We are deep into the darkest period of the NFL calendar. Hat tip to the World Cup for helping get us through it, even if we no-showed against Belgium. Let's do a mailbag or two to pass the time, shall we? And as always thanks for doing half the work for me.

Question from @OfficeLinebacker (via Bluesky): All-Kempski Team 2026. One player from any team can be your 22 starters. Who ya got? And what teams are not worthy?

Ahhh, yes, I do enjoy figuring this out every year.

Offense

QB: Josh Allen, Bills: The Bills' roster, aside from Josh Allen, kinda stinks. He's been carrying this team on his back for years, and in my opinion it's not his fault that Buffalo hasn't gotten over the hump. He's the best quarterback in the NFL right now.

RB: Bijan Robinson, Falcons: It was between Robinson and Jahmyr Gibbs here, but the Lions have a bunch of other very good players and the Falcons don't.

WR: Ja'Marr Chase, Bengals: Chase is still the best receiver in the NFL.

WR: Justin Jefferson, Vikings: Jefferson had a down year in 2025, as anyone would if J.J. McCarthy and Carson Wentz were throwing them the ball. But he is still pretty comfortably a top five receiver.

WR: Jaxon Smith-Njigba, Seahawks: JSN had a big-time breakout season in Seattle and was the best offensive player on a Super Bowl winning team.

TE: Brock Bowers, Raiders: Bowers was a pretty easy pick here. He's great, and he plays on an awful team that doesn't have any other players who would sniff the #JimmyAllStars.

LT: Tristan Wirfs, Buccaneers: Wirfs is probably the best LT in the NFL.

LG: Tyler Smith, Cowboys: I didn't like Smith as a prospect coming out of college. He had an absurd number of penalties playing in a weak conference. But he has grown on me. He plays with a nasty demeanor, and also has LT versatility.

C: Aaron Brewer, Dolphins: Hipster OL pick.

RG: Quenton Nelson, Colts: Again, more nastiness at guard. Technically, Nelson plays LG but he'll be RG on my team.

RT: Penei Sewell, Lions: There are a lot of Eagles to choose from otherwise, so Sewell gets the nod over Lane Johnson here.

Defense

EDGE: Myles Garrett, Rams: Duh.

iDL: Jeffery Simmons, Titans: As we'll show later in this mailbag Simmons led the NFL in like everything among interior defensive linemen in 2025, which is particularly impressive playing on that garbage Titans team.

iDL: Chris Jones, Chiefs: He's beginning to slow down a bit, but is still a force who plays up and down the line.

EDGE: Will Anderson, Texans: Anderson is already a great player, and is a mega-star in the making.

LB: Fred Warner, 49ers: Warner suffered a season-ending injury in 2025, but he will still be the best off-ball linebacker in the NFL this season.

LB: Devin Lloyd, Panthers: Breakout season in 2025, with 5 INTs.

CB: Patrick Surtain, Broncos: Surtain is one year removed from Defensive Player of the Year honors.

S: Kyle Hamilton, Ravens: Hamilton's takeaway numbers are down the last two seasons, but no other safety in the league can match his blend of size and range.

S: Xavier McKinney, Packers: Savvy playmaker. Hilarious that the Giants didn't make any real attempt to re-sign him.

CB: Quinyon Mitchell, Eagles: As our Geoff Mosher pointed out, it was laughable that an ESPN survey of NFL scouts has Q as the sixth-best corner in the NFL. (People think NFL evaluators are smart. Some are. Many are not.)

SCB: Derwin James, Chargers: Like Cooper DeJean, James can play slot corner or safety. He played more at slot corner for the Chargers in 2025, and was a big reason that they had one of the best pass defenses in the NFL.

Specialists (extra credit)

K: Cam Little, Jaguars: The Cowboys' Brandon Aubrey is considered the NFL kicker with the biggest leg. I'm not certain on that one. This dude can hit bombs too, and he was 30 of 34 in 2025, including 8 for 10 from beyond 50 with a long of 68.

P: Jordan Stout, Giants: Hey the Giants got a guy in here! Good for them. The Commanders did not.

LS: Zach Wood, Saints: Wood.

Six teams did not have any players make the #JimmyAllStars: Commanders, Bears, Cardinals, Jets, Browns, Steelers.

We did this last year, too. I purposely did not look at that post until I finalized my team this year, because I was curious how many players would repeat – 6 on offense, 6 on defense. I didn't include special teams last year.

Question from RonJAdams: Why does everyone just agree Jalen Carter is good enough to be the highest paid DT despite his numbers not matching up? I keep hearing the next Aaron Donald, even from Donald! But I don't see close to double digit sacks.

I can't answer for everyone, but in my opinion he does not deserve to be paid more than Jeffery Simmons, who reset the iDL market with a three-year deal worth a little over $35 million per season. 

As noted above, Simmons had a monster season in 2025 despite playing for the abysmal Tennessee Titans. From old friend Turron Davenport: 

Simmons posted a career-high 11 sacks last season, breaking Jurrell Casey's franchise record for most sacks (10.5) in a season by a defensive tackle. Along with his 11 sacks, Simmons led all NFL interior defensive linemen in solo tackles (39), tackles for loss (17), sacks (11), sack yards (79.0), quarterback pressures (60), pressure rate (14.5) and forced fumbles (tied 3). He was named first-team All Pro and was selected to the Pro Bowl for the fourth time in his seven-year career.

Simmons is the best interior defensive lineman in the NFL, and he is deserving of that deal. If Carter and his representation think they should be paid more than Simmons, then a deal probably won't get done, in my opinion.

