#Josh was named 5th last week but if he ends up in the same position this week then all three of the country artists would be up for the save

[amtrak12]

I'm surprisingly chill about The Voice top 9 results airing tonight. I was stressed af last week because it was the first week of audience voting, but Maddi Jane went through easily so I'm fully expecting her to make finals without issue. Like even if she'd bombed her performance last night (she didn't), people have already picked their faves. She's not going to suddenly lose a ton of votes one week to the next.

[cicketworldcupupdate2019]

challengers bangalore vs channai super king

Chennai brilliant Kings vs Sunrisers Hyderabad HIGHLIGHTS: CSK's persisted woes to 'younger India's' achievement

Chennai superb Kings faced Sunrisers Hyderabad in wholesome 14 of IPL 2020The David Warner-led side registered a seven-run win over the Yellow ArmyCSK are placed at the ultimate spot inside the elements desk

The David Warner-led problem registered a seven-run win over the Yellow ArmyCSK are placed on the last spot in the elements table

CSK are located at the final spot inside the factors table

each exceptional day, each other defeat. it is a unprecedented to sight for Chennai incredible Kings however the Yellow army remains at the ultimate spot inside the elements desk with 3 defeats from 4 suits. positive, the absence of  senior gamers have harm the crew but the 'to be had players' have moreover did not do the method. gradual starts, sloppy fielding and shortage of a right cease have damage the institution. On Friday, CSK misplaced to Sunrisers Hyderabad through seven runs. despite the fact that, it is not throughout for CSK but they have to step up earlier than other organizations advantage an unassailable gain.

With  wins from 4 suits, SRH now sit down at the fourth spot within the elements desk. earlier than the begin of the 1/three week of IPL 2020, here's a take a look at highlights of Friday night time's contest -

MS Dhoni's struggles

notwithstanding his unbeaten forty seven off 36, it can be stated that Dhoni struggled and failed to inspire CSK to a victory. He did sell himself to variety five spot however began his innings inside the slowest fashion. He got here into bat proper after the end of the primary powerplay and regardless of that, Dhoni completed at 47 off 36.

At one diploma, he end up batting on 17 off 22 balls as CSK have been eighty five runs far from the intention. the former India captain quality scored 30 runs off next 14 he faced. moreover, Dhoni become seen struggling within the warm temperature of Dubai. despite the fact that, he is anticipated to be healthful for Sunday's sport.

And CSK's struggles

As a group too, CSK, once more, failed with the bat. Opener Shane Watson handiest controlled one run. Ambati Rayudu (8), Faf du Plessis (22), Kedar Jadhav (3) and others failed to do the technique for CSK. As a quit result, the 3-time champion organization is reeling on the ultimate spot.

'young India's' success closer to IPL giants

CSK's bowling found them dominate the court cases within the first 1/2 and SRH were reeling at sixty nine/four after 11 overs. Former India U-19 captains Priyam Garg (51*) and Abhishek Sharma (31) rose to the event and taken important 77 runs for the 5th wicket to sail their organization close to to one hundred and fifty. The children set an example for seniors and displayed at the same time as to play aggressive pictures and whilst to maintain the crease.

The duo's partnership became the figuring out aspect in the game.

'extra younger India's' achievement in competition to IPL giants

CSK's bowling observed them dominate the court times within the first 1/2 of and SRH have been reeling at 69/four after eleven overs. Former India U-19 captains Priyam Garg (51*) and Abhishek Sharma (31) rose to the event and delivered important seventy seven runs for the fifth wicket to sail their group close to to one hundred fifty. The children set an instance for seniors and displayed when to play aggressive photographs and while to maintain the crease.

The duo's partnership turn out to be the identifying issue in the sport

IPL 2021 RCB group preview In an attempt and begin afresh, RCB released as many as ten game enthusiasts earlier of the IPL 2021 public sale, which encompass Parthiv Patel, who introduced his retirement. With sufficient purse very last to reputation on promising international and domestic cricketers within the auction, they completed a number of the maximum high-priced buys this time, including New Zealand all-rounder Kyle Jamieson [INR 15 crore] and Australian all-rounder Glenn Maxwell [INR 14 crore], buying a entire of eight game enthusiasts. inside the list of gamers retained, captain Kohli has his depended on comrade for years, AB de Villiers, at the side of a battery of strong domestic names in Yuzvendra Chahal, Washington Sundar, Devdutt Padikkal and Navdeep Saini. aside from de Villiers, RCB retained 3 greater worldwide gamers for IPL 2021 in Kane Richardson, Adam Zampa and Josh Philippe.

Royal Challengers Bangalore education team of workers Simon Katich (head train), Mike Hesson (director of cricketing operations), Sanjay Bangar (batting consultant), Adam Griffith (bowling educate), Basu Shanker (health train), Evan Speechly (head physiotherapist), Sridharan Sriram (spin bowling train), Malolan Rangarajan (head of scouting), Navneetha Gautam (sports massage therapist), Soumyadeep Pyne (crew manager)

Virat Kohli (c), AB de Villiers, Devdutt Padikkal, Washington Sundar, Yuzvendra Chahal, Mohammad Siraj, Navdeep Saini, Pavan Deshpande, Shahbaz Ahamad, Harshal Patel, Josh Philippe, Adam Zampa, Kane Richardson, Daniel Sams, Glenn Maxwell, Sachin infant, Rajat Patidar, Mohammed Azharuddeen, Kyle Jamieson, Dan Christian, Suyash Prabhudessai, KS Bharat

[jrsechelon]

Power Rankings

Week 1 Power Rankings 1 - 16

1. (1/0/0) Black Hole Son ↑ Black Hole Son jumps into the top of the Power Rankings this week as the defacto Super Bowl Champions and the number of points they scored on PURPLEHAZE. Week 1 they unveiled their Super Bowl Banner in their brand new Stadium in Las Vegas, Nevada, and did not disappoint. PURPLEHAZE had no answer for Black Hole Son who looks to once again be a difficult team this year in 2020. Josh Jacobs carried the rock and this team to victory, they seem likely to lean heavily on the running game this year and with Jacobs, in the backfield, it should be a no brainer going forward.

2. (1/0/0) LilShupeScoresBIGPoints ↑ LilShupeScoresBIGPoints did it through the air in Week 1. Taking a commanding lead over Division rival, VanillaGorillas - Josh Allen showed the strides and development he has taken staying in the same system two years in a row. As Super Bowl XIII losers, LilShupeScoresBIGPoints takes the number 2 spot, jumping from 9th via Computer Draft Grade to 2nd in our EFL Power Rankings. Looks like once again LilShupeScoresBIGPoints is going to be a thorn in the side of many. Some things never change.

3. (1/0/0) Hyrule Empire ↑ Hyrule Empire shoots up from the 14th spot after the Computer Draft Grades we went over in the Podcast last week, all the way to 3rd. The performance on Sunday showed they have finally taken the next step with Russell Wilson at the helm to develop into a true contender. It is early in the year but the victory showed resilience, leadership, and poise. They didn't waiver when falling behind this time and was able to put together a complete win.

4. (1/0/0) Ultimate Savages ↓ Ultimate Savages didn't hold back in their debut game in the Elite Fantasy League. Although they have dropped three spots from their Draft Grade results they shouldn't feel bad about where they're sitting at after Week 1. 4th place in the Power Rankings after a dominating debut shows why they were so hyped after their Draft. Ultimate Savages was the only team in their Division to win last week and being one of the only teams to score triple digits. Trust me when I say that will go a long way down the road if they can continue their dominating gameplay.

5. (1/0/0) The Canadian Cripplers ↑ The Canadian Cripplers have had a crazy Offseason. Being the only team who plays in another Country for their Home games, they've had to find a new Home due to COVID-19 this Season. As mentioned on the podcast last week, The Canadian Crippler sought to play their Home games in Charlotte, North Carolina where they originally were from but wasn't welcomed, then Buffalo, New York but the city had no room due to the Toronto Blue Jays securing the city before The Cripplers. The Canadian Cripplers found their home in Tampa Bay though. Questions loomed over this team and how they'd perform with such elderly-state players and in the Florida heat of all places where we know Tom Brady struggles. Well, though we have yet to see them play at Home (this week we will); The Canadian Cripplers came into Week 1 with motivation to upset Yuba City Sultans on the road. Surprisingly they led early and never looked back. This springboards them from the 15th spot of the league rankings to 5th place. Can they continue their strong play?

6. (1/0/0) Buds Bums ↑ Much like The Canadian Cripplers, Buds Bums was expected to lose Week 1. They almost did late in the game on Monday Night against Division rival, Straight Edge Society. Buds Bums was able to put together a well-oiled offense. Lamar Jackson took further steps to continue his repeat at league MVP while bringing the running game involved with a two-headed monster backfield in Melvin Gordon and Todd Gurley, who both looked rejuvenated in a Season which had many question marks surrounding both players. Buds Bums has a strong core on the offensive side of the ball this year and if they can continue consistent play, expect them to continue to climb up the Power Rankings. Jumping from 16th to 6th is a huge accomplishment but they'll have to continue winning to show the analysts they mean business.

7. (1/0/0) The Busy Killers ↓ The Busy Killers narrowly held onto the victory against Evolution. It was a back and forth game late in the 4th Quarter but with the help of their defense, they were able to close the door on a late-game comeback for Evolution and hold onto a BIG Division victory. The Busy Killers dropped two spots from the Draft Grades due to The Canadian Cripplers (who they play this week) and Buds Bums complete victories. The Busy Killers look to have the Moxy though to close out games this year, something they struggled with last year.

8. (1/0/0) Thunderbuddy4Life ↓ Thunderbuddy4Life falls from their 2nd place Draft Grade ranking to 8th place after Week 1 in the EFL Power Rankings. Thunderbuddy4Life fell so many spots because they weren't as strong-looking as the teams in front of them. They got the victory but they didn't look as dominating as we thought they would come out of the gate. The highlight and surprise of this team is their defense who held their own and gave them the victory. Thunderbuddy4Life took care of business against long time rival Rainelo Hawks moving their overall head-to-head record against them to 6/4/0. For Thunderbuddy4Life to show the analysts that they are back to their Super Bowl-winning ways they have to secure a more dominant and complete game on all phases of the game and all sides of the ball. Hosting Yuba City Sultans Week 2, an early Season Super Bowl favorite may help their cause.

9. (0/1/0) Straight Edge Society ↓ Falling from 4th in the Draft Grades to 9th in the Power Rankings can be looked at as a learning curve. Straight Edge Society had their game won late but they couldn't stop Buds Bums running attack. Straight Edge Society had a good outing on offense, minus Hurst, their Tight End. The important thing to take into account if you're Straight Edge Society or a fan of this team is to make sure you play better defense. This team used to be known for winning those tight games, it's up to their Coaching Staff to find a way to finish. At the 9th spot after Week 1, they shouldn't fret too much. It's only Week 1 and they showed flashes of brilliance - it's just going to take time to get that system down. Let's see how quickly they can turn it around in a tough Week 2 match-up against LilShupeScoresBIGPoints, in back-to-back Divisional Games.

10. (0/1/0) Balls Deep — Staying at the 10th spot from their Draft Grade to the Week 1 Power Rankings isn't a bad spot to be in after a Week 1 loss. Balls Deep looked good and they had competed hard against Hyrule Empire in a game they very well could have won. Question marks for Kittle and Landry for Week 2 may hurt this team if they don't suit up. Jimmy Garoppolo looked a bit anxious on the field on Sunday, he has to not try to do too much but manage the game. He has the players in place to not have to force things. If Balls Deep can get Jimmy G balling and managing things in the huddle and at the line of scrimmage, they'll be moving up in the Power Rankings and in their Division in the coming weeks.

