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The NFC West is not short on well-known wide receivers. Each of the teams in the division has at least one very good receiver on their team.
But if were to stack them up against each other, how would they rank?
Below are my rankings for the individual receivers in the NFC West.
No. 1: Cooper Kupp, Los Angeles Rams
While one could argue that DeAndre Hopkins is a better receiver, you can’t ignore Kupp’s 2021 season. It was epic.
He led the NFL in receptions (145), receiving yards (1,947) and receiving touchdowns (16). He was Offensive Player of the Year and Super Bowl MVP. He made the winning play to foil Tom Brady and the Tampa Bay Buccaneer’s rally in the divisional round of the postseason.
No. 2: DeAndre Hopkins, Arizona Cardinals
Hopkins is now in his 30s, missed seven games and faces a six-game suspension to start the coming season. He is coming off career lows in receptions and receiving yards, but you can’t deny what he has done in the full seasons before that, and he still is a true game-changing ‘X’ receiver. You would still take him to begin your receiver room before anyone else in the division.
No. 3: Deebo Samuel, San Francisco 49ers
Samuel led the NFL with 18.3 yards per reception in 2021. He had more than 1,400 receiving yards. He had a better season than Hopkins but if you had a full season of a healthy Hopkins, he would be a franchise’s pick over Samuel every time.
No. 4: DK Metcalf, Seattle Seahawks
Metcalf’s production in 2021 was nowhere what he did in a big 2020 season. He was banged up for much of the season but did not miss a game. He had 77 receptions and did not reach 1,000 yards.
Now we will have to see if he is “quarterback-proof”, no longer having a future Hall of Fame quarterback like Russell Wilson throwing him the ball.
No. 5: Marquise "Hollywood" Brown, Arizona Cardinals
Why no Tyler Lockett here? It is the belief that Brown is ascending and Lockett beginning a descent, especially as he will have either Geno Smith or Drew Lock throwing him the ball.
Brown was a 1,000-yard receiver in an offense that looked to the running backs and tight ends primarily. He has speed and will likely be Kyler Murray’s number one option for the first six games of the season.
No. 6: Tyler Lockett, Seattle Seahawks
Lockett posted a career-high 1,175 receiving yards last season. He will turn 30 in a couple of months and has been a 1,000-yard receiver for three straight seasons, but he also will likely suffer from not having Russell Wilson.
No. 7: Allen Robinson, Los Angeles Rams
Robinson certainly can be “him,” like the young people like to say now. But he only had 38 receptions in 12 games last season. Maybe he was dogging it a bit in his last season with the Bears, so I have him behind Lockett for now.
Check out how the four NFC West teams stack up against each other with their wide receiver rooms.
Watkins Memorial graduate Connor Brandon was selected in the 17th round of the MLB Draft by the New York Mets.
Garrett Cooper grew up in Rancho Palos Verdes and attended Loyola High. That made playing in the All-Star Game at Dodger Stadium extra sweet.
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2022-07-20T16:54:37Z
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sports.yahoo.com
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Ranking the NFC West WRs: Cooper Kupp’s historic season puts him at top
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https://sports.yahoo.com/ranking-nfc-west-wrs-cooper-143151907.html?src=rss
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https://sports.yahoo.com/ranking-nfc-west-wrs-cooper-143151907.html?src=rss
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The New Orleans Saints rookie class arrived in town for the start of training camp a week earlier than their more-experienced peers, but wide receiver Rashid Shaheed has to wait a little longer to hit the practice field. Shaheed was designated to the non-football injury (NFI) list on Tuesday’s update to the daily NFL transactions wire, which makes sense considering he’s actively recovering from an ACL injury. That sidelined him during minicamp earlier this summer, and it’s going to keep him out of practice again to open training camp.
What’s unclear is whether this is the same ACL that Shaheed injured back in 2019 at Weber State, and where he’s at in his recovery timeline. He’s a young player at a crowded position group and needs these reps in practice to make his case for a roster spot. The Saints clearly valued him by guaranteeing $220,000 of his standard three-year undrafted rookie contract, including his $207,000 base salary for 2022. They’re anticipating his return to health and for him to make a push for a roster spot.
Odds are the Saints anticipated Shaheed would start camp on the NFI list, but that’s just guesswork. Either way he has his work cut out for him with Michael Thomas, Jarvis Landry, Chris Olave, Marquez Callaway, and Deonte Harty locked into roster spots. New Orleans rarely rosters more than five or six receivers at a time, so Shaheed will need to outwork veterans like Tre’Quan Smith, Kevin White, Easop Winston Jr., Kawaan Baker, and Kirk Merritt as well as his fellow undrafted rookie Dai’Jean Dixon for that final slot.
Maybe Shaheed gets released in September, clears waivers, and returns to the practice squad (the Saints typically stash two or three receivers), but we’re really putting the cart before the horse there. For now, we’ll be looking for him to complete his injury rehab work and flash the kick return skills that enticed New Orleans in the first place. There’s still plenty of time for him to get up to speed before the first Saints preseason game on Aug. 13.
Trina and Lil Wayne may not be a couple anymore, but that doesn’t mean the “Here We Go” rapper doesn’t still have love and respect for the five-time Grammy winner.
The Mountain West predicted order of finish is out. How did Boise State fare in voting?
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2022-07-20T16:54:43Z
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sports.yahoo.com
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Rashid Shaheed opens Saints training camp on non-football injury list
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https://sports.yahoo.com/rashid-shaheed-opens-saints-training-155532217.html?src=rss
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https://sports.yahoo.com/rashid-shaheed-opens-saints-training-155532217.html?src=rss
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There could be mutual interest still lingering between the Minnesota Vikings and free agent tight end Kyle Rudolph.
During an appearance on The Scoop with Doogie, KSTP’s Darren Wolfson said the former longtime Viking is still on the search for an opportunity to land on some team’s roster ahead of training camp.
There have been talks of a potential return to Minnesota. While the Vikings don’t appear to be that hot on the idea right now, they’ve kept the line of communication open with the former two-time Pro Bowler.
“Kyle fully expects to be in some team’s training camp next week,” said Wolfson. “Yes, there has been some dialogue with the Vikings. He’s got multiple agents working on his behalf. I think it’s more them pushing the Vikings idea, but the Vikings haven’t necessarily hung up the phone.”
Wolfson went on to predict the Tampa Bay Buccaneers being the eventual landing spot for the 32-year-old veteran.
Rudolph could serve as a replacement for the recently retired Rob Gronkowski, and it would put him in a position to win a Super Bowl, while also catching passes from legendary quarterback Tom Brady.
But the Vikings also make sense on paper considering the uncertainty at the tight end position.
Irv Smith Jr. is coming off a season-ending meniscus injury, and the team is hurting for depth behind him, particularly when it comes to a receiving tight end. Johnny Mundt, Ben Ellefson and Zach Davidson are all predominantly blocking tight ends.
And it’s too early to know what to expect from rookie Nick Muse.
The team would love to have at least one more weapon for quarterback Kirk Cousins to attack opposing defenses with on the field. Even a diminished version of Rudolph is still capable of making plays.
But the bigger question for the Vikings was posed by Wolfson after hearing news of the team’s continued interest in Rudolph, and it relates to Smith’s health.
“I do find it interesting that the Vikings haven’t hung up the phone,” Wolfson said. “It makes me wonder, and I need to dig more on this. …I may not be able to dig more until next week. But what exactly is going on with Irv Smith Jr.? Is the knee still an issue?”
If Smith still isn’t 100 percent, it could become an even bigger problem than the Vikings need in the proposed win-now season.
News and notes from head coach Mike Brey following Tuesday's summer practice for Notre Dame men's basketball
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2022-07-20T16:54:49Z
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sports.yahoo.com
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Report: Vikings still haven’t closed the door on Kyle Rudolph reunion
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https://sports.yahoo.com/report-vikings-still-haven-t-150532988.html?src=rss
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https://sports.yahoo.com/report-vikings-still-haven-t-150532988.html?src=rss
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Will quarterback be a position of need for the New Orleans Saints next year? Maybe. There’s a lot of pressure on Jameis Winston to play at a high level and get them back to the playoffs, and his short-term contract with the team keeps the door open for change should he fall short of expectations. If Winston flops, odds are slim that the Saints will find a future at quarterback on their roster between Andy Dalton (who is here on a one-year rental), Ian Book (who hasn’t inspired much confidence), and Taysom Hill (who is attending meetings in the tight ends room these days).
One name to remember is BYU quarterback Jaren Hall, who was linked to the Saints in a recent two-round 2023 mock draft from Luke Easterling over at Draft Wire. Hall, listed at 6-foot-1 and 205 pounds, has performed well on a small sample sizer as a passer (completing 220 of 342 career pass attempts for 3,003 yards, with 21 touchdown passes against 5 interceptions) and brings some mobility as a runner (with 95 carries for 450 rushing yards and 6 touchdown runs), but he’s missed a lot of time with injuries. He was limited to 7 games in 2019, missed the 2020 season with a medical redshirt, and was held out of BYU’s bowl game with an ankle injury in 2021. A smaller frame and an injury history aren’t a great combo.
Still, we’ve seen more undersized quarterbacks stand out in the NFL than in the past — largely thanks to the Hall of Fame-worthy career that Drew Brees accomplished in a Saints uniform. High-profile passers who don’t meet conventional weigh-in prototypes like Russell Wilson and Kyler Murray are helming Super Bowl contenders. If Hall can stay healthy this season and meet his potential, he could be in the conversation to be drafted quickly in 2023.
He’s off to a good start. Hall was recently named to the Davey O’Brien Award watch list, which is given to the nation’s best quarterback — previous winners include past No. 1 NFL draft picks Jameis Winston (2013), Joe Burrow (2019), and Peyton Manning (1997). Winning that recognition wouldn’t guarantee pro success, but it’s still interesting to see Hall in the mix at this early stage.
But what’s most clear is that there isn’t much consensus about which position New Orleans could be targeting in the 2023 draft, which makes sense given there’s an entire season to play out before the Saints start to evaluate that problem themselves. So let’s add Hall to our own draft watch list, along with other players who have been linked to New Orleans in never-too-early mock drafts like Ole Miss running back Zach Evans and South Carolina defensive tackle Zacch Pickens.
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2022-07-20T16:54:56Z
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sports.yahoo.com
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Saints pick BYU quarterback Jaren Hall in pre-preseason 2023 mock draft
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https://sports.yahoo.com/saints-pick-byu-quarterback-jaren-145507828.html?src=rss
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https://sports.yahoo.com/saints-pick-byu-quarterback-jaren-145507828.html?src=rss
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When it comes to the Cardinals, they’ll have to answer the same two core questions as everyone else — should they attempt a trade for Soto, and what would it cost?
If the St. Louis Cardinals pursue Juan Soto in a potential trade, the Washington Nationals likely would want prized prospect Jordan Walker as part of the return package.
The World Gold Hall of Fame will include artifacts such as Johnny Miller's clubs from his 63 at Oakmont in the 1973 U.S. Open.
Twenty-eight states issued excessive heat warnings Wednesday amid a nationwide heatwave. Almost two-thirds of the U.S. experiencing above 90-degree highs. In particular, Texas and Oklahoma reached temperatures of 115 degrees this week, according to The Washington Post. The extreme temperatures are concentrated in the south-central states and stretch into California in the West and New…
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2022-07-20T17:00:51Z
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sports.yahoo.com
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Juan Soto is a tantalizing roster piece. But is the cost worth it for the Cardinals?
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https://sports.yahoo.com/juan-soto-tantalizing-roster-piece-110000780.html?src=rss
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https://sports.yahoo.com/juan-soto-tantalizing-roster-piece-110000780.html?src=rss
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All-American college football player, professional football player, running back, Heisman Trophy winner
You cannot beg a god for forgiveness, but you can be ready when he hints at offering it after a long standoff.
Ohio State alumni and current players converged on the court for the program's second-annual 'Vet Week.'
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2022-07-20T18:32:09Z
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sports.yahoo.com
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All-American running back says playing for Eddie George “… ain’t fun”
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https://sports.yahoo.com/american-running-back-says-playing-154048411.html?src=rss
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https://sports.yahoo.com/american-running-back-says-playing-154048411.html?src=rss
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Aidan Smith, Scotland Herald
He wrote: “Odd how one of the players listed below, when I asked him at The Open if he was at all concerned this could be his last major for a while, told me to ‘go (expletive) myself’ and that it was a ‘(expletive) (expletive) question.'”
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2022-07-20T18:32:22Z
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sports.yahoo.com
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Fuming LIV Golf star tells Sky Sports reporter to ‘go (expletive) yourself’ over ‘could this be your last major’ question at British Open
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https://sports.yahoo.com/fuming-liv-golf-star-tells-172530236.html?src=rss
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https://sports.yahoo.com/fuming-liv-golf-star-tells-172530236.html?src=rss
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Team Release
LAS VEGAS — NAPA reached a multi-year contract extension with Hendrick Motorsports that will continue its 26-race majority sponsorship of 2020 NASCAR Cup Series champion and current points leader Chase Elliott.
The renewal was announced Wednesday in Las Vegas during the general session of the 2022 NAPA EXPO, which attracts more than 13,000 vendors, employees, store owners and NAPA AutoCare Center professionals. To share the news, Hendrick Motorsports owner Rick Hendrick and team vice chairman Jeff Gordon joined Marti Walsh, NAPA vice president of marketing, on stage at the Venetian Convention and Expo Center.
RELATED: Chase Elliott’s career through the years
NAPA became Elliott‘s primary sponsor in 2014. The driver of the No. 9 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 has since earned two NASCAR national series championships: the Xfinity Series in 2014 and the Cup Series in 2020. After his full-time move to the elite Cup level in 2016, the 26-year-old has won 16 points-paying races, most recently at Atlanta Motor Speedway on July 10.
“None of this is possible without NAPA,” Elliott said. “I‘m so thankful for their commitment to our team and their passion for what we do every weekend. I‘ve been lucky to meet a lot of great folks from across the country who work for NAPA. All of us are really proud to represent a company that takes care of its employees and its customers and is driven to be successful in every aspect. I‘m looking forward to what‘s to come and celebrating more wins together.”
After 20 starts in 2022, Elliott sits atop the Cup standings with a series-best three points-paying race wins. The Dawsonville, Georgia, native has clinched his seventh playoff appearance in as many full seasons at NASCAR‘s top level, all with crew chief Alan Gustafson. Fans have voted him NASCAR‘s Most Popular Driver for four consecutive years (2018-21).
“We take immense pride in our association with NAPA,” Hendrick said. “When you have a partner that has been so committed to our sport for so many years, it‘s incredibly rewarding to see them win races, win championships and experience great success in their business. Chase, Alan and our entire organization are focused on raising the bar and delivering more victories for NAPA in all areas of our relationship.”
RELATED: All of Chase Elliott’s NASCAR Cup Series wins
A Hendricks County couple is sharing their story for the first time after their toddler died in a hot vehicle. Elizabeth and Austin Crapo’s 20-month-old daughter, Marah, died on August 25, 2019.
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2022-07-20T19:02:22Z
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sports.yahoo.com
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NAPA extends sponsorship of Chase Elliott, Hendrick Motorsports
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https://sports.yahoo.com/napa-extends-sponsorship-chase-elliott-133143234.html?src=rss
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https://sports.yahoo.com/napa-extends-sponsorship-chase-elliott-133143234.html?src=rss
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A day after Oregon quarterback Bo Nix was named to the Davey O’Brien Award watch list for the nation’s best quarterback, Oregon tailback Byron Cardwell has been named to a watch list of his own.
The Duck tailback is one of 74 running backs to be on the Doak Walker Award preseason watch list for the nation’s best running back for 2022.
Cardwell had an outstanding freshman season for Oregon last year as he led all Pac-12 with almost seven yards per carry. Overall, the 6-foot, 210-pounder from San Diego accumulated 417 yards on just 61 carries and three touchdowns.
Those carries are expected to significantly increase in 2022 as he will get a lot more playing time with Travis Dye transferring to USC. Cardwell will be the power back to Sean Dollars’ speed back in the Oregon offense in 2022.
Also on the Doak Walker list from the Pac-12 are Deshaun Fenwick (Oregon State), Damien Moore (Cal), E.J. Smith (Stanford), Zach Charbonnet (UCLA), Tavion Thomas (Utah), Alex Fontenot (Colorado), Xazavian Valladay (Arizona State) and Dye (USC).
Michigan State’s Kenneth Walker III was the 2021 winner.
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2022-07-20T19:24:24Z
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sports.yahoo.com
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Byron Cardwell on the Doak Walker Award watch list for best tailback
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https://sports.yahoo.com/byron-cardwell-doak-walker-award-162320152.html?src=rss
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https://sports.yahoo.com/byron-cardwell-doak-walker-award-162320152.html?src=rss
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Georgia Bulldogs head coach Kirby Smart took the podium on Wednesday at SEC media days.
Here is everything that he said:
SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey introduces Kirby Smart:
“His family was part of all that happened around the game in Indianapolis. The College Football Playoff has a foundation, supports a program called Extra Yards for Teachers. There’s a 5K held every year around the College Football Playoff. I ran this year in the freezing cold along with Kirby’s wife, Mary Beth, and his oldest son, Weston. Fun to see their family experiencing the full scope of the national championship events.
Georgia has played in the national championship game twice in the past six years, the other being here in Atlanta. As a player he led the SEC in interceptions in 1998 with 13 career interceptions, he still ranks sixth in the school’s record book.
When he’s not coaching, he’s a father. Highly competitive in pickleball. I’ll let you ask him about that. Since I made a Netflix reference yesterday, he and Mary Beth enjoy Netflix. They’re fans of “Ozark” and currently, with their children, watching the show called “Stranger Things.”
It’s my pleasure to introduce the coach of the national champions Georgia Bulldogs, Kirby Smart.”
Kirby Smart opening statement:
“Sounds like my wife has given away all the secrets away. I wondered why she asked me the other day if her talking about pickleball was okay. She obviously had gotten requests from Greg.
Thanks, Greg. I appreciate all you do for our conference, our game. He works tirelessly alongside of our presidents. I’m very fortunate at the University of Georgia to have one of the best presidents in the business, President Morehead is the member or leader of so many committees. I can’t even remember all the names of ’em. He does a tremendous job trying to make sure that our game is safe and that things are headed in the right direction. I appreciate what he does for us.
I want to go reverse order today. I usually thank you guys at the end. I would be remiss if I didn’t thank you guys for the incredible coverage you give us. And this conference is second to none. I’ve been in other conferences, worked in other conferences, this is my 24th year being involved in the SEC. It literally is the best there is. You guys make it that way. I really appreciate what all you guys do.
I also want to take an opportunity to give a shout-out for the 50th anniversary of Title IX. I got a wife at home that played college basketball. That wouldn’t have been possible without Title IX. And also am a girl dad. My daughter Julia is an athlete, runs cross-country, plays basketball. I want to thank the people and the leaders in the SEC who have promoted women’s sports for a long time.
Our women’s sports programs in the SEC are incredible. Most competitive there is of any conference there is out there in all sports. I love being able to honor that anniversary as well.
I’d also be remiss if I didn’t talk about our opening game. The Chick-Fil-A kickoff game for us, I get to open against Oregon, go against a longtime friend, a guy that meant so much in our program in Dan Lanning. We open against Oregon right here in Atlanta. We’re excited for that opportunity. We get a chance to represent the SEC right off the jump.
Our players are excited about that, and so am I.
Kirby talks about players he brought with him. Starts with Stetson Bennett:
“I’m also going to go in reverse order and talk about the players we have here today. We got a special group here. I think anybody would be proud of the players they bring. It’s why you bring ’em. This group is really special to me. Stetson Bennett, we all know his story. If you guys ever wanted to do a documentary, this guy has been through it, when you look at what he’s done. He’s going to graduate this fall in economics. He’s from — I like to kid him, because people think he’s from Blackshear. He’s actually from Nahunta. If you want to do some research, look that up, Nahunta, and he was a transplant from Blackshear to Nahunta down in south Georgia. A great family, and is going to graduate in the fall.”
Next, he talks about Nolan Smith:
“Nolan Smith is now a math major. Soon to graduate. He’s come back for his senior year. What an incredible personality he has. He’s one of these players that pushes our team. I tell the story all the time about our players working out, as strength coaches and leaders in our organization, we don’t like for our players to bend over. We feel like it shows weakness if you bend over during your runs.
Nolan was screaming so loud one day at our players, I had my young 10-year-old out there, Andrew. He was trying to keep up with the players running 40s. Nolan screamed and yelled about being bent over. I was looking at Andrew, my son, and he was bent over, and he popped up real fast. When Nolan screams at you, you wake up quick. He demands a lot of respect in our program because of the way he works. He’s from Savannah, Georgia.
One other quick story I wanted to share about Nolan. He’s kind of the jokester on the team. He likes to crack jokes and do things. Around December 23rd of last year, we were planning for Michigan, the Playoff run. We had a team Christmas party, and we had a team meeting before it. I was up in front of the team, everybody was there, we had a little roll call check, checking the seats.
Nolan wasn’t there. He comes running in. He had a box in his hand and said, Coach, Coach, the team bought you a Christmas present. Well, it was Just for Men hair coloring to help out with these grays that I got going on here. I thought it was hilarious, he thought it was hilarious. He keeps everything loose for the guys. I didn’t make him run but about 30 sprints for that. He’s a fun guy to be around, needless to say. You guys will spend time with him today.”
And lastly, Sedrick Van Pran:
“And then the third guy we were able to bring was Sedrick Van Pran, who’s been our center, kind of our caller of fronts. He was a tremendous guy to recruit. He does everything the right way. He’s from New Orleans, he’s a communications major, and one of our guys that we think is a leader on our team and a part of an offensive line unit that’s got a lot of guys returning.
I’m excited about those three players. I hope you’ll spend time, talk with them, visit with them, get to have a good time with them.”
"Success comes to those who are too busy to be looking for it"
“We started this thing off last year with the quote: Success comes to those who are too busy to be looking for it. Well, we embraced that last year. Guess what? That doesn’t change. For our team, it’s embedded in what we do.
We didn’t build this program on hoping for one-year-wonders or hoping for one opportunity. We built the program to be sustained. You sustain it by what you do every single day.
This program was built to be here for a long time. We have an unbelievable footprint with which we get to recruit. So the five-hour radius of Athens, Georgia, gives us a chance to be around some of the best football student-athletes there are in the country. We’ll continue to recruit those, develop those. Also going nationally.
But the team we have coming back, I’ve done the rounds this morning, I’ll bet you at least 50 people have asked me the question, so feel free when we open up for questions to ask me, the concern there is for complacency.
That does not concern me in the least. To be complacent, you have to have done something and achieved something. The men on this team for this season have not done that. They have not. We had 15 players that have now gone to NFL camps or draft picks. They’re gone. We have some returning players, but they’re hungry as ever.”
"We will not be hunted at the University of Georgia"
“People ask the question, How does it feel to be hunted? We will not be hunted at the University of Georgia. I can promise you that. The hunting we do will be from us going the other direction. We’re not going to sit back and be passive about.
Our guys have asked questions, and we’ve done a lot of studies on how the mighty have fallen. We have skull sessions, 15-minute meetings, 20-minute meetings and breakout groups. We talk about how the mighty have fallen. I’m talking about in business, sports, history. You learn from the mistakes of others.
For us, it really steers down to one cultural belief: That we have a connection that’s greater than our opponent. We’re all going to be tough, we’re all going to be physical in the SEC, but can we be better connected together? Can we have 1 plus 1 equals 3? For us, 1 plus 1 equals 3 means we get more together than we do apart. This team believes that.
I’m excited about this team because there’s a lot of opportunity. People say, Do you have the talent? Do you have enough talent within your program? We have plenty of talent. What we lack right now is experience. That’s our job as coaches, to put those guys in a position to be successful and react in the calm manner and have the experience they need to play well against Oregon. That game will help set us up for the SEC gauntlet we have coming up after that.
Q. What did you learn during the title run that can help y'all this upcoming season?
“I think the biggest thing is time management for us during that time. We probably did more work in that championship run than we did in previous years. So the previous Playoff we had, we didn’t practice as many days in pads, we didn’t condition as much as we did in this one. We felt like that was a very integral part to our team, is could we be the best conditioned team when we played Michigan, when we played Alabama. That was something that we really honed in on and thought was important.
Our players bought into it. You can’t go in a room and say, Hey, guys, we’re going to run extra after practice, and they’re going to feel good about it. They got to believe it. So we had a small group that felt like that was important, and they did it. That was probably the one thing pushing the guys at the end of the year more than we usually do.”
Q. You said after the spring game that this team needed to find its own identity. With fall camp just around the corner, do you have any indication of what this team's identity might be?
I’m excited. Complacency is something that happens to people, they don’t look what’s going on. We don’t have that problem. There’s not a day we don’t wake up and think what can we do to make our program better, and our players are doing that right now.”
Q. I notice second game of the year you're playing Samford. Coach Hatcher, as well. If you could talk about your experiences at Valdosta State in the Gulf South Conference and kind of coming full circle, if you will, in game two.
“How long you got? I could tell you about a 20-hour bus ride I took to Arkadelphia. I can tell you about Texarkana, all the places I went in Mississippi that I didn’t know existed.
It’s where I cut my teeth as a coach. There were some really long bus rides. We built our own lockers. I was hired for $5,000. He later promoted me to 10,000 after I did academics and a salary cap on Division II, which you work off of equivalencies, you don’t have full rides.
I learned a lot while I worked at Valdosta State. You only learn trial by fire, and I certainly appreciate Coach Hatcher for giving me that opportunity. He’s at Samford, which is my father’s alma mater. My dad played at Samford and was a college football player there. So it’s always unique when we get to play Samford, because my dad gets to pull for his old school.
Hatcher is a good friend. He’s done a tremendous job.”
Q. You've been a part of national championship programs with Georgia and Alabama. You've also seen the other side of that coin. What's the biggest differences and similarities in the off-season and being able to manage expectations as you prepare for an upcoming season?
“I think they’re all different. I go back to my first year at LSU. People don’t realize they were coming off a national title. I was not part of that. But we had a tremendous team coming back, like uber talented. A lot of draft picks.
That was probably one of the toughest jobs that’s ever — because you had complacency. You had guys that were going to be first round picks, no matter how they played, off of how they played the year they won the national championship. And then you fast-forward through the four that were able to win in Alabama, you have experience.
Right now our staff at Georgia, I have a tremendous staff. Probably the best staff I’ve ever had since I’ve been there in terms of continuity. We had four coaches change, but the four new coaches we’ve gotten have jumped onboard, grabbed things. They know how to manage the situation. We got three or four coaches who have done this before in terms of having won a championship, understanding what it takes to do it again.
It’s really every situation is different because I’ve been on teams that had a lot of talent coming back, and I’ve had a lot of them that I had to replace talent. We’re having to replace a lot of really good football players. Great news is we’ve recruited well. We’ve got good football players. We need experience.
Complacency is not the concern. Experience is our concern. Our kids will buy into that, and we’ll get them ready in fall camp.”
Q. You've obviously known Will Muschamp for a long time. What does he bring as a co-defensive coordinator this year?
“Yeah, Will has been a tremendous asset for me as a head coach because you value people who have been in your seat. So Todd Monken has been a head coach. Matt Luke was that way for us as well, he’d been a head coach. Mel Tucker had been in a lot of roles before he left us.
So I value that experience he’s had and understanding the dos and don’ts, ways to do things, how to practice, how you run your organization. Also, it gives you the ability to delegate, too, take some things off your hand. I can focus my attention in other areas if he’s in charge of something because he’s done it.
He’s been unbelievable. A great staff guy. Super positive with our players. Players enjoy and love being around Coach Muschamp. I’m thankful he and his family are on our staff and with our program.”
Q. Arik Gilbert seemed to have a lot of positive momentum going through the spring. How has the rest of his off-season gone? What do you expect from him?
“I expect him to give us an A effort every day. When you give an A grade effort, you got the talent that he has, it’s a great combination. He’s a tremendous athlete. He’s had to do some extra conditioning. He was a little heavy for the spring. He’s worked really hard on bringing that town. He had a really good year academically, which was a big hurdle. He had to focus on his academics upon coming to us from LSU.
He got a great opportunity this spring. People forget Darnell and Brock were both out. The opportunity he got, he seized that opportunity to grow and develop. He will have to continue to do that to be a major contributor for us. He’s bought into doing that, being a team player. There’s a lot more to being a tight end than just catching the ball. He’s bought into that.”
Q. Mykel Williams, can you talk about his development and what stands out about him?
“Yeah, number one thing that stands out about him is his work ethic. You never hear anything about him academically. I look out my window, and I see him out there doing extra after every practice.
He’s talented. I’m excited for him. I can’t say what his role is going to be right now because I don’t know fully which way we’ll use him, where we’ll play him.
He’s a great athlete. He’s a great young man. He comes from a great family and a great program.”
Q. Are there some things you're looking at at Georgia, coming off a national title season, maybe not broke, that you plan to make better?
“Yeah, we do a kind of intrusive look every year at what we can do, how did we do in red area, how did we do in turnovers, what are we doing wrong, how are other people doing it better? I think you know every college coach that’s worth a dime, he’s going to talk to other coaches and find a better way.
I give a lot of credit to Coach Monken and Coach Schumann. Both those two guys, they love getting on Zoom. They love talking to NFL coaches and figuring out a new way to do it. How deep do you play your safety? How do you run your mesh route? What’s something new you’re doing on the inside zone?
We’re constantly looking to get better. Our staff does a lot of projects. We’ve got a lot of quality analyst guys that bring a lot of information to our staff and have made us a better program.
