#and the touchdown was exactly like all their LSU touchdowns!!!
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What do you remember about that first touchdown?
I just remember scoring and doing the griddy and then Joe pushed me.
#joe was so aggressive and fond all at once :')#so thrilled!!!#and the touchdown was exactly like all their LSU touchdowns!!!#they said we just won a natty together and now we're gonna win a super bowl <3#and the fact that it was vikings and justin was there! ahhhh!!#ja'marr chase#joe burrow
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How do the national champions follow up an incredible 2019 season?
Over the next couple of weeks, we will be taking a quick look at every Auburn opponent on the 2020 schedule.
2019 Record: 15-0
2020 Signing Class: 4th (3rd SEC)
Head Coach: Ed Orgeron (5th Season)
Key Departures:
QB Joe Burrow - 402/527 (76.3%) 5,671 yds 60 TD 6 INT
RB Clyde Edwards-Helaire - 215 carries 1,414 yds 6.6 avg 16 TD 55 rec 453 yds 8.2 avg TD
WR Justin Jefferson - 111 rec 1,540 yds 13.9 avg 18 TD
TE Thaddeus Moss - 47 rec 570 yds 12.1 avg 4 TD
LT Saahdiq Charles
C Lloyd Cushenberry
DT Rashard Lawrence - 28 tackles 6.0 TFL 2.5 sacks 3 PBU FR FF
OLB K’Lavon Chaisson - 60 tackles 13.5 TFL 6.5 sacks 2 PBU FF
LB Jacob Phillips - 113 tackles 7.5 TFL sack PBU FF
LB Patrick Queen - 85 tackles 12.0 TFL 3.0 sacks INT 2 PBU FR
S Grant Delpit - 65 tackles 4.5 TFL 2.0 sacks 2 INT 7 PBU FR FF
Key Returners:
WR Ja’Marr Chase (Jr) - 84 rec 1,780 yds 21.2 avg 20 TD
WR Terrace Marshall Jr (Jr) - 46 rec 671 yds 14.6 avg 13 TD
LB Damone Clark (Jr) - 50 tackles 4.0 TFL 3.5 sacks
DB Kary Vincent Jr (Sr) - 47 tackles 2.0 TFL 4 INT 8 PBU
CB Derek Stingley Jr (So) - 38 tackles TFL 6 INT 15 PBU FR
S JaCoby Stevens (Sr) - 92 tackles 9.0 TFL 5.0 sacks 3 INT 6 PBU
Preview
On September 30th, 2017, Ed Orgeron’s LSU Tigers lost at home to Troy. It was the 2nd loss in three weeks and things were starting to get uncomfortable for Coach O just five games into his first full season as the Tigers’ head coach. Rumors of infighting between the head man and offensive coordinator Matt Canada were rampant. With a trip to the Swamp up next and Auburn coming to town a week later, it sure seemed like a possible Ole Miss redux was underway in Baton Rouge. Ed O was once again the joke of the SEC.
But not for long.
LSU has lost exactly five games since that Troy upset. They rallied to beat Florida and Auburn in successive weeks and finished 9-4 in 2017. LSU followed up with a 10 win season in 2018. Then in 2019, Coach O and the Tigers went out and won the whole damn thing behind the most prolific offense in college football history.
Ain’t no one laughing now except Coach O.
What LSU accomplished in 2019 was remarkable. Joe Burrow transformed from mediocre QB that needed max protect every other snap to a Heisman winner who excelled at getting his playmakers the ball behind 5 man protections. It was an offense that was downright unstoppable, only scoring less than 35 points once in 2019. But even in that one contest against Auburn’s stout defense, LSU still put up over 500 yards of offense.
I mean just look at those numbers. Joe Burrow threw SIXTY touchdown passes. Ja’Marr Chase caught TWENTY touchdowns. Justin Jefferson had ONE HUNDRED AND ELEVEN receptions. Terrace Marshall missed 3 games and still caught THIRTEEN touchdowns. Clyde Edwards-Helaire rushed for more yards than any AU running back last season and would have finished #2 in receiving for Malzahn’s Tigers. Just insanity.
But can they do it again? Joe Brady, former no name NFL analyst turned offensive wunderkind, is gone to the NFL. Long time stud defensive coordinator Dave Aranda is now the head coach at Baylor. Fourteen members of the 2019 national champions were drafted in the NFL.
Winning championships is hard. Winning multiple championships is much harder. Just ask Larry Coker, Gene Chizik, Mack Brown, Jimbo Fisher and countless others who reached the mountain top only to see their programs crumble underneath them. Will Coach 0 join them or is this only the start of his ascension?
Fortunately for LSU, elite talent remains, it’s just unproven. Myles Brennan has the daunting task of replacing Joe Burrow. A former blue chip prospect, Brennan has patiently waited his turn and folks in Baton Rouge think highly of his upside. But he won’t be as good as Burrow this fall. The question is how big a step back does LSU’s offense take from Burrow to Brennan?
Luckily for LSU’s new starting QB, plenty of skill talent remains. Yes, Clyde Edwards-Helaire, Justin Jefferson and Thaddeus Moss are all gone. But the nation’s best wide receiver Ja’Marr Chase is back as is former 5-star Terrace Marshall Jr. LSU also returns two former 5-star running backs in John Emery and Tyrion Davis-Prince along with former blue chip Chris Curry. There’s also an assortment of young WR talent that looks poised to make an impact including 5-star freshman Kayshon Boutte.
Oh and they signed one of the freakiest athletes of the 2020 class in Arik Gilbert. Seriously, this kid is absurd and will be a bone fide stud in LSU’s offense.
Probably the most underrated piece of that LSU offense last season was its offensive line. The Tigers often relied on only 5 man protections and this unit was outstanding all year HOLDING up against elite pass rushes. However, four starters have departed with right tackle Austin Deculus the lone man returning. There’s definitely plenty of talent up front it’s just about getting it to gel quickly enough to execute the Tigers RPO heavy offense.
On defense, Dave Aranda is gone and a familiar face has returned to roam the Tigers sidelines. Bo Pelini is back in Power 5 football following five years as head coach at Youngstown State. He took the Penguins to the FCS National Championship his 2nd year but was unable to replicate that success in his following 3 campaigns. Under Pelini, LSU will be transitioning back to a four man front meaning some pieces on this defense will have to adjust to new responsibilities and positions this fall.
Up front, LSU is loaded as always. K’Lavon Chaisson, Rashard Lawrence and Breiden Fehoko are all gone but plenty of talent returns. The Tigers have some big fellas to eat up the middle in guys like Tyler Shelvin, Saiki Ika and Glen Logan. On the edge, LSU will have to make some adjustments transitioning from 3-4 OLBs to 4-3 DEs. There are a lot of different faces that will get looks at this position but keep an eye on former JUCO TE prospect T.K. McClendon. Ed O has been consistent in praising his development and the scheme change better fits his skillset. He could be a breakout player for this Tiger defense in 2020.
One of the positions hardest hit by attrition was linebacker where Patrick Queen and Jacob Phillips both decided to leave for the NFL following the 2019 season. Luckily for LSU, they landed one of the premier grand transfers on the market in former North Dakota State star Jabril Cox. He will likely earn a starting role on the outside while someone like Damone Clark takes over at the MIKE.
Two starters depart in Thorpe Award winner (lol) Grant Delpit and cornerback Kristian Fulton. But arguably the nation’s best corner, Derek Stingley Jr, returns along with nickel back Kary Vincent Jr and safety JaCoby Stevens. Former Auburn commit Cordale Flott looks to be the incumbent at the corner spot opposite Stingley while former AU target Maurice Hampton likely fills in for Delpit at safety. The Tigers also signed the #1 CB in the nation in the 2020 class in Elias Ricks who could easily see time early on the back end of LSU’s defense.
2019 was a magical season for LSU. They put a fun brand of football on the field and used it to obliterate most every opponent that stood in their way. But 2020 will likely provide a few more stumbling blocks. So much production is gone and with two brand new coordinators, it’s hard to see LSU repeating in 2020. Auburn gets the defending champs at home this fall. If Gus Malzahn is ever going to beat Ed Orgeron, it better be this year.
War Eagle!
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The Top 25 Teams of the Decade: #5 Oregon
Hello everybody, we’re celebrating the arrival of the 2020′s by looking at the 25 best programs of the previous decade.
Folks, we’ve made it to the top five! If you’ve been reading this whole time thank you. Here’s the 5th best team of the 2010′s:
University of Oregon Ducks
Record: 101-32 (.759)
Division Titles: 5
Conference Titles: 4
Bowl Seasons: 9
Major Bowls: 5
Playoff/BCS Berths: 2
Final Top 25 Finishes: 7
Final Top 10 Finishes: 6
Final Top 5 Finishes: 5
Best Season: 2010 or 2012 probably
If you were to ask college football fans which was the best program in the 2010′s to not win a national championship, the popular answer would probably be Oregon. The Ducks were easily one of the best teams in the sport for the first half of the decade before falling off during the tenure of Mark Helfrich. Oregon then rebounded to finish with another Rose Bowl win in 2019 to finish the 2010′s on top of West Coast college football.
One thing that does need to be pointed out for consideration is that the Ducks were the highest achieving non-blue blood on this list. UO has still never won a national championship and despite all of the flash and funding provided by Phil Knight and Nike, nobody would put Oregon on the same level as your Alabama’s or Ohio State’s of the world. The next closest non-blue blood is Wisconsin down in 8th place. The Ducks spent much of their history as bottom feeders in the PCC and PAC-8 before building themselves into a respectable program in the 1990′s and 2000′s. It’s a shame that they didn’t win a single championship in the 2010′s, the came damn close. I’d hate for them to have missed their shot as a kind of P5 equivalent to Boise State.
Oregon began the 2010′s as the new number one team in the PAC-10. USC’s reign of terror under Pete Carroll had finally closed and the Ducks were the primary beneficiaries. Oregon won the league in 2009 and went to their first Rose Bowl since 1995 in head coach Chip Kelly’s first season at the helm. The Ducks were certainly favored to repeat as PAC-10 champs, but they weren’t exactly expected to compete for a national title in 2010. However, as many people were about to find out, Oregon wasn’t good at waiting around for popular opinion to catch up with them. UO began the year ranked 11th in the nation and spent the rest of the year climbing higher and higher up the polls. Kelly’s record breaking offense was absolutely vicious. Led by QB Darron Thomas and RB LaMichael James, it made a point to score two of three touchdowns every quarter if possible. The Ducks blasted their way through non-conference play by a combined 189-13, and remember, the PAC-10 only plays three out-of-conference games. On October 2nd, #4 Oregon hosted #9 Stanford in a game that would decide the conference. The Ducks not only beat perhaps the best Cardinal team of all time, but they boat raced Stanford 52-31. And that was pretty much the season out West. Oregon basically wrapped things up before the second month really got underway. The Ducks mauled Wazzu by 20 points, dismantled UCLA by 47, and pounded 3rd place USC by three touchdowns in the Coliseum. Oregon absolutely demolished rival Washington, who were enjoying their first winning season since Rick Neuheisel, with a 53-16 score. After a near-upset in Berkeley, the Ducks put away the season with blowout wins over Arizona and Oregon State. Oregon was the #1 ranked team in the nation for half the season and easily earned their first ever chance to compete for a national championship against SEC champs and fellow undefeated Auburn. The Ducks and Tigers were basically the only teams that could slow the other down. The champions ground each other down for four quarters, when it was all said and done Auburn emerged victorious 22-19, though not without a bit of controversy. It was a storybook season for Oregon, a 12-1 record and #3 ranking. It was a shame it would end up their best shot at a championship given how many more fantastic teams took the field in Eugene.
The Ducks took their #3 ranking into 2011 along with the same explosive offense. Darron and DeAnthony Thomas returned, and the expectation to compete for another title. Unfortunately, Oregon was again thrown off against a top flight #4 LSU squad in Arlington, losing 40-27 to the eventual BCS Title participants. After this setback, the Ducks set back down to the business of winning the newly minted PAC-12. UO began with their traditional mauling of hapless non-conference patsies and carried the momentum into conference play. Oregon never failed to score fewer than 41 points per game for the next seven games since their loss to the Tigers. The first team to break this streak was Washington, who still lost 34-17 at home to the mighty Ducks. Everything was building up to their meeting with undefeated #3 Stanford on November 12. This time, the game was going to be played in Palo Alto and QB Andrew Luck had passed on NFL money for another chance at a title. It didn’t matter much. Oregon again outpaced the Cardinal 53-30. The win catapulted the Ducks into 4th place with an outside chance at a second consecutive BCS Championship Game if the right teams lost. Maybe Oregon was looking too far ahead, because the Ducks were upset 35-38 at home by #18 USC. The loss slammed the door shut on another shot at the title, but the the win over Stanford gave Oregon dibs to represent the North in the first ever PAC-12 Championship Game. The Ducks cruised to victory over unranked UCLA 49-31. #6 Oregon was pitted against #9 Wisconsin in Pasadena. In a titanic clash, the Ducks’ unstoppable force moved the Badgers’ immovable object and Oregon won 45-38. It was the Ducks’ first Rose Bowl victory since 1917 and earned Oregon their second consecutive top five finish.
The Ducks were absolutely incredible in 2012. Even though they didn’t play for the national championship, this might have been the best Oregon team of all time. QB Darron Thomas was replaced by redshirt freshman Marcus Mariota. De’Anthony Thomas was augmented by Kenjon Barner in the backfield, providing an absolutely lethal run game. In a somewhat surprising move, the Ducks didn’t absolutely annihilate their non-conference opponents, only beating the scrubs they lined up by a combined 163-73. Maybe they were saving things up for league play, because UO began lighting up the PAC-12 like nobody’s business, and this was back when the league was one of the best in the sport after the SEC. Oregon averaged 53 points per game against conference opponents through October and had now firmly established themselves as the #2 team in the rankings after undefeated reigning national champions Alabama. It seemed as though all signs were pointing towards a meeting between the vaunted Tide defense and the Ducks’ eye popping offense. Oregon began November by paying back USC for the previous season’s upset by outpacing the Trojans 62-51 in the Coliseum. The Ducks vaulted into 1st in the polls after Alabama’s shocking upset to Texas A&M with two weeks left in the regular season. Oregon’s last two games were against the two strongest teams in the PAC-12. The Ducks hosted #14 Stanford, who has lost two games before freshman QB Kevin Hogan stabilized the offense. In the third straight College Gameday Showdown between Oregon and the Cardinal, Stanford’s defense finally shut down the Ducks’ incredible offense. For the first time all year, Oregon was held to under 42 points. The Ducks only managed 14 points in an overtime loss. Oregon was busted down to 5th in the rankings and went up to 4th after a 48-24 win over rival #16 Oregon State in the Civil War, but the damage was done. The Ducks wouldn’t make the BCS Championship Game and they wouldn’t even make the PAC-12 Championship because the Cardinal earned the tiebreaker. With Stanford in the Rose Bowl, Oregon was relegated to the Fiesta against #5 Kansas State, another near-miss title participant. The Ducks proved their worth in a 35-17 win over the Wildcats. Oregon finished 2nd in the polls, their highest ranking in program history. College football was robbed of the Duck-Tide title we always wanted as unworthy Notre Dame was rolled over by Bama.
Chip Kelly saw his chance and he took it. He had built up the Ducks into a perennial contender, and besides Alabama they were easily the best team in college football from 2009 to 2012. Now the offensive guru was on to the NFL to coach the Eagles. OC Mark Helfrich was promoted to head coach to replace Kelly, continuing the legendary unbroken chain from Rich Brooks to Mike Bellotti to Kelly to the incoming Helfrich. Despite the turnover, Oregon continued to roll. The Ducks scored 55+ points in each of their first five games, and when they didn’t reach that high mark UO buried #16 Washington 45-24 and #12 UCLA 42-14. Oregon was 8-0 and once again ranked 2nd in the nation after undefeated Alabama. The Ducks once again had to face down Stanford, the 7-1 Cardinal were ranked 5th in the nation and were holding out hope that they could supplant Oregon and get into the BCS Championship by winning out. For the second straight year, Stanford’s defense locked down the Ducks. Oregon left Palo Alto with a 20-26 loss and another crippling end to a national championship race. The door was left open a crack when Stanford immediately lost to USC the next week, breathing new life into the Ducks’ season. #6 Oregon smashed the Utah team that handed the Cardinal their first loss 44-21. They were back in the driver’s seat in the PAC-12 North and could reasonably expect a Rose Bowl berth if not a part in the final BCS Championship if two or more of the undefeated teams ahead of the Ducks in the rankings lost (which did happen). Then something completely unexpected happened, Oregon lost in Tucson to Arizona. Badly. The #5 Ducks were ran out of the building 42-16. It was their most dramatic loss in years. Oregon hadn’t been beaten that way by Stanford in any of their grueling contests, they hadn’t lost like that to 2011 LSU or even Cam Newton’s Auburn. The Ducks’ last bad loss was to Pete Carroll’s last great USC team in 2008 which was before Chip Kelly was even promoted to head coach. It completely derailed their season, shutting the door on their title aspirations and on their chance to win the PAC-12 North. It must have left a bitter taste in the mouth because Oregon State nearly upset UO in the Civil War, only falling 36-35. The Cardinal went to the Rose Bowl in Oregon’s stead while the Ducks were left to maul overmatched Texas in the Alamo Bowl. 11-2 Oregon finished 9th in the AP poll, but this really was a top ten team on balance. Sagarin even rates the Ducks #2 after national champs Florida State.
