So who is going to be on "Hard Knocks" this year?

The Den
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Technically, any NFL team can be on “Hard Knocks” if they want to. However, most coaches and even players find it to be more of a distraction than anything else, so HBO has been hard pressed to get any volunteers as of late. And after the debacle that was the Giants off-season stint last year, don’t expect this to change.

So who are the forced candidates this year? Remember, you can automatically opt out if any of these situations apply to your team:

  1. You have been on “Hard Knocks” in the last 10 years
  2. You have a 1st year head coach
  3. You made the playoffs this year or last year

So here are the candidates, ranked in order (by my opinion) of most likely to least likely:

  1. Seattle Seahawks -Plenty of excitement with Darnold and Cupp coming in. A team with a recent winning history to work off of. Seattle is beautiful in the Summer.

  2. Tennessee Titans- The number 1 draft pick always plays in “Hard Knocks,” especially if it turns out to be Sanders, Hunter or Ward. I don’t know how much Brian Callahan moves the needle, but seems firey enough.

  3. Indianapolis Colts- An unsettled QB situation. A blue color team that has a fun practice facility (as seen when the Lions went to play them in their “Hard Knocks.”) I don’t know if in-season counts for the last 10 years rule, but if so, the Colts and the next two teams on this list could opt-out.

  4. Arizona Cardinals- A perfectly bland team, to be honest. The Kyler Murray situation has calmed down, and really the only storyline could be Johnathan Gannon’s desperation in needing to make the playoffs this year. Also, the were in-season “Hard Knocks” the same year as the Lions, which could exclude them.

  5. New York Giants- Man, I would think the NFL would give these guys a break after last year’s ‘off season’ catastrophe, but if that doesn’t count, the Giants could technically be the next team up. In fact, I would go as far as to say they would be the front runner in that case. But would the NFL really be that mean?

  6. Carolina Panthers- I mean, I guess if you have to.

So what say you? Out of this relatively short list, which team do you think is “Hard Knocks” bound? Or, do you think there is a team out there (cough cough Dallas Cowboys) that might elect to be on it, even though they don’t have to?

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should be us with all the ^*$&@! injuries we had last season .

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The Seahawks are the most likely to be chosen as you noted, but my fascination with dumpster fires and dead men walking make the NY Giants and Brian Daboll a worthy choice.

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I thought I read somewhere that no one wanted it so it’s actually going to be UNC doing it

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This is correct. All 32 NFL teams told them to kick rocks, so they’re going to go follow Bill around. If nothing else, it will be interesting to see the vast difference in the day-to-day of college football vs. the NFL.

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I dont thank many teams are gonna say yes after the embarrassment of the NYG.

But watching the Lions “Inside the Den” “Audio/ Mic’d up” and players/ wives tik-toks

And its usually only a few days after it happens rather than a week or teo later

Those are just as good if not better than Hard Knocks.

Like its so much easier to make and distribute content now vs 20 years ago.

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Now that I would watch. Lol

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Wait what happened with the giants? What is everyone talking about?

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Just showed how dumb and idiotic the owner and GM are. Nothing scandalous but just bad. Its like “we knew it was bad but not THAT bad”

And they got ROASTED by new york media.

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I thought teams had the right to veto hard knocks content they didn’t want out? Apparently the Giants didn’t have that power.

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Bears or bills

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That was for the “off season” version, that the Giants did last year. And I thought the latest was that UNC decided against doing it.

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Might as well make a poll out of it :

Who is doing the August Hard Knocks?

  • Seahawks
  • Titans
  • Colts
  • Cardinals
  • Giants
  • Other
0 voters
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OP did you miss the news? UNC with Bill B is doing it

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The deal fell through with UNC. The school and HBO couldn’t reach an agreement.

On3 is going to do a documentary on BB and UNC though, which should be worth watching.

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My bad OP I missed the news after the news

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The Lions used Hard Knocks to springboard up with fans on a national level. If a team things they are about to “hit it big”, being on hard knocks plays to your advantage.

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Was fresh off Covid, before TikTok really exploded. And the team was rebuilding the right way. And the team wasnt hated by many. Because they havent been that good for so long.

I dont think many teams could ever have that same type of success that the Lions did.

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Kinda shocked BB would agree to that. I guess his 20 year old girlfriend is opening up a new side of him :joy:

The Patriot way was very private. Hard to cheat when the cameras are rolling… Unless it’s spygate then the cameras help you cheat :wink:

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