After this weekend, the NFL season will be at its midway point. Come Wednesday morning, the league’s trade deadline will have passed, leaving us with a clearer view of the playoff picture.

Going into Week 9, though, the storylines are many. For starters, the NFL world is still waiting for the latest on Lions linebacker Jack Campbell, who was stretchered off the field against the Vikings with a serious neck injury, one that has left him without full movement as of yet.

With everyone hoping for the best for Campbell, the on-field stories revolve primarily around some new faces in new places, including one new face who is actually an old face in both a new and an old place—if you follow me. DeForest Buckner will be back with the 49ers for his “debut” once more, getting the nod against the Raiders after the Colts traded him to San Francisco last week. Then there’s the addition of Jeffery Simmons in Chicago, which we dive into from both the Bears’ and Titans’ perspectives.

But we start with the Jaguars, who are trying to reach the franchise’s first Super Bowl in its 31st season. Jacksonville went to Baltimore on a short week and continued to show why it might be the AFC’s top squad in a 33–10 victory. 

Jaguars have the look of the AFC’s best team

The Bills. The Chiefs. The Bengals. The Broncos. 

Those teams are the ones that most often roll off tongues when talking about who might represent the AFC come Valentine’s Day at SoFi Stadium. Somehow, the conference’s best team by multiple metrics, the Jaguars, are seemingly forgotten. 

Jacksonville is 6–2 and almost assured of winning the AFC South, holding at least a three-game lead in the loss column on the other three teams. The Jaguars have the AFC’s best point differential at plus-108, 56 points better than the Bills. Jacksonville might also have the inside track to the No. 1 seed, facing a far easier schedule than the Bills and Chiefs. While those teams still play each other, along with a slew of other top contenders, the Jaguars’ only remaining difficult games are against the Bears and Steelers. They also face the one-win Titans twice, alongside the Commanders, Giants and Colts.

Less than two years ago, Jacksonville was a dysfunctional operation. The Jaguars fired coach Doug Pederson but couldn’t get Liam Coen, then the Buccaneers’ offensive coordinator, to take the job. Finally, Coen reconsidered and accepted while general manager Trent Baalke was pushed out, replaced by James Gladstone. Since Coen and his staff arrived, the Jaguars are 18–6 and aiming for their second consecutive AFC South crown. 

Speaking to one team source, the development on offense has been pronounced. The leadership of center Robert Hainsey and receiver Jakobi Meyers can’t be overstated, while the development of emerging young stars such as tight end Brenton Strange and receiver Parker Washington have also played a critical role. Before Coen arrived, Strange caught 40 passes for 411 yards. This year, he’s on pace for 63 catches for 756 yards. In 2024, Washington had 390 receiving yards. In 2025, he notched 847. He’s on pace for 1,047 yards this season.

Lawrence ➡️ Washington for the 50-yard touchdown 💪

(via @NFL) pic.twitter.com/XlqXeSKyLq

— Sports Illustrated (@SInow) November 6, 2026

Additionally, Gladstone has found talent in this past draft without a first-round pick. The Jaguars are getting contributions from guard Emmanuel Pregnon, receiver Josh Cameron and tight end Nate Boerkircher, all of whom the source cited as key cogs in the machine. Boerkircher has lived up to his collegiate reputation as a premier blocker. At the same time, Cameron, a sixth-round pick, has only eight catches but has contributed with two touchdowns while playing 65% of the special teams snaps and serving as the ultimate glue guy.

Finally, it’s the relationship between Coen and quarterback Trevor Lawrence. After years of being inconsistent with Urban Meyer and Pederson, Lawrence has found his coach in Coen. The duo has taken off as one of the game’s best, as shown by their numbers across the past 17 regular-season games, which includes 4,099 passing yards, 38 touchdowns and 10 interceptions.

With a favorable schedule and a team clicking on all cylinders behind an elite staff and a quarterback in his element, don’t discount the Jaguars as a team capable of winning it all.

Jack Campbell is in everyone’s thoughts and prayers around the NFL

No sight is scarier in sports than a football player lying motionless on the turf. On Sunday in Detroit, we saw that happen with Campbell, who had to be backboarded before leaving Ford Field via an ambulance and taken to a local hospital.

While Campbell says he has movement in his lower body, he’s still regaining the use of his upper-body extremities. In talking with multiple NFC North contacts, there has been tremendous support and respect for Campbell as he continues to recover. 

“Man, that was hard to watch. He’s such a great player, and you can feel his leadership from afar,” said one Vikings team source.  “It’s great to hear he’s doing better. We are all thinking and praying for him.”

Campbell, 26, is coming off a first-team All-Pro season in which he had 176 tackles, five sacks, four passes defensed and three forced fumbles. This weekend will be the first game he has missed in his four-year career, with his football future taking a back seat to his overall health. 

When I spoke to people around the league this week about Campbell, two things were evident. One, he’s seen as one of the league’s  top linebackers, being called the “quarterback of the defense” by one source while another said he has it all: size, speed, intellect and physicality.

“Leader of that defense,” a Packers source said. “I don’t want to speculate on what he’s going through [because] I just haven’t heard much about it, but it sounds serious. I’m sure his teammates are struggling with it a little. But the brotherhood is strong in this league, so you always rally for your brother.”

