Breaking Down the NFL Top 100

Here is the entire NFL Top 100 list for 2021, organized by team. 

Most Players on the List, by team

Bucs 8

Seahawks 7

Packers, Saints 6

Chiefs, Titans 5

7 teams with 4

3 teams with 3

10 teams with 2

6 teams (Cowboys, Dolphins, Jaguars, Jets, Lions, Panthers) with 1

Let's do a deeper dive on skill positions.

Here are the 11 QBs that made the list, with their overall ranking:

83 R. Tannehill

71 B. Mayfield 

56 J. Herbert 

39 K. Murray 

24 L. Jackson 

18 D. Watson 

12. R. Wilson 

10 J. Allen 

7 T. Brady 

3 A. Rodgers 

1 P. Mahomes 

Here are the 8 RBs that made the list, with their overall ranking:

100 J. Robinson

68 J. Jacobs 

44 C. McCaffrey 

30 A. Jones 

26 N. Chubb 

20 D. Cook 

14 A. Kamara 

4 D. Henry 

19 WRs made the list. Here are the top 10:

65 C. Ridley

62 A. Brown

53 J. Jefferson

48 M. Evans

29 J. Jones

22 D. Metcalf 

15 T. Hill

11 S. Diggs

8 D. Hopkins

6 D. Adams

Michael Thomas came in at #72, just outside the top 10 WRs. That's wild to me. 

Here are the 4 TEs that made the list, with their overall ranking:

93 T. Hockenson 

50 G. Kittle 

35 D. Waller 

5 T. Kelce 

Kelce is the highest rated TE or WR. 

- - -

Let's go deeper. 

Best Player at each Position

QB Mahomes

RB Henry

WR Adams

TE Kelce

T Williams

G Nelson

C Kelly

DT Donald

DE Garrett

LB Watt

CB Ramsey

S Baker

Best Player on each Team

49ers - Warner

Bears - Mack

Bengals - Hendrickson

Bills - Allen

Broncos - Chubb

Browns - Garrett

Bucs - Brady

Cardinals - Hopkins

Chargers - Bosa

Chiefs - Mahomes

Colts - Buckner

Cowboys - Martin

Dolphins - Howard

Eagles - Cox

Falcons - Jarrett

Giants - Bradberry

Jaguars - Robinson

Jets - Davis

Lions - Hockenson

Packers  - Rodgers

Panthers - McCaffrey

Patriots  - Gilmore

Raiders - Waller

Rams - Donald

Ravens - Jackson

Saints - Kamara

Seahawks - Wilson

Steelers - Watt

Texans - Watson

Titans - Henry

Vikings - Cook

Washington - Young

disc golf 8.29.21

I'll be honest, the whole way through I thought I was playing a lot worse. 

I played the same course that I played last weekend, and am comparing my scores to a built-in +1 handicap on each hole. 

My second shot of the day went into the woods like five feet in front of me. Just a terrible release point. 

On 9, I once again had an amazing drive and had a makable putt for my 2nd shot. It hit the basket lip and looked like it was going in, but bounced out. Still was in for three, a birdie by my standards. 

On 18, I had a makable putt and just missed. That was the difference between this round and my previous, was last weekend I made that putt.

- - -

14 and 15 are tough holes, I've gotten one-over on them both times I've played. Uphill, tight fairways, hard to get any distance on them. 

Turns out knowing the course didn't lead to massive improvement.

Daily Favorites: Mexican Casserole

This is a volume eater's dream. And yes, I am one. 

This dish originated from when I discovered one superstar ingredient: Trader Joe's Mexican-Style Riced Cauliflower. 

The entire one-pound bag has 200 calories. I first had it as a side dish but I quickly realized I could turn it into an entree pretty easily. 

entire bag of riced cauliflower: 200 cals

4 oz of 90% lean beef: 200 cals

red onion, red pepper, a little yogurt: 50 cals

50g of cheddar: 140 cals

topped with sour cream, cilantro, lime and hot sauce

You end up with a giant casserole that weighs about 800 grams for about 600 cals. 

