Bonus coverage: college football on Sunday … Anyone thinking that was it for the week in college football after Saturday’s terrific slate of games, including a couple between top 10 teams, needs to take a couple of breaths and recharge as there is more to come Sunday with #6 Notre Dame going south to face #10 Miami (7:30… Read More »
Manning debut lands with a thud … It was billed as perhaps the ‘debut of the century’ but it looked more like the ‘dud of the century’ as Texas QB Arch Manning looked pretty much like one might expect a 3rd year QB making his first career start against the defending national champions in front of 103,000 raucous… Read More »
Vikes, Browns ‘win’ 8th round … At least from a purely draft perspective, the big story from this week’s roster reductions as NFL teams worked to get down to their 53-man opening day rosters was how the 2025 draft class fared. Part B of the exercise, though, is just how many undrafted rookie free agents ultimately made the… Read More »
#1 TEXAS at #3 OHIO STATE; NOON ET; FOX: Wow! What a way to kick-off the college football season. The defending national champions hosting the top-ranked team heading into the campaign. The game, of course, also marks a changing of the guard at Texas where Arch Manning (#16, 6-3, 220) takes over at QB for the Longhorns after… Read More »
Cut-down day by the numbers … We have had a chance to really pour over the numbers from this week’s cut-down roster transactions and there are a couple of interesting observations to be made. First, pretty much as usual, the large majority of drafted players survived this week’s roster reductions. Indeed, only 18 players – just 7% of… Read More »
Cut-down day updates … There were a couple of items that slipped under our radar during yesterday’s roster cut-down moves. New Orleans, for example, confirmed that second-year pro Spencer Rattler would start the season as the team’s #1 QB. Rattler had been in a battle with rookie Tyler Shough for the job. However, given that neither were particularly… Read More »
ACC Tigers head list of top dozen draft classes for 2026 … We noted in a post a couple of weeks back entering the college football season there isn’t necessarily a clear dominant team or teams like Ohio State last year when a small army of the Buckeyes’ stars who were considered legit draft prospects opted to return… Read More »
CLEMSON (10-4): After a couple of uncharacteristic off years, the Tigers look they could be back in the national championship picture this coming fall; they also could be major players at the 2026 draft. Indeed, the Tigers have a couple of defensive linemen – DE TJ Parker and DT Peter Woods – with top 5 potential, while QB… Read More »
Number in bracket is the number of players team still has to release; players in bold were 2025 draftees (with round in bracket); players in italics were undrafted rookie free agents ARIZONA (0): Released DL Kyon Barrs, LS Aaron Brewer, OLB Elliott Brown, OL Jeremiah Byers, RB Michael Carter, OL Jake Curhan, RB DeeJay Dallas, TE Josah Deguara, WR Simi Fehoko, DL Anthony Goodlow, WR Bryson Green, CB Darren Hall, OL… Read More »
Busy week in NFL set to kick-off … The final weekend of the NFL pre-season kicks off later this evening with a couple of games including Pittsburgh at Carolina (on the NFL Network at 7 PM ET) and New England at the NY Giants (on Prime Video at 8 PM ET). That will set in motion what should… Read More »
Arch says no decision on draft … Texas QB Arch Manning, the presumptive consensus top prospect for the upcoming draft were he to turn pro this winter, said in a pre-season interview that he really hasn’t made any decisions about the 2025 draft, that he’s just taking it day-to-day. He also kind of disputed comments by grandpa Archie… Read More »
As the QB turns (or doesn’t); Tuesday edition … Another QB domino fell in the NFL earlier today when Indianapolis named former Giant Daniel Jones as the Colts’ starter heading into the season. Jones beat out Anthony Richardson for the job. In fact, its almost a shocking decision by the Colts after having selected Richardson with the 4th… Read More »
Browns name vet Flacco starter … It was the NFL’s worst kept secret of the pr-season, but Cleveland has ended the drama early and named veteran Joe Flacco as their starting QB to open the season. The Browns play cross-state division-rival Cincinnati on September 7th. Flacco gets the nod over fellow vet Kenny Pickett and rookie draft picks… Read More »
OU QB Mateer being looked at for past past gambling … Reports out of Oklahoma indicate that the school is at least ‘looking into’ possible gambling activity by rising QB John Mateer who transferred to the program this year from Washington State. The issue arose last night after a series of screenshots showing betting activity involving former WSU… Read More »
‘Horns #1 in pre-season AP college poll … With just 19 sleeps until the first full weekend of the college football season, the Associated Press has released its pre-season poll ranking the top 25 teams entering the upcoming campaign. And – somewhat astonishingly – for the first time in its most storied history, Texas is ranked #1. However,… Read More »
Grandpa Archie talks grandson Arch’s draft … There has been a bit of buzz this week about comments by Archie Manning indicating that grandson Arch Manning, the consensus favorite to be #1 pick overall at next April’s draft, wouldn’t be entering the 2026 draft. On further review, though, it doesn’t appear to be quite so definitive. Archie, in… Read More »
ESPN acquires NFL properties for league equity; what of coverage? … ESPN reportedly is acquiring the NFL Network and other league assets, including the RedZone channel and the NFL’s fantasy product. In exchange, the NFL will reportedly receive a 10% equity stake in ESPN. For our purposes the one major question is what happens to draft coverage down… Read More »
Pre-season kicks off with HOF game … The NFL pre-season schedule gets underway layer this evening when the LA Chargers face Detroit in the annual Hall-of-Fame game in Canton, Ohio. The actual kick-off is slated for just after 8 PM ET this evening with coverage on NBC. Of course, the full 3-week pre-season schedule begins next week. And… Read More »
Bucs rookie DE Walker out for season … It appears the rookie season of promising Tampa Bay DE David Walker is over literally before it started. Walker, a 4th round pick this past April from Central Arkansas, tore an ACL late last week and will undergo season-ending surgery. The silver lining for Walker, such as it is, is… Read More »
Who’s on top for ’26’: ESPN report … For those that haven’t see it yet, ESPN had a piece up late last week in which draft analyst Matt Miller lists who he believes (and hears from his sources) are the top prospects at each position for the upcoming draft. In fact, there are no real surprises in his… Read More »
Ex-BYU QB Retzlaff resurfaces at Tulane … The somewhat bizarre football journey of former BYU QB Jake Retzlaff took another turn earlier today as he confirmed that he will be attending Tulane this fall. That came after he was suspended 7 games for violating BYU’s somewhat arcane honor code. Retzlaff was suspended after he was accused of sexually… Read More »
Titans’ Levis out for year … Any lingering doubts that Cam Ward, the first player selected overall at the 2025 draft, would not be the starting QB in Tennessee this fall – and there weren’t many – were likely finally put to rest with news this morning that Will Levis, the Titans’ only other real option at the… Read More »
Could unhappy draft picks return to school someday? … There has been a bit of a twist in the ongoing saga of DE Shemar Stewart, Cincinnati’s first round pick this past April – #17 overall – who remains the only unsigned opening round selection from this year’s draft as the team and player remain locked in a dispute… Read More »
Pre-season 2026 draft preview: The RBs … The 2024 season was something of a statement year for RBs everywhere. Philadelphia’s Saquon Barkley, for example, was arguably the best player in the NFL as he lead the Eagles to last year’s Super Bowl, while Boise State’s Ashton Jeanty was just as arguably the best player in college football when… Read More »
We are underway as Charger rooks report … The first NFL training camp opens today with LA Charger rookies set to report. The Chargers get to open early as they are scheduled to play Detroit in the annual Hall of Fame game in Canton on July 31st. The Chargers will open their full camp on the 16th, while… Read More »