But the excitement for Carter's talent is warranted. He was an absolute beast in 2024. I remember there were times after games I'd look forward to just watching all his snaps, because of the havoc he created. For example, I never saw Fletcher Cox dominate a game the way Carter did against the Ravens that season. Tyler Linderbaum signed a $27 million/year contract this offseason. Carter tossed that guy around like he was a toddler in that game.

Watch this thread: 

I mean, when he's healthy and playing hard, that 👆 is what Carter can be. That's why the Chiefs doubled him with Creed Humphrey and Trey Smith in the Super Bowl, and the rest of the Eagles' D-line ate because they got one-on-ones all day against three much weaker offensive linemen. He had no tackles, no sacks, and no batted passes in the Super Bowl, and he still had a major impact.

There are concerns, which we detailed in our Eagles dumpster fire post. But he's also probably the most talented player on a team full of star players.

Question from @realalexhahn: What are your examples of why you think Saquon lost a step last year? I personally don’t think he did.

I've noted previously that the Eagles don't share GPS data with me, so I can't point to some sort of definitive decrease in speed. And obviously the blocking in front of him wasn't anywhere near as good as it was the year before. 

But also, he had opportunities to break off long runs if he could've made a guy miss at the second or third level, and that just wasn't the same last season. He had 17 rushes of 20+ yards in 2024. He only had 4 in 2025.

Here's a highlight reel from Barkley's 2024 season. I mean, he was otherworldly. To be clear, I still think he was explosive last season. He just didn't have the same insane explosiveness he had in 2024.

Question from @KylaAliDad: What’s your prediction for the final roster spots at WR?

We recently published locks, near-locks, bubble players and longshots. I have DeVonta Smith, Makai Lemon, Dontayvion Wicks, and Marquise Brown as locks. I got a little pushback on Brown being a lock, but the Eagles guaranteed him $5 million and that signing cancelled out a comp pick. He's going to make the team, at a minimum.

And then I think at least one of Johnny Wilson or Darius Cooper will make the team as the "dirty work" guy. I'd have Wilson a little ahead of Cooper at the moment.

So my five would be Smith, Lemon, Wicks, Brown, and Wilson.

If they keep a sixth guy, of the remaining players I think Elijah Moore has the best chance of standing out in camp.

And then there's always Britain Covey, who is the Eagles' best returner, but who can also probably be safely stashed on the practice squad.

Question from @eagsfans: In this new offense please predict order of total receptions: DeVonta, Goedert? Then... Wicks?

DeVonta is going to see a healthy uptick in targets this year. He'll be the No. 1 receiver on the team statistically by a wide margin. And then, yes, I agree that Goedert will probably be second behind DeVonta. Jalen Hurts trusts Goedert. He'll probably have an uptick in targets as well with A.J. Brown gone.

Third I'll take Lemon. Barring an abysmal camp, he's going to start, and in my opinion the Eagles traded up for him partly because they think he can produce immediately.

Fourth, it's a toss-up between Wicks and Brown. I think Wicks will play more snaps because he's a very willing and able blocker, which is going to appeal to Sirianni. But I think Brown is being a little slept on and will have more receptions. Barring one season in which he only played in two games, he has gone over 500 receiving yards in all six of his other NFL seasons. He is a legitimate professional receiver with speed, quickness, and good hands.

Question from @yocrunchy (via Bluesky): When will WIP bring up the topic of starting Cole Payton? lol

They kind of already did. 

I don't want to hear anyone complain about some of my offseason content.

Question from @Chris55075178: Given the new offense being installed, is there a chance the offensive starters play any of the preseason?

My guess is no. They'll have two joint practices with the Patriots in August, and they believe that they are more valuable than preseason games. I imagine they'll also want to preserve some level of surprise for their Week 1 opponent.

Question from me, for my daughter: Your roller coaster rankings at Universal Studios and Busch Gardens were a hit. Would you also like to rank Six Flags Great Adventure or Dorney Park?

I'll do Dorney Park.

1. Talon
2. Steel Force
3. Possessed
4. Hydra
5. Thunderhawk
6. Iron Menace
7. Woodstock Express

Notes:

7) Woodstock Express: It’s a pretty standard kiddie coaster, not much to it.

6) Iron Menace: Definitely not as good as Sheikra (Busch Gardens Tampa) and Valravn (Cedar Point), big headbanger, honestly gets worse the more you go on it, the last 2 times I went on it the restraint was digging into my hips, crazy how this thing is less smooth than Thunderhawk, a coaster 100 years older than it.

#JimmyNote: When she says "headbanger," she means that her head got jostled around by sudden movements. Being a headbanger coaster is bad.

5) Thunderhawk: Pretty smooth for a 102-year-old coaster, not too much to it but it’s still pretty fun, and the seats are pretty comfy.

4) Hydra: Pretty headbangy, not much to it other than the inversions, I’m not the biggest fan of floorless coasters so I’m not too surprised it’s ranked here, the pre-launch inversion is cool, I feel like I enjoyed it better the first time I went on it.

3) Possessed: I went on this one for the first time a few weeks ago, cool change of pace from standard coasters, kinda short and simple but it’s really fun (especially in the front).

2) Steel Force: Came really close to being my number 1 spot, really great airtime after every hill, best riding experience is definitely in the back, overall a really great ride if you enjoy getting thrown out of your seat.

1) Talon: Has been my favorite coaster at Dorney since the first time I rode it, incredibly smooth, probably my second favorite inverted coaster I’ve been on after Montu (Busch Gardens Tampa), I would definitely recommend the front if the line isn’t too long.

Additional awards:

• Best theme/elements: Hydra
• Best track: Possessed
• Best inversions: Talon
• Best drops: Iron Menace
• Best cars: Thunderhawk
• Best restraints: Talon
• Best hills: Steel Force

#JimmyNote: I did not go on the Dorney trip, so there are no embarrassing on-ride pics of me this time.

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