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  • 2024 NFL season lookahead: Key offseason storylines, plus five teams to watch, including Texans, Packers, Jets

    2024 NFL season lookahead: Key offseason storylines, plus five teams to watch, including Texans, Packers, Jets

    Super Bowl LVIII is in the rearview mirror, and so is the 2023 NFL season. As the Kansas City Chiefs celebrate their latest championship, the rest of the league is hard at work trying to knock them off their pedestal and hoist the Lombardi Trophy for themselves. Over the next few months, key milestones of the roster-building process will take place, including free agency and the 2024 NFL Draft. 

    As you might imagine, the offseason is filled with many twists and turns and by the time we’re kicking off the 2024 regular season, some teams could look entirely different. In that spirit, we’re going to take our first glimpse of the offseason by highlighting a handful of key storylines as well as some of the teams that could make some of the loudest moves over the next few months. We’ll also be taking a look at who the oddsmakers currently have as the favorites to win Super Bowl LIX. 

    Five key offseason storylines

    1. What do the Bears do with the No. 1 overall pick? Arguably the most interesting storyline to follow this offseason will be what the Chicago Bears do with the top pick in the 2024 NFL Draft. They found themselves in this situation a year ago and ended up trading the pick to Carolina for a treasure trove of assets. Do they follow the same course of action this time around or do they make the pick with a generational talent like USC quarterback Caleb Williams sitting atop most draft boards? If they do, how does that impact Justin Fields?

    2. Does Stefon Diggs request a trade? An NFL offseason is typically good for at least one jaw-dropping trade. Could that end up taking place in Orchard Park? All-Pro receiver Stefon Diggs has endured a turbulent past calendar year with the Buffalo Bills and even cast some doubt on his future with the franchise at the Pro Bowl. If he is unhappy with his situation, all eyes would then center around the possibility of him asking out of town. 

    3. Where do the…

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  • He inherited a ‘crisis roster situation.’ Now, Curt Cignetti preps IU football for spring.

    He inherited a ‘crisis roster situation.’ Now, Curt Cignetti preps IU football for spring.

    Curt Cignetti’s first spring at Indiana is fast approaching. With the Hoosiers’ spring game set for April 18, the schedule for the next few months is taking shape.

    Cignetti and his staff spent December retooling what he called a “crisis roster situation,” and then they laid the foundation for recruits in the classes of 2025 and 2026. Now, it’s time to get to work with the current roster to prepare for the 2024 season.

    So far, it appears strength and conditioning coach Derek Owings has spent more time around the current roster than Cignetti has. Owings came to Bloomington after serving in the same role under Cignetti at James Madison for the past four years. Owings — who makes $535,000 annually at IU — has been training with IU’s overhauled roster ahead of spring practice. While the rest of the staff has been on the road, Owings has stayed in Bloomington preparing players for the season.

    Talking Points: Cignetti says forget what you think you know about IU football

    Insider: IU’s first spring under Curt Cignetti will be different. Here’s what to watch.

    “The offseason is his baby,” Cignetti said about Owings during signing day on Wednesday. “Right now and then in the summer. Now, we’ll still maintain and do things during spring ball, fall camp, during the season. I think he’s a big part of what we do. That’s why I do everything I can to keep him on the roster, pay him as well as I can because he makes a difference.”

    As for getting into the spring season and preparing for the spring game, the Hoosiers will have an abbreviated stretch of training. IU will hold only 13 spring practices before the game, which will be played at night. This shorter lead-up was to ensure the game would be held the day before during Little 500 weekend in Bloomington.

    Cignetti acknowledged implementing the systems of the…

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  • 49ers extend lead to 10-0

    49ers extend lead to 10-0

    The 49ers are playing well. And the Chiefs are not.

    San Francisco extended its lead in Super Bowl LVIII to 10 points with an eight-play, 67-yard drive that ended with receiver Jauan Jennings throwing a 21-yard touchdown pass to running back Christian McCaffrey on a gadget play.

    Quarterback Brock Purdy laterals to Jennings on the left side of the field. Jennings then threw a forward pass back across to McCaffrey, who ran roughly 26 yards for the score.

    The Chiefs gifted the 49ers 15 yards along the way, after Kansas City cornerback L’Jarius Sneed was flagged for unnecessary roughness after a second-down play.