This was the first Daily Favorites where I made a 600 calorie dish and had leftovers. 

- - -

Cooked the cauliflower in one pan. 

Cooked the beef, then onion and red pepper in the other pan. Seasoned well.

Combined with 50g of nonfat plain greek yogurt in the casserole dish just so it wouldn't be dry. 

Topped with the cheese and broiled until melted. Easy.

It's pretty tasty. You could even make half of this and use as filling for tacos. But it's perfect for when you're really hungry and want to eat a lot of something but don't want to go over on cals. 

I mean, I love cilantro, lime, sour cream and hot sauce so any dish, from a casserole to a salad, I'm eager to give it a mexican flavor profile.

Ranking the NFL Top 10 Players

They've announced spots 100-11 of thee annual players' ranking of the #NFLTop100. That leaves the order of the top ten to be revealed on August 28. Here's the list.

My 2021 rankings for these players looks like this:

10. Allen

9. Watt

8. Henry

7. Brady

6. Adams

5. Kelce

4. Hopkins

3. Rodgers

2. Donald

1. Mahomes

Two teams have two players in the top 10. Chiefs and Packers. Super Bowl LVI is in Los Angeles this year, just in case you were curious.

this is a food and football blog. and football is here.

We made it through the off-season with a lot of food. The last preseason Chiefs game is in 4 days. 

Football is back on the menu. 

disc golf 8.21.21

I had such a good time playing disc golf with Mark last weekend that I went out this morning by myself. Managed to get over 7000 steps in by 11am. It's free, good exercise, and it was nice and cool this morning. Good deal. 

It was my first time at this course. I took some pictures. 

Some holes had three different pin placements, some only had one. Above, the markers are indicating that there are currently baskets at pin a and pin c. I like multiple pin placements, but I prefer only one active at a time. Don't make me choose. 

The picture below is a tight tee shot.

On #4 I had an incredible hammer throw on my 2nd shot but I left my par putt just a bit short, hitting the basket. 

On #5, I once again did a nice hammer throw on my second shot (pictured below). This time I made the putt for my first par of the day. 

#8 has a ravine protecting it. My tee shot hit a tree so I had this left as my 3rd shot. I managed to get across the ravine. My putt hit the top of the basket and bounced out for a +2. 

This is the tee shot from #9, you have to cross the ravine you just got across on the previous hole.

This is where my drive landed on #9, my best drive of the day. From here my approach was not perfect but I did make a decent putt to claim the par.

The pin on #12 is special. Elevated with a ton of trees surrounding it. Still managed to get 4 on a par 3.

And then I hit my best putt of the day on 18. I was tired and didn't want to think about it. I just walked up and banged my putt. You can see the line of discs that I stood behind.

So 4 pars, 8 bogeys, 6 double bogeys. It was clear to me on the course that par is the best I can hope for. My best drive of the day was on #9 and it still left me with an approach shot, not a birdie putt. 

And when you look at my outcomes, it's very true that for me, +1 on each hole is actually par for my experience. 

So in terms of evaluating my scores moving forward, I think it's accurate to include a +1 handicap on each hole. So that would translate to 4 birdies, 8 pars, 6 bogeys for a round total of +2. Which means that my goal in the future would be to get par for the course or even break par, including this handicap.

Here's an updated scorecard that includes that handicap. 

There were three makable putts that I missed, plus I would expect to get better the more I play this course. 

Daily Favorites: Hot Chicken with Herbed Yogurt Sauce

One cool thing now that I have a decent library of healthy dishes, is the ability to combine techniques, flavor profiles, and ingredients from previous recipes and construct new ones. 

This recipe is a combination of three previous recipes:

• the broiled chicken cooking technique from the Chicken Shawarma
• the spicy flavor profile from the Nashville Hot Chicken
• the herbed yogurt sauce from Mediterranean Meatballs

- - -

The Chicken

Chicken breast sliced into three tenderloins, 260grams of chicken in total. Turned broiler to high, coated each piece in Crystal hot sauce, then rubbed in smoked paprika, cayenne powder and salt. Broiled for 10 minutes. 