11. (0/1/0) Evolution ↓ Evolution falls from 7th to 11th. Evolution decided to roll with Big Ben instead of Aaron Rodgers, it was a surprise move but they felt Ben gave them the best chance to get the W. Losing James Connor against The Busy Killers is not good either, they gambled Drafting Connor after last years injuries and it looks like it isn't going to pay off. Adversity has already hit this team and even though they were in their Week 1 game until the final snap, they didn't look as dominant as Seasons past and couldn't find a way to close out the victory. Evolution should be able to bounce back fairly soon and the Coach has already named Aaron Rodgers the starter for Week 2 and the foreseeable future. We'll see what they can do at Home against the 1/0/0 Buds Bums who they've lost three straight to.

12. (0/1/0) Rainelo Hawks ↓ Rainelo Hawks looked inept and flat most of the game. They kept it pretty close even with the poor performance on both sides of the ball. After a Draft Grade that placed them at the 6th spot, they fall six places to 12th place after Week 1. It was a poor game all around for them. Goff didn't do enough to muster them any form of strong offense and their defense didn't look like their head was in the game late in the 4th Quarter. Rumblings of Kyler Murray starting are taking place and if you're the Hawks you got the new Seattle franchise, Ultimate Savages already laying claim to the Pacific Northwest. Week 2 is a must-win for this team. I believe they can bounce back if they play the right personnel and fit the system for the players.

13. (0/1/0) VanillaGorillas ↓ Much like Rainelo Hawks, VanillaGorillas fell several spots. Finishing at 8th in the Draft Grades and falling to 13th is a tough pill to swallow. They had a difficult match-up against Division and long-time rival LilShupeScoresBIGPoints. History doesn't favorite VanillaGorillas in those match-ups and having such a young team it's going to be a learning curve as the Season goes on for this group. They'll look to continue to build on the positives and correct the mistakes on Sunday on the road in Minnesota.

14. (0/1/0) Yuba City Sultans ↓ Going from 12th to 14th isn't too bad for this team and is honestly too low of a ranking, to begin with. This Coaching Staff is a veteran and knows the ins and outs of Football. They are experts at the X's and O's but they fell on their face against The Canadian Cripplers. Was it they weren't taking the old-timers as seriously as they should have? Unknown but falling 0/1/0 in the league and their Division is not an ideal way to start their season. Expecting they can correct their mistakes and play a more complete game in Week 2 they should find themselves moving up in the Powe Rankings. They need to get Derek Henry going early and going often. He's the workhorse on this team and he will determine whether they win or lose on how he performs. The Offensive Line must open up holes for King Henry for them to have success against Thunderbuddy4Life.

15. (0/1/0) BroncosTillDeath ↓ Going from 11th to 15th for a team that Drafted well is upsetting. They looked uninspired on Sunday. They couldn't put anything together and Barkley looks to not be an every-down back. Concerns are already looming over this team who was labeled a 'Darkhorse' - Kenyan Drake and their Defense led by Joey Bosa were the bright spots but they still weren't a match for the Ultimate Savages. BroncosTillDeath hasn't had a good start to the year, they stumbled last year at the end of the year and it looks like the poor play has continued into the 2020 Season. We hope to see this team move up on the Power Rankings and start playing the way we know they're capable of playing, cause let's face it, the league is better when BroncosTillDeath is better.

16. (0/1/0) PURPLEHAZE ↓ PURPLEHAZE falls from 13th to dead last, 16th. PURPLEHAZE couldn't do anything in Sin City. They bet it all and lost it all early. The bookies in Vegas must've been rolling their eyes at how poor PURPLEHAZE looked. They were a slight underdog coming into their Week 1 Game but didn't look anything like the team we saw last year who was one win away from Super Bowl XIII. PURPLEHAZE lost Le'Veon Bell and Damien Harris, ouch! Kirk Cousins didn't look like an elite Quarterback and their Defense was lackluster at best. PURPLEHAZE will play their first Home game of the Season Week 2 against VanillaGorillas. They MUST play better to show us they are still a contender. This team has been so up and down the last several years it's hard to tell which team we'll get week in and week out. I believed they were still a top team but after last week's performance, I'm wondering if they are back to the mediocre PURPLEHAZE team we're used to.

CLICK TO VOTE

[auburnfamilynews]

Photo by Mark LoMoglio/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images

A lot of talent is gone but a lot remains

Yesterday, I took a stab at what Auburn’s offensive depth chart could look like this fall. Today, we flip to the other side of the ball where Kevin Steele looks to field another elite unit for the 5th season in a row.

There’s no denying some big time talent has departed the Plains since last fall but while working on this it quickly became apparent that a ton of talent remains. There will likely be a step back because you don’t lose guys like Derrick Brown, Marlon Davidson and Noah Igbinoghene and get better. But I don’t think the step back will be all that big especially if some veterans can step up.

Lets’ take a look.

Defensive End

#1 Big Kat Bryant | 6’5” | 247 lbs | Senior

#3 Zykeivous Walker | 6’4” | 266 lbs | Freshman

#96 Jaren Handy | 6’5” | 252 lbs | Sophomore

#4 Jay Hardy | 6’4” | 299 lbs | Freshman

#45 Caleb Johnson | 6’2” | 248 lbs | Sophomore

#90 Daniel Foster-Allen | 6’4” | 250 lbs | Freshman

It’s Big Kat’s time. The senior has seen plenty of meaningful action for the Tigers over the past 3 seasons and he’s been an important piece of Rodney Garner’s unit up front. But it’s time for Bryant to crank up the production and emerge as one of the top ends in the conference. He put a ton of pressure on QBs last fall but struggled to record many sacks. That needs to change this fall. I have confidence it will.

Behind him is a long list of incredibly talented but unproven freshman and sophomores. The Tigers signed two of the best defensive end prospects in the 2020 class in Zykeivous Walker and Jay Hardy. Coach G snatched both away from SEC East instate programs who thought they were locks. I expect both to make an early impact, specifically Walker who has drawn some early comparisons to Marlon Davidson.

I am very interested to see what happens with Jaren Handy. He’s noticeably slimmed down which is the opposite of what I expected. I always figured Handy would grow into a defensive tackle. But at 252 lbs, he’s going to be on the edge. It will be interesting to see if trimming down makes him a more explosive pass rusher off the edge.

Tons of talent at this position for the foreseeable future.

Defensive Tackle

#94 Tyrone Truesdell | 6’2” | 326 lbs | Senior

#92 Marquis Burks | 6’3” | 312 lbs | Junior

Tyrone Truesdell was a nice surprise last season. Most, myself included, expected Nick Coe to develop into Derrick Brown’s battery mate in the interior of Auburn’s defensive line. In fact, Coe started at defensive tackle with Brown to start the season. As you recall, Auburn’s start to the season on defense was not great. One of the adjustments that changed that Oregon game was Truesdell being inserted at defensive tackle. He started plugging lanes including that monumental 4th down stop.

But what was most surprising was his ability as a pass rusher. He’s actually Auburn’s returning sack leader on the defensive line with 3.5 last season. If he can repeat that performance in 2020 he will likely hear his name called at some point in the NFL Draft next spring.

Behind him is JUCO signee Marquis Burks. He’s another bulky interior presence who should excel at plugging run lanes. I feel good about Auburn’s run stuffers this fall.

Defensive Tackle

#44 Daquan Newkirk | 6’3” | 317 lbs | Senior

#8 Coynis Miller Jr | 6’2” | 312 lbs | Junior

#49 Dre Butler | 6’5” | 304 lbs | Sophomore

The bigger question is who can replace Derrick Brown? The likely answer is no one. Instead, Auburn needs strong performances from multiple players to fill that massive hole. The good news is the Tigers have 3 very talented candidates. The bad news is they have yet to prove they can consistently get it done.

It was really hard to order these guys but I went with Newkirk number one simply because I think he’s the best athlete of the bunch. In fact, he’s almost too explosive as it’s resulted in two torn achilles in two seasons. If he can stay healthy, he’s got a chance to have a strong senior season. I am cheering for this kid as he’s been on a long road to this moment.

Behind him I have Coynis Miller who could easily be a starter. The former 4-star has yet to consistently put it together week in and week out. There’s no denying the raw talent, it’s just about being locked in on every snap. If he can take that next step, he’s got a chance to be a breakout star on this defensive line this fall.

I almost put Butler number one. This kid’s JUCO tape was as good as any JUCO prospect I’ve seen in quite awhile. Despite his size, Butler excelled as a pass rusher and I think he can really become a problem for interior offensive lines moving forward. Between Newkirk, Miller and Butler, Auburn should be able to find 2 SEC quality tackles. No one player needs to be Derrick Brown good this fall but if the trio can combine to at least come close to his type of impact that would be huge for the Tigers.

Buck

#29 Derick Hall | 6’3” | 238 lbs | Sophomore

#99 T.D. Moultry | 6’2” | 253 lbs | Senior

#25 Colby Wooden | 6’4” | 268 lbs | rFreshman

#37 Romello Height | 6’3” | 215 lbs | Freshman

After Jeff Holland’s departure following the 2017 season, Auburn has been on the hunt for the next elite pass rusher off the edge. Both Big Kat Bryant and T.D. Moultry have seen action but have struggled to consistently bring pressure. Late last fall, Derick Hall emerged as the man at Buck earning starts in the last 3 games. He didn’t record a sack but he showed enough flashes for there to be excitement heading into the season.

It’s now or never for T.D. Moultry. Once believed to be a lock to make an immediate impact for the Tigers, Moultry has struggled to stay on the field and to consistently produce. There have been moments when he’s come screaming off the edge that made you remember the borderline 5-star talent coming out of high school. But then weeks would go by before you heard his name again. I am doubtful he ever morphs into the monster we all thought he might be when he signed but if he can develop into a solid #2 option at Buck that would be big for the Tigers this fall.

Weakside Linebacker

#0 Owen Pappoe | 6’1” | 222 lbs | Sophomore

#9 Zakoby McClain | 6’0” | 211 lbs | Junior

#36 Josh Marsh | 6’2” | 219 lbs | rSophomore

#35 Cam Riley | 6’4” | 209 lbs | Freshman

Owen Pappoe and Zakoby McClain return looking to build on a strong 2019 season. While Bo Nix received most of the attention for starting at quarterback as a true freshman, don’t overlook Pappoe’s impressive freshman campaign. It ain’t easy to get on the field on this defense even more so as a true freshman. Pappoe not only started but at times was the lone backer on the field for the Tigers. I expect him to emerge as one of the best in the country this fall and 1st round hype being to build heading into his junior season.

At times, I thought Zakoby McClain was the best linebacker on the field last season. Ricochet Rabbit could see time at the MIKE as well with Chandler Wooten sitting out but I have him listed at weakside for now where he played in 2019. I hope Auburn finds ways to get both of these guys on the field at same time this season. That’s a lot of speed and some hard hitters to deal with as an offense.

Behind him are two very interesting players. Marsh has a chance to crack the rotation with Wooten sitting out especially if he slides to MIKE or if McClain does. There’s been a lot of positive buzz around Cam Riley early though I doubt he makes an impact as a true freshman. He’s got a chance though to develop into a really good player for the Tigers.

Middle Linebacker

#33 K.J. Britt | 6’0” | 243 lbs | Senior

#32 Wesley Steiner | 6’0” | 227 lbs | Freshman

#30 Desmond Tisdol | 6’0” | 231 lbs | Freshman

#48 O.C. Brothers | 6’1” | 236 lbs | rFreshman

#43 Kameron Brown | 6’0” | 237 lbs | rFreshman

Britt will be the heart and soul of this defense in 2020. One of the hardest hitters in the conference, no one questions his toughness. There are still questions though about his ability in coverage which at times was exposed last season. If he can improve in that area he has a chance to be one of the higher drafted linebackers from Auburn in quite some time.