Yeah, we’re constantly looking at getting better. At the end of the day, it’s how do you use your players best. Who utilizes James Cook or Brock Bowers, a guy like Channing Tindall as a third linebacker? How are you using the skill set of your players?
That’s what players want. At the end of the day, players want to say how are you going to utilize my skill set, what package can you take me as a rusher, me as a run stopper, me as a pass catcher, and utilize that skill set, and that’s what we spend our time on.”
Q. You get to the national championship, Stetson's been the scapegoat for almost 2 years at QB. You're down 1 in the 4th quarter. He had thrown 5 INTs in the 2 games against 'Bama. He was 2 of 5 for 14 yards in the 2nd half. Then he goes 3/3, has a game-winning drive. What kind of sense of personal victory did that feel like for you trusting your own instincts on somebody that has been questioned so many times before on games against 'Bama?
“I don’t know that it was any personal vindication. It’s what you do as a coach. I go off how we practice, what guys show us in practice. I’d seen Stetson Bennett make those plays repeatedly in practice.
The conversation with Coach Monken was to be aggressive and go play to win the game. You’re not going to hide behind your quarterback and win a national championship. You got to go let him play.
I thought Coach Monken and the offensive staff did an unbelievable job bouncing back. Really fortunate in a lot of those opportunities early in the game. It wasn’t a matter of Stetson playing poorly, it was self-inflicted wounds. We started inside the five, we had the penalty, we averaged second down over 10 yards. You’re not going to win games doing that.
A lot of it was what we did. When we control what we do, do it the right way, Stetson can be a major factor. Look, Stetson is one of the least respected good players there is in this country. Guess what, we get to see it every day. The kid is a tremendous athlete, he’s got good arm strength. People keep doubting him, and that’s fine with me.”
Q. Stetson Bennett didn't start the season as your starter, but he finished the national champion. Given the state of development, how do you feel about the pipeline behind him? Have you identified a guy this spring? Has anybody stood out to step in in case you need him at quarterback?
“Yeah, if you’re a good coach, you don’t go into the season without thinking you got two or three guys that can come in and play. Especially in our conference, you’re going to get hit, tackled, knocked back. He’s probably going to run the ball some. That puts him at risk much injury.
Our quarterback room right now, I’m extremely confident of. Carson Beck has been in the program, done a lot of good things. He was a guy that won a state championship in high school. Did a tremendous job.
Brock Vandagriff is a tremendous athlete who has got a tremendous upside. He’s gotten better and better.
Those two guys are growing rapidly because of the number of reps they’re getting. Gunner Stockton spent the spring with us, a good athlete we’re excited about.
I feel really confident about our quarterback room, confident because we have Stetson returning, but confident because we have well-coached backups as well.”
Q. Scott Cochran had to take a step away from your program. He tweeted out: Meaning more than the national championships he won at Alabama and Georgia is being one year sober. What does he mean to your program? How did you support him to help him come back and be a big part of your program?
“We commit to having conversations. The commitment to Scott was that he’s committed to our program and getting better. You look at what he’s done with our players. We got a lot of exceptional people in our organization, Jonas Jennings, Bryant Gantt, Scott Sinclair. I could go on forever.
Scott Cochran spends a tremendous amount of time with our players on a personal level. They value the relationship that he creates with them. He spends time with them, meaningful time with them.
I think a lot of our players saw the human side with Scott, that we all know addiction is real. It probably affected me as the leader of the organization for the first time, to have someone on your staff be involved with that.
I got a lot of help from outside sources on how to do it. I’m so proud of what he’s done and how he’s fought back to bring himself back and be the husband and father that he’s always been. He’s a tremendous husband and father. That’s first. He’s a mentor to the players on our team.
He’s got tons of players that played at Alabama that still reach out to him and talk to him. They come and work out at our place and see him because they value that relationship that he had with them.
He’s a special person that’s meant a lot to a lot of people. We’ve stood there by him and supported him, and we’ll continue to do that.”
Q. Can you speak to what differences, if any, you see in Stetson as a leader now as opposed to when he first stepped into the starting job?
“Yeah, I think now he has a little more – what’s the right word – support because he is the guy. It’s hard for players around you to have conviction you’re the guy if you’re not the starter. He wasn’t the starter at this time last year, at this time two years ago. He started intermittently throughout two years ago, then once he won the job, I think he’s created a little bit of momentum with our players, our skill players, because there’s not a doubt there.
They understand he knows the system. He can get them the ball. He can throw the ball vertically down the field, deep comebacks, he can scramble and make a play with his feet. I think they value that.
That’s given him a little bit more credibility, which credibility to me is earned, right? He earned that by the way he played at the end of the year and most of the season. He continues to do that the way he leads out there on seven-on-sevens, practices and things.”
Q. Earlier Nolan Smith described the defense as the oldest brothers of the group. What do you expect from this defense this season and moving forward?
“My expectation for our defense is to be fast and physical. Look, we don’t shy away from the fact that we’ve had success on defense. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve gone to recruit a kid, they said, Well, they told us y’all weren’t going to be good on defense this year, you’re losing to everybody. They said that last year, two years ago.
Look, if you go recruit really good football players, you’re fast and physical, you’ll play good defense.
‘Good defense’ sometimes is a loose term in college football right now because giving up 20 sometimes is a good defense.
We don’t like to change our standards. We know we’re going to have a good defense year in and year out. We’re going to have different strengths and different weaknesses. Nolan will certainly be a big part of that.”
Q. When it comes to NIL, how does your program approach it? Is there anything you think needs to change about how it's structured in college football?
“Yeah, the pivotal question, right? Everybody waits for that one for all the conversation.
The NIL program we have in place, we have a Classic City Collective run by Matt Hibbs who does a tremendous job. It’s built on being sustainable. I don’t think what’s going on in college football right now at some places is sustainable, meaning, Can you do that year in and year out and repeat that? Can you honor the commitment that some people are trying to make to kids to get them to go to their school? It’s not good for college football, what’s out there.
But to use it as inducement to get a young man to go to your school is not good for anybody or the game. I don’t have the answer for how to guardrail that, but NIL has been good to Georgia and it’s been good to our players and it will continue to be.”
Q. With your tight end room being all the rave right now, how do you think the new blocking rule will affect tight end play at Georgia?
“It shouldn’t affect us. The new blocking rule, which I was a part of the committee that put that in place, we’re not a big team that cuts and blocks that way. So it’s a safety issue. We like to block man-to-man, face up. We’re not a big cut team. We don’t rely on the cut block so it shouldn’t change a lot for us.”
Coach Shane Beamer mentioned how the energy around South Carolina football at SEC Media Days is different this year. And not just because of viral videos.
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2022-07-20T19:24:31Z
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sports.yahoo.com
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Everything Kirby Smart said at SEC media days
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https://sports.yahoo.com/everything-kirby-smart-said-sec-165118685.html?src=rss
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Kirby Smart discusses Georgia having 95 players with NIL deals
Georgia head coach Kirby Smart took part in media days Wednesday.
Smart discussed name, image and likeness within Georgia’s program.
“The NIL program we have in place, we have a Classic City Collective run by Matt Hibbs who does a tremendous job,” Smart said. “It’s built on being sustainable. I don’t think what’s going on in college football right now at some places is sustainable, meaning, Can you do that year in and year out and repeat that? Can you honor the commitment that some people are trying to make to kids to get them to go to their school? It’s not good for college football, what’s out there.
“What’s good is NIL is good on the basis of what NIL is based on, okay? For Dan Jackson to be a walk-on from Gainesville, Georgia, come in and get an opportunity to earn money for his education, that is good. For a young man that has a father that’s on dialysis in south Georgia and he can’t support his father unless he goes back and works or he gets NIL, that is good. We have 95 players right now with NIL deals that are on our roster. That’s incredible, the depth of that. There’s so much good there. It’s the guardrails. It’s the parameters that we need to protect our game. Not only protect our game, guys, it’s protect young men, okay? We may have had the highest-paid defensive lineman last year in NIL in Jordan Davis. We had the highest-paid tight end in Brock Bowers. Kelee Ringo I would argue is probably one of the highest-paid corners there is in NIL, so NIL can be a good thing and they can learn to manage money at a young age, but to use it as inducement to get a young man to go to your school is not good for anybody or the game. I don’t have the answer for how to guardrail that, but NIL has been good to Georgia and it’s been good to our players and it will continue to be.”
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2022-07-20T19:24:37Z
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sports.yahoo.com
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Kirby Smart discusses Georgia having 95 players with NIL deals
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https://sports.yahoo.com/kirby-smart-discusses-georgia-having-181637054.html?src=rss
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No surprise here, but the highly anticipated matchup between the Oregon Ducks and the reigning national champion Georgia Bulldogs is officially sold out, according to game officials on Wednesday.
The Chick-fil-A Kickoff Game has always been a tough ticket, but the matchup between two powerhouse programs – and of course the side plot of Dan Lanning taking over as Oregon’s head coach after serving as Georgia’s defensive coordinator last year – has made this game one of the must-see contests of the college football season.
While neutral site is a bit of a misnomer in this situation – since the game is being played in Atlanta – it is still a great opportunity for the Ducks to show off their new look on a national stage, while they attempt to take down college football’s best team from last season.
The game is kicking off at 12:30 PM PT on Saturday, September 3.
San Francisco monkeypox vaccine clinic reopens, though supply remains limited
The clinic at Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital is offering shots again, but has only 300 doses to distribute per day.
Keke Palmer Took A Trip Down Memory Lane Of Her Iconic Memes
Keke Palmer has plenty of meme-able moments and decided to take a trip down memory lane during the Wired Autocomplete interview.
FIFA 23 hands-on preview – one last hurrah for EA’s soccer sim
This year's FIFA will be all about inclusivity.
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2022-07-20T19:24:56Z
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sports.yahoo.com
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Oregon Ducks season opener against Georgia is sold out
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https://sports.yahoo.com/oregon-ducks-season-opener-against-172043524.html?src=rss
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49ers camp battles: Center, right guard boils down to Daniel Brunskill
49ers camp battles at center, right guard boils down to Brunskill originally appeared on NBC Sports Bayarea
Three-fifths of the 49ers’ starting offensive line appears set with the club scheduled to report for training camp Tuesday in Santa Clara.
Daniel Brunskill, who has started every game the past two seasons, is the pivotal player. He has starting experience at right guard and center.
Those are the two positions that are unsettled along the 49ers’ offensive line, and that’s why those spots are so tightly coupled.
Until then, we only know Trent Williams and Mike McGlinchey will start at the tackle spots with Aaron Banks slated to replace Laken Tomlinson at left guard.
Here is a look at the two open positions:
Veteran Alex Mack started every game last season with Jake Brendel as the backup. Mack, an NFL All-Decade selection for the 2010s, announced his retirement last month.
Brendel has been in the NFL since 2016. He turns 30 in September.
Yet, he has started just three games in his career. He took the 49ers’ first-team reps at center during the offseason program.
The 49ers could turn to Brunskill, who started the second half of the 2020 season at center before shifting back to right guard last season.
The other most logical option for the 49ers is to pursue a veteran center once camp opens. If the club ultimately comes to the conclusion they can improve upon the players already on the roster, they have some options.
There are plenty of veteran centers available with experience, including JC Tretter, Matt Paradis, Billy Price and Trey Hopkins.
If Brunskill shifts to center, there will be an interesting competition involving some promising young players at right guard.
Even if Brunskill remains at right guard, he might be pushed to hold onto his starting job.
The 49ers selected Jaylon Moore of Western Michigan in the fifth round of the 2021 NFL Draft at No. 155 overall. He served primarily as a swing tackle as a rookie and made three starts last season.
But when the 49ers faced a must-win game against the Los Angeles Rams in Week 18 and Williams was not available, they turned to Colton McKivitz to start at left tackle. And even before that, the club went with Tom Compton over Moore at right tackle when McGlinchey underwent season-ending surgery.
RELATED: What it means that Garoppolo likely to be cleared in mid-August
But Moore was shifted to guard this offseason, which gives him a better chance to get on the field. He should have an opportunity to compete for a starting job.
The door is also open for Spencer Burford to enter the mix for a starting job.
The 49ers selected Burford in the fourth round of the 2022 NFL Draft with the No. 134 overall pick. Burford primarily played left tackle at Texas-San Antonio, where he started 43 games in his career.
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2022-07-20T19:37:10Z
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sports.yahoo.com
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49ers camp battles: Center, right guard boils down to Daniel Brunskill
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https://sports.yahoo.com/49ers-camp-battles-center-guard-190342402.html?src=rss
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Lovie Smith is a likable coach and the players love playing for him. However, the reality is the Houston Texans must keep their eyes open for any potential coaching candidates.
Smith, 64, doesn’t figure to be a staple on the Texans’ sideline, not even comparable to Bill O’Brien, who was with Houston from 2014 to four games into the 2020 campaign. If Smith stayed that long, the Big Sandy, Texas, product would be 71 years old.
The former 2005 NFL Coach of the Year probably won’t bomb like David Culley in 2021 and necessitate a dismissal after one season, but it is fair to say Smith is year-to-year in Houston.
There is one former Super Bowl-winning coach the Texans should target should Smith fade into retirement in the near future.
According to Jarrett Bell from USA TODAY, former New Orleans Saints coach and NFL on FOX studio analyst Sean Payton still has a hankering to get back on an NFL sideline.
One team that will undoubtedly command Payton’s attention is the Dallas Cowboys. Not only does Payton have a longstanding friendship with owner Jerry Jones, but Payton has a house in Southlake, a suburb of the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex.
If general manager Nick Caserio could demonstrate to Payton that the team had all the pieces needed to contend, but just needed steady direction from a proven coach, the AFC South club might be appealing.
For now, Payton is focused on FOX.
“I’m really excited about FOX and working with the crew,” said. “It’s going to be a great experience. I’m looking forward to being on the other side.”
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2022-07-20T19:37:41Z
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sports.yahoo.com
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Could the Houston Texans coax Sean Payton back into coaching?
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https://sports.yahoo.com/could-houston-texans-coax-sean-180638543.html?src=rss
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The New England Patriots underwent many changes in the 2022 offseason, both on the roster and in terms of personnel. One of the biggest changes was the departure of Josh McDaniels, as he took the head coaching position with the Las Vegas Raiders.
McDaniels spent 10 years with New England and was a key piece of the Patriots’ championship-winning teams. He oversaw much of the Tom Brady era and was able to guide Mac Jones in his rookie season.
The Patriots elected not to name a full-time offensive coordinator. This could present problems heading into the fall, according to one ESPN analyst.
The departure of McDaniels, as well as the lack of a full-time offensive coordinator, does not sit well with ESPN’s Louis Riddick.
The Patriots’ lack of explosiveness on the outside was concerning going into last season, but I’m more concerned this year about who will be in the ear of Jones when it comes to his development and the playcalling. That continuity, relationship and chemistry is not easy to duplicate, and given the coaches Belichick is seemingly choosing from to take McDaniels’ place — including offensive assistants Joe Judge and Matt Patricia — I have significant concerns.
The lack of an offense of coordinator could be an interesting subplot for the upcoming season. New England managed to get Jones more weapons at wide receiver, most notably DeVante Parker, but losing McDaniels could hurt the young quarterback.
Nevertheless, the Patriots will have to figure out how to run a cohesive offensive unit if they want to have success in the AFC East.
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2022-07-20T19:38:00Z
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sports.yahoo.com
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ESPN analyst has one major concern for Patriots in 2022
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https://sports.yahoo.com/espn-analyst-one-major-concern-182631229.html?src=rss
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Ex-NFL GM chooses Patriots QB Mac Jones as sneaky 2022 MVP pick originally appeared on NBC Sports Boston
Mac Jones faces high expectations entering his second season with the New England Patriots, and one former NFL general manager is very bullish on the young quarterback as training camps near.
ESPN analyst Mike Tannenbaum, who worked as the New York Jets GM from 2006 through 2012, said Wednesday on morning show "Get Up!" that Jones is a sneaky league MVP candidate this coming season.
"This is a team with two great running backs, two great tight ends, a really good offensive line and, in my opinion, a slightly underrated wide receiver corps," Tannenbaum said later in the show.
"So I think the CEO of Bill Belichick will manage his team, they'll have a great kicking game like always, and I think they have a young superstar at the quarterback position, who led the team last year to the playoffs, and they scored more points than the Patriots did with Tom Brady the year before."
Jones was the top rookie quarterback in the league last season.
He completed 67.6 percent of his passes for 3,801 yards, 22 touchdowns and 13 interceptions. Jones started all 17 regular season games and helped the Patriots earn an AFC wild card playoff berth with a 10-7 record. Their playoff run was short lived in a blowout loss to the rival Buffalo Bills on Wild Card Weekend.
The AFC is absolutely loaded entering the 2022 season, especially at the quarterback position with Matt Ryan (Colts) and Russell Wilson (Broncos) coming over from the NFC.
Making the playoffs is going to be far more difficult for the Patriots this season than it was in 2021. It's hard to envision Jones being a serious MVP candidate unless the Patriots win the AFC East. And even in that scenario, is he getting more MVP votes than Aaron Rodgers, Josh Allen, Tom Brady and Patrick Mahomes?
If Jones leads the Patriots back to the playoffs for a second consecutive season, that will be impressive enough. Being a dark horse MVP candidate would just be gravy on top of that.
The #Bills need to be able to trust Bass... and his holder in clutch moments:
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2022-07-20T19:38:13Z
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sports.yahoo.com
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Ex-NFL GM chooses Patriots QB Mac Jones as sneaky 2022 MVP pick
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The Atlanta Falcons signed free-agent quarterback Marcus Mariota just a few hours after they traded Matt Ryan to the Indianapolis Colts. This all happened on the heels of Atlanta’s failed attempt to trade for then-Texans quarterback Deshaun Watson.
So while Mariota is getting a fresh start with a team in need of a quarterback, he’s also facing the pressure of replacing a former league MVP. Not to mention, Mariota has rookie Desmond Ridder breathing down his neck. Ridder was considered a steal in the third round of the draft.
Mariota, the former second overall pick and Heisman Trophy award winner, sat behind Derek Carr in Las Vegas last season working on his craft and waiting for a chance to start again.
That chance just so happened to come in Atlanta where he reunites with Arthur Smith, the man who originally benched Mariota in favor of Ryan Tannehill. Despite the way things ended in Tennessee, their familiarity with one another could make the transition away from Matt Ryan a little bit smoother than most analysts are anticipating.
“Yes, you just watch his play and body language,” Arthur Smith said in mid-June when speaking on Mariota. “Especially when you’ve been around a guy for a long time and there’s certain mannerisms. He does feel comfortable and that’s good especially this time of year as we crank it up and get into the preseason and more competitive practices. Hopefully, that stays the same.”
Smith even continued by saying how, with time, players can improve just as coaches can also improve. This is in response to the aforementioned benching for Ryan Tannehill while with the Titans.
NFL Network’s Good Morning football crew named the Falcons quarterback as a possible candidate for the league’s Comeback Player of the Year award. Their logic for doing so had was based on how creative the Falcons can be in 2022 with Mariota’s mobility along and an improved group of pass-catchers.
Atlanta even played undrafted rookie Feleipe Franks at times last season to give the offense a different look when things got stagnant. To win this award, though, Mariota will have to lead the team to a successful season, which would shock many of the experts who have pegged the Falcons as one of the worst teams in the league.
The other likely candidates for Comeback Player of the Year include Derrick Henry, Michael Thomas, Chris Godwin.
Falcons 53-man roster projection as training camp begins
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2022-07-20T19:38:19Z
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sports.yahoo.com
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Falcons QB Marcus Mariota: Comeback Player of the Year candidate?
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https://sports.yahoo.com/falcons-qb-marcus-mariota-comeback-173015053.html?src=rss
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After losing special teams ace Mack Hollins this offseason to the Las Vegas Raiders, the Miami Dolphins went out and signed Keion Crossen to a three-year deal worth $10.5 million with the expectation that he fills that same role in South Florida.
Crossen was originally a seventh-round pick of the New England Patriots back in 2018 and has spent time with the Houston Texans and New York Giants since being traded heading into his second season.
Last year with the Giants, Crossen recorded 13 total tackles, one sack, one forced fumble and one fumble recovery.
The former Western Carolina Catamount recently spent some of his time away from the facility working at a youth football camp hosted by his former teammate, Josh Kalu, who’s currently a free agent. Pro Football Network’s Aaron Wilson got a chance to speak with Crossen about his new team and what drew him to Miami Gardens in the first place.
“It’s been good, man,” Crossen said. “We’re all coming together as a team. The main thing is one goal, one team. The ultimate goal is to win a super bowl, but that comes with practice and the season ahead of us. I’m just taking it day by day. (McDaniel), he’s a high-spirited guy. He’s almost like one of the guys. Obviously, we have the utmost respect for coach McDaniel. He allows us to play fast, play aggressive, and have fun.
“I started my career with Josh Boyer. I know the special teams coach. He’s treated me well. His group is coached really, really well. I’m really about family. I’m a family man. I want to be with a team that’s going to work hard and is going to win and [have] good coaching. That’s why I chose Miami. The taxes down there aren’t too bad, either.”
Between the money and the situation, it seems like everything is working out in Crossen’s favor this year. If he can do his job effectively, the Dolphins’ coverage units won’t miss a beat despite the loss of one of their special teams captains.
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2022-07-20T19:38:38Z
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sports.yahoo.com
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Keion Crossen explains why he chose to sign with the Dolphins
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Rams to hold Super Bowl ring ceremony tomorrow
After Aaron Donald grabbed hold of Joe Burrow and whipped him to the ground on fourth down late in the fourth quarter of Super Bowl LVI, he ran around the field pointing to his finger yelling, “ring me!” He and the rest of the team knew they just won a championship, and that they’d soon get rings to commemorate it.
Some five months later, the Rams will finally get to see the hardware for their hard work. The team announced with a very clever tweet that they’ll be holding their ring ceremony on Thursday.
Tomorrow. 👀 pic.twitter.com/aKN8Km3iRd
Several Rams players helped design the rings, sharing their input with designer Jason of Beverly Hills. That group of players includes Odell Beckham Jr., Jalen Ramsey, Von Miller and Aaron Donald.
“You’re talking about something that’s never been done before,” Jason said back in May. “We have lots of players putting input in. We have all the major players: Odell Beckham, Jalen Ramsey, Von Miller, Aaron Donald are all calling me and giving their two cents. We’re trying to make a ring that the team is going to be proud of, the players are going to be proud of, and the city of Los Angeles is going to be proud of. I’m from L.A. so to make the best Super Bowl ring in history is a big deal to me.”
Beckham is still a free agent, but he’ll likely be at the ceremony to receive his ring from the team. He was a huge part of their postseason run, scoring the first touchdown of Super Bowl LVI before tearing his ACL.
With players reporting to training camp on Saturday, they’ll get their rings just in time before hitting the field for practice.
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2022-07-20T19:38:57Z
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Rams to hold Super Bowl ring ceremony tomorrow
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Isaiah Mobley with an and one vs the Atlanta Hawks
Isaiah Mobley (Cleveland Cavaliers) with an and one vs the Atlanta Hawks, 07/16/2022
With the Tigers returning two of their best players from last season, one analyst ranked Clemson's frontcourt in the top three of the ACC.
Jabari Walker with a block vs the New York Knicks
Jabari Walker (Portland Trail Blazers) with a block vs the New York Knicks, 07/17/2022
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2022-07-20T20:16:21Z
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Sue Bird with a 3-pointer vs. Chicago Sky
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You can search BetMGM and there are some things to bet on. Among the offerings on Wednesday morning for in-game betting: tennis, soccer, table tennis, international basketball, badminton (seriously), cycling, handball and snooker. I honestly couldn't tell you what snooker is. And while you might have a great angle on the Tour de France, I don't. If you're betting today, it's probably on something halfway around the world, with participants you've never heard of, and you are just guessing. But hey, you can live stream some of those sports you've never watched before right on the BetMGM site.
Yep. The Chicago Sky play an afternoon game, as part of the league's "Camp Days" promotion to bring kids out to watch. The Sky are a 2.5-point favorite over the Seattle Storm. It's even on NBA TV.
It's a good game too. The Sky are the defending WNBA champs and off to a 19-6 start. Seattle is 17-8. The Sky are 9-1 in their last 10 games. They will be without all-star point guard Courtney Vandersloot, but they've been able to replace her while she's out with a concussion.
Jamie Chung says motherhood is 'the hardest job that I've ever had'
The actress welcomed twin boys with husband Bryan Greenberg last year.
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2022-07-20T20:16:28Z
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The Daily Sweat: Welcome to the worst day of the year for sports bettors
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British Brooks decided to take advantage of the extra year of eligibility with the COVID-19 year and return for another season here in 2022. The Gastonia native enters this season as UNC’s top running back and could be an impact player overall for the offense.
On Wednesday, Brooks earned some national recognition when he was named to the preseason Doak Walker Award watch list. Brooks was one of several players named to the list by the PwC SMU Athletic Forum. The award is handed out annually to the nation’s top college running back.
Brooks is coming off a 2021 campaign in which he rushed for 295 yards on 31 attempts and had 4 touchdowns, playing behind Ty Chandler. His best game of the season came against NC State where he rushed for 124 yards and followed it up with 72 yards in the bowl game against South Carolina.
.@britishbrookss 🤝 @DoakWalkerAward
🔗 https://t.co/LNIEjJgrt2 #CarolinaFootball 🏈 #UNCommon pic.twitter.com/pYAjL12xV7
The winner of the award will be announced at the end of the season as an updated list with semifinalists and finalists will be revealed during the season.
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2022-07-20T21:56:21Z
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sports.yahoo.com
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British Brooks named to 2022 Doak Walker Award watch list
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ATLANTA (AP) Florida quarterback Anthony Richardson, who wears No. 15, has shed the nickname ''AR-15'' because he doesn't want to be linked to the semiautomatic rifle used in mass shootings.
Richardson said Wednesday at the Southeastern Conference Media Days he is ''just trying to rebrand myself and become a better person.''
The sophomore said he was thinking about ''what the future holds'' when making the decision.
''I'm not going to be able to play football for the rest of my life,'' Richardson said. ''I feel it was pretty much a business decision. There's a lot going on and that kind of played a part in it. Just trying to understand like who I am as a person.
''AR-15 doesn't necessarily describe who I am. I'm Anthony Richardson and that's who I've been since I was born.''
''I would rival anybody in the country with 95 NIL deals coming off the national championship, a pretty gaudy number that we've been able to give out,'' Smart said before adding he didn't think the total value of the deals was most important.
''I think it's more about the depth of our deals than the total amount,'' Smart said.
''The 10 years in Lexington is something that I am proud of because I know how difficult it is,'' Stoops said. ''I know how difficult it is to walk into this league with the great coaching, with the recruiting ... then trying to climb that ladder as high as we can.''
Stoops added, ''However, we're not satisfied. We want to continue to grow. We want to continue to push it. Obviously, some teams at the top of the food chain in the East and the West are doing some really special things. So you have to continue to elevate your game.''
''I'm not concerned at all about it,'' Smart said of the talks between Georgia's administration and his agent, Jimmy Sexton.
''They've been tremendous in their communication with my representation,'' Smart said. ''I'm completely comfortable with where everything is. Both sides have worked really hard to get the thing done.''
Thanks to the NCAA granting an extra year of eligibility due to the coronavirus pandemic, Stetson is taking advantage of his sixth year - and the unexpected opportunity to play with his younger brother, a freshman, who signed with Georgia as a walk-on.
''That's probably the coolest thing for me that came out of COVID-19, if you can say that,'' said Stetson Bennett. ''We were always super tight, but I was five years older than him. We were never able to get on the team together.
''Being able to have that opportunity, it's special. We are both super lucky. I know my mom is a big fan of it happening. Hopefully, the stars align, and we can throw a pass to each other, but for right now, we are good just being on the same team.''
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2022-07-20T21:56:33Z
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Florida QB Richardson seeks 'rebrand, sheds AR-15 nickname
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ATLANTA (AP) It's no easy task to live with expectations at the top of the Southeastern Conference.
''I don't think any of our guys would rest on the laurels because we don't really have a lot of guys that have laurels to rest on,'' Smart said at the SEC Media Days. ''I think that's the biggest thing because everybody keeps bringing up you won a national championship, so do you worry about complacency. Well the guys who won it, they're mostly in NFL camps, so there's a lot of hungry guys on our team.''
''The biggest goal of our team is always to win a national championship and we didn't meet that goal last year,'' Anderson said Tuesday. ''So that season was not the successful season that we wanted, because all the blood, sweat and tears we put in, all the hard work, all the long meetings - is to get to the national championship and win it. And we got there and didn't finish the way we wanted to finish.''
''It made me really happy, seeing all my friends realize their dreams,'' Smith said. ''There's nothing more that a friend should ask for than to see your other friends be successful.''
''I think we're all aware if you can win your division, the championship here, you can be a national championship contender,'' Napier said. ''The path, it's been proven. ... We're consumed with Florida right now. We've got a lot of grass to mow, right? It's our grass, not anybody else's. We've got a lot of work to do.''
''I think we're all aware there's a large gap between Georgia and No. 2, and we're working on closing that,'' Kentucky coach Mark Stoops said.
''How big is the gap?'' Miller asked Wednesday. ''I don't feel like there's no gap.
''We're the University of Florida. I feel like we had a bad season last year but we're moving on, and I feel like this season is going to be a great season.''
''Coming up short obviously is really tough,'' Young said. ''It stings a lot. Obviously it hurt a lot losing. It's something that we carry as fuel to the fire this offseason. It's something that's been fueling us, something that's been pushing us. No one wants to feel like we felt last year, so we're doing everything in our power to give ourselves the best chance to have the circumstances that we want to have.''