While that's cooking I made the sauce. 

Herbed Yogurt Sauce

85g nonfat greek yogurt

cilantro, dill, or mint

salt

pepper

oregano

red wine vinegar or lemon juice (+ lemon zest)

minced onion (optional)

This time I use cilantro and mint, and lemon juice, no vinegar or onion. I think I preferred the cilantro + dill combo, but this was still an excellent sauce. Fresh herbs + lemon juice, seasoned well. This sauce slaps. I ended up having a few small spoonfuls at the end by itself. It's funny that America always tries to position yogurt as a sweet dessert, when it's so good at being a cool, savory sauce. Other cultures have it figured out. 

It says 260g of chicken breast is only 286 calories. And the sauce is only like 50 calories. Somehow this filling dinner is around 350 cals. You could easily pair it with a roasted veggie or side of rice for a more complete dinner, but I don't have a problem just protein + sauce for dinner. 

Daily Favorites: Deconstructed Reuben

I only discovered the reuben three years ago with Niraj.

It was just never the best-sounding sandwich on any menu, so I never ordered it. And it has all these weirdo ingredients that I don't eat otherwise. But together they just work. 

To construct a version under 600 calories, I've loaded up on the four main ingredients and skipping the bread. 

• corned beef
• sauerkraut
• swiss cheese
• homemade russian dressing

With three of the ingredients ready to go, the only prep is making the dressing. 

- - -

Homemade Russian Dressing

50g chobani plain nonfat greek yogurt

25g ketchup-style chili sauce 

1-2g horseradish

1-2g crystal hot sauce

2g worcestershire

sprinkle smoked paprika

pinch salt

This is easy to adjust the heat level to your liking. 

Side note: chili sauce is basically just better-flavored ketchup. Seems like this should be more popular. I blame the terrible name. It's not like chili nor is it like chile peppers.  

By using yogurt instead of mayo, I got 80 grams of russian dressing for under 55 calories. 

- - -

Now it's time for assembly. 

I layered corned beef, dressing, sauerkraut, cheese, meat, dressing, sauerkraut, cheese, dressing. 

I popped it into a 400F oven (390F for me) at 7 minutes. 

Let's look at the cals:

136g deli-sliced corned beef = 160 cals

64g thin-sliced swiss cheese = 240 cals

scoop of sauerkraut, liquid squeezed out = 5 cals

russian dressing = 55 cals

This was a filling lunch at only 460 cals.

All the flavors just go together, meaty, cheesy, tangy, Good texture contrasts. You get a lot of meat, good amount of melted cheese. Would make again for sure.

As for the name, it's not really deconstructed. Maybe reconstructed. Really it's just a reuben on a plate instead on bread. Reuben on a plate is not a bad name, I guess, but I went with deconstructed. Could have also called it a breadless reuben, low-calorie reuben, keto reuben, reuben casserole, or low-carb reuben. Call it whatever you want. 

Moments To Hang Onto

I've taken two trips in the last month and wanted to hang on two moments.

The first was when I was walking around River North in Chicago. I worked there from June 2005 to July 2011. For the first four years of that time, I lived downtown as well. I walked to work year-round. I walked to get my groceries, get my haircut, go to my softball games. I really got to know the streets, the smells, the sounds, the signs, the traffic, the shops and restaurants. 

Then I left for ten years. Then I got the chance to walk these streets again. It's funny, the biggest thing that struck me was the smell. I remembered it. I hadn't thought about it in ten years but I remembered it when I walked around. To me, it's a hot garbage smell. Brit called it hot urine. It's not a pleasant smell, and yet I didn't mind it. It felt familiar in a good way. I surprised myself at how well I was able to navigate around without using my phone. Back when I lived there, I didn't have a smartphone yet, so I learned the streets the old-fashioned way and that stuck with me. 