The big question mark for the linebacker corps is who replaces Chandler Wooten as the backup MIKE. I expect Owen Pappoe and Zakoby McClain to get some work here as well but someone will need to step up so T-WILL can feel confident that he has 4 guys he can trust every Saturday.

There are 3 names I am keeping an eye on: Josh Marsh, Wesley Steiner and Desmond Tisdol. I have Marsh listed at weakside but he could slide to MIKE if needed or if T-WILL elects to play Zakoby here that would allow Marsh to be the #2 guy at the WILL.

The other two names are freshman. Wesley Steiner is an intelligent, athletic freak who was quietly one of the highest rated players in Auburn’s 2020 signing class yet had little hype. I am a big fan of his skillset and could see him earning playing time immediately as a freshman.

There’s also Desmond Tisdol who landed in Auburn’s class after Trenton Simpson decommitted and signed with Clemson. Tisdol is the T-WILL middle linebacker prototype. A 6’0” 227 lb human missile who ain’t afraid to hit someone, I have high hopes for this kid down the road. We’ll see if he can win the backup spot this fall.

Nickel (Star)

#6 Christian Tutt | 5’11” | 192 lbs | Junior

#11 Zion Puckett | 5’11” | 205 lbs | rFreshman

#13 Ladarius Tennison | 5’10” | 197 lbs | Freshman

Honestly, you could list five players here. Auburn’s secondary is pretty versatile especially at the star and safety positions. Barring any experimentation at corner, Christian Tutt will return as Auburn’s starter at the Nickel spot. This is such an important piece of Kevin Steele’s defense and Tutt thrived there last fall. He struggled late in the season in some pretty tough individual matchups but he’s still someone Steele has a lot of confidence in and I expect to have a strong junior campaign.

In all likelihood, Jordyn Peters is the #2 guy but I think he might see more time at safety this fall so I decided to move him there on this list. Instead, one of my favorite players of the 2019 class in Zion Puckett will have a chance to see some action. He too could slide back to safety if needed as well.

But the real man to watch is Ladarius Tennison. A Robinson Therezie clone, expect Tennison to be a special teams warrior at minimum. It wouldn’t shock me if he saw the snaps after Tutt at this spot. I am excited to see this kid hit the field for the Tigers.

Derick E. Hingle-USA TODAY Sports

Cornerback

#23 Roger McCreary | 6’0” | 188 lbs | Junior

#10 Devan Barrett | 6’0” | 200 lbs | Senior

#24 Eric Reed Jr | 6’0” | 187 lbs | Freshman

For 3 straight seasons, Auburn’s #1 cornerback has left for the NFL early and been drafted by the end of Day 2. Roger McCreary looks to be the next man up. The former low ranked 3-star out of Mobile has developed into one of the SEC’s best corners. Going back and watching some tape from last season it��s wild how much better he got each week. By the end of the season I thought he was the Tigers 2nd best cornerback. He will draw the toughest assignments this fall and I think he’s ready for it.

The Tigers though need to find someone behind him. I once believed Devan Barrett was going to be a 1,000 yard rusher for the Tigers but now the former Tampa Catholic standout is trying to crack the CB rotation as a senior. I’m cheering for him to have a Trovon Reed like senior season.

Keep an eye on freshman Eric Reed Jr. He was one of the big signing day steals for the Tigers. The Georgia Bulldogs really wanted this kid and were believed to be the leaders up until his announcement. Louisiana DBs tend to come ready to play when they step on campus though I expect we are a year away from seeing Reed play meaningful snaps.

Cornerback

#22 Marco Domio | 6’1” | 180 lbs | Junior

#18 Nehemiah Pritchett | 6’1” | 177 lbs | Sophomore

#26 Jaylin Simpson | 6’0” | 171 lbs | rFreshman

This is the one position up in the air in Auburn’s secondary heading into the 2020 campaign. The Tigers need to find a 2nd and 3rd guy they can trust to play Steele’s aggressive press man coverage on the outside.

Two obvious candidates have emerged in JUCO signee Marco Domio and sophomore Nehemiah Pritchett. If there had been spring practice I would have Pritchett listed as the top guy but with no spring ball that leaves the door wide open for Domio who I believe was the best JUCO prospect in the country last fall.

When Simpson saw action last season it was at safety but he’s reportedly working at corner which I think is a better fit for his skillset. I think the staff feels pretty good about what they got in McCreary, Domio and Pritchett. What would really help is if someone like Simpson could be ready to contribute meaningful snaps this fall and give this secondary more depth on the outside.

Free Safety

#21 Smoke Monday | 6’2” | 196 lbs | Junior

#15 Jordyn Peters | 6’1” | 200 lbs | Senior

#16 Malcolm Askew | 5’11” | 185 lbs | Junior

A fan favorite before having every taken a snap for the Tigers, Smoke Monday is now ready to be a starter. After a strong freshman debut I thought Monday took a bit of a step back in 2019, Iron Bowl pick 6 withstanding. He’s got solid range and all the swag you want in your deep safety but sometimes seems to lose focus and get out of position. One of the reasons Auburn’s defense has been so tough in recent seasons is that Daniel Thomas and Jeremiah Dinson rarely gave up anything easy. To continue that trend Auburn needs Monday to become more consistent and develop into that NFL caliber safety we all know he can be.

After missing most of last season with an injury, I am expecting a strong senior year from Jordyn Peters. He’s a glue guy in this secondary capable of lining up anywhere Auburn needs him. My guess is he will see more action at safety this fall but he could also backup Tutt at the nickel. Hopefully he can get back to blocking punts on special teams now that he’s healthy again.

Strong Safety

#20 Jamien Sherwood | 6’2” | 220 lbs | Junior

#19 Matthew Hill | 6’1” | 190 lbs | Sophomore

#5 Chris Thompson Jr | 6’1” | 202 lbs | Freshman

Roger McCreary is clearly Auburn’s top NFL draft prospect in the secondary heading into the season. However, #2 just might be Jamien Sherwood. The Florida native can do it all whether that’s lining up as a linebacker and shedding a block from an offensive guard or matching up with a wideout to cover a deep route, Sherwood plays all over the field and that versatility makes him a real weapon in Auburn’s scheme. It would not shock me if he’s a first team All-SEC performer this year.

Auburn beat out Clemson for Matthew Hill in large part because the better looking Tigers wanted him on offense while Dabo thought his future was in the secondary. Dabo was likely right and Hill agreed to make the switch this offseason. I am excited to see what he can do as Hill is one of the better athletes on the roster. Given his hips, I could see him seeing action at corner as well.

Don’t be shocked if the true freshman Chris Thompson sees a lot of snaps this season either. He was one of the truly shocking pulls of the 2020 cycle when McGriff snatched him away from the instate Longhorns. I see a lot of Jamien Sherwood in his game and expect Steele to use him very similarly.

War Eagle!

from College and Magnolia - All Posts https://www.collegeandmagnolia.com/2020/8/21/21377299/2020-depth-chart-defense-fall-camp-edition

[bigbrothernetflix-st]

EPISODE FOUR

“ ‘something will be unleashed’ are u gonna start KILLING PEOPLE??” - saira

HOH: Nick UPSIDE DOWN: Emma & Kiki NOMINEES: Monty & Saira POV: Jev FINAL NOMINEES: Monty & Saira EVICTED: Saira (1-0)

JOSH C

well, we just voted out GINA and i'm feeling some kind of way about it. i feel like the push to save emma was VERY quick and i think there are a lot of alliances going on that i'm not involved in which is FINE but it's just something i need to watch out for. i know i talk with almost everyone constantly so i think i'll be okay for this week, but i'm just worried about the people that i enjoy.

a lot of people have said they don't talk to saira or brianna so i wouldn't be shocked to see them both go up, which is FINE i guess but i enjoy both. i don't want saira to leave at all but i don't think she has as GOOD of a social standing as brianna does. which is worrisome because i know this is her first game so she doesn't have any pre-existing relationships to save her which is.. not ideal.

i'm finding things a BIT frustrating because i have to navigate not ONLY game thoughts but people's pre-game relationships. not that i'm knocking anyone for them but almost everyone i've talked to says they don't talk to monty but they wouldn't want to see him nominated. i just don't FULLY understand why we can't nominate him but they're friends with him so he's a bit UNTOUCHABLE. i might push it anyways because he's the only person i don't really talk to anymore. WHO KNOWS.

i've felt like a deflated balloon for most of today so maybe i'll just go with the flow on this but i need to make sure i'm not just voting out all the people who will be votes for me later on. 

ARIA

Im small, bitter, and very angry...but spite is the best motivator and im going to use it to win this season. Anyways i miss saira im SICK of trusting nicks, i see a nick i FLOOR IT!!! I refuse to have a nick fuck me over in a game again i am so over it. But hehe anyways lets get into the info spilling section real fast and then i can analyze because my position has drastically changed from last time-

also sorry for repeated info but sometimes i forget things or people say it again so..

-nathan leaked "all" his alliances to me (Screensht is cut weird i think theres one he cut off)

-Jacob found out my gina connection

-perfect voting record is dead (told jacob i voted out gina tho idk why hehe)

-kiki-joey connection 

-emma knows about bri's backups because jake leaked it to her before he left

-josh c IS EVERYWHERE

-nick says they havent talked to bri

-nick likes jev

-nick wants (more so wants others) to take a shot at kiki/nash

-nick said nathan is a wildcard 

-joshua nommed monty and nash

-STOP UNDERESTIMATING JOSHUA

-told josha jacob is protecting him

-joey exposed saira's deal to me and bri

-joey wants a larger alliance

-bri said they like nick,,,but that conflicts earlier info so im thinking peer pressure or just bri is too sweet for this cast and i adore her-

-bri told nathan her noms

-nathan hates bri and for wHAT??

-jacob has a dpov and used it to cement a f2,, AND DID THE SAME THING WITH BRI FFS 

-jacob scared of nick and jev

-kiki and nash tell everything to jacob

-jacob said emma and joey have a connection??

-jacob thinks nick is gonna join the emma jev joey side (his words)

-jacob thinks monty is a threat

-jacob ranked the players in tiers as follows: 

A kiki jev bri

B joey joshua nathan

d: nash saira monty

-bri talks a lot with kiki and josh c

-told bri about the trio between jacob kiki and nash

-joey told me yesterday he wants to win,,,but then just said to take him out

-planting seeds against joey to bri

-jacob wants to bring dpov up with alliance at f10

-joshua and jacob were shook saira was evicted

-told jacob that joey asked to throw

-jev and jacob are getting closish

-jacob is so threaten by nick

-jacob told bri that nathan doesnt like her

-

and thats where im at currently. Lots of options and lots of interconnections I have to navigate but i think im gonna be fine for the time being which makes it super easy to just be complacent and float my way to jury BUT!!! I want to try setting myself up well where i dont get clocked at f9/10 and wabam im out. Im trying to set people against each other subtly but honestly i think im overestimating myself here but at least i know im safe. I mean for now im trying to set up this side of jev emma joshua to at least form together as a group but im STRUGGLING i might just have to settle for them keeping each other safe without a solid alliance ig. At the same time I think i really have two actives pieces of info im working with which is emma knowing about bri's backups and then me and bri knowing about jacob's dpov.