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2022-07-20T21:56:39Z
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sports.yahoo.com
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Georgia, Alabama coping with high expectations at top of SEC
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For the second consecutive season, Penn State running back Keyvone Lee has been named to the watch list for the Doak Walker Award. The award for the nation’s top running back in college football had its watch list revealed on Wednesday, with Lee being the lone Nittany Lion on the initial watch list.
Players can be added to the watch list at any time, so it remains to be seen if any other Penn State player will receive watch list buzz once the season begins, including freshman Nick Singleton.
Lee was one of three Penn State running backs to appear on the watch list prior to the start of the 2021 season with Noah Cain and Jonathan Lovett joining him. Cain, who transferred to LSU this offseason, did not appear on the watch list (nor did any LSU player for that matter).
Penn State Top 25 players of 2022: Keyvone Lee
The only Penn State football player to win the Doak Walker Award was Larry Johnson, in 2022.
Other notable past winners of the Doak Walker Award includes Eddie Georgie (Ohio State), Ricky Williams (Texas, a two-time winner), LaDainian Tomlinson (TCU), Reggie Bush (USC), Rashaan Salaam (Colorado, betaing Ki-Jana Carter), and Bryce Love (Stanford, who beat out Saquon Barkley).
Last year’s winner of the Doak Walker Award was Kenneth Walker III of Michigan State. A Big Ten plater has won the Doak Walker Award three of the past four seasons with Jonathan Taylor of Wisconsin winning back-to-back awards in 2018 and 2019. Wisconsin has the most Doak Walker Awards in the history of the award with five, including two win by Taylor.
Penn State quarterback Sean Clifford has also been named to the watch list for the Maxwell Award and the Davey O’Brien Award.
NEXT: The 2022 Doak Walker Watch List
Here is the full watch list for the Doak Walker Award heading into the 2022 season.
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2022-07-20T21:56:52Z
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sports.yahoo.com
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Keyvone Lee named to Doak Walker Award watch list
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Harbaugh’s action were well received by a certain segment of the public and not well received by a different segment of the public.
This week, Jim Harbaugh spoke at an anti-abortion fundraiser in Plymouth, Michigan, called "Plymouth Right to Life" ahead of what is likely to be a heated state ballot campaign concerning the issue this fall.
Michigan Football head coach Jim Harbaugh has never been afraid to speak out about his beliefs, no matter how controversial. His presence at an anti-abortion event this week is just another example of this. (Photo by Jaime Crawford/Getty Images)
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2022-07-20T22:05:21Z
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sports.yahoo.com
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Be outraged or be happy about Jim Harbaugh's anti-abortion stance, he'll keep being Jim Harbaugh
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The Cincinnati Bengals could be close to re-naming Paul Brown Stadium as the team potentially closes in on a naming rights deal.
According to Kelsey Conway of the Cincinnati Enquirer, the team hopes to have a deal in place before the start of the season, so it has already notified city and county officials of the plans to encourage a fast approval process.
This isn’t the first major change when it comes to the Bengals and facilities recently. The stadium itself underwent recent improvements and isn’t done on that front. An estimated cost of nearly $500 million for further upgrades might explain the willingness to do a naming rights deal now. Cincinnati has also moved forward with the construction of its practice bubble.
PBS opened in 2000 and the current lease with Hamilton County expires in 2026, setting up a crucial few years for the team and city.
The Bengals are one of just three teams without a naming rights deal (Packers, Bears). They could choose to follow the Chiefs (GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium), retaining Paul Brown Stadium in the name.
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2022-07-20T22:05:27Z
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sports.yahoo.com
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Bengals near deal for naming rights of Paul Brown Stadium
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Bleacher Report names Ravens as best fit for ‘underrated’ free agent WR
Despite Baltimore’s decision to trade Brown, they currently haven’t replaced him on the roster, either with a free agent signing or by selecting one in the draft. However, when listing off the most “underrated” free agents still available and the best fits for them, Kristopher Knox of Bleacher Report named the Ravens as a fit for former Houston Texans and Miami Dolphins wide receiver Will Fuller V, saying that he could step in as a deep threat for Baltimore’s offense.
“…The Baltimore Ravens have one of the league’s most underwhelming wide receiving corps and traded away speedster Marquise Brown during the draft. Fuller could step right in as Lamar Jackson’s new deep threat on the perimeter.”
Fuller is an extremely talented receiver, but injuries have plagued him for most of his career. He was only able to play in two games in 2021 after signing a one-year deal with the Miami Dolphins, and has missed numerous other contests over the course of his six-year NFL career. He’s totaled 213 catches for 3,136 yards and 24 touchdowns in six years, and can stretch the field effectively when he’s healthy, a skillset that the Ravens could use in their offense.
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2022-07-20T22:05:40Z
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sports.yahoo.com
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Bleacher Report names Ravens as best fit for ‘underrated’ free agent WR
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The New York Jets have signed cornerback Craig James to a one-year deal, according to Aaron Wilson of Pro Football Network. James was recently released by the Philadelphia Eagles this week, but it didn’t take him long to find a new team.
James came into the NFL as an undrafted free agent in 2020 with the Vikings. He spent the last three years with the Eagles, though he didn’t appear in a single game last season. In 2019 and 2020, he combined to play 18 games and make one start, breaking up one pass and recording 17 tackles.
He’s only played 83 defensive snaps in his career, but he can be a contributor on special teams; he played 342 special teams snaps from 2018-2020.
Jets signed Craig James to one-year deal, per a league source
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2022-07-20T22:06:18Z
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Jets sign recently released CB Craig James
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McGlinchey: Kinlaw looks 'unbelievable' ahead of 49ers camp originally appeared on NBC Sports Bayarea
Is Javon Kinlaw primed for a bounce-back season?
His 49ers teammate Mike McGlinchey seems to think so.
Kinlaw appeared in just four games last season before undergoing reconstructive ACL surgery, and the defensive tackle has been hard at work in Santa Clara this offseason so he can return to the field.
McGlinchey also has been a constant presence at the team facilities as he rehabs from his own knee surgery and recently told Brad Graham of TheSFNiners how blown away he is by Kinlaw’s progress.
“It’s been pretty much just me and Javon since January in the weight room," McGlinchey told Graham (h/t 49ers Webzone). "He came back towards the end of the season as I was kind of getting ready to travel. I think he was in L.A. for a little bit of the first part of his rehab ... but when he got back, he hit the ground running, man.
"... I couldn't be prouder of him and the way that he's developed. Not only his physical sense and the way he's trained but how he's become such a pro. He's there every single day at the same time, putting his work in as hard as he can, and competing with me, competing with everybody else that's training there, and being so diligent about his career."
Due to lingering knee issues, Kinlaw has only appeared in 18 games since being drafted No. 14 overall by the 49ers in the 2020 NFL Draft. He has worked this offseason to become a reliable piece of the 49ers’ defensive line rotation and it appears the time spent preparing is paying off just in time for the 2022 season.
In March, coach Kyle Shanahan described Kinlaw as the healthiest he has ever seen the 24-year-old. A few months later, McGlinchey described him to Graham as “unbelievable.”
"I've never seen a human being look like him. He is freaky looking -- in the best way possible," McGlinchey said. "He's gearing up for a hell of a year. Unbelievably motivated, unbelievably determined to prove that he's a great football player, which we all know he is already.
"And the maturity that he's shown in this last year or so, I could not be prouder of him. ... Expect big things from Javon. I think he's going to have an unbelievable year. He's ready to go."
McGlinchey knows just the kind of grit it takes to overcome an injury, as he’s in the midst of doing so himself.
RELATED: Kinlaw posts encouraging rehab video, says 49ers 'revived' him
He revealed to Graham that what originally was thought to be a season-ending quad tear suffered in Week 9 against the Arizona Cardinals turned out to be an injury to the tendon connecting his quad to his kneecap.
After painstaking rehabilitation, McGlinchey said he’s “ready for training camp.”
Both he and Kinlaw certainly hope their hard work together pays off.
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2022-07-20T22:06:30Z
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sports.yahoo.com
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Mike McGlinchey: Javon Kinlaw looks 'unbelievable' ahead of 49ers camp
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The Green Bay Packers now have all 11 draft picks under contract before the start of training camp. On Wednesday, the team announced the signing of second-round pick Christian Watson, who was the last of the team’s draft picks still unsigned.
Watson was the 34th overall pick in the 2022 draft and the Packers’ highest pick at wide receiver since 2002.
It took longer than expected, but a four-year deal with Watson is now complete – officially avoiding a scenario where the rookie would have to miss time to start camp while haggling over minor contractual details and past precedents.
Rookies report to training camp on Friday. The first practice is next Wednesday. Watson will be in Green Bay for both.
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2022-07-20T22:06:37Z
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Packers finally sign second-round pick Christian Watson
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For a second consecutive day the Raiders signed a former USFL player. Today they announced they have added Isiah “Ike” Brown ahead of the start to camp. This after adding WR Isaiah Zuber on Tuesday.
Brown recently played with the New Orleans Breakers where he had two interceptions, one returned for a touchdown.
The former undrafted free agent out of Florida International originally signed with the Buffalo Bills in 2020 before being placed on the reserve/retired list during training camp.
Along with the addition of Brown, the Raiders announced the release of veteran safety Dallin Leavitt and the waiving of guard Jordan Meredith.
Leavitt had announced his release earlier in the day on this instagram page, thanking the team with which he spent the past four seasons.
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2022-07-20T22:06:56Z
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Raiders sign CB Isiah Brown, announce two other moves
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—NFL (@NFL) July 20, 2022
Carolina Panthers announce alternate black helmet, all-black uniforms
The black helmet and all-black uniforms will be worn against the Atlanta Falcons at Bank of America Stadium on Nov. 10.
EXCLUSIVE: Greenwich Entertainment has acquired North American rights to Let There Be Drums!, a music documentary that features what may have been the final filmed interview with late Foo Fighters drummer Taylor Hawkins. Justin Kreutzmann, son of The Grateful Dead’s drummer Bill Kreutzmann, directed the documentary which “examines the essential role drumming plays in great […]
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2022-07-20T23:06:00Z
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11 NFL teams are getting new uniforms and helmets for the 2022 season
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Trouble has long been brewing at Starbucks due to ongoing conflict between unionizing employees and management. Now, it seems Chipotle may be attempting to fend off similar fledgling unionization efforts. The Tex-Mex fast casual has abruptly closed a restaurant in Augusta, Maine, citing staffing issues as the main cause. However, the store is the first Chipotle location where workers have organized to form a union. Just last month, the employees filed a petition with the National Labor Relations
The NCAA has addressed nine of 23 recommendations for creating comparable NCAA Tournament experiences for men's and women's basketball players.
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2022-07-20T23:06:38Z
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Sage Karam returns to Pocono for 1st time since fatal wreck
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Why Bogut believes Wiseman's role could be 'frustrating' originally appeared on NBC Sports Bayarea
James Wiseman occupied the Warriors' spotlight during the 2022 NBA Summer League, making his return to the court and giving a preview of what he can offer Golden State next season.
While Wiseman has made his feelings clear that he's thrilled simply to be back on the floor, former Warriors center Andrew Bogut believes the third-year pro eventually might feel disappointed regarding his role on the defending champions.
"As a young guy, Wiseman is trying to establish himself, his role, his minutes," Bogut told Sam Esfandiari and Andy Liu of the “Light Years” podcast.
Bogut explained that Wiseman, the second overall pick of the 2020 draft, would have more offensive responsibility had he been selected by a non-contending team. The balancing act of winning and learning can be tough for a young player of Wiseman's caliber.
"Development coincides with minutes -- big minutes -- and being in games late to learn how to win close situations," Bogut said. "Making mistakes and losing games in close situations, learning from it. I don’t think he’s going to get that with the Warriors for a while. I think he is going to be a 20-minute guy. I think he can be a good piece for them, but he is not going to be a Steph [Curry] or Klay [Thompson] piece to that team. That would be frustrating for him.
"Long story short for Wiseman, it’s going to be a little frustrating but he’s part of a team that’s a winning team. He has got to try to lean on guys like Draymond [Green], Steph, Klay and Andre [Iguodala], those kind of mentally-tough guys to ask questions, get answers and help him through it."
Few players know what it's like to be a big man playing alongside the Warriors' core than Bogut, who made three NBA Finals appearances along with Curry and company in 2015, '16 and '19.
"As a young player, Wiseman probably has people in his agency, in his group, in his family saying, ‘Hey, you can do more. They’re not letting you shine. They’re not letting you show your talent.’ And he probably thinks, ‘S--t, that’s right, I can do more for this team.’ But then Steve Kerr says, ‘Hey, we don’t need you to do that. We’ve got Steph Curry. We don’t need you going into your bag.' "
Bogut said the Warriors will ask Wiseman to be "physical, grab as many rebounds as you can, protect the rim, and be a facilitator as a passer and a screener" instead of a volume scorer.
"You’re going to get a few lobs from that [role]," Bogut said. "I still think Wiseman can get three or four easy baskets a game. I think concentrating on that early in games for him will be important. The rest will come slowly. His development probably wont be as fast as it would on a bad team, individually."
RELATED: How Durant trade talks slowing benefits Warriors' title pursuit
With Golden State, Bogut averaged 6.1 points on 5.0 attempts from the field per game over five seasons. That's dramatically different than his role over the first seven years of his career with the Milwaukee Bucks, who selected him with the top pick of the 2005 draft. Bogut logged 12.7 points on more than double the attempted shots per game with Milwaukee.
"[Wiseman] is coming to a system where it’s like, ‘Hey man, just set screens and roll for us.’ A lot of players take offense to that. A lot of players would say, ‘I’m more than that; I’m not a role player, I’m a star. I’m a top-five pick.' For a young player, it’s hard. There’s no formula to fix that, and that’s a challenge Steve Kerr is going to have with Wiseman.
"I’m interested to see how they navigate those waters because it’s easier said than done."
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2022-07-20T23:06:44Z
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sports.yahoo.com
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Why Andrew Bogut believes James Wiseman's Warriors role could be 'frustrating'
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From NBC Sports:
“We have to have contingency plans,” [Toyota Racing Development's] David Wilson said. “Rest assured, we’re thinking about every way this can go.”
ELKHART LAKE, WISCONSIN - JULY 02: Kyle Busch, driver of the #18 Skittles America Mix Toyota, looks on during practice for the NASCAR Cup Series Kwik Trip 250 at Road America on July 02, 2022 in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin. (Photo by Sean Gardner/Getty Images)
Richard Petty is supporting a bill in the U.S. Congress that would officially exempt motorsports from the EPA's emissions regulations, which haven't previously been enforced.
The 2013 Indianapolis 500 champion had wanted to try dirt racing for a long time.
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2022-07-20T23:40:40Z
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sports.yahoo.com
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Toyota exec: Contract talks with pending free agent Kyle Busch 'in a bad place right now'
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Instead of deciding on the first day of October, four-star safety Jordan Castell will announce his college decision on July 30. Andrew Ivins of 247Sports says he’s down to just three schools: Florida, Alabama and Tennessee.
The Gators hosted him on two occasions. The first was an unofficial on March 31, and the second was his only official visit leading up to the decision. Florida is the only school Castell has been to twice and is the crystal ball leader for him with three predictions submitted in its favor. On3’s recruiting prediction machine gives him a 90.8% chance to land the recruit as well, so it’s safe to say that the Gators are the favorites with the new commitment date rapidly approaching.
“Florida, there’s just a lot of love and I can see how they are setting up their players for the next level, especially with Coach (Corey) Raymond and Coach (Patrick) Toney,” Castell said. “I have seen what those guys have done at the programs they were at in the past.”
He could end up playing either safety or cornerback for the Gators. He spent most of his junior year at outside cornerback for West Orange High, so that might be where he winds up long-term.
Castell is ranked No. 219 overall on the 247Sports composite and No. 16 among safeties in the class of 2023. On3 is more bullish on him, ranking him at No. 130 overall and No. 10 at his position.
Dooley's Dozen: 12 best specialists in Florida football history
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2022-07-21T00:15:13Z
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sports.yahoo.com
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4-star safety moves up commitment date, names Florida in top 3
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Gov. Gavin Newsom, in challenging UCLA's move to the Big Ten, is now taking on the banner of the same university presidents that he shrugged off during the NIL debate. (Rich Pedroncelli / Associated Press)
Here in California, there is already a petition sitting with the National Labor Relations Board that is asking for USC and UCLA athletes in the revenue-producing sports to be classified as employees — a notion that has been approved of by NLRB general counsel Jennifer Abruzzo. We can assume that USC's and UCLA’s move to the Big Ten, which will ask athletes to make frequent cross-country trips to compete while balancing their studies, is only going to bolster the argument they are being treated differently than normal students for the university’s financial benefit.
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2022-07-21T00:15:26Z
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sports.yahoo.com
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Commentary: With attack on UCLA's Big Ten move, Newsom conveniently forgets he pushed NIL domino
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We’ve got another preseason watch list for you, this time from the folks on the Doak Walker Award committee. The award, handed out to the college football player judged to be the best running back in college football annually, has been handed out since 1990.
This year, the watch list has 74 names appearing on it, with Ohio State running back TreVeyon Henderson getting recognition as one to watch as we kick off the 2022 college football season.
Henderson burst onto the scene last season as a true freshman, rushing for 1,248 yards and 15 touchdowns on 183 carries (6.8 yards per carry). This, from an offense that has become extremely pass-heavy under head coach Ryan Day. Lost in all of that though is that with the number of plays Ohio State now runs on offense, there are plenty of opportunities for a running back the caliber of Henderson to get his touches and yards.
Henderson will look to build on a campaign that he put together a year after missing a year of high school development because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
There is no doubt that Henderson is one of the most explosive and gamebreaking running backs in the country, and if Ohio State can have the type of offense we think it will in 2022, he should get ample opportunity to show what he can do and make a run at the Doak Walker.
Eddie George is the only OSU player to take home the award, all the way back in his Heisman year of 1995.
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2022-07-21T00:15:51Z
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sports.yahoo.com
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TreVeyon Henderson named to the Doak Walker watch list
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Major League Baseball has proposed to the union rule changes for next season that include the elimination of shifts, a pitch clock and larger bases. In accordance with the new five-year Basic Agreement, the proposals, which were made last week, are now subject to a 45-day period of discussion by a competition committee. That discussion […]
Wake Forest quarterback Sam Hartman has not forgotten about the Demon Deacons' devastating loss to Pittsburgh in the 2021 ACC championship game.
Joe DeMayo closes the book on the Mets 2022 MLB Draft | MLB Draft
Joe DeMayo wraps up the Mets 2022 MLB draft, with the team making 22 selections. The club picked 13 pitchers, which will go a long way towards replenishing their farm system.
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2022-07-21T00:15:57Z
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sports.yahoo.com
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Thirteen Ohio State football players make East-West Shrine Bowl 1000
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As Charania mentions, McClung's deal will allow him an opportunity to make the Warriors' roster out of training camp, likely for one of the final, if not the last, spot on the roster.
RELATED: How KD trade talks slowing benefits Warriors' title pursuit
McClung doesn't have much of an NBA resume, playing in one game each for the Los Angeles Lakers and Chicago Bulls last season. He likely has an uphill battle for a spot on the roster, but his success in summer league appears to have turned some heads.
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2022-07-21T00:37:10Z
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sports.yahoo.com
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Mac McLung, Warriors agree to one-year NBA contract, agent says
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Sandoval spent seven seasons in San Francisco and then cashed in as a free agent, signing a five-year $90 million contract with the Boston Red Sox in 2014. However, in an interview with GQ's Joseph Bien-Kahn, the now 35-year-old says he’d make a different decision.
RELATED: Juan Soto trade: Potential Giants move 'coin toss' for Matt Cain
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2022-07-21T00:37:16Z
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Pablo Sandoval regrets taking Red Sox contract over Giants in 2014
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Everyone is gearing up for the start of the college football season, but we can’t forget about hoops either at a place like Ohio State where both sports have significant history.
While football turns on the television sets and pays the bills in a place like Columbus, OSU has had an arguably better basketball history than any other team in the Big Ten (at least until 2024 when UCLA comes on board).
All that being said, clearly, the recruiting classes for basketball aren’t nearly as big and bombastic as what we see in football, but it’s still the lifeblood of the program. Without great players and the development of them, you simply have no shot of competing to cut down nets. Head coach Chris Holtmann is trying to build upon what he’s done so far with his best class so far for 2022, one ranked well inside the top ten nationally.
So where does Ohio State stand among its Big Ten brethren so far with the 2023 class? Well, we are here to give you a bit of an update according to the 247Sports Composite Rankings.
Not Ranked - No commitments yet
Michigan head coach Juwan Howard is shown during the first half of their game Sunday, February 20, 2022 at the Kohl Center in Madison, Wis. Wisconsin beat Michigan 77-63.MARK HOFFMAN/MILWAUKEE JOURNAL SENTINEL
Teams Without a 2023 Commitment So Far
No. 11 - Minnesota
Minnesota Golden Gophers head coach Ben Johnson talks to his team during a timeout during the first half of the NCAA men’s basketball game against the Ohio State Buckeyes at Value City Arena in Columbus on Tuesday, Feb. 15, 2022. Credit: USA TODAY Sports Network
Commitments: 1
Total Score: 0.00
No. 10 - Nebraska Cornhuskers
Jan 2, 2021; Lincoln, Nebraska, USA; Nebraska Cornhuskers head coach Fred Hoiberg watches the action against the Michigan State Spartans in the second half at Pinnacle Bank Arena. Credit: Steven Branscombe-USA TODAY Sports
No. 9 - Iowa Hawkeyes
What Iowa head coach Fran McCaffery said about Ohio State postgame
Feb 19, 2022; Columbus, Ohio, USA; Iowa Hawkeyes head coach Fran McCaffrey during the first half against the Ohio State Buckeyes at Value City Arena. Credit: Joseph Maiorana-USA TODAY Sports
Total Score: 20.13
No. 8 - Maryland Terrapins
Feb 6, 2022; Columbus, Ohio, USA; Maryland Terrapins guard Eric Ayala (5) dribbles past Ohio State Buckeyes guard Jamari Wheeler (55) during the first half at Value City Arena. Credit: Joseph Maiorana-USA TODAY Sports
No. 7 - Michigan State Spartans
Michigan State head coach Tom Izzo critical of Ohio State hoops' crowd
Michigan State Spartans head coach Tom Izzo watches during the first half of the NCAA men’s basketball game against the Ohio State Buckeyes at Value City Arena in Columbus on March 3, 2022. Credit: USA TODAY Sports Network
No. 6 - Rutgers Scarlet Knights
WATCH: What Rutgers coach Steve Pikiell said about Ohio State postgame
Rutgers coach Steve Pikiell calls out to players during the second half of the team’s NCAA college basketball game against Ohio State in Columbus, Ohio, Wednesday, Dec. 23, 2020. (AP Photo/Paul Vernon)
No. 5 - Penn State Nittany Lions
What Penn State coach Micah Shrewsberry said about Ohio State postgame
Penn State head basketball coach Micah Shrewsberry calls out during the first half of the Ohio State vs. Penn State men’s basketball game Sunday, January 16, 2022, at the Value City Arena in the Schottenstein Center. Credit: USA TODAY Sports
Jan. 23, 2021; Madison, Wisconsin; Wisconsin Badgers head coach Greg Gard watches his team in the game with the Ohio State Buckeyes during the first half at the Kohl Center. Mary Langenfeld-USA TODAY Sports
Where is Ohio State basketball in Joe Lunardi's early Bracketology?
Feb 19, 2022; Columbus, Ohio, USA; Ohio State Buckeyes head coach Chris Holtmann during the first half against the Iowa Hawkeyes at Value City Arena. Credit: Joseph Maiorana-USA TODAY Sports
No. 2 - Indiana Hoosiers
Feb 21, 2022; Columbus, Ohio, USA; Indiana Hoosiers forward Trayce Jackson-Davis (23) reacts as time winds down in overtime against the Ohio State Buckeyes at Value City Arena. Credit: Joseph Maiorana-USA TODAY Sports
No. 1 - Purdue Boilermakers
WATCH: What Purdue coach Matt Painter said about Ohio State postgame
Purdue head coach Matt Painter reacts during the first half of an NCAA men’s basketball game, Sunday, Jan. 23, 2022, at Mackey Arena in West Lafayette. Credit: USA TODAY Sports Network
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2022-07-21T00:37:28Z
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sports.yahoo.com
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Updated Big Ten basketball 2023 team recruiting rankings for mid-July
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World 100-meter champion Fred Kerley will not be available for the U.S. relay team later this week due to a leg injury he suffered while running the semifinals of the 200. Kerley's agent, Ricky Simms, said the sprinter sustained a slight injury to his quadriceps during the race Tuesday night. Kerley slowed down about halfway through the race and finished second-to-last.
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2022-07-21T02:08:32Z
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sports.yahoo.com
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Novak Djokovic blow as US Open respects US government’s Covid-19 vaccine rules
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This is Volume III of a VII-part series that will take a look at the potential impact the 2022 draft class could provide for the Green Bay Packers.
Volume I (Jonathan Ford, Rasheed Walker)
Volume II (Samori Toure, Tariq Carpenter)
7) Romeo Doubs, WR
The Packers selected the Nevada wide receiver with the 132nd overall pick. His calling card during his time at Nevada was his ability to win vertically. Doubs led the FBS with 505 deep receiving yards in 2020 and finished this past season with 444 deep yards. He tracks the ball well and has outstanding body control.
“He was a very productive player at Nevada,” Jon-Eric Sullivan, the co-director of player personnel for the Packers, said. “We like his acceleration. His ability to play with the ball in his hands. He’s a big kid. He’s got length and plays big to the ball. We think he has a lot of upside as a route runner. There’s a lot to like about him…We think he can come in and help the room.”
Aaron Rodgers to Romeo Doubs is going to be fun. pic.twitter.com/qvgkOj1J8R
— Brennen Rupp (@Brennen_Rupp) May 9, 2022
Prediction: Doubs will likely make an immediate impact as a punt returner. The first time he touched the ball in his college career he returned a punt for an 80-yard touchdown.
As a freshman at Nevada, Doubs averaged 17.8 yards per punt return. The following year he averaged 10.8 yards per return. In 2020, Doubs averaged 9.1 yards per return, and this past season he averaged 14.2 yards per return.
Doubs has tremendous upside and could wind up having a rookie season like Marquez Valdes-Scantling (38 receptions for 581 yards and two touchdowns).
The Packers lost a lot of production when they traded Davante Adams to the Las Vegas Raiders and lost Valdes-Scantling to the Chiefs in free agency. It’s safe to say the Packers will lean on veterans like Allen Lazard, Randall Cobb and Sammy Watkins with production from the rookies (Doubs and Christian Watson) and Amari Rodgers sprinkled in.
6). Zach Tom, OL
The Packers selected Tom with the 140th overall pick. Tom finished his career at Wake Forest with 23 career starts at left tackle and 14 starts at center. That type of versatility will make him a valuable member of any offensive line.
“I want to be somebody who can play all five positions at a high level,” Tom said. “That’s the goal. That’s my main goal for the offseason and through camp. I want to be somebody who can go out there at any position.”
Tom has easy athleticism and doesn’t labor when he’s moving to the second level. He has a high football IQ and doesn’t get fooled by stunts or twists. According to Pro Football Focus, Tom only gave up four sacks during his final three seasons at Wake Forest.
Prediction: With Elgton Jenkins likely to start the season on the PUP, it’s anybody’s guess what the starting offensive line will look like when the Packers take the field in Week 1. As it stands right now the two starting positions that can be locked in are David Bakhtiari at left tackle and Josh Myers at the center spot.
With likely three or two starting positions up for grabs, having Tom listed No. 6 on this list could look foolish by the end of this season. He could start the season as the team’s starting right tackle and has the versatility to play all five positions along the offensive line.
“We think Zach’s a five-tool guy,” Sullivan said. “He played left tackle. He played center as well. We feel like he can play guard. He’s a very good athlete…A good scheme fit with us in our zone stuff…We’re excited to get him.”
5). Sean Rhyan, OL
The Packers selected the UCLA offensive lineman with the 92nd overall pick. Rhyan finished his career with 31 career starts at left tackle. During his 31 career starts, Rhyan only gave up two sacks according to PFF.
Rhyan is a powerful offensive lineman with the athleticism to get out and move in Green Bay’s zone blocking scheme.
Prediction: The Packers have a good track record of drafting players that played offensive tackle in college and kicking them inside to guard. Most notably, Josh Sitton and T.J. Lang. They have done it most recently with Jon Runyan. Rhyan could be the next in line.
“We certainly think he can play tackle in the National Football League,” Gutekunst said. “He’s 320-pounds and moving him inside to handle that kind of power…We think his best football is ahead of him.”
Rhyan could potentially start the season as Green Bay’s starting left guard, right guard, or right tackle. It’s even possible that he starts the season as a versatile backup.
That unknown is a reason why he’s not higher on this list. At the end of the season, it’s possible that Rhyan ends up being the most impactful rookie on Green Bay’s roster.
11). Jonathan Ford
10). Rasheed Walker
9). Samori Toure
8). Tariq Carpenter
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2022-07-21T02:34:49Z
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sports.yahoo.com
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Packers rookie impact: Will Sean Rhyan or Zach Tom earn a starting role?
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The uncertainty around Jimmy Garoppolo’s future has a lot to do with a lack of clarity about his market. One team tied to Garoppolo, the Cleveland Browns, appears to be out of the mix. Browns beat writer for the Cleveland Plain Dealer, Mary Kay Cabot, on Wednesday reported the Browns don’t intend to pursue Garoppolo via trade regardless of how the Deshaun Watson suspension plays out.
