Which Of These 5 NFL Teams Do You Want To See On Hard Knocks Next Season?

Earlier this week we found out which teams are eligible for being selected for the next season of Hard Knocks. These teams are eligible to be picked because they met all the criteria needed, the teams haven't made the playoffs in the last two seasons, won't have a new head coach next season, and haven't already appeared on the show in the last 10 years. That leaves us with just five out of the 32 teams that the NFL can force to appear on the show, the Redskins, Giants, 49ers, Raiders, and the Lions. Unless a team voluntarily asks to be on Hard Knocks (that won't happen), we get to see one of these teams for 5 weeks this summer, imagine some of the storylines we could be watching. Lets rank the 5 possibilities.

1. Washington Redskins

Oh my god would this be glorious. Maybe it's because I live 30 min from FedEx Field so I hear all the stories that go on with this franchise, but holy shit would this be hilarious. Daniel Snyder may be the most hated person on TV after this. I imagine Snyder is FURIOUS with the thought that his team would be forced to appear on the show. I know people who have catered the Redskins Training Camp and provide food for Snyder, he literally will not allow the workers to be in the same room as him as they set up his food, you think this guy is going to want to have cameras in and around his practice facility and people in his office mic'd up 24/7? Yeah right, no way, not now not never. This is the same guy who bought the local radio station because they talked crap about him, he may just try and buy HBO if they get picked. Couple that storyline with the whole "#FireBruceAllen" saga and we could have some great clips from the front office.

Now for the on the field stuff, there is a possibility that we see Colt McCoy as the starter for next season depending on how Alex Smith recovers from his broken leg and multiple surgeries after the injury. Imagine if they actually bring in a QB like Joe Flacco or some other veteran and we get to see this quarterback room come together. I'd love to see the offseason QB competition develop right in front of me. It depends on what the Skins do with Josh Norman and if they bring him back, but he is a bubbly personality who would LOVE having cameras around, no question about that. Besides for Norman, the team doesn't really have any other players who are that interesting on camera. My guess is Ryan Kerrigan wouldn't give a shit if a camera was in his face, some of their young guys wouldn't be bothered, like Jonathan Allen and Daron Payne. They already got rid of D.J. Swearinger, another guy who would have loved the camera, so that is another missed opportunity. My guess is punter, Tress Way would steal the show, guy is a character. Maybe we get another clip of Mason Foster telling people that he fucking hates the fans, who knows. Will this be the year we see if Josh Docston can actually catch a football? Tune in!

Long story short, the intrigue from the Redskins would come from the off the field names, and not really the on the field ones. Give me a summer of Snyder trying to hide from cameras, Jay Gruden looking like he is terrified of getting fired, Bruce Allen pretending that the entire DMV area doesn't want him fired. People also forget that Jim Tomsula is on their coaching staff. Need this to happen so people can see the car crash that is the Redskins. Maybe we get a slow motion shot of the crew at FedEx removing more seats from the stadium?

2. Oakland (???) Raiders

Think of this for a second, at this moment we have no clue where the Raiders will play football next year. They currently don't have an agreement to play anywhere. Imagine watching clips of this unfold on Hard Knocks. Obviously they are figuring it out soon, but I'd guess that the NFL and HBO has cameras with them to document all the findings. That is my big thing for watching the Raiders. Watching them setup a whole camp and stadium like HBO did with the Rams a few years ago would be entertaining. Another big draw for the Raiders is their head coach, Jon Gruden. Super Bowl winning coach who had the game pass by him, enjoyed a successful career in the booth before making a return to the Black Hole. Turns out he didn't know how to coach in 2018 either, the Raiders were awful last year, laughing stock of the league. Gruden traded away two franchise pieces in Khalil Mack and Amari Cooper, but they did stockpile draft picks, 3 in the first round in 2019.

Color me intrigued at the possibility of the 3 rookies the Raiders could pick, they'll probably be busts because it's the Raiders, but could still be interesting. Player wise, the Raiders are pretty boring. I don't think Marshawn Lynch is back next year, but I'd watch a whole year of him mic'd up. Derek Carr and his eyeliner would be interesting just to see if the puts on makeup, but other than that, not too many name worthy players on this roster. Unless we get a whole episode of slow motion Nathan Peterman passes, now we're talking.