So i think what I want to happen is that Jacob wants to dpov nick out at f10 so i'll let that happen probably which puts a huge target on jacobs back, idk if its anon but if it is ill make sure bri leaks it kinda framing it in a "if you leak it and i pretend to not know i can analyze how other people respond so we'll know what everyone thinks" and once jacob leaves emma can leak the bri's angels (which should be weaker at this point since jacob is the glue that holds it together a bit) which #1 makes a bunch of good players house targets and then forces those people to solidly stick together as well. Not sure how im gonna play both sides but,,,,if i can play it off kinda like i did in pasio somehow maybe i'll be fine but who knows. Either way im here to have fun (and hopefully win for gina/saira)

WELL WELL!!! just did a vc with jacob, he decided to take matters into his own hands and be totally cracked and now thinks nick/monty/nathan are a side,,,,which,,,,idk yall nathan did show me all of his alliances and none of them were that but who am i to stop jacob from making himself a target by leading this charge against them uwu. I do need to be more proactive about leaking tho but im not sure how im gonna work that. Also im not sure if i want nick/monty/nathan all gone, i can live with monty gone bc they probably think i nommed them and might want revenge but also nick and nathan are kinda cute numbers for me,,, 

I mean idk because at this point i have a game relationship with mostly everyone left in this game and im just not sure which path i need to take to get to the end yet and its kindaaa stressing me out a little bit. I can feel myself starting to drop in peoples trust rankings a little bit and god its kinda annoying how jacob has this game wrapped around his finger, however i dont need to be in a dominant position this entire game i believe in myself!! I got this easy peasy!!! 

JEV

My reverse psychology paid off and I won the veto so I'm loving that for me, I'm not going to be using it because I'd preferably like to see Monty leave because I just... never see them and I think Saira is much more deserving of her place here than Monty is. It's frustrating that Monty is cruising through this game so easily because we haven't spoken to eachother since day one, and they haven't even bothered to come and speak to me to campaign for me to use the veto. Like, do you want to be here or not?

Thinking about it more, I'm super happy I won the power of veto. I managed to ensure myself and those I'm closest to in this game weren't going to be named as renom and kept Monty up there as a final nom, which I'm worried otherwise wouldn't happen during this game since people seem either threatened by Monty OR a little over-eager to keep him around in this game, which annoys me but whatever. I just hope whoever wins HOH has the balls to make the right decision, better to get him gone now rather than later.

JEV

So I think I've had a little bit of a brainwave/breakthrough. This is gonna be longwinded so hear me out.

Apparently from what I've heard, the nominations this week were revealed in order of who recieved the least to the most nominations from every

one. This is extremely interesting to me, as I've taken note that Nick, Aria, Jacob & Brianna were 10th-8th in the rankings of votes respectively.

First of all, I haven't made secret that I think something is going on with the Pasio alumni. This was highlighted when I was asking around for what people were doing for nominees, and from everyone I heard Saira/Monty, but from two people I heard Saira, Nash, Joey & Monty -- with Monty strategically placed last in the ranking, to give the illusion his name was the least uttered. Funnily enough, the two people I heard this format of the names were Nick and Aria who just happen to be Pasio alumni... interesting, right?

So looking at the ranking, I'm thinking "okay so they obviously didn't do eachother, and with Nash/Joey in 3rd and 4th respectively, they must've not expected so many votes on Monty and didn't plan accordingly, and so split the votes too much and didn't have enough to put up Nash or Joey over Monty. So I'm thinking, I know there's a connection between Jacob and Monty because I used to play orgs with them on Skype. Jacob used the veto on Brianna last week, this has brought me to the conclusion that Monty, Nick, Brianna, Jacob & Aria are working together with the possibility that Josh C is either playing both sides or is fully with them too, hence why he recieved the least votes.

That places Myself, Emma, Kiki, Nash, Joshua, Joey & Saira on the outside, and Nathan too as I'm guessing he's strayed from their alliance and/or wishing to work with them, hence why he recieved 5th most votes. 

I'd love to make an alliance with this group of people, but it's still only pre-jury and I don't want to be seen as playing too hard too soon.

(cont.) So I initially wasn't going to go for this HOH, but I feel like I need to because I can't trust anybody else to make the move to take Monty out, and I'd rather see their numbers thinned sooner rather than later. It would paint me as their #1 target for next week probably, but if someone I trusted won HOH next week then I could go to the upside down and not have to worry about it.

JEV

Yes again I'm so sorry, another thing that was interesting to me was that I mentioned to Aria that I was close with Emma, and she asked for an alliance with the 3 of us almost immediately after, stating that she was also "very interested" in working with Emma too. This tells me she's the mole and wanted the alliance to try and get intel from us, I don't believe for a second she did Saira/Monty along with me and Emma at all, which is why myself and Emma are hesitant to say too much in that alliance chat. So I like Aria, but I don't trust her as far as I can throw her.

HOST WEEKLY CAST ASSESSMENT

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hL__dyRaq2E&list=PLFEwPPy8j010XXwntq80VSU0qLNTNpSIN&index=5&t=0s

[thepatriotsandwe]

Ranking the Remaining Patriot Games By Difficulty

With the season at the halfway point for the Pats, the playoff picture is starting to come into view. Context for victories and losses in the first half have changed the dynamic of looking into strength of schedule. Wins over Tampa and Atlanta are looking less impressive, but some of the performances, such as that against New Orleans, is now a shining example of what this New England team can accomplish. With that being said, let’s take a look at the remaining schedule and attempt to predict where the larger challenges exist.

We’ll begin with the strongest challenge.

1. Week 15, at Pittsburgh

The Pittsburgh Steelers simply have the best weapons on offense in the NFL. Antonio Brown (57 receptions, 835 yards, 3 touchdowns) is having a monster season, and the arrival of Juju Smith-Schuster is breathing life into this receiving group for everyone not named Brown. Le’veon Bell is having a very good season as well (760 yards, 5 touchdowns, 3.9 yards per carry). Ben Roethlistberger has not looked like himself, however, and only has 10 touchdowns to 9 interceptions to this point. 

The Steelers’ defense has quietly become one of the best in the NFL, ranking 2nd and 5th in points and yards allowed respectively. While the Patriots have enjoyed much success with the passing attack in recent years against the Steelers, the reformed Steel Curtain have far and away the most sacks compared to the remaining teams New England has yet to face (26 sacks on the season). Pressure on Tom Brady is the way to defeat New England, and the Patriots offensive line has been leaky to say the least. It will take a major effort for New England to get it done in the Steel City.

2. Week 13, at Buffalo

Honestly, just about every team I could put in the #2 spot is highly questionable. I’m going Buffalo due to: A. It being an away game, B. It being a divisional game, and C. Tyrod Taylor’s ability to move in the pocket can spell trouble for this New England defense.

The Bills are very much not a yards based team. Their offense ranks a putrid 26th in terms of yards gained, but they do rank around middle of the pack in points (16th). It’s a similar story of defense in which they’re 23rd in yards allowed, but rank a very respectable 6th in terms of points.

For a Bills squad that everyone and their mother assumed were going for the tank job, they’ve become a bit of world beaters. In no way are their victories clean, but they just seem to do enough to win games. This must be incredibly stressful for Bills fans, but I’ve seen enough videos on the “Bills Mafia” to know they’re probably mostly too hammered to really even notice.

The Bills are usually good for at least one competitive game against New England, and this should be a close one that New England pulls off.

3. Week 10, at Denver

The Denver offense is abysmal. In some kind of nightmarish fever dream that I can’t even totally recall, Brock Osweiler is somehow their starting quarterback again. 

With the Patriots defense looking stronger week-by-week, one would imagine that the Pats hang on to win this game. The only issue is, Von Miller is a scary, scary man. Marcus Cannon has been ruled out for this game, and the absence of Chris Hogan means Brady will have to find another convenience store to find first downs at. Anticipate a run-first offense for the Patriots, as the Broncos have struggled at slowing down strong running attacks.

The Denver defense isn’t what it used to be, allowing the 25th most yards in games, but they still clamp down when it comes to allowing teams to get into the end zone as they rank 2nd in points against. This entire match up will fall on the shoulders of CJ Anderson to carry Denver to victory, and with the Malcolm Brown injury New England may have some difficulty containing him, but probably not. 

Going into Denver can be scary, but this isn’t the same Denver as we’re used to. Especially after that complete dumpster fire that was the Philadelphia game.

4. Week 11, at Oakland (in Mexico)

The Raiders’ season has been beyond disappointing, but Derek Carr is still putting together a decent season being on pace for around 4,000 yards and 26 touchdowns. 

The main challenge for the Patriots in this instance is that Oakland will be coming off a bye week, and the Patriots will not be returning to Foxborough after Denver. Couple that with being an international game, and the Patriots could be thrown slightly off-kilter. 

Regardless of logistics, the Patriots will be going up against one of the worst defenses in the NFL (21st and 26th in points/yards), and the Raiders offense has been horribly unbalanced due to the total failure of the Marshawn Lynch experiment. If they want any chance of taking down the Pats, they need to establish a running game early, and let Derek Carr take advantage of an, at times, shaky secondary.

5. Week 14, at Miami

It was not my intention for the top 5 games to all be away games, but that’s just how it works out. 

I really don’t know how to feel about Miami, but they certainly have offensive talent. The departure of Jay Ajayi may hurt Miami going forward, but Damien Williams and Kenyan Drake have shown flashes as play makers for this Miami squad. Jarvis Landry isn’t having an amazing year by any stretch, but he’s putting in another solid performance in his young career. Jay Cutler has been fairly white bread in his outings, and seems to have replaced Alex Smith for the most boring quarterback to watch.

The Miami defense has been among the top 10 in terms of yards allowed, but rank middle of the pack in points. That type of defense just won’t be enough to stall the New England offense. This game will likely come down to Jay Cutler’s ability to get the ball down the field and put up points, but he seems less than eager to do that this season (or play football, in general). 

6. Week 16, vs Buffalo

We’ve already covered Buffalo, and their ability to keep games close may make this one more interesting. Especially if they’re still in the wild card hunt, but this should be a nice and easy victory for a Patriots squad that we all hope will be totally clicking by this point.

7. Week 17, vs New York (Jets)

The Jets certainly played the Patriots tough in New York earlier in the season, which we’ve come to expect. Josh McCown has done a very admirable job of taking this depleted Jets offense and making them respectable. Young receiver Robby Anderson had led the charge for the receiving unit and has shown to be a very talented youth in the league. 

The fact of the matter for the Jets is that they rank in the bottom half in both defense and offense. They’re certainly not the 0-16 tank job that we thought they would be, but they’re not particularly good either. I don’t see a clear path to victory for the Jets, especially in week 17 in which their season will almost assuredly be over. The only reason this game is not ranked last is because the Patriots may be playing a simplified offense due to playoff positioning already being decided. 

But I believe in you, Brian Hoyah.

8. Week 12, vs Miami

Already covered. Jay Cutler seems to be content on being a game manager this season, and that simply won’t be enough to take down New England in Foxborough. Get well soon, Tanne.

That’ll do it. I’m eager to look back on this post in the future and cringe on some absurdly bad takes. 

This being the first post of this blog, I’d like to thank all of you who actually made it to the end. This originally was going to be much shorter, but apparently the NFL is complicated, go figure. I hope to continue to update this blog throughout this season, or potentially get bored and let it be yet another unfinished project.

Go Pats.

