countless injury woes and the expectations of Adam Gase never came close to fulfillment, leading to the departures of both.

Not to mention, the Dolphins have also had to deal with numerous distractions such as the Laremy Tunsil smoke mask videos and the negative media circus surrounding players like Ndamukong Suh when he was in Miami.

As a result, the owners and management have decided to pull the plug on the 2019-2020 season and press the reset button on their roster and staff.

They fired Adam Gase who now is with the New York Jets and sent Ryan Tannehill packing to the Tennessee Titans. After failing to bring in Jadeveon Clowney from Houston, a team looking to trade him as a last effort to boost their roster, they looked to the Texans for tank support.

With Houston looking for the easy solution to up their championship chances in 2019, the Dolphins agreed to send them their 2016 first round draft pick Laremy Tunsil and wide receiver Kenny Stills in exchange for two first round picks in the next two drafts amongst other pickups. Some believe Stills being added to the deal was a result of his recent comments regarding team owner Stephen Ross.

Earlier in the offseason, they also traded for former Arizona Cardinal quarterback Josh Rosen and signed veteran journeyman Ryan Fitzpatrick to the roster, who is expected to start during week 1 against Baltimore.

The Miami Dolphins are geared up for the rebuild project that finally saw success in Cleveland with the Browns as they enter the 2019-2020 season.

They have whittled their roster down to a group of young talent and rookies around whom they want to build their franchise, exposing weaknesses in areas that make or break football teams like the O-line. The quarterback situation is far from favorable as Fitzpatrick is turnover prone and Rosen won’t get the chance to play. All their recent deals leave them is a pile of draft picks with which they will need to make big splashes in order to earn any relevancy in an uncompetitive AFC East division.

Newly hired head coach Brian Flores, a former assistant with Bill Belichick in New England, remains adamant that his Dolphins team will not approach each game from a tanking standpoint, but from a competing one. As quoted by ESPN staff writer Cameron Wolfe, Flores spoke about how the tanking talk goes against the football culture he’s grown up in:

“This game means a lot to me. I wouldn't disrespect the game with that. Again, no, we're not. We're going to try to win every game. I think that's disrespectful to even say that.”

"It's always important to win. I've always believed that. I think to take any other approach is not how you coach the game."

While it is good for Flores to defend the integrity of his team, actions speak louder than words and we’ve seen this movie before with teams who’ve undergone or attempted to undergo a rebuild.

Just ask Hue Jackson.

#2 Saquon Barkley becomes the new face of the running back position and the Giants roster

Saquon Barkley

Ever since his name and game broke out at Penn State, Saquon Barkley has been idolized as a player of incredible ability, with some comparing him to the Lions great Barry Sanders.

Since being selected in the NFL Draft by the New York Giants in 2018, Barkley hasn’t failed to live up to the hype. His physical stature and athleticism are two things that make him stand out. In just his rookie season, he set records for yards compiled by a rookie running back and was named the 2018-19 Offensive Rookie of the Year.

Another thing that makes Saquon Barkley stand out from the rest is his admirable professionalism both on and off the football field. When talking to the media, no question goes unanswered and his tone is both respectful and genial. He also isn’t afraid to be a voice for his football team whether required to or not.

Saquon Barkley has quickly become the face, if not one of the biggest faces, of the running back position, and this will only continue into his second year. However, in addition to this, he will need to accept the challenge of being the new face of the Giants franchise.

Entering this season, there is only one player who may stand in Barkley’s way of being the top name on the Giants roster, and that is Eli Manning. However, Manning is about to enter the 16th and probably his final season in New York, and at his age and level of mobility, it’s not certain how much longer he’ll command the Giants’ offense.

Concerning his mobility, Eli Manning will rely heavily on his running back at times to carry his team’s offensive production, especially in the first weeks with injuries and suspensions leading to the unavailability of some skilled players. Saquon Barkley must expect, pending the team’s offensive struggle don’t change, a lot of carries and as a result, another over 2000-yard season.

No longer does he have names like Odell Beckham Jr. to take some of the load off his shoulders. He does have respectable teammates in Golden Tate, Sterling Shepard, and Evan Engram, but none have been consistent impact players thus far with the Giants. Teams with the Giants on their schedule will make sure a lot of their preparation is geared towards restricting Saquon Barkley.

#3 The New Orleans Saints will be Super Bowl favorites in the NFC

Saints were rather unlucky to not make the Super Bowl last season

The New Orleans Saints were one blown call away from making it to Super Bowl LIII last season, and with nearly the exact same roster heading into this season, they will look to avenge their “early” departure at the hands of the referees.

