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Joy's NFL 2026 Decline Picks and New SEC/Big Ten Rules Blocking Pros from Returning to College · The Daily Play With Joy Taylor

• 0:04
  Speaker 1: Hey guys, welcome to The Daily Play with Joy Taylor.
• 0:06
  Speaker 2: Thanks so much for joining me. Make sure you hit subscribe.
• 0:08
  Speaker 2: Follow us on social at The Daily Play Joy Taylor.
• 0:12
  Speaker 1: So the NFL regular season kicks off in exactly two weeks.
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  Speaker 2: I cannot wait.
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  Speaker 1: I cannot wait to get football back. But it will
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  Speaker 1: be a rematch of the Super Bowl on Wednesday, September 9th.
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  Speaker 2: Why Wednesday, you ask?
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  Speaker 1: Because on Thursday, September 10th, the Rams and the Niners
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  Speaker 1: will play the first ever NFL game in Australia.
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  Speaker 2: Very long flight.
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  Speaker 1: I did that earlier this year for my friend's wedding.
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  Speaker 1: But real season football, real regular season football is just
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  Speaker 1: two weeks away. And we're going to take a look
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  Speaker 1: at some of the teams that might take a step
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  Speaker 1: back this season. Hat tip to Bill Barnwell of ESPN,
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  Speaker 1: who put in some work on his predicting NFL teams
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  Speaker 1: most likely to decline in the 2026 season, which inspired
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  Speaker 1: this segment. If you remember, I did talk about teams
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  Speaker 1: that I think are going to miss the playoffs earlier
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  Speaker 1: this this summer, but Barnwell's five teams are the Bears,
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  Speaker 1: the Panthers, the Broncos, the Jags, and the Patriots. All
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  Speaker 1: five are playoff teams, including the classic bet on the
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  Speaker 1: Super Bowl hangover being real by placing New England on
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  Speaker 1: the list.
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  Speaker 2: Seattle is not on the list, interestingly enough.
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  Speaker 1: There's a lot to unpack here, but I will say
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  Speaker 1: I'm confident in Sean Payton and the pieces that the
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  Speaker 1: Broncos added, including Jalen Waddell. while it may be difficult
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  Speaker 1: for Denver to match their 14-3 win total from last season,
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  Speaker 1: I think they'll still be relevant, even if I don't
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  Speaker 1: think that they win 14 games.
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  Speaker 2: Similar story with the Patriots.
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  Speaker 1: They have had a drama-filled offseason, but I think that
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  Speaker 1: New England will still be a playoff team. I don't
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  Speaker 1: think they're getting back to the Super Bowl, but I
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  Speaker 1: do think they'll be a playoff team. And when you uh,
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  Speaker 1: look around the division. I don't think that, uh, particularly,
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  Speaker 1: I think the dolphins might be one of the worst
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  Speaker 1: teams in the league. And, um, you know, we'll, we'll
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  Speaker 1: see where the jets are this year, but I do
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  Speaker 1: think that the, the Patriots will be back there. I
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  Speaker 1: definitely think the bears are making the post season. Um,
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  Speaker 1: I think they can match their 11 and six record. And, uh,
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  Speaker 1: they do have the 10th hardest projected schedule, but Caleb
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  Speaker 1: Williams and Ben Johnson, um, having another year together, uh,
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  Speaker 1: to fine-tune some things. Another year of confidence for Caleb Williams.
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  Speaker 1: I think they will be back in the playoffs. The
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  Speaker 1: Panthers and Jags look like they were moving in the
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  Speaker 1: right direction last season, but I don't have a lot
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  Speaker 1: of confidence they're going to continue in an upward trajectory.
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  Speaker 1: The Panthers may have a better chance to get back
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  Speaker 1: to 8 or 9 or better than the Jags do
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  Speaker 1: of their 13-4 performance last year in head coach Liam
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  Speaker 1: Cohen's first year in Duval. I mentioned the Dolphins as
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  Speaker 1: another team that I think will have some issues. And
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  Speaker 1: the Niners, I don't think Miami is going to match 7-10.
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  Speaker 1: I really think Miami is going to be very bad.
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  Speaker 1: And San Francisco had to win six of their last
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  Speaker 1: seven games last year to go 12-5. I tend to
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  Speaker 1: have a lot of faith in San Francisco, but this
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  Speaker 1: year I do not think this is their year.
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  Speaker 2: So my team's out of the AFC lineup.
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  Speaker 1: Playoffs that were in last year are going to be
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  Speaker 1: the Steelers, Jacksonville, and the Chargers. My teams out in
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  Speaker 1: the NFC are going to be the Carolina Panthers, so
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  Speaker 1: I agree with him there, Green Bay, and the Niners.
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  Speaker 1: I think Commanders Lions Tampa are in in the NFC.
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  Speaker 1: I think the Chiefs Ravens Cincinnati are in.
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  Speaker 2: In the AFC.
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  Speaker 1: And keep in mind, this might seem very edgy, but
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  Speaker 1: the reality is there's about 40% turnover in.
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  Speaker 2: In the postseason every single year.