[shervonfakhimi]

The Dumpster Fire of a Laker Season

This 2018-19 Lakers season has been a disappointment. A season that glistened with hope and joy has gradually deteriorated into one where watching the clock tick towards its merciful end, whether it be a first round sweep from the two-time defending champion Death Star of a team, the Golden State Warriors, or missing the playoffs outright. This enigma of a team, that has marquee wins over those Warriors (on the road Christmas night), the Houston Rockets (at home), the Oklahoma City Thunder (on the road), the Denver Nuggets (at home), the Portland Trail Blazers (both home and on the road) and Boston Celtics (on the road) has also lost to the hapless and willfully tanking New York Knicks, Cleveland Cavaliers, an Anthony Davis-less Pelicans, Atlanta Hawks and Memphis Grizzlies. They currently, as of this writing, are 3 games back from the 7th and 8th seeds and have the 5th toughest schedule remaining (maybe that’s a good thing since they can only beat good times for some God-forsaken reason). I’m not interested in debating whether or not they’ll end up getting in. Let’s instead talk about how they got here and why the front office deserves to shoulder much of the blame for this debacle of a season.

Like David Ershon in ‘The Other Guys,’ we’ve started at the end, which is the present state of the team. The Lakers are an enigma, inconsistent bunch of young players figuring out how to play along LeBron, but haven’t due to the rash of injuries that have befallen the team, most notably to the prized free agent signing LeBron James, the best player in the league. But it is worth noting how they got there. The Lakers were a hot mess, to put it nicely, pretty much ever since Kobe tore his achilles. Losing persisted. The Lakers laughably lost on multiple free agents. Kobe’s retirement tour was the greatest win/win tank job you could ask for while not making it painfully obvious you were losing games on purpose. The losing netted multiple top 10 picks, which the Lakers used to land Julius Randle (2014, 7th Overall), D’Angelo Russell (2015, 2nd Overall), Brandon Ingram (2016, 2nd Overall) and Lonzo Ball (2017, 2nd Overall). The trainwreck of the Steve Nash trade in 2012 made these picks even more important considering that had either of those 2nd overall picks landed outside of the top 3, the Lakers would’ve lost the pick (they finally lost it in 2018, which the Suns used on Mikal Bridges after hilariously re-trading for it after losing in the Brandon Knight trade in 2015). Some shrewd Lakers trading and drafting allowed them to find contributors in the form of Jordan Clarkson (2014, 46th OVR) Larry Nance Jr. (2015, 27th Overall), Ivica Zubac (2016, 32nd Overall), Kyle Kuzma (2017, 27th Overall), Josh Hart (2017, 30th Overall) and Thomas Bryant (2017, 42nd Overall). All but two of these late find contributors remain, for an assortment of reasons: cap space. After Jim Buss and Mitch Kupchak squandered laughable loads of money in the cap spike of 2016 on Lou Williams, Timofey Mozgov and Luol Deng, the team, predictably struggled. The latter two struggled while stealing money like Biggie in ‘Gimme the Loot’ and the team continue to falter. This was a team that had been irrelevant for at least two seasons, enough to the point where Jeanie Buss fired her own brother and hired Magic Johnson as president of basketball operations and Rob Pelinka as GM. Things were supposed to get better. And they did momentarily.

After getting hired, things looked to get better from the decision makers. Not only did the Lakers have charisma and something to keep them relevant again with a former Laker great running the show, the team made good moves. They traded Lou Williams for what amounted to Josh Hart and Thomas Bryant, a pretty good haul for a rebuilding team. Then, before draft night of 2017 but during the week of, they traded D’Angelo Russell and Timofey Mozgov to Brooklyn for Brook Lopez (and his expiring contract) and the 27th overall pick, which the Lakers used on Kyle Kuzma. While I didn’t like the trade at the time, it was an important trade to make. After the whole Nick Young fiasco, the spotlight on D’Angelo grew immensely. He never was able to properly develop and showcase his skills in Kobe’s farewell tour. Perhaps he could’ve grow to the All Star he is now in Brooklyn, but he needed the change of scenery. He got it, the Lakers got closer the cap space to sign a max free agent, which was their goal. Perhaps there was another way to make it happen, but unlikely with the Lakers not willing to move Brandon Ingram at the time and that they already owed a pick. After trading Larry Nance Jr & Jordan Clarkson in the following trade deadline (for Isaiah Thomas and Channing Frye, both of whom had expiring contracts, and Cleveland’s 1st round pick, which became Moritz Wagner) and Luol Deng giving money back in his buyout which the Lakers used the stretch provision on, that freed enough money to create a second max cap spot without having to trade one of the other key figures of the young core mentioned above. While it sucked to see D’Angelo Russell leave and now flourish (that’s what happens when you epically screw up and can’t afford to wait to move on), these moves were necessary to create the opportunity to sign LeBron and possibly another free agent in the future. This is where shit starts to hit the fan.

ACT I: The Summer of 2018 and the lack of shooting

The Lakers could have signed 2 max free agents this summer. Had the Lakers traded for Paul George from Indiana in the summer of 2017, he likely would’ve re-signed. He’s even said as such. The Lakers chose to bet on him signing in free agency, electing not to mortgage young pieces who can help sustain contending teams, a bet they ended up losing as he re-signed with Oklahoma City, the team that traded for him. The same applies with Kawhi Leonard, who got traded to Toronto and now seems more likely to sign with the Clippers than the Lakers. After signing with LeBron (which after the news dropped I proceeded to scream as if I were in middle school yet again while watching ‘Wedding Crashers.’), the Laker suddenly had over $20 million to spare. Their proceeding moves essentially lit that money on fire like Heath Ledger did as the Joker.

Julius Randle essentially signed a 1+1 with New Orleans for about $8 million per season. Brook Lopez signed a 1 year deal for about $3.5million, the room exception, with the Milwaukee Bucks. The Lakers waived Thomas Bryant to help maximize cap room and he was claimed by the Washington Wizards. The Lakers did not bring in their own players outside of Kentavious Caldwell-Pope. Instead, the front office elected to bring in guys with playoff experience who can ease the playmaking load in Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Rajon Rondo, JaVale McGee, Lance Stephenson and Michael Beasley. The problem was these signings were incredible redundant. Randle’s scoring, playmaking and ability to switch defensively and Lopez’s newfound 3 point shooting provided skillsets unique to the team that they didn’t have elsewhere. Those two, like Russell, have flourished in their new digs. The Lakers already had guys who can do what those 5 they signed could do. While Pope showed he was a more than capable ‘3&D’ player last season, he has regressed this season. Lance and Rondo have shot well from deep, but the majority of those have been shots defenses have dared them to make, taking away driving lanes or other Laker action. Beasley is an older, lesser version of Kyle Kuzma who didn’t even last the season. To make matters worse, all 4 signings have had a negative impact defensively while on the court. Not only did these guys negatively impact their teams’ defense from the previous year as well, all of Rondo, JaVale, Lance and Beasley had negative net ratings, meaning their teams fared better while they were off the floor (though at least playoff Rondo made a positive impact). So instead of signing their own big men, (Brook Lopez is shooting 36.4% from 3 spacing the floor for MVP candidate Giannis Antetokounmpo; Julius Randle is shooting 35% from 3 and is scoring a career high 20.1 points per game) knock down shooters and/or 3 point gunners (Trevor Ariza, Anthony Tolliver, Seth Curry, Mike Scott, Wayne Ellington, Noah Vonleh, DeMarcus Cousins all signed 1 year deals, which the Lakers prioritized to maintain salary cap space in the summer of 2019, to name a few), the Lakers paired miscasts whose skillsets do not match the complementary skills you need to surround LeBron James and a young core who have shooting concerns of their own. Bear in mind that all year long, rookie 2nd round Isaac Bonga, who has a bright future, has ate a roster spot all season and taken away a roster spot for someone to potentially help the Lakers right now. I don’t about you all, but this sounds like incompetence to me.

Act II: The Chided One

Playing with LeBron is hard. He is the sun everyone around the league, no less his own teammates or coaches, revolve around. It took time and a slow start in Miami with young whipper snapper Erik Spoelstra calling the shots, who LeBron sort of kind of wanted Pat Riley to can and replace with Pat himself. David Blatt lasted just one year in his 2nd stint in Cleveland. So it is important to be on the same page with your coach and your players and your coach and management. But, only 7 games into the season, Magic Johnson took a different approach. He ‘chided’ Luke Walton, as ESPN reported. (Sidenote: Chided is just a funny ass word. You know how hard you have to get verbally roasted to have it be reported as ‘chided?’) This put a ginormous, mostly undeserved spotlight on Luke Walton. Rumors will persist. Altercations and disagreements will take place. Magic Johnson never hired Luke, and any time shifts in front offices take place, more often than not the new regime will want to hire ‘their own.’ While Magic Johnson never hired Luke, he at least owed him patience and understanding. Luke was put in a very difficult spot trying to mix and match this 2 faced team. His rotations were questionable (again, a reason for that being the tricky roster constructed) and has had trouble at times getting his team prepared to play schematically and mentally to take care of teams they should beat. Yet, despite the poor fit and the enhanced spotlight after preaching patience, Luke was doing a good enough job to keep them afloat, as the Lakers were the 4 seed in the West after drubbing the Warriors on Christmas and  a Top 10 team overall.Then the injuries happened….

Act III: Paramedic!

I hate to blame injuries as the majority of the reason why the Lakers have faltered. Denver has been snakebit with injuries all season long, yet have torched the NBA despite it. Indiana lost Victor Oladipo and still have played over .500 ball in his absence. James Harden carried the Rockets through Clint Capela and CP3(to 6 weeks)’s injuries. It’s a little different when it is LeBron James being the one getting injured. The Lakers fell from their aforementioned Top 10 status to a bottom 10 team in LeBron’s absence with an injured groin he sustained against the Warriors on Christmas night. For a team overly reliant on transition offense, they no longer had their safety valve in the halfcourt. The lack of shooting and spacing started to manifest itself even more. The Lakers looked lost.

But it wasn’t just LeBron getting injured. Kyle Kuzma’s effectiveness suffered due to a sore hip. Josh Hart’s 3 point shooting has fell of a cliff due to knee tendinitis. Brandon Ingram has missed 11 games. Rajon Rondo has only played 26 of 60 games. Both of them got suspended early on after throwing hands with Houston. Lonzo Ball rolled his ankle and the Lakers defense disappeared along with him. Chemistry and consistency have been hard to find and sustain, only briefly taking shape in the weeks before the Christmas game. It’s going to become a lot harder to find soon enough.

ACT IV: The Brow

When Anthony Davis signed with Rich Paul, noted LeBron confidante and stout NBA agent for his own agency (Klutch Sports), everyone lost their shit and were convinced he’d end up on the Lakers. Everyone lost their shit once again once LeBron told ESPN it would be ‘amazing’ to play with Davis once he was asked what it would be like if Davis somehow found his way to La La Land. Everyone lost their shit even more than both of those events combined when Anthony Davis’ trade request from New Orleans went public. With Boston (just as big a dumpster fire, by the way!) not being able to trade for Davis due to a CBA quirk where multiple players who sign designated rookie extensions cannot be on the same together (Kyrie Irving signed one previously), this was seen as a power play to get AD to LA, Davis and the Lakers’ best shot at doing so before Boston’s treasure chest of players and picks could become available. The Lakers front office, again, handled it very poorly.

“You let your shit bubble quietly (AND THEN YOU BLOW!).” “Hey keep your cool. The only way to peep a fool is let him show his hand. Then you play your cards.” “Then he through, dealing I understand.” This was Jay-Z showing the game to a young Memphis Bleek in ‘Coming of Age.’ Magic Johnson and Rob Pelinka did not follow this advice. EVERY trade offer became public, whether New Orleans leaked them through Woj or the LA Times got a piece of these offers from the Lakers brass. That is not how trades work in the NBA. There was no word a Tobias Harris trade was even imminent, let alone would occur at 2 AM central time, to the Philadelphia 76ers, no less. The Knicks trade of Kristaps Porzingis to the Dallas Mavericks fell out of the got damn sky. That’s how business is conducted. The Lakers should have seen that the Pelicans were not taking them seriously once Woj reported it would take 4 first round picks, on top of all the Lakers’ young players, for them to even *consider* making a deal. Whether it was their lust to pair Davis with LeBron or making up for not going after Paul George or Kawhi Leonard as hard as the Lakers went for Davis, the Lakers got played. They got played HARD. And it started to affect their play on the court.