Even at his age, Drew Brees is one of the best quarterbacks in the league. He takes pride in a high-powered offense that can take shots down the field with ease and move the ball quickly. In 2018, he threw for nearly 4,000 yards while tallying 35 touchdowns and holding a quarterback rating of 79.2. Brees has that mobility that other quarterbacks around his age lack.

The Saints' offense is filled with studs who stand atop the leaderboards in their respective roster positions and can become Super Bowl contenders. Wide receiver Michael Thomas, who just recently re-signed with the team, was rated 1st in total receptions last season at 125 and 6th in yards at just over 1,400 yards. Running back Alvin Kamara is projected to be the second-best running back in the league this season after Saquon Barkley.

New Orleans’ defense is also one of the best and it only gets better. Most recently, they acquired linebacker Kiko Alonso from the Miami Dolphins thanks to their efforts to ditch most of their veteran players en route a rebuild. Alonso will join names like Cameron Jordan, Demario Davis, and Marshon Lattimore on a defense that gets to the quarterback and forces turnovers at a high rate.

The Saints are also a very good team at home in the Mercedes-Benz Superdome, which makes them dangerous in the playoffs when they earn a high seed. With a home schedule consisting mostly of lowly ranked NFC teams, they should continue their pattern of home success.

With their only big competition being the Los Angeles Rams and possibly the Chicago Bears, the road to Super Bowl LIV in Miami is bright for Who Dat Nation.

#4 The Cleveland Browns will make the AFC North a battle between them and Pittsburgh

Cleveland Browns fans can look forward to a winning season

For the first time in what seems like forever, there is hope and excitement surrounding the city of Cleveland and its beloved Browns. Years of collecting draft picks and running away with the top selections of the draft is finally paying off and the busts have been eliminated.

The Browns now have a coaching and management group that strive for the winning culture and building that through finding talent, and this offseason they did just that. General manager John Dorsey went out with his draft and player capital and took advantage of teams looking to rid themselves of players whose incredible talent had been forgotten in off the field media circuses.

The biggest victim were the New York Giants, who sent them generational talent Odell Beckham Jr and Olivier Vernon in what has yet to be disproven as a disadvantaged deal.

With these pieces coming together, along with quarterback Baker Mayfield, who's already proven he can be something special, the Browns are prepared to make the biggest NFL cinderella story in the 100th season. They have all the pieces necessary to do so, now it’s up to them to live up the hype and not let the personalities on the team be their downfall.

If all works well, expect the Browns to be competing with the perennial AFC North leader Pittsburgh Steelers. The Bengals are too much of a dysfunctional football team whose years of holding onto failure has set them back. The Ravens can make things interesting, but that will depend heavily on the performance of quarterback Lamar Jackson.

The 2019 schedule poses some big challenges in the beginning, with the Jets, Rams, Patriots, and Seahawks, but if Cleveland can take some of those and then handle their division matchups then its playoff talks in Cleveland. Anyone know how long it’s been since those two words—playoffs and Cleveland, have been used in the same sentence?

Once the NFL season hits December, expect the watchful eyes to be on the Steelers-Browns race in the AFC North. This may be a risky statement, but with the Steelers' recent departures, the Browns could sneak into the top dog role.

#5 Chargers RB Melvin Gordon will find a new home sometime this season

Melvin Gordon

The Dallas Cowboys fan base and those who have the running back on their fantasy team can now breathe easy as Ezekiel Elliott has reached a new contract deal with his team.

However, for Melvin Gordon and the Los Angeles Chargers, this is not the case.

With the NFL season now starting, it looks like the two parties will not reach an agreement on a new contract so that he can play with the team. Gordon has expressed interest in remaining a Charger for the duration of his career, but that hasn’t helped his cause.

As a result, the former first round draft pick out of Wisconsin has not been with the team during the entire duration of their training camp and preseason games.

It is not completely certain whether he is staying in shape as Elliott has before signing his deal, but we can safely predict at this point is that he will most likely take his talents elsewhere unless drastic changes are made.

Just recently, the Chargers organization announced that it will let Gordon actively seek out trade partners in an effort to allow both sides to achieve what they want. Obviously, the Chargers don’t want to see their star running back go to another franchise, but with money being an issue their secondary options are few.

The Chargers general manager Tom Telesco even spoke to reporters recently about the holdout and said that if a trade does not occur, the team does not want to talk about negotiations until the season is over. It is very likely that this decision will seal their fate with Melvin Gordon, it’s just a matter of how long he will remain a member of the franchise.

Given what Melvin Gordon brings to the table and his ranking among those in his position, it’s a matter of time before other teams start calling or Gordon gives his list of teams.

Either way, it’s going to be hard to see Melvin Gordon sit out the entire 2019-2020 season and remain on the Chargers if he can’t reach an agreement with them, even more so if contractual talks must wait till postseason.