The Athletic Football Show: A show about the NFL

It's Mailbag Monday, we're in May, and the questions are only getting goofier. This week, the guys discuss which divisions have the best of each position group, ask themselves how we should think about o-line prospects, whether the Cleveland Browns and New York Jets have a chance at a title, and much more. Robert Mays, Derrik Klassen, and Dave Helman answer all your questions.

Host: Robert Mays

Co-Hosts: Derrik Klassen and Dave H...

Picture this: you're in the warm air of the offseason, you're listening to players talk about how they're in the "best shape of their life," you're watching training camp highlights set to instrumental rock music. It's easy to get carried away with your NFL takes in that environment - and get carried away, we did. Robert Mays, Dave Helman, and Derrik Klassen revisit their coldest takes of the 2025 NFL season on this episode of The ...

The 2023 Draft class is proving to be a conundrum at the fifth-year option milestone. Bryce Young, CJ Stroud, and Bijan Robinson highlight some of the players with exercised options. But why did the Detroit Lions choose not to exercise Jack Campbell's option? And what can the NFL's decisions around this class tell us about the state of fifth-year options as a whole? Robert Mays and Dave Helman discuss some of the key names and team...

Our Buy or Sell Their Offseasons series moves on to The Middle Class, which features a couple of playoff teams from last season. Those teams, the Panthers and Steelers, are outside of the top two groups of teams for understandable reasons. They're joined here by the Saints, Commanders, Colts, Vikings, Buccaneers and Bengals. Did those eight teams do well for themselves during the player-acquisition period over the last three months...

It's May, dear TAFS listener, and you know what that means: The real NFL offseason is here. We kick it off by opening up the mailbag, and you all delivered once again. Robert Mays and Dave Helman answer questions on the durability of elite defenses, hypothetical teams built entirely of one draft class, possible trades involving non-star players that could move the needle for 2026, and a whole lot more.

Host: Robert Mays

Co-Hosts:...

Every team in the NFL is going to have its own approach to the offseason, in part defined by where it sees itself fitting into the league's hierarchy. We in the media must treat their respective offseasons with that same degree of nuance. After all, the Cardinals—coming off an ugly 3-14 season with no plausible case for considering itself a serious contender in 2026—are going to think about the offseason differently than, say, the ...

OK, the 2026 NFL Draft is comfortably in the rear-view mirror. We've done in-the-moment reactions, and now-that-we've-slept-on-it reactions. It's done, it's over. So now it's time to ask ourselves, 'If this is what the 32 teams are, what questions do we still have about all of them?' Robert Mays and Dave Helman pose those questions, and then work through them, on this episode of The Athletic Football Show.

Host: Robert Mays

Co-Ho...

One hundred picks were made across the first two nights of the draft, with each one coming right on the heels of the one that happened before it. When you're reacting to those pick-by-pick, you don't have a ton of time to fully sit with your thoughts. By time you get into the middle of the following week, though, you have had that time to reconsider some of what you thought as the draft was unfolding. And that's exactly what Robert...

Sometimes, a draft class is more than a draft class. Sometimes, a draft class can tell the entire NFL world what you think about your team. Robert Mays and Dave Helman zero in on the messages some teams sent with their respective 2026 draft classes on this episode of The Athletic Football Show.

Host: Robert Mays

Co-Hosts: Dave Helman

Executive Producer: Michael Beller

Senior Producer: Katy Duffy

Social Producer: Scott Krinch

Foll...

The NFL Draft has come and gone - or rather, it was on it's way out the door as we sat down to record this episode - and we have much to discuss. Robert Mays, Dane Brugler, Derrik Klassen, and Dave Helman break down why Jermod McCoy and Garrett Nussmeier slid so far down the Draft board. Plus, which NFL teams earned spots among our favorite Draft classes...and our least favorites? That and more on this episode of The Athletic Footb...

Night two of the 2026 NFL Draft is in the books and, once again, we implore you to go check out our full, pick-by-pick recap on our YouTube channel. If you don't have time for that, though, allow this truncated version to be your guide. Robert Mays, Derrik Klassen Dave Helman and Dane Brugler recap the second and third rounds of the draft on this episode of The Athletic Football Show.

Host: Robert Mays

Co-Hosts: Derrik Klassen an...

Did you miss our first-round livestream on Thursday night? Welp, go ahead and watch it on YouTube. But if you want the Reader's Digest version, we've got it here for you. Robert Mays, Derrik Klassen, Dave Helman, Dane Brugler and Bruce Feldman recap the first round of the 2026 NFL Draft on this episode of The Athletic Football Show.

Host: Robert Mays

Co-Hosts: Derrik Klassen and Dave Helman

Guests: Dane Brugler and Bruce Feldman

Ex...

The first round of the 2026 NFL Draft may be mere moments away, but we still have time to squeeze in a last few questions before Roger Goodell takes the stage in Pittsburgh. So come join Robert Mays, Derrik Klassen, Dave Helman and Dane Brugler for a few final queries on this episode of The Athletic Football Show.

Host: Robert Mays

Co-Hosts: Derrik Klassen, Dave Helman, Dane Brugler

Executive Producer: Michael Beller

Senior Produce...

The NFL Draft is right on our doorstep, and it's looking likely that some team is going to make Jeremiyah Love a top-five pick. That's right, the running back value discussion is back. But never fear, this is the good version of it. Robert Mays and Bill Barnwell trot out the old chestnut in a new way on this episode of The Athletic Football Show.

Host: Robert Mays

Guest: Bill Barnwell

Executive Producer: Michael Beller

Senior Produ...

There's something soothing about finishing a mock draft...even a mock draft done by six different people. With just picks 26 through 32 remaining, EJ Snyder and Brett Kollmann join Robert Mays to discuss who might sneak into the first round. Who will the defending champ Seattle Seahawks add to their war chest? Who goes to the powerhouse Buffalo Bills, San Francisco 49ers, Houston Texans, Kansas City Chiefs, New England Patriots, an...

Another Monday, another time opening up the mailbag. This week, Dave Helman and Derrik Klassen answer your questions about whether NFL GM's are judged on their best or worst picks, whether we should judge prospects on traits or production, the value of special teamers in the draft, and more. But first, Robert Mays interrupts his PTO to break down the Dexter Lawrence trade...why does this make sense for the Bengals and what will the...

Jalon Kilgore, Riley Nowakowski, Reggie Virgil, Peter Woods...what do these guys have in common? They're OUR guys. A week ahead of the draft, we're officially planting the flags for our favorite players in the 2026 NFL Draft. Dave Helman, Dane Brugler, and Derrik Klassen call their shot on this episode of The Athletic Football Show.

Host: Dave Helman

Co-Hosts: Derrik Klassen and Dane Brugler

Executive Producer: Michael Beller

Senio...

Dane Brugler put out his full, seven-round mock for the 2026 NFL Draft, and it included eight offensive linemen going in the first round. That would push the record of nine set in 2024. In other words, it's a good year to need some help in the trenches. So who better than Brandon Thorn from Trench Warfare to dig into the offensive line class with Robert Mays and Dane Brugler? No one, we say. That's exactly what the three of them do...

Sonny Styles quickly became one of the darlings of this draft class way back in September after Ohio State's first few games. After him, the linebacker class is a mixed bag, as it so often is. Dane Brugler and Dave Helman dig deep into the position on this episode of The Athletic Football Show.

Host: Dave Helman

Co-Host: Dane Brugler

Executive Producer: Michael Beller

Senior Producer: Katy Duffy

Social Producer: Scott Krinch

Foll...