Despite the hiccup in November 2013, Oregon picked up right back where they left off for the 2014 season. The Ducks were ranked 3rd in the preseason AP poll. With the new four team Playoff, all they’d need to do was maintain that standing and they’d have a shot at the national championship. Oregon sure seemed poised to make a run for the title. Instead of three cupcakes, the Ducks had lined up #7 Michigan State, who were coming off a Rose Bowl victory of Stanford the previous season. The Ducks easily beat the Spartans 46-27 in Eugene, checking off one of their biggest upset threats on the schedule. UO nearly lost to Washington State in Pullman to end the month of September which raised a few suspicions. #2 Oregon was then upset for the second year in a row by Arizona, falling 24-31 at home. Maybe the loss was necessary to shock the Ducks into action, as Oregon began to play much better after the loss. The now #12 Ducks began their climb back into the top four with a 42-30 victory over #18 UCLA in Pasadena. The offense was back to record-breaking form as QB Marcus Mariota began putting up ridiculous numbers. Oregon breezed through October and began November with a triumphant 45-16 win over Stanford, who completely ceded the division to the Ducks this year. Oregon was now back to the top 4 with the win and celebrated by manhandling #17 Utah 51-27 in Salt Lake City. Easy wins over Colorado and Oregon State confirmed the Ducks’ North Division championship. In the first neutral-site PAC-12 Championship Game, #2 Oregon faced off against #7 Arizona, who had parleyed their win in Autzen into a South Division title. The Ducks torched the pesky Wildcats 51-13 to punch their ticket to the new Playoff. As the #2 seed, Oregon was able to host #3 Florida State in the Rose Bowl. The Ducks left no doubt as they completely dismantled the defending champions 59-20, earning their first title game berth since 2010. Instead of the #1 Alabama vs #2 Oregon matchup college fans had been begging for in the past few years, the Ducks were pitted against #4 Ohio State, who shocked everyone with their win over the Crimson Tide in the Sugar Bowl. The Buckeyes were peaking at the right time, and brought the hammer down on the Ducks just as they had on Bama, comfortably winning the title 42-20. It was another bitter loss for Oregon, who also lost Marcus Mariota to the draft.
Of course nobody could predict when the Duck dynasty would run out of steam, but the pollsters *only* awarded Oregon a #7 preseason ranking in 2015. That’s the average amount of skepticism that a national contender that loses their Heisman QB, but it was still the Ducks’ first time starting the year out of the top five since 2010. Oregon sloppily put away FCS #6 Eastern Washington 61-42 before their big return date to East Lansing. The #7 Ducks fell to #5 Michigan State 28-31. It was a perfectly acceptable loss that could have been just a speed bump on another Playoff run if Oregon put their noses down to the grindstone like Ohio State did the previous year after their loss to Virginia Tech. That’s not what happened. The erosion of the Duck machine had probably already begun in 2014 after the departure of a boatload of players from the 2011-2013 to the NFL. Mariota was able to keep the offense going because he was the best quarterback in college football, but after his departure it became clear that the O was a step slower and the D much less stout. Oregon easily skated past plaything Georgia State, but suffered a shocking upset to #18 Utah. The Ducks were crushed 62-20 in Eugene, by far their worst home loss in over a decade. Oregon didn’t just tumble out of the top ten, they tumbled out of the whole top 25 for the first time since September 2009. Two weeks later and the Ducks lost to unranked Washington State in double overtime. Oregon was 3-3 and looked ready to completely fall apart. It was a dramatic turn of events. A loss to rival Washington might have completely collapsed morale, but the Ducks rallied to beat the Huskies 26-20 in Seattle to begin the salvage job. Oregon beat Arizona State in triple overtime in Tempe and then outpaced Cal 44-28. UO then stuck their finger in Stanford’s eye, upsetting the #7 Cardinal 38-26 in Palo Alto, slamming the door shut on Stanford’s last national title contender. The Ducks ended the year with a tidy 6 game win streak. #15 Oregon blew a 31 point lead to #11 TCU in the Alamo Bowl and lost in triple overtime. The bowl loss stung but maybe things weren’t as bad as they appeared. Perhaps the 2015 season could be written off as one of those outlier years as the Ducks pulled things back together.
That’s not how 2016 turned out. After beginning the year with easy wins over UC Davis and Virginia, #22 Oregon fell to a Mike Riley-led Nebraska which got the ball rolling on a five game losing streak. All of college football watched as one of the strongest programs in the sport of the past five years completely unravelled before everyone’s eyes. The low point has to be the 21-70 thrashing at the hands of #5 Washington, who were taking out a 12 years of frustration on the Ducks, though the double overtime loss to Cal the next week was certainly a gut punch considering the Bears finished 5-7. UO snapped the streak with a win over a similarly imploding Arizona State, but then lost by 25 points to both USC and Stanford in back to back games. Somehow, Oregon upset #11 Utah in Salt Lake City 30-28, more or less returning the favor from the previous season and knock the Utes out of the South race. The Ducks ended the year with a 24-34 loss to archrival Oregon State, snapping an 8 game win streak over the Beavers and giving the Ducks sole possession of last place in the PAC-12 North. It was a shocking turn and Mark Helfrich was fired at the end of the season despite still owning one of the best head coach win percentages in the sport. Many fans capped this as the official end of the Oregon dynasty that began when Rich Brooks was hired all the way back in 1977.
The rebuild began under Willie Taggart, who was something of a rebuild expert himself after turning around Western Kentucky and South Florida. The damage from the 2016 season wasn’t too severe, and the Ducks’ roster was still rather talented. Oregon managed to climb back to respectability pretty easily. The Ducks beat every team they were supposed to and a down Utah while losing to all of the quality opponents they faced. With a weakening PAC-12, this all added up to a 7-6 record with a loss to #25 Boise State in the Las Vegas Bowl. UO was back in the mix, though they had to stomach a 4th place finish in the North behind regional rivals Washington and Washington State as well as frequent thorn-in-side Stanford. I’m not sure how much credit Taggart should have gotten for taking a talented team in an average at best conference bowling, but the one season in Eugene was good enough for Florida State to hire Taggart away from Oregon. The move incensed Duck fans, who admittedly have a different kind of relationship with and expectations for their head coaches than most fan bases. Co-OC and former FIU head man Mario Cristobal was promoted to replace Taggart.
Cristobal’s vision for Oregon was a slight tweak on the old Kelly teams. The Ducks would obviously score as much as they could behind junior QB Justin Herbert, but an emphasis on a hard-nosed, modern SEC style defense was brought in. Oregon started 2018 ranked 24th in the nation and climbed up to 20th before falling to #7 Stanford in overtime at Autzen Stadium. The Ducks rebounded with a 42-24 win over #24 Cal and two weeks later an overtime win over #7 Washington to end the Huskies’ Playoff aspirations for the season. UO was finally in a position to again compete for the North division, but they lost to #25 Washington State and Arizona in back to back weeks to fall back out of the conversation. Oregon went 3-1 in the month of November with a loss at South champ Utah to end the regular season 8-4. The Ducks beat Michigan State 7-6 in an unwatchable Redbox Bowl but perhaps the biggest win of the offseason was keeping Mario Cristobal. The head coach was rumored as a prize candidate for his alma mater Miami, but Cristobal declared he would stick around to much fanfare.
With QB Justin Herbert coming back for his senior season, Oregon’s stock was going up with even a few rumors that the Ducks would be a dark horse candidate for the Playoff. Their preseason #11 ranking was the highest in the PAC-12, though only two spots above reigning champion Washington. In their first meeting since the 2011 Championship Game, Oregon faced off against #16 Auburn in Arlington to open the 2019 season. The Tigers again got the better of the Ducks, coming back to win 27-21 handicapping the PAC-12′s Playoff hopes for the second year in a row. UO started winning, and finally put together their first consistent season since 2014. The Ducks cleared away the rest of the non-conference opponents and beat both Bay Area schools without incident as September turned to October. The end of the month included big showdowns against both Washington and Washington State, who had both tormented UO since the program began slipping under Helfrich. For the first time since 2014, Oregon beat both schools from up North by a combined 6 points, and secured a commanding lead of the North Division. The Ducks had slowly climbed into the top ten and with the rest of the conference looking so weak, they had an outside chance to make the Playoff if they managed to go 12-1. The win streak stretched to 9 games before Arizona State managed to upset Oregon in Tempe 31-28. The Ducks breezed past Oregon State to head into the postseason 10-2. For the first time, the Ducks were underdogs in the PAC-12 Championship Game. #13 Oregon was matched up against 11-1 #5 Utah, who had a slim but real chance to make the Playoff with a win. Instead, the Ducks blew up the Utes 37-15 to secure their first Rose Bowl berth since the 2011 season. #6 Oregon was matched up against #8 Wisconsin in Pasadena. The Badgers played a similar brand of rough and tumble football and it was a meeting of strength vs strength. In a hard fought battle, Oregon emerged victorious 28-27 despite some stellar play on the part of Wisconsin. The Ducks ended the year 12-2 with a #5 ranking.
Things are once again looking up in Eugene. Oregon might finally have have the run of the PAC-12 North now that Chris Petersen has retired, Mike Leach left the Palouse, and Stanford is enduring some recent struggles. It remains to see if Cristobal can continuously keep the Ducks in shape to compete for league titles and Playoff berths, but as things stand they seem the best positioned program in the conference with USC and UCLA struggling in the South and Utah appearing to have an 11 win ceiling.
I think it might be controversial to have a team that didn’t win a national title in the top five over teams like LSU and Auburn, but for Oregon it makes sense. After Ohio State from 2014-2019, Clemson from 2015-2019, and Alabama basically the whole decade, no team put together the run Oregon had from 2010 to 2014. They were simply one of the best teams on the field in the 2010′s for a good part of the decade. That the Ducks didn’t win a national championship in the 2010′s was a real shame. You get the sense that a large portion of the sport wanted it at one point or another. They were good enough to do it a few times.
At their height, Oregon absolutely dominated their rivals. The Ducks went 8-2 Washington in the 2010′s despite the Huskies having their own nice run in the later half of the decade. Oregon went 9-1 against archrival Oregon State with the one loss coming in the Ducks’ annus horribilis in 2016. Oregon went 6-4 against (secondary?) regional rival Washington State, who took advantage of the Ducks’ problems more than any other program. Oregon’s game (not rivalry) with Stanford defined the PAC-12 from 2009 to 2015 as much as FSU-Clemson did for the ACC from 2010 to 2016. The Ducks split with the Cardinal 5-5 which is pretty fitting.
Dyer was down.
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To understand Jon Bois, to understand 17776, to understand a great deal of what makes his work so pivotal to understanding the metacultural impact of sporting subcultures, the reversal of his deconstructive approach, the re-insertion of the denatured moment into the movement-image, is necessary.
On November 30th, 2013, Auburn and Alabama met in the Iron Bowl, the traditional name for the rivalry matchup between the two schools. If you’re new to NCAA Football, you’ll notice that sometimes teams have small numbers in front of their names when you check a score. Sometimes, only one team has a number, other times they both do. The exact means by which these rankings are qualified is a complex weighing that involves “quality of wins” as well as the amount in which they are earned, meaning that a team that has not lost a game can be ranked below a team who has. This seems strange, until you take any kind of comparative look at the teams in question. The NCAA itself is not the body that awards the most widely recognized national championship status on college football teams, and the system by which teams are ranked involves both quantitative and qualitative measures, and as with any sport the quantitative measures at hand are effectively approximations of qualitative values, even moreso now that the top level of NCAA football is directed by the rankings of the CFP, or College Football Playoff system. But this was in 2013, in the final death rattles of the BCS, or Bowl Championship System, before Condoleezza Rice was deciding exactly how good NCAA Football teams were, the BCS involved a relatively complex series of polls and computer judgments in order to figure out exactly how good a team was.
Now, this is a system with a rule specifically dictating how Notre Dame should be handled if ranked in the Top 8 teams due to the Fighting Irish not belonging to any of the major subdivisions of top-flight NCAA Football for BCS purposes. It should not surprise you that, if Notre Dame as a school is being given a division of its own, a kind of monastic order of football warriors, it relies heavily on traditionalist and perhaps reactionary concepts of what a football school must be. These rankings skew heavily in favor of a relatively small handful of schools, with a few on the edge falling off or climbing back in every once in a while but with a core consisting of schools like Miami, Ohio State, Clemson, Penn State, USC, LSU, Texas, Texas A&M, and Oklahoma. And among these, Alabama has been the team to beat.
While American soccer culture has a great deal to live up to, the sort of cradle-to-grave fanaticism that is ascribed to European Casuals is absolutely present in Alabama fans. A notable local news segment about a grade school teacher caught with heroin in his classroom featured a brief interview as he was entering a prison van, of only two words: Roll Tide. The rallying cry of Alabama’s football team, the Crimson Tide, “Roll Tide” is a kind of signifier of signifiers, varying contextually with a cultural nuance exceeded only by the likes of “shalom”. Alabama football has always been good, but the absolute absurdity of their recent success is difficult to explain without a season-by-season breakdown of their various bowl victories and current spot as national champion. The school has produced both NFL Stars and NFL Busts alike, and holds a special kind of singular status within the structure of the NCAA. Referring to the team by their full name is rarely necessary, almost as if it is profane or outright demonic. For most, most of the time, they are simply ‘Bama.
Additionally, while the Crimson Tide hold far more of a share in Alabama’s culture, their rivals at Auburn are none too shabby when it comes to contesting just about anything. The Tigers, with their “War Eagle” chant (with a possibly acrophycal story attributing its origins to fans cheering on the Tigers as they marched down the field against Georgia while a previously-injured eagle found on a Civil War battlefield circled overhead) and famous walk from the campus to the stadium before games have their own culture, and as with many “second teams” certain singularities based around beating their usually-better rivals.
This is where a certain metacultural dynamic comes in, when a city or state or even nation takes on a “second team” which has neither the draw nor success of the first, which leads to a kind of strange Oedipal act of identification with the object of desire, of hatred, of so many different fantasies and fetishes. When mixed with structures of rivalry and identification developing from these rival oppositions, a kind of dual identification means that both teams are inevitably linked to one another. The Mets have their Yankees, the Islanders have their Rangers, the White Sox have their Cubs (or the Cubs have their White Sox), the Chargers and Raiders and Rams all have one another, as is the case in the NFC East, the Lakers have their Celtics, the Clippers have their Lakers, the Red Sox have their Yankees, the Orioles have their Yankees, the majority of the MLB has their Yankees, in fact. But putting that aside, the act of identification through ironic mirroring is a foundational part of what makes rivalry work in a metacultural sense. A rivalry as one-sided as, say, Steelers-Browns has often been generally takes place off the field, where scores can be settled in a fashion that can actually have even odds. Others are almost entirely cultural: the Yankees and Mets very rarely meet one another in any serious context, and the same is true of the Giants and Jets, and yet there is a foundational commitment to one or the other that comes with living in New York.
And Alabama was a team to define oneself against. Nick Saban, one of the best currently-active NCAA football coaches, the sort of name that gets mentioned as a Trotsky to Bill Belichick’s Stalin, was coaching a team that was then, and still is, almost impossibly good. With no time-outs left, Alabama was trying to win the game last-minute by taking long shots down the field, and after Saban insisted on a review following what seemed to be the expiration of the game clock and the start of a slow capitulation toward Overtime, it was found that the Crimson Tide indeed had a single second left on the clock, enough to run one play. After an embarrassing performance by their starting kicker, a freshman wearing 99 was sent out to attempt a field goal from 57 yards out.
In the NFL, within a certain range a field goal attempt is upwards of 90% probable to result in a completion. The 40s get a bit hairy, and the 50s see a dramatic drop. In college football, with kicking talent spread far thinner, breaking the 50 yard barrier is enough to secure a future spot in the NFL, not an easy feat for players who represent perhaps the most replaceable part of an NFL team other than the punter. The gulf between 4th-ranked Auburn and 1st-ranked Alabama was the only thing that could measure up to the distance Saban hoped his freshman could make up.
He did not.
In 17776, Jon Bois takes a portion of this call, that of the “answered prayer” coming in the form of the Kick Six, to represent reversal, change, an absolutely transcendent sort of moment that stuns even half a decade later. Chris Davis, standing in his own end zone, caught the short kick and ran it back across the entire field for the game-winning touchdown.
When Bois wrote and created 17776, the Homestuck comparisons were likely anticipated, or at least not a surprise once they were made. Any multimedia project post-Homestuck will be compared to it, especially considering the success of both Homestuck itself (achieving the feat of publication in an era where webcomics getting books is a genuine rarity) and various related franchises (Undertale being given to the Pope) leading to a sort of hegemony over mixed-media internet presentations. For many, 17776 was about characters first, and football never. But Bois is a sportswriter, and his writing was executed in such a way that it allowed the audience to ignore that it was posing a fundamental question about the nature of football. In a sport where every play is made up of little traumas, of a kind of eternal death-drive, it takes the creation of football as a wilderness sport with ultramarathons breaking up plays and nanobots that allow human bodies to withstand tornadoes (after they have mysteriously stopped aging, no less) to maintain the spirit of football without dealing with the unfortunate realization that eventually, the ethical questions of football will be faced with an ability to diagnose Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy, or CTE, in living brains rather than dead ones. Eventually, the faith will die, Football’s AT&T Temple will fall, it will have its Vatican II and be forever transformed. But for now, prayers are answered.