Overall, walking these streets of Chicago gave me a sense of nostalgia that I haven't felt much of before. Typically, when I get nostalgia I have this immediate sense of trying to recapture it. Like when I visited Kansas City and I get the urge to move back. Or when I think of a great restaurant I used to go to, I want to eat there again. Or if we talk about college, I wish I could re-live those days. But this Chicago nostalgia was different. I didn't want to recapture it. I just savored the memories. It reminded me of a really exciting time in my life, starting out in the real world after college. It brought back all these fun experiences and yet I don't wish I was living there now. It was enough to remember and appreciate them for what they were. 

- - -

The second moment happened on a middle of a 3,600 foot zipline in Asheville, NC. This was my first time ziplining. The experience included three ziplines. The first was a short one through the trees that gets you going about 35 miles per hour. The second one is the longest one that goes 60-65 mph over a giant clearing. The third one is back through the trees, somewhere around 50 mph. 

They explained to us how our brains are really good at processing speeds when you're going through the trees. Our peripheral vision tells us how fast we're going. Makes sense. 

But once people get out over a clearing, our brains don't have as much to compare it to. So it feels like you're moving slower. 

This picture is right where it happened. 

All of a sudden, even though I was flying at 60 mph, time slowed down. It felt like I was just floating out there. I looked to my left and saw this: 

I had never felt this sensation of time just slowing to a crawl like this. It was beautiful. 

Equally beautiful was the rush of finishing the run be entering the trees and experiencing time ramp back up. It felt like I was going from 10mph to 60mph in a matter of moments. 

Work Trip to Asheville

Tommy Prine

Biscuit Head

Looking Glass Creamery

Blue Ridge Parkway

 

Ziplining at Navitat

Work Trip to Billings

 

Mark Fever 2021

In 2019, my family met Mark's family in STL and even got to go out for an Italian dinner together. 

In 2021, it was just the two of us in STL to pay off a serious debt. 

- - -

Back in 2011, we made a bet of who would get to the Super Bowl first, Lions or Chiefs. Over ten years later, Mark took me out for a steak dinner. We toasted to Patrick Mahomes and Andy Reid.

Here he is when he got his food.

Here he is when he got the bill:

I ordered the $64 16oz prime dry-aged ribeye. It was the best steak of my life. 

We also had the Fleming's potatoes, burrata and brussels sprouts. It was a seriously great meal. Now that all our debts are paid and we no longer have any meat-related bets on the table, I made Mark a promise. If the Lions ever win the Super Bowl, I'll return the favor and take him out for a steak dinner. Has to be a win though, we're not toasting to losers. 

The over/under on paying out this promise is 2065. I'm taking the over. 

After dinner we played foosball on the worst tables I've ever played on at Westport Social. Then we played some gang war Tsuro and won a game of Codenames Duet.

In the morning we went to Unger Park to play disc golf. As always, we play a skins game.

I took the first three holes. But then we tied and kept carrying-over. On the 7th, we both had long putts. I made mine which surprised me. Then Mark let a high putt go and it sailed over the basket, catching the back lip, and bouncing back in. He made his putt without even touching the chains. What a shot. 

After the front nine, I was still up 3-0 with 6 skins carried over. I joked that if we kept tying, I could win the entire match 3-0. We got to the tee box of #10. It was a tight fairway with a sharp right turn. The direct line to the basket went over a ravine and was even more congested with trees. But it was reachable. Going first, I said fortune favors the bold, and aimed over the ravine. Somehow my disc made it through the trees and landed near the basket.

I forced Mark to also go for it and his drive wasn't as lucky. He hit at tree and landed just at the edge of the ravine. I tapped in for two and was now up 10-0 with 8 holes to play. Secured the victory. 

At this point, the only question was would Mark win a single hole. 

After 16 holes, Mark was 0-16. He was also wearing his Lions shirt. It was too perfect. 

We tied the 17th. Which meant that the final score would either be 2-16, 0-16 or 0-18. Mark hit a tree on his drive and I didn't so it ended up being 18-0. 

Between Mark buying me the best steak I've ever had and winning disc golf 18-0, I'd say this edition of Mark Fever definitely came up Fymbo.

Also, here's some good general life advice: Put it in the fairway and bang your putt.