Watson’s suspension figured to be the domino that would determine whether they’d want the 49ers’ QB. Jacoby Brissett is their backup signal caller and there was a thought that the Browns might be happier moving into 2022 with Garoppolo to fill in the space between the start of the year and whenever Watson becomes available. If that’s not the case, the team could be out of options in the trade market.
Perhaps the Browns will change their minds if Watson is out for the entire year. Brissett has had a nice career, but he’s 14-23 as a starting QB with an 83.0 career rating. They might also be waiting to see if Garoppolo gets released and they can acquire him without giving up a pick to do so.
Should the Browns tap out of the Garoppolo sweepstakes, the only team left that makes a ton of sense going into camp is the 49ers’ NFC West rival Seattle Seahawks. Garoppolo would undoubtedly be an upgrade to their QB situation, but they may not necessarily be aiming for a more competitive quarterback. That would take them out of the running as well.
There’s still a lot of time between mid-July and the start of the regular season so things could change, but as July winds down, the 49ers are running out of options.
49ers give Jimmy Garoppolo permission to seek trade, will exercise 'caution'
Vitale is famous for his catchphrases “This is awesome, baby!” and “diaper dandy” — this last one is to highlight talented freshman players.
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2022-07-21T02:34:56Z
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Report: Browns not interested in pursuing Jimmy Garoppolo
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Could the Aztecs take over for USC and UCLA
San Diego State to Pac-12?
Realignment has basically slowed down at least what is going on out in the public. There have been a few things out in the public like the Big 12 and Pac-12 attempting to work together, but that clearly was going to fall.
Losing UCLA and USC is a big blow to the Pac-12 and its Southern California market, and that is where San Diego State might be able to come into play.
The Aztecs clearly can’t replicate the Los Angeles market but Jon Wilner of the San Jose Mercury News thinks San Diego State is the clear and only choice if the Pac-12 decides to expand.
Wilner has five reasons why San Diego State should be a prime candidate for the Pac-12.
Of those, the competitive factor is huge as the Aztecs have played extremely well against the Pac-12, and of the prior seven seasons, five of those years they had 10 wins. Really, it is six seasons since one of those years was 2020.
The competitive front they fit in just fine and even better than half of the conference.
Adding the Aztecs to the Pac-12 would help create some sort of foothold in that Southern California market, but not nearly as much of the Trojans and Bruins. The San Diego market is 28th and has just over a million people. That is more than other schools in the Pac-12 like Tucson, Boulder, Eugune, and Pullman.
It wouldn’t be a huge gain but it would help keep a presence for the recruiting hotbed that is Southern California.
The resource factor points directly to SnapDragon Stadium which is San Diego State’s brand new on-campus football stadium that also would fit right within the Pac-12.
As for academics, San Diego State is not on par with the Pac-12 but the league can’t be picky if it wants to add teams. There are few teams, if any, that can fit that academic profile, and it is not like the Pac-12 can be picky if it wants to invite new members.
San Diego State fits a lot of boxes like being a winning program, nice new stadium, solid market size, but more importantly being a top 25 team and by averaging 10 wins a year when excluding the 2020 pandemic season.
If the Pac-12 wants to add any team, Wilner might be right that San Diego State would. make the most sense.
Travis Kelce will provide backstage coverage and the #Chiefs are up for an award at the 2022 ESPYS. Here is how you can watch it all tonight:
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2022-07-21T03:39:35Z
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sports.yahoo.com
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Pac-12 Might Be Looking Hard At San Diego State
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When all those years of hard work landed him his first job running his own athletics department, it wasn’t one of the bluebloods but rather Northern Illinois — a long leap from becoming one of the highest-paid athletics directors in the country at Northwestern, then the commissioner of the Atlantic Coast Conference.
So when Phillips talks about college sports as a primarily educational enterprise, tsk-tsks those who are steering it toward becoming “singularly commercial” and warns about the danger of being too focused on football and men’s basketball at the expense of other sports, as he did at ACC Media Days on Wednesday, it almost certainly comes from a genuine place.
“Any new structure in the NCAA must serve many, not a select few,” Phillips said. “This includes national governance, media rights, membership, NCAA, CFP access - the list goes on and on. We are not the professional ranks. This is not the NFL or NBA Lite. We all remain competitive with one another, but this is not and should not be a winner-take-all or zero-sum structure.”
How lovely — and unfortunately for the ACC, how out of touch.
You’d think the last dozen years of realignment, not to mention the last 12 months that have seen Texas and Oklahoma jump to the SEC and Southern Cal and UCLA join the Big Ten, would have ended the era of soaring rhetoric in college athletics. At a time when the sports’ biggest brands are looking forward, understanding that revenue is the key to relevance, the ACC commissioner got up in front of his constituents Wednesday and sounded stuck in the past.
Phillips dusted off the old trope that a “pay for play” model would threaten women’s sports, touted the bowl system as a crucial partnership and described college sports as a diverse neighborhood that needs to be preserved, “not two or three gated communities.”
He did not sound like someone eager or prepared for the all-out, existential brawl that has already begun whether the ACC likes it or not.
Will Jim Phillips end up a winner or holding the bag?
North Carolina celebrates after its 89-72 win over Michigan State for the 2009 men's basketball championship.
Phillips is a genuinely kind person, a tremendous communicator and a highly respected administrator. He’s not even wrong that college sports would be better off if things worked more like they did when he was at Northern Illinois, where the focus is on regional rivalries and doing whatever you can with limited resources to provide opportunities for kids to get a free education by playing sports.
But that idyllic world has been torn to bits by a confluence of factors that are creating a relatively small group of winners in college sports and a whole lot of losers. At this exact moment, it’s unclear on which side of that line the ACC will ultimately end up. If you’re at Clemson or Florida State or North Carolina, it can’t be reassuring that the person steering the ship has more regard for a past that no longer exists than the dirty work required to secure the league's future.
That act may work at Northwestern, a legacy Big Ten member that will benefit tremendously from the further separation of the haves and have-nots despite being competitively irrelevant. It does not sound so good at a time when the ACC’s very existence could be under threat.
OPINION: Listen closely to SEC commish and you'll hear plan to crush college sports' little guys
To be fair, it’s not Phillips’ fault that the ACC will distribute less than half the amount of revenue to its members — and maybe even closer to a third — than the $80 million-$100 million projected for Big Ten and SEC schools in the coming years. And there may not be much he can do about it, as his predecessor John Swofford signed a media rights deal with ESPN that extends through June 30, 2036.
The only real card Phillips has to play is the Grant of Rights agreement that ACC schools signed the last time they were threatened by realignment, meaning nobody can leave without being penalized the cost of their broadcast revenue for the remaining duration of the deal. Today, that’s a potential $500 million hit, not to mention a bloody legal fight that would carry some risk since these kinds of agreements have yet to be challenged in court.
But as that number decreases each year and the real-world impact of the SEC and Big Ten’s financial dominance becomes clear, it will only seem more naive to talk about college sports as a collection of diverse neighborhoods rather than the bare-knuckle fight it is for every dollar that athletics administrators can get their hands on.
ACC isn't new to conference realignment game
The ACC, by the way, is no bystander in how we got here. One of the seminal moments of the current college sports structure came in 2003 when the ACC won a head-to-head fight with the Big East to poach Miami and Virginia Tech, then added Boston College a few months later.
“Obviously we haven't distinguished ourselves in how we've gone about this,” then-Duke basketball coach Mike Krzyzewski said at the time. “I hope we mend fences because we've obviously gone into another person's yard with our tractor-trailer and knocked down a few trees.”
Eventually, the ACC razed the entire lot. In 2011, with realignment rattling every league, the ACC tried to fortify itself from being poached by adding Pittsburgh and Syracuse, then Louisville a year later. What was left of the Big East — and it wasn’t much from a football standpoint — couldn’t hold together. Thanks to the ACC and the lure of money, one of the six leagues that had automatic access to the old BCS simply ceased to exist.
That paradigm gave way to a Power Five, which is now realistically a Power Two.
Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney and the Tigers have two College Football Playoff championships.
It’s hard to imagine a world where the ACC isn’t part of that mix, especially when Clemson has two national football titles in the past seven years and we just had a men’s Final Four with both Duke and North Carolina. These are great schools, huge brands, highly committed athletics programs.
But positioning the ACC as the last bastion of virtue in college sports won’t age well in this ruthless environment. A clear reminder of that came less than a year ago, when the ACC formed an alliance with the Big Ten and Pac-12 as a response to the destabilization wrought by Texas and Oklahoma’s surprise move.
On the conference call announcing the alliance, I asked whether it had been formalized with any documentation, and whether there would be language that prevents one league from poaching members of another.
Pac-12 commissioner George Kliavkoff responded in this way: “There’s no signed contract. There’s an agreement among three gentlemen and there’s a commitment from 41 presidents and chancellors and 41 athletic directors to do what we say we're going to do…we’re aligned in how we want to approach this, but there’s no signed document and there doesn’t need to be.”
Kliavkoff, a newcomer to college sports by way of the Las Vegas entertainment industry, surely now realizes the naïveté of those empty promises. In this world, looking backward to a simpler time and relying on the idealistic values that brought people like Phillips to power aren't even worth the effort of a phony handshake.
Anyone who doesn’t embrace that reality isn’t just going to get left behind, they'll have tire tracks on their back before they even realize they’ve been run over.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Why ACC commissioner's view of college sports could haunt league
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2022-07-21T04:05:33Z
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sports.yahoo.com
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ACC commissioner has pure vision of college sports. That puts his league at risk | Opinion
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The 2022 Texas A&M football roster is star-studded at a number of key positions, but the one name that jumps out the most in any conversation is starting running back for the Aggies, Devon Achane. Whether it’s his blazing fast speed, incredibly quick feet, or monk-like patience in the backfield, Achane is on pace to have his best statistical season yet in his first season as the starter. After being named to the Maxwell Award watchlist on Monday, Achane was just named to the prestigious Doak Walker Award watchlist, and the preseason honors continue to stack up.
Coming out of Fort Bend Marshall High School in Missouri City, Texas, Achane won the Touchdown Club of Houston Offensive Player of the Year award after his 2019 senior season after rushing for 2,262 yards and 40 rushing touchdowns, and 800 yards receiving with 10 receiving touchdowns. Ranked as the No.1 All-Purpose back in the 2019 recruiting class, Achane signed with the Aggies and made an immediate impact in his first season with 364 yards and 4 touchdowns on the ground.
In 2021, Achane began to emerge as one of the most dangerous offensive weapons in college football, recording 910 yards and 11 touchdowns on the ground, combined with 261 receiving yards on the season. As the presumed focal point of the offense while running behind what should be one of the better offensive lines in the country, look for the speedster to begin his Heisman campaign as soon as the opener on September 3rd.
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2022-07-21T04:27:23Z
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Devon Achane included in the Doak Walker watchlist
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https://sports.yahoo.com/devon-achane-included-doak-walker-031142520.html?src=rss
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On Wednesday, Paul Chryst and his coaching staff extended an offer to 2023 four-star outside linebacker Blake Nichelson out of Manteca, California.
Per the 247Sports composite, Nichelson is the No. 245 overall prospect in the 2023 class, the No. 18 LB in the country, and the No. 16 player in California.
The 6-foot-3, 200-pounds LB currently holds offers from Florida State, Oregon, UCLA, Arizona State, California, Nebraska, USC, Utah, Washington, and several other Power 5 schools.
According to MaxPreps, Nichelson ran for 2,231 yards and 36 rushing touchdowns on offense. On Defense, the junior LB totaled 49 tackles, 11 tackles for loss, seven sacks, three forced fumbles, and an interception.
You can watch his HUDL film here.
The California native announced his scholarship offer from the University of Wisconsin via his Twitter account:
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2022-07-21T04:27:36Z
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sports.yahoo.com
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Wisconsin offers 2023 four-star LB Blake Nichelson
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https://sports.yahoo.com/wisconsin-offers-2023-four-star-021938755.html?src=rss
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It was just Tuesday that KSTP’s Darren Wolfson was betting on the Tampa Bay Buccaneers landing former Minnesota Vikings tight end Kyle Rudolph. Wednesday night rolled around, and now, it’s a done deal.
The Bucs have reportedly agreed to a one-year deal with the 32-year-old tight end, who will now catch passes from the greatest quarterback that ever lived, Tom Brady.
It’s an expected move considering Rob Gronkowski recently retired, and the Bucs needed another veteran tight end versatile enough to step into the role as a blocker and a receiver.
Rudolph has some miles on him, but he can still do both on a part-time level. Not only does this signing get him back on the field, but it also gives him a chance to potentially compete for a Super Bowl with a team that should be an NFC contender once January rolls around.
As for the Vikings, Wolfson reported there was interest from Rudolph’s representatives for a return to Minnesota, but things felt one-sided in that regard. The Vikings never hung up the phone, but they also weren’t in a rush to sign their former longtime tight end, either.
But there’s a chance they could see him in the postseason, if things go according to plan with the Vikings’ new coaching staff. What a reunion that would be on the football field.
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2022-07-21T04:36:17Z
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sports.yahoo.com
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Former Vikings tight end Kyle Rudolph signing with Buccaneers
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https://sports.yahoo.com/former-vikings-tight-end-kyle-030211770.html?src=rss
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The ratings of players for this year’s edition of EA Sports’ “Madden NFL 23” have been trickling in over the last few days. On Monday, ratings for wide receivers and tight ends were released, and Baltimore Ravens’ tight end Mark Andrews was ranked as the No. 3 tight end with a 93 overall rating. Baltimore had another player make the video game’s top-10 list at a position and he was far ahead of the No. 10 spot.
On Wednesday, the initial ratings were revealed for kickers, and Ravens’ kicker Justin Tucker took the No. 1 spot.
Tucker received a 90 overall ranking, good for the No. 1 spot at his position. Tucker being ranked as the No. 1 kicker should come at no surprise. He holds the title as the most accurate kicker in NFL history, has been selected to numerous Pro Bowls and holds the record for longest field goal made in NFL history, booting a 66-yarder against the Detroit Lions in Week 3 of the 2021 season.
Who else would be #1 😏
Individual ratings that got Tucker up to a 90 overall included a 99 kick power rating and a 99 kick accuracy rating. The second-best rated kicker in Madden NFL 23 is Harrison Butker, with an 84 overall.
Tucker is the best kicker the NFL, and whenever he lines up for a field goal shows why. Through his 12 NFL seasons, Tucker has been selected to five Pro Bowls, been named as a First-Team AP All-Pro four times and has a 91.1% career field goal percentage.
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2022-07-21T04:36:29Z
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sports.yahoo.com
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Rating of Ravens K Justin Tucker in Madden NFL 23 revealed
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https://sports.yahoo.com/rating-ravens-k-justin-tucker-035527928.html?src=rss
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Georgia football’s second all-time leading rusher is well known for his incredible ability to throw around weight like a rag doll.
Cleveland Browns star Nick Chubb pulled up to Cedartown High School (Cedartown, Ga.) this week to give his alma mater some inspiration in the weight room.
Check out Chubb clean 405 pounds for reps in a video posted to his Instagram.
Chubb has had one of the best starts to a running back career in NFL history through four seasons in Cleveland.
The former No. 35 overall pick is ranked as the No. 3 tailback in the NFL per a recent ESPN survey after becoming the first running back in NFL history to average at least 5.0 yards per carry on 100+ carries in each of his first four seasons.
Chubb is no stranger to showing some amazing power in the weight room. Here is 675 pounds for reps earlier this summer.
The NFL is on watch. Chubb may have his best year yet in 2022.
Chubb (CB) doesn't possess the right combination of the two key ingredients for a likely earnings beat in its upcoming report. Get prepared with the key expectations.
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2022-07-21T04:36:48Z
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sports.yahoo.com
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Watch: Former Georgia star RB Nick Chubb lifts big weight at alma mater high school
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https://sports.yahoo.com/watch-former-georgia-star-rb-021350860.html?src=rss
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A lot of new faces in Reno
Expectations should be tempered for Nevada
Jeremy and Matt are back to preview the 2022 Nevada Wolf Pack season. This year for the Wolf Pack will be an interesting one with a new head coach in Ken Wilson and their former head coach Jay Norvell leaving for a job within the conference.
There were a lot of transfers so there will be a bunch of new faces on this Wolf Pack team. That includes a new quarterback, a brand new wide receiver room, and an offensive line. This will be a long year but there is hope with a solid running back and secondary group.
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2022-07-21T06:24:37Z
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sports.yahoo.com
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PODCAST: 2022 Nevada Football Preview
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https://sports.yahoo.com/podcast-2022-nevada-football-preview-032237006.html?src=rss
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https://sports.yahoo.com/podcast-2022-nevada-football-preview-032237006.html?src=rss
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The Jags spent a lot of money on the line this offseason by snagging Brandon Scherff off the free agent market and giving Cam Robinson a new long-term deal to protect Trevor Lawrence’s blindside for a few more years. The team also spent a high draft choice into getting their center for the future in Luke Fortner.
Despite those moves, the Jags will enter this offseason with a lot to figure out when it comes to their starting five, as well as the depth behind them. Let’s take a look at the offensive line, which currently has 13 players on it heading into camp:
Jaguars OL (74) Cam Robinson pushes a weighted sled during Tuesday’s minicamp session. The Jacksonville Jaguars held their Tuesday morning session of the team’s mandatory minicamp at the practice fields outside TIAA Bank Field, June 15, 2021. [Bob Self/Florida Times-Union]
Many came into the offseason wondering what the Jags would do at both offensive tackle positions, and it seems possible they could run it back with the same two starters they had last season. The team initially franchise-tagged Robinson but ended up giving him a three-year $54 million contract that guarantees $33 million, which cements him as the starter on the blindside for a while.
As for the right tackle position, it’s not a guarantee that Jawaan Taylor will remain the starter as he will compete with 2021 second-round pick Walker Little. Taylor was penalized 12 times last season, according to Pro Football Focus, which made him one of the most penalized players in the league. However, he is a young player who still has a long career ahead of him, so the Jags have a reason to believe he can be coached up.
Little, on the other hand, started in three games at left tackle last season and held his own. One of those games occurred against the Buffalo Bills, who were the league’s top defense at the time. Despite that, Little earned a 70.4 Pro Football Focus grade in pass protection in that game. He ended the season overall with a 70.2 overall pass blocking grade on the year. However, his overall run blocking grade (61.7) will need to improve in 2022, and if it does, he has a good chance to be a starter.
The two tackles who will be looking in from the outside are Badara Traore and Coy Cronk. Traore spent all but one regular-season game on the Jags’ practice squad. That’s likely where he could end up in 2022 as the Jags have good depth at tackle when looking at the first and second-team players.
Cronk is listed as a tackle, but the Jags may give him a majority of his reps at guard as he received looks there this offseason. If that’s the case. he’s going to need a strong showing at camp to make the team as there are other veteran guards with more experience on the roster.
The Jags signed a big-time addition at the right guard spot in Scherff, who has been named a Pro Bowler four times and an All-Pro once. When healthy, there aren’t many better at the position than him, and he’s a significant upgrade over former starter A.J. Cann, who is with the Houston Texans now.
The Jags will also have a new starting left guard this season as Andrew Norwell wasn’t extended and became a free agent. Right now, it seems like third-year player Ben Bartch is the front runner to replace him. Bartch started in 11 games last season as Cann sustained a Week 4 knee injury that sidelined him for the rest of the season. Bartch received a lot of snaps and experience as a result and it showed in organized team activities as many praised him for being a significantly improved player.
Behind Bartch and Scherff, are veterans KC McDermott and Wes Martin, as well as second-year player Jared Hocker and undrafted rookie Nick Ford. Of the four, Martin and Ford may be the two to watch as Martin has 11 career starts to his name, and Ford is a player who has played guard, center, and tackle. McDermott has a chance to stick around, too, as he’s participated in 16 games with the Jags while starting in one.
Some of the backup options we named could end up surprising fans this preseason as the team has several options who have starter experience and versatility. That would be a welcomed issue for the staff, although it wouldn’t make final cuts easy.
Oct 17, 2021; London, England, United Kingdom; Jacksonville Jaguars center Tyler Shatley (69) directs the line against the Miami Dolphins at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Nathan Ray Seebeck-USA TODAY Sports
The Jags lost their best offensive lineman in center, Brandon Linder, who retired this offseason. Linder was one of the best players at his position and was a team captain, so it’s not going to be easy to replace his presence.
Luckily, the Jags have a player in Tyler Shatley who was able to get a ton of experience as a starter due to Linder’s injury issues. Shatley, who the Jags re-signed through a two-year deal this offseason, will enter this season with 33 starts. Over half of those starts (18) came in the last two seasons as he registered eight last season and 10 the season before.
While the Jags drafted Fortner in the third round, he may not even start right away due to Shatley having so much experience. Still, the rookie should end up being a good competitor for Shatley as he brings a high football IQ and quickness into the mix. Fortner is also a versatile player who can play guard, too, so he will at least be a very valuable backup as a rookie.
Nebraska’s inside linebackers coach Barrett Ruud broke down his room Wednesday on 'Sports Nightly.'
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2022-07-21T06:32:50Z
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sports.yahoo.com
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Jaguars 2022 training camp preview: Offensive line
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https://sports.yahoo.com/jaguars-2022-training-camp-preview-042513622.html?src=rss
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In the NFC West, there has been a clear No. 1 tight end for a few seasons. That hasn’t changed. However, there have been changes in the tight end rooms in the division since before last season.
How do the tight ends in the division rank individually?
Check out below.
No. 1: George Kittle, San Francisco 49ers
Kittle is arguably the best tight end in the NFL. He is a dynamic pass catcher and a fantastic blocker. He did not, though, have the best season in 2021.
After missing eight games in 2020, he missed another three this past season. He did end up with 71 catches for 910 yards and six touchdowns, so the per-game production was there.
He is a matchup nightmare, although that is a big reason why the Cardinals drafted linebacker Isaiah Simmons. He is long enough and fast enough to potentially slow Kittle down.
No. 2: Zach Ertz, Arizona Cardinals
Ertz, despite beginning to decline, still is one of the league’s best pass-catching tight ends. He can run ‘X’ receiver routes and win.
Over the full season, he caught 74 passes for 763 yards and five touchdowns. He had 56 catches in 11 games with the Cardinals and that was good enough to tie a franchise single-season record for receptions by a tight end.
No. 3: Tyler Higbee, Los Angeles Rams
Higbee is a very solid player who showed flashes of breaking out as a great tight end in 2019. He can both catch passes, evidenced by his 61 receptions last season, and block. He played in 92% of the Rams’ offensive snaps. He is what Maxx Williams is to the Cardinals, only much more production in the passing game.
No. 4: Noah Fant, Seattle Seahawks
John Glaser-USA TODAY Sports
Fant was one of the players the Seahawks acquired from the Broncos in the Russell Wilson trade. We will see how he fits in a new offense. Gerald Everett didn’t get to 50 receptions or 500 yards in two seasons with the Seahawks. Fant had 68 yards for 670 yards and four touchdowns last season.
No. 5: Maxx Williams, Arizona Cardinals
Williams is a dynamic blocker. He was on track for a career season in 2021 before tearing his ACL in Week 5. He hasn’t had more than 16 catches since his rookie season but, assuming he comes back from his knee injury and continues to play at the same level, is a fantastic all-around tight end.
No. 6: Will Dissly, Seattle Seahawks
(Photo by Ralph Freso/Getty Images)
Dissly looked like he was going to break out in 2019 but then suffered a leg injury. He hasn’t had more than 24 catches in a season and played only 58% of the offensive snaps last season for Seattle, compared to Everett’s 75%.
No. 7: Tyler Kroft, San Francisco 49ers
Kroft signed with the 49ers this offseason. He had a 42-catch, 400-yard season in 2017. Since then, he has not caught more than 16 catches and has not played more than 11 games in a season. He is a decent player.
Promising rookie: Trey McBride, Arizona Cardinals
McBride was drafted in the second round by the Cardinals and is believed to be the clear best tight end of the draft class. The Cardinals are very excited for him and believe he can be as impactful as Maxx Williams for the offense. It’s impossible to know where he should rank right now, although he might already be in the 3-5 range.
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2022-07-21T06:32:57Z
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sports.yahoo.com
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NFC West TE rankings: George Kittle still easily the best
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https://sports.yahoo.com/nfc-west-te-rankings-george-051448779.html?src=rss
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The Carolina Panthers certainly have a bit of a Penn State flavor going for it. Not only is the head coach a former Nittany Lion in Matt Rhule, but the team just drafted Penn State linebacker Brandon Smith in the 2022 NFL draft to bring a little bit of Linebacker-U to the franchise. But it is another former Nittany Lion who could be lining up for a potential breakout season in 2022.
Yetur Gross-Matos was recently profiled by The Draft Network with a suggestion that offseason roster changes have paved a way for Gross-Matos to be a Week 1 starter for the Panthers, setting him up for his best season yet at the next level.
With Haason Reddick leaving Carolina to join the Philadelphia Eagles, Gross-Matos is expected to step into the starting role on the Panthers’ defensive line on the end. And that’s just one of the reasons The Draft Network is appearing high on Gross-Matos going into the 2022 NFL season. Playing opposite of Pro Bowl defensive end Brian Burns will likely lead to opportunities for Gross-Matos to bring pressure as opposing offenses focus more on Burns.
From The Draft Network;
If the extra snaps alone weren’t enough, the third-year edge rusher will be pressuring quarterbacks alongside Burns, a 2021 Pro Bowler. Burns will undoubtedly draw extra attention on one side of the line after a year in which he recorded nine sacks, 13 tackles for a loss, and four pass deflections. For Gross-Matos, playing opposite Burns should provide plenty of opportunities to succeed, especially for an edge rusher who has already shown flashes of potential facing an increased role in the defense. Just look at Reddick’s 2021 season, which featured 11 sacks and the eighth-best pass-rush win rate (23 percent) of all NFL edge rushers.
The Draft Network also suggests Carolina’s overall defensive strengths in the secondary should allow for more time to make a play behind the line of scrimmage. As opposing quarterbacks are trying to keep plays alive to find an open receiver, Gross-Matos may get a few more chances to make a play. Every second in the NFL can be a big difference, and the longer a quarterback holds on to the football, the more chances Gross-Matos will have to make a play.
More from The Draft Network;
Putting all those factors together for a young edge rusher that has already shown some nice flashes of potential should mean the third-year defender experiences a nice breakout season for the Panthers. If he can stay healthy all year after a couple of ankle injuries held him back in his first two years, 2022 could be a career year.
Gross-Matos was a second-round pick of the Panthers in the 2020 NFL draft. The former two-time First-team All-Big Ten player in 2018 and 2019 has recorded 52 tackles with six sacks in his first two seasons in the NFL. He has appeared in 26 games with nine career starts entering the 2022 season.
Penn State's all-time single-season 2,000-yard passers
With training camp less than a week away, we revisit the Panthers’ 2022 rookie class and projected roles for each pick.
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2022-07-21T10:58:30Z
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sports.yahoo.com
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Draft Network says Yetur Gross-Matos could be a breakout player in 2022
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Johnson, a native of San Bernardino, California, spent the last several years as the assistant athletic director at Heritage High School in Wake Forest, where he was surrounded by fellow NFL retirees. Dewayne Washington, who played for the Steelers from 1998 to 2003, serves as the head coach of the football team. Torry Holt and Willie Parker, who both played for the Steelers in the 2000s, are Washington's assistants.
In the days this week before the UK suffered through all-time record temperatures above 40 degrees Celsius — or 104 degrees Fahrenheit — GB News host Bev Turner made light of a meteorologist’s warnings about the coming heatwave in a televised interview that bears a striking resemblance to the much talked-about fictional TV interview in […]
Spiro quarterback great Henry Burris receives an in-person ceremony as a Class of 2020 inductee into the Canadian Football Hall of Fame.
"The Chiefs, Cardinals, Royals, Blues have all won championships. It's Mizzou's time to embrace that same standard," Drinkwitz said.
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2022-07-21T10:58:42Z
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sports.yahoo.com
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Former Steelers WR and 1st-round pick Charles Johnson dies at 50
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One of Penn State’s top recruiting targets in the Class of 2025 is moving up his recruiting process by a full recruiting cycle. Quarterback Davi Belfort has made the decision to reclassify for the Class of 2024 and is already putting in the work academically to make that possible.
The Fort Lauderdale recruiting target told 247Sports he is making the move because he feels he is ready for the challenge of competing against other Class of 2024 quarterbacks.
“I felt I was ready from a football standpoint and an academic standpoint and I wanted to push myself, that’s how I [was] raised,” Belfort explained in a report from 247Sports. “It’s going to speed up the recruiting process for me but I’ve already had some really good talks with a lot of the college coaches recruiting me and they’re excited about the move for me as well.”
As he moves up his recruiting class, Belfort also says he hopes to whittle down his list of top schools to 10 before the start of his high school football season. Belfort mentioned Penn State as one of the schools he has been talking with seriously enough to be a possible option in play.
Belfort made an unofficial visit to Penn State in April, with an official offer being extended at the time of the visit. Belfort already has a comprehensive collection of college offers that includes Alabama, Florida State, Miami (which was extended by Penn State defensive coordinator Manny Diaz in 2021 when Diaz was the head coach at Miami), Oregon, Texas A&M, Georgia, Tennessee, Michigan, Michigan State, and Florida.
Penn state 💙, had a amazing time @PennStateFball thank you to the coaching staff for an amazing visit. Can’t wait to be back pic.twitter.com/b93uLupsjH
— Davi Belfort (@DaviBelfort) April 9, 2022
As for a timeline for making a final college decision, Belfort told 247Sports he would like to have his decision made after his upcoming season, but he has not ruled out making a commitment earlier than that if he feels comfortable enough with his decision.