That a moment like this was ever possible is only due to a long history of animosity and opposition that stretches back decades, but for most that history is unimportant. Bois is able to capture that by removing all image and instead restructuring the movement-image at hand with a shot of the sun cresting over the horizon. Another day, another prayer answered.
Watching the video, knowing what happens, it almost has an uncanny feeling to it, a hyperreal quality where there never could have been a completed field goal and the ball is in the end zone before Davis even catches it. The merits of Saban’s approach here sum up his desire for decisive victories, an important quality to maintain the status he keeps at Alabama. Its undoing by a kind of Anti-Oedipal Auburn, the one moment that could not have happened, stands for so much of what college football desires that it is perhaps the perfect play.
That sort of restructuring, the deconstructive reframing of a moment in order to extract a singularity of becoming, is at the center of Bois’ work. When he plays Madden in ways that make it look like a Bethesda game, when he is providing the accompaniment to a Chapo Trap House documentary about MMA fighting, when he is making satellites talk to each other, he is never writing about sports alone. But he is never not writing about sports in these cases, is never untrue or disingenuous in his approach. Just as genre fiction authors defend their craft, the depth of Bois’ work is neither because nor in spite of his subjects: rather, it consists of them.
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The AAF And Why We Should Care About These Teams
Joey
Feb 5th, 2019
Still bummed about the Super Bowl? Well let's get over it real quick! On Saturday, the Alliance of American Football will be the first of THREE (God help us) spring football leagues to take off. THREE. We really needed that many, huh? Doesn't being announced after the XFL, the AAF will launch this spring under the watchful eyes of Dick Ebersol and NFL executive legend Bill Polian and will air across a variety of platforms such as Bleacher Report's online app, the NFL Network, the CBS Sports online app, TNT and CBS itself. Let that be a lesson to those of you who think that sports can't milk every single penny out of today's weird digital/broadcast era. The majority of the pitches for this game feature stuff football fans do seem to want in some capacity although disagreements about HOW to implement them remain. For instance, the AAF is attempting to shave 30 minutes off of the viewing experience by limiting commercials. They're also scrapping pretty much all elements of kicking from the game (two point conversions only, onsides kick have been replaced by a wacky 4th and 10 scenario and there's no kickoffs either) so fans who are obsessive compulsive about kicking get a bit of a break. We've got a college football style "one foot = catch" rule and a reduction of the play clock from the NFL's 40 seconds to a cool 30 seconds. It's an attempt to do somethings differently and I'm at least willing to give it a try.
With just eight teams to choose from for the AAF, I'll just go team by team and list ONE reason why you should care. As much as you wanna just consider it a bunch of has beens and never was' playing out here, there's some intriguing storylines for the AAF. So much so in fact that perhaps you'll find a team so intriguing that you'll follow along this year!
Atlanta Legends
Why: Michael Vick Offensive Coordinator
I wanted to do a larger piece on how the NFL's lack of black head coaches boils down to the NFL's lack of black offensive coordinators (the IN demand spot these days). Instead of writing eight paragraphs about something that could be done in one, let's just look at Michael Vick and his new role as Atlanta Legends offensive coordinator. For starters, the Alliance of American Football being a potential breeding ground for former players to better grasp the coaching game is an A+ decision. We've already seen the offensive coordinator for another team in the Alliance of American Football get the bump up to NFL QB Coach (Jon Kitna went from San Diego Fleet Offensive Coordinator to Dallas Cowboys QB coach) and any opportunity for former players to stay involved in the game is a good one. Michael Vick's name comes with a lot of clout (and plenty of controversy) so right off the jump he's an important get for the AAF. How good he is as an offensive coordinator (be it gameplanning, calling plays or making adjustments on the fly) could determine how quickly he ascends at the position. Vick is a really unique character and a polarizing figure but seeing him in the role of offensive coordinator is going to be a worthwhile experiment. If Vick opens the door for other young out of work players to jump into the coaching game then I for one am all for it. As for the roster, the Atlanta Legends actually have plenty of name value from former Georgia QB Aaron Murray to NC wide receiver Bug Howard to Iowa RB Akrum Wadley to a host of Georgia Bulldogs on defense.
Memphis Express
Why: The "name" QB battle
Let's always be honest about this stuff; your fan interest will only go as far as the QB you have. The Memphis Express may not have GOOD QBs but they have NAME QBs and that's truly what counts. The Memphis Express have Christian Hackenberg and Zach Mettenberger, two "name" QBs who figure to draw in eyeballs if only due to the fact that there's Penn State and LSU involved. Hackenberg was a disaster for two years at Penn State and people excused him for that because the team was bad or the line was bad or the coaching was bad. Turns out Hackenberg was just bad and continued to be bad at the NFL level before getting bounced around by 4-5 different teams. Hackenberg will attempt to resurrect his stock in the AAF, a team that literally named its offensive coordinator in like early January after their original OC bounced. Hackenberg won the job but the back up spot belongs to Zach Mettenberger. I refuse to believe that Hackenberg is a better player than Mettenberger but ALAS! Mettenberger has NFL experience and has thrown actual touchdowns in real football games even if he played like a 6th round pick who was holding onto a roster spot for dear life. He just wasn't that good. Mettenberger and Hackenberg are two guys who share similar traits (big, they throw the ball far) with different reasons (Mettenberger was a problem in college, Hackenberg couldn't really play) that leads to the same development (playing in the AAF to continue their pro football careers). Still a QB BATTEL with name value is STILL a QB BATTEL and here we are. The Memphis Express also have a ton of LSU guys and LSU players don't half ass it so expect a ton of big hits from their defensive which legitimately has an all LSU DL. Also of note, the head coach is Mike Singletary and we can expect plenty of intense coaching gifs and press conference call outs of his own players. That's the finest reality we deserve.
Orlando Apollos
Why: Steve Spurrier is BACK!
Remember the days of Steve Spurrier? Run and Gun? Mr. Click Clack? There ya go. The Ol Ball Coach is back and Spurrier in Florida just feels right. Steve Spurrier's offenses in the mid to late 2000s were some of the funnest things imaginable and I'm curious to see if a few years off to refuel the jets don't bring out the fun in the Run 'N Gun offense. Spurrier's offense is helmed by either Austin Appleby or Garrett Gilbert since apparently nobody knows who the starter is as of this moment. Beyond that, he's also got a trio of name running backs (D'Earnest Johnson from USF was a popular name around draft time plus Akeem Hunt from Purdue and De'Veon Smith from Michigan were interesting dudes) and like twelve WRs who all run really fast. Realistically though I feel like this team is about watching to see if Steve Spurrier turns this gig into another college coaching opportunity soon enough.
Birmingham Iron
Why: TRENT RICHARDSON (and friends)
Unsurprisingly given the whole locales theme, the Birmingham Iron roster is LOADED with dudes from Alabama. The one name who immediately jumps out is Trent Richardson and I'm surprisingly intrigued to see how he looks. It's worth remembering that Trent Richardson had a tremendous rookie season and looked to be on the way to being something before he got big/hurt. Perhaps Richardson will be rejuvenated playing at home in front of what figures to be a primarily loaded Alabama crowd. Also keep an eye on Blake Sims who I figure will win the QB job eventually. In fact keep an eye on every player from Alabama (Auburn, Bama, Troy) because chances are they'll be given ample opportunities to show out at home. They also have the coolest uniforms. Lastly Tim Lewis is a long time defensive coordinator/DB coach getting his first crack at a head coaching gig so I'm curious to see if he can parlay that into another big opportunity down the line.
San Diego Fleet
Why: Mike Martz
Mike Martz is arguably one of the more unfairly judged head coaches in NFL history. He was the coordinator for the Greatest Show On Turf and as head coach of the Rams, Martz had five full seasons---he made the playoffs in 4 of those. Martz' ouster in St. Louis was controversial for a variety of reasons but he WAS successful and deserves to be remembered as such. From that point on Martz never got another head coaching opportunity, bouncing around as a coordinator in Detroit (back to back 4,000 yard seasons for Jon Friggin' Kitna of all things), San Francisco and a disastrous run in Chicago with Jay Cutler. Martz was pretty much cast aside by the NFL at that point and his reputation as a pass happy difficult personality pretty much ensured he would stay out the game. With passing being en vogue (and every QB guru alive being courted for 1,000,000 roles), this might be Mike Martz's last chance to maybe find a place in big time football. The San Diego Fleet roster is relatively bare compared to its contemporaries but Mike Martz almost guarantees to make it as fun as possible given the usual performances of his wacky passing game. Mike Martz making Mike Bercovici look like an NFL level quarterback would probably be his greatest accomplishment ever. Also keep an eye on Nelson Spruce slot WR-ing his way back to the NFL if it's any thing like he was at Colorado.
Arizona Hotshots
Why: Phil Savage and Rick Neuheisel
Phil Savage is in a very weird spot here. Savage had a brief runs as Browns GM and it went about as well as you'd expect it to. He was in, out and done before anybody even knew he was there. Savage re-emerged as a key part of the Senior Bowl process and for the most part, I don't think I ever saw many complaints about Savage's job as the figurehead for the event. Surprisingly at the end of 2018, the Senior Bowl replaced Phil Savage with former scout Jim Nagy. The decision to move on from Savage was not exactly well received at first and it seems like Savage has bounced back well enough with the AAF. Savage should be able to form a damn good roster given that he's probably interacted with and been around most of these players relatively recently as the Senior Bowl's ace executive. Somehow someway Rick Neuheisel has weaseled himself into the picture and into another head coaching job, he of a sparkling 87-59 record in college but a less than sparkling 47-40 from 2000 onward. Plus he's also been pretty much run out of every stop he's had under inauspicious circumstances. Phil Savage should in theory be able to find a competent squad of players (and they have a pretty well known defense with Sterling Moore, Rahim Moore, Will Sutton, Carl Bradford, Scooby Wright and Chunky Clements) and perhaps the time away has rejuvenated Neuheisel. At the very least Trevor Knight will be fun to watch am I right?
Salt Lake Stallions
Why: A Testing Pattern Perhaps?
Utah has one pro sports franchise, the Utah Jazz, which is intreresting when you consider how beloved the Jazz are. It seems like there's a very big supportive fanbase for sports out there in the Pacific Northwest and yet Utah has no football team, no baseball team and no hockey team. PERHAPS this can be a test. The Salt Lake Stallions overall do not have the most appealing roster in this entire deal but they may be the one best situated to draw the biggest audience. Utah is not blessed with a lot of pro sports options and if the Stallions are good then perhaps they can get people into the stadium. They have a weird eclectic mix of former Utes and three former QBs who if memory serves were all in the draft last year. Former Vikings RB and Utah legend Matt Asiata is 31 year and probably cooked BUT he figures to be a popular face for fans.
San Antonio Commanders
Why: An Actually Kinda Decent Deep-ish Team
Really. If you were putting together an all star game in 2017/2018 of pretty decent-ish draft prospects, a lot of these dudes would be here. QB Logan Woodside? Pretty good player! Had some issues but was a super productive small MAC QB type dude. RBs David Cobb and Aaron Green? Kinda intriguing RBs! Tray Williams has been on like 12 NFL teams as a third down back over the past two years even if he never stuck. WRs like Greg Ward, DeMarcus Ayers and Mekale McKay? Some draft buzz there! Some of their OL were late round types who wouldn't have been out of place at an NFL camp this season. The defense has draftnik "names" like Joel Lanning, Keenan Gilchrist, Tyrone Holmes, Austin Larkin, Winston Craig and a secondary featuring Jordan Thomas and Duke Thomas on the back end. It's actually not an awful team assuming you can put the parts together.
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QB guide - The Future
As the 2021 NFL Draft is only one week away, it is time for us to look at the top QB prospects.
Trevor Lawrence
Age: 21
College: Clemson (2018-2020)
“With the 1st pick of the 2021 NFL Draft, the Jacksonville Jaguars select Trevor Lawrence, quarterback, Clemson.” This is the sentence we will hear from NFL commissioner Roger Goodell on the 29th of April.
Ever since throwing a ball in high school, it was very well known that when the time comes Trevor Lawrence will be the number one draft pick. They call him a generational talent, the first one since Andrew Luck back in 2012.
Over his 3 years as the starting QB for Clemson, he threw over 10,000 yards and 90 touchdowns. His record is 34-2 as a starter.
Zach Wilson
Age: 21
College: BYU (2018-2020)
While everybody was focusing on Lawrence, this boy in Utah slowly but surely made a name for himself.
During his first season, he suffered a shoulder injury and needed surgery, in 2019 he had a thumb injury, so everyone was worried about what will happen in 2020. Well, Zach Wilson came and tore everything apart.
The Cougars went 11-1 in the 2020 season. Wilson threw for 3,692 yards and had only 3 interceptions to 33 touchdowns.
He climbed to the number 2 QB spot and will likely be drafted by the New York Jets second overall. Personally, I like him more than Lawrance. I watched all of BYU’s games from last season, and damn, this boy can play. I just hope the Jets won’t ruin him. (they probably will, beacuse the Jets will be the Jets, but I’ll pray for him)
Justin Fields
Age: 22
Colleges: Georgia (2018), Ohio State (2019-2020)
Justin Fields was the projected second overall pick for about the same time as Trevor Lawrence was the first. Now, people say he may not even go until 8.
What happened? To be honest, no one really knows. He put up amazing numbers during the 2020 season, and his team was one of the two who ever defeated Trevor Lawrence. (first one was last year’s overall number one pick, Joe Burrow’s LSU)
The San Francisco 49ers traded up to number 3 but many say they will take Alabama’s, Mac Jones. I have no idea why. Fields have a photographic memory, and already proved he can swing the ball around. I personally believe that he will be the number three overall pick, especially that after his second Pro Day he and 49ers’ head coach Kyle Shanahan was seen talking and laughing together.
Mac Jones
Age: 22
College: Alabama (2018-2020)
After sitting 2 years behind Tua Tagovailoa, Mac Jones finally had his chance to be the starter for Alabama in 2020. During his one year as a starter, he threw for 4500 yards and 41 touchdowns.
He is mocked by a lot of people to go third overall to the 49ers, but I don’t see how they could pick him over Fields. Jones has only 13 starts and one year as a starter under his belt. He is known to have a little beer belly, and he is not that mobile QB type. Of course, this doesn’t mean anything because that is exactly what the GOAT, Tom Brady was when he was selected 199th overall in 2000. I can’t wait to see where he will end up, and how they will turn him into an NFL QB.
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Derick E. Hingle-USA TODAY Sports
Down go the champs
SEC football is back in all it’s glory. For some schools, football being back was awesome as they watched their teams start the 2020 campaign with a W. For some, it was fun to see their favorite programs play but disappointing to start the year off with an L. Then there were LSU fans....
The Bayou Bengals became the first defending champs to lose their season opener since 1998 when Notre Dame fell to Michigan. Turns out replacing a Heisman winner, both coordinators, most of the offensive line, top three wide receivers, top running back and the majority of defensive starters is kind of a big deal.
Also, it turns out Mike Leach and his Mississippi State Bulldogs are ready for SEC defenses.
With one data point now available there were some shakeups to this week’s rankings. Let’s take a look. Also a quick note, I decided to drop FEI because it doesn’t appear those rankings are being updated on a weekly basis.
#1.) Alabama 1-0 (—)
SP+: 3 | FPI: 2
Last Game: 38-19 W @ Missouri
I admit that I watched exactly 2 snaps of this game so I don’t have much to offer in the form of analysis. It appears the Crimson Tide took care of business and then cruised to the finish line. Najee Harris scored three touchdowns, Mac Jones was efficient and Jaylen Waddle is still impossible to cover. Not sure there’s a ton to takeaway from this game for either team except that the Tide aren’t going to be surprisingly bad. We will learn more this weekend when the Aggies come to town.
Next Game: vs Texas A&M
#2.) Georgia 1-0 (—)
SP+: 4 | FPI: 6
Last Game: 37-10 W @ Arkansas
Per 247 Composite, there are sixteen former 5-star recruits on Georgia’s 2020 football roster. That’s the most of any program. More than Alabama, Ohio State and Clemson. It’s more than Auburn, Florida, Texas A&M and Tennessee combined. They opened the season with a road trip to Fayetteville to take on a Hog program stuck in the mud. A program with only four more 4-star players than UGA 5-stars.
And yet...
Hilariously, Arkansas took a 7-5 lead into halftime. Redshirt D’Wan Mathis did not look ready for collegiate football and it took the insertion of walk-on Stetson Bennett for the Dawgs to finally take care of business. The offensive line did not look it’s former dominant self either. The biggest question facing UGA heading into 2020 was whether or not this offense could take the next step. So far, it ain’t looking good....
But it might not matter. After allowing a 7 play 91 yard touchdown drive, UGA’s defense allowed only a field goal while picking off Franks three times including taking one back for six points. That’s why I still have them in the #2 spot over the Gators. This offense might not be great again but this defense is good enough to prevent a total meltdown. This weekend will tell us a lot about what this Dawg team is capable of accomplishing this fall.