Perhaps it is solely no Lonzo as to why the Lakers aren’t defending. Maybe it is because these same Davis rumors tore the locker room apart. The Lakers already had difficulties overlooking poor teams. But consistently losing to teams actively looking to tank to get Zion Williamson signifies something deeper. They aren’t playing *together.* LeBron has resorted to, at times, taking his passive-aggressive Daddy LeBron shots at his younger teammates, when, as mentioned earlier, the veterans have been a bigger issue. From the perspective of the younger players, how couldn’t trade rumors to a new location not affect their play? How do they know they have the full backing of the organization when they know they’re trying to trade you? Why should they go all out just to get swept by the Warriors in the first round of the playoffs? Some of the recent quotes from LeBron haven’t helped bridge the gap. Magic Johnson essentially telling them to ‘grow up’ didn’t help either. For some guys going through their first bout of trade rumors and the ugly nether regions of the business of basketball, shouldn’t there be a little more empathy? Maybe doing so will not just get the young players to play better (Brandon Ingram is lowkey playing some of the best ball of his entire career, averaging 21.1 points, 5.8 rebounds, 3 assists per game on 49.6% shooting from the field and 41.2% from 3. It’s almost like he’s good or something! Wow! Who’d have thought!), but help rally the team to play together and make one last push. That hasn’t happened yet, and the Lakers likely will suffer if it doesn’t happen soon.

Act V: Too Little To Late

At least Magic Johnson and Rob Pelinka made some moves. With the Lakers ranking 27th in the league in 3 point shooting percentage, they finally got shooting to help spread the floor, but once the team was on the outside of the standings looking in. Acquiring Reggie Bullock for (my son) Svi Mykhailiuk and a future 2nd round pick made a lot of sense. Trading Ivica Zubac, who had been by far the Lakers best center this season, and exiling Michael Beasley for Mike Muscala didn’t make as much sense. Especially since, while Muscala is a career 36.4% 3 point shooter, they already had a big man who can shoot from 3 in the form of2018 1st round pick Moe Wagner, who has shot 37.5% from 3. What makes even less sense is acquiescing to demands for minutes from JaVale bleeping McGee (getting roasted by Joakim Noah and Jonas Valanciunas, adding them to a long list of centers who have gotten the best of JaVale McGee this season) as your reason to trade for a stretch 5 when you already have one. Remember when I said the Lakers had Brook Lopez, Julius Randle, Larry Nance Jr., Ivica Zubac and Thomas Bryant all on the same team? None of them are there now. And their frontcourt has routinely been smashed all season long. This move made no sense and has hurt the Lakers in the meantime (it also hasn’t helped that Mike Muscala rolled his ankle in his first game as a Laker). These moves also signified the Lakers realized the moves from the summer haven’t worked out, yet took too long to make a move to make up for it.

And that’s how we got here. A bickering team with a coach that surely seems like a dead man walking that is playing below its expectations of at least making the playoffs after years of rebuilding and missing the playoffs that was playing above those expectations before being decimated by injuries. With 22 games to play, the Lakers currently are tied for 10th place with the Minnesota Timberwolves, who own the tiebreaker with the Lakers after beating them three times. Will they get to the postseason? I don’t think they will, but I hope I’m wrong. LeBron still looks like he’s recuperating from his groin injury. Lonzo’s return does not look like it is coming all that soon. A three game deficit while having to hurdle over three teams is a lot to ask in 22 games. Should they miss on the postseason, Luke will almost surely get canned, and presumptively get the majority of the blame as well. While he garners some blame, he shouldn’t get it all. The majority of it should fall at the hands of Magic Johnson, Rob Pelinka and the front office. And they’re the ones responsible for finding a way to pair another star or superstar alongside LeBron before his contract expires. If this season is any indication, they have a lot of work to do. Or they won’t have their jobs either. Magic Johnson seems to agree.

[unfair-sports]

The OSG Report Week 4

Week 4 is going to be another exciting week with some big plays and big scores. So let’s not waste any time. Dolphins at -7 Patriots (47.5) Miami is unexpectedly off to 3-0 to start the season. Last week I completely ignored a very reliable source that said the Dolphins are the value stack of the week and boy was he right. Tannehill connected with 3 different receivers for a TD. Tannehill at his price 289 yards. 3TDs. Will take it. I would not bank on it yet but this game represents one of the higher Totals of the week. They are road dogs which is never good. If I had to pick a play it may be Tannehill naked ✅without the stack as he is spreading it around. If you play multiple lineups in tournaments then yes you can stack each WR across different lineups and look for the big plays. For what it’s worth, ✅Kenny Stills gets the best WR/CB matchup rating in the game, and in a short sample size New England is next to last in fantasy production to the number 1 receiver✅. The backfield is a fade until they feature Drake only as oppose to split work with Frank Gore. I wrote in my week 1 article that New England never looks good in September. Here we are 1-2. Dominated on Monday night by their old D coordinator. And people doubting them once again. They have are limited in their WR corps. We do not know if Gordon is ready to play. Edelman is still out which allows any defense that watched Monday night to know what to do. Double team Gronk. Stay on Hogan and dare NE to beat you with anybody else. The only consistency we have seen is the first round draft pick Sony Michel✅ run the ball effectively and continued use of James White in the passing game. It will take your own choice here to decide if NE corrects the ship and scores points, or does Miami’s run continue? If you think New England corrects it then, Michel, White and Gronk✅are the plays here. If they move the ball into the red zone (which didn’t happen Monday night) TDs will come from one of these three guys. I do not believe Brady is worth the price this week as there are plenty of QBs in play this week at lower prices with similar ceilings. Texans at -1.5 Colts (47) I am trying to figure out why as of Thursday the Colts are favored here. I have been waiting on a break out game from The Texans offense and it hasn’t happened. Watson has put up respectable numbers the past two games, but nothing that will get you to the top of a tournament. So new notebook rule is giving a few weeks for QBs coming off knee and especially ACL injury. ✅Some of it is so mental to “not get hurt” that the aggressiveness seems lower. IE Carson Wentz return. With that said this could be a bounce back spot. If New Orleans is the Coors Field of the NFL then Indy’s dome is the Texas Rangers in the heat. Dome plus bad defense =points. If there is a game (despite being division rivals) that Houston bounces back this is it. I cannot jump off the wagon now. ✅Hopkins gets the 2nd best matchup and ✅Fuller gets the 6th best WR/CB matchup on the board. If you have went in on Watson✅ to these receivers for weeks 1-3 stay on the train. One sneaky play could be the TE Ryan Griffin, ✅a position the Colts defense have funneled targets to. Personally I do like Fuller as the preferred target. The Colts on the other hand are difficult to figure out. Jack Doyle has been ruled and firmly places Eric Ebron✅ (unfortunately) in play this week. Hilton usually is a great play at home with big play ability. But Andrew Luck is throwing the ball 5 yards a pass. We are completely depending on him to break a big run after catch which is harder to predict vs a long catch and score which the Texans can easily give up. Hilton has a middle of the road matchup. Same as Houston, this is however a perfect bounce back spot. The Texans secondary is very beatable. The Colts are favored. Houston in a short sample size is ranked dead LAST in fantasy points to the opposing TE.✅ Thank Gronk in week 1 for some of that however. So again you can sprinkle Eric Ebron ✅for the matchup and not his name.  Bengals at -4 Falcons (51.5) The Bengals are easy to somewhat figure out in a great matchup. Gio Bernard ✅will once again be the only RB with talent vs one of the worst run defenses in the league so far, and traditionally a terrible defense (and now with injuries at LB) vs pass catching backs. He has seen 7 and 9 targets and we just saw Kamara catch 15 balls vs Atlanta. He’s no Alvin Kamara but ✅sometimes you just play the matchup. Kamara and McCaffrey together combined for 29 receptions and 236 receiving yards vs Atlanta✅. AJ Green is hobbled and could be a decoy. Tyler Boyd ✅at his price really is once again a must play in an excellent spot. Atlanta gives up production at the whole WR spot. The TE has been the least productive vs Atlanta. But at $4,600 on FanDuel ✅✅Tyler Eifert who just came off of an 8 target 6 catch game is almost a must play when in tournaments. He is too good of a talent in a game with a 51 total whose line is moving toward Cincy. Andy Dalton ✅can safely be stacked with any of those two targets if playing multiple entries. Atlanta is the type of defense that offers a ton of upside in a dome week in and week out. As much as Cincy is in play Atlanta is in play. Matt Ryan ✅may not be perceived as one of the best QBs in the NFL but he is a consistent fantasy producer. The frustrating thing is that he has been a QB that spreads the wealth in TD equity. Between the 20s it is Julio✅✅ all day. But in the red zone it’s wide open. Calvin Ridley✅ (who will not score 3TDs but is very talented) target share is rising every week. He has a talented RB coming out of the backfield in Tevin Coleman✅✅. Freeman has been ruled out so Coleman should dominate the running shares. Just a note. McCaffrey went 28 carries for 184 yards and he is “not that kind of RB”. Similar to Coleman in the same spot. Even Austin Hooper has some TD equity though low. All of Julio’s targets will pay off if he just can get in the end zone. For what it’s worth production against Cincy is much higher vs the WR2 as oppose to WR1. In regards to Ridley ✅✅he still is a fine play as he is a very talented WR and seems to be gaining momentum. But do not play him to chase 3TDs. Bills vs -10 Packers (45.5) This can almost be the same as last week. Josh Allen✅ is the 3rd cheapest QB (Sam Darnold and Marcus Mariota). He ran 2Tds and threw one and has a TD in each of his last two games. He is expected to be playing from behind against one of the worst secondaries in the NFL. It is very risky but offers a solid floor✅ in a good matchup. He is their Franchise QB and they are letting him play. You have no need to stack him since his running ability is a serious TD ✅threat. McCoy is a tournament dart as well due to Green Bay’s inability to stop the run. As bad as Green Bay’s defense is, Buffalo’s is not the best either. But NOT AS BAD as Green Bay. If the Packers are to lead this game it starts and begins with Aaron Rodgers ✅and any combo of him with Davonte Adams✅ and Geronimooooooooooo Allison✅. The Bills are worst vs the WR3 which Allison is classified as such. Cobb is getting the short end behind ✅Adams who is the 4th player since 2010 to have 5 catches and and TD in 5 straight games. If you have talent and you play with Aaron Rodgers there are 3-4 TDS available every single week. ✅ Lions at -3 Cowboys (43.5) I’m no Vegas genius but Dallas is favored somehow. The only usable and very usable piece is Ezekiel Elliott ✅✅✅. However the Cowboys must commit to feeding him 20 rushes plus a game. And continue to target him. His targets are 4,6, and 8 vs Seattle. The difference between my Sunday “just breaking even” and not crushing was Zeek stepping out of bounds before the TD catch. For that reason I’m going back to the well. There are no WRs to speak of in Dallas and among a few other higher priced RBs this is one of my favorite because I believe he will come at lower ownership in Tournaments. 20 rushes and 8 passing targets are appealing if you are a home favorite✅. Pairing him with the defense at a very low price vs a turnover prone Stafford is very appealing in tournaments✅✅ On the Detroit side we kind of have Detroit figured out. Stafford with Golden Tate ✅and ✅Kenny Golladay have been extremely effective. Russell Wilson and Tyler Lockett were highly effective vs Dallas so there is no reason to think that these two receivers cannot be effective. The number 1 & 3 receivers have been most effective in the short sample vs Dallas which once again leaves Marvin Jones out of the equation. Tate has 36 targets. Jones 23 and Golladay 28. So in multiple lineups any one of them could go. But I would much prefer Tate and Golladay. ✅✅ Jets at -7.5 Jags (38.5) With so many games this is an easy pass. If anything Quincy Enunwa✅once again at his price. The matchup vs Jax is not the best but his operation in the slot avoids the Jags best pass corners. He does grade out as having the 12th best WR/CB rating this week. ✅✅ Bucs at -3 Bears (46.5) Ryan Fitzpatrick has been amazing so far this season. Take away a tipped pass for an INT and another INT and they win on Monday night. Now they face a very talented defense and may be a bit limited. What people will have to decide if approaching this game for fantasy targets is which side are they on. The Fitz-Magic to keep rolling or see it on paper as a difficult matchup vs a tough Mack led defense. I may be mistaken but it is so many excellent spots on the board I’m going with the defense. With that said The Bears defense are an excellent play and right now that is week in and week out until further notice. They are priced as the 5th defense on FanDuel yet they are averaging more fantasy points than any other defense in the league! Next are the Jets, Browns, and Dolphins. Food for thought✅✅✅. The Bears have had 4, 6, and 4 sacks. 1, 1, and 3 INTs, and a forced fumble each week. Is Lovie ghost coaching?? But more so than shutting an opponent down, these are stats that produce fantasy points. Pairing them with Allen Robinson ✅or Trey Burton ✅to bounce back, or on their own is an excellent play. The Bucs are 7th worse so far vs the TE spot and for that reason I’ll go back to Burton here. He’s cheap and is in a good spot. Maybe he won’t stiff arm former Bear Chris Conte but Vance McDonald was wide open on that play to begin with. And after the stiff arm there was no Buccaneer in sight. Eagles -3.5 vs Titans (41) Tennessee is the land to send your team to die in fantasy world. Carson Wentz knee has to get comfortable before I’m confident rostering any Eagle right now. They are an easy fade for me this week with a 41 total. The only play I’m comfortable with is Zach Ertz ✅and backup and cheaper TE Dallas Goedert. ✅ He was 7/7 and scored and saw his snap rate jump to 67% last week. Maybe the TE is a comfort zone for a QB coming back. Fade Tennessee completely please. Save the grief. Seahawks -3.5 vs Cardinals (38.5) Call us all crazy but a few trusted sources like The Russell Wilson Tyler Lockett stack last week✅✅. Sometimes you need a game like last week to gain confidence. If we were willing to roll out Allen Robinson and Trey Burton why not Russ? I’m not going to go too crazy on them in a 38.5 total. But as favorites they can be viable. Chris Carson ✅ran 32 times last week and any RB that sees that volume must be considered in DFS. Arizona traditionally plays Seattle close but this is not the same defense or team as years past. Please do another favor and fade Arizona. We could mention David Johnson here. But give me Zeek and Barkley all day. Browns vs -2.5 Raiders (45) The game that will lose or win a tournament perhaps. When we think of cheap QBs this week. It’s either Josh Allen or Baker Mayfield✅✅. Most people I think will go Mayfield and with good reason. Why was the Dolphins value stack a success last week? Because they played Oakland-less Khalil Mack and a bad defense. If you fade Cleveland it is on the ownership numbers and the notion that Gruden just can’t let it happen to them. Jarvis Landry✅ is being peppered with targets week in and week out. He has the 14th best WR/CB matchup this week. Rashard Higgins✅ at his price and Antonio Calloway✅at his price after seeing 11 targets last week are must plays if you’re rolling Baker out. Remember backup QBs worked with 1st and 2nd team WRs in the preseason. So any target is viable. Carlos Hyde✅ has scored every week including 2 TDS last week off 23 carries. Don’t forget David Njoku✅vs a slow LB corps. In short every offensive target is in play. We just have to dig deep into whom may be the best play and have the TD equity. On the Oakland side I’m not chasing Jordy Nelson’s performance. Cleveland’s defense “isn’t that bad”. They did keep New Orleans in the dome in check for the most part. I’m sticking with history here and playing the TE vs Cleveland. Jared Cook✅is a must play at TE. Please add him to your player pool. Lynch has provided a solid floor so far this season as well. But at that price just plug in Gio Bernard this week. Lynch is playable in the afternoon only slates.  49ers at -10 Chargers (46.5) People will be itching to play CJ Beathard vs The Chargers. In cheap QB terms I like Allen and Mayfield higher. But I understand. They will be playing from behind but I do believe The Chargers defense isn’t bad. CJ does have the rushing floor and was college roommates with George Kittle✅✅whom I’ve played week in and week out. If you have done so too, continue the trend. I would lean towards Matt Breida ✅as a play also being that he has shown Pass catching ability. Keenan Allen ✅✅gets the best WR/CB matchup this week. Which means Mike Williams ✅will catch two TDS again if you are superstitious. Before you jam in Melvin Gordon consider ✅Austin Eckler. He has been much more efficient than Gordon and has been a consistent part of the offense so far. They will either grind out the clock with Gordon✅ (highly possible) or run Eckler if the team is up which Vegas fully expects. Saints -3.5 at Giants. (50) Last but not least, The Saints. A model of consistency for the fantasy world. The question here though is can we trust the Saints outside on the road. Vegas certainly thinks so. If you do it’s really a straight forward play. ✅Brees. ✅Kamara. ✅Michael Thomas. A little bit of Ted Gin✅ low owned with plenty of TD upside. The Brees Kamara Thomas combo comes at a hefty price but their floors are so remarkably high each week it’s an easy cash game fit and maybe even tournament play. The talk this week seems to be playing down at QB which makes Brees a bit lower owned. ✅Thomas has the 3rd best WR/CB matchup this week behind only Keenan Allen and D. Hopkins. The Giants side can be tricky. We have been waiting for the offensive explosion from Odell Beckham. ✅✅ He is in a fantastic spot. But this season the spot to target New Orleans has been the WR2 spot. Did we see Calvin Ridley last week? While many may flock to Odell which can always work, fewer may see the value in Sterling Shepard. ✅✅ He is in the exact same spot as Ridley was a week ago. He saw 7 targets and finally found the end zone and with Evan Engram out the targets are available. He gets the 8th best WR/CB on the board, way ahead of Beckham. My favorite play here however will be Saquan Barkley✅✅. I love he and Kamara here and Zeek overall. He catches. He runs and vs a vulnerable defense he will be involved. I hate clicking on Eli Manning but he is certainly a deep tournament dart and playable on the afternoon only slates.

