Hello friends, and welcome to the Monday edition of the Pick Six newsletter!
The countdown is officially on. If the rumors are true, we're just days away from the biggest NFL event of the summer, which is the wedding between Travis Kelce and Taylor Swift that's expected to go down this weekend on either Friday or Saturday. And by the way, I'm starting to think that the rumors are definitely true, because Andy Reid just got fitted for a tux last week. The Chiefs coach generally only wears Tommy Bahama shirts during the offseason, so if he made the decision to put on a tux, you know that something big must be coming up.
The only thing bigger than the wedding is Prisco's top 100 ranking. We unveiled the list last week, and today, we're going to do a full breakdown of the list. That's right, we're going all in on Prisco today, so let's stop wasting time and get to the rundown.
As always, here's your reminder to tell your friends to sign up for the newsletter.
1. Former Titans RB Chris Johnson diagnosed with ALS: Three things to know
I know I said we're going all in on Prisco, but we're going to start on a more serious note today: Chris Johnson has been diagnosed with ALS. During an interview with 'Good Morning America' on Monday morning, the former Titans running back revealed that he's been dealing with the degenerative disease, which has no known cure, for more than a year.
Here's what you need to know about the situation:
- Johnson said he was diagnosed last year. The 40-year-old Johnson said the diagnosis was a total shock. "Honestly, I don't know if you ever fully process it," Johnson said of the diagnosis. "At first, you're in shock. Then you realize you have two choices. You can give up, or you can fight. I chose to fight."
- How he knew something was wrong. Johnson has no history of ALS in his family, so he had no reason to suspect that anything serious was wrong, but he did notice a few small things that started to change in his body. "I first noticed weakness in my right hand," he said. "At first, it was little things like my grip didn't feel right and I wasn't as strong as I've always been." Johnson and his wife, Brittany, both thought his issues might have just been the repercussions of playing in the NFL for 10 years, but they soon found out that it was something much more serious.
- The disease has progressed quickly. Even though he was only diagnosed a year ago, Johnson has already been forced to start using a speech-generating device to speak, and that's what he used for the ABC interview. "It's continued to progress much faster than I ever imagined. I want people to understand just how quickly ALS can attack your body," he said. "Just over a year ago, I was picking up my 7-year-old daughter so she'd make a wish with her birthday cake. Today, I couldn't do that."
Johnson was one of the best running backs in the NFL for most of his 10-year career. After being drafted by the Titans with the 24th overall pick in 2008, Johnson spent six seasons in Tennessee and he topped the 1,000-yard mark in all six years. That includes a 2009 season where he rushed for 2,006 yards, which still stands as the seventh-best rushing season in NFL history. The speedy Johnson ran a 4.24 40-yard dash at the 2008 combine, which set the record for fastest 40 ever at the event and it was a mark that stood until 2017. To this day, it's still the fourth-fastest 40 in the history of the combine.
If you want to hear everything Johnson had to say about his unfortunate diagnosis, we've got more coverage on him here.
2. Prisco's top 100: Ranking the top 10 quarterbacks
Now, let's get to Prisco's list. There are a total of 18 quarterbacks on Prisco's top 100 list, but there's a clear drop-off point for Prisco: There are five quarterbacks ranked in his top 10, but after that, there's no other QB in his top 40.
Basically, Prisco seems to feel that there are five quarterbacks who stand way above the rest. With that in mind, let's check out the top 10 quarterback on Prisco's top 100 list. (The number on the left is the player's ranking at quarterback. The number on the right is the player's overall ranking on the top 100 list.)
1. Rams QB Matthew Stafford (2)
2. Bills QB Josh Allen (3)
3. Bengals QB Joe Burrow (5)
4. Chiefs QB Patrick Mahomes (7)
5. Ravens QB Lamar Jackson (10)
6. Cowboys QB Dak Prescott (43)
7. Packers QB Jordan Love (51)
8. Lions QB Jared Goff (57)
9. Patriots QB Drake Maye (61)
10. Chargers QB Justin Herbert (63)
Biggest snub: Daniel Jones. From Tyler Sullivan, "People forget that the resurrection of Daniel Jones in Indianapolis was one of the top stories of the first half of last season. Through the opening 10 games, the Colts were 8-2 and averaged 32.1 points per game."
Prisco ranked a total of 18 quarterbacks on his top 100 list and if you want to see everyone who made the cut, Sullivan's got the full story here.
3. Prisco's top 100: Ranking the top running backs
One of the biggest surprises of Prisco's top 100 ranking is that he has ZERO running backs ranked in the top 15. This is a huge reversal from last year, when Prisco had TWO running backs in his top 15, including Saquon Barkley, who was ranked as the third best player overall.
This year, Barkley isn't even ranked as one of the top five running backs.
So where did Barkley end up? That's a great question, glad I asked.
Let's check out Prisco's full ranking of running backs, which includes Barkley barely making the top 50:
1. Falcons RB Bijan Robinson (17)
2. 49ers RB Christian McCaffrey (19)
3. Lions RB Jahmyr Gibbs (21)
4. Colts RB Jonathan Taylor (32)
5. Bills RB James Cook (34)
6. Dolphins RB De'Von Achane (44)
7. Ravens RB Derrick Henry (45)
8. Eagles RB Saquon Barkley (47)
Biggest snubs: Kyren Williams and Javonte Williams. From Garrett Podell, "There were only seven running backs in the NFL in 2025 with 1,200-plus yards rushing and 10-plus rushing touchdowns. Five of them -- McCaffrey, Gibbs, Taylor, Cook and Henry -- were inside Prisco's top 100, and two of them were not: Kyren Williams and Javonte Williams.
Podell has a full breakdown of the the running back rankings and you can see that here.
