Welcome to the Thursday edition of the Pick Six newsletter. 

The NFL experienced an unfortunate loss on Wednesday with the death of Colts owner Jim Irsay. We'll be starting things off today by taking a look at Irsay's time in Indianapolis. 

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Colts owner Jim Irsay passed away on Wednesday at the age of 65. According to a statement from the team, Irsay died "peacefully in his sleep." 

Here are a few things to know about Irsay's life: 

• He loved the Colts. Irsay was named the vice president and general manager of the team in 1984 after his dad move the Colts from Baltimore to Indianapolis. Irsay served as the VP/GM for 12 years before becoming owner after the passing of his father, Bob Irsay. During his 27 years as owner, the Colts were wildly successful. They had an overall record of 257-194-1 under Irsay, which was tied for the sixth-best in the NFL during that span. Irsay's Colts made it to four AFC title games and two Super Bowls, which included a win over the Bears in Super Bowl XLI. 
• Irsay's favorite moment with the Colts. Although he watched the Colts win a Super Bowl, that wasn't Irsay's favorite moment. Instead, it was watching Peyton Manning take his first snap with the team in 1998. "When Peyton Manning took the field as a rookie in his opening game," Irsay said when asked about his favorite moment a few years ago. "I think Peyton has meant so much." Irsay said that Manning transformed the franchise. Manning reacted to Irsay's death on Wednesday night. "I am heartbroken to hear about Jim Irsay's passing," Manning wrote. "He was an incredibly generous and passionate owner and I will always be indebted to him for giving me my start in the NFL. His love for the Colts and the city of Indy was unmatched."
• Irsay has a wild collection of historical artifacts. From the sports world to the music world, Irsay owned some incredible artifacts that ranged from Muhammed Ali's "Rumble in the Jungle" championship belt to a drum that Ringo Starr used with The Beatles to a copy of the DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE. Back in 2023, Irsay said he was once offered more than $1 billion dollars for his collection of rare artifacts, which includes more than 500 pieces, but he turned down the money. Irsay's collection has its own website, and you can check out every artifact he owns here. 
• Colts' succession plan.  The Colts appear to have a succession plan in place and Bryan DeArdo broke it down. "The Colts' succession plan involves Irsay's three daughters, Carlie Irsay-Gordon, Casey Foyt and Kalen Jackson, who each currently hold the title of vice chair/owner. Irsay had previously indicated that his daughters are on equal footing and will continue to be involved in the team's operations. One daughter will hold the principle owner vote, but that position is not fixed and could rotate." You can read more about the succession plan here. 
• Irsay's last post on social media. The Colts owner sent out a tweet on Wednesday, just hours before his death, and in that tweet, his message was simple: "Go PACERS. Good luck to Herb [Simon], the entire Pacers organization, and our city!" The only reason we're mentioning that is because the Pacers ended up beating the Knicks on Wednesday night in one of the wildest comebacks in NBA playoff history. The Pacers were trailing by 14 with 2:45 left to play, a situation where NBA teams had been 0-994 in the playoffs since 1997. However, that record is now 1-994 after Indiana's wild 138-135 win in overtime. 

Irsay was viewed as the ultimate player's owner, and we've got more on that here. When it comes to NFL owners, Irsay had one of the more colorful personalities and the league will definitely be taking a hit with his passing.

NFL commissioner Roger Goodell was one of several dozen people who released a statement or shared a story after Irsay's death, and we have all the reactions here. 

HBO has been airing "Hard Knocks" since 2001, and the series will be returning once again this year. The NFL revealed that five teams will be featured on the show over the next few months. 

Here's what you need to know: 

• Bills will be on the training camp version of the show. After giving us the Bears for the training camp version of the show last year, 'Hard Knocks' is heading to Buffalo, where the Bills will be featured for the first time. This will also mark the first time that "Hard Knocks" has done its training camp version of the show with the reigning NFL MVP. In this case, that's Josh Allen. The show will be kicking off on Aug. 5 and airing every Tuesday until Sept. 2. 

For the second straight year, there will also be an in-season version of "Hard Knocks" that features an entire division, and this year that division will be the NFC East. Here's a quick look at those four teams: 

• Cowboys set to make history. This will mark the fourth time that the Cowboys have been on the show, which is the most of any team. The Cowboys did the training camp version in 2002, 2008 and 2021 before getting picked to be part of the in-season version this year. 
• Eagles and Commanders set to make 'Hard Knocks' debut. Going into 2025, a total of 18 teams have appeared on a season of "Hard Knocks" at least once, and that number will now be shooting up. Not only are the Bills doing the show for the first time, but the Eagles and Commanders will also be making their debut. 
• Giants back again. The Giants are on the show for the second time in barely a year. The Giants were featured on the first-ever edition of offseason "Hard Knocks" in 2024, and although the show was informative, it went so badly for the Giants that "Hard Knocks" is no longer doing an offseason version. The last time the Giants were on the show came when Giants owner John Mara famously made it clear that he didn't want to see Saquon Barkley go to the Eagles in free agency, "I'll have a tough time sleeping if Saquon [Barkley] goes to Philadelphia [in free agency], I'll tell you that." I'm guessing Mara hasn't slept since making that comment. 

The unfortunate news for all five of these teams is that no one has ever won the Super Bowl in the same season where they were on "Hard Knocks."

When it comes to NFL awards, it seems like everyone has a chance to win one except for offensive linemen. In college, there are several awards that can only be won by offensive linemen like the Outland Trophy and the Rimington Trophy, but that's not the case in the NFL. Before this week, the NFL didn't have any type of award to honor players on the offensive line, but that will now be changing. 

The league has created the "Protector of the Year" award, which will go to the best offensive lineman of the year. The award will be decided annually by a panel that includes several former offensive linemen, according to ESPN. 

