The OG Football Show brings the game back to its roots. Trey Wingo, Mark Schlereth, Merril Hoge, and Damien Woody break down the NFL with the insight and straight talk only former players can provide.From the biggest stories and best matchups to the trenches, locker-room culture, and what fans are missing, this is football from people who have lived it.
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Week One Is Over — Here Is What Matters Heading Into Week Two
Tuesday, September 15, 2026 • Duration 55:00
Trey Wingo, Mark Schlereth, Merril Hoge and Damien Woody are back after Week One, and now there is actual football to talk about.
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Week One is over. Some teams looked exactly like what they were supposed to be. Others looked nothing like it. The OGs break down what actually mattered, what deserves concern and what everyone needs to calm down about heading into Week Two.
THE HURRY UP. Damien gives Baltimore’s first-year play caller Declan Doyle an A+ after Lamar Jackson, Derrick Henry and Zay Flowers helped the Ravens offense explode out of the gate. Mark goes the other way with the Chargers, questioning the Justin Herbert hype, the offensive line rotation and a team that got pushed around in the trenches.
Merril goes to the Jets. For once, this is not about finding a reason to believe. He says they actually looked like a football team, with offense, defense and special teams working together on the road. Trey gets both his surprise and disappointment from Packers-Vikings: Kyler Murray goes down, Carson Wentz comes in and throws three touchdowns without an interception, while Green Bay lets a double-digit lead disappear.
EVERYBODY CALM DOWN. Mark is not burying the Rams after one ugly trip to Australia. Merril changes his mind on Arizona after going back to the tape. Damien tells everyone not to panic over Houston’s defense after Josh Allen shredded it. Trey’s point is broader: it was Week One. Nine teams scored at least 30, the Bears put up 59, starters barely played in August and a lot of what we saw looked more like preseason football than a finished NFL product.
TREY’S BURNING QUESTIONS. Mark called Miami’s opener, so Trey asks the obvious question: will the Dolphins win a game this season? Mark says yes, probably one or two, and explains just how young and depleted the roster really is. Damien looks at a league-wide trend that may only grow in 2026: more two-, three- and even four-tight-end personnel. Then Merril answers the Los Angeles question: Rams or Chargers, which fan base should actually be more concerned?
BILLS AT TEXANS. Buffalo walks into Houston against a defense that has given Josh Allen problems and comes away with a statement. The OGs break down Joe Brady’s first game as a head coach, the formations Buffalo used to create favorable one-on-one matchups and how Allen punished Houston when those opportunities appeared.
Then there is C.J. Stroud. For much of the game he went throw for throw with Allen, but when Houston needed the game, the same problem resurfaced: turnovers. Damien explains why Stroud is still the one thing capable of holding Houston back, while Mark gets specific about the ball-security mistake that cannot happen when a quarterback leaves the pocket.
Week One does not tell us everything. It does tell us where to start looking.
The Ravens look dangerous. The Jets finally looked like a team. The Chargers have real questions. Green Bay has something to answer for. Buffalo made a statement.
No bits. No bullshit. Just ball.
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Merril Hoge's Top 5 Factor Backs for the 2026 NFL Season
Wednesday, September 9, 2026 • Duration 13:38
Merril Hoge coined the term factor back when he was playing. This is his top five for the 2026 NFL season, and the tie at the bottom he refused to break.
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Merril came up with the label in Pittsburgh under running backs coach Dick Hoak, and the definition has not changed since. A factor back is not a rushing title. It is a back who is a factor in the run game, a factor in the passing game, and a factor in blitz pickup. Every week, in something. That standard is why this list does not look like the yardage leaderboard, and it is why the top three separate from the rest.
The list starts with a tie. James Cook and Saquon Barkley share the bottom slot. Merril credits his wife for pushing him on Cook, who led the league in rushing last season for the Buffalo Bills and who Merril calls the most underrated and most forgotten back in football. Saquon Barkley is on the list for what he did for the Philadelphia Eagles on the ground, and Merril explains plainly why he is not higher.
Jonathan Taylor of the Indianapolis Colts is next, on the argument that the two things that win in the NFL are turnover ratio and controlling tempo. Christian McCaffrey of the San Francisco 49ers follows as the most movable chess piece of the group, a back who has become an inside runner as well as a perimeter threat. Then Jahmyr Gibbs of the Detroit Lions and Bijan Robinson of the Atlanta Falcons at the top, and Merril will not put one over the other. He calls it a coin flip and says these are players you see once a decade.
Trey Wingo brings in Damien Woody and Mark Schlereth on the offensive lines in front of these backs. Woody has no concerns in San Francisco with Deebo Samuel back in the fold and likes what Atlanta is building under Kevin Stefanski. Schlereth is watching Detroit's interior with Penei Sewell moving to the left side, Blake Miller coming in from Clemson and Juice Scruggs arriving from Houston, and he is watching Philadelphia get older with Lane Johnson and Jeff Stoutland no longer in the building. Both teams have new play callers.
Schlereth blocked for a 2,000 yard rusher in Terrell Davis, and his take on what Bijan Robinson does with a broken play is the best forty seconds in the segment.
The list is the argument. The lines in front of these guys are the reason it might not survive the season.