4. Biggest risers and fallers from Prisco's top 100
When I said we were going all Prisco today, I wasn't kidding. Not only did we cover the top quarterbacks and running backs, but now, we're going to look at the players who made the biggest move compared to last year in Prisco's ranking.
There were a total of 27 players who got ranked this year after NOT being ranked last year and we're going to check out the top 10 names on that list (The number next to their name is their ranking on Prisco's 2026 list). None of the 10 players below were ranked last year:
2. Rams QB Matthew Stafford
13. Seahawks WR Jaxon Smith-Njigba
31. Dolphins C Aaron Brewer
34. Bills RB James Cook
44. Dolphins RB De'Von Achane
56. Giants LB Brian Burns
58. Broncos LB Nik Bonitto
61. Patriots QB Drake Maye
65. Jaguars QB Trevor Lawrence
66. Cowboys WR George Pickens
Stafford was arguably the biggest snub on last year's list and the fact that he went from unranked to second overall probably proves that point.
On the opposite end of the spectrum, the highest-ranked player from last year to fall out of the ranking this year was Tyreek Hill. In 2025, Hill was at 30th overall, but this year, Prisco left him out entirely.
The biggest riser compared to last year was Devon Witherspoon, who moved up 60 spots. The Seahawks cornerback was ranked 84th overall in 2025, and moved up to 24th this year.
Jared Dubin was in charge of breaking down Prisco's rankings and you can see every fun fact he came up with here.
5. Five NFL coaches on the hot seat heading into the 2026 season
With the start of the NFL season less than 75 days away, it's time to get serious around here and nothing is more serious than talking about coaches on the hot seat.
Jordan Dajani put together a list of five coaches who will probably want to get off to a hot start this year to get themselves off the hot seat.
Here are the three coaches with the hottest seat heading into the upcoming season, according to Dajani:
- Jets coach Aaron Glenn. Glenn went 3-14 in 2025, which was the worst record any Jets coach had ever registered in their first season. New York became the first team since the 1987 Atlanta Falcons to rank dead last in points per game differential, yards per game differential and turnover differential, and the Jets have now gone 15 straight seasons without making the playoffs, which is the longest active drought in the NFL, MLB, NBA or NHL. And Glenn's defense somehow became the first team in NFL history to go a full season with zero interceptions.
- Buccaneers coach Todd Bowles. The Bucs started 6-2 last season with Baker Mayfield looking like an MVP favorite, only to finish 2-7. Tampa Bay looked like the easy pick to win the lowly NFC South, which ended with a three-way 8-9 tie to the benefit of Bryce Young and the Panthers. The Buccaneers were the best team in the worst division last year, and failed to make the playoffs. It was a failure, and another failure could lead the franchise to make a change.
- Colts coach Shane Steichen. Shane Steichen is set to enter his fourth season with the Colts. He has gone 25-26, which is tied for the most wins by a head coach in his first three seasons with zero playoff appearances all-time. Colts owner and CEO Carlie Irsay-Gordon said Steichen and general manager Chris Ballard are getting another shot in 2026, but the sense of urgency "has never been higher." The Colts had two major goals this offseason: Extend Jones and pay wide receiver Alec Pierce. Jones is coming off the best season of his career while Pierce has established himself as an elite deep-ball threat, but the question has to be asked: Are both players worth these contracts, and can they get the Colts back to the playoffs for the first time since 2020? If not, Indy could make a change at head coach.
As I mentioned at the top, there are a total of five coaches on Dajani's list. The other two names are both coaches who have been to at least one conference title game in the past four years and if you want to know who they are, you'll have to read Dajani's full story here.
6. Extra points: Tom Brady rips the 2025 Raiders
It's been a busy few days in the NFL, and since it's nearly impossible to keep track of everything, I put together a quick roundup for you.
- Tom Brady calls out the Raiders for their effort in 2025. The Raiders went 3-14 last season and Brady made sure to let the team know that the effort it gave wasn't good enough. "Last year, we just underperformed in every area and it's everybody's fault," the Raiders owner said on the Stick to Football podcast. "That's the reality. There's nobody who did a good job. There's not one player in the organization, there's not anybody involved that did the job to the level that it needs to be done at." Brady is clearly trying to light a fire in this year's team by throwing last year's team under the bus.
- Patriots could be headed to Scotland in the future. After watching Scottish fans invade Gillette Stadium for two World Cup games this year, Robert Kraft has decided he wants to see his team play in Scotland and he's let the NFL know that. According to ESPN, the NFL is in the conversation stage about a possible game, so it could certainly happen at some point down the road.
- CFL doesn't want Brendan Sorsby. The former Texas Tech quarterback is running out of options for the 2026 season. We know he won't be playing in the NFL, and now, the CFL has also decided that Sorsby won't be allowed to sign with any teams in that league. Sorsby could sit out the year or he could look to play football at a non-NCAA college. NAIA or a JUCO could potentially be a possibility, but when it comes to his options in pro football, he doesn't appear to have any right now. The UFL is open to giving Sorsby a contract, but that league plays in the spring, so if he were to go that route, it would get in the way of his preparations for the 2027 NFL Draft. Based on that fact, it seems unlikely that he goes that route, so it will be interesting to see what he does next.
- O.J. Simpson won't be honored at Bills' new stadium. O.J. Simpson is in the Pro Football Hall of Fame, but the former Bills running back won't be honored at Buffalo's new stadium. Bills president of business operations Pete Guelli revealed over the weekend that the team won't be including O.J. on the team's Wall of Fame. "We have made an organizational decision that he is not a fit to display inside our new stadium and family circle." Simpson was famously acquitted on all charges in the deaths of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman back in 1995, but he was found liable in civil court. The former NFL running back died in April 2024 at the age of 76.