Next Game: vs Auburn
#3.) Florida 1-0 (—)
SP+: 8 | FPI: 9
Last Game: 51-35 W @ Ole Miss
The University of Florida Fighting Kyles lit up the scoreboard in Oxford over the weekend. Kyle Trask threw for 416 yds and SIX touchdowns Saturday. WR/TE/Freak Kyle Pitts caught 8 of those passes for 170 yards and 4 touchdowns. Needless to say, Ole Miss fans won’t be naming any kids Kyle in the near future.
But while the offense was spectacular, that Gator defense had some serious struggles. I expected Ole Miss to put some points on the board but I didn’t see 600+ yards coming. The main concern I had about this UF team heading into 2020 was whether or not this defense was good enough to slow folks down. As of now, that question remains unanswered. It will be interesting to see how they look against an ok South Carolina team this weekend.
Next Game: vs South Carolina
#4.) Auburn 1-0 (+1)
SP+: 6 | FPI: 7
Last Game 29-13 W vs Kentucky
Auburn had the 2nd best win of the weekend taking down a veteran, physical Kentucky squad. The Wildcats controlled the first half for the most part but the Tigers dominated the 2nd half and were able to come away with a somewhat comfortable win.
Bo Nix looked good in his 2020 debut and Seth Williams is gonna be a problem for a lot of defenses this fall. Defensively, Auburn got knocked around early but settled down in the 2nd half. The big question is still the offensive line which performed admirably in their season debut but must improve if the Tigers are going to end that awful drought in Athens on Saturday.
Next Game: @ Georgia
#5.) Mississippi State 1-0 (+7)
SP+: 38 | FPI: 35
Last Game: 44-34 W @ LSU
Ok so I got a lot of apologizing to do to State fans. I thought this State team would be pretty bad this year. Sure Leach added an outstanding grad transfer at QB in K.J. Costello over the off-season but cmon... This Mississippi State team isn’t exactly overflowing with talent especially at the skill position (sans Kylin Hill). And that defense lost some major contributors and are switching to a brand new scheme. They will be luck to win 3 games I thought...
Welp....
Turns out this team is ready to create mayhem in the SEC. Costello carved up that vaunted DBU secondary and if he hadn’t kept turning the ball over this game might have been a legit blowout. Costello set the single game SEC passing record throwing for 623 yards and 5 touchdowns. Three State players crossed the century mark including star tailback Kylin Hill.
I don’t know how this season goes for Mississippi State but it’s definitely going to go much better than I expected. Gotta give an immense amount of credit to Leach and his coaching staff. They came out ready to go and made a massive statement this past weekend.
Next Game: vs Arkansas
#6.) Tennessee 1-0 (+1)
SP+: 24 | FPI: 30
Last Game: 31-27 W @ South Carolina
I picked Tennessee to lose this game but the Vols were able to make less mistakes than the Cocks and a few more big plays to escape with the W. It wasn’t necessarily an impressive performance but it was effective. The Dawgs look vulnerable and Tennessee has more talent than Kentucky. Can Jeremy Pruitt capitalize and make that final game of the year against UF the de facto SEC East championship?
Next Game: vs Missouri
#7.) Texas A&M 1-0 (-1)
SP+: 19 | FPI: 19
Last Game: 17-12 W vs Vanderbilt
Technically, Texas A&M won Saturday. But if anyone ventured over to the SEC Alternate channel to watch this cluster of a game, you probably didn’t come away super impressed with the supposed top challenger to the Tide in the West.
Turns out Kellen Mond is still Kellen Mond. That offensive line is still pretty bad and losing all that WR production is not easily replaced. I don’t think things are going to go well in Tuscaloosa this weekend....
Next Game: @ Alabama
#8.) Kentucky 0-1 (—)
SP+: 43 | FPI: 27
Last Game: 13-29 L @ Auburn
For one half of football, it looked like the Wildcats had a shot at living up to the preseason hype. Maybe this is the year they could go on the road into an SEC West venue against a ranked opponent and get the W. Then the 2nd half kicked off...
A disastrous 4th quarter resulted in a frustrating L for Big Blue Nation and they don’t get to lick their wounds. An explosive Rebel attack is set to visit Lexington and if Terry Wilson doesn’t get those turnovers cleaned up they could very well be 0-2 this time next week. I still think though this is top 3 team in the SEC East. We will see if they can get right against the Lane Train.
Next Game: vs Ole Miss
#9.) LSU 0-1 (-5)
SP+: 25 | FPI: 13
Last Game: 34-44 L vs Mississippi State
Turns out you can’t just easily replace literally your whole organization following a national championship. Weird huh?
It didn’t take long for LSU fans to learn that the Myles Brennan and Bo Pelini hype ain’t for real. The Tigers new QB struggled much of the day and wasn’t helped by drops and a porous offensive line. Pelini refused to switch out of his man defense and allowed Mike Leach to put on a clinic on how to beat it over and over again. There are some serious problems on this LSU team and I don’t know if they can all get fixed in the coming weeks.
Fortunately, a trip to play a not very good Vanderbilt team should get Ed O back to .500. However, if LSU wants any shot at a repeat they gotta find a way to adjust to this new world.
Next Game: @ Vanderbilt
#10.) Ole Miss 0-1 (-1)
SP+: 44 | FPI: 37
Last Game: 35-51 L vs Florida
I honestly didn’t wanna move Ole Miss down a spot it just kinda happened. The Rebels showed they are exactly who I thought they were over the weekend. An explosive but inconsistent offense paired with a very bad defense. The Rebels are going to give DCs around the SEC headaches but they are going to need some stops on the other side of the ball if they wanna string together any Ws. Big opportunity to make a statement this weekend against a frustrated Kentucky team.
Next Game: @ Kentucky
#11.) South Carolina 0-1 (—)
SP+: 34 | FPI: 40
Last Game: 27-31 L vs Tennessee
South Carolina has mastered losing to Tennessee in frustrating fashion. They fought to the bitter end but a punt off the backside of a blocker ended any opportunity of a dramatic finish. Offensively, South Carolina looked ok. It’s clear outside of Shi Smith this team is lacking in terms of play makers. This Saturday is a must win for Coach Boom.
Next Game: @ Missouri
#12.) Missouri 0-1 (-2)
SP+: 48 | FPI: 42
Last Game: 19-38 L vs Alabama
As I said above, I didn’t really watch this game so I got nothing really to say about this Mizzou squad other than they covered and that’s all that really mattered.
Next Game: @ Tennessee
#13.) Vanderbilt 0-1 (+1)
SP+: 110 | FPI: 68
Last Game: 12-17 L @ Texas A&M
They did their darndest to pull the stunner but then they are also Vanderbilt so of course it didn’t happen. I was impressed overall with the Dores performance though and rewarded them with what will likely be their highest ranking of the season. No way LSU loses this game too right?
Next Game: vs LSU
#14.) Arkansas 0-1 (-1)
SP+: 75 | FPI: 59
Last Game: 10-37 L vs Georgia
For one half of football, Arkansas stood toe to toe with one of the giants of the SEC. Hog fans rejoiced that maybe just maybe Sam Pittman was going to do the impossible. Then reality hit like a train in the 2nd half...
Outside of a few skill players on offense and the best named linebacker in the country in Bumper Pool, this program is devoid of SEC caliber talent. Feleipe Franks is still not a great quarterback. With Mississippi State not being the dumpser fire as hoped, I am not sure there’s a W on this schedule for the Hogs....
Next Game: @ Mississippi State
War Eagle!
from College and Magnolia - All Posts https://www.collegeandmagnolia.com/2020/9/28/21458459/sec-power-rankings-week-2
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Bowl Previews: January 1
Hello everyone, Happy New Year! I hope you stick with all of your resolutions! Here is a preview of the non-NY6 bowl games on the first of January in this new year and new decade.
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Outback Bowl (Tampa, FL): #18 Minnesota 10-2 (7-2) vs #12 Auburn 9-3 (5-3)
Minnesota was one of the best stories of 2019. The Golden Gophers have gone decades without real success on the gridiron, but this year they put together a stellar campaign that could have been even greater. Despite nearly losing all three of their non-conference games, Minnesota managed to squeak through undefeated. Once Big Ten play began the Gophers went into a different gear, handily defeating the various conference opponents they played. Almost by accident, Minnesota was undefeated through October. A date with undefeated #4 Penn State was supposed to be the end of things, but the Gophers played the game of their lives to move to 9-0 on the year, #8 in the AP, and threaten to win the Big Ten West division. A tough loss to rival Iowa the next week ended the year, but the chance to win the division ended on the last game of the season against Wisconsin. It was a miserable end to a glorious beginning, but look how far Minnesota has come already. Row the Boat!
Congratulation to Gus Malzahn and the Auburn Tigers for another great football season. I’m saying this now because not enough people will do that. I honestly feel bad for Auburn. The Tigers are forced to play perhaps the hardest conference schedule in all of college football year in and year out. That they usually win 9 or 10 games is incredible, and in 2019 it was behind a true freshman quarterback. Unbelievable. Auburn started the year with a win over eventual PAC-12 champion Oregon, and ended September with a victory over Texas A&M and a thrashing of Mississippi State. The Tigers were considered serious Playoff contenders until the offense fell asleep against Florida. Two weeks later and the Tigers were on the losing end of a nail-biter against LSU and the Playoff dream was extinguished. Hosting Georgia, Auburn only fell by one touchdown to the East champion, giving the Tigers a third frustrating loss against a top ten opponent. The Iron Bowl proved to once again be a tonic for Auburn fans everywhere. A 48-45 victory over Alabama to knock the Crimson Tide well out of the Playoff for the first time ever was as sweet as it gets on the Plains. Once again, job well done, Tigers.
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Citrus Bowl (Orlando, FL): #14 Michigan 9-3 (6-3) vs #13 Alabama 10-2 (6-2)
The Citrus Bowl sure tastes like sour grapes this year. Both Michigan and Alabama were hoping for so much more.
I genuinely feel bad for Michigan fans at this point. It must feel like a curse at this point. With Urban Meyer gone, this was supposed to be the year that the Wolverines finally got over the hump and won the Big Ten. Struggling to put away Middle Tennessee and Army was an inauspicious start to the season. It left very few surprised when UM was shut down in Madison against Wisconsin. An offense-less win over Iowa helped to right the ship, but a comeback attempt that fell short against Penn State fully knocked Michigan out of the Playoff by October 19. But, in that 21-28 loss to the Nittany Lions, the Woverines found their offense. Michigan pounded Notre Dame the following week and ran up the score on the rest of the Big Ten East, including Michigan State. Of course, it wasn’t enough to beat Ohio State. It never seems to be, but it was even less plausible this season. And so, UM and Jim Harbaugh are once again miserable despite winning 9 games once more.
Well, well, well, look what we have here? I definitely don’t feel bad for Alabama fans. They’ve been living it up for over a decade and to see the Crimson Tide not get a Playoff invite for the first time EVER isn’t exactly a bad thing if you’re into parity in sports. That’s as much of a hater as I can be, and I don’t particularly hate Bama, I respect them a whole lot. I just don’t feel bad for them for losing two games in the same calendar year. For the first two months of the year it looked like the same old Tide. Alabama was beating everybody and making it look easy. Then injuries started to set in and they (barely) lost to LSU. Then more injuries set in and they (barely) lost to Auburn. Two of the most painful losses possible and a slew or injuries were what it took to keep the war machine out of the top 4. Look sharp, Michigan. This won’t be easy.
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2021 NFL draft QB class
Apr 30, 2020
David M. Hale
CloseESPN Staff WriterACC reporter.Joined ESPN in 2012.Graduate of the University of Delaware.
Kevin Seifert
CloseESPN Staff WriterESPN.com national NFL writer
ESPN.com NFC North reporter, 2008-2013
Covered Vikings for Minneapolis Star Tribune, 1999-2008
There was a time, not so long ago, when the flood of quarterback talent from college football to the NFL seemed to have dried up to little more than a trickle. There were some lean years for the position in the NFL draft. From 2010 to 2016, 19 quarterbacks were taken in the first round, but only three project to be starters in 2020 — and eight were out of the league last year.
But the tide, thankfully, has turned, and the 2020 class of Joe Burrow, Tua Tagovailoa, Justin Herbert and Jordan Love will soon be joined by another pretty stellar group of passers in 2021. So with a college season and a full year of NFL draft prep still remaining, let’s take a look at this next group of impressive QBs ready to make the pro jump.
College football reporter David Hale examines the potential 2021 quarterback draft class, and national NFL reporter Kevin Seifert runs through the teams that could be in the QB market sooner rather than later. Stats to know are provided by ESPN Stats & Information.
Jump to: QBs | Teams in need
MEET THE QUARTERBACKS FOR 2021
Stat to know: Lawrence’s 66 career passing TDs is the most by a player through his sophomore season in ACC history.
There’s a short list of truly can’t-miss QB prospects over the years, and Lawrence stacks up nicely with the John Elways and Andrew Lucks of the world. His combination of size (6-foot-6), athleticism, accuracy and intelligence makes him a near lock for success at the next level, and he has continued to refine his skill set despite immense early success.
Worried about the transition from college to the pros? He led Clemson to a national championship as a true freshman in 2018 and has a 25-1 record as its starting quarterback.
2 Related
Stat to know: Fields’ 92.1 Total QBR in 2019 ranked third in the FBS behind Joe Burrow and Tua Tagovailoa — both top-five picks in 2020.
Here’s the list of QBs who’ve had at least 40 touchdown passes and three or fewer interceptions in a season: Justin Fields. That’s it. After a rocky start to his career at Georgia, Fields — the No. 1 recruit in the 2018 class, according to ESPN — blossomed at Ohio State, leading the Buckeyes to the College Football Playoff and demolishing Big Ten defenses in the process.
At 6-3 and 223 pounds, Fields has the wheels to run when necessary, but he has shown a propensity for managing the pocket, too, and his downfield accuracy is as good as that of anyone in the country. He accounted for more than 3,700 yards and 51 touchdowns in his first season as a starter in 2019.
Stat to know: Ehlinger’s 32 passing touchdowns in 2019 was the second most in a season in Texas history. Colt McCoy threw 34 in 2008.
It seems like a long time ago now, but back in Week 2 of 2019, Ehlinger went toe-to-toe with Burrow and LSU, completing 31 of 47 passes for 401 yards, four TDs and no interceptions (and rushing for another 60 yards and a score). At that moment, he might’ve seemed every bit the better NFL prospect than his counterpart.
The rest of Ehlinger’s season was solid, but while Burrow and LSU devoured all comers, the road was a bit rockier for the Texas QB, who passed on the draft for a chance to finally climb the mountain and win the Big 12 in 2020. He has the size (6-3), accuracy and mobility to be a top pick in the 2021 draft, but getting Texas over the hump would be the icing on the cake. Ehlinger has accounted for 8,100 yards and 80 touchdowns over the past two seasons. Only Burrow has more among Power 5 QBs.
Stat to know: Newman completed 25 passes of at least 25 air yards in 2019, the fifth most in the FBS.
Newman’s size (6-4, 230 pounds) and athleticism have drawn Cam Newton comparisons, but there are still some major question marks about whether he can produce at a consistently elite level. For one, he ran more of an option offense at Wake Forest last season, and he’ll test his skills in a predominantly pro-style attack after transferring to Georgia this year. But he was one of just seven Power 5 QBs with at least 2,800 passing yards and 500 rushing yards in 2019.
Newman also hasn’t yet gotten to play alongside the type of talent Georgia has, so he could benefit from a stronger supporting cast. One caveat: When he had star receiver Sage Surratt on the field with him the past two seasons, he completed 64% of his throws with 29 touchdowns, six interceptions and a 74.7 QBR. Without Surratt on the field, those numbers plummeted to 54% completed, six touchdowns, eight interceptions and a 40.5 QBR.
• All 255 picks » | Biggest takeaways »
• Bowen’s favorites » | Pick analysis »
• Experts on Round 1 » | Home setups »
• Full class rankings from Scouts Inc. »
More NFL draft coverage »
Stat to know: Purdy’s 8.38 yards per attempt were second best among Big 12 QBs in 2019, trailing only Jalen Hurts.
A moderate recruit out of high school, Purdy has excelled from the jump at Iowa State, starting in 2018 as a true freshman before a stellar sophomore campaign in 2019. His mix of accuracy and athleticism has made him one of the most dangerous weapons in the offensive-minded Big 12. He posted two six-TD games last season, one of which came against playoff-bound Oklahoma.
His size (6-1) isn’t ideal, and to suggest Iowa State lacks a rich history of producing top NFL talent would be an understatement. The Cyclones’ last first-rounder came in 1973. But Purdy was one of just two quarterbacks with at least 3,900 passing yards, 35 touchdowns and fewer than 10 picks in 2019. The other was Burrow.
Stat to know: Mond was the only SEC player with 2,500 passing yards and 500 rushing yards in 2019.
Mond has good size (6-3, 217 pounds), plenty of athleticism (eight TDs on the ground last year), three years of starting experience and a QB guru for a coach in Jimbo Fisher. That’s a lot to like.
But Mond has also been pummeled by having a woeful offensive line; he was sacked more than all but one other Power 5 QB over the past three seasons (83 times) and blitzed as often as anyone. Another big concern is his numbers against quality opponents. Against winning teams last season, he averaged just 5.8 yards per attempt with a 112.1 passer rating.