Much like the Redskins, the intrigue here is in the front office members and their thoughts, I could care less about the players. Give me a follow along episode with Mark Davis getting his haircut, going to PF Change, and whipping around that sick van, sounds like quality TV to me. Seeing Mike Mayock and his first go as a GM would be interesting too.

3. New York Giants

Cue up another team eligible for Hard Knocks that could have some off the field stuff take over the offseason. Don't think it'll happen but there have been questions raised about if the Giants should trade Odell Beckham Jr. Again, I don't think it happens, but if that did happen I'd drop the Giants to 5. There are 2 real reasons I'm excited at the possibility of the Giants on Hard Knocks. ODB and Saquon's thighs.

These are two of the most talented players in the league and they have them in one locker room. There is only one problem.....Eli Manning. People forget he's a 2-time Super Bowl MVP, but does he have anything left in the tank? Fans were tired of him this season, who knows how fed up they will be next year if they flounder again. Another thing that could tickle my fancy with the Giants, drafting their QB of the future. Do they dare take Dwayne Haskins if he comes out? You put him with ODB and Saquon, good lord. That is a scary thought. Outside of those playmakers, they do have a known character on the team too, Connor Barwin is basically Kramer. He'd be good to watch. Alec Olgetree has been good on the show before, Landon Collins is a guy I would pay money to watch, Evan Engram could develop into one of the top tight ends, Sterling Shepard has tons of potential.

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They have a good group of players on this team, and they have the personalities to make this interesting. I honestly could be entertained with just film of Saquon doing freak things. Eli may be the most boring person in the world, but ODB would for sure make up with it. Think they would show any slow motion one-handed catches? The best part of the Giants being on Hard Knocks would for sure be the tweets from Clemmy rolling his "r"s while saying "Rosas".

 4. San Francisco 49ers

San Fran was the hot and upcoming team heading into 2018, they had 49 primetime games scheduled and we were all pretty damn excited. That was until Jimmy Garoppolo tore his ACL in week 3. They still floundered through the rest of the season and will have the second overall pick in the upcoming draft. A highly drafted rookie could add some excitement to this round of Hard Knocks if the Niners are picked, but I'm not too high on them.

Outside of Jimmy G and George Kittle, who is really interesting on this team? That last sentence could all change if they do the unthinkable and trade for Antonio Brown, but don't bet on that. I mean look at this roster. Richard Sherman may not even be there, and he's an afterthought now. Fullback, Kyle Juszczyk has a smoking hot GF but I doubt we see her, or him. Nick Mullins was a nice story this season but not sure how much we'll see of him next year. They have their big boys on the offensive line that we've heard on PMT, but how much will they be featured. Jimmy G's rehab would be a cool thing to see, and id be interested in seeing how Kittle responds coming off his insane year. but other than that, what a boring roster. Couple all that with the fact that head coach, Kyle Shanahan said he would be boring on purpose if they got selected, I don't think this happens. John Lynch has echoed those thoughts as well. Good, we don't want to see San Fran on here anywhere. Snoozefest.

5. Detroit Lions

Holy boring, Batman. Take a look at the players on the Lions roster, does ANYONE outside of Matt Stafford seem entertaining? I don't even think Stafford is entertaining, but he's the only guy you recognize. Kenny Golladay, Marvin Jones, Kerryon Johnson and that literally is it. No one knows these guys, and no one wants to watch a summer of them.

People saying Matt Patricia would be entertaining. No, he wouldn't. The funniest part would be him interacting with the media after he called out that dude for slouching. Other than that, nothing would be funny or interesting from this group. They'd talk about how Stafford is gonna throw for 4,000 yards and 30 TDs and they'd still lose the division by 5 games. THEY DON'T EVEN HAVE JIM BOB COOTER ANYMORE! I honestly can't think of a more boring, mundane team in the NFL. 0% chance I'd tune into a Hard Knocks season featuring the Lions. Hard pass.

There you have it, your 5 options. Which one do you want to see on your screen this coming August?