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  Speaker 1: There are teams that we think are chalk that are
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  Speaker 1: going to have a crazy injury, unfortunately, or something happened
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  Speaker 1: where they completely fall off or they miss it closely
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  Speaker 1: because the division is much tougher than we think.
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  Speaker 2: Like that's the cool thing about football is we don't know.
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  Speaker 1: So we're going to see and we're basing these projections,
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  Speaker 1: of course, based off of everyone being healthy. We know
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  Speaker 1: that that is unfortunately not going to be the case.
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  Speaker 1: And we have to see how this develops as the
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  Speaker 1: season goes on. So speaking of developments, major developments in
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  Speaker 1: the eligibility saga going on in the NCAA right now.
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  Speaker 2: So the conferences are stepping up and trying to clean
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  Speaker 2: up the mess.
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  Speaker 1: The Big Ten and SEC are now in unanimous opposition
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  Speaker 1: to athletes leaving the NFL and returning to college teams.
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  Speaker 1: So it's not just a football story. And LSU is
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  Speaker 1: at the center of this controversy in multiple sports. Brown's
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  Speaker 1: tight end Daquan Wright hopes to clear waivers and play
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  Speaker 1: for his former head coach Lane Kiffin in Baton Rouge.
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  Speaker 1: And 2025 Big East Player of the Year R.J.
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  Speaker 2: Lewis Jr.
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  Speaker 1: Plans to play for the Tigers this season despite having
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  Speaker 1: signed with multiple NBA franchises after going undrafted. That might
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  Speaker 1: be foiled by the new SEC policy, which reportedly won
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  Speaker 1: by a 16-0 vote. A step-by-step explanation, the SEC announced
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  Speaker 1: that institutions are not permitted to have an athlete on
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  Speaker 1: this roster as previously declared for the NFL, NBA, or
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  Speaker 1: WNBA draft and did not appropriately withdraw. signed a contract
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  Speaker 1: with the NFL or any other professional league, NBA, G League,
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  Speaker 1: or WNBA or affiliate team, been listed on the NFL
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  Speaker 1: or other professional football.
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  Speaker 2: League, NBA, G League, or WNBA or affiliate roster.
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  Speaker 1: The Big Ten also unanimously passed similar conference rules specifically
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  Speaker 1: for football, and some include penalties and violations for the
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  Speaker 1: new rules, saying any team in violation of the rule
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  Speaker 1: would be subject to its head coach being suspended for 50%
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  Speaker 1: of its remaining games plus an undisclosed fine. This is
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  Speaker 1: a big mess because, I mean, you're talking about state-by-state
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  Speaker 1: court rulings. And the ACC, Big 12, and Notre Dame
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  Speaker 1: also indicated they aren't far behind. So essentially, the conferences
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  Speaker 1: are overruling the state rulings. It's way above my pay
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  Speaker 1: grade to explain how this is going to work out.
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  Speaker 1: But it does sound like there's lawsuits on the way because,
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  Speaker 1: I mean, obviously, these student athletes I'm assuming consulted lawyers
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  Speaker 1: before making a move like this and being that this
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  Speaker 1: ruling wasn't in place when they decided to come back
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  Speaker 1: I don't know how any of this is enforceable as
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  Speaker 1: usually NCAA is.
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  Speaker 2: All over the place with their rulings.
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  Speaker 1: And I mean it sounds pretty straightforward that once you
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  Speaker 1: leave for the pros like that's how it goes but
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  Speaker 1: So I'm a little confused as to how this is
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  Speaker 1: all going to play out, but I do think that
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  Speaker 1: they need to clean up the mess and figure it
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  Speaker 1: out and make it pretty straightforward what is going to
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  Speaker 1: be moving forward so that student athletes have a very
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  Speaker 1: clear ruling on what their decisions are.
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  Speaker 2: Because look, with NIL, this is going to continue to happen.
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  Speaker 1: If you have the ability to go pro and you
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  Speaker 1: don't go where you think you're going to go, going
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  Speaker 1: back to college and continuing to play for some of
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  Speaker 1: these players seems like a very viable option, both financially
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  Speaker 1: and And for development, like rather than just sitting a
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  Speaker 1: year out or sitting, you know, on a practice squad somewhere,
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  Speaker 1: if that's what the options are. But we'll see what
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  Speaker 1: they end up doing with this. My guess is that
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  Speaker 1: it gets tied up in a court and, you know,
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  Speaker 1: they probably don't let the student athletes play, which could
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  Speaker 1: get weird.
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  Speaker 2: But, you know, as usual, college.
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  Speaker 1: Sports trying to sort out. NIL and eligibility, which always
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  Speaker 1: gets a little wonky. For more on this and other
• 7:26
  Speaker 1: top stories of the day, tune into The Daily Play
• 7:27
  Speaker 1: with Joy Taylor at urban1podcast. com or wherever you get your podcasts.
• 7:30
  Speaker 1: Thanks so much for joining me. Make sure you hit
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  Speaker 1: subscribe and follow us on social at The Daily Play,
• 7:35
  Speaker 1: Joy Taylor.