    McCaffrey is the early favorite for MVP. He has 27 rushing yards on eight carries and 47 receiving yards on five catches, along with the only touchdown of the game. However, he has a lost fumble from the first drive of the game.

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  • Crazy stat: Only one of California’s top 10 recruits is staying in-state

    Crazy stat: Only one of California’s top 10 recruits is staying in-state

    There is a talent drain going on in California with the top recruits not staying to play college football in-state.

    Given that the state consistently turns out dozens of players each year that are Power Five quality athletes, it is shocking to see that just one of the top 10 recruits in the class of 2024 stayed in-state and played for a California program.

    It is crazy to think that five of the state’s top 10 recruits are heading to the SEC and just one athlete is staying in California to play college football. A decade ago, this would have been unthinkable, especially with USC seemingly cherrypicking the state’s top recruits each year.

    Why are California’s top players leaving the state? Recent college football expansion and re-alignment might have something to do with it.

     

    For starters, USC and UCLA were underwhelming this past season and it couldn’t come at a worse time. With a jump up to the Big Ten this fall, it isn’t a good look to see the two storied programs limp through their final year of the Pac-12.

    With the Big Ten expected to be a significant jump up in competition, recruits might be eyeing both USC and UCLA with some caution. The Pac-12 teams are expected to have some learning curve over the next year or two, both with travel and the deeper talent in the conference. Those concerns might be leaving top recruits a bit wary about the transition to the Big Ten.

    And then there are Cal and Stanford, both of whom were very much left behind in conference re-alignment. While both landed in the ACC, it is a tough sell to recruits to play in this hodgepodge of a conference.

    But the biggest factor is clearly up north with Oregon. The Ducks, also heading to the Big Ten, have become the ‘it’ school on the West Coast and are hot. Between NIL and their in-style uniforms, Oregon is a big factor for California…

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  • 2024 Super Bowl: SpongeBob SquarePants to recreate ‘Sweet Victory’ performance before game on Nickelodeon

    2024 Super Bowl: SpongeBob SquarePants to recreate ‘Sweet Victory’ performance before game on Nickelodeon

    CBS

    The debate about the best Super Bowl halftime performance could go on for hours, and no two people will agree on an answer. However, there is no denying the best Bubble Bowl performance, and that act is coming to Super Bowl LVIII with the help of CBS and Nickelodeon.

    Over 20 years ago, in 2001, the “SpongeBob SquarePants” episode “Band Geeks” aired and became an instant classic. In the episode, SpongeBob and all his friends form a band to play the halftime show at the Bubble Bowl, a fictional championship game.

    The plot culminates with SpongeBob’s band emerging from below a football field, which was actually old footage taken from a USFL game at the Liberty Bowl involving the Memphis Showboats. SpongeBob then belts out David Glen Eisley’s “Sweet Victory,” creating one of the most memorable moments in the show’s long history.

    Now, SpongeBob and his band will perform “Sweet Victory” on Nickelodeon’s broadcast of Super Bowl LVIII between the Kansas City Chiefs and San Francisco 49ers. SpongeBob and co. will begin the event with the song, setting the table for what should be an exciting matchup between two juggernauts on the field. (You can also watch the Super Bowl on CBS or stream it on Paramount+.)

    The rest of the broadcast, called “Super Bowl LVIII Live from Bikini Bottom,” will feature SpongeBob and friends as they help play-by-play announcer Noah Eagle and analyst Nate Burleson call the game. There will also be special appearances from other Nickelodeon stars, like the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.

    Super Bowl LVIII is Feb. 11 on CBS. The game will also be broadcast on Nickelodeon and streamed on Paramount+.  

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  • Notre Dame football recruiting: Elijah Burress, son of ex-NFL star WR Plaxico Burress, commits to Irish

    Notre Dame football recruiting: Elijah Burress, son of ex-NFL star WR Plaxico Burress, commits to Irish

    USATSI

    Three-star wide receiver Elijah Burress, the son of former NFL star wide receiver and Super Bowl champion Plaxico Burress, committed to Notre Dame on Saturday. The younger Burress ranks as the No. 36 wide receiver in the 2025 recruiting cycle by 247Sports and is the 15th member of Notre Dame’s top-tanked recruiting class.

    Notre Dame offered Burress on Jan. 11, and he committed to the Fighting Irish over Duke, James Madison, Marshall, Cincinnati, Liberty among many others. The Wayne, New Jersey, product caught 25 passes for 434 yards and five touchdowns during his junior season at DePaul Catholic this past fall.

    The elder Burress played his college ball at Michigan State before being drafted by the Pittsburgh Steelers with the No. 8 pick in the 2000 NFL Draft. Burress played 12 seasons in the NFL and caught the game-winning touchdown in Super Bowl XLII against the New England Patriots in 2007.

    The Irish have commitments from four-star safety Ivan Taylor, four-star tight end James Flanigan, four-star quarterback Deuce Knight, four-star edge rusher Christopher Burgess Jr., four-star offensive lineman Owen Strebig, four-star running back Justin Thurman and more in their No. 1-ranked 2025 recruiting class that currently ranks ahead of LSU, Clemson, Ohio State and Oklahoma.

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  • Emmitt Smith blasts the Cowboys

    Emmitt Smith blasts the Cowboys

    If PFT Live had a guest Hall of Fame, Hall of Fame running back Emmitt Smith (an annual Super Bowl-week guest) would have earned a spot with Friday’s visit alone.

    The full video is attached. Emmitt was as funny and engaging as ever. He also has very pointed in his criticisms of the current Cowboys.

    It started with a simple question: Were you surprised owner Jerry Jones didn’t fire head coach Mike McCarthy after a 48-32 home playoff loss to the Packers?

    “I was completely surprised,” Emmitt said. “I know how disappointed I was as a player to see that product put on the football field. It is not becoming of the Dallas Cowboys’ mystique, respect, the brand. It is not the appropriate representation of the brand itself. Now, Jerry understand these kind of words. The brand, right? The star. Everything has to be pristine, but this was not that. That right there was so disappointing not only to me, but to many of our fans and including people that was like, ‘What is that?’ It wasn’t a good look.”

    I asked Emmitt about my own theory that Jerry’s quest for another Super Bowl win is all talk, that he claims to want to win one more to keep the fans engaged but that his actions don’t back up his world.

    “You lose credibility,” Emmitt said of Jones. “And if you’re losing credibility, you’re losing respect. You lose respect, you have no honor. At the end of the day, I agree to some level. Things have to change. I thought the reason why I was so convinced that [McCarthy] was going to get fired because last year there was a whole lot of talk about ‘OK, this might be it. If he doesn’t perform this year, OK.’ You’re gonna accept twelve wins and the playoff berth, but you’re gonna accept the way we got kicked out of the playoffs? I mean, dominated. I mean, it’s like we went out and played with our hands tied behind our backs or we left our minds up in [the team facility in] Frisco and didn’t even take it over to AT&T [Stadium] in Arlington. It was such a disappointing thing. It…

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  • USC offers five-star 2026 edge rusher Kevin Ford Jr.

    USC offers five-star 2026 edge rusher Kevin Ford Jr.

    USC needs elite players. Class of 2026 prospect Kevin Ford Jr. fits the bill. For, an edge rusher from Duncanville (Texas), has announced via his social media channel that he has received an offer from USC. The 2026 prospect is the No. 1-rated player from the state of Texas in the 2026 class, 36th nationally.

    The 6-3, 225-pound Ford has offers from Texas, Arizona State, Nebraska, Penn State, SMU, North Texas, Texas A&M, Oklahoma, Florida, UCF and Baylor among others.

    The Trojans have lagged behind the top programs in the country in terms of overall recruiting rankings and top-line recruiting prowess. USC is outside the top 15 in the national rankings for the 2024 class. That’s not terrible, but it’s certainly not what USC had in mind. It is below expectations for Lincoln Riley and his program. It’s several notches below Oregon, Ohio State, and Miami, three programs which have not won any conference championships the past three seasons but have done a lot better than USC on the trail and in the transfer portal.

    Landing five-star prospects is exactly what USC needs to elevate itself as a program. Ford gives the Trojans an opportunity to boost their roster and change the narrative.

    Visit our friends at Fighting Irish Wire, Buffaloes Wire, and Ducks Wire. Follow our newest sites, UW Huskies Wire and UCLA Wire.

    Story originally appeared on Trojans Wire

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