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  • Alabama football recruiting: Four-star DB Zabien Brown, top-50 prospect in 2024 class, commits to Tide

    Alabama football recruiting: Four-star DB Zabien Brown, top-50 prospect in 2024 class, commits to Tide

    247Sports

    Alabama stayed hot on the recruiting trail Sunday when it received a commitment from four-star defensive back Zabien Brown. The 6-foot, 180-pounder from Mater Dei High School in Santa Ana, California, chose coach Nick Saban and the Crimson Tide over USC and several other suitors. Brown is ranked No. 45 overall in the Class of 2024 and is the fifth-ranked cornerback in the current recruiting cycle. His decision was based largely on the way the coaches and staff treated him on his official visits.

    “I have a great comfort level at Alabama and I’m very excited about the decision,” Brown told 247Sports. “I’ve been there four times now and really have built some strong relationships with the coaches and support staff. It’s Bama, it’s a great opportunity for me to grow and develop as a player and learn from the greatest coach of all time. They had everything I was looking for a in school so this is a great feeling for me.”

    Andrew Ivins, national recruiting director for 247Sports, provided this scouting report on the newest member of the Crimson Tide. 

    “A fluid cover corner that’s pretty advanced from a technical standpoint,” Ivins wrote. “More than comfortable in 1-on-1 situations and has experience working in both off-man and press-man coverage. Size hasn’t been third-party verified, but in-person evaluations suggest that he’s hovering around 6-foot. Clean footwork allows him to gain plenty of depth while loose hips allow him to mirror assignments better than most his age. 

    “Active eyes help him…

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  • Who’ll fill Tom Brady leadership void on 2023 Bucs? Tristan Wirfs says he has to ‘take over’

    Who’ll fill Tom Brady leadership void on 2023 Bucs? Tristan Wirfs says he has to ‘take over’

    The Tampa Bay Buccaneers missed the playoffs for 12 consecutive seasons from 2008-2019 before Tom Brady’s arrival in the 2020 season ended the drought and helped power them back to Super Bowl glory. Now, the organization has to rediscover how to win without Brady under center, a responsibility Pro Bowl left tackle Tristan Wirfs is shouldering personally. He’s one of four remaining offensive starters from the 2020 Super LV championship team, along with wide receivers Mike Evans and Chris Godwin as well as center Ryan Jensen. 

    “We had Tom, Tom is an incredible leader,” Wirfs said on the Vikes Verified podcast. “He’s an incredible person. You could put him up there with the best leaders of all time. He was very vocal. He’d bring the whole team up and give a little speech after practice. He’d bring the whole offense up.”

    Wirfs, who is 24 years old, doesn’t expect to be at Brady’s level in the 2023 season, but his accolades through just three seasons speak volumes already. The 13th overall in the 2020 NFL Draft has reached the Pro Bowl and been named an All-Pro in each of the last two seasons, a First-Team selection in 2021 and a Second-Team selection in 2022. Wirfs started all 20 of the Buccaneers’ games en route to their Super Bowl title in his rookie year in the 2020 season. 

    “Obviously, I’m not even close to that level to do that now, but I want to say a couple things — how I’m feeling or what I’m thinking,” Wirfs elaborated. “Just how practice went — just little things. I’ve been trying to do that more. Trying to be somebody that the younger guys can kind of lean to or ask me questions about whatever. It is weird, I still feel young, but going into Year 4, I’ve been to the Super Bowl, been to the playoffs, been to the NFC Championship, I’ve done stuff.”

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  • 2023 Penn State football snapshot profile: No. 58 Landon Tengwall

    2023 Penn State football snapshot profile: No. 58 Landon Tengwall

    Going into the 2023 football season, Nittany Lions Wire will be looking at each scholarship player listed on the Penn State roster. Over the preseason, each profile will cover where the player is from, how recruiting websites rated them coming out of high school, and what role they will play for James Franklin this season.