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Disclaimer: 18+ only. Restrictions and eligibility requirements apply. Event contract trading involves significant risk and is not appropriate for everyone. Please carefully consider if it is appropriate for you in light of your personal financial circumstances. Kalshi products are not available in all jurisdictions. See kalshi.com/regulatory for more information
Which Drake Maye Shows Up? — The Super Bowl Rematch Opens the Season
Tuesday, September 8, 2026 • Duration 15:34
Drake Maye finished second in the MVP voting and then became a different player in January. Seattle is the first defense he sees this season, and Seattle is not the team it was in February.
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The Seahawks and Patriots open the year with a Super Bowl rematch, only the second time that has happened since the Broncos and Panthers ran it back in 2016. Trey Wingo, Mark Schlereth, Merril Hoge and Damien Woody get into what actually decides this one.
Seattle is the champion and arrives thinner. Klint Kubiak is gone, and Trey argues the play caller is a bigger loss than anything that happened on the defensive side of the ball. New England comes in off an offseason of discontent with a quarterback carrying a specific question into Week One. Damien lays out the regular season against the playoff tape and explains why the schedule matters before anyone crowns anybody.
Also in this one: why you keep handing the ball off even when it is not working, what the Super Bowl settled about taking free points, and the return of the challenge flags. One flag each, thrown at a player, a coach or a team, for the first game of the year.
Seattle has home field. New England has something to prove. Wednesday is the first real evidence either way.
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Disclaimer: 18+ only. Restrictions and eligibility requirements apply. Event contract trading involves significant risk and is not appropriate for everyone. Please carefully consider if it is appropriate for you in light of your personal financial circumstances. Kalshi products are not available in all jurisdictions. See kalshi.com/regulatory for more information
Football Is Finally Back — and So Are We — OG Football Show Season Preview
Monday, September 7, 2026 • Duration 01:08:42
Trey Wingo, Mark Schlereth, Merril Hoge and Damien Woody are back together, and they are taking sides on the 2026 NFL season before a single snap.
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This is the inaugural episode of The OG Football Show. Four guys who spent years arguing about football in green rooms and newsrooms, doing it on camera instead. No bits. No bullshit. Just ball.
Merril was a factor back in Pittsburgh and spent 21 years at ESPN. Mark won Super Bowls blocking in Denver. Damien blocked for a dynasty in New England. Trey ran the desk. The shows they did together were never the fun part. The green room was the fun part. That is this show. No fake arguments. No opinions manufactured because a segment needs heat. They are not interested in what people think. They are interested in what people know.
THE HURRY UP. Each guy names the team he is most intrigued by. Damien takes the Baltimore Ravens and a first year play caller in Declan Doyle. Mark takes the Rams and a defensive line with Myles Garrett and Aaron Donald on the same side. Merril takes the Raiders and argues the most valuable thing that organization can do this year is leave Fernando Mendoza on the bench. Trey says this might finally be the year the Dallas Cowboys figure it out. Then breakout picks: Tyler Shough, Brock Purdy, Jahmyr Gibbs and Kyler Murray in a contract year.
EVERYBODY CALM DOWN. Each guy takes a storyline the league has already decided and argues the other way. Damien on why the New England Patriots are not a regression team, and the one question about that roster he cannot answer. Mark on the Broncos, one score games, and a pass rush that generated pressure all year without generating takeaways. Merril on why you do not start a quarterback because he was picked first.
CRYSTAL BALL. All four turned in playoff seeds one through seven for both conferences, and the lists are not close. Trey is the only one with the Kansas City Chiefs in the field. Merril is the only one with the New Orleans Saints seeded third. Real disagreement about San Francisco and about whether the Houston defense can carry a quarterback.
SEASON PREDICTIONS. Rookie of the Year on both sides, Defensive Player of the Year, MVP and Super Bowl, all on the record so they can be graded in February. Mark explains why he will not vote for a quarterback for MVP under any circumstance and calls it a hill he is willing to die on. Merril says Joe Burrow is the best quarterback in football and then picks somebody else.
FACTOR BACKS. Merril coined the term as a player, and he explains what he is measuring: whether a back is a factor in the run game, the pass game and in protection. Then he runs his list, with a tie at the bottom he credits his wife for: James Cook, Saquon Barkley, Jonathan Taylor, Christian McCaffrey, Jahmyr Gibbs and Bijan Robinson.
DAMIEN'S DUMPSTER FIRE. One team each with no chance. Damien on the Atlanta Falcons and a quarterback room nobody wants. Mark on the Arizona Cardinals and a division where he would not be surprised to see them go without a win. Merril on the Cleveland Browns, where the line is rebuilt, the quarterback spot has no stability, and the best player is now somewhere else. Trey makes his entire Miami Dolphins case in one sentence about where their money went.Almost all of this is falsifiable by February. That is the point of putting it on tape before Week 1. Come back at the end of the season and see who was right.
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Disclaimer: 18+ only. Restrictions and eligibility requirements apply. Event contract trading involves significant risk and is not appropriate for everyone. Please carefully consider if it is appropriate for you in light of your personal financial circumstances. Kalshi products are not available in all jurisdictions. See kalshi.com/regulatory for more information
Trailer
Friday, September 4, 2026 • Duration 03:44
Welcome to The OG Football Show! The OG Football Show brings the game back to its roots. Trey Wingo, Mark Schlereth, Merril Hoge, and Damien Woody break down the NFL with the insight and straight talk only former players can provide.From the biggest stories and best matchups to the trenches, locker-room culture, and what fans are missing, this is football from people who have lived it.