Breaking: Chicago Bulls have acquired Dave Fymbo (F) on day 4 of free agency.

The Bulls have been aggressive and wasted no time signing Dave Fymbo. Coach Donovan cited Fymbo's poor motor, below-average wingspan and impressive blog as exactly what they were looking for in a fan. 

- - -

Drafting Ayo while I happened to be visiting Chicago for the first time in 6 years (and getting nostalgic) was a nice touch. 

Building a fun roster is nice. Having the best starting lineup intro music helps too. But a big chunk was realizing that I've picked up a team everywhere I've lived except Chicago. 

Chiefs obviously were first. 
Illinois athletics came next. 
I lived in Chicago for six years without adopting a team. 
Then I became an Avalanche fan upon moving to Denver. 

So as of last week, I had college sports, the NFL and NHL covered. That leaves the NBA and MLB (and MLS I guess) as vacancies.

I like basketball a lot more than baseball, so this is a nice fit all around. Maybe one day I'll be old and living in a new city and adopt a baseball team. 

I hadn't planned on becoming a fan of wherever Ayo went, but this works out nicely. I've never really had an NBA team and that's been perfectly fine since I don't love the NBA that much. We'll see if this lasts longer than my Deron Williams Utah Jazz phase or my extremely casual fondness of the Nuggets when I lived in Denver or my passing interest in OKC because they're the closest team to KC. 

- - -

For reference, here's the current Bulls roster.

When I lived in Chicago, the only pro sports games were 2 Blackhawks games. I saw Crosby live and a Red Wings/Blackhawks game. It reaffirmed I liked live hockey but didn't care for the Blackhawks. They won the Cup in 2010 when I still lived in Oak Park and I felt nothing. 

But I can say, I've been to a game in the United Center. 

And in fact, the only NBA game I've ever been to in my life...the Bulls won. 

My parents took me to an exhibition Bulls-Timberwolves game in Kansas City in 1991. 

So there you go, I'm undefeated in attending Bulls games.

 My meatball pasta recipe is a flavor bomb.

Daily Favorites: Mediterranean Meatballs with Herbed Yogurt Sauce

This idea came out of a simple philosophy: build meals around your superstar ingredients. In this case, it's the Trader Joe turkey meatballs and nonfat greek yogurt. I've previously used these meatballs as a bbq appetizer, meatball hoagie and meatball pasta. I've used nonfat greek yogurt in my chicken salad, buffalo chicken bake, tzatziki, ranch spread on a brat burger, and pasta salad. Time to pair these nutritional superstars together. 

When you google meatballs greek yogurt, you get a lot of Mediterranean-spiced dishes. So that's what I did. For the turkey meatballs, I just followed my shawarma spice rub.

- - -

Meatball Spice Rub

cumin

cinnamon

smoked paprika

turmeric

cayenne 

oregano

garlic

salt

pepper

Herbed Yogurt Sauce

85g nonfat greek yogurt

cilantro, dill, or mint

salt

pepper

oregano

red wine vinegar or lemon juice (+ lemon zest)

minced onion (optional)

Today, I had cilantro and dill on hand, so I used both of those. Didn't have a lemon so I used a touch of red wine vinegar. Thought about using red onion but didn't. Could also include chives. A lot of recipes called for mint, but didn't have it. I'm intentionally omitting olive oil for caloric purposes, but I saw some recipes call for plating with a drizzle of it. I also could have used my Tzatziki sauce if I had it on hand. 

But this sauce was so good, I could eat in on anything. Could easily see pairing this with some spicy-seasoned chicken.

Speaking of calories...

7 turkey meatballs = 350 calories

85 grams of greek yogurt = 45 calories.

A very filling, very fresh 400 calorie meal. 

I'm always impressed when I make something that tastes bright, fresh, light and I think I should eat like this more often. And then, I'm like, oh yeah, I am. It still catches me off guard how good herbs/acidity/seasoning can be compared to the bacon/beefy/cheesy flavors way of life that I lived for so long.

Chicago Sights