So who's going to win the inaugural award? Glad you asked. Cody Benjamin ranked some of the options. Let's check out the top three names on his list:

1. Eagles OT Lane Johnson. "His combination of length, power and athleticism are nearly unmatched. He's a huge reason Philly has boasted one of the NFL's most unstoppable fronts even after Jason Kelce's retirement."

2. 49ers OT Trent Williams. "The longtime left tackle is no spring chicken going on 37, and he missed extensive time in 2024. When healthy and motivated, however, Williams is maybe the NFL's top wrecking ball of a bookend."

3. Bill OT Dion Dawkins. "Dawkins has been one of the NFL's most underrated blind-side blockers. A model of durability for close to a decade in Buffalo, he's gone from solid to top-tier in recent years, helping keep Josh Allen upright for multiple MVP bids."

Cody listed several players that could win the award, and if you want to see his full list you can do that here. 

A player's second season is always a big one in the NFL. Most players will struggle at some point during their rookie season, but if they show flashes of being great, there's a very real chance they could have a breakout season in Year 2. 

With that in mind, Garrett Podell decided to take a look at several players who could have big season during the second year of their career. Let's check out three names on his list. 

• Chiefs WR Xavier Worthy: "Worthy's 638 yards receiving were the second most by a Chief in 2024 behind Travis Kelce's 823, but they were only the fifth most among the first-round receivers selected in 2024. He'll evolve into Patrick Mahomes' go-to guy in 2025, which will help catapult the speedster to stardom."
• Packer LB Edgerrin Cooper:  "Cooper could evolve into a superstar in 2025. Pro Football Focus assigned him the fifth-best defensive grade among linebackers in 2024 at 85.7, and that's despite Green Bay not truly knowing what it had in Cooper until the end of the season. Cooper started just four of the 14 games he played, which is why he only finished sixth in NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year voting. Despite his lesser playtime, Cooper's 13 tackles for loss were tied for the 19th most in the NFL last season."
• Cowboys OT Tyler Guyton:  "Guyton had an uphill battle as a rookie. Dallas drafted him to replace a likely future Hall of Fame left tackle in Tyron Smith despite Guyton playing right tackle in college at Oklahoma. ... However, he has the physical frame (6-foot-7, 322 pounds) to be a solid NFL left tackle. Another year at the position, plus a much more focused offseason, could help Guyton level up to being a solid starter, something that would be a major boon for the Cowboys in 2025."

If you want to see Garrett's full list of players who could potentially have a breakout season in 2025, be sure to click here. 

Earlier this week, we started the process of handing out our best bets for every over/under in the NFL, and after giving out our AFC East best bets on Tuesday, we're back with the AFC North today. 

Jared Dubin was in charge of making the predictions here. Let's check out whether he likes the over or the under for each team in the division: 

NFL odds courtesy of FanDuel Sportsbook.

Cincinnati Bengals
ODDS: Over 9.5 (-125) / Under 7.5 (+105)
LEAN: Over 9.5
Sullivan's take: "Cincinnati went 9-8 last year despite employing a defense that could best be described as 'abominable.' ... Even if you don't think all that highly of the players the Bengals added on defense this offseason, the likelihood of them being that bad on that side of the ball again is minimal. If they can be merely a standard bad defense rather than an historically bad one, they should be able to get to double-digit wins."

Pittsburgh Steelers
ODDS: Over 8.5 (+120) / Under (-140)
LEAN: Under 8.5 
Dubin's take: "Pittsburgh also has one of the 10 toughest schedules in the league, complete with games against the Bills, Ravens, Lions and Ravens again in the final six weeks of the season. ... Even if you want to say their quarterback will be Aaron Rodgers, well, Aaron Rodgers just led the Jets to a 5-12 record with an offense that ranked 24th in both yards and points, as well as a mere 18th in expected points added per play. It's not like he nets you a top-10 offense through his mere presence anymore."

If you want to see how Dubin feels about the Ravens or Browns, you can get his take on those two teams here. 

This is always a busy time in the NFL, and since it's nearly impossible to keep track of everything that's happening, I went ahead and put together a roundup for you. 

• Aaron Rodgers hints at why he hasn't signed with anyone yet. Back in April, Rodgers said he hadn't signed with anyone because he was dealing with some "personal issues," but he didn't offer any details. During an interview with Joe Rogan this week, the four-time MVP said he has some close friends who were diagnosed with cancer, which might help explain why he hasn't been so focused on football. You can read more  about Rodgers' comments here. 
• Justin Jefferson will almost certainly be trying out for the Olympic team. It remains to be seen which NFL players will try to make the Olympic flag football team, but one name that seems like a lock is Justin Jefferson. The Vikings receiver seems pretty excited about the idea of winning a gold medal. "Just to think about the chances of playing in the Olympics and getting a gold medal is a dream," Jefferson said this week, via ESPN. "That's something that as a kid I always wanted to be a part of, but football wasn't global. So now that we're expanding the game and we're going more global, it's pretty cool."
• Saints QB is dealing with oblique strain. The Saints QB competition has been trimmed from three players down to two players for the next few weeks due to an injury. According to ESPN, Jake Haener is expected to miss several weeks after straining his oblique. Haener likely won't be on the field again until training camp, which means Tyler Shough and Spencer Rattler will be taking all the snaps for OTAs and minicamp. 
• Every Eagles opponent voted to ban the 'Tush Push,' except for one.  When it comes to the "Tush Push" vote, it seems that the Eagles' 2025 opponents were out to get them. Of the 14 teams on Philadelphia's schedule this year, 13 of them voted to BAN the tush push. The only one that didn't was the Lions. It's probably not a coincidence that the vote end up breaking down like that.