Stat to know: Costello, who played his first three years at Stanford, appeared in just five games as a junior in 2019, but in 2018, his 82.6 QBR was the sixth best in the FBS and his 35 completions of at least 20 air yards ranked fourth.
This time a year ago, Costello looked like a safe bet to be a future first-rounder. Then injuries and a bad Stanford offensive line took their toll. As a sophomore in 2018, Costello threw for more than 3,500 yards and 29 touchdowns, but injuries cost him six of the last eight games of 2019, and his performance was shaky at best.
Getting zero help from the ground game hasn’t made life easier, but a rebound season in which the 6-5 prospect can stay on the field would go a long way toward rejuvenating the reputation of a guy who was a prized recruit coming out of high school. And he’ll look to do it at a new school after transferring to Mississippi State.
Stat to know: Lance threw 28 touchdown passes and zero interceptions in 2019, his first season as a starter.
If there’s a hot under-the-radar name among 2021 QBs, it’s definitely Lance, who set the FCS on fire last season. He completed 69% of his throws and racked up 42 total touchdowns en route to a national championship.
At 6-foot-3 and 221 pounds, Lance has physicality and good mobility, and plenty of NFL folks have already taken notice. The question is how his skill set translates to a higher level of competition. He has never thrown a pass against an FBS foe, and his playoff numbers — 60% completion rate with five passing TDs over four games — didn’t exactly match his regular-season production. Lance, who will be a third-year sophomore, is a wild card, but the upside is tremendous.
Other QBs to watch
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J.T. Daniels (formerly of USC) is in the transfer portal and looking for a home, but if he is eligible to play in 2020 and turns in a good season, he has the raw talent to be a top prospect. He was the No. 3 QB in the 2018 recruiting cycle behind Lawrence and Fields.
Since 2010, only two Power 5 QBs have completed 63% of their throws, accounted for 20 touchdowns and had fewer than eight turnovers while being sacked at least 35 times. One is Baker Mayfield. The other is Syracuse’s Tommy DeVito. DeVito’s 2019 season was marred by brutal O-line play, but he was a four-star recruit, and the success of another Dino Babers protégé, the 49ers’ Jimmy Garoppolo, could make him an intriguing option if he has a nice rebound in 2020.
This year’s top pick, Joe Burrow, certainly wasn’t on everyone’s radar this time last year, so why not take a long look at his likely replacement at LSU? Myles Brennan is 6-4 with a strong arm, and he spent the past two seasons learning under Burrow and former LSU passing game coordinator Joe Brady.
Whether Miami’s D’Eriq King is a genuine QB prospect or simply an exceptional athlete who plays QB is still up for debate. He was a superstar at Houston in 2018 — he joined Kyler Murray as the only FBS players that season to have at least 35 passing TDs and 500 rushing yards — before sitting out the bulk of 2019 then transferring to Miami. A big year in the ACC could go a long way toward convincing scouts of his NFL potential.
Notre Dame’s Ian Book has above-average athleticism and good accuracy, particularly in short and intermediate throws, but his downfield work and height (6-foot) don’t project as well to the next level.
WHICH TEAMS MIGHT BE LOOKING FOR A QB NEXT SPRING?
Note: Quarterback ages are as of the expected start of the 2020 NFL season.
Expected 2020 starter: Philip Rivers, 38
Contract status: Signed through 2020 season
If the Colts thought Jacoby Brissett was a long-term answer, they wouldn’t have signed Rivers — even if it’s only for one season. And unless fourth-round pick Jacob Eason somehow demonstrates enormous capacity in what could be a shortened training camp and regular season, the Colts will have an obvious opening in 2021.
Expected 2020 starter: Drew Brees, 41
Contract status: Signed through 2023 season, but 2022 and ’23 are voidable
Brees has been playing year-to-year for a while, but his agreement to join NBC Sports after retirement brings extra focus to his status. The Saints haven’t fully guaranteed him any cash beyond the 2020 season. They did sign Taysom Hill to a two-year contract extension that guaranteed him $16 million over the next two years, the kind of money a team would signal a possible transition starter, and signed free agent Jameis Winston to a one-year deal. Regardless, the Saints are operating in a way that suggests they believe they will need a new starter in 2021.
play
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Dan Graziano explains how Jameis Winston will fit in with the Saints, a team that already has Drew Brees and Taysom Hill in the quarterback room.
Expected 2020 starter: Ben Roethlisberger, 38
Contract status: Signed through 2021 season
The Steelers are counting on Roethlisberger’s full recovery from elbow surgery, but he doesn’t have any full financial guarantees for the 2021 season. And there is no reason to project Mason Rudolph or Devlin Hodges as a long-term answer based on the pair’s 2019 performances as injury replacements.
Expected 2020 starter: Jarrett Stidham, 24, or Brian Hoyer, 34
Contract status: Stidham signed through 2022 season, Hoyer through 2020 season
To this point, Patriots coach Bill Belichick has done everything to suggest he plans to give Stidham the first crack at replacing Tom Brady. Hoyer is a trusted hand and backstop. Free agents Cam Newton and Andy Dalton could enter the conversation at some point. But if Stidham falls short, and the Patriots struggle in 2020, they could be in position to draft a higher-profile replacement.
Expected 2020 starter: Tom Brady, 43
Contract status: Signed through 2021 season
Brady’s fully guaranteed $50 million contract means he will be the Buccaneers’ starter for the next two seasons, barring injury or retirement. But it would be irresponsible for Tampa Bay not to plan for life after Brady, who will be 44 at the end of 2021. His backups at the moment are Blaine Gabbert and Ryan Griffin.
Expected 2020 starter: Mitchell Trubisky, 26, or Nick Foles, 31
Contract status: Trubisky signed through 2020 season, Foles through 2022 season
Many around the league expect the Bears to decline Trubisky’s fifth-year option, according to ESPN’s Adam Schefter. Such a move would indicate the Bears have all but moved past Trubisky as a future starter. The Bears would face a significant cap hit for moving on from Foles before the 2021 season, but that doesn’t mean they wouldn’t be shopping in the draft (again) for the next Sid Luckman.
Expected 2020 starter: Gardner Minshew II, 24
Contract status: Signed through 2022 season
Minshew was a revelation as a rookie, but there is a big difference between delivering a bright spot during a lost season and establishing long-term bona fides. The Jaguars will no doubt be tempted to capitalize on the financial advantages of his rookie contract. But if they’re near the top of the 2021 draft, they might also be tempted to pursue another quarterback altogether.
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Expected 2020 starter: Dak Prescott, 27
Contract status: On franchise tag for 2020 season
Even if the Cowboys don’t get Prescott signed to a new deal, they can squat on his rights for at least one more season with a second franchise tag. But the cash and cap value of that tag in 2021 would be about $37.7 million, and more importantly, it wouldn’t put the Cowboys any closer to getting him signed for 2022 and beyond. No one thinks the Cowboys want to part ways with Prescott, but it takes two parties to make a deal. For that reason, the situation bears watching in 2021.
Expected 2020 starter: Derek Carr, 29
Contract status: Signed through 2022 season
The clues are in plain sight. In two seasons under coach Jon Gruden, Carr ranks No. 21 in Total QBR. The Raiders have lost 21 of their 32 games over that stretch, and free agent Marcus Mariota is the kind of high-end backup teams sign when they aren’t certain about their starter. Finally, Carr has no more guaranteed money remaining in his contract. That makes 2020 a potentially make-or-break year for Carr with the franchise.
Expected 2020 starter: Matt Ryan, 35
Contract status: Signed through 2023 season
Ryan is exceptionally durable, having missed three starts in his 12 seasons. For good reason, few people think of him as nearing the end of his career — or even his time in Atlanta. But when the 2020 season begins, he’ll be only one year younger than Aaron Rodgers was when the Packers decided to draft Jordan Love. If it isn’t in 2021, it’ll be soon after that when the Falcons start thinking about the future.
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We re-did the 2017 NFL Draft with everything we know now
Our NFL team brands did a re-draft of the 2017 NFL Draft, and things turned out very differently than in real life.
The 2017 NFL Draft started off exactly as expected when the Cleveland Browns selected defensive end Myles Garrett with the first overall pick. It seemed like a perfect choice at the time, but if the Browns had it to do all over again, knowing that this class held quarterbacks like Patrick Mahomes and Deshaun Watson, would they still roll with Garrett?
The same can be said for the Chicago Bears, who shook things up early in 2017 and swapped the No. 3 overall pick, along with No. 67, No. 111, and a 2018 third-round pick with the Niners to move up to No. 2. They used that pick on Mitchell Trubisky.
It’s What if? week here at SB Nation, and our NFL team brands hopped in our respective time machines and traveled back to 2017 to redo the NFL Draft.
No. 1 - Cleveland Browns: Patrick Mahomes, QB, Texas Tech
The Browns, who were coming off of a one-win season and had been searching for a franchise quarterback basically since the expansion Browns settled in Cleveland in 1999, decided to go with Garrett, widely considered the best player available, in real life. Chris Pokorny at Dawgs By Nature, with the benefit of hindsight and several years of watching multiple failed experiments at quarterback, decided to go with a player who has emerged as one of the league’s most transcendent stars. If Mahomes had been the Browns’ first overall pick in 2017, I bet they would have won more than zero games that season.
No. 2 - San Francisco 49ers: Deshaun Watson, QB, Clemson
There’s no reason to pile on Mitchell Trubisky any more than I already have, but I bet the Bears would be a lot happier if the draft had really shaken out this way. Kyle Posey at Niners Nation went with another exceptional young quarterback, and it’s a move that would have probably changed the path for the Patriots, too. If the Niners had taken Watson, they would have been much less likely to trade for Jimmy Garoppolo, who might very well have stayed in New England and would be the starting quarterback this season.
No. 3 - Chicago Bears: George Kittle, TE, Iowa
Just because the Bears didn’t make a blockbuster trade to move up one spot in this alternate reality doesn’t mean Lester Wiltfong at Windy City Gridiron wouldn’t shake things up. George Kittle, who had 1,053 yards and five touchdowns for the 49ers last season en route to the Super Bowl, was originally selected by the Niners in the fifth round of the 2017 draft. This is possibly the only move that would have been more surprising at the time than what the Bears actually did — but knowing what we know now about Kittle, it likely would have paid off.
No. 4 - Jacksonville Jaguars: Christian McCaffrey, RB, Stanford
The Jags grabbed Leonard Fournette with this pick, but Ryan Day at Big Cat Country knows that McCaffrey’s versatility and health would have made him a stronger addition than Fournette. McCaffrey had well over 2,000 yards combined rushing and receiving for the Panthers. Fournette had a really strong 2019 as well, with 1,152 yards on the ground and 522 receiving yards, but his three scores pale in comparison to McCaffrey’s 19 touchdowns. The best ability is availability, and McCaffrey has never missed a game to this point in his career. Fournette has missed 12 games in three seasons.
No. 5 - Tennessee Titans: Myles Garrett, DE, Texas A&M
The Titans initially selected wide receiver Corey Davis with this pick, and Jimmy Morris at Music City Miracles went so far as to float a smokescreen that he might switch out Davis for JuJu Smith-Schuster at this spot. Instead, Morris selected Garrett, who’s had 30.5 sacks and six forced fumbles over three seasons with the Browns. Adding Garrett to a team that ranked No. 31 in the league in 2017 with 35 sacks on the season could have changed the Titans’ trajectory in a big way. Imagine having Myles Garrett on last year’s Titans team that finished No. 3 in the league with 56 sacks? That’s terrifying.
No. 6 - New York Jets: Jamal Adams, S, LSU
If this pick seems familiar to you, it’s because John Butchko at Gang Green Nation decided to not try to fix something that isn’t broken. Since being selected by the Jets No. 6 in the 2017 NFL Draft, Adams has been all over the stat sheet, racking up 273 tackles, 12 sacks, six forced fumbles, and two interceptions, one of which he returned for a touchdown. Gang Green Nation would have been silly to not stick with him — just like it would be silly for the Jets to trade him this offseason.
No. 7 - Los Angeles Chargers: Tre’Davious White, CB, LSU
The real-life Chargers used this pick on wide receiver Mike Williams out of Clemson. Williams went on to miss all but six games of his rookie season. He scored 10 touchdowns in 2018, and started to hit his stride last year, eclipsing the 1,000-yard mark for the first time as a pro. Michael Peterson at Bolts from the Blue went with White, who has been a force for the Bills since being drafted 27th overall. White earned a Pro Bowl nod in 2019 after finishing with 58 combined tackles, two forced fumbles, six picks — tying him at the top of the NFL last season — and a sack.
No. 8 - Carolina Panthers: Marshon Lattimore, CB, Ohio State
The Panthers obviously took Christian McCaffrey with this pick, but in this redo, McCaffrey’s with the Jags, and Cat Scratch Reader had to go back to the drawing board. Lattimore, who was selected by the Saints with the No. 11 pick, was an explosive playmaker at Ohio State. Our Saints blog, Canal Street Chronicles, is going to hate this pick with the fire of a thousand burning suns. The Panthers drafted not one, not two, but three cornerbacks (James Bradberry, Daryl Worley, and Zack Sanchez) in 2016 to fill the void left by Josh Norman. Not a single one remains with the Panthers, and Lattimore would be an upgrade over all of them.
No. 9 - Cincinnati Bengals: Ryan Ramczyk, OT, Wisconsin
Man, are the Saints ever getting hosed in this re-draft. The Saints originally traded with the Patriots at No. 32 to jump back into the first round and take Ramczyk off the board, solidifying the right edge of the offensive line for the foreseeable future in New Orleans. The Bengals let key linemen Andrew Whitworth and Kevin Zeitler leave in free agency after the 2016 season, and the line has never been the same, ending up ranked No. 28 in the league in 2017, No. 27 in 2018, and No. 30 in 2019 by Pro Football Focus. Cincy Jungle grabbed Ramczyk here because he might have been able to help change that.
No. 10 - Buffalo Bills: T.J. Watt, LB, Wisconsin
Buffalo Rumblings would have been perfectly content to grab Tre’Davious White here, but he was already off the board. The Bills still got better with this pick. Watt was selected by the Pittsburgh Steelers at No. 30 in the actual 2017 draft. Watt was the last edge defender taken in the first round, and he has more sacks with 34.5 than any of the players selected before him. He capped off his 14.5-sack 2019 season with his first All-Pro nod, which is unlikely to be his last.
No. 11 - New Orleans Saints: Marlon Humphrey, DB, Alabama
We’ve already seen two of the Saints’ draft picks from 2017 come off the board in this re-do. In real life, the Saints took Ohio State’s Marshon Lattimore here, and Canal Street Chronicles still fills that need in the secondary with Humphrey. Humphrey finished last season with seven picks, three forced fumbles, a Pro Bowl bid, and first-team All-Pro honors. Canal Street Chronicles would have preferred we not mess up their excellent real-life 2017 draft haul, but Humphrey really isn’t a downgrade.
No. 12 - Cleveland Browns: Chris Godwin, WR, Penn State
Dawgs By Nature already grabbed the best quarterback in the league with the first overall pick, and now they’ve added a quality receiving target for him. Godwin was selected by the Buccaneers in the third round of the 2017 draft in real life, but after his 1,333-yard, nine-touchdown 2019 season, this seems like an appropriate spot for him. Now I’m kind of sad that we don’t actually get to see Mahomes slinging the ball downfield to Godwin.
No. 13 - Arizona Cardinals: Alvin Kamara, RB, Tennessee
It was basically robbery when the Saints landed Kamara in the third round back in 2017, though we didn’t know it at the time. The 2017 Offensive Rookie of the Year is about as effective as a receiver as he is on the ground. In 2017, his least productive season so far, he still had 797 rushing yards, 533 receiving yards, and six touchdowns. Revenge of the Birds noted that this choice was driven in part by the fact that David Johnson got injured in Week 1 of the 2017 season, and Kamara would have made a world of difference for Arizona.
No. 14 - Philadelphia Eagles: Eddie Jackson, S, Alabama
Another Alabama product comes off the board at No. 14, sending Eddie Jackson to the Eagles courtesy of Bleeding Green Nation. Jackson slipped into the fourth round of the actual draft before being snapped up by the Bears, in part because he wasn’t able to perform at the Combine due to a broken leg he suffered during the October of his final college season. The two-time Pro Bowler also earned first-team All-Pro honors in 2018 after contributing one sack, two forced fumbles, and six picks.
No. 15 - Indianapolis Colts: Kenny Golladay, WR, Northern Illinois
In the real 2017 draft, Golladay fell into the third round before being selected by the Lions. His rookie season was less productive because he missed time for a strained hamstring, but he eclipsed the 1,000-yard mark in each of the last two seasons, scoring 11 touchdowns for Detroit in 2019. Stampede Blue gets a playmaker who would have come in handy that season with Jacoby Brissett taking over for Andrew Luck, who was sidelined with a shoulder injury he suffered prior to the season.
No. 16 - Baltimore Ravens: JuJu Smith-Schuster, WR, USC
Smith-Schuster was selected in the second round by the Steelers in 2017, but Baltimore Beatdown knows all too well from watching the Ravens go up against him twice a year that he has first-round caliber talent. Schuster, who was just 19 years old when he was drafted, is the youngest player in NFL history to reach 2,500 receiving yards. Assuming everything else remained the same for the Ravens, we could have had the joy of watching Lamar Jackson throwing to Smith-Schuster over the last two seasons and for years to come.
