It is a great time to be a fan of alternate jersey/helmet designs in the NFL. With the return of alternate helmets, 14 teams across the league have announced alternate helmet designs for the upcoming season, with a few even including new jersey combinations as well. Some of the notable alternate designs include: Carolina Panthers with matte black option (one of six black alternate helmets announced), the long awaited white tiger helmet from the Bengals, and the Texans ‘battle red’ helmet design. The Cowboys, Falcons, Giants and Patriots are all bringing back throwback helmets from their team’s historic designs. Most of these teams have also announced which week they will be wearing alternate designs, usually during primetime games this season.
The Carolina Panthers and 3rd round draft pick Matt Corral agreed to a four-year rookie deal. The Panthers are set to begin training camp this week, and Corral joins a Quarterback room that includes Baker Mayfield and Sam Darnold. Corral is not expected to compete for the starting job, and will instead learn from the veterans during his rookie year. The former Ole Miss QB will most certainly see the field at some point in his career, as the Panthers traded up into the 3rd round to select the Second-team All-SEC player. In 37 games played at Ole Miss, Corral threw for 8,281 yards and 57 touchdowns. The dual-threat QB also ran for 1,338 yards and finished his career with 18 rushing scores.
The Panthers will have a decision to make at the QB position, with both Baker Mayfield and Sam Darnold fighting for the starting job. Coach Matt Rhule said that the starting job will be awarded based on play in the preseason, so both QBs will be bringing it to the best of their abilities. Keep in mind that the Panthers play the Cleveland Browns – Mayfield’s former team – week 1, so there is a good chance Baker suits up as the starter with a little extra pep in his step against his former team who kicked him to the curb after trading for Deshaun Watson.
For all the NFL lovers who want to see as many games as they can, the NFL just launched their own streaming service, NFL+. This service will offer access to all out-of-market preseason games to users, live local and primetime regular season and postseason games on mobile devices, live local and national audio broadcasting for every game, NFL Network shows on-demand, NFL Films archives and more. NFL+ is available across all app stores for $4.99/month or $39.99/year. Users can also purchase NFL+ Premium for $9.99/month or $79.99/year, which offers all of the features of NFL+ as well as full and condensed game replays and the All-22 Coaches Film.
This past weekend, Texans 2nd round rookie wide receiver John Metchie III announced that he will be out for the season after being diagnosed with acute promyelocytic leukemia. Metchie was a standout receiver for Alabama, where he caught 96 passes for 1,142 yards and 8 touchdowns last season before tearing his ACL in the SEC Championship game.
