As you read this, it will be nearly 2026, so Happy New Year to you all and welcome to Tuesday Morning Pigskin!
Tuesday Morning Pigskin – 12/30/25
HOLIDAY NFL
The NFL just got more exciting than I can remember it ever being before. Seems like every game I watched over the Christmas Holiday was meaningful and provided some seriously dramatic game finishes.
Sunday night’s match-up between the BEARS & 49ers was an absolute barn burner, as we used to say. In many ways, it exemplified pro football in the 2020s. In that, Offenses rule the game, but a serious individual plays by defense. Particularly, the turnovers that steered the course to victory.
For the second straight game, San Fran QB Brock Purdy accounted for 5 TDs with his arm and his legs. It seemed as though the last team with the ball would win the contest. But it was a final goal-line play in which the Niners finally got some pressure on Bears QB CALEN WILLIAMS to cause an under-throw in the end-zone… game over.
And it sets up another potential great game this coming Week of game 17 between the Niners and the upstart SEAHAWKS. The Niners are now 12-4, while the SEAHAWKS are 13-3. But with the 49ers holding the tie breaker within the division, the winner here takes all and will hold home field throughout the playoffs. And with the happenstance that the Super Bowl is scheduled for Levi’s Stadium, it’s a giant for 49ers fans.
WINNERS TAKE ALL
Meanwhile, in the most mediocre division in the NFL (again), being the NFL South, the final game of the season features the Panthers (8-8) going to Tampa to play the (7-9) BUCCANEERS next Saturday. The winner takes the division championship and actually hosts a first-round home game. Not glamorous per se, but meaningful to say the least. Just ask my family. My daughter, grandson, son, and son’s wife’s dad have tickets for that game in Tampa. Now the game means something.
Next Sunday, it’s another division title match between the STEELERS and RAVENS. The RAVENS face some significant challenges in this one. The STEELERS have a winning record at 9-7, but the Ravens have already beaten them earlier in the season, so if they both end up 9-8, the Ravens host a home playoff game against a wild-card entry the weekend following this game. Win or go home, as they say nowadays. Lamar Jackson has been banged up much of the current season and did not play this past weekend. He is expected to start against the Steelers on Sunday.
NFL PRO BOWL TALK
Even though the League no longer conducts a legit football game to celebrate the event, the NFL Pro Bowl rosters have been announced. The game will be held in conjunction with the Super Bowl at locations primarily in the San Francisco Bay Area. One thing that the current process eliminates around the League is the multiple players selected choosing to pass on All-Star Game action, and in some cases, the battles between players and teams regarding bonuses in player contracts, who used to be elected as substitutes for the game.
One thing Pigskin always looks for is how many players on the All-Pro lists have or have not been drafted into the League. As usual, most of the undrafted Pro Bowlers are specialists ala PK, P & LS. But the following 10 players who made it this year who entered the NFL as College Free Agents are…
AZEEZ AL-SHAAIR/LB/Texans
BRANDON AUBREY/PK/ Cowboys
CAMERON DICKER/PK/Chargers
LUKE GIFFORD/ST/49ers
ROSS MATISCIK/LS/Jaguars
PATRICK RICARD/FB/Ravens
RASHID SHAHEED/RS/Seahawks
TRESS WAY/P/Commanders
JON WEEKS/LS/49ers
Can you find the 1 Rookie on the announced teams?
NFL DRAFT TALK
Heading into the final week of the regular season, the April Draft order is as follows…
- RAIDERS
- GIANTS
- JETS
- TITANS
- CARDINALS
- BROWNS
- COMMANDERS
- SAINTS
- CHIEFS
- BENGALS
These slots may indeed change with Winners & Losers from next week’s ending scores are figured into the current rankings.
SENIOR BOWL CHATTER
The Senior Bowl has already bounced its roster of game acceptances to the game to over 100 players. In recent years, both the Senior Bowl and Shrine Bowl have upped their preferred roster strength to 130 each. It is expected that the game in Mobile will have a roster of 140 in 2026.
It should also be noted that not all who initially accept will wind up at game locations to take their roster spots. Multiple reasons lead to the defections, and both games attempt to bring in additional players to fill those spots by game week.
Of the hundred-plus players on the Acceptance list for Mobile, the following are those currently in my Top 100 overall prospects. In alphabetical order, they are…
PIGSKIN SENIOR BOWL TOP 100
KAYTRON ALLEN RB Penn St
DAVID BAILEY ER Texas Tech
CALEB BANKS DT Florida
GERMIE BERNARD WR Alabama
KAGE CASEY OT Boise St
DANI DENNIS-SUTTON DE/ER Penn St
CALEB DOUGLAS WR Texas Tech
A.J. HAULCY SS LSU
CASHIUS HOWELL ER/OB Texas A&M
LEE HUNTER. DT Texas Tech
CHRIS JOHNSON CB San Diego St
JACK KELLY ILB BYU
WILL LEE CB Texas A&M
EMMANUEL McNEIL-WARREN S Toledo
DOMINIGUE ORANGE DT Iowa St
T.J. PERKER DE/ER Clemson
ELIJAH SARRATT WR Indiana
R MASON THOMAS ER Oklahoma
MICHAEL TRIGG TE Baylor
ISAIAH WORLD OT Oregon
ZION YOUNG ER Missouri
TREY ZUHN OL Texas A&M
College Football Championship
Round Two of the Football D1 play-offs resumes this week. Don’t miss the Elite Eight games.
Cheers,