No. 17 - Washington: Jonathan Allen, DT, Alabama
Hogs Haven stuck with the team’s original 2017 choice, Jonathan Allen, and for good reason. Allen was considered the second-best defensive tackle in the 2017 draft, and he has 15 sacks over three seasons in Washington. Running back was a pressing need for Washington in the 2017 offseason, and Leonard Fournette and Aaron Jones were still on the board, but Allen’s been a good fit for Washington’s defense, so why shake things up?
No. 18 - Tennessee Titans: Adoree’ Jackson, CB, USC
Music City Miracles follows in Hogs Haven’s footsteps by also sticking with the pick the Titans made back in 2017 at this spot, cornerback Adoree’ Jackson. The Titans lost starting corners Perrish Cox and Jason McCourty during the offseason, so Jackson filled an immediate need, assuming he’d win the competition for one of those starting roles (which he did). Jackson brings a variety of skills to the Titans’ backfield. He’s managed three sacks, three forced fumbles, two interceptions, and a whopping 33 pass breakups over his three seasons in Tennessee.
No. 19 - Tampa Bay Buccaneers: Dalvin Cook, RB, FSU
Heading into this draft, Bucs Nation thought the team’s biggest need was at safety. Budda Baker and Malik Hooker are still on the board, but a glance at the Bucs’ depth chart and run game rankings over the past three seasons reveals that this was a wise choice by Bucs Nation. Doug Martin was solid early in his career, but started to decline after rushing for over 1,400 yards and six touchdowns in 2015. Cook, who was injured in his rookie season, had 615 yards and two touchdowns in 2018 before really hitting his stride in 2019. The Bucs, who finished the 2019 season ranked No. 24 in the league with 1,521 yards, could have used Cook’s 1,135 yards and 13 touchdowns in 2019.
No. 20 - Denver Broncos: Budda Baker, S, Washington
The Broncos originally went with tackle Garrett Bolles out of Utah with this pick, but Baker’s made enough of an impression in his short career to earn two Pro Bowl nods and first-team All-Pro honors in his rookie season, so it makes sense for Mile High Report to snag him. Baker is a tackling machine, and he has 3.5 sacks, four forced fumbles, four fumble recoveries, and 14 pass breakups over his three years with the Arizona Cardinals.
No. 21 - Detroit Lions: Cooper Kupp, WR, Eastern Washington
Kupp fell to the third round before being selected by the Rams in 2017, but Pride of Detroit would change that if they could. Kupp had 869 yards and five touchdowns in his rookie season despite starting 2017 buried behind Sammy Watkins, Robert Woods, and Tavon Austin on the depth chart. He was sidelined for half of 2018 with a torn ACL, and had a career season in Los Angeles in 2019 with 1,161 yards and 10 touchdowns. In real life, the Lions took Jarrad Davis at this spot, filling what Pride of Detroit identified at the time as the team’s biggest need, but Kupp is a smart move here, especially after Stampede Blue snatched up Kenny Golladay earlier in this re-draft.
No. 22 - Miami Dolphins: Malik Hooker, S, Ohio State
The Dolphins used this pick on DE Charles Harris, who they traded to the Falcons this offseason for a seventh-round pick. Harris was expected to be a dominant pass rusher coming out of Missouri, but underwhelmed with 3.5 sacks, one fumble recovery, and two pass breakups in three seasons. Hooker has been slowed down a bit by injuries, and the Colts declined to pick up his fifth-year option. But No. 22 is a more reasonable draft position for him in retrospect, and The Phinsider thinks he would be more of an impact player at this spot for the Dolphins than Harris was.
No. 23 - New York Giants: Taylor Moton, T, Western Michigan
The Giants grabbed Evan Engram with this pick, and he’s put together three respectable enough seasons for a tight end. But the Giants finished 2017 ranked 27 out of 32 teams for the offensive line performance, per Pro Football Focus. Moton was originally selected by the Panthers in the second round of the 2017 draft, and he didn’t play in his rookie season, but moved into a starting role in 2018 and has been a key performer ever since. Big Blue View and Eli Manning alike would have loved this pick.
No. 24 - Las Vegas Raiders: Mike Williams, WR, Clemson
The Raiders went with Ohio State’s Gareon Conley here in 2017, and considering that the team traded him away to the Texans during the 2019 season, I’m sure Las Vegas wouldn’t mind having that pick back to follow Silver & Black Pride’s lead here. Williams actually landed with the Chargers, and underwhelmed in his rookie season after missing the first six games with a back injury. He’s hit his stride since, with 664 yards and 10 touchdowns in 2018 and 1,001 yards and two touchdowns in 2019. I wonder what the perception of Derek Carr would be now if he’d had a talent like Williams to throw to over the past couple of seasons.
No. 25 - Houston Texans: Desmond King, CB, Iowa
In the actual draft, Houston had shipped this pick off to the Browns, who used it on versatile defensive back Jabrill Peppers out of Michigan. Houston was coming off of a season of exceptional play from cornerback A.J. Bouye in particular, but Bouye became a free agent after the season. Houston had a ton of needs at the time, not the least of which was the quarterback position, but King would have been a natural replacement for Houston, so it’s a good pick from Battle Red Blog. King fell all the way to the fifth round of the 2017 draft, but he has 6.5 sacks, three forced fumbles, and four interceptions over three seasons with the Chargers.
No. 26 - Seattle Seahawks: D.J. Jones, DT, Ole Miss
This is quite a promotion for Jones, who was actually selected in the sixth round of the 2017 draft by the San Francisco 49ers. In reality, the Seahawks shipped this pick off to the Falcons, who used it to select defensive end Takkarist McKinley out of UCLA. Jones doesn’t jump off the stat sheet with two sacks in five years, but Field Gulls has obviously noticed that he’s quietly productive and a thumper against the run when they face the Niners twice each season. Jones is the player Niners Nation expects to have a breakout season in 2020.
No. 27 - Kansas City Chiefs: Shaquill Griffin, CB, UCF
It seems like every team is either re-drafting someone who was drafted long after the first round ended, or sticking with their original picks. The Chiefs shore up their secondary by snatching Shaquill Griffin off the board before the Seahawks can snap him up in the third round, which is what they did originally. Griffin has outplayed that draft status with the Seahawks, with 186 combined tackles, one sack, and three picks over the past three seasons and locking up a 2019 Pro Bowl bid. Now I hope that the Chiefs take his brother, Shaquem, if we redo the 2018 draft.
No. 28 - Dallas Cowboys: Marcus Williams, S, Utah
This pick was originally spent on DE Taco Charlton out of Michigan. The team and fans alike were reportedly concerned about his development, and Charlton was unceremoniously released after the second game of the 2019 season to clear a roster spot for Robert Quinn to return from injury. Instead of letting history repeat itself, Blogging the Boys went with yet another Saints player with this one, grabbing Marcus Williams out of Utah. Williams had four interceptions last season, which would have been a boost to the Cowboys, who had just seven across the entire team.
No. 29 - Green Bay Packers: Aaron Jones, RB, UTEP
This one is a no-brainer for Acme Packing Co. Jones, the team’s selection at this spot in real life, has been a boost to the Packers offense. He’s continued to improve each season, finishing 2019 with 1,084 yards and a whopping 16 touchdowns, which tied him for the most in the NFL last season. In reality, they traded this one away to the Browns, who used it to select tight end David Njoku, and the Packers grabbed Jones in the fifth round, but he’s far outplayed what his potential was expected to be.
No. 30 - Pittsburgh Steelers: O.J. Howard, TE, Alabama
Two current Steelers players, JuJu Smith-Schuster and T.J. Watt, are already off the board, but the Steelers land a talented tight end in Howard. Howard has consistently put up respectable numbers for a tight end with the Buccaneers, with career highs of 565 yards (2018) and six touchdowns (2017). Vance McDonald is on top of the Steelers’ depth chart now, and he’s been all right, but not as productive as Howard, which likely made him appealing to Behind the Steel Curtain.
No. 31 - Atlanta Falcons: Dion Dawkins, T, Temple
The Falcons traded up in real life, swapping picks with the Seahawks to draft defensive end Takk McKinley. As much as I hate to think about missing out on McKinley’s absolutely delightful reaction to being drafted, The Falcoholic fills a real need here with Dawkins. Ryan Schraeder was the starting right tackle in 2017 and 2018, but his play started to decline over that time, and having Dawkins to take over as the heir apparent after some time learning behind the veteran Schraeder would have helped the line play more cohesively. This pick was swapped with the Seahawks, who then dealt it to the 49ers, who selected Alabama linebacker Reuben Foster.
No. 32 - New Orleans Saints: Evan Engram, TE, Mississippi
The Saints used the No. 32 pick on Ryan Ramczyk in 2017, but Ramczyk came off of the board early in this re-draft. Instead, they give Drew Brees a quality receiving tight end. Engram has averaged about 589 yards and four touchdowns each season for the Giants, who selected him with the No. 23 pick in 2017.
What would you do differently with the 2017 NFL Draft? Let us know in the comments.
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Four Reasons Why LSU Will Win the 2020 College Football Playoff
It is the College Football Playoff matchup we were all hoping to see: Last year's freshman phenom, Trevor Lawrence, and the defending national champion Clemson Tigers vs. this season's out-of-nowhere Heisman winner, Joe Burrow, and the offensive juggernaut that is the LSU Tigers.
It is entirely possible that the national championship game next Monday night will feature the top picks in the next two NFL drafts in Burrow and Lawrence. That's how much star power and talent will be on the field. A quarterback rivalry born in 2020 may be a football storyline for the next 15 years.
With this kind of a matchup and this much-expected action, it is the perfect time to make sure your bookmaking services are top of the line and that you're using a pay per head service that's up to the task.
At WagerHome.com, you can get four free weeks to try it before making any commitments.
As for the game itself, we like LSU to win for the following reasons.
Heisman Joe
Burrow won't be the only great quarterback on the field Monday night, but he is, without a doubt, the quarterback who is playing the best. In LSU's semifinal win over Oklahoma, he set numerous records and finished the game with 493 yards, seven touchdowns, and an eye-popping efficiency rating of 239.77.
All were season highs, and as they say in football, it's not how you start, it's how you finish, and no one is finishing this season better than Burrow.
Clemson's Defense
The Tigers did hold Ohio State to just 23 points and held them to a season-low third-down conversion rate of 38 percent. But they also gave up 516 yards, and that point total would have been much higher if not for a pair of costly interceptions thrown by Justin Fields.
Burrow will do a better job of protecting the football than Fields did, and with yardage totals like that, the points will come. The Clemson defense is very good, but even with two weeks to prepare for LSU, it won't be able to slow the LSU offense down.
Coach O is a Stabilizer
Clemson has the experience. Playing for a national title is old hat for the Tigers, who have won two titles in the last three years.
For LSU, this is all new, and perhaps a little intimidating. But if anyone can keep this team grounded for 60 minutes of football, it's head coach Ed Orgeron and his LSU staff.
This team will not get too high following its win over Oklahoma, or too nervous playing for the title. Coach O will make sure they stay focused and ready.
Receiving Corps
Burrow doesn't have a great Heisman season without top weapons, which is exactly what he has in wide receivers Ja'Marr Chase and Justin Jefferson. Chase has 1,559 yards and 18 TDs this season, but if you slow him down - like what happened against Oklahoma when he caught just two passes - Jefferson steps up.
Jefferson had 14 catches for 227 yards and four touchdowns against the Sooners. You might contain one or the other. There is no way you can stop them both.
Read the full article
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The Worst Advice We've Ever Heard About website fifa 19
Together with the Olympics over, the wind down is bit by bit starting up. The organisers have been rehearsing solidly for the closing ceremony Considering that the opening ceremony two weeks in the past. It´s been a wonderful celebration of sporting activities with some unforgettable times, Gold medals painfully attained and Earth documents broken in legitimate fashion but amongst every one of the euphoria and heartbreak, there is a single name that has been lifted from celeb sportsman position to that of a real living legend - Usain St.Leo Bolt. That has a identify like that, he was destined to line up Using the Olympian gods.
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According to Forbes, Usain Bolt manufactured $twenty.3 million from all earnings this 12 months to this point - 63rd optimum paid out athlete on the globe.
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In 2009 in Berlin, Germany, at the IAAF World Championships, Bolt broke the earth History by managing the 100m in nine.fifty eight seconds - A very impressive time. At the identical Level of competition, he subsequently broke the 200m Planet record by clocking in in 19.19 seconds. He was presently a Gold medal winner in each functions as well as the men´s four x 100m relay winnng all 3 with the Bejiing Olympics the former yr so London 2012 introduced Usain Bolt by using a new problem - to protect all 3 titles and inscribe his name to the Hall of Fame of all time greatest athletes. However, there was a person person who was intending to do every thing in his energy to halt him - his Mate and coaching lover Yohan website fifa 19 Blake who offered serious Levels of competition as he experienced now beaten him two times during the Jamaican Olympic trials. Additionally, coming in to the Olympics, Bolt was complaining of currently being only ninety five% in shape, so all the planets ended up aligned for just a fearsome battle between these two athletes.
The result? Usain Bolt gained Olympic Gold medals in both the 100m and 200m, retaining his crown because the swiftest guy alive and answering all his critics who dared to doubt him. Yohan Blake gained Silver in each and Warren Weir, also from Jamaica, gained third place during the 200m to bag himself a Bronze medal and give Jamaica 1st, 2nd and third spots in that race.
So Hublot know a factor or two about a thing or two, In particular In terms of strategic partnerships and Usain Bolt is definitely the fastest strategic husband or wife they´ve at any time experienced.
The Hublot Large Bang Usain Bolt Tech Spec
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On almost every other weekend, This might be the spotlight matchup of the 1st week of November-a activity amongst two Best ten teams with a person reduction but endeavoring to stay in the hunt inside their convention and be a pretty option for a major bowl sport come late December or early January.
Even so, This can be LSU-Alabama week, so a game amongst seventh-ranked Arkansas and ninth-ranked South Carolina in Fayetteville is remaining to web site two of most previews. Anticipate this recreation to be as entertaining as that other Top rated 10 matchup in Tuscaloosa-but possibly for various reasons.
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Arkansas received final year's meeting in Columbia forty one-20 and has gained four of the final conferences overall and 12 of 19 all-time conferences.
With Arkansas web hosting South Carolina this week, the chances record the home crew to be a 4.5-issue favorite, although the overall is set for fifty two factors.
South Carolina Gamecocks
The Gamecocks are four-0 over the street this 12 months, such as past 7 days's fourteen-three victory at Tennessee. The squad has permitted just eighteen factors in the last 3 months and 37 in the final 5 contests.
The new defensive initiatives have enhanced South Carolina to rank 14th nationally in scoring defense (17 factors per sport) when allowing for 255 complete yards per contest (136 passing, one hundred thirty dashing). The unit has compiled sixteen sacks though forcing 26 turnovers (greater than a few for each video game).
Antonio Allen prospects this defensive device with 62 tackles, 3 interceptions, three pressured fumbles and a few recoveries. Melvin Ingram and Jadeveon Clowney have 10.5 sacks involving them. Stephon Gilmore, D.J. Swearinger and C.C. Whitlock have 3 interceptions Each and every, when Clowney has four pressured fumbles. The defense has four TDs (3 fumble returns, a single interception).
The Gamecock offense, whilst not magnificent (currently being held to fourteen details or much less 3 times in the last four game titles), does typical 30 details and 388 total yards for every contest (202 dashing, 186 passing). Marcus Lattimore keys this offense on the bottom with 818 yards and 10 touchdowns (five yards for every have), even though he missed previous week's video game and Brandon Wilds rushed for 137 yards in his stead vs. Tennessee.
Connor Shaw led the staff by using a 10-of-eighteen passing hard work for 87 yards very last 7 days and has finished 62 per cent of his passes for 582 yards and six TDs with a few interceptions. The offensive line has authorized sixteen sacks. Alshon Jeffery has caught 33 passes for 468 yards and 5 TDs to lead the getting corps, nevertheless 6 unique players have eleven or even more receptions.
Arkansas Razorbacks
The Razorbacks gained their fourth straight game past 7 days, rallying with eleven details within the fourth quarter to pull out a 31-28 earn at Vanderbilt. Arkansas is five-0 at home this time, which include two wins about ranked opponents (Texas A&M, Auburn) in consecutive months inside their final two household video games Oct. one and eight.
Below Bobby Petrino, the Razorbacks are among the list of more potent offenses in the place, averaging 37 factors and 453 overall yards per recreation (321 passing, 132 speeding). Tyler Wilson keys the assault by completing 63 p.c of his passes for two,327 yards and thirteen touchdowns with 3 interceptions. His offensive line, nevertheless, has permitted 17 sacks.
Jarius Wright and Joe Adams are Wilson't top rated targets, combining for eighty one catches for one,162 yards and 8 TDs. Dennis Johnson and Ronnie Wingo Jr. direct the hurrying attack with 645 yards and a few TDs (5.two yards for each have).
The Arkansas protection lets 22 points and 396 yards for every recreation (208 passing, 188 speeding), recording eleven sacks and forcing 11 turnovers. Jerry Fanklin leads the device with sixty eight tackles along with a 94-garden fumble return for a TD. Ross Rasner, Jake Bequette and Alonzo Highsmith Just about every have two sacks, while Eric Bennett and Tramain Thomas Every single have three interceptions.