Here’s to hoping Campbell makes a quick, full recovery.

DeForest Buckner’s return to San Francisco gives 49ers what they need

In his 11-year career, Buckner has been a three-time Pro Bowler, a second-team All-Pro and a first-team All-Pro. He has had a double-digit sack season despite playing on the interior, and has racked up more than 100 tackles for loss. With four more quarterback hits, he’ll have 200. He also played in a Super Bowl in February 2020. 

The one thing Buckner hasn’t done is win it all. However, after being traded from the Colts to the 49ers last week, his quest to check that final box on his checklist begins in earnest.

With San Francisco at 6–1 and coming off its bye week, Buckner will make his first appearance with the 49ers since losing Super Bowl LIV, as he was dealt to Indianapolis for a first-round pick shortly after it. In 2026 with the Colts, Buckner has looked like a rejuvenated pass rusher. After missing 12 combined games over the previous two years, he has played all seven games, totaling four sacks, matching his ’25 total.

“Great human, great family man,” said one Colts coach on what the Niners are getting in the 32-year-old. “Did so much for the community. Great teammate. His play obviously speaks for itself. Hard to block one-on-one, period.”

Buckner joins one of the league’s top teams, which needs some reinforcements. Defensive end Nick Bosa hasn’t played since Week 2 due to a knee injury, but could be back Sunday against the Raiders at Levi’s Stadium. With second-year man Mykel Williams and offseason acquisition Osa Odighizuwa alongside them, and linebackers Fred Warner and Dre Greenlaw behind the line, the 49ers have one of the league’s best front sevens in football, while also being one of the older units.

The time is now for San Francisco to finally win the Super Bowl after losing it twice to Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs in 2019 and ’23, while also falling in the NFC title game in ’21 and ’22. 

Jeffery Simmons’s value goes beyond stats for Bears

When the NFL trade deadline comes and goes at 4 p.m. ET Tuesday, we’ll likely look at the Bears’ trade for Jeffery Simmons as the blockbuster of the period.

And if Chicago were to go on and win the Super Bowl for only the second time in franchise history and its first since 1985, the bold move by general manager Ryan Poles to acquire the defensive tackle may be seen as the signature moment everything fell into place. 

In a conversation with a Titans source, the decision to trade Simmons wasn’t an easy one. It took a pair of first-round picks to pry away the first-team All-Pro and four-time Pro Bowler, who the source sees as far more valuable than just his stellar on-field play. 

“He’s a monster,” the source said. “Empties the tank on every rep in practice and the game. Relentless worker and demanding leader in the locker room.”

The Bears are already reaping the dividends. In Simmons’s first game with Chicago, he registered a sack in Monday’s 34–17 win over the Seahawks at Lumen Field. Entering Week 9 with a defense surprisingly ranked seventh in yards and eighth in points allowed, the Bears see Simmons as the potential final piece to a championship puzzle, as the offense is already loaded with quarterback Caleb Williams, receivers Rome Odunze and Luther Burden III and tight end Colston Loveland. 

Throughout his eight-year career with Tennessee, Simmons totaled 46.5 sacks and never had fewer than five after the 2020 season. He also played all but 11 games across his final seven years in Nashville, showing durability and commitment to the team, even in lost campaigns.

For the Bears, Simmons is a big bet, with the team stating it’s all-in on winning a title now. For the Titans, it signals a full rebuild continuing, with Tennessee now having the ammunition to do what it needs over the next few seasons to become a contender.

The 2027 draft might not be what we thought at season’s start

Everything about the 2027 draft has been, and will continue to be, around the quarterbacks. 

Going into the college football season, a few league sources thought we could see a half dozen quarterbacks go in the first round, ranging from Oregon’s Dante Moore and South Carolina’s LaNorris Sellers to Texas’s Arch Manning and others. However, as always, things aren’t quite going to plan. 

On Gilberto Manzano’s Top 100 big board, quarterbacks are well-represented, with four in the top 20. But none are the names above. Instead, it’s Oklahoma State’s Drew Mestemaker at No. 6 (who we wrote about a few weeks ago), followed by Miami’s Darian Mensah (No. 10), Notre Dame’s CJ Carr (No. 17) and Trinidad Chambliss of Ole Miss (No. 19). Moore and Manning come in 22nd and 28th, respectively. At the same time, no other quarterbacks crack the top 60.

Drew Mestemaker puts Oklahoma State back up vs. Oregon!

(via @CFBPlayoff) pic.twitter.com/xLGDr5El33

— Sports Illustrated (@SInow) September 12, 2026

In speaking with a personnel evaluator, he agrees with Manzano, believing Mestemaker and Mensah are separating themselves a bit from the field. There’s also a question of whether Manning will come out in 2027 or go back to college and stay for ’28, similar to what Uncle Peyton did at the University of Tennessee three decades ago. 

Suddenly, a draft that looked like a sure-fire quarterback bonanza has as many questions as answers. Mestemaker is 20 years old and 6'4", but he has started only eight games for a Power 4 school. Mensah has played for three schools in as many years but looks the part, throwing for a nation-best 25 touchdowns thus far. Chambliss is the ultimate wild card; he will turn 25 in August and stands 6'0” tall. 

There will almost certainly be a few quarterbacks drafted early, but an avalanche? That seems doubtful at this point.