    Continuing this series is a look at a key player returning from injury in 2023, offensive guard Landon Tengwall. Tengwall was just getting started in his role for the Nittany Lions before missing the second half of the season after injuring himself in warmups before the Michigan game. But he should be counted on to help out what could be the best offensive line James Franklin has had in State College since his arrival. Here is a look at Landon Tengwall entering the 2023 season.

    Preseason Player Profile

    Hometown: Annapolis, MD

    Height: 6-6

    Weight: 317

    247Sports Composite Ranking

    [4-stars] | [No. 1 in Maryland] | [No. 7 overall offensive tackle]

    Class of 2021

    Class in 2023: Redshirt Sophomore

    The landing of a commitment from Landon Tengwall was a massive one for Penn State head coach James Franklin and his staff. To get the top-rated player out of Maryland was one thing, but to fend off competition from Michigan, Notre Dame, and Alabama was a confidence boost for the future outlook of Penn State’s offensive line.

    Penn State was one of the first schools to extend an offer to Tengwall, doing so in February 2018 after hosting Tengwall for an unofficial visit in November 2017. Tengwall certainly saw plenty of potential options in person during his recruiting process with visits to Miami, Ohio State, Michigan, Michigan State, Georgia, Auburn, Alabama, Notre Dame, and Maryland.

    Career Stats

    After making appearances in three games during his true freshman season of 2021, Landon Tengwall was ascending to a starting…

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  • Chiefs 2023 schedule preview, Week 4: Jets

    Chiefs 2023 schedule preview, Week 4: Jets

    The Kansas City Chiefs will go back on the road in Week 4 as they travel to New York to take on the Jets on “Sunday Night Football.”

    Despite finishing with a losing record, the Jets improved greatly in 2022. They jumped out to an excellent 7-4 start before crumbling down the stretch and losing the rest of their games. Most of the blame can be attributed to the offense, which finished 28th in scoring. New York failed to score a single touchdown and was held under seven points in each of their final three games.

    The biggest issue for the Jets’ offense was quarterback play. Zach Wilson was clearly not ready to be a starting NFL QB despite being the No. 2 overall pick in the 2022 NFL Draft. This prompted New York to make one of the biggest moves of the offseason, trading for Green Bay Packers QB Aaron Rodgers.

    The Jets then acquired a couple of new weapons that Rodgers is familiar with in receivers Allen Lazard and Randall Cobb. They then added some speed, signing former Chief Mecole Hardman. The cupboard wasn’t bare before those additions, as NY already had the 2022 Offensive Rookie of the Year, wide receiver Garrett Wilson, and speedster running back Breece Hall.

    The Jets will hope that those acquisitions will be enough for the offense to catch up with the defense, which was one of the best units in the league last season and carried the team. The NY defense ranked fourth in both scoring and yards allowed, and also boasted the Defensive Rookie of the Year in cornerback Sauce Gardner.

    The Jets added to an already dangerous defense by signing veteran defensive tackle Al Woods and drafting defensive end Will McDonald IV in the first round. They also added veteran safety Adrian Amos to sure up the middle of their secondary. Suddenly, it looks like the Jets could have one of the most complete rosters in the AFC as they look to end their league-leading 12-year playoff drought.

    Now let’s take a look at some of the Jets’ key players and their outlooks heading into…

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  • Dolphins’ Alec Ingold wants Miami to add Dalvin Cook to loaded RB room: ‘Competition breeds excellence’

    Dolphins’ Alec Ingold wants Miami to add Dalvin Cook to loaded RB room: ‘Competition breeds excellence’

    USATSI

    Former Minnesota Vikings running back Dalvin Cook is in the process of choosing his next NFL team, and many expect him to head home. Cook is a Miami native, and has been tied to the Miami Dolphins ever since his release. 

    The Dolphins do not have a massive need at the running back position. In fact, they have quite the loaded room — but not loaded enough according to fullback Alec Ingold. He’s all for his Dolphins signing the four-time Pro Bowler. 