Joe Adams averages 16 points for each punt return and it has two returns for TDs, whilst Marquel Wade averages nearly thirty yards for each kickoff return and it has 1 return for your TD.
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Fox news Mock draft with a twist! What teams SHOULD do - NFL.com
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Welcome to my third annual mock draft ... with a twist! Here's no longer to be a predictive part by any stretch, nevertheless as a substitute I will exercise my consulting companies to lend a hand nudge teams within the honest direction and describe them what they must make on April 23. If all these teams had listened to me in present years, Derwin James might maybe well perchance be on the Bucs, D.J. Moore might maybe well perchance be on the Packers (gaze I'm unbiased) and Josh Allen might maybe well perchance be a member of the Bills. Oh wait, the Bills did hear. You are welcome, Buffalo.
With out extra ado, let's secure rocking on the 2020 NFL Draft.
College: LSU | 365 days: Senior (RS)
I've seen the argument for the Bengals to grab Chase Young right here, and I appreciate it. The theorem is sound. Honest correct leer at what Nick Bosa did for the 49ers last 365 days. But, as I'm obvious you accumulate realized, the 49ers already had their franchise quarterback on the roster when they develop to be within the cardboard for Bosa. And as noteworthy as I take care of Andy Dalton, it looks take care of you guys are bright to head your separate ways. He's the 2011 Toyota Corolla you would maybe perchance perchance easy accumulate an emotional attachment to because he took you to five straight playoff appearances -- so what if the hubcap fell off every fifth mile? On the replacement hand, if you happen to're being upright at the side of your self, you comprehend it's miles time to upgrade to that decked-out Tesla you accumulate had your watch on. So clutch Burrow, blueprint him your franchise QB and let's kick this turnaround into equipment.
College: Ohio Teach | 365 days: Junior
Washington, I do know you are hearing a lot of chatter, too. Focus on of pulling a Josh Rosen/ Kyler Murray (presumably you bought Jimmy Clausen/ Cam Newton better) form maneuver at No. 2 total has been simmering for weeks. And but again, I secure why Tua Tagovailoa is an appealing likelihood right here. In particular if you happen to deem Tua goes to be a generational QB. I take care of it. Tall thought. I for my piece contemplate he'll. But right here is why you could grab Young right here: Your roster is a entire lot of gamers away honest now. And so if the 2020 season would no longer turn out so sizzling for you guys, and Dwayne Haskins struggles, you would maybe perchance perchance totally be within the mix for Trevor Lawrence next 365 days. Getting Young and Lawrence in back-to-back years is something they would discuss in A Soccer Existence: The Redskins Dynasty of the 2020s.
College: Clemson | 365 days: Junior (RS)
You are in a reasonably simply spot right here, Lions. You might maybe perchance either clutch the cornerback everybody wants you to grab. Otherwise you can clutch the correct defender on the board. But what you if truth be told must make is to secure the Dolphins or Chargers to movement up right here for Tua. On myth of you are easy going to stop up with one among those stud defenders regardless, and also you can capture some extra picks, too. And for the yarn, I am going with Simmons because, wisely, make you even see college football, brah?
College: Ohio Teach | 365 days: Junior
Hear, I do know you ethical gave James Bradberry $32 million guaranteed and are handiest one 365 days eliminated from taking Deandre Baker 30th total, and every are ravishing gamers, nevertheless they're take care of the (noteworthy-foremost) Taco Bell you scarf down on your capability to a cocktail party so that you simply no longer no longer as a lot as accumulate a wicked on your machine in case the host is no longer serving food. (BTW, endure in mind cocktail occasions that weren't online?) Okudah's the bacon-wrapped runt you simply cannot cross up. Now, you would maybe perchance perchance strive and alternate down just a few spots to a QB-needy crew and reach away with an offensive kind out take care of Tristan Wirfs. But if Okudah is on the board at 4, and also you cease keep, then capture the corner who will enable you to keep a ways from rating 31st in touchdowns allowed to receivers (22) but again.
College: Utah Teach | 365 days: Junior (RS)
You would play it stable right here and wander along with Justin Herbert, who has if truth be told acquitted himself quite wisely going back to the Pac-12 Championship Game and on thru the Senior Bowl and NFL Scouting Mix. Herbert is in point of fact a solid NFL quarterback. But you ethical got rid of a solid NFL quarterback. It's main to blueprint a splash. You are going in a brand unique stadium, you are going to possible be better than your neighbors, so that is a time to capture any other. Southern California is the house of legends. Mike Trout. LeBron James. Anthony Rendon. Anthony Davis. Some hockey guys, I'm obvious. You moreover play in a division with Mahomes. Chargers, you if truth be told must clutch a shot right here with a guy who might maybe well perchance stop up being the most celebrated (or ridiculed) elevate within the draft. But leer, you accumulate performed it stable for 50 years and what's it gotten you? Capture a gamble right here.
College: Iowa | 365 days: Junior
You made your movement for Kyler Murray last season. You steadily won the offseason if you happen to fleeced the Texans for DeAndre Hopkins. I have not seen a crew clutch the offseason take care of that for the reason that Browns traded for OBJ to head with their second-365 days Oklahoma quarterback. ... So, if you happen to're trying to keep a ways from the issues Cleveland had last season, make certain you address the offensive line. Capture the correct kind out on the board honest now. I'd wander along with Wirfs, nevertheless I belief your scouting division to raise the honest dude. Honest correct please, please don't ignore the offensive line.
College: Alabama | 365 days: Junior
My guests down in Duval, you accumulate a lot of draft capital and I take care of it. Here is my thing, even though. You are more or less stuck right here at No. 9. You might maybe perchance hope Simmons falls to you right here. But I'd no longer depend on that. You moreover accumulate a large need for an exterior cornerback, with the total Darqueze Dennard deal falling thru and D.J. Hayden being more of a slot guy. On the replacement hand, it looks to be take care of Simmons and Okudah will be handed by the time you are on the clock. And if you happen to cease in this spot, I'd if truth be told address the offensive line because you perceive Doug Marrone goes to are trying to hotfoot the football. It's take care of having grilled chicken pretty than a pizza for dinner. Most steadily you could blueprint the finest replacement, even supposing it's no longer the most thrilling.
College: Louisville | 365 days: Junior
That has to danger, seeing two dudes you if truth be told can accumulate feeble secure picked back-to-back honest in entrance of you. But it's frigid. Whereas you can wander in a substantial amount of a substantial amount of instructions right here, I'm easy leaning O-line. You ethical signed Jack Conklin to bookend the honest aspect. Unimaginable. Now, you draft Becton to line up on the left aspect, and all straight away, you accumulate a solid offensive line. And if you happen to'll enable one quick yarn clutch (ethical one), I'd wander all-in on Nick Chubb if this occurs. In particular with Kevin Stefanski as head coach.
College: Oklahoma | 365 days: Junior
Capture the receiver of your replacement right here, Jets. I feel take care of the controversy between who's more fit, Lamb or Jerry Jeudy, goes to last thru the decade. I'm favoring Lamb at this point. He's no longer the fastest guy on the board, nevertheless he's an absolute beast once he has the ball in his fingers. He's the more or less guy who will change into an rapid well-liked in Unusual York. Discontinue the honest thing for my guy, Sam Darnold.
College: Alabama | 365 days: Junior
Here's what I'd make. I'd secure on the cell phone with the Packers and gaze if they'd be within the 12th and 80th total picks for Davante Adams. I do know that sounds fair a minute loopy. But we accumulate seen other principal receivers -- Antonio Brown, Odell Beckham, DeAndre Hopkins, Stefon Diggs -- secure traded in exactly the past 13 months. You all once upon a time within the past even traded Amari Cooper. So back off, Packers marks. The compensation is if truth be told better than what the Vikings bought for Diggs. If you would maybe perchance perchance pull this off, you would maybe perchance accumulate Derek Carr and DA reunited. At the very worst (and in all probability), you elevate out this stud out of Alabama.
College: South Carolina | 365 days: Senior
You would need an real replacement to capture a noteworthy-foremost receiver in this spot. But I'd no longer overspend on Henry Ruggs III with Lamb and Jeudy long past. (You would must leap before the Jets if you happen to need an real shot at getting one among those guys). If we're being originate right here, I comprehend it wasn't easy trading away DeForest Buckner. However the correct capability to secure over that loss is to straight away occupy the void with the 6-foot-5, 324-pound Kinlaw. Establish him in there with Bosa and Co. and mark him flourish. He might maybe well perchance change correct into a Expert Bowler very quick. Besides, this draft is dreary deep at receiver and also you continue to accumulate the 31st total elevate. So, you are simply.
College: Georgia | 365 days: Junior
First off, cherish the unique uniforms. These leer wonderful. 2nd, you will desire a working back. But I make no longer point out that you simply clutch one right here. Address that within the second round, when your choices at No. 45 might maybe well perchance contain J.K. Dobbins, Clyde Edwards-Helaire and even possible a surprise slider take care of Jonathan Taylor. Capture Thomas to guard your most well-known asset for the crew, Tom Brady. Smartly, second-most next to that large pirate ship that Kevin Owens didn't secure to leap off for WrestleMania. And having that kind out will enable you to hotfoot the ball, too.
College: Florida | 365 days: Junior
Take a look at up on, as an particular individual that plays a ton of yarn football and repeatedly likes to match up gamers in opposition to the Falcons protection on myth of their struggles within the secondary, I hate to describe you guys to repair that. In particular if I accumulate shares of Michael Thomas, Chris Godwin and D.J. Moore. But simply lord, Atlanta. It's a ways well-known to repair that. All honest. Maybe I'm being quick. You weren't fallacious on the stop of last season. But you accumulate a evident need now that top corner Desmond Trufant used to be released. Henderson might maybe well perchance be a large lend a hand. He's no longer a huge tackler, nevertheless he's a simply defender whereas the ball is within the air.
College: LSU | 365 days: Sophomore (RS)
I accumulate something for you, Cowboys. You are going to take care of this one. Now, cornerback is an obvious need, nevertheless Henderson ethical went off the board. Journey rusher is moreover a need for this protection, now that my guy Bobby Quinn flipped a coin and left for the Chicago Bears (welcome!). Chaisson would reach in and blueprint a straight away influence on this protection. And if I'm taking pictures you straight right here, the Cowboys accumulate low-key made some huge picks on D within the draft in present years. No, no longer Taco Charlton. But guys take care of Leighton Vander Esch, Xavier Woods and Chidobe Awuzie. Chaisson would slot in quite wisely.
College: Alabama | 365 days: Junior
I used to be ethical about to describe you guys to head capture USC OT Austin Jackson to guard Tua down the road. And if you happen to if truth be told are trying to make that, I'm no longer going to stop you (there might maybe be clearly a need for O-line lend a hand). But your crew is shut to competing within the AFC East. If truth be told, even even though you completed with fewer wins than the Jets, who used to be the upper crew on the stop of the 365 days? Exactly. And with Tom Brady long past, the division is large originate. I if truth be told deem McKinney is the lacking part to plan for a protection that made some nice upgrades within the offseason. So, wander all-in for the Alabama security.
College: Utah | 365 days: Junior
You already accumulate your receiver, whether or no longer you overjoyed the Packers to grab the deal for Adams or you chosen Jeudy. Now is the time to leer at your secondary. Johnson is the correct corner on the board honest now. I noticed him a lot at Utah, and he's very simply. He can play exterior or within the slot. But he's going to be a starter from Day 1, and that is the reason exactly what you will need. If you wanted to head secure Patrick Queen or Kenneth Murray right here, that is frigid. But you like my guy Nick Kwiatkoski and Cory Littleton this offseason, so that you simply would maybe perchance perchance be simply at linebacker.
College: LSU | 365 days: Junior
Help but again, Duval. Tall to gaze you. I believed you can stop up with a quality cornerback at this place of abode. And shoot, I used to be incorrect. I believed Johnson might maybe well perchance be right here for you. And he might maybe well perchance be if I will return and convince the Raiders to grab a linebacker or even any other receiver at No. 19. But I'm a huge fan of Queen in this spot. Here's a spot of abode of need without Telvin Smith. And if I'm being upright, after staring at Queen at LSU, this guy goes to be an absolute clutch in this spot.
College: LSU | 365 days: Junior
I will prefer to query you to keep a ways from the temptation to leap up when some of those receivers originate up flying off the board earlier within the draft. You are going to be ravishing ethical sitting back and trying out forward to your guy. Jefferson is a participant I if truth be told take care of. And why him over a guy take care of, enlighten, Tee Higgins? That's an outstanding depend on. Jefferson is an ace route-runner. Being in that LSU offense with Burrow and OC Joe Brady has him NFL-bright. I'd no longer be bowled over to gaze him stop up as the head rookie receiver given the circumstances he might maybe well perchance be strolling into right here.
College: Clemson | 365 days: Junior
I notify it used to be time to piece ways with Diggs. Most steadily those relationships hotfoot their route, Vikings. No must dwell on danger emotions, even though. Higgins might maybe well perchance be a ideal fit for you. He works wisely down the realm and a pairing with Adam Thielen might maybe well perchance blueprint it seem take care of nothing has modified. You are going to be honest back to dropping huge games but again very quick. Sorry, I needed to make it. Bask in you, Vikings.
College: Oregon | 365 days: Senior
So, you are if truth be told going to let the correct quarterback in NFL history stroll away and stop up with a reasonably simply replacement? Now, I educated the Chargers to keep a ways from Herbert earlier in this draft, nevertheless for simply reason. History tells me the Chargers are no longer the more or less crew that can perchance perchance lend a hand him overcome his inconsistencies. The Patriots completely might maybe well perchance. So many occasions, the success of quarterbacks comes down to their area. Herbert might maybe well perchance be ravishing if the Chargers chosen him. He has a gamble to be higher echelon if he goes to the Patriots. I'd cherish to gaze it.
College: Colorado | 365 days: Junior
Shenault has been described by my colleague Daniel Jeremiah as "arguably the correct athlete within the draft" because he does fair a minute little bit of all the pieces. Masses of his success will rely on the place he goes within the draft. There are three or four teams that I deem might maybe well perchance if truth be told secure the correct of him. Saints, you are one among them. Originate no longer query him to make a lot in his first 365 days (it's no longer take care of you could with Alvin Kamara, Michael Thomas and Emmanuel Sanders already within the mix). But given the prospect to ethical flit down the realm and hotfoot some jet-sweeps, I deem Shenault would change into an rapid fan well-liked in Unusual Orleans.
College: Clemson | 365 days: Junior
The protection feeble to be the energy of this crew, Vikings. But now you are rolling into the draft hoping guys take care of Mike Hughes, Holton Hill and Kris Boyd can step up at corner. Solid NFL gamers for obvious, nevertheless you would maybe perchance perchance exercise some lend a hand. You took a receiver at the side of your first elevate. It behooves you to grab the correct cornerback left on the board in this spot.
College: USC | 365 days: Junior
You know what? I'm nearly regretting having you cross on Jackson at the side of your old elevate. I if truth be told am. But wager what? Dude is easy right here! How about that noise? Here's take care of the correct of every worlds. Take a look at up on, Dolphins. I've tried to enable you to within the past. But if you happen to dash out of right here with Tua, McKinney and now Jackson, this might maybe occasionally perchance perchance be a draft for the yarn books. It if truth be told might maybe well perchance be. On myth of all drafts are recorded. But I point out in a simply capability.
College: TCU | 365 days: Junior (RS)
There might maybe be a need on the offensive line. But I make no longer take care of noteworthy of what's left there in this spot. Blacklock is capability too talented to cross over right here. He has the abilities to form correct into a excessive cross rusher from the interior of the defensive position. He looks take care of the more or less participant that Seattle finds and turns correct into a stud. And if you happen to one way or the other convince Jadeveon Clowney to reach (I do know, a protracted shot at this point), this line goes to be wonderful.
College: Georgia | 365 days: Junior
I take care of Label Ingram. He's huge. His hype movies are the correct. But he's moreover 30. And I make no longer are trying to head all Barney Stinson on you, nevertheless you do no longer are trying to flirt with working backs over the age of 30. Swift makes too noteworthy sense right here in this spot. The roster already involves Ingram, Gus Edwards and Justice Hill. But if teams are going to enable the correct back within the draft to topple to No. 28, you could make it. And for the yarn, I'd clutch Jonathan Taylor right here if Swift goes earlier.
College: Penn Teach | 365 days: Junior
I'd like to gaze you add some receiver lend a hand, too. Or presumably wander after some offensive linemen. But you moreover must leer at your cross-speeding area, which Inappropriate-Matos must correct now lend a hand within the wake of Cameron Wake. And yes, even with Vic Beasley on board, you continue to cannot accumulate sufficient quality cross rushers, especially in a convention that has Mahomes, Jackson and Deshaun Watson.
College: Arizona Teach | 365 days: Senior
Take a look at up on, if Aaron Rodgers is so huge, why don't you ethical skip your draft elevate? Stunning, ravishing. You would need spent so noteworthy draft capital over the years on protection, how about you if truth be told strive and secure some gamers for Rodgers to work with? You owe it to him to grab the correct receiver available. I realize I'm telling the Packers to raise the fellow who ethical lately underwent core-muscle surgical treatment. Certain. But he's the most talented receiver closing on the board. And for when you mustn't no longer as a lot as strive and lend a hand your quarterback pretty than taking any other defender (which I fully know you would maybe perchance).