[flauntpage]

Eagles Training Camp Preview: Defense

Let’s get it back to the Eagles.

Training camp starts tomorrow at NovaCare and we’ll soon have the opportunity to overreact to every completed pass and dropped ball and bobbled hand-off. But as divorce lawyer Joe Cordell would say, “that’s okay,” because we’re talking about the defending Super Bowl champions here. Of course people are gonna be excited and probably overdo it.

We took a look at the the offense yesterday in part one of our training camp preview.

Today we’re looking at the defense.

Safeties

Malcolm Jenkins, Rodney McLeod, Chris Maragos, Tre Sullivan, Ryan Neal, Jeremy Reaves, Stephen Roberts

Two sure bets in the starting roles and not much behind them. There’s still a chance the Eagles bring back Corey Graham to be the third safety this season, a theory/rumor that picked up a bit of steam yesterday when the Birds waived CB Randall Goforth. Graham got 367 defensive snaps (36%) and 180 special teams snaps (39%) last year, so I think he played a bigger role than most people realize.

At the top, Malcolm Jenkins is coming off his second Pro Bowl in three years. He really is the prototypical strong safety, able to get down in the box and make tackles, match up with slot receivers and tight ends, and do a bit of everything on the defensive side of the ball.

McLeod has been a solid free safety these past two seasons, but I can understand if people want to see more from a guy on a five year, 35 million dollar contract. He’s going to bring a big cap hit next season, so he might he in line for the Mychal Kendricks treatment unless he has a career year in 2018.

The rest of the group is rather raw. Sullivan had some great moments last preseason before winding up on IR and the practice squad. Reaves is interesting as a converted corner and aggressive playmaker coming out of South Alabama. Neal and Roberts are in the same boat, undrafted free agents with a shot at earning that third safety gig behind Jenkins and McLeod.

And of course Chris Maragos is coming off the week six knee injury. I’d think the ace special teamer will only be called on to play safety in the case of a heavily depleted roster.

Questions:

do the Eagles re-sign Corey Graham?

does McLeod step up his game this year?

does one of Sullivan, Neal, Reaves, or Roberts impress during camp?

WR Malachi Dupre on the wrong end of a BIG hit from #Eagles safety Tre Sullivan. pic.twitter.com/3Z1wEGzsjF

— EaglesFootball 247 (@PEF247) August 11, 2017

Cornerbacks

Ronald Darby, Jalen Mills, Sidney Jones, Rasul Douglas, D.J. Killings, De’Vante Bausby, Avonte Maddox, Chandon Sullivan

The biggest question at corner is probably the biggest question for the entire defense at this point: who plays the slot?

Patrick Robinson really was excellent in that role last season, playing 69% of the snaps as the Eagles operated much more out of their nickel look vs. the 4-3 base defense. You probably remember Robinson wasn’t even named the starting slot corner until very late in last summer’s training camp, and there really were a lot of questions surrounding that decision, which he answered with relative ease.

So I have no clue who replaces him there. Sidney Jones is healthy now, but he was an outside guy in college. Rookie fourth round draft pick Avonte Maddox looks like a candidate for the gig. I really think Jalen Mills would do a good job in the slot. Maybe they just do it by committee and rotate guys in their nickel package based on what the offense gives you. That means you maybe have Jenkins come down on the slot receiver and let Mills and Darby and Jones take the rest of the receivers while going single high safety (think about what Seattle will throw at you with an empty set). I think the whole slot thing is gonna be similar to last year, where the Eagles just take their time and experiment throughout camp.

Otherwise, it’s a solid group. Jones looks like a player. Mills and Darby showed more than enough quality last year, even if they had some iffy moments. Douglas was a guy I watched in college who I think improves in year number two. And Bausby seems like a guy that the Eagles are high on, someone who made plays in the spring and could push the whole unit in camp.

Jim Schwartz said this about Bausby during OTAs:

“He’s a competitive player. He did a really good job for us on the scout teams last year. He was ready to play for us last year if need be. He did a great job not just on the practice field but in the meeting room, being up on the game plan. We were fortunate that we didn’t have so many injuries there that he needed to go. But he was ready, and he had the confidence of the coaching staff. He sort of spread his wings a little bit, working in some different positions. He’s a very, very competitive player. He’s got good size, but his competitiveness stands out. You guys will see that.”

As far as Maddox, the 4th rounder, he had 7 sacks and 8 interceptions last season as a gritty and maybe undersized player for his position. He did play mostly on the outside at Pitt, but on a sequence like this one, I love how he’s able to hold the line, shed a block, and make a play on Saquon Barkley:

Absolutely love Avonte Maddox (slot). My favorite fourth rounder on my board. #NFLDraft #DraftTwitter pic.twitter.com/gCwBUsxL6w

— Bradley Ylitalo (@BradleyYlitalo) April 21, 2018

As for Sullivan, he’s another UDFA coming from a smaller school. A four-year starter at Georgia State, he got combine and Senior Bowl invites and played slot in the spring for the Eagles.