Penn State just added one of the nation’s top quarterbacks in the Class of 2022 with Drew Allar and Penn State is set to welcome AJ Locke as a preferred walk-on in the Class of 2023. Penn State lost a commitment from Marcus Stokes in the Class of 2023 after stokes flipped his commitment to Florida, so there could be a bigger need to secure a talented quarterback in the Class of 2024 for James Franklin and his staff.
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2022-07-21T11:02:50Z
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sports.yahoo.com
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Penn State recruiting target reclassifying to Class of 2024
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https://sports.yahoo.com/penn-state-recruiting-target-reclassifying-093201727.html?src=rss
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Gerrit Cole doesn't want Juan Soto joining Red Sox amid trade rumors originally appeared on NBC Sports Boston
The Yankees are 16.5 games ahead of the Boston Red Sox at the MLB All-Star break, but ace Gerrit Cole still has New York's archrival on his mind.
Cole was among several All-Stars at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles who were asked Monday about Nationals superstar Juan Soto, who's a potential trade candidate after he reportedly rejected Washington's 15-year, $440 million contract offer.
The Red Sox aren't viewed as legitimate suitors for Soto, but Cole nonetheless admitted he can't stand the thought of the young superstar joining the Red Sox.
"You know where I really don’t want him going -- I don’t want him going up to Boston," Cole said, via the New York Post's Greg Joyce. "But if he’s going to go, I want him to come to us."
Yankees slugger Aaron Judge didn't mention the Red Sox by name but agreed that he'd prefer Soto not join an American League East rival.
"I would hate to see him go to a team that we gotta play down the stretch,” Yankees star Aaron Judge said. “It’d be fun to see him be in New York or be wherever he wants to be."
It makes sense why Cole and the Yankees wouldn't want Soto in a rival uniform. The 23-year-old has already mashed 20 home runs and 43 RBIs this season and is one of the game's brightest stars. But it's interesting that Cole cited the Red Sox as the team he'd hate to see Soto join, rather than the Tampa Bay Rays or Toronto Blue Jays -- who are both ahead of Boston in the AL East -- or the rival Houston Astros.
That might be a reflection of Cole's struggles against Boston this season: The five-time All-Star has allowed 10 runs in three starts against the Red Sox this season (5.29 ERA) while giving up four home runs in those contests.
Cole probably doesn't need worry about facing Soto at Fenway Park, however: The Red Sox don't have the depth in their farm system to put together the massive trade package that Washington likely will command for its young star.
But if there's any consolation for Red Sox fans after their team limped into the All-Star break, it's that Cole still views them as a threat.
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2022-07-21T11:16:06Z
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sports.yahoo.com
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Yankees' Gerrit Cole doesn't want Juan Soto to join Red Sox amid trade rumors
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A total of 37 adults - 36 passengers plus the driver - were on board at the time of the crash. No children were on board.
Watch David Ortiz tour AL dugout during MLB All-Star game in awesome video
David Ortiz injected some much-needed excitement into the 2022 MLB All-Star Game with a tour of the American League dugout.
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2022-07-21T12:48:10Z
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sports.yahoo.com
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Teddy Bridgewater’s comments have caught the eye of LeBron James
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https://sports.yahoo.com/teddy-bridgewater-comments-caught-eye-120921226.html?src=rss
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On March 6, 2016, Peyton Manning retired. Everyone knew he was retiring many weeks before he announced it.
From then to March 8 of this year, the Denver Broncos were in the abyss. They searched hopelessly for a quarterback. Here is the list of quarterbacks who started a game for the Broncos from 2016-2021: Trevor Siemian, Paxton Lynch, Brock Osweiler, Case Keenum, Joe Flacco, Drew Lock, Brandon Allen, Jeff Driskel, Brett Rypien and Teddy Bridgewater. And we all remember the Kendall Hinton game (which was technically started by running back Phillip Lindsay in a wildcat formation). This will shock you, but none of those QBs took the Broncos to the playoffs.
There's more excitement in Colorado for this Broncos season than there has been for many, many years. Russell Wilson got the Broncos off the often-depressing quarterback carousel.
On March 8, shortly after it was reported that Aaron Rodgers would return to the Green Bay Packers, news broke that the Broncos had swung a big trade for Wilson. Sports talk radio in Denver wouldn't have debates like "Siemian or Lynch?" 365 days a year anymore. There should have been a parade downtown.
For so many years, the refrain with the Broncos was they had a playoff team but the quarterback position had dragged them down. We're about to find out. Wilson has been one of the great quarterbacks of this era, a magician who can consistently make something happen when everything breaks down in front of him. He helped the Seattle Seahawks win a Super Bowl and many other big games. Seattle went 104-53-1 in his regular-season starts. It's still stunning the Seahawks would give him up when, at age 33, he should have many good years left. Ask the 2016-21 Broncos: It can be very difficult to replace a great quarterback.
The Broncos have good talent. That's a reason Wilson waived his no-trade clause for the Broncos.
"It's been a blessing just to come here, just to come to an amazing city like Denver, to be a part of it with so many amazing teammates and great coaching staff," Wilson said, via Zac Stevens of DNVR Sports. "But also, once the trade was going to happen, I said, 'Hey, listen, I want to make sure that I go to a city that wants to win. I want to make sure I that I go to a team that wants to win. And I want to go to a city that knows how to win.' And all those three things were checked off the box here in Denver and so I think we've got a chance."
Wilson comes off as a politician at times, a pre-packaged ideal of what a quarterback should be. But his commitment is genuine. When he says he spent 19 or 20 hours a day rehabbing after finger surgery last season, he actually might have done that. He'll be ready with his new team and he'll change the culture too.
"You have to set the tone every day. There is no other option," Wilson said after an OTA practice, via the team's transcripts. "If you want to win, and if you want to win it all and be the best in the world as a team and everything else, there is no other option. That’s what we have to do. It’s a wild obsession every day.
"It’s a lifestyle. Winning is a lifestyle."
Quarterback Russell Wilson came to the Denver Broncos after many successful years with the Seattle Seahawks. (Photo by Matthew Stockman/Getty Images)
Elite quarterbacks have changed teams before and had immediate success. Manning, Tom Brady, Brett Favre, Kurt Warner and Joe Montana all transformed new teams in their 30s. Wilson can do the same.
It has been an offseason of change in Denver. The addition of Wilson has overshadowed that the Broncos have a new coach. Nathaniel Hackett comes over after being the Green Bay Packers' offensive coordinator. There's a new owner too, as another unsettled situation finally got an overdue resolution. Rob Walton bought the team for $4.65 billion. It's truly a new era of Broncos football.
It would be a disappointment if Wilson and Hackett don't lead Denver to the playoffs, especially after Broncos fans have waited so long for competent quarterback play. There are good receivers, two good running backs, a mid-tier offensive line and a defense that has some talent, especially in the secondary.
Wilson gives the Broncos a chance to return to the playoffs for the first time since Manning's final game, Super Bowl 50. Denver fans can finally feel good heading into a season.
Russell Wilson should still have a few good seasons left, and there have only been a few great quarterbacks traded in their prime. Credit general manager George Paton for finally figuring out how to fix the QB position and doing it with a flourish. The Broncos sent first-, second-, and fifth-round picks this year, 2023 first- and second-round picks, TE Noah Fant, DE Shelby Harris and QB Drew Lock to Seattle for Wilson and a 2022 fourth-round pick. That's a hefty price but nobody in Denver minds. The rest of the offseason barely mattered. Still, Denver added pass rusher Randy Gregory on a five-year, $70 million deal. There's a lot of risk there, but the Broncos defense was looking for more pass-rush pop. They also signed defensive tackle D.J. Jones to a three-year, $30 million deal. Denver shuffled some other pieces on defense, like adding cornerback K'Waun Williams while losing Kyle Fuller. Four of the team's first five draft picks were spent on defense, with the top pick being edge rusher Nik Bonitto in the second round. It really doesn't matter what else the Broncos did; when you end a six-year search for a QB by landing a future Hall-of-Famer still in his prime, there's only one possible grade.
It's possible Russell Wilson is closer to the end of his career than we think. The Seahawks are a perennial winner and they traded Wilson instead of working things out. Maybe they know something we don't yet. Wilson did struggle for a short stretch last season but that seems entirely related to a gnarly finger injury that required surgery. He came back too fast. He was fine pre-injury and in his final seven games he threw for 15 touchdowns and three interceptions with a 104.7 passer rating. Still, the running element to his game that helped make him a star is all but gone, and he is at an age in which we could see some decline as a passer too. It seems premature to worry too much about Wilson hitting the wall, however.
As of early July, the Broncos were BetMGM's biggest liability in the Super Bowl market. The Broncos are 16-to-1 to win the Super Bowl and a lot of bettors have taken Denver. It's easy to see why. This is a talented team that finally has a top quarterback. Earlier in the offseason, Russell Wilson was getting by far the most money in the MVP market, and his odds moved from +3000 to +1400. That's understandable too. The Broncos' win total is a heavy 10.5 and it's tough to take the over, especially in a rugged division. However, their +260 odds to win the AFC West look pretty good. If you believe in the Broncos, there is still value in the betting market.
From Yahoo's Scott Pianowski: "I wish I had a great answer on who Russell Wilson’s primary target will be — I see arguments for both Courtland Sutton and Jerry Jeudy. I wish I could perfectly forecast the backfield, with emerging sophomore Javonte Williams pushing veteran Melvin Gordon. Heck, I even like third receiver Tim Patrick, and the Broncos have talent at tight end, too. There’s a lot to draft into here.
"So maybe we focus on the player who connects with all pieces — and that’s Wilson.
"I realize Wilson hasn’t run as much in recent years, and occasionally his wizardry in pocket leads to a bad decision and a soul-crushing sack. It’s part of the gig with him. But he wasn’t always fully supported in Seattle, be it from the play design or the overall supporting cast, and I think he’s getting a fresh start — and a loaded set of teammates — at the perfect time. Remember what that did for Tom Brady, the move to Tampa? I see Wilson primed for a monster year.
"There are so many potential right answers at quarterback — and it’s just a single position for fantasy — that sometimes a QB endorsement feels a little sheepish. In this instance, I don’t care. Wilson is currently the 11th quarterback off the board in Yahoo ADP, and you can make a juicy profit at that buy-in. He’s one of my proactive picks. I will be seated near the front of this bandwagon."
The Broncos defense didn't allow many points or yards, ranking third and eighth in those categories, and was OK in yards allowed per play as well (tied for ninth in yards per pass allowed and tied for 13th in yards per rush allowed). But they were 20th in Football Outsiders' DVOA, indicating that unit might be a little overrated coming into this season. DVOA factors in things like game situation and opponent. One other reason the Broncos ranked lower in DVOA than their traditional counting stats was a lack of big plays. They forced six fumbles, the lowest figure in football. They had 16 interceptions, which was in the middle of the pack. Their 36 sacks were 18th in the NFL. There's a lot to like about the Broncos defense. Cornerback Patrick Surtain II will be a star, safety Justin Simmons is fantastic and there's pass-rush potential with Bradley Chubb (who needs to be much better after posting zero sacks in seven games), Randy Gregory, Dre'Mont Jones and Malik Reed. But, with a change in defensive philosophy from longtime defensive guru Vic Fangio to new coordinator Ejiro Evero, it's fair to wonder how good Denver's defense will be.
Who will shine around Russell Wilson?
The pre-Wilson Broncos relied on the run game, and for good reason. They had Melvin Gordon and Javonte Williams, and those two each topped 900 rushing yards last season. Williams was particularly impressive as a rookie, and perhaps he takes on a bigger role in his second year. Even with those two effective backs, the Broncos will obviously have a philosophical shift on offense. Nathaniel Hackett will run his offense, and he's unlikely to limit Wilson like the Seahawks did. Courtland Sutton could end up having a huge breakout, or perhaps it's 2020 first-round pick Jerry Jeudy. Jeudy has been criticized for a poor 2021, but he suffered a high-ankle sprain in Week 1 and that was a reason for his quiet season. Tim Patrick might be the most underrated receiver in the NFL. Albert Okwuegbunam is in for a breakout at tight end with Noah Fant off to Seattle. And backups like receiver K.J. Hamler and rookie tight end Greg Dulcich could emerge with an opportunity. Williams and Sutton seem to be the best bets to star (though Williams' usage might not be enough for fantasy football players, considering Gordon isn't going anywhere), though multiple players could take a big step with Wilson conducting the offense. It's a deep group.
Russell Wilson isn't one to publicly make many waves, but by the end of his Seahawks career there were some stories that indicated he wasn't pleased with being held back by an outdated offense. Like Tom Brady going to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Wilson should be excited to go to a new team and show that he was the one carrying the Seahawks all along. He rarely needs extra motivation. Wilson has never gotten an MVP vote, a factoid that has been shared a few thousand times by now, but he could win it this season. New coach Nathaniel Hackett has already said this will be Wilson's offense.
"We want to build this thing completely around him and make sure that he’s comfortable and watch him come alive," Hackett said, according to the team's transcripts.
It would be no surprise, especially given the Broncos' offensive talent, if a rejuvenated Wilson has a career year. If he does, the Broncos can win the AFC West. Any team that wins the 2022 AFC West, one of the better divisions that we've ever seen on paper, can win a Super Bowl too. The Broncos have some 2020 Buccaneers vibes.
Russell Wilson isn't a conventional quarterback. He often plays off-script and does it exceptionally well. That was a great fit in Seattle, but what if it's not such a good mix with Nathaniel Hackett and the Broncos? We've seen very good players switch teams and it never clicks, for whatever reason. I don't think that'll happen with Wilson in Denver, but there might at least be some adjustment time. It's also possible that the Broncos are very good but don't capture a playoff spot playing in a ridiculous AFC West. The division is so good that it's possible Denver finishes in last place. If that happens, it would be a devastating stomach punch to Broncos fans who have waited a long time for their team to be relevant again.
My optimism over the Broncos is held back a bit by the division they play in. I don't think the Broncos win the AFC West, but believe they'll find a way into the playoffs. It sounds crazy to question whether Denver will be a playoff team, but the AFC is really strong this season. Russell Wilson will be everything the Broncos are signing up for, but it's a division with some serious talent at quarterback — and every other position, really. We might get a chance to see if Broncos fans will be satisfied with a quantum leap in quarterback play and a long-awaited playoff berth, but no division title or deep playoff run at the end.
Ahead of Michelle Zauner and company's performance in Seoul. Japanese Breakfast Shares “Be Sweet (Korean Version)” Featuring Se So Neon’s So!YoON!: Stream Carys Anderson
Thirty-five years ago this week, the world was introduced to RoboCop. Set in Detroit in a dystopian future, the movie follows officer Alex Murphy (Peter Weller), who, after a fatal injury, is transformed into a cyborg with an array of futuristic bionics. Thankfully, we have thus far been able to hold off the worst parts of RoboCop’s dystopian world, but that shouldn’t stop us from trying to realize the best parts. For decades, scientists all over the world have been working toward building bette
Florida woman armed with pitchfork, whip tries to sell teddy bears outside Publix
Amazon to buy One Medical in $3.5 billion cash deal
The deal heralds a dramatic expansion of Amazon's push into healthcare, having piloted virtual care visits for Amazon employees in Seattle in 2019 before offering such services to other employers and in other cities under the Amazon Care brand. "We think healthcare is high on the list of experiences that need reinvention," said Neil Lindsay, senior vice president of Amazon Health Services. The e-commerce giant agreed to pay $18 for each share of One Medical, representing a premium of 76.8% relative to the healthcare firm's closing price on Wednesday.
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2022-07-21T13:26:27Z
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sports.yahoo.com
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2022 NFL Preview: At long last, Broncos find a QB as Russell Wilson era begins
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The Indianapolis Colts are less than a week away from the start of training camp when they return to the Grand Park Sports Campus in Westfield.
One of the rooms that went through a lot of changes this offseason was the cornerback room. The unit saw Rock Ya-Sin get traded to the Las Vegas Raiders while five-time Pro Bowler Stephon Gilmore was added via free agency shortly after.
With training camp set to begin July 27, here’s a preview of the cornerback position:
Gilly Lock was added this offseason on a two-year deal to shore up the starting unit following Ya-Sin’s departure. Despite dealing with a quad injury in 2021, Gilmore was still one of the top cornerbacks in the league. This was especially true when it came to press coverage.
Gilmore was limited during the spring as a coach’s decision but still made an impact when he intercepted a pass from Matt Ryan. The five-time Pro Bowler and former Defensive Player of the Year should make an immediate impact in the secondary.
Everyone will have their eyes on the situation surrounding Moore entering camp. The Valdosta State product is considering a training camp holdout due to a contract dispute with the Colts as he feels he isn’t being paid the same value that he has brought to the team.
As the league’s best slot cornerback, Moore does have an argument. He’s being paid as the 27th-highest cornerback in the NFL when he’s on the field for 100% of the snaps every week. Hopefully, this issue doesn’t leak into the season because the Colts’ secondary needs its biggest playmaker.
If you’ve been following this offseason, you already know the love we have for Rodgers and his potential. Coming off of a quietly strong season in 2021, the former sixth-round pick is ready to take off in his third season.
Rodgers is coming off of a strong outing in the spring where he started his position battle with Brandon Facyson for the No. 3 cornerback role. The UMass product continues to ascend up the depth chart and could take on a bigger role in 2022.
One of the first outside free agents to sign with the Colts this offseason, Facyson will be competing with the aforementioned Rodgers for the No. 3 role in the cornerback room. At worst, he or Rodgers will be the No. 4 player on the depth chart.
Facyson also had himself a strong showing in the spring practices, which is vital considering he has the most experience working in Gus Bradley’s defense. The 27-year-old has been with Bradley every season since 2018. Facyson is a solid depth piece regardless of whether he wins the camp battle with Rodgers and should hold a value rotational role at the very least.
This is where the room gets crowded. The first four players on this list are locks to make the roster, which means the remaining players will be competing for the final two spots. We’ll start with Brown, who joined the Colts before free agency officially started.
Brown was an undrafted free agent in 2018 but does come from Alabama, which has produced several starting-caliber cornerbacks. He’s extremely fast, having run a 4.35 in the 40-yard dash at the NFL combine.
Syndication: Indianapolis
Hopes were high for Tell following his rookie season in 2019 but he missed the entire 2020 campaign due to his decision to become a COVID-19 opt-out. That time off didn’t do the former fifth-round pick any favors when it came to his standing on the roster, and he spent the entirety of the season on the practice squad.
There is still upside for Tell to earn a roster spot under the new defensive regime, but he’s going to have to fight for a role. The competition is pretty stiff when it comes to those final two spots, and Tell will be right in the thick of it when camp arrives next week.
Chesley is back with the Colts for another season after spending the majority of the 2021 campaign either on the practice squad or as a depth piece on the active roster. He appeared in nine games but most of his work was done on special teams. He’ll be vying for the final spot in the room as he enters his second season with the Colts.
An Ivy League product, Thomas was a seventh-round pick with the Colts during the 2022 NFL draft. Thomas is an exceptional athlete who displayed immense versatility throughout his college career at Yale. He lined up at both linebacker and safety for the Bulldogs.
There will be a pretty steep learning curve for Thomas, but the Colts are clearly enamored by his versatility and elite athleticism. Whether that will be enough to keep him on the active roster remains to be seen.
An undrafted rookie free agent out of the Division-II Pittsburg State, Flowers will be an interesting player to watch during training camp. He’s a solid athlete even if he is an older prospect. He could force his way onto the practice squad if he doesn’t make through the mucky competition for the final two spots in the cornerback room.
Alexander Myres
Myres signed a futures deal with the Colts this offseason. He’s bounced around to plenty of practice squads across the NFL since entering the league as an undrafted free agent in 2019. It’s going to be difficult for him to crack the roster, but the Colts may see something they’re intrigued with.
A BYU product, Wilcox was a seventh-round pick with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers during the 2021 NFL draft. The Colts obviously liked him because they claimed him off waivers from the Bucs during roster cuts in September. He spent the season on the practice squad and signed a futures deal this offseason.
Will Redmond
A former third-round pick with the San Francisco 49ers in 2016, Redmond spent the final few weeks of the 2021 regular season on the Colts practice squad. He then signed a futures deal with the team this offseason. Redmond has appeared in 34 career games but has yet to record an interception.
It’s almost a near-lock that Dabo won’t make the active roster to begin the season. If he does, it would be a major surprise. The Colts got Dabo through the International Player Pathway program this offseason. It isn’t clear if Dabo will be a cornerback or a safety, but the Colts are starting him out at the former position. Dabo is an elite athlete coming over from Germany and will be someone to watch develop on the practice squad.
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2022-07-21T13:26:39Z
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sports.yahoo.com
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Colts’ 2022 training camp preview: Cornerbacks
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https://sports.yahoo.com/colts-2022-training-camp-preview-123636518.html?src=rss
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Indianapolis Colts running back Jonathan Taylor was ranked at No. 21 in Pro Football Focus’ list of the top-50 players entering the 2022 season.
Coming in at that spot made certain that Taylor was not the highest-ranked running back on their list. In fact, it’s likely going to Derrick Henry, who came in at No. 16 overall.
Here’s what they had to say about Taylor’s ranking:
Taylor is the central part of the Colts offense and will continue to hold that role going into the 2022 season. Entering his third season, Taylor will be looking to become the fourth running back since 1999 to lead the league in rushing in consecutive seasons.
The only other backs to do so were Edgerrin James (1999-2000), LaDainian Tomlinson (2006-2007) and Derrick Henry (2019-2020).
Taylor produced above expectation at a pretty high rate in 2021, but that won’t keep him from gunning for the rushing title again during his third season.
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Bear in mind, Derrick Henry played in just eight games in 2021.
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2022-07-21T13:26:41Z
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sports.yahoo.com
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Colts’ Jonathan Taylor ranked 21st in PFF’s top-50
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https://sports.yahoo.com/colts-jonathan-taylor-ranked-21st-114556180.html?src=rss
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Reddick takes premier spot on most important Eagles list originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia
The Eagles had just 29 sacks last season.
Even if we allow that sacks aren’t the only measure of pass rush — and they’re not — that’s still a shockingly low number. That was the second-lowest total in the NFL last season and tied for the lowest total in franchise history since sacks became an official stat in 1982.
In the last decade there have been 42 teams with fewer than 30 sacks in a season and just 11 of them (26.2%) have had winning records. The Eagles were one of those 11 last season.
But it was very evident coming out of the 2021 season that the Eagles had a desperate need to improve their pass rush. And when they signed Haason Reddick to a three-year $45 million contract in March they addressed the problem in a big way.
Reddick, 27, has been sort of a late-bloomer in the NFL. The Cardinals drafted the Camden, New Jersey, native and Temple product with the No. 13 overall pick back in 2017 but tried to play him as an inside linebacker. Once they moved him on the edge and let him rush the passer in 2020, he began to thrive. Reddick had 12 1/2 sacks in his last season in Arizona and followed that up with an 11-sack performance in Carolina last season.
So since the beginning of the 2020 season, Reddick has 23 1/2 sacks, ranking him fifth in the NFL during that two-year span:
1. T.J. Watt: 37 1/2
2. Myles Garrett: 28
3. Trey Hendrickson: 27 1/2
4. Aaron Donald: 26
5. Haason Reddick: 23 1/2
There are just two players in the NFL over the last two years with 20+ sacks and 8+ forced fumbles: Reddick and Donald.
And the exciting part about getting Reddick now is that because it took so long for him to get on the edge in the NFL, he still thinks he has room to grow as a pass rusher in this league.
“I definitely do,” Reddick said in March. “Rushing against NFL tackles is different than rushing in college. While I have been able to have success, I’m still growing in this thing. I’m really just getting started. I don’t even think I’ve tapped into a lot of my potential yet. By God’s will, I just hope that I can continue to ascend.”
Reddick is the only significant addition at the edge rusher position this offseason. The Eagles also bring back Josh Sweat and re-signed Derek Barnett at the defensive end position. And they’ll have Brandon Graham coming back from an Achilles recovery. But for this defense to reach its peak in Year 2 under defensive coordinator Jonathan Gannon, Reddick needs to get after the quarterback.
At 6-foot-1, 240 pounds, the Eagles are listing Reddick as a linebacker. He’ll fill that SAM position that was occupied by Genard Avery in 2021, but it’s fair to assume the role will look different with Reddick than it did Avery.
The addition of Reddick seems to indicate a shift in defensive scheme and philosophy heading into the 2022 season as the Eagles move toward a more hybrid defense. They had elements of multiplicity in 2021, but the additions of Reddick and big nose tackle Jordan Davis indicate that we’ll see more odd-man fronts this upcoming season. A player who indicates a shift in philosophy deserves a pretty high spot on our list of most important players.
While there will be moments when Reddick is asked to drop in coverage, his primary objective will be to hunt quarterbacks. So don’t get too bogged down by the “LB” next to his name.
In fact, on his Twitter bio, Reddick calls himself a weapon for the Eagles.
“A weapon. That's a good quote by him, I think,” Gannon said. “As our overhang players they're going to rush the passer to affect the quarterback, and they're going to be violent in the run game and set edges and then they're going to have to drop a little bit in coverage.
“He's obviously very, very smart, very intelligent, high football character, very good skill set, versatile player, and it's our job to deploy him and to affect the game, to accentuate his skill set.”
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2022-07-21T13:26:42Z
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sports.yahoo.com
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Eagles 2022 season: Haason Reddick on list of most important players
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https://sports.yahoo.com/eagles-2022-season-haason-reddick-110000085.html?src=rss
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10 Eagles on offense to watch in 2022 training camp originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia
The Birds report for camp at the NovaCare Complex on Tuesday with the first practice of the summer scheduled for the following day.
Every year, I go into training camp with a list of players I want to watch extra carefully. That doesn’t necessarily mean the best or most important players, but the players with some added intrigue for various reasons.
Here are 10 offensive players to watch this summer:
The 27-year-old receiver is fresh off a controversial DQ in the 110-meter hurdles at the world championships in Eugene, Oregon. Allen handled that in stride but it seems like he got cheated by that disqualification. If he wants to make the Eagles’ 53-man roster, he’ll need to put all that out of his head very quickly. This is already an uphill battle for the world class hurdler who hasn’t played competitive football since 2016. His best college season for the Oregon Ducks was way back in 2014.
This is obviously one of the most intriguing storylines of training camp. Allen has Olympic speed but there are questions about how that will translate on the football field after years away from it. The Eagles were impressed by Allen, who ran a 4.35 at the Oregon pro day this spring, and there’s no downside to bringing him to camp. The Eagles are taking a shot in the dark here. If it doesn’t work, no harm done. If it does, the Eagles found a cheap way to add some elite speed to their roster at the receiver and returner spots.
The former second-round receiver has officially switched positions this offseason. He’ll enter this training camp as a tight end, having packed on extra pounds in an attempt to make this position switch. After three disappointing seasons in the NFL, it seems very unlikely that JJAW will ever live up to his draft status as the No. 57 overall pick. That ship has sailed. This position switch is about him trying to extend his career and stick around. With that said, he faces a steep uphill climb to make the roster.
That doesn’t mean it won’t be intriguing to watch. While JJAW’s chances to make the roster aren’t great, it’ll be fascinating to see just how far he’s come in such a short period of time as a tight end. Arcega-Whiteside was previously listed at 6-2, 225 pounds but the Eagles are already listing him at 237 pounds going into this training camp. Will there be a noticeable difference once camp starts? Whenever a player switches positions, it’s fun to watch their progress. Even though many fans are ready to give up on JJAW — I get it — I want to see how he performs this summer.
Arguably the Eagles’ biggest addition this offseason. The Eagles traded for Brown on draft night and then gave the former Titans receiver a four-year, $100 million contract extension, making him one of the highest-paid wideouts in the NFL. In Philly, Brown will reunite with his best friend, quarterback Jalen Hurts. The two became close on a recruiting visit many years ago and have remained close. They’ve worked out together before but actually playing on the same team will still be an adjustment. Heck, Hurts and DeVonta Smith had actually been teammates before and there was still a feeling out phase between the two of them last season.
Brown (6-1, 226) is a unique player in the NFL. He’s big and strong but also quick and fast. He’s one of those big-bodied guys who has no right being as fast as he is. If you’ve seen much of the Titans over the past three seasons, then you know how much fun this guy is to watch. He’s a YAC machine and it’ll be fascinating to see what his role looks like in Nick Sirianni’s offense. I’d expect Sirianni to draw up plays designed specifically for Brown and I think we’ll see him work outside and in the slot at times this year.
On any other team without a world class hurdler, Covey would be the most intriguing story in the receiver room. The Utah receiver/return man is an older rookie at 25, having missed two college seasons on mission trips. And he’s just 5-foot-8, 173 pounds. Covey is the second-lightest position player on the roster. But forget his size and his age for a second and just look at what Covey did at Utah. He was a fine receiver but he was a dynamic return man who took four punts and one kickoff back for touchdowns.
In his college career, Covey had 184 catches for 2,011 yards with 11 touchdowns. And he also averaged 11.9 yards per punt return and 25.4 yards per kickoff return. He was an electrifying athlete in college, but he went undrafted. Will his collegiate success translate to the NFL? I can’t wait to find out.
This time last year, Dickerson was being put on the Active/Non-football Injury list thanks to an ACL tear in college. With the laundry list of injuries in his college career, it was fair to wonder about the gamble of taking him with the No. 37 overall pick. But Dickerson ended up having a really impressive rookie season. He came off the NFI before final cuts and ended up starting 13 games. While the Eagles loved his versatility when they picked him, Dickerson played so well at left guard that the Eagles aren’t moving him. He has officially taken Isaac Seumalo’s job.