College: Baylor | 365 days: Senior
Take a look at up on right here, you waited on a receiver and also you accumulate been rewarded with a reasonably entirely one. I take care of him. Mims excels at going out and a success those 50/50 battles. He'll be an ethical gamer. One drawback for him is that I'm no longer obvious his route tree is the most intensive. But that is ravishing. We heard linked issues about DK Metcalf last 365 days and he used to be ravishing. Mims might maybe well perchance be ideal to position in an offense with Deebo Samuel and George Kittle. Let him wander down the realm and make his thing. Mims might maybe well perchance be a large clutch for you.
College: Oklahoma | 365 days: Junior
I have not any idea how Murray ended up falling the total capability down right here. He's a simply participant, nevertheless howdy, in most cases surprises take care of this happen when matching up fits and needs. He might maybe well perchance stop up going capability earlier within the draft, and we ethical couldn't let this guy topple out of the first round. He's ethical capability too simply. So, congratulations, Chiefs. Things keep coming up roses for you. For certain, if you happen to ethical wanted to reach out for one among the correct closing working backs, I'm no longer going to be angry about that, either.
Be aware Adam Heinous on Twitter @AdamRank.
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RTARL’s 2020 NFL Season Week 3 Extravapalooza
Immediately coming out of Week 2 the national conversation was focused mainly on the fact that my picks went a very respectable 10-5. But, after running out of superlatives to describe my handicapping skills, the discourse shifted in the direction of the absolutely brutal spate of injuries that took place. Saquon Barkley, Nick Bosa, and Courtland Sutton were all lost for the season with torn ACLs, and Christian McCaffery, Brandon Scherff, Jimmy Garoppolo, Drew Lock and a whole bunch of others went down with various tweaks and tears that will keep them out of game action for multiple weeks. That’s a lot of really good players! And Jimmy Garoppolo!
There seemed to be a desire to chalk up a lot of the injuries to a lack of preseason game action, but I’m not smart enough to know if that theory has any merit. Hopefully, it was just a freak occurrence and we won’t see another week like that any time soon. If I can make a bold statement that I’m sure nobody has ever mentioned before: the NFL is a lot more fun when the best players are on the field.
My picks are in BOLD, and the lines come to us courtesy of our friends at Vegas Insider. I use the “VI Consensus” line, which is the line that occurs most frequently across Vegas Insider’s list of sportsbooks. Your sportsbook of choice may offer a different number, and if you’d like my opinion on said number A) you are insane, and B) leave a comment below and I’ll try to answer at some point before things kickoff today.
EARLY GAMES
Los Angeles Rams at Buffalo Bills (-2)
The Bills have looked great in their first two games, no doubt about it. BUT, those two games were against the incomprehensibly shitty Jets and a Dolphins team that I don’t think anyone would call world-beaters. The Rams represent a huge step up in weight class, and I’m not sure how the Bills will handle it. I still love Josh Allen and believe in the Bills in general, but this game might be a little shock to the system for them.
Chicago Bears at Atlanta Falcons (-3)
I’ve read a few takes saying that a trip to Atlanta to play against a ghastly Falcons secondary is going to make Mitchell Trubisky and the Bears offense look much better than they are, but what this pick presupposes is that a meeting with Mitchell will make the Falcons secondary look better than they are.
Washington Football Team at Cleveland Browns (-7)
I know they gave up 30 points last week, but The Football Team’s defense has played really well through two games so far. They mauled the Eagles in a Week 1 victory that saw them sack Carson Wentz 8 times, intercept him twice and hold Philly to 57 rushing yards (3.4 yards per attempt) TOTAL. In Week 2, they held Arizona RB Kenyan Drake in check for the most part (86 total yards, 4.3 per rush) and managed to pick off Kyler Murray once while sacking him three times. Washington was done in by Calimari’s running ability, which is gonna happen to a lot of teams, I reckon. Baker Mayfield is no Kyler Murray when it comes to his wheels, so I’m taking the 7 points.
Tennessee Titans (-2.5) at Minnesota Vikings
Minnesota has looked DREADFUL so far, getting whomped by the Packers and then the Colts. I honestly don’t have a great reason for picking them, other than thinking “they can’t be THIS bad.” If this year has taught us anything, it’s that thinking things can’t get worse is pretty stupid, yet here I am. The only aspect of this game I have any confidence in prediction-wise is in saying that it’ll be the first early game to wrap up. These teams are gonna run, run, and then run some more.
Las Vegas Raiders at New England Patriots (-6.5)
Last week, I once again picked against the Raiders, and they once again made me look stupid by not only covering, but winning outright. So help me if Cam Newton leads New England to an absolute thrashing of this collection of assholes he will immediately become my favorite Patriot ever.
If I wanted to give a non-spite related reason for my pick, I’d mention that Las Vegas will be without rookie WR Henry Ruggs , LB Nick Kwiatkoski and T Trent Brown, and that G Denzelle Good, T Sam Young, TE Darren Waller and RB Josh Jacobs are all Questionable as of this writing. I’m totally picking against them out of spite, though.
San Francisco 49ers (-3) at New York Giants
The Niners were absolutely wrecked by injuries last week, and now they’re playing again on the same turf that they feel took out their comrades. I can’t help but wonder if that’ll be in their heads a little bit, and if there’s anyone who knows the minds of NFL players, it’s a guy who’s never even attended a school at any level that fielded a football team. Nick Mullens is a pretty good backup QB, and it’s not like he’s replacing Russell Wilson, but still. I can’t take an injury-riddled road favorite starting a backup QB. Seats are rapidly opening up on the Daniel Jones bandwagon, but I remain resolute...for now.
Cincinnati Bengals at Philadelphia Eagles (-4)
I’m really torn here, because I am all the way in on The Joe Burrow Experience and want good things for him, but if the Eagles come out looking like an exploded diaper again it’s gonna get really awkward and depressing in Philadelphia, and I can’t handle feeling even more secondhand cringe and despair in these trying times. I’d greatly prefer a middling Eagles season that keeps their fans’ rage at no more than a simmer, and for that to be the case they’re gonna need to win decisively here. Sorry, Joe.
Houston Texans at Pittsburgh Steelers (-4)
After dealing with Daniel Jones in Week 1 and the Drew Lock/Jeff Driskel Combo Meal in Week 2, the Steelers defense will now have to contend with DeShaun Watson. In my expert football-knower opinion, this will be a more difficult challenge for them. Conversely, the Texans started their year with games against the Chiefs and then the Ravens, and while I do think the Steelers are pretty good, they’re a step below those two death squads. In what’s become a running theme in my picks this week, I think a bit of equilibrium is restored and the Texans have somewhat of a get-right game while Pittsburgh gets taken down a peg.
LATE GAMES
Carolina Panthers at Los Angeles Chargers (-6.5)
This is a tough one. Conventional wisdom says 6.5 is a pretty big number for a rookie QB in his second start, though like everyone else I thought Justin Herbert looked more than legit in his debut. The L.A. defense has been fantastic, and they’re plenty good enough to paper over any potential rookie mistakes from their QB.
I’m going with the Chargers less because of them and more because of how poor the Carolina offense has looked so far. Teddy Bridgewater is a great story and I’m glad he got himself a nice contract after his horrific leg injury in Minnesota, but he hasn’t looked like an NFL starter this year. New Panthers OC Joe Brady performed a miracle and gave the LSU Tigers an offense for the ages, so he clearly knows what he’s doing. Maybe the Panthers will get it together as the season goes on, but for this week I don’t see it, especially without all-world RB Christian McCaffery.
New York Jets at Indianapolis Colts (-11.5)
11.5! That’s a large number for a pro game, and it’s terrible that I didn’t have to grapple all that much with laying the points. The Jets have looked historically awful and I feel bad for everyone on their sideline except for Adam Gase and Gregg Williams. Fuck those two. I don’t have a solid read on the Colts quite yet, but I’ve been around long enough to know that a Phillip Rivers-led squad would NEVER blow a layup like this.
Tampa Bay Buccaneers (-6) at Denver Broncos
I get that Tampa Bay is the road team here, but A) there are no fans in the stands, B) Denver has lost several key players to injury and C) they’re starting Jeff Driskel at Quarterback. The Bucs giving less than a TD seems odd to me. Maybe there’s some concern about the altitude affecting Tom Brady’s elderly lungs, or about the possibility of Rob Gronkowski buying thousands of dollars worth of edibles in Denver and mixing them in with the pregame spread. Classic Gronk move, imo.
Detroit Lions at Arizona Cardinals (-5.5)
I don’t see any way the Lions slow down this Cardinals offense, so their only hope is to outscore them. If stud WR Kenny Golladay were healthy I’d like Detroit’s chances a whole lot more, but he’s listed as Questionable with an injured hammy at the moment and on Friday assessed his situation as follows: “Wouldn’t say it’s 100 percent. I really wouldn’t even put a percentage on it, I just know I’m not 100 percent.” That doesn’t sound great to me, but I don’t come from an All Medical family, so I could be wrong.
Dallas Cowboys at Seattle Seahawks (-5)
The formerly formidable Seattle Seahawks secondary has given up 450 passing yards to Matt Ryan, and 397 yards to Cam Newton in their two games this season, while the Cowboys were also carved up by Matty Ice (lol) in their insanely improbable Week 2 win. Both of these passing attacks are fantastic, so this feels like an absolute orgy of touchdowns in the making. This game has the week’s highest over-under at 56.5, so I’m not exactly breaking any new ground with this analysis. That’s really the main hallmark of this blog series, now that I think about it.
SNF: Green Bay Packers at New Orleans Saints (-3)
This game would be a lot more fun if All-Pro WRs Michael Thomas and Davante Adams were suiting up at 100% for their respective teams, but sometimes the Football Gods are dicks. Thomas is OUT with an ankle injury, and as of this writing Adams is being called a game-time decision with a bad hamstring. I’m guessing the game is gonna be more Aaron Jones vs Alvin Kamara than the Aaron Rodgers vs Drew Brees matchup it’s being billed as. That’s still plenty good enough to get me to tune in, as those guys are great in their own right. All things being equal, I trust Aaron Rodgers more to make chicken salad out of chicken shit against the Saints D at this point in time, so I’m giving Green Bay the edge.
Every time Sean Payton takes his 1st ballot Hall of Fame QB off the field in favor of Taysom Hill, an angel gets its oxycodone prescription refilled.
MNF: Kansas City Chiefs at Baltimore Ravens (-3.5)
My feelings on this game can be summed up by one of the great orators of modern times, “The Nature Boy” Ric Flair:
Last Week’s Record: 10-5
Season Record: 19-11-1
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What Jake Fromm's up-and-down season means for his future
New Post has been published on https://viraljournalist.com/what-jake-fromms-up-and-down-season-means-for-his-future/
What Jake Fromm's up-and-down season means for his future
On paper, Jake Fromm has all the traits of an NFL quarterback. At 6-foot-2 and 220 pounds, Georgia’s signal-caller has the prototypical size associated with the position. His arm is more than capable to make the necessary throws, and he’s more athletic than you think, rushing for 10 yards or more 13 times in his career.
The intangibles are all there, too. He’s smart, thoughtful and well respected as a leader. The only time he seems to find trouble is on the water; last summer, he broke his hand during a freak boating accident and a lure got snagged in his calf while fishing.
Still, he’s been the SEC’s Iron Man the past three years, starting 41 consecutive games. He has won a whopping 34 of them. During that time, only 16 quarterbacks have averaged a Total QBR of 80 or more — including the past three Heisman Trophy winners and four first-round NFL draft picks — and he’s one of them.
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When it comes to the metric that arguably translates best to the NFL — completion percentage — he’s been rock solid. Despite running a pro-style offense that doesn’t utilize as many short passes as the spread, he has never failed to complete fewer than 60% of his passes in a given season, and he’s never thrown double-digit interceptions. In fact, he’s had only 18 picks his entire career, which is fewer than two teams (Texas State and UAB) had this season alone.
As his coach, Kirby Smart, said back in the summer, there are certain things every NFL scout is looking for, and Fromm, well, “he checks every single box on that list.”
But after the up-and-down junior season that followed those comments, it’s fair to wonder whether the whole of Fromm’s résumé has become less than the sum of its parts. During the summer, he seemed like a good bet to enter the NFL draft, but now, heading into Wednesday’s Allstate Sugar Bowl against Baylor, we’re left to wonder if this will be the end of his time in college or if he’ll return for his senior year and try to go out on a high note.
Asked about it Sunday, Fromm told reporters in New Orleans he has already received his draft grade and will sit down with his family after the bowl game to decide his future.
Jake Fromm has completed more than 60% of his passes each season for the Bulldogs. Todd Kirkland/Getty Images
“Football seasons are always tough,” he said of the toll this season has taken on him. “There are a lot of highs and lows in a football season. But you love football, love this team, love this university, and I could not ask to be in a better spot.”
In so many ways, though, the SEC championship game a month ago felt like a microcosm for his lost season. Georgia lost to LSU in a landslide 37-10, and Fromm felt like the scapegoat for having completed just 20 of his 42 passes for 225 yards, one touchdown and two interceptions.
But the loss was much deeper than numbers on a stat sheet. On one side of the field was a quarterback who was expected to be in the middle of the pack in the conference, Joe Burrow, who had instead become the runaway Heisman Trophy winner. Burrow got a new coordinator on offense, Joe Brady, and everything changed as the Tigers evolved into perhaps the most dynamic offense in the sport.
Then, there was Fromm on the other side of the field, who had fallen from his perch in the SEC quarterback rankings. He got a new offensive coordinator during the offseason, too, but instead of sweeping change under James Coley, it seemed as if the Bulldogs got more of the same run-oriented, mostly conservative calls they had in the past.
Smart said they tried to do something different against LSU, understanding a run-heavy offense wouldn’t be able to keep pace against Burrow & Co. But either it was too little too late or the passing game just wasn’t up for the challenge.
Personnel was an issue. While Burrow had two of the best receivers in the country in Ja’Marr Chase and Justin Jefferson, what exactly did Fromm have to work with? Could you name any of his receivers? Fromm’s favorite target, Lawrence Cager, was out with an injury, as he had been for parts of the season. His talented freshman, George Pickens, was suspended for the first half after punching an opponent during the regular-season finale. And Dominick Blaylock, another promising freshman, tore his ACL in the first quarter.
Injuries have been tough on Georgia, with Jake Fromm’s favorite target, Lawrence Cager, out for the SEC championship game. Todd Kirkland/Icon Sportswire
Fromm, for his part, didn’t make any excuses — in spite of a few noticeable drops early in the game. While he admitted that injuries were “kind of tough on us,” he said it was all about having a “next man up” mentality and persevering.
Smart chimed in then, noting how wide receiver Kearis Jackson was also knocked out of the game.
(It went unsaid at the time, but it should be noted that Georgia dismissed its top returning receiver from last season, Jeremiah Holloman, during the summer.)
At the close of the somber news conference, a reporter asked Smart why Fromm had such a down year given how much better his numbers were the two prior seasons. Smart said he counted five to six drops in the game that could have become explosive plays, and then he pointed to the sideline to explain the talent disparity at receiver.
“One is on the bench in the first half, one is in a wheelchair, and two or three are in the NFL that came out early,” he explained. “That’s just tough.”
While there’s no denying the validity of that statement, what does it say about next season? Cager will have moved on, and there’s no telling how much better those freshmen will be.
One reason for hope might have come in the opening of the early signing period a few weeks ago when Georgia signed Marcus Rosemy, the No. 4 receiver in the 2020 class, and flipped Jermaine Burton, ESPN’s ninth-ranked receiver and a former LSU commit. Speaking about Rosemy & Co., Smart acknowledged, “Those wideouts know that we have a need. They know they have an opportunity to play.”
Georgia also signed Carson Beck, a four-star prospect and the No. 16-rated quarterback in the class, and Smart wouldn’t rule out signing a second quarterback or possibly a grad transfer.
What that means for Fromm remains to be seen. But the conversations between Smart and him about the future have already started.
For his part, Coley remains a believer in Fromm’s talent. He was Fromm’s position coach before being elevated to coordinator during the offseason, and he believes he has a plausible explanation for Fromm’s drop-off in production: injuries.
“With Lawrence Cager in the game … he was at 71% completion for the season,” Coley explained. “Lawrence Cager is not in the game, he’s what? It’s a lot lower. Has he regressed, or has his stats regressed, right? I would say stats regressed.”
If anything, Coley said Fromm is actually “sharper” this season because of all the “multiples” he’s had to work with at receiver.
Those multiples will only expand Wednesday against Baylor when Fromm will be without offensive linemen Andrew Thomas, Isaiah Wilson and Ben Cleveland, along with running back Brian Herrien.
“I think Jake is still the same Jake,” Coley said. “I think he’s done a great job with his attitude, how he comes to work every day. He’s not fazed by stats. He’s not fazed by a production in a game that he probably — he knows he did all he could do to give us a shot.
“Coaching him for two years now, I’m very proud of the kid. I’m watching him in practice this week and last week. Man, you are talking about a person that comes in with a great spirit to compete and to affect others. It’s unbelievable.”
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