    “Man, we’ve got a plethora of backs right now, especially with our [third]-round pick, Devon [Achane],” Ingold said during a recent interview on SiriusXM NFL Radio. “We’ve got Raheem Mostert, Jeff Wilson, Myles Gaskin, Salvon Ahmed. We got some dawgs here, so having Dalvin Cook in the mix, that competition breeds excellence. You want as much good quality backs as you can possibly have, especially in our offense when guys can really make something happen with it. You can get the ball, you can touch it a million different ways. You’ve got out of the backfield, you’ve got in the backfield, outside zone, inside zone. We’re gonna run some routes.

    “More backs! Give me all the backs! Can we have 15 running backs in the training camp room? I would love it.”

    Improving the ground game was surely near the top of Mike McDaniel’s offseason to-do list. Despite making his name scheming for the run with the San Francisco 49ers, Miami was tied in having the seventh-worst rushing attack in McDaniel’s first season as head coach (99.2 rushing yards per game). The Dolphins’ passing game, on the other hand, was No. 4 in the league. Imagine if Miami adds one of the best running backs in the NFL in Cook.

    Cook is…

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  • Ex-Northwestern players claim hazing involved sexualized acts after school suspends coach Pat Fitzgerald

    Ex-Northwestern players claim hazing involved sexualized acts after school suspends coach Pat Fitzgerald

    Northwestern football coach Pat Fitzgerald was issued an unpaid two-week suspension, effective Friday, following an investigation into hazing allegations within the program. The investigation, led by former Illinois inspector general Maggie Hickey, found “evidence to corroborate claims made by an anonymous whistleblower regarding hazing activities and events.”

    The investigation began in December following allegations that football players participated in locker room hazing as part of rituals that may have started at the team’s preseason training camp referred to as “Camp Kenosha” in Wisconsin. On Saturday, a day after the investigation findings were revealed, The Daily Northwestern spoke with two former players who claimed the hazing often involved coerced sexual acts. 

    A common form of hazing, known as “running,” was often used as a punishment for team members — mostly freshmen — that made a mistake in practice or another football setting. A player who spoke with the Daily said that an athlete selected for “running” would be restrained by a group of upperclassmen and “dry-humped” in a dark locker room. 

    “It’s done under this smoke and mirror of ‘oh, this is team bonding,’ but no, this is sexual abuse,” the player said.

    According to the Daily, teammates commonly identified players for “running” by clapping their hands above their heads around that player, a motion Fitzgerald allegedly made repeatedly during practices. One player who spoke with the Daily believes that other players interpreted that as Fitzgerald “encouraging” the hazing. 

    “The investigation team did not discover sufficient evidence to believe that coaching staff knew about the ongoing hazing conduct,” read an executive summary of the investigation. “They determined, however, that there had been…

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  • Bears 2023 training camp preview: Wide receivers

    Bears 2023 training camp preview: Wide receivers

    Chicago Bears training camp is less than a month away, which means it’s time to start looking ahead at the roster the team is bringing to Lake Forest.

    We’re unveiling our Bears 2023 training camp position previews, where we’re breaking down every player by position and examining the biggest question facing the group.

    Up next is wide receiver, where Chicago made massive efforts to improve their  receiving corps. First, they traded a second-round pick for Chase Claypool last year and then the first overall pick for DJ Moore.

    After overhauling the wide receiver room, it’s become crowded at Halas Hall, with 12 players heading into training camp. Most teams only carry five wide receivers, at most six, so most of the guys on this list won’t be on the final roster.

    With new faces on the roster, what will happen to players like Darnell Mooney and Velus Jones? Here’s a closer look at the Bears’ receivers heading into training camp:

    DJ Moore

    Michael Reaves/Getty Images

    The Bears have the best wide receiver in the NFC North, not named Justin Jefferson. By trading the first overall pick to the Panthers, Chicago found their WR1.

    During his five years with the Panthers, Moore averaged 75 receptