Blog

  • Alabama football spring game: News, time, players to watch, key battles for 2024 A-Day Game via SEC insiders

    Alabama football spring game: News, time, players to watch, key battles for 2024 A-Day Game via SEC insiders

    Not only are the Alabama Crimson Tide replacing a legend following Nick Saban’s retirement, but they are also replacing nearly half their roster. Kalen DeBoer is taking over a team that lost nearly 50 players from last year’s squad that was the SEC champion, went to the College Football Playoff and finished No. 5 in the final AP Poll. But since this is Alabama football, it simply reloaded and landed No. 2 in the Class of 2024 recruit rankings, per 247Sports. Fans of Alabama football will get their first taste of many of these newcomers at the Alabama football spring game on Saturday.

    A-Day is what the event is known as, and the 2024 A-Day Game will take place at 4 p.m. ET from Bryant-Denny Stadium. Five-star CB recruits Jaylen Mbakwe and Zabien Brown should see reps considering the lack of depth at the position for Bama, but which other new faces should Alabama football fans get to know? If you want to see the latest Alabama football news, you should join Bama247, the 247Sports affiliate that covers the Alabama Crimson Tide.

    The team of insiders at Bama247 are providing on-the-ground updates on every development in the football coaching search, including insights from Matt Zenitz, John Talty and Mike Rodak, who have more than 25 years of experience covering the Crimson Tide. The trio has deep-rooted ties inside and around the Alabama community, and Talty wrote The Leadership Secrets of Nick Saban, a Wall Street Journal and Publishers Weekly bestseller. It’s all available at your fingertips on any device here.

    The team at Bama247 has extensive coverage heading into Alabama’s spring game, including injury information and potential depth chart changes. You can also get the low-down from fellow fans on the Bama247 message board. Head to Bama247…

    ..

    [ad_2]

    Read More

  • Tiki Barber isn’t a believer in J.J. McCarthy

    Tiki Barber isn’t a believer in J.J. McCarthy

    As the draft approaches, most of the takes focus on how great a guy will be. Few will risk a decade of reminders that they were wrong to doubt a player who ended up being great.

    Tiki Barber is willing to roll the dice when it comes to former Michigan quarterback J.J. McCarthy.

    “J.J. McCarthy thing, I’m tired of hearing it,” Barber said Friday on his WFAN radio show, via Matt Ehalt of the New York Post. “Stop with the J.J. McCarthy thing. His film doesn’t say he’s a first-round quarterback. His film doesn’t say, ‘I need to get rid of all my assets and go draft this guy,’ because a lot of what he does doesn’t translate. The scheme that he ran at Michigan — and maybe this is an indictment on the scheme and not necessarily on him — but it didn’t highlight the things that you need to do, second-, third-level reads, multiple combo routes that you have to get correct. He didn’t do any of that stuff. They were run-based and he thrived in it because he was good at — that’s what Jim Harbaugh wanted him to do.”

    Barber thinks the McCarthy hype boils down to Harbaugh, now the head coach of the Chargers, hoping that each of the four picks ahead of L.A. at No. 5 are quarterbacks. That will give the Chargers, as Harbaugh has said, essentially the first overall pick in the draft.

    “The J.J. McCarthy thing, to me, is a smokescreen,” Barber said. “He’s getting inflated because Jim Harbaugh won’t stop talking about him. Now all of a sudden, he’s a top-four quarterback? I don’t buy it.”

    With the Giants potentially taking a quarterback at No. 6, Barber wants his former NFL team to stay away.

    “Not happening,” Barber said. “I’m just saying. Not happening. I don’t want him. Not happening.”

    The truth is it’s impossible to know with certainty which players will thrive and which won’t at the NFL level. It’s notable that the league office, which wants the best of the best prospects at the draft, invited McCarthy to attend. (He declined.)

    The league…

    ..

    [ad_2]

    Read More

  • Where Missouri football might look when transfer portal opens

    Where Missouri football might look when transfer portal opens

    Ring the bell, it’s time for Round 2.

    The second window of the college football transfer portal opens Monday, and will remain open for players to enter until the end of the month of April.

    Missouri football did plenty of its required work in the first window, which opened Dec. 4 and closed Jan. 2, by securing 12 commitments.

    Three MU players — tight end Ryan Hoerstkamp; running back Michael Cox; and defensive tackle Ky Montgomery — have either announced their intention or reportedly intend to enter the portal.

    Altogether, that leaves Missouri with an estimated four open scholarship spots for the 2024 season.

    Here are the positions Mizzou might target over the course of the next couple of weeks to fill out its roster:

    Right guard looks to be top priority for Missouri football

    Missouri head coach Eli Drinkwitz looks on before a college football game against South Carolina at Memorial Stadium on Oct. 21, 2023, in Columbia, Mo.

    Missouri coach Eli Drinkwitz hinted at it when the Tigers wrapped up spring camp: Missouri is keeping an eye on a potential addition at right guard.

    Mizzou running backs coach Curtis Luper reaffirmed the potential for an addition at the position during the athletic department’s opening stop of its 2024 Come Home Tour.

    “We’ve got Cayden Green, a (Oklahoma) transfer out there. You know, as a running backs coach, we look up front, right, so Cayden Green will be up front,” Luper said Thursday evening in Sedalia. “And there may be another addition at some point.”

    The Tigers’ 2023 starter at right guard Cam’Ron Johnson appears to have moved over to his more natural position at left guard, which is where he played at Houston.

    Internal options Mitchell Walters, Logan Reichert, Tristan Wilson and Curtis Peagler are among the group currently are competing for the starting role, but it looks very…

    ..

    [ad_2]

    Read More

  • Oregon State transfer portal exodus: Raegan Beers latest star to leave Beavers amid conference crisis

    Oregon State transfer portal exodus: Raegan Beers latest star to leave Beavers amid conference crisis

    One of the brightest stars in women’s college basketball, Raegan Beers, has hit the transfer portal. Beers is the latest big-name Beaver to be part of an Oregon State exodus that is impacting all of the university’s sports. 

    Beers announced that she would be entering the transfer portal on Thursday in a post to X. “My journey as a Beav was a special one and I am grateful for my teammates, coaches, fans, and friends who have changed my life throughout my time here,” Beers said.

    The Oregon State’s women’s basketball team is not the only Beavers program reeling from the loss of players. The football program has taken several major losses, and other sports across the board have felt the affects of conference realignment and the death of the Pac-12 Conference.

    RELATED: Highlighting the next wave of women’s CBB stars to take the torch from Caitlin Clark

    Beers, a 6-foot-4 sophomore forward, averaged 17.5 points, 10.6 rebounds and shot over 66% from the field for an Oregon State team that secured a No. 3-seeding in the NCAA Tournament. Her efforts were enough to earn her a second consecutive All-Pac-12 honor in addition to being named a Third-Team AP All-American. 

    Beers will undoubtedly be a big fish in the transfer portal and is likely to crack 247Sports’ updated top-10 rankings next week. And she’s not alone in leaving Corvallis. 

    Beers is the fourth Beavers women’s basketball starter and seventh player to hit the portal. This comes as Oregon State prepares to fall from high-major contention and join the West Coast Conference — the Pac-12 crumbled recently, had you heard? High-level players like Beers, Timea Gardiner, Talia von Oelhoffen, Donovyn Hunter and other key contributors to Oregon State’s Elite 8 team are not going to be…

    ..

    [ad_2]

    Read More

  • Giants sign Matthew Adams – Yahoo Sports

    Giants sign Matthew Adams – Yahoo Sports

    The Giants will get back to work next Monday and they added a linebacker to their roster ahead of the start of the voluntary portion of their offseason schedule.

    According to multiple reports, they have signed Matthew Adams to their 90-man roster. There’s no word on the terms of the deal.