Dickerson, 23, got off to a rough start when he was thrown in to the fire last year but that’s understandable. He was coming off a serious injury and missed all of training camp. But he got much stronger as his rookie season went on and now I’m excited to watch him in his first full NFL training camp. The 6-6, 333-pound Dickerson is a heck of an athlete and seeing him next to Jordan Mailata every day this summer should be a treat.
Duh. All eyes are always going to be on the quarterback. But it’s even more true when the QB isn’t well-established. It’s easy to forget because of how poorly he performed in the playoff game, but Hurts did some good things in his first full year as a starter in 2021. He was certainly better last year than he was in his limited playing time in 2020. But it also wasn’t a linear progression throughout his first season as a starter. There were good games and bad games. And there’s no doubt in anyone’s mind that Hurts needs to continue to improve.
Hurts in 2022 will enter the second season in the same offensive system for the first time since high school. And the Eagles went out and traded for his best friend, who happens to be a Pro Bowl receiver. The Eagles had the 25th-ranked passing offense in the NFL last year but they hope it’ll be much better in 2022. Hurts will be a huge part of that.
We know the Eagles’ top three running backs are Miles Sanders, Kenny Gainwell and Boston Scott. Maybe they keep just three on their 53-man roster. But if the Eagles want to keep four running backs there could be a really fun battle between Huntley and UDFA Kennedy Brooks. While there’s a lot to like about Brooks, we know Huntley will be impressive this summer because he was dynamic during last year’s camp. Huntley can absolutely fly and his skillset puts him in a position to really stand out in summer practices.
Last training camp, it seemed like every time Huntley touched the ball, he had the chance to break off a 50 yard run. He does that a few times this summer and he could earn a roster spot.
C Cam Jurgens
The Eagles were able to convinced Jason Kelce to return for one more season — credit Nick Sirianni and a keg of beer — but they also drafted his replacement. The Eagles used the No. 51 overall pick on Jurgens out of Nebraska. Normally, watching center play isn’t all that exciting but Jurgens was the center that reminded the Eagles of Kelce most. At 6-3, 303 pounds, Jurgens isn’t the biggest guy at the position but he’s very athletic and moves extremely well. So all those highlight blocks downfield that have made Kelce a fan favorite? The Eagles think Jurgens will eventually be able to fill those shoes.
Aside from just watching Jurgens play with the second team during training camp, it’ll also be fun to watch his interactions with Kelce. In just a very limited viewing window at OTAs, we already saw Jurgens and Kelce forming a connection. Every bit of down time during practice, we’re going to see Jurgens soaking up as much information as he can from his legendary teammate.
RG Isaac Seumalo
We talked about Dickerson earlier and how he solidified himself as the Eagles’ starting left guard. That left Seumalo without a position but the Eagles are giving the veteran the first crack at winning the right guard job. As long as he is cleared medically at that point — he’s coming off a Lisfranc injury — then Seumalo will be lining up as the first-team right guard.
After early-career struggles, Seumalo turned into a solid player but he’s struggled to stay healthy. Seumalo has played in just 12 games over the last two years and has just one full season in his six years in the NFL. Now 28, Seumalo is being asked to flip sides of the line but will still be a starter if he performs well this summer.
QB Carson Strong
The Eagles spent crazy money on their undrafted class in 2022 and no one got more than Strong. The Nevada quarterback got a signing bonus of $20,000 and $320,000 in guaranteed money. The Eagles lured him to Philadelphia. Strong (6-3, 226) was once thought of as a first-round draft pick but the long list of injuries to his right knee, dating back to high school, left him undrafted. That knee is an obvious concern.
But Strong has talent. In 2021, he completed 70% of his passes for 4,175 yards with 36 touchdowns and 8 interceptions. He has an absolute cannon for an arm. He will likely be the Eagles’ No. 3 quarterback with a chance to be their backup in 2023.
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2022-07-21T13:26:47Z
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sports.yahoo.com
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Eagles training camp 2022: 10 offensive players to watch
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https://sports.yahoo.com/eagles-training-camp-2022-10-110000970.html?src=rss
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With all the firepower that’s in Minnesota Vikings offense, it’s been two years since the team has seen the playoffs. Last year, Kirk Cousins threw for 4,221 yards, 33 touchdowns and only seven interceptions. Justin Jefferson finished the season with 1,616 receiving yards, Dalvin Cook was a top-5 rusher, and yet the offense still felt bland. With the penalties piling up and the defense not playing to their potential, it felt like the organization needed a culture change. So, they decided to part ways with head coach Mike Zimmer, and longtime general manager Rick Spielman.
When Jefferson was asked about the changes he recently said, “We had an old-style offense last year. It’s 2022. You get into a new age and move to a new generation. Adding new things to the offense definitely allows us to be more comfortable with the offense and work in different areas of the fields.”
The biggest question mark we have is when looking at the Vikings today is, how much different will the offense be under new head coach Kevin O’Connell? When he was with his former team, the Los Angeles Rams, they had a similar play-action style quarterback in Matthew Stafford.
So, let’s dive into the Vikings’ offense to see what will be different this upcoming year!
Kirk Cousins isn't really the problem
Something that we’ve all noticed with Cousins is that he isn’t the type of quarterback to put an average team on his back and carry them into the playoffs. Although this may be true, he also hasn’t held his team back when we look at his production.
It might be hard to believe, but there are only three quarterbacks in the history of the NFL, who in their first 115 games have 30k passing yards and 200 touchdowns: Dan Marino, Peyton Manning and Cousins.
Right now, Cousins holds several franchise records from his time in Washington. He is first in career completions (65.5), and passing yards per game (261.4). For the Vikings, he currently he holds the highest career passer rating (103.6) and most season completions (425 during 2018) in Vikings history.
According to Pro Football Focus, 2021 was Cousins’ best season as he finished with the highest player grade of his career (88.4).
Cousins had nine games last year where he finished with 100+ NFL passer rating and this allowed Jefferson to achieve over 1,600 receiving yards; Jefferson and Adam Thielen both had 10 touchdowns each. According to Sports Info Solutions, Cousins leads the league in completions against Cover-3 defenses bringing five or more pass rushers.
All of this mentioned, the Vikings should be better than what they have been. When we pull up their results from last season, they had a total of nine losses and seven of those were by seven points or less. We could blame the defense for allowing rallies late in games (which would be entirely valid), but today we are looking at just the offense.
The offensive line had the second most offensive holding penalties in the NFL (26), which was only one penalty behind the last place Dallas Cowboys (27), also landing them 30th in the league in penalty yards per game with 61.4.
Four of those losses were by only three points or less. Imagine if the Vikings had those sixty penalty yards to work with each game, they might have ended the season 12-5.
It’s true that the offensive line had declined over the years, but Cousins still showed an ability to stay upright through the pressure and blitzes, as he was only sacked 28 times (25th) in the NFL and had the fifth most completions in the NFL when under pressure (per SIS).
Cousins preformed this well under a former head coach in Mike Zimmer who reportedly didn’t like him very much. Imagine being a quarterback that is getting paid millions of dollars and having to run out onto the field each and every drive knowing that the play-caller doesn’t put his trust in you. This mistrust certainly showed in the play-calling as well.
Defining the 2021 Vikings offense
When we take a step back and look at the stats, we are able to see that there were plenty of issues with the Vikings’ offense over the last few years. It all starts with the overall philosophy. The Vikings were a run-first team and built their passing game around the run.
According to SIS, Dalvin Cook had the 6th most run attempts in the league on first-and-ten and second-and-ten. This led to several third-and-long situations which landed the Vikings offense dead last in the NFL when it came to three-and-outs (per Football Outsiders) and 26th in third down conversion rate.
The play action offense works best when the defense fears the run game. Essentially, any quarterback would do well under play action with Cook’s skillset. But Cousins wasn’t just good; he was a top performer. Last year, on play action passes of 15+ air yards, he finished second in touchdowns and fifth in completions.
Cook is a very good ballcarrier but when you have a player like Jefferson and a two-time pro bowler in Adam Thielen, it’s important to get your receivers the ball on early downs.
On top of being overly dedicated to the run, another one of Coach Zimmer’s issues was his personnel usage. CJ Ham is a top fullback in the league, but when he is out there on the field 61% of his snaps, he’s blocking. Cousins is only passing it 11% of the time that his fullback is on the field.
There wasn’t any deception in the Vikings offense.
They ran 11 personnel only 44% of plays which was 5th lowest in the NFL, behind the Miami Dolphins, Cleveland Browns, Balitmore Ravens and Atlanta Falcons.
If an offense is able to run several plays out of the same look, it gives your quarterback a chance to examine the defense throughout the drive and exploit coverages.
Another tactic most coaches use to help their quarterback identify coverages is the pre-snap motion. When looking into the leaderboards (per SIS), when the Vikings used pre-snap motion there was a huge difference in production.
When it comes to completions from 11-personnel, the Vikings offense ended 14th in the league when they used pre-snap motion and 20th without. Using that same 11 personnel and looking at completions of 15+ air yards the Vikings were 10th with motion, and 12th without.
Using tempo to upset opposing defenses
Not only does new head coach O’Connell plan on using more 11-personnel and pre-snap motion in the Vikings offense, but he also plans to use more of an up-tempo offense.
When the O’Connell was on the VikingsDaily podcast, he asked about the new offense with Cousins, this is what he had to say, “…don’t put him (Cousins) into a position where he has to decipher different coverages to know where he starts his progressions, let’s call plays that have answers versus plays that have everything built into pure progressions, limit the impact of him getting hit.”
There were a few instances last year where Cousins didn’t get the ball out on time or didn’t bother going through his reads. In the clip below, the defense blows the coverage and Cousins misses the wide-open seam route.
In order to prevent these mishaps, O’Connell plans on simplifying the offense and calling plays that are based on Cousins trusting his wide receivers and taking a risk early in the play, rather than forcing Cousin’s to find the open receiver.
“We will pass in a smart, aggressive way, where you’re understanding the risk-reward of the why.” says O’Connell.
Another way the new head coach plans on improving the offense is using more of an up-tempo offense. Last year when O’Connell was coaching Matthew Stafford, the Rams ran no-huddle at the NFL’s second-highest rate, and led the league in 15+ air yard throws from no-huddle. Cousins was 24th in attempts with only 30 dropbacks from no-huddle. Zimmer rarely gave Cousins a chance to catch the defense off guard.
When it came to the run game, Cook had the second-most attempts against 8+ boxes only behind Jonathan Taylor, and still finished with the fifth most rushing yards. Adding in a no-huddle offense, defenses will have to cheat inside to stop the run leaving the Viking’s receivers with ideal matchups outside in their new high-risk passing offense.
Where does the Vikings' offense go from here?
This isn’t the first time Cousins and O’Connell have worked together. Back in 2017, when Cousins was in Washington, O’Connell was his quarterbacks coach.
Overall, the Vikings offense might not look much different from last year in terms of the playbook. It should actually be more condensed. O’Connell will put his quarterback in better opportunities using an up-tempo offense with play action, pre-snap motions and different formations from the same personnel. Deception will be key. We might even see Cook motion out to the sideline to catch a few passes. Anything that will keep the defense guessing!
When Cousins has the fire, he’s fun to watch!
The Vikings did the right thing by keeping Cousins. His performance earned him another chance with a new head coach, but this is his last year to really prove that he has what it takes to earn another contract. If he isn’t successful, the Vikings have the picks to trade up and grab a quarterback in the 2023 NFL draft.
We shouldn’t expect Cousins to preform significantly better than he already has, but if the defense can get a few more stops and the offense limits the penalties; there is a good chance that Cousins could lead this team back to the playoffs for the first time since 2019.
Kristin Cavallari and Stephen Colletti hint on new podcast they kissed after Jay Cutler split
Kristin Cavallari and Stephen Colletti who dated in the early aughts, launched their new Dear Media podcast Back to the Beach with Kristin and Stephen. On Tuesday's intro episode, the stars talked about how they lost touch for a decade when Cavallari was married, but reconnected in 2020... and maybe even kissed.
Allan Murray, who gave South Aiken High School a retro shoutout in 'Stranger Things' season four, is holding an Aiken comedy show to help the school.
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2022-07-21T13:26:54Z
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sports.yahoo.com
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How new head coach Kevin O’Connell plans to redefine the Vikings’ offense
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https://sports.yahoo.com/head-coach-kevin-o-connell-122914941.html?src=rss
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https://sports.yahoo.com/head-coach-kevin-o-connell-122914941.html?src=rss
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A lot of people will tell you that in the NFL these days, running backs don’t matter.
It might be more accurate to say that running backs don’t matter — until they do.
After two straight seasons of leading the NFL in carries, rushing yards, and rushing touchdowns, Derrick Henry of the Titans missed the last nine games of the 2021 regular season with a foot injury, returning for his team’s divisional round loss to the Bengals. When Henry was on the field last season, the Titans had an Offensive EPA of 0.08. Without him? -0.1. Tennessee had a Passing EPA of 0.15 with Henry, and -0.11 without, a Rushing EPA of 0.03 with, and -0.09 without.
Henry’s absence didn’t just affect the run game. Ryan Tannehill completed 68.1% of his passes for 1,185 yards, seven touchdowns, and three interceptions with Henry. Without Henry, Tannehill completed 66.7% Of his passes for 2262 yards, 10 touchdowns, and 11 interceptions. Without Henry, Tannehill’s EPA per attempt plummeted from 0.23 to 0.1.
With Henry on the field, Tannehill faced a loaded box (seven or more defenders) on a league-high 127 dropbacks. Without Henry, Tannehill faced a loaded box on 120 of his dropbacks, which ranked third in the league. From Week 13 through the end of the regular season, Tannehill had 69 dropbacks against loaded boxes, which ranked eighth. As Henry’s disappearance became more pronounced, opponents altered their strategies. Which happens when your most valuable player isn’t around to be that valuable.
Here, for your perusal, are the 11 most valuable running backs in the NFL today. Not all of them define their offenses, but there are more of those tentpole guys than you may imagine, given what you keep hearing about the value of the modern back. We also have links to all the position lists Mark Schofield and myself have done to date, leading up to next week’s list of the 101 best players in the NFL today.
Throughout his fairly successful tenure as the Patriots’ head coach, Bill Belichick has designed his offenses in just about every way you can imagine — from old-school smashmouth to new-school hurry-up spread. One of the undersold aspects of the Belichick offense is the hammerhead goal-line back who can steal touchdowns all over the place. LeGarrette Blount filled that role for the Pats in 2016, when he led the league with 19 rushing touchdowns. Last season, as New England transitioned to a new quarterback in Mac Jones, it was Damien Harris — the 2019 third-round pick from Alabama — who became that force. Harris had just 211 carries, gaining 959 yards, but he had 15 rushing touchdowns. Harris had nine carries inside the opposing five-yard line, and he had six of his touchdowns from there.
Not that Harris can’t get things done from further afield. Remember that Week 13 Patriots-Bills game in which Jones threw the ball three times, and New England had 46 rushing attempts? The Bills were bringing guys off the bench to load the box (I swear I saw Bruce Smith and Cornelius Bennett in there), and it didn’t matter when it was time for Harris to win on a 64-yard counter crack toss.
Harris was also one of the NFL’s best stacked-box runners in 2021 — he had 91 carries against eight or more in the box, gaining 376 yards, 209 yards after contact, and 12 of those 15 touchdowns. He’s now the lead man in a fearsome power committee with 2021 rookie Rhamondre Stevenson, which will continue to be Very Bad News for opposing defenses. Belichick once again has a premier Advil running game.
The difficulty with Penny, who the Seahawks selected with the 27th pick in the first round of the 2018 draft out of San Diego State, is how much you want to put into the first 3 1/2 years of his NFL career, and how much you want to lean on what he did in the last few games of the 2021 season. From Week 12 through Week 18, there wasn’t a more productive back in the league. Penny ran 102 times for a league-leading 706 yards, 6.9 yards per carry, six touchdowns, 4.98 yards after contact per attempt, and 12 runs of 15 yards or more. This is the back the Seahawks envisioned when they took Penny that high. But before that stretch, due to injuries and ineffectiveness, Penny personified Seattle’s approach more in the fact that the team’s last few drafts have been among the NFL’s worst.
Penny had four 100-yard games in his last five; he’d had just two in the previous 32 games. The Seahawks re-signed Penny to a one-year, $6.75 million contract, and they selected Michigan State back Kenneth Walker in the second round of the 2022 draft, so it’s safe to say that the team is a bit hesitant, as well.
With all that said, Penny still makes this list based on the quality of those late-season runs, and the potential they show. On this 62-yard touchdown against the Cardinals in Week 18, Penny cuts back against the slide, moves through the hole quickly, and his second-level acceleration has him blasting past the rest of Arizona’s defense.
Penny was also able to use his vision, tackle-breaking ability, and movement skills as a receiver, and this 27-yard play against the 49ers in Week 13 — right about when Penny started his stint of excellence — is a prime example.
Can Penny turn that last few weeks into a full season of excellence? Such a turn would put him in the top five of next year’s list, and take him to a new level, contractually. We can but wait and see.
9. A.J. Dillon/Aaron Jones, Green Bay Packers
With all the talk about Aaron Rodgers and his receivers (or the lack thereof, especially after the Davante Adams trade), the extent to which the Packers’ offense was built on the run game may come as a surprise. But Green Bay was one of the more prolific zone running teams in the NFL last season, and the two-headed monster named A.J. Dillon and Aaron Jones was why — along with Matt LaFleur’s run concepts. The Packers ranked eighth in Rushing DVOA last season, and Jones and Dillon ranked 14th and 15th in individual Rushing DVOA, respectively.
Jones was the more versatile back as a home run hitter and as a receiver — he had eight runs of 15 or more yards for 213 yards, and he caught 52 passes on 65 targets for 391 yards and six touchdowns.
Here, in the divisional round loss to the 49ers, Jones was responsible for the Packers’ biggest play of the game, taking a wheel route vertical to exploit iffy coverage for a 75-yard gain.
As for Dillon… I have no idea what this is, but I’m in favor of it. More mascot fights in general, please.
AJ Dillon just literally knocked a man's head off…pic.twitter.com/i8ram3eNO6
— Eli Berkovits (@BookOfEli_NFL) July 17, 2022
Dillon was also formidable against actual NFL defenders with more sensible uniform options. 576 of Dillon’s 840 rushing yards last season came after contact, and several of them happened on this 36-yard run against the Bears in Week 6. Chicago had nine in the box, and it just didn’t matter when Quadzilla was coming right at your face.
Would either Jones or Dillon make this list as individual players, and the epicenters of their run games? Hard to say. But as a duo, they’re as dangerous as any in the league.
8. Josh Jacobs, Las Vegas Raiders
Jacobs’ 2021 season started slowly — he gained 34 yards on 10 carries against the Ravens, missed two games with an ankle injury, and wound up in a committee with Kenyan Drake and Peyton Barber for most of the season. It was a weird “demotion” after two straight 1,000 seasons behind some really bad offensive lines, but Jon Gruden’s decision-making was what it was. Jacobs’ workload increased under interim head coach Rich Bisacia, culminating in a 26-carry, 132-yard game against the Chargers in the season finale.
Even in a disappointing season, Jacobs carried the ball 230 times for 955 yards and nine touchdowns. 683 of his rushing yards came after contact, he forced 60 missed tackles (third in the NFL behind Jonathan Taylor and Javonte Williams), and he had eight carries of 15 or more yards for 169 total yards. He was also good against stacked boxes, which helps when you’re running behind that line (left tackle Kolton Miller excepted).
Jacobs also ran 13 times for 83 yards in the Raiders’ wild-card loss to the Bengals, so he wasn’t just feasting on the Chargers’ bad run defense. This 35-yard run shows an appealing combination of vision, decisiveness, flow through contact, and acceleration.
The Raiders were pilloried this offseason for refusing to pick up the fifth-year option on any of their three first-round picks in 2019. Clelin Farrell and Jonathan Abram do represent whiffs from the previous scouting departments, but Jacobs is a different cat. New head coach Josh McDaniels seems to get how good Jacobs can be, which bodes well for a bounceback campaign.
Asked McDaniels about Josh Jacobs and picking up the 5th-year option. #Raiders pic.twitter.com/DHddoPCfBM
— Vic Tafur (@VicTafur) March 2, 2022
(Richard Mackson-USA TODAY Sports)
Since his rookie season of 2017, Ekeler ranks fourth in targets among running backs (455). third in catches (282), third in receiving yards (2,726),and first in receiving touchdowns (24). Alvin Kamara and Christian McCaffrey are the other force multipliers through that time when it comes to receiving backs, and neither one of them is on this list.
What set Ekeler apart from your traditional smaller pass-catching back in 2021 was his ability to get everything done as a pure runner. Ekeler caught 70 passes on 94 targets for 647 yards and eight touchdowns, yes, but he also ran the ball 206 times for 911 yards and 12 touchdowns. Those 20 total touchdowns led the NFL, regardless of position.
At 5-foot-10 and 200 pounds, Ekeler doesn’t project as a foundational back, but he also doesn’t just dry up and blow away when you hit him. 621 of his 911 rushing yards came after contact, he forced 37 missed tackles, and he had nine carries of 15 or more yards, totaling 165 yards on those plays. He did all this while dealing with injuries and a bout on the COVID list.
Last season, the Chargers did a great job of accentuating Ekeler’s yards after catch ability by leading deeper routes away from the strength of his release routes, leaving one-on-ones for the defense. Specifically, this didn’t go well for the Broncos more than once, and this 40-yard play in Week 17 is the prime example.
Ekeler has never had a 20-carry game in his career, and the Chargers are all about keeping him healthy with a balanced workload. They know how crucial his participation is to their offense in all ways.
Cook missed four games in 2021 due to injuries and COVID, and there’s the matter of the lawsuit and countersuit that could complicate his 2022 season. There’s also the fact that new Vikings head coach Kevin O’Connell might want his offense to spread things out and be less… traditional or predictable.
“For so long the game kind of became this condensed game where everybody was building things, the marriage of the run and the pass,” O’Connell recently told USA Today’s Jori Epstein. “But as times kind of moved forward, I think spreading the field out not playing the game in a phone booth has been a productive thing for some offenses. Putting the game in the quarterback’s hands a little more, trying to run some premier plays vs. premier looks. And really, when in doubt, trust space-rhythm-timing of offenses to hold you true to your core and what you’re trying to get accomplished.”
Maybe that has Cook running more out of spread stuff, which he can certainly do. Maybe he lines up wide more often, which he can also do. Of course, he’s still a foundational piece of this offense, as he’s been since 2018, his second NFL season. Last season, despite all the distractions, he still gained 1,159 yards and scored six touchdowns on 249 carries, adding 34 catches on 49 targets for 224 yards.
Cook’s line didn’t help. Per the Football Outsiders Almanac, “The Vikings were dead last in stuff rate at 23%, meaning roughly a quarter of the team’s runs last year had no chance for the running back to do anything. However, the Vikings finished seventh in second-level yards and fourth in open-field yards because Cook was still an explosive-play machine.”
And that’s what we’re really looking at with Cook. For every nine-carry, 34-yard game against the Browns, there was a 27-carry, 205-yard game against the Steelers in an offense that didn’t always work, and behind a line that often didn’t help. In addition to the explosive plays, Cook was also nails when opponents loaded the box. On 82 carries with eight or more defenders specifically arrayed against him, Cook gained 396 yards, 145 yards after contact, and he scored five touchdowns.
On this 27-yard touchdown run in that aforementioned Steelers game, Pittsburgh tried to constrict the middle, and Cook just blew that out with this outside run.
A healthy Cook in a more diverse offense could be a very big problem for the rest of the NFL. We’ll see how it plays out, but the skill set is complete — and scheme-transcendent.
In the first half of Super Bowl LVI,. Mixon ran seven times for 40 yards. In the second half, he got eight carries, gaining 32 yards. Given the close nature of the game, and Mixon’s athletic potential, one may wonder why Mixon wasn’t given more opportunities. Wethinks the Bengals could have used more of this down the stretch.
Why was Mixon given just 67 carries in the postseason, gaining 262 yards and scoring one touchdown? He had enough big plays to prove that he should have been a more integral part of the plan — especially as Joe Burrow was getting the snot knocked out of him over and over. Perhaps head coach Zac Taylor and his staff will change the picture if this team goes on another Super Bowl run.
Through the first eight games of the 2021 season, Henry was on pace to do what he did in both 2019 and 2020 — lead the NFL in carries, rushing yards, and rushing touchdowns. He had 219 carries for 937 yards and 10 touchdowns, and nobody was too close in any of those categories. Then, the foot injury that cost him the rest of the regular season, and the last we saw of Henry in the 2021 season, he ran 20 times for 62 yards and a touchdown against the Bengals in the divisional round loss.
What we saw at that point was a Derrick Henry who didn’t quite have the same juice.
Since Henry’s rookie season of 2016, only Ezekiel Elliott has more carries (1,650) than Henry’s 1,401. And over the last three seasons, Henry’s 900 carries laps the field. So, at age 28. Henry now begs the question: Was that less than sparktacular game against the Bengals a matter of a guy coming back from injury too soon, or the inevitable attrition of the position taking over? Football Outsiders’ Rule of 370, which states that any back with 370 or more carries in a season will inevitably suffer injuries and ineffectiveness after carrying the ball 370 or more carries in a season, comes to mind here.
Including the postseason, Henry had 396 carries in the 2020 season. So, his drop from first in 2021 to fourth this year is based on that uncertainty as much as anything.
We’ve already talked about how opponents stack the box against the Titans when Henry is on the field, and even with him missing half a season, he had the third-most carries against stacked boxes with 92, behind only Dalvin Cook of the Vikings, and Elijah Mitchell of the 49ers. Henry gained 363 yards, 278 yards after contact, and scored six touchdowns on such plays — so when healthy, he proved able to win even when opposing defenses were selling the house to stop him.
What you hope to see again is stuff like this 76-yard touchdown run against the Bills in Week 6. Buffalo’s defense is trying to anticipate where Henry is going, he hits the other side, it’s bang on contact, and he turns on the jets. This is the Derrick Henry you really can’t consistently defend. 728 of Henry’s 938 yards came after first contact last season.
Henry may now be on the wrong side of the running back attrition equation. But will he be one of the rare backs who can beat all the curses? We opine that it would be unwise to bet against him — it’s just something to watch from now on.
Based on Williams’ work at North Carolina in 2020, I ranked him as the best back in his draft class, and I didn’t think it was especially close. The NFL apparently didn’t see it the same way. Williams was the third running back selected in last year’s draft, after Alabama’s Najee Harris to the Steelers, and Clemson’s Travis Etienne to the Jaguars. Both Harris and Etienne were first-round picks, while Williams lasted until the 35th overall pick in the second round.
Safe to say, several NFL teams probably would like a do-over on that one. Williams gained 903 yards and scored four touchdowns on 203 carries, adding 43 catches on 53 targets for 316 yards and three touchdowns in a committee with veteran Melvin Gordon. But it was the quality of those carries that allowed Williams to stand out.
This 20-yard run against the Eagles in Week 10 was blocked well, but it also shows what happens when you load the box against Williams, and he makes your efforts irrelevant with vision, acceleration, and force after contact.
Williams should continue to be part of that dangerous rotation in Denver, and the Broncos will see fewer loaded boxes with Russell Wilson at quarterback than they did with Drew Lock and Teddy Bridgewater in that position. Committee or not, all signs point to a breakout season for a back who has already broken out about as much as he could in his rookie season.
Chubb was our second-best running back last year, and he lands here again, with a new No. 1. At least he’s consistent — and consistently great. Per Next Gen Stats via the Football Outsiders Almanac, Chubb is the only back in the NFL to average over 2.0 yards per carry more than expected on runs against loaded boxes in a single season. He has done it in three of his four seasons. Last season, against eight or more in the box, Chubb gained 258 yards, and 196 yards after contact, with four touchdowns, on just 55 carries. Overall, Chubb carried the ball 228 times for 1,258 yards and eight touchdowns. 967 of those yards came after contact, and only Rashaad Penny had more yards after contact per attempt than Chubb’s 4.24. Chubb also forced 57 missed tackles, fifth-best in the league, and his 17 runs of 15 or more yards ranked third behind Jonathan Taylor and Dalvin Cook.
You could say about Chubb what was once said of Ivan Drago: Everything he hits, he destroys. And ain’t no Rocky Balboa training in the Russian wilderness.
Of course, if you can just weave your way around a loaded box, as Chubb did on this 22-yarder against the Bengals in Week 9, that works pretty well, too.
We have absolute no idea what the Browns’ passing game will look like this season, for obvious Deshaun Watson reasons. But at least Chubb provides a measure of absolute dynamism and consistency no matter who the quarterback is. He was just as good in Baker Mayfield’s injury-plagued 2021 season as he was in Mayfield’s alleged breakout 2020 campaign. Not a lot of backs are team- and scheme-proof, but Nick Chubb is one.
The same could be said of the man who has jumped to the top of the list this year.
On this 78-yard touchdown run against the Jets in Week 9, you can see how Taylor can make the most of a small opportunity by getting skinny to and through the gaps… and then, he just takes off.
This 23-yard touchdown run against the Jaguars in Week 18 showed how, if you have a loaded box against Taylor, and you have hands on him behind the line of scrimmage… you still have pretty good odds of losing the down. Taylor led the NFL in rushing yards against loaded boxes with 1,234, yards after contact with 791, broken tackles with 23, missed tackles forced with 20, and first downs with 77.