Questions:

who plays the slot?

how does a healthy Sidney Jones fit into the secondary?

Linebackers

Nigel Bradham, Jordan Hicks, Corey Nelson, Kamu Grugier-Hill, Nate Gerry, Asantay Brown, Joe Walker, LaRoy Reynolds, Kyle Wilson

I’m high on Nigel Bradham, probably more than the rest of the Crossing Broad dudes, but whatever. I thought he was phenomenal last year and really stepped up in a play-relaying/leadership way when Jordan Hicks went down.

Speaking of Hicks, can he stay healthy this year? He’s played just one full season since turning pro.

They need him to remain healthy, because there really aren’t any sure bets behind him. Last season the Eagles were able to roll with Bradham and Mychal Kendricks and play a ton of nickel to limit their usage of Najee Goode and Joe Walker, but the Birds no longer have a reliable option at the second OLB spot.

Paul Worrilow was a candidate, but he tore his ACL in OTAs and went on IR. Corey Nelson looks like he’s gonna be the front-runner to play the weakside, a former 7th round pick who came over from Denver in the spring.

Tune in now as Corey Nelson meets with the media. https://t.co/Zxv2phwdw2

— Philadelphia Eagles (@Eagles) March 15, 2018

Gerry and Grugier-Hill are both interesting as important special teamers who converted from safety to linebacker. Same with Brown, the undrafted free agent out of Western Michigan. I’m not sure if any of those three push Nelson out of the spot, but it’s definitely wide open heading into camp.

Walker might have his work cut out for him. He got the nod after Hicks went down last season and never really did anything to stand out or impress. Wilson is a long shot to make the roster and Reynolds is going to be a special teams player who can be a backup at linebacker, similar to what Goode did last season.

Questions:

can Jordan Hicks stay healthy?

who wins the other OLB job?

Defensive tackle

Fletcher Cox, Tim Jernigan, Haloti Ngata, Destiny Vaeao, Elijah Qualls, Aziz Shittu, Winston Craig, Bruce Hector

I guess I’d start out by reiterating that the Eagles do move guys around on the d-line. Brandon Graham was actually lined up at tackle inside of Chris Long when he stripped Tom Brady to seal the Super Bowl win.

They’ll show some stuff like that again this season, specifically on third down and likely also with Michael Bennett, who can play the interior in the same way that Graham does.

The biggest question at tackle is replacing Beau Allen, a player who we all sort of described as a “third stringer” behind Fletcher Cox and Tim Jernigan. But the fact of the matter is that Jernigan only played 70 more snaps than Allen last year, and the split behind Cox was a lot more evenly distributed than I think most people realize. It’s probably more fair to say that Cox was the #1 last year, while Jernigan and Allen were 2a and 2b.

The second biggest question is plugging the gap until Jernigan returns from back surgery. He’s supposed to be out until at least November, so you’re looking at Cox, 34-year-old veteran Haloti Ngata behind him, and then one of Vaeao or Qualls getting legit #3 snaps unless Hector or someone else really impresses in camp.

Eagles’ starting DT Timmy Jernigan underwent surgery on a herniated disc in his back last week and is expected to be out four-to-six months, league sources tell @FieldYates and me.

— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) May 3, 2018

We know that Jim Schwartz loves to rotate his line and get fresh bodies in the game, so it’s safe to say that the 4th and 5th DT options are going to get something like 200 and 100 snaps next season, just going by what the Birds did this past year.

Questions:

what does Ngata have left in the tank?

can Vaeao hold down the fort until Jernigan returns?

do the Eagles line up some ends at defensive tackle to address the lack of depth?

Defensive ends

Brandon Graham, Michael Bennett, Chris Long, Derek Barnett, Steven Means, Danny Ezechukwu, Josh Sweat, Joe Ostman

You’ve got a known quantity in Graham, two solid veterans in Long and Bennett, and a sophomore edge rusher in Barnett who should get a much bigger role this season.

Thing with Graham is that he’s coming off ankle surgery and heading into a contract year at age 30. It should be a really intriguing season for him. Bennett, of course, has the legal issue, which I think will probably get tossed out. Long is 33 and will cede some of his snaps to Barnett, who will assume Vinny Curry’s role.

Behind those four, Means has found a way to stick around despite being a healthy scratch on most game days. Sweat is the highly-rated FSU rusher who overcame a horrendous high school injury. He’s got the measurables and the tape and all of that, so he was seen as a bargain as a fourth round selection:

Ostman had 14 sacks and 3 forced fumbles during his final year at Central Michigan. Ezechukwu was a linebacker/d-end hybrid at Purdue and comes in as a UDFA who will have a tough time making the roster.

Questions:

how does Derek Barnett handle a bigger role?

when does Graham get back to 100% health?

do Long and Bennett regress at all as they approach their mid-thirties?

does Sweat make a training camp push?

Time’s yours.

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The Tigers still have at least 3 spots remaining in the 2020 class. A look at the names to know heading into the final month of 2020 recruiting cycle.

With Early Signing Day now in the rearview mirror, it’s time to turn our attention to the final weeks of the 2020 class. While Auburn did most of their work in the early period, there are still at least 3 spots to fill come February. The good thing about loading up this week is that Auburn can now focus all their energy and resources on just a select few targets. It also means some coaches will now be focused solely on 2021.

Here’s a look at the names to know as we head into the late period of the 2020 class. Chances are very good some new names will pop up in January especially at the quarterback position but for now these are the names to know.

5* OT Broderick Jones | 6’5” | 275 lbs | Lithonia, GA | Georgia Commit

I suspect that every recruiting article I write from now until February will have to include an update on this prospect. The nation’s #19 overall player and #2 OT has been committed to the Dawgs since April of 2018 which is quite awhile in the world of recruiting. However, Auburn has never relented in their pursuit hosting the big man multiple times on campus over the past two years including for both the UGA game and the Iron Bowl to finish the season. The Dawgs sent him a National Letter of Intent this past week in hopes of getting him to shut down his recruitment but he elected to not sign. Jones will likely take official visits to both Auburn and Georgia next month.

The Tigers have always lurked but with Sam Pittman’s departure all of a sudden the door is more than cracked open for the flip. This is far from a slam dunk and you know Kirby Smart won’t go away quietly. But this is also a very real possibility and not a pipe dream. If the Tigers could pull off the flip it would solidify this class as Gus Malzahn’s best ever in my eyes. Let’s see what happens....

4* DL Jay Hardy | 6’4” | 290 lbs | Chattanooga, TN | Auburn Commit

The Tigers beat out the instate Vols for Hardy’s pledge back in November. However, the McCallie standout elected not to sign early with Auburn this past week. It’s not a complete shock as Hardy had said his whole recruitment that he planned to wait until February so he could sign at same time as his teammates. Auburn had hoped to convince him otherwise and there had been some hope a couple of weeks ago it would happen. But Tennessee has not stopped its pursuit and encouraged him to wait as well. In the end, he decided to hold off which means the Tigers will have to fight to keep his pledge until February.

As of today, I like Auburn’s chances of keeping the stud lineman. I know the memory of George Pickens’s recruitment is burned into all of our minds but the year before Auburn signed all three of their holdouts in Matthew Hill, Coynis Miller and Richard Jibunor. Hopefully Hardy’s recruitment turns out like the latter and not the former.

4* DT McKinnley Jackson | 6’2” | 327 lbs | Lucedale, MS

I imagine if Auburn were allowed to write their own ending to this class it would be pretty simple. Hang onto Jay Hardy, flip Broderick Jones and sign McKinnley Jackson. Mississippi’s top ranked player has been a top target for the nation’s elite since he was a sophomore in high school. For a brief period of time he was committed to LSU but has since backed away and now appears wide open. Both Auburn and Alabama hosted the big man on official visits in November. He will take three more in February to LSU, Texas A&M and maybe Ole Miss. I say maybe because UGA is looking to make a late charge in this race having recently offered Jackson. The Rebels’ former head coach, who has a close relationship with Jackson, is also on staff for the Dawgs. This one will be a circus to the finish but I truly believe the Tigers will be in it until the end. Can Marcus Woodson continue his great work in the Magnolia State?

4* WR Malachi Wideman | 6’4” | 180 lbs | Sarasota, FL | Florida State Commit

This one is a bit of a wildcard. The nation’s #132 ranked prospect was on campus for an unofficial visit back in late September when the Tigers thrashed Mississippi State. But not much else was heard between the sides. He took an official visit to Washington State and Florida State before the Early Signing Period. After that FSU visit last weekend, it was thought things had been shutdown and he would sign with the Noles. But on Wednesday he decided to wait.

Josh Newberg of Noles247 reported earlier this week that two of the programs in frequent contact with Wideman were Auburn and Oregon. Could the Tigers look to be adding a 5th WR? I am not really sure they have the room (thinking that 25 number might be a bit more flexible than being reported) but he’s a big time player and could be someone they decided to take if they can get him. But until he takes an official visit, I am not sure how big a threat Auburn really is in this race. Just a name to file away for now.

One other note on Wideman, he’s a two way star and would want to play basketball for the Tigers too. I do not know if Bruce Pearl has offered the big man yet. That’s something else to watch as well.

4* DL Deandre Butler | 6’5” | 280 lbs | Covington, GA | JUCO

Butler will likely officially visit Auburn in January and is a name to keep a close eye on over the coming weeks. Auburn hopes to keep Hardy and sign Jackson but if either of those go sideways Butler could be an option. He’s someone that could step in immediately and provide depth for the Tigers at both strong side end and maybe even defensive tackle. We should have a better feel for where things stand with him after his official visit. I suspect though that his recruitment is about to really heat up as teams scour the country for top defensive line talent to finish out their classes.

3* DT Marquis Burks | 6’3” | 285 lbs | Chicago, IL | JUCO

Auburn hosted the nation’s #4 JUCO defensive tackle for an official visit the weekend before the Early Signing Period which made some wonder if he would be an immediate take if the Tigers did not flip Dallas Walker. That didn’t happen, instead Burks will take his recruitment into February. My understanding is Burks would jump on board immediately if given the green light. What I don’t know is when or if ever that green light would come. If Auburn missed on Jackson would they turn to Burks or Butler? Or maybe there’s a new name that comes on the board in January. Either way, Burks’s recruitment is something to track over the final weeks of this cycle.

3* OT Jonathan Buskey | 6’7” | 320 lbs | Mobile, AL | JUCO

When Buskey committed back in February, Auburn thought they had found their starting left tackle for 2020. A lot has changed since that moment. First off, Auburn has already signed two other JUCO offensive tackles, both ranked higher than Buskey. Second, Buskey went from an expected early enrollee to possibly a non qualifier. Finally, Auburn made a serious move on Broderick Jones. Put all that together and it feels like the odds of Buskey signing in February are pretty low. My understanding is the staff is still very high on his potential and would take his signature if possible but confidence is fading he will be good to go. We will see if things trend in a more positive direction over these last months of the 2020 cycle.

K Evan McGuire | 6’4” | 210 lbs | Alabaster, AL

The Tigers appear to already be preparing for life with out a Carlson booming field goals from 50+ yards. McGuire has emerged as Auburn’s top target the question is whether or not the Tigers have room to bring him on as a full signee. If things go well in February that probably won’t happen. Would McGuire take a preferred walk on offer? Possibly but he’s getting attention from other SEC programs as well. If one of them were to offer him a full ride I think that would be hard to turn down. The ideal finish for Auburn is to get McGuire on campus as a PWO after signing Hardy, Jones and Jackson then put McGuire on a full ride in the fall.

War Eagle!

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