    Adams made one start while playing in every game for the Browns last season and was a core member of their special teams units. He had 17 tackles and a forced fumble in those appearances.

    The Colts drafted Adams in the seventh round in 2018 and he spent four years with them before moving on to the Bears in 2022.

    ..

    [ad_2]

    Read More

  • Washington State offense breaks out as spring football camp reaches midpoint

    Washington State offense breaks out as spring football camp reaches midpoint

    Apr. 12—Thursday marked the midpoint of spring camp for the Washington State football team and the offense might’ve had its best showing so far, according to coach Jake Dickert.

    There were no interceptions, no fumbles and a plethora of touchdowns throughout the day in Pullman.

    “It was obviously live reps today. Any time (you do) that, it’s going to bring out a ton of energy,” Dickert said. “I thought (quarterback) John (Mateer) was extremely sharp all day and went out and made some plays. It’s good to see the receivers in live situations doing some yards after catch.”

    Running back Djouvensky Schlenbaker and wide receivers Kyle Williams, Josh Meredith and Kris Hutson were among the players to reach the end zone. Meredith’s TD came on a snazzy jump pass by Mateer.

    And edge Nusi Malani nearly had an improbable pick-six off of quarterback Zevi Ekhaus that was juggled and dropped.

    “I can’t wait to see that one on film and we’re going to show it to the whole team too,” Dickert said. “He had it, he dropped it. It’s a big man’s dream for a pick-six and it just kind of slipped through his fingers there.”

    A packed running back room

    One of the biggest position battles of the spring is at running back, where a conglomerate of ball-carriers are vying to replace graduating senior Nakia Watson.

    Rushing offense has been a major weakness for the Cougs in recent seasons. Last year, WSU ranked 11th in the Pac-12 Conference in rushing yards per game (85.3) and yards per carry (3.0).

    On Thursday, the group was a bright spot.

    “Another good day for our backs and our best day running the football,” Dickert said.

    Throughout the spring, WSU is splitting reps evenly among about four running backs: freshman Wayshawn Parker, redshirt freshman Leo Pulalasi, sophomore Schlenbaker and junior Dylan Paine.

    Dickert said the goal when the 15 spring practices…

    ..

    [ad_2]

    Read More

  • 2024 NFL Draft: Caleb Williams, Marvin Harrison Jr. among top prospects that will attend draft in Detroit

    2024 NFL Draft: Caleb Williams, Marvin Harrison Jr. among top prospects that will attend draft in Detroit

    A solid amount of this year’s top prospects have accepted invitations to attend the 2024 NFL Draft. All told, 13 prospects are slated to attend the draft, which be will held in downtown Detroit from April 25-27. 

    As you can see, the list of attendees is impressive. It’s headlined by the last two Heisman Trophy winners — quarterbacks Caleb Williams and Jayden Daniels — and also includes several of the draft’s other top prospects, including wideout Marvin Harrison Jr. 

    Here’s a look at the prospects who have accepted invitations to attend this year’s draft. 

    CB Terrion Arnold, Alabama QB Jayden Daniels, LSUWR Marvin Harrison Jr., Ohio State OL JC Latham, Alabama DL Laiatu Latu, UCLAQB Drake Maye, North Carolina CB Quinyon Mitchell, ToledoWR Malik Nabers, LSUWR Rome Odunze, Washington DL Darius Robinson, Missouri WR Brian Thomas Jr., LSULB Dallas Turner, Alabama QB Caleb Williams, USC 

    Each prospect is surely hoping to hear his name called during the first night of the draft. However, there is usually a player or two who has to come back for the second night of the draft after not being picked in the first round. Joey Porter Jr., for example, attended last year’s draft but was not selected in the first round. Fortunately for Porter, he didn’t have to wait long on the following Friday night after he was selected by the Steelers with the first pick in the second round. 

    One notable absence from the list of attendees is J.J. McCarthy, the former Michigan quarterback who is expected to be a first-round pick. 

    ..

    [ad_2]

    Read More