(Matt Pendleton-USA TODAY Sports)
James Conner, Arizona Cardinals
Devin Singletary, Buffalo Bills
David Montgomery, Chicago Bears
Ezekiel Elliott, Dallas Cowboys
Tony Pollard, Dallas Cowboys
Melvin Gordon III, Denver Broncos
James Robinson, Jacksonville Jaguars
Rhamondre Stevenson, New England Patriots
Alvin Kamara, New Orleans Saints
Najee Harris, Pittsburgh Steelers
Elijah Mitchell, San Francisco 49ers
Leonard Fournette, Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Antonio Gibson, Washington Football Team
Anthony Fauci, President Biden’s chief medical adviser, clarified on Tuesday that he does not plan to retire, though he has been considering when he will step down from his current government position. After Politico on Monday published an interview with Fauci, 81, in which he said he did not expect to stay on in his…
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2022-07-21T13:27:37Z
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sports.yahoo.com
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The NFL’s top 11 running backs
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https://sports.yahoo.com/nfl-top-11-running-backs-100126591.html?src=rss
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In addition to wide receiver John Brown, the Green Bay Packers recently hosted three players for workouts, according to ESPN’s Rob Demovsky. With one spot open on their 90-man roster, the Packers also brought in a tight end, offensive lineman, and cornerback.
Brown, a third-round pick of the Cardinals in 2014, has played in 100 games and scored 31 total touchdowns. Now 32, he appeared in just four games with four different teams last season. In 2019, he caught 72 passes for 1,060 yards and six scores as a member of the Buffalo Bills. Known for his terrific speed, Brown has 320 career catches and a 14.8-yard average.
According to the NFL’s daily transaction report, the Packers did not sign any of the four players, including Brown.
Here is more information on the other three tryout players for the Packers:
TE Sal Cannella, Auburn
Cannella played three seasons at Auburn, totaling 25 receptions for 330 yards and five touchdowns. After going undrafted, Canella has struggled to find an NFL roster. The 6-5, 230-pound tight end had brief stints with the Chicago Bears and Miami Dolphins before most recently having success playing for the New Orleans Breakers in the USFL. Canella appeared in 10 games, starting nine, and finished with 34 receptions for 368 yards and a pair of scores. Green Bay could be looking to add to the tight end group given the uncertainty around Robert Tonyan, who is coming off a knee injury.
OL Airon Servais, Syracuse
An Ashwaubenon native, Servais spent six years at Syracuse. He finished his collegiate career with 60 straight starts, the longest active streak in FBS history. The 6-foot-6, 300-pound offensive lineman primarily played center and left tackle but also saw snaps at right tackle. The Packers are known to favor versatile linemen, and Servais certainly fits the mold. He was an All-ACC honorable mention in his final season, starting two games at right tackle and 10 games at center. After going undrafted in 2022, Servais was invited to the New York Jets minicamp on a tryout basis. His former head coach, Dino Babers, believes he has a chance to be an NFL player.
“(He’s) is a guy that has an opportunity to play at the next level,” Babers said via The Daily Orange. “He is a smart, tough guy that makes everybody better.”
CB Bryce Watts, UMass
Watts is a good athlete who attended three different schools. Before arriving at UMass, he played two seasons at Virginia Tech, totaling 29 tackles, seven pass breakups, and an interception. Watts then transferred to North Carolina prior to the 2019 season and sat out due to the NCAA Transfer Policy. He never played a single down for the Tarheels, but in one season with the Minutemen, made a solid impact. Watts totaled 43 tackles, four pass breakups, and an interception in 12 games. An impressive showing at his Pro Day helped Watts gain entry into the NFL. He ran a 4.39 in the 40-yard dash and also logged a 37.5-inch vertical leap. The Pittsburgh Steelers signed Watts as an undrafted free agent but waived him in May with an injury settlement. Now healthy, Watts hopes for another opportunity as training camp approaches.
Browns reserve tackle Chris Hubbard said that he thinks the team’s offensive line is a “very special group,” but others in the organization are looking for more from at least one of the blockers. Left tackle Jedrick Wills is that player. The 2020 first-round pick has been a starter over his first two seasons and [more]
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2022-07-21T13:27:44Z
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Packers work out John Brown and 3 other players ahead of training camp
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The ESPYs are an annual awards show that celebrates the best players, teams and moments in the world of sports. The 2022 extravaganza was held at the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles on Wednesday night.
Nelly Korda won the award for Best Athlete, Women’s Golf while Justin Thomas won for Best Athlete, Men’s Golf.
Korda most recently competed in the Dow Great Lakes Bay Invitational alongside her sister in the LPGA’s lone team event. The pair finished tied for eight. Thomas on Sunday tied for 53rd at the 150th Open Championship at St. Andrews.
Thomas has played in 18 events so in the 2021-22 season, made the cut 16 times and has had 11 top-25 finishes, nine top-10s and a win, which was his career second major, at the PGA Championship in May. He also surpassed the $50 million mark in career earnings this season.
Korda, currently third in the Rolex Rankings, won the gold medal last summer in the Tokyo Olympics. She has yet to find the winner’s circle in 2022, but she had four wins, including a major, in 2021.
She’ll get another chance for a major this week at the Amundi Evian Championship, which starts Thursday in France.
The center of the sports universe on Wednesday night was the Dolby Theater in Hollywood, where the annual ESPY Awards honored the best moments of sports by the world’s top athletes. Golden State Warrior Steph Curry hosted the awards, also winning a few, including Best NBA player. A total of eight awards were given out during […]
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2022-07-21T14:19:02Z
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sports.yahoo.com
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ESPYs: Justin Thomas, Nelly Korda win top golf honors at annual awards show
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It's been five days since Johnny Gaudreau shocked the hockey world with a surprise move to the Columbus Blue Jackets in free agency, but Calgary Flames fans are still struggling with their new reality.
In an effort to ease their pain and explain his unexpected decision to join the Blue Jackets, Gaudreau poured his heart out in an article published to The Players' Tribune on Wednesday.
"To my Flames Family, I hope you can understand my decision more after reading this letter," he wrote. "I appreciate how much you wanted me to stay and I hope you can see how hard this decision was for me."
The 28-year-old explained how important family was in his decision to move out of Alberta and closer to his hometown of Salem, New Jersey.
"As much as I love hockey … family is everything to me. It’s the most important connection I have," Gaudreau wrote. "And a few years ago, I think I started to realize how much you sacrifice when you give 100 percent to your career. I felt like I needed to do more to center my family in my life after we experienced some hard times."
Columbus Blue Jackets forward Johnny Gaudreau explained his decision to move on from the Calgary Flames in an open-hearted article in The Players' Tribune. (Getty Images)
Gaudreau mentioned how his father's heart attack in 2018 made him realize how little time he'd been able to spend around his loved ones since he entered the NHL in 2014. His wife, Meredith, who is expecting the couple's first child, is also from the Jersey Shore area.
"As much as we both love Calgary, I think Meredith and I just felt that it was going to be very hard to continue living as far away from our families as we’ve been living — especially as we’re starting a family of our own," he wrote.
Gaudreau also admitted his decision to leave Calgary came down to the wire, and he still considered returning to the Flames as he weighed his options one last time.
"For what it’s worth, I didn’t know for sure what I wanted to do up until the last hours of the last day," he wrote. "Man, even after I turned down the eight-year deal from Calgary, I still thought about going back and trying to work on a seven-year deal to stay. It was all on the table for the entire process."
Gaudreau was selected by the Flames with the 104th overall pick of the 2011 NHL Draft and first broke into the league in the 2013-14 season after starring at Boston College for three years. In 602 career NHL games, the 5-foot-9 winger has scored 210 goals and registered 399 assists for 609 points.
On July 15, he signed a seven-year, $68.25 million deal with Columbus, with an average annual value of $9.75 million. Sportsnet's Elliotte Friedman reported that Gaudreau turned down Calgary's offer of an eight-year, $84 million deal, leaving around $15 million on the table to sign with the Blue Jackets.
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2022-07-21T14:19:14Z
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sports.yahoo.com
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Johnny Gaudreau explains decision to leave Calgary in candid letter to fans
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The New York Yankees start the second half — yes, it's a misnomer because more than half the season is done, deal with it — at the Houston Astros. They're not just playing once on Thursday. We get to see the two best teams in the American League face off twice.
The Astros are a -120 favorite at BetMGM for the first game of the doubleheader. Cristian Javier (3.22 ERA) starts the first game for Houston. Luis Garcia (3.65 ERA) starts the second. The Yankees' starters weren't official as of Thursday morning.
The Yankees are up by 13 games in their division and the Astros are up nine, so they're comfortable that way. But the two games Thursday are big. The Yankees are 64-28 and the Astros are 59-32. These are the last two games the teams will have against each other this season, though more are likely in October. Yankees-Astros is the most likely ALCS matchup, and the best regular-season record will have home-field advantage. These might be the two most important regular-season games both teams have the rest of the season.
The Astros have taken three of five in the season series already. Both teams are strong in just about every way. They can hit, they're deep in the starting rotation and the bullpens are good. I'd side with the Yankees pretty much any time they're an underdog, assuming no big surprises at starting pitcher.
Here's a first look at the sports betting slate for Thursday:
There's a Detroit Tigers-Oakland A's doubleheader that won't thrill anyone, but is still there for your betting pleasure. Detroit is a -150 favorite in the first game and the A's are -160 in the second. Frankie Montas starts game two for the A's, and while he's good I could not lay -160 with the A's against anyone.
We have the 3M Open starting in the golf world, and three WNBA games, including an 11:30 a.m. start between the New York Liberty and Washington Mystics. It's good to have something back on the sports betting board after some quiet days.
I'll take the Yankees in game one as an underdog, and whoever is the underdog in game two. The Yankees and Astros are so evenly matched up that you'll do just fine blindly taking the dog.
NOT A SUBSCRIBER? SIGN UP TODAY FOR ACCESS TO ALL OF HAWGBEAT'S PREMIUM CONTENT AND FEATURES Join Mason Choate, Robert Stewart and Christian Cheetham as they recap how Arkansas fared in the MLB draft.
Jordan Peele's new sci-fi movie 'nope' is one of the most anticipated sci-fi thrillers of 2022. Daniel Kaluuya, Keke Palmer, Steven Yeun star.
The chairperson of Epic Charter School's governing board said he will step down Friday.
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2022-07-21T14:19:27Z
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The Daily Sweat: Yankees-Astros doubleheader is great way to start MLB's second half
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The Red Sox entered the All-Star break two games behind one of the three wild card playoff berths in the American League. Therefore, you'd assume the Red Sox would be buyers at the trade deadline given how close they are to the postseason.
But it's also possible the Red Sox become sellers, especially if they continue to fall in the standings as the deadline nears. Star shortstop Xander Bogaerts can opt out and become an unrestricted free agent this winter. If negotiations don't improve and it looks like he might not re-sign, will the Red Sox trade Bogaerts prior to the deadline and avoid the risk of him walking for nothing later on?
Bogaerts was asked Monday during FOX Sports' All-Star coverage about the trade deadline, and he sent a clear message to the Red Sox about how he hopes the team approaches the next few weeks.
"I feel like we should get some help," Bogaerts said. "We saw what happened last year. We got (Kyle) Schwarber. That's someone who carried the team for multiple stretches last year. I don't know if we could get someone of that impact, but it would be nice to get some help, for sure."
The Sox probably would be better served trading for a quality starter or bullpen arm this year instead of a slugger like Schwarber. Pitching injuries hurt the Red Sox over the first half of the season. But whether it's a hitter or pitcher, what's clear is the Red Sox should make an upgrade or two before the trade deadline to give this team the best possible chance of reaching the postseason.
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2022-07-21T14:19:33Z
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Xander Bogaerts reveals how he wants Red Sox to approach MLB trade deadline
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Chris Froome out of Tour de France with COVID-19 originally appeared on NBCSports.com
Russia resumed gas supplies through its biggest pipeline to Europe but Germany said it was not enough to rule out potential shortages, while in Ukraine, Russian forces were reported to be close to seizing the country's second biggest power plant. Russian troops shelled cities across the east and south and hit two schools as they carried out limited ground operations in preparation for a wider offensive, Ukrainian officials said. Russia said its forces had destroyed military targets.
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2022-07-21T15:02:18Z
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Chris Froome out of Tour de France with COVID-19
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Bianca Lucas’ “Love Dog” has debuted its trailer ahead of its world premiere at Locarno Film Festival in Concorso Cineasti del Presente. Lights On has bought international sales rights. The film centers on John who – after finishing a job on a Texas oil rig – returns to his home town in Mississippi, where he […]
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2022-07-21T15:02:21Z
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Tour de France 2022 route, stage 18, teams and how to watch on TV
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The New York Giants are entering a new era at safety in 2022 after parting ways with last year’s two starters — Jabrill Peppers and Logan Ryan.
New defensive coordinator Wink Martindale likes to use his safeties in pressure packages and they are expected to be very aggressive in the new scheme.
The unit is coached by Jerome Henderson and Mike Treier, holdovers from Joe Judge’s staff.
Here’s a quick rundown of the key names to know at safety heading into training camp.
Xavier McKinney, a former second round pick out of Alabama, started 16 games in 2020 and made 93 total tackles with 10 passes defensed and five interceptions.
McKinney has shown glimpses of being a Pro Bowl-caliber player and is seen as an ascending star. He will be an integral piece in Martindale’s scheme this year and will be expected to play most of the defensive snaps.
After three years of being a fill-in and role player, the former Notre Dame star will finally get a chance to be a full-time starter.
Julian Love has played all over the defense — outside and slot corner and the safety roles. Last year in 17 games (five starts) at safety, Love made 66 total stops and had seven passes defensed.
We’ll have to see if the Giants commit fully to Love or will swap him out in certain packages.
A fourth-round pick out of Iowa, Dane Belton is the type of player Martindale can make good use of. At Iowa, he played a position called the “cash” linebacker which is a hybrid safety/linebacker role.
Belton ran a 4.43 40-yard dash at the combine this year and was an All-Big Ten first team selection last year. It will be interesting to see how he acclimates to the NFL.
Jarren Williams has been moved from cornerback to safety. The team likes him and is willing to give him a shot to be in the mix at safety. He is a competitor and should be at least a practice squad player this year.
The Giants added Henry Black, who spent his first two seasons with the Green Bay Packers after being signed as a free agent out of Baylor.
Also in the mix are two rookie UDFAs in Kentucky’s Yusuf Corker and Trenton Thompson from San Diego State.
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2022-07-21T15:45:42Z
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2022 Giants training camp preview: Safety
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"I think the vast majority of them, if not all of them, would tell you that was a mistake," he said. "That contract was a mistake, they shouldn't have done it."
OpEd: The high-end resort/Gatlinburg model is just the latest form of exploitation-by-extraction by wealthy outside investors that has plagued our region for well over a century.
The Philadelphia 76ers on Thursday announced plans to take the first steps toward building a privately-funded $1.3 billion sports and entertainment arena. The team's managing partners, Josh Harris and David Blitzer, unveiled the creation of a new development company led by business leader David Adelman to create its future home in the city's Fashion District. The location is a busy downtown area with lots of shopping and entertainment and it is near popular Philadelphia destinations such as the Reading Terminal Market.
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2022-07-21T15:46:14Z
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Cowboys insider thinks Ezekiel Elliott's time in Dallas is done after 2022
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Jason McCourty recently announced his retirement from the NFL, but he won’t remain out of work. NFL Network announced on Thursday that McCourty has been added as a co-host of “Good Morning Football,” joining a team that features Peter Schrager, Kyle Brandt, Will Selva and Jamie Erdahl.
McCourty played 13 seasons in the NFL, spending three seasons with the Patriots where he played alongside his twin brother, Devin. The two won a Super Bowl together in 2018, and Jason finished his career last year with the Dolphins.
Here’s what McCourty said about joining the GMFB team.
Nate Burleson was previously a host on GMFB, providing valuable analysis as a former NFL player. Now McCourty will hope to do the same, drawing on his decade-plus of experience as an NFL defensive back.
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2022-07-21T15:47:36Z
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NFL Network adds Jason McCourty to GMFB team
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The Green Bay Packers are adding one of the stars of the USFL to the team’s 90-man roster ahead of training camp.
According to Bill Huber of SI.com, the Packers are signing tight end Sal Cannella, who led the USFL in receiving yards by a tight end and was named to the All-USFL team in 2022.
Cannella, 25, was one of four players to try out for the Packers on Wednesday. He previously played in the NFL for the Miami Dolphins and Chicago Bears.
Cannella (6-5, 230) went undrafted out of Auburn in 2020. He’ll fill the 90th roster spot in Green Bay.
As a member of the New Orleans Breakers of the USFL in 2020, Cannella caught 34 passes for 368 yards and two touchdowns. He finished sixth among all USFL players in catches and 11th in receiving yards, and he also set the league’s record for receiving yards in a game by a tight end with 154.
In Green Bay, Cannella should get a legitimate opportunity to compete for a roster spot at tight end, a position lacking depth and where starter Robert Tonyan is still recovering from an ACL injury.
At Auburn’s pro day in 2020, Cannella ran the 40-yard dash in 4.74 seconds, hit 33.5″ in the vertical, finished the three-cone drill in 7.15 seconds and put up 20 reps on the bench press.
Hornets Miles Bridges pleads not guilty to felony domestic violence, child abuse, ESPN reports
One thing all five women who serve in assistant general manager roles around the NHL have in common is none saw this opportunity available to them earlier in life. “I never expected to be an assistant general manager in my wildest dreams,” Meghan Hunter of the Chicago Blackhawks said. Now, Hunter, New Jersey's Kate Madigan, Vancouver's Émilie Castonguay and Cammi Granato and Toronto's Hayley Wickenheiser have each gotten to this point by taking different paths.
Tour de France 2022 LIVE: Jonas Vingegaard breaks Tadej Pogacar to win stage 18 and cement yellow jersey
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2022-07-21T15:47:49Z
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Packers signing All-USFL tight end Sal Cannella to 90-man roster
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Indianapolis Colts left guard Quenton Nelson is entering the final year of his rookie contract, playing the 2022 season on the fifth-year option. While he’s already one of the highest-paid guards in the NFL, his upcoming contract extension is going to reset the market at the position.
It’s not a matter of if Nelson will get extended. It’s only a matter of when the deal comes to fruition. It could happen before the team officially reports for training camp on July 26. It could happen sometime during the regular season. But we should expect it to happen sooner rather than later.
Nelson has been everything the Colts have wanted when they selected him with the No. 6 overall pick in the 2018 NFL draft. He’s earned three All-Pro First Team and four Pro Bowl selections since entering the NFL. He has missed only three games in his career, all of which came in 2021.
Before we get into the actual projection for Nelson’s contract, we need to take a look around the league first. Nelson is going to reset the market at the position, but it’s important to see what he will be comparing his potential deal to.
According to Spotrac, these are the highest contracts at the guard position, sorted by average annual value (AAV):
(Figures courtesy of Spotrac)
Even though Nelson would only need to make $17 million annually to be the highest-paid guard, that’s likely going to be too low of a figure. We should expect something in the $19-20 million range per season. That’s likely coming on a five-year deal considering Nelson is 26 years old.
While Nelson is likely going to exceed the total values of those contracts by a significant margin, the number to keep an eye on is the guaranteed money. That’s what it always comes down to and when teams get in trouble with the salary cap, it typically stems from an abundance of guaranteed money.
Given the likelihood of the extension having a higher total value than the current list, we shouldn’t expect Nelson to see a guaranteed percentage like Brandon Scherff’s. That would be unrealistic.
However, we could see Nelson approach Thuney’s guaranteed percentage, especially with the salary cap expected to go up again in 2023.
The other question that will be difficult to answer will be when the extension kicks in. Does the first year of the new deal replace the 2022 season, or does it become effective afterward?
The trend with other players has been that the extension kicks in after the conclusion of the current season. So the contract extensions that Darius Leonard, Braden Smith and Nyheim Hines signed before the 2021 season don’t begin until the 2022 season.
Nelson is already guaranteed a $13.8 million salary in 2022 due to the fifth-year option.
So what will the contract look like? Here’s our projection:
Five years, $97.5 million with $53 million guaranteed
Reds top prospect Elly De La Cruz was promoted to Double-A Chattanooga. He had 20 homers and 28 stolen bases at High-A Dayton.
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2022-07-21T15:47:55Z
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Projecting Quenton Nelson’s upcoming contract extension
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Devon Allen is disappointed, but he's not letting Sunday's controversial disqualification at the World Athletics Championships get him down. He doesn't have time to dwell with his shot at the NFL approaching.
The U.S. hurdler spoke with "The Dan Patrick Show" on Tuesday, two days after heartbreak on his home track saw him eliminated from the 110-meter world championship — basically for being too fast.
In case you missed it, Allen qualified for the final, but got out of the starting block .001 second faster than allowed, registering a false start — even though he didn't move until after the starting gun. World Athletics rules determine that any start within .1 second of the starting gun sounding is a false start.
"When I got the red card in my lane, I was pretty confused," Allen said. "So obviously, that's why I walked over to the official. I wanted to see the reaction. I wanted to see the video that they had of me starting as well."
Here's video of the incident, which shows no discernible visual evidence of Allen starting before his competitors. He definitely didn't start before the gun.
A computerized system involving digital starting blocks — not a human judge — makes the false start determination. And its decision is final.
"It's really unfortunate that that's the rule," Allen continued. "I understand the rule. It's in place so there's no false starts.
"But not to have a little bit of leeway for margin of error or anything that goes on for a thousandth of a second kind of is a little bit frustrating because I didn't get a chance to compete."
Allen explained to Patrick that a quick start is part of his edge — that he's regularly one of the fastest starters in his field. On Sunday he was too fast for the rulebook while competing on the Hayward Field track he called home as a University of Oregon student-athlete.
"Overall, usually, if you look at all my reaction times, I'm probably in the top 1-5% of all sprinters at every competition I'm at," Allen said. "Usually I'm just a quick reactor to the gun. This weekend, obviously, it's a huge competition for me, world championships in Eugene, Oregon. I'm probably gonna react a little more quickly than normal. "
Devon Allen does not lack speed — or confidence — as he shifts gears to Philadelphia Eagles training camp. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis)
Allen thinks he can be a burner in the NFL
Allen, 27, told Patrick that the event wasn't the end of his track career, but he's shifting his focus now to Philadelphia Eagles training camp that starts on July 26. Allen also played football at Oregon, where he was far from a star while tallying 54 catches for 919 yards and eight touchdowns in three seasons.
But his elite speed caught the attention of the Eagles, who signed him after he ran a 4.35 40-yard dash at Oregon's pro day in April. Now the question is begged: can he actually play at an NFL level after not playing football at all since the 2016 season at Oregon? He made his case to Patrick.
"I think the good thing is I haven't been getting beat up in the NFL for six years," Allen said. "And the good thing is I'm probably the fastest, most athletic I've been in my career. I'm much faster than I was in college."
While he has a deal, he'll have to earn his roster spot at training camp. He told Patrick that he believes he can stretch the field on offense as a receiver and potentially provide value as punt or kick returner. You can't teach speed, after all. And Allen says that he's even faster than his pro-day time after a full season of track training. Like, really fast.
"I'm probably at least a tenth faster if not more, so probably 4.2," Allen said of his projected 40-yard dash time. "If I practice a little bit, I'd like to say 4.1."
Logan Paul Threatens to Usurp 'Miz TV,' So The Miz Agrees To That Match-Up At SummerSlam
After weeks of feuding on social media after a huge betrayal at WrestleMania, Logan Paul and The Miz finally met face-to-face last night in the main event of RAW. The A-Lister invited Paul onto his infamous WWE talk show, "Miz-TV." wherein The Miz reminisced about the time the two of them teamed up at WrestleMania 38 to defeat the Mysterios. The Miz showed a video package of the two picking up the win, trying to keep the meeting lighthearted. However, Paul didn’t buy it for a second. He told the
Former Lakeside and UGA baseball standout pitcher Will Childers signed with the Milwaukee Brewers as an undrafted free agent.
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2022-07-21T15:51:17Z
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Devon Allen laments 'unfortunate' rule that led to track DQ, thinks he can run a 4.1 40 in NFL
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Aaron Chow
McClung, a crowd favorite who happens to be rapper RiFF RAFF's cousin, played one game each for the Los Angeles Lakers and Chicago Bulls last season and was later named the 2021–22 G League Rookie of the Year after being reacquired by the South Bay Lakers. As one of the top prospects coming out of Virginia in Highschool, McClung played in Georgetown and Texas Tech in college before declaring for the 2021 NBA draft. Going undrafted, he joined the South Bay Lakers, debuting with a game-high 24 points.
After the initial report was released via Shams Charania from The Athletic, McClung's agent later confirmed the deal. Stay tuned for additional updates as we draw closer to the start of the regular season.
Mac McClung was a walking highlight reel in his summer league finale ? pic.twitter.com/4ZbUeY0fwj
Can confirm Mac McClung has agreed to a one-year, non-guaranteed contract with the Warriors and will have an opportunity to compete for a roster spot in training camp. First reported by @ShamsCharania
The crowd-favorite certainly opened eyes in Las Vegas
Elsewhere in sports, Footballers wearing body cameras and microphones could be the future of football.
Tyson Fury wins ESPY for Best Boxer, Vitali Klitschko receives honor for courage
Tyson Fury wins ESPY for Best Boxer and Vitali Klitschko receives honor for courage at Wednesday's awards ceremony.
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2022-07-21T15:51:36Z
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Mac McClung and Golden State Warriors Agree to 1-Year Deal
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Steph's playoff run of 'vengeance' didn't shock brother Seth originally appeared on NBC Sports Bayarea
STATELINE, Nev. – When the Warriors were projected to win 47 games and maybe snag the No. 7 seed in the Western Conference last season, with little to no chance of winning it all, it formed a smile inside Stephen Curry.
He was back under the cloud of doubt, where he has lived most of his life. He had overcome so many labels -- too soft, too skinny, too fragile, too small, etc. -- and now, after missing the playoffs in consecutive seasons, came another.
Curry, who turned 34 in March, delivered a typical response. He shushed the skeptics. Became the NBA career leader in 3-point shots in December. Was voted All-Star Game MVP in February. Led the Warriors to a victorious NBA Finals in June and was a unanimous MVP selection.
While Steph’s season, and that of the Warriors, can be considered resurgent -- or maybe a reminder -- nothing about it surprised his brother, Seth.
“It didn’t really shock me because I know the work he puts in,” the Nets guard told NBC Sports Bay Area from the American Century Championship at Edgewood Tahoe Golf Course on an episode of "Dubs Talk." “I know the type of athlete he is – and the competitor he is.
“I knew he would come back with a vengeance and try to get to the top of the game and get even better.”
Though many of Curry’s regular-season statistics were a shade below his standard, his impact was precisely as it always had been. As the center of the team’s universe, his presence allowed Andrew Wiggins to flourish, Jordan Poole to reach the door of stardom and Gary Payton II to become one of the league’s most effective reserves.
Steph saved his best for the blinding light of the postseason, when over 22 games he averaged 27.4 points, shooting 45.9 percent from the field, including 39.7 percent from distance, 5.9 assists and 5.2 rebounds. He’s one of eight players to average 25-5-5 in the playoffs (20 or more games), and he has done it twice.
“I saw him all these years getting better,” Seth Curry said. “Even after the MVP season, he came back better and better.”
Much of the credit goes to Steph’s in-season habits and his offseason work with personal trainer Brandon Payne. As the Warriors were ousting the Mavericks in the Western Conference finals, Dallas coach Jason Kidd offered quite the compliment to Curry.
RELATED: Steph wins ESPY for Best Record-Breaking Performance
“Steph is the best-conditioned athlete in this game,” Kidd said. “He never stops moving.”
Diligence to the craft is the key, and Steph is as driven as they come. He realizes he prime seasons are dwindling, so he remains committed to a program that maximizes his gifts.
Steph heard the “window is closing” chatter last summer. Clapping back at the doubters is, for him, inherent. He made sure the clapping was loud enough for everyone to hear.
Sean O’Malley confident he’ll beat Petr Yan at UFC 280, calls underdog status ‘super cool’
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2022-07-21T15:52:01Z
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Steph Curry's playoff run of 'vengeance' with Warriors didn't shock Seth Curry
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The Bulldogs’ star wide receiver is the lone player from the Mountain West in the running to be the best pass in the country.
College football’s watch list season continued today with the reveal of the Biletnikoff Award, which is given annually to the nation’s best pass catcher. This year, just one Mountain West player made this preseason cut.
That player is Fresno State’s Jalen Cropper, who was number one among returning Mountain West pass catchers last year with 85 catches, 899 yards, and 11 touchdowns. Among those receptions were 14 that went for 20 or more yards, and he also chipped in as a runner by carrying the ball 19 times for 76 yards and two scores.
Last year’s Biletnikoff Award winner was Pitt’s Jordan Addison.
Nevada Shows Off New Helmet Options For 2022 Season
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2022-07-21T15:54:30Z
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Fresno State Football: Jalen Cropper Named To Biletnikoff Award Watch List
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Tom VanHaaren from ESPN made an article talking about which college teams are recruiting the best on offense. To no surprise, when he got down to the running back position, he ranked Michigan towards the top.
The Wolverines had a ton of success on the ground last season with running backs Hassan Haskins and Blake Corum, while mixing in true freshman Donovan Edwards. The Wolverines’ offensive line won the Joe Moore Award for the best offensive line, and it’s looking to continue the ground success in the future.
Michigan got a commitment from ESPN 300 running back Cole Cabana, the No. 6 back in the class and the third highest-ranked recruit at the position who has made a commitment. The staff also has a commitment from three-star Ben Hall. Corum and Edwards are only sophomores, while Tavierre Dunlap is a redshirt freshman. Adding Cabana will be a step toward keeping the running back room filled with talent.
