The Pittsburgh Steelers have been one of the most elite and consistently competitive football teams throughout NFL history. However, that doesn't preclude them from having ups and downs throughout the decades. One former Steelers player that has been able to experience the ride is former linebacker, Arthur Moats.
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Pittsburgh Steelers former linebacker Arthur Moats
Moats played for the Buffalo Bills prior to coming to Pittsburgh and ended his career with the Arizona Cardinals. He has seen the best and the worst of the AFC North and throughout the NFL. Now, Moats hosts a podcast, The Arthur Moats Experience, with his friend Deke. On the show, they discuss all things Pittsburgh, particularly about the Steelers and the NFL.
On a recent episode, they tackled the topic of which division is shaping up to be the worst in the NFL for the 2023 season. They both acknowledge that it is early and there is still a lot of time for things to change, both for the better and the worst.
Steelers Arthur Moats On Which Division Is The Worst For 2023
Moats and Deke both agree that the two divisions that kind of sit at the bottom of the list right now are the AFC South and the NFC South.
Deke notes that he thinks the NFC South is the worst because the AFC South at least has the Jacksonville Jaguars. Both Moats and Deke agree that Jacksonville should easily win its' division this year.
"I had a hot take about them actually whenever I was talking about the Steelers schedule because we play the Jaguars. I was like, I think they're going to get off to a bumpy start beginning of this year just because of the new expectations. It's gonna be different for them," said Deke. "I do think they are talented and eventually will win their division."
Moats said that he doesn't know if that is totally fair. In his opinion, he thinks that Derek Carr playing for the New Orleans Saints helps them out. When Deke said he would take the Jaguars' Trevor Lawrence over Carr, Moats reminded him that Carr did have an MVP-caliber season before (2016).
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Jacksonville Jaguars quarterback Trevor Lawrence
As they are mentally going over the two divisions in their heads, Deke realizes just how many rookie quarterbacks there are in the South in general. The division has a bunch of youth at the position overall and it appears there is Lawrence for Jacksonville, Anthony Richardson with the Indianapolis Colts, Will Levis or Ryan Tannehill with the Tennessee Titans, and CJ Stroud with the Houston Texans. Tannehill is the only veteran.
The NFC South boasts Bryce Young for the Carolina Panthers, Desmond Ridder with the Atlanta Falcons, former Cleveland Browns QB Baker Mayfield who is now with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and Carr with the Saints. Between the divisions, the quarterback position is extremely young.
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Bryce Young, the former quarterback for the University of Alabama, was selected first over all by the Carolina Panthers in the 2023 NFL draft.
Out of that group, Richardon, Levis, Stroud and Young are all rookies. Lawrence is entering his third season while Ridder embarks on his second. That is a lot of very young quarterbacks in those two divisions.
"At least Baker has started. He is proven. I go Tannehill over Ridder right now. Oh God, this is bad bro. The Jaguars should be the favorite to win their division," Moats said.
Deke agreed and thinks that just because Tennessee has Mike Vrabel at the helm as the Head Coach, they will at least go 8-9 or 9-8. He feels that they will put up a fight. There are a number of changes with those teams that impact them from just a season or two ago. Deke notes that New Orleans no longer has Sean Payton coaching and the Buccaneers do not have Tom Brady at quarterback. He reminded viewers that the Falcons seemed to have done well during free agency and Deke agreed.
"They loaded up in free agency. The Falcons got some pieces. They got Bijan [Robinson]," Moats noted.
All this talking through what each team has leads Deke to pronounce that he thinks the NFC South will end up being the worst division. He just feels like they have too many holes.
"I can't say I have more faith in that Titans team, but I think I know what I'm getting from the Jaguars and the Titans versus every other team in that NFC South. The Saints are probably the favorite but without Sean Payton, I don't know how I'm feeling about them."
University of Texas football
The Atlanta Falcons selected running back Bijan Robinson from Texas with the 8th overall pick in the 2023 NFL Draft.
Moats, who always like to play devil's advocate or offer the counterpoint to any argument, says that he thinks Carr is the reason why they get so much credit. Are they deserving of all of that optimism when Carr has been inconsistent at best during his career? He's had some excellent seasons and some ho-hum ones.
"I only make [New Orleans] the favorite because of Carr, but I'm sure Carolina got to be over there like, 'Man we feel good right now, we got a score today. Why not us?' Or even Tampa, Baker over here like, 'Man I'm about to come back, y'all seen what I just did in LA for a few games, man I'm about to bring this over here. Follow me Progessive.'
Which division do you think will be the worst division? Do you agree with Moats and Deke's assessment of the AFC South and the NFC South? How do you think all of the rookie quarterbacks will fair? Do you expect any to do well? What about Mayfield, think he has something to prove in Tampa? Think he will? Click to comment below.
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