Whenever a player makes a leap—whether that's bad to average, average to good, good to great, or great to elite—it can change his team. Just think of guys like Zack Baun and Derek Stingley last season. Who might make a leap this year akin to what those two did in 2024? Derrik Klassen and Diante Lee from The Ringer highlight their top defensive breakout players on this episode of The Athletic Football Show.

Rundown

Daiyan Henley

Edgerrin Cooper

Nate Wiggins

Laiatu Latu

Kobie Turner

Brian Branch

Will Anderson

Cooper DeJean

Honorable mention

Hosts: Robert Mays and Derrik Klassen

With: Diante Lee

Executive Producer: Michael Beller

Producer: Michael Beller

Subscribe to The Athletic Football Show...

⁠Apple⁠

⁠Spotify⁠

⁠YouTube⁠

Follow Robert on Bluesky: @robertmays.bsky.social

Follow Derrik on Bluesky: @qbklass.bsky.social

Follow Diante on Bluesky: @diantelee.bsky.social

Follow Robert on X: @robertmays

Follow Derrik on X: @QBKlass

Follow Diante on X: @DianteLeeFB

Theme song: Haunted

Written by Dylan Slocum, Trevor Dietrich, Ruben Duarte, Kyle McAulay, and Meredith VanWoert / Performed by Spanish Love Songs

Courtesy of Pure Noise / By arrangement with Bank Robber Music, LLC

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

June is here, and with June comes all things summer. Sunshine, trips to the pool, cookouts...and fantasy football. That's right, fantasy football season is upon us, and we're celebrating that on this episode of The Athletic Football Show. Michael Beller sits in once again for the vacationing Robert Mays, and he's joined by Jake Ciely, The Athletic's senior fantasy writer, to dig into the biggest moves of the offseason from a fantasy perspective.

Hosts: Robert Mays and Derrik Klassen

With: Michael Beller and Jake Ciely

Executive Producer: Michael Beller

Producer: Michael Beller

Subscribe to The Athletic Football Show...

⁠Apple⁠

⁠Spotify⁠

⁠YouTube⁠

Follow Robert on Bluesky: @robertmays.bsky.social

Follow Derrik on Bluesky: @qbklass.bsky.social

Follow Beller on Bluesky: @mbeller.bsky.social

Follow Jake on Bluesky: @allinkid.bsky.social

Follow Robert on X: @robertmays

Follow Derrik on X: @QBKlass

Follow Jake on X: @allinkid

Theme song: Haunted

Written by Dylan Slocum, Trevor Dietrich, Ruben Duarte, Kyle McAulay, and Meredith VanWoert / Performed by Spanish Love Songs

Courtesy of Pure Noise / By arrangement with Bank Robber Music, LLC

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

How does one determine what is or isn't a successful move in free agency? Which teams could surprise us this year by ending up with top-10 play callers on both sides of the ball? How should we feel about the Jonathan Gannon era in Arizona thus far? Those are just three of the questions Robert Mays and Derrik Klassen get into on this episode of The Athletic Football Show. Plus, the guys answer an email of the year candidate weighing the pros and cons of potential fictitious owners.

Hosts: Robert Mays and Derrik Klassen

With: Michael Beller

Executive Producer: Michael Beller

Producer: Michael Beller

Subscribe to The Athletic Football Show...

⁠Apple⁠

⁠Spotify⁠

⁠YouTube⁠

Follow Robert on Bluesky: @robertmays.bsky.social

Follow Derrik on Bluesky: @qbklass.bsky.social

Follow Beller on Bluesky: @mbeller.bsky.social

Follow Robert on X: @robertmays

Follow Derrik on X: @QBKlass

Theme song: Haunted

Written by Dylan Slocum, Trevor Dietrich, Ruben Duarte, Kyle McAulay, and Meredith VanWoert / Performed by Spanish Love Songs

Courtesy of Pure Noise / By arrangement with Bank Robber Music, LLC

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.