Hassan Haskins was a part of the 2018 class which featured Aidan Hutchinson, Cam McGrone, Ryan Hayes, and Jalen Mayfield. Haskins was ranked as a three-star according to 247Sports composite, and he was the 975th-ranked recruit in the country. But Haskins sure surpassed expectations. During his career at Michigan, he rushed for 2,324 yards and 30 scores on the ground. But he really burst onto the scene last year in a starring role for the Wolverines where he ran for 1,327 yards and 20 touchdowns.
During the 2020 cycle, that’s when the Wolverines landed Blake Corum. The 5-foot-8 back that played at St. Francis Academy (Maryland) was a four-star recruit that many teams were after. He chose the Wolverines over Ohio State, Georgia, USC, Ole Miss, Michigan State, and many others. 247Sports composite had Corum as the 129th-ranked recruit in the country and the 12th-best running back.
Corum played sparingly in 2020 splitting reps with Haskins, Chris Evans, and Zach Charbonnet, but in 2021 Corum erupted out of the gate with three-straight 100-yard performances. He ended the season rushing for 951 yards and 11 scores. The speedy back has already been announced on preseason watch lists like the Maxwell Award and the Doak Walker Award for 2022.
In the 2022 recruiting cycle, Michigan may have gotten the best back yet in Donovan Edwards. Edwards played at West Bloomfield (Michigan) and was highly coveted by many colleges in the country. The five-star recruit had his picking of basically any college he wanted to go to like Ohio State, Alabama, Auburn, Florida, Georgia, and many others, but he chose to stay in state and attend the University of Michigan. The composite ranking had Edwards ranked as the 42nd-ranked recruit in the country while being the fourth-best running back.
Edwards worked behind both Corum and Haskins during his freshman season with the maize and blue, but he showed why he was heavily recruited. Edwards carried the rock 35 times for 174 yards, but he showed off how versatile he truly is. The 5-foot-11 back caught the ball 20 times for 265 yards and a score. He even threw a touchdown pass in the Big Ten title game against Iowa.
Also in the 2021 class, Tavierre Dunlap was a three-star running back who figures to get some run during the 2022 season. In the 2022 class, Michigan landed CJ Stokes, a 5-foot-11 three-star recruit who chose the Wolverines over South Carolina.
While he may not be at Michigan any longer, the Wolverines did recruit the former four-star Zach Charbonnet, and he played for the Wolverines for two seasons before transferring to UCLA — where he is now the featured back. He was the 46th-ranked back in the country when Michigan landed him.
Now that the Wolverines have landed four-star Cole Cabana and three-star Ben Hall for the 2023 cycle, the Wolverines should be set at running back for quite some time.
ACC Media Days 2022: Commissioner Jim Phillips discusses future of league
ACC Commissioner Jim Phillips says league will evaluate all options concerning realignment or expansion
Trevor Lawrence was 17th in the league in passing yards in 2021. He'll need to average 22 more passing yards per game for the Jaguars to hit 4,000.
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2022-07-21T15:54:42Z
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Michigan football is recruiting running backs at a high level
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The first four Southern Miss baseball players to be selected in the MLB Draft all decided against signing with the organizations that picked them.
The Colts currently have 25 rookies entering training camp. Who are they?
Screenwriter Lee Goldberg is suing two production companies in a dispute over the late James Caan’s last film, the crime drama Fast Charlie. Fast Charlie is director Phillip Noyce’s take on Victor Gischler’s Edgar Award-nominated novel Gun Monkeys. It centers on Charlie Swift (Pierce Brosnan), who has worked for aging mob boss Stan (Caan) for […]
The Rams will begin training camp soon and there are plenty of position battles to keep an eye on.
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2022-07-21T15:55:01Z
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Thirteen Ohio State football players make East-West Shrine Bowl 1000
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The 2022 ESPYS presented by Capital One celebrated the best athletes, teams and moments in the world of sports Wednesday night at the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles, with reigning NASCAR Cup Series champion Kyle Larson among the big winners.
The driver of the No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet driver took home the honor of “Best Driver,” beating out fellow motorsports stars Max Verstappen (Formula One), Steve Torrence (NHRA) and Alex Palou (IndyCar).
MORE: Full list of award winners | Larson through the years
Larson’s 2021 season was one for the ages, claiming a whopping 10 points-paying Cup Series victories — including the Championship 4 season finale at Phoenix Raceway to claim the title — as well as a win in the annual All-Star Race.
NASCAR Hall of Famers and fellow Hendrick alumni Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson each own four ESPY awards for the same distinction, with Larson’s victory being the 19th time a NASCAR driver took home the nod. Kyle Busch is the most recent NASCAR driver to win the award, claiming it in 2019. Kevin Harvick (2015) and Martin Truex Jr. (2018) are the only other active NASCAR drivers to have won an ESPY.
We talked to local housing advocates to find out what renters can do if they’re struggling to afford dramatic increases.
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2022-07-21T16:51:08Z
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Kyle Larson wins Best Driver Award at 2022 ESPYS
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That precedes single-car, single-lap qualifying (3:20 p.m. ET, USA Network), which will set the starting lineup for Sunday‘s M&M’s Fan Appreciation 400. The fastest five drivers from each group will advance to the final round of qualifying, where those 10 drivers will compete for the pole. The fastest lap earns the Busch Light Pole Award.
— Pocono Raceway became the unintended passion of Drs. Joseph “Doc” and Rose Mattioli. The Mattiolis were each successful doctors in Philadelphia, he a dentist, she a podiatrist. Both were extremely hard working. In 1960, Joe had to operate alone on two patients and afterward had the shakes. He made a snap decision. “I said, ‘The hell with it and from that day on, I didn‘t do anything I didn‘t enjoy. I learned how to fly, ski, sail — all things I‘d wanted to do. I took a year off, then invested in Camelback Ski Area and other Pocono businesses.’”
— One day, a gentleman Doc met in the airport tried to talk him into investing in a local project. Just to get rid of him, Mattioli gave him his card and told him to let me know when he had his next meeting. He called Mattioli six weeks later, and Doc came up and got involved in building a race track. The original investors had optioned 1,025 acres, of a spinach farm, but they didn‘t have any money. The Mattiolis guaranteed the mortgage and ended up putting more and more money into the project until eventually they became the majority owners. ‘The track wasn‘t my idea. I just got sucked in because I knew it was a good buy on the land. All the money I‘d made off my other Pocono businesses went into the race track.”
— After a 0.75-mile oval was originally built in 1968, the first race on the 2.5-mile triangular track was an open-wheel USAC race in 1971, but it was soon followed by nature‘s fury: Hurricane Agnes left behind tremendous damage in its path. Soon thereafter, the Pocono Raceway‘s very existence was threatened by an economic and energy crisis. Due to the gas shortage and economy in the 1970s, Joe and Rose Mattioli considered selling the track to new owners. Bill France Sr., who took NASCAR to Pocono for the first time in 1974, met with them several times and persuaded them not to sell the track.
“This new right-side construction showed promise in early season lab testing as we continued to understand the needs of the Next Gen car,” said Greg Stucker, Goodyear‘s director of racing. “We see this gain in performance as significant, as it was a positive on mile-and-a-half tracks, as well as the unique configuration of Pocono, with its three distinct corners.”
Camping World Truck Series 2022 playoff-clinching scenarios for Pocono
After a thrilling race on the multi-elevational Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course two weeks ago, the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series took last weekend off to prepare for the regular-season finale this weekend at Pocono Raceway — the CRC Brakleen 150 on Saturday at noon ET on FOX, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio — and is […]
Rising mortgage interest rates have led to an increase in housing inventory in Sarasota-Manatee, but prices are still going up.
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2022-07-21T16:51:20Z
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Pocono 101: Story lines, TV times, Goodyear tires, history and more
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Klay Thompson accepts the award for best comeback athlete at the ESPY Awards.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: 5 best ESPY Award 2022 moments, including Dick Vitale's cancer speech
Kobe Bryant's wife Vanessa shares a bunch of pics from the family's trip to Italy, including a set snapped in Reggio Calabria--where Kobe lived as a child.
Ava Brown led Lake Creek High School (TX) to the 2022 UIL 5A Softball state crown, posting a 30-0 record to pair with 335 strikeouts.
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2022-07-21T17:26:03Z
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ESPY Award top moments, including Dick Vitale's moving speech, Klay Thompson's tribute to Kobe Bryant
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How to watch 2022 World Track & Field Championships Norah Jeruto, after missing Olympics, wins track worlds steeplechase in No.... 2022 World Track and Field Championships Results
Jonas Vingegaard took a huge step closer to winning his first Tour de France with a crucial victory in stage 18
Pennsylvania is certifying the results of primary elections from 64 of 67 counties, leaving out three counties in a growing legal dispute over whether to count mail-in ballots on which the voter didn’t handwrite a date.
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2022-07-21T17:26:16Z
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Jonas Vingegaard all but clinches Tour de France title on final big climb
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Kyler Murray will remain with the Arizona Cardinals after all.
Following an offseason of drama, the two sides reportedly came together on a massive $230.5 million contract extension Thursday, according to ESPN's Adam Schefter.
The deal is worth more than the $230 million contract Deshaun Watson signed with the Cleveland Browns in March. It does not include as much guaranteed money, however. Murray is guaranteed to make $160 million, while Watson's entire $230 million deal was guaranteed by the Browns.
Murray, 24, has put up strong numbers with the organization since being selected as the No. 1 overall pick in the 2019 NFL draft. In three seasons, Murray has thrown for 70 touchdowns against 34 interceptions. He's also rushed for 1,786 yards and scored 20 rushing touchdowns.
Kyler Murray scrubbed social media in offseason
That kicked off a drama-filled offseason between Murray and the Cardinals. Murray scrubbed all references to the team from his social media accounts in February. It was assumed either Murray was frustrated with the team or angling for a new contract. In March, Murray said his activities on social media had nothing to do with the Cardinals.
Murray did not show up to voluntary OTAs in May, leading to more speculation about his future with the team. He showed up in June, however, a sign he was ready to leave the offseason drama in the past.
If there ever was animosity between Murray and the Cardinals, that appears to have cooled now. Murray got the deal he was seeking, and the Cardinals locked up one of the most promising young quarterbacks in the NFL.
Questions abound over Murray's ultimate upside, especially after his poor playoff showing. He's shown enough over his first three seasons to give Cardinals fans hope that winning a championship is possible. In the NFL, that's worth $230.5 million.
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2022-07-21T17:26:28Z
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NFL news: Kyler Murray, Cardinals reportedly agree to $230.5M extension
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The Philadelphia 76ers are a franchise of history, tradition, and success, but they also have made some awful transactions in their history.
Who could forget just deciding to trade one of the best big men the game has ever seen in Wilt Chamberlain? Or the awful Charles Barkley deal? We’re going to rank those plus a few others based on the loss the Sixers had in these deals as well as the impact the outgoing players made in their new homes.
These five deals are all bad, you can decide what’s the absolute worst, but the one thing that can be universally agreed upon is that the Sixers lost out on all of these trades.
With that said, let’s get into the list.
No. 5: 2000, Sixers send Bruce Bowen to Chicago, Larry Hughes and Billy Owens to Golden State, and acquire Toni Kukoc
M. David Leeds/Getty Images
Yes, before Bowen was one of the best perimeter defenders in the league and won championships with the San Antonio Spurs, he spent one-half of a season in Philadelphia. It wasn’t entirely impressive as he only averaged 7.4 minutes in 42 games and the Bulls released him after the deal, but Kukoc was a disaster. He did not fit next to Allen Iverson and he was sent to the Atlanta Hawks along with Theo Ratliff to acquire Dikembe Mutombo. He averaged 9.8 points and 3.8 rebounds in 80 games for Philadelphia.
Meanwhile, Bowen went on to be named to the All-Defensive First Team five times and the Second Team three times and he led the league in 3-point shooting in 2002-03 while winning the first of three titles.
No. 4: 2012, Sixers trade Andre Iguodala to Nuggets, Nikola Vucevic and Moe Harkless to Magic, acquire Andrew Bynum from Lakers, Jason Richardson from Magic
The Bynum deal was such a disaster. The Sixers were looking to build off the surprising success of the 2012 playoffs where they were just one win away from the Eastern Conference finals as a No. 8 seed and were hoping Bynum would be the guy to do it. After all, he did average 18.7 points and 11.7 rebounds and was an All-Star with the Los Angeles Lakers in 2012. What could possibly go wrong?
Well, everything went wrong. Bynum suffered knee injuries by hanging out in bowling alleys and he would not even suit up once for Philadelphia. Meanwhile, Richardson would play a grand total of 52 games with the Sixers in three seasons due to injuries.
Down in Orlando, Vucevic has blossomed into one of the best centers in the league before being traded to the Chicago Bulls while Iguodala became a finals MVP with the Warriors in 2015.
No. 3: 1968, Sixers trade Wilt Chamberlain to Lakers for Jerry Chambers, Archie Clark, and Darrall Imhoff
Malcolm Emmons- USA TODAY Sports
You don’t just trade Chamberlain, especially after he just delivered an NBA title in 1967. He averaged a dominant 27.6 points and 23.9 rebounds for the Sixers and he was an All-Star for the entirety of his career in Philadelphia. He went on to have similar success with the Lakers.
Meanwhile, Chambers did not even suit up for the Sixers due to fulfilling a service to the military and while Clark and Imhoff were solid, they just weren’t Chamberlain. It’s a shame that deal happened or else Philadelphia could have had a really dominant run in the East.
No. 2: 1986, Sixers send Moses Malone and Terry Catledge to Bullets for Jeff Ruland and Cliff Robinson
MPS-USA TODAY Sports
The Sixers were still a very good team a few years after winning the title in 1983. They still had main pieces from the title team in Malone and Julius Erving and they had just added Charles Barkley in the draft. Then, they decided to trade Malone to the Washington Bullets.
The players they acquired were not bad players. Ruland was an All-Star big man for the Bullets, but with the Sixers, he was injured and he barely played and Robinson was nothing more than a role player. It was one of the more lopsided trades in the history of the league.
Meanwhile, Malone went on to have two great All-Star seasons in Washington. It was a deal the Sixers definitely swung and missed on. You don’t just trade a Finals MVP like Malone. It’s just not a smart deal.
No. 1: 1992, Sixers trade Charles Barkley to Suns for Jeff Hornacek, Andrew Lang, and Tim Perry
Tim de Frisco /Allsport
It isn’t like Hornacek was a bad player, not the case at all, but he is nowhere near Barkley’s level. Barkley was one of the best players in the game regardless of position and he carried the Sixers into the post-Erving and Malone era.
Just to put it in perspective, the Sixers slumped to a 26-56 in the 1992-93 season without Barkley while he went on to win the MVP award in 1993 and he led the Suns to the NBA Finals. That right there just goes to show how awful this trade was. It is absolutely the worst trade this franchise has ever made.
Who is Dan Cox, the Trump-backed Maryland Republican governor nominee?
Maryland’s Republican Party just got turned on its head. Del. Dan Cox, a far-right conservative endorsed by former President Donald Trump, had the victory of the night in Tuesday’s primary as he defeated GOP Gov. Larry Hogan’s hand-picked successor, former state Commerce Secretary Kelly Schulz. After eight years of a moderate Republican governor — one who many Marylanders still give high marks ...
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2022-07-21T17:26:41Z
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Top five worst trades made in the history of the Philadelphia 76ers
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Andrew Whitworth and Aqib Talib will officially be part of Amazon’s new Thursday Night Football coverage this season. Amazon announced Thursday that it has added Whitworth and Talib to its crew.
They won’t be play-by-play analysts – those roles are reserved for Al Michaels and Kirk Herbstriet – but they will be in the studio for pregame analysis, halftime coverage and the postgame recap.
Richard Sherman, Ryan Fitzpatrick and Tony Gonzalez will also be part of the studio crew on Thursday Night Football.
Andrew Whitworth and Aqib Talib have officially signed on as contributors for pregame, halftime and postgame coverage of Thursday Night Football on Amazon Prime Video.
They are set to join Richard Sherman, Ryan Fitzpatrick and Tony Gonzalez as part of the studio crew.
Below are the official announcements from Amazon.
Whitworth spent five years with the Rams from 2017-2021, helping them win the Super Bowl last season. He made one Pro Bowl and was a first-team All-Pro once with the Rams, both coming in 2017. He spent 16 total seasons in the NFL and retired just this offseason.
Talib was with the Rams in 2018 and 2019, reaching Super Bowl LIII with them, which they lost to the Patriots. He entered the NFL in 2008 as a first-round pick with the Bucs and played his last game in 2019.
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2022-07-21T17:51:56Z
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Amazon hires Andrew Whitworth, Aqib Talib to Thursday Night Football team
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One of the teams in the NFC West has inked their quarterback to a long-term deal. The Arizona Cardinals and quarterback Kyler Murray have agreed to a massive contract extension, one that will keep Murray in Arizona through the 2028 season and make him one of the league’s highest-paid players.
Ian Rapoport of the NFL Network was one of the many media members to report the news Thursday afternoon:
As Tom Pelissero noted, quarterbacks are schedule to report to camp for the Cardinals on Thursday:
Kyler Murray is still only 24 years old. The #Cardinals insisted all along they intended to pay him eventually as their long-term QB and it appears they’re now on the verge of doing so on a new five-year extension.
Arizona's QBs are slated to report to training camp today.
Adam Schefter from ESPN reported on the terms of the deal:
One might expect Murray to be there with a smile on his face.
What 'The Bear' Gets Right (and Wrong) About Restaurant Work
Like many restaurant workers right now, I’m having a big reaction to the summer's hottest food show.
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2022-07-21T17:51:57Z
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Arizona Cardinals and Kyler Murray agree to a massive contract extension
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After an offseason of drama, the Arizona Cardinals and quarterback Kyler Murray have come to terms on a new contract. According to NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport, Murray and the team have agreed to a five-year extension that will keep Murray in Arizona through 2028.
ESPN’s Adam Schefter added that it’s a five-year deal worth $230.5 million including $160 million guaranteed. It makes him the second-highest paid quarterback at an average of $46.1 million. Murray is also now the highest-paid player in franchise history.
With training camp later this month, the biggest cloud hanging over the team is taken care of.
In three seasons in the NFL, Murray has been Offensive Rookie of the Year and selected to the Pro Bowl each of the last two seasons.
In his career, he has completed 66.9% of his passes for 11,480 yards, 70 touchdowns and 34 interceptions. He also has 1,786 career rushing yards and 20 rushing touchdowns.
With a new deal, he is now set to lead a Cardinals team that hopes to make it back to the postseason for the second year in a row after making it for the first time in six years.
The average nurse salary this year will make your jaw drop!
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Dodgers star Mookie Betts is expecting a "super electric" atmosphere at Dodger Stadium.
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2022-07-21T17:52:10Z
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Cardinals QB Kyler Murray gets massive 5-year contract extension
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The Kansas City Chiefs’ Week 1 opponent made a move to lock up their franchise quarterback long-term.
The Arizona Cardinals have extended QB Kyler Murray on a five-year deal as first reported by NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport and Tom Pelissero. According to ESPN’s Adam Schefter, this is a $230.5 million deal that includes $160 million guaranteed over those five years. It makes Murray the second-highest paid quarterback in the NFL in terms of per year average and it comes after a tumultuous offseason between the team and Murray.
Back in February, Murray scrubbed his social media channels and unfollowed the Cardinals. Many assumed at the time that this had something to do with long-term contract negotiations. During offseason workouts, he has been present and engaged, which likely led to an amicable deal between both sides.
It’s safe to say that with this new deal, Murray and the Cardinals won’t have a contract dispute that bleeds over into the regular season. He’ll head to training camp with a fresh deal and the ability to focus solely on football ahead of Week 1.
Ali Adamson, Ben Naumann highlight 2022 class
Biden was giving speeches, attending meetings and traveling in the Middle East before his COVID-19 diagnosis on Thursday.
Originally from Fort Bend, Texas, highly regarded high school combo guard Chris Johnson also has Texas and Arkansas among his list of potential schools.
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Chiefs’ Week 1 opponent lock up star quarterback on long-term deal
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McCourty explains why he's excited for Mac Jones' Year 2 with Patriots originally appeared on NBC Sports Boston
All eyes will be on Mac Jones when the New England Patriots begin their 2022 NFL season in Miami against the Dolphins on Sept. 11.
Jones was the top rookie quarterback in the league last year. He completed 67.6 percent of his passes for 3,801 yards with 22 touchdowns and 13 interceptions. Jones helped lead the Patriots to a 10-7 record and a wild card playoff berth in the AFC.
It was a fantastic rookie campaign, and expectations for him in 2022 will be much higher. The AFC East improved quite a bit during the offseason, with the Buffalo Bills, Miami Dolphins and New York Jets all making substantial roster additions through the draft, free agency and/or the trade market.
Jones will need to be even better in Year 2 if the Patriots are going to remain a playoff team. Patriots safety Devin McCourty is confident in Jones' ability to take another step forward.
"Everyone sees Mac and is like, 'Oh, he's quiet.' No, that dude is a competitor. He loves to compete," McCourty told NBC Sports Boston's "The Camera Guys". "You don't just go to Alabama and play for national championships, compete to be a starter on the team and not have something about you that you love to compete. In practice last year, he was a rookie, yeah we were talking trash. We talk trash as much as we can. And he would talk right back with us.
"We don't need to see a hoo-rah guy, but I think every guy on that field would say, 'Yeah, this guy loves to compete. He loves football.' I'm excited for him. I think he does everything he can to be prepared. He takes that same burden a lot of players take of wanting to be accountable to your teammates. I think that's a side of football that people don't always talk about and understand. Each time we take the field, it's not about letting fans down or family down, it's about these guys that line up next to us."
Year 2 can be difficult for a lot of players. The whole league has a full season of film to study your weaknesses. Expectations also are much higher. McCourty went through those struggles in his second season, but he's confident Jones has what it takes to overcome the challenges and enjoy a successful sophomore campaign.
"The hard thing for him is he's in Year 2. I remember being in Year 2. It was a rough Year 2 for me. You're trying to figure out a lot of things. He has a lot of pressure on him. A lot of people are going to watch every move he makes. Everyone wants a piece of him now. But I think he's a guy that's built for it, being at 'Bama and all the success they've had. So I'm excited for it, to be another older guy -- when he wants to ask a question I can answer it and give the guidance that I've learned from my experiences and pass that along to him."
Jones has been hard at work on and off the football field trying to improve this offseason. He's set up workouts with teammates, including throwing sessions with his wide receivers and running backs. Jones also has made "significant strides" with his diet.
No player in New England will face more pressure than Jones this season. That's par for the course as the starting quarterback. But judging by his demeanor, talent, preparation and competitiveness -- among other factors -- there are plenty of reasons to believe he'll rise to the challenge and perform at a higher level in Year 2.
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2022-07-21T17:52:35Z
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sports.yahoo.com
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Devin McCourty explains why he's excited for Mac Jones' Year 2 with Patriots
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https://sports.yahoo.com/devin-mccourty-explains-why-hes-163400383.html?src=rss
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https://sports.yahoo.com/devin-mccourty-explains-why-hes-163400383.html?src=rss
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Why Devin McCourty is bullish on 'unproven' Patriots secondary originally appeared on NBC Sports Boston
The New England Patriots' defense needs to be better in 2022. That's abundantly clear after New England gave up 27 or more points in three of its last four games of the 2021 regular season, then allowed the Buffalo Bills to score seven touchdowns on seven drives in a 47-17 AFC Wild Card Game rout.
But did the Patriots' defense get better on paper this offseason? The secondary lost top cornerback J.C. Jackson to free agency and replaced him with 32-year-old Malcolm Butler, while free-agent signings Terrence Mitchell and Jabrill Peppers and a pair of rookies (Marcus Jones and Jack Jones) join a group that's undergone significant change over the last two seasons.
Patriots safety Devin McCourty admitted it may take some time for that new group to coalesce in 2022.
Ex-NFL GM choose Mac Jones as sneaky 2022 MVP pick
"We'll definitely have to grow," McCourty told NBC Sports Boston's "The Camera Guys" Wednesday night in an exclusive interview. "I hate when people say that, because I think when people hear that, they're like, 'Damn, that means they're gonna suck in the beginning.' But I just think no matter what, how we play in the beginning, that can't be the same way we play toward the end. We have to get better."
Even if the secondary endures early growing pains, McCourty believes the group has a collective mentality that will help it succeed this fall.
"We have a lot of guys that are going to fight and claw to prove what they can do," McCourty said. " ... The group is obviously unproven, hasn't had a lot of time together. But also, that's the National Football League. I think sometimes we get so spoiled because we didn't have to go through that."
The Patriots' longest-tenured defensive player has seen several iterations of New England's secondary, from the 2014 cornerback duo of Darrelle Revis and Brandon Browner to Duron Harmon and Patrick Chung alongside him at safety to Stephon Gilmore and Jackson operating as shutdown corners.
The good news for New England is that safeties Adrian Phillips and Kyle Dugger are entering their third season together, and McCourty sees that duo playing a key role in 2022.
"Dugg and AP have really come in the last two years and shown what they can do," McCourty said. "Obviously AP is a veteran; when veterans are undrafted, sometimes people don't understand their worth and what they can do, but I love that AP has gotten to shine in our defense.
"And then Dugg was a D-II guy who was similar to me and (2022 first-round draft pick) Cole Strange: 'Why did they draft him with their first pick?' That's all anybody said the night all three of us were drafted, and I love that Dugg has been the freakin' hammer when he has to be, killing somebody, and he can be back deep playing the ball."
In fact, McCourty cited the opportunity to work with young players like Dugger as big reasons why he returned for a 13th season instead of retiring like his brother, Jason.
"That's why I'm still playing," McCourty said. "I have a lot of fun being the old guy among young guys. We have a group of guys that are like, 'How'd y'all play this?' They want to learn, and I've enjoyed that a lot."
The Patriots certainly don't have the most talented defense in the AFC, but they've succeeded with less talent in the past, and McCourty believes the secondary will play with an edge that could help bridge that talent gap.
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2022-07-21T17:52:41Z
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sports.yahoo.com
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Devin McCourty sets expectations for 'unproven' Patriots secondary in 2022
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https://sports.yahoo.com/devin-mccourty-sets-expectations-unproven-160500545.html?src=rss
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https://sports.yahoo.com/devin-mccourty-sets-expectations-unproven-160500545.html?src=rss
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Murray’s contract extension was a predictable conclusion to a long saga that featured the quarterback scrubbing off Cardinals content on his social media pages and the agent publicly airing out his grievances regarding his client’s contract negotiations. In the end, though, cooler heads prevailed, and Murray is now set to become the highest paid player in franchise history.
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2022-07-21T17:53:00Z
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sports.yahoo.com
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Kyler Murray becomes NFL's second highest-paid player with five-year, $230.5 million extension
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https://sports.yahoo.com/kyler-murray-arizona-cardinals-agree-163614475.html?src=rss
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https://sports.yahoo.com/kyler-murray-arizona-cardinals-agree-163614475.html?src=rss
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At one point this offseason, the Cleveland Browns were the favorites to win the AFC North.
A lot has changed, even without a resolution to the Deshaun Watson mess. The Browns are looking at a long suspension for their new $230 million quarterback. Baker Mayfield was shipped off to the Carolina Panthers, and the Browns will pay $10.5 million of his salary just to be rid of him. Nobody would favor the Browns to win the AFC North with Jacoby Brissett at quarterback. The odds at BetMGM have shifted.
There are two teams near the top of the AFC North odds. One has been a contender in the division for a long time. The other is a team on the rise, coming off a surprising run to the Super Bowl.
Who is favored to win AFC North?
Here are the odds to win the AFC North:
Before we get to the two top teams, there is a case to be made for the other two.
The Browns might be in trouble if Watson gets a year-long suspension, but no decision has been made by the NFL. It's obviously a complicated issue. Nobody can predict what the NFL will do. If you believe Watson will play at least half of the season, and a talented roster can ground and pound its way to some wins while Cleveland waits, there's a reason the Browns were favored to win the division a few months ago.
The Steelers' odds are long for a franchise that always seems to be in the playoffs. Coach Mike Tomlin has never had a losing season. Ben Roethlisberger is gone, but he hadn't been helping much dating back to late in the 2020 season. If you believe in the infrastructure of the Steelers, a 2021 playoff team, then 9-to-1 odds aren't that bad.
However, it does seem like the AFC North will be decided by a two-team race.
Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow led his team to an AFC North title last season. (AP Photo/Jeff Dean)
Ravens, Bengals battle for top spot
The Ravens had a hard-luck 2021 season. They had a ton of injuries and a bunch of close losses late in the season that kept them out of the playoffs. But those injured players should be back, Lamar Jackson is still an electrifying player, and coach John Harbaugh has had just two losing seasons since getting the job in 2008. Baltimore was longer than 2-to-1 odds earlier in the offseason but bettors have been taking them and those odds have gotten shorter. That's justified.
It's also OK if you believe in the Bengals. The Bengals got hot late and won the division last year. They dominated the Ravens in both meetings. There is probably some regression coming, but perhaps that will be offset by natural improvement from young stars like quarterback Joe Burrow and receivers Ja'Marr Chase and Tee Higgins. Perhaps the surge we saw late last season was a sign of things to come.
I prefer the stability of the Ravens, who can't possibly have such bad injury luck two seasons in a row. But even as training camps are about to start, there's still plenty of uncertainty in the AFC North.
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2022-07-21T17:53:13Z
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sports.yahoo.com
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NFL division betting: As Browns wait on news, Bengals and Ravens top AFC North odds
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https://sports.yahoo.com/nfl-division-betting-ravens-look-good-no-matter-what-happens-with-deshaun-watson-154445954.html?src=rss
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https://sports.yahoo.com/nfl-division-betting-ravens-look-good-no-matter-what-happens-with-deshaun-watson-154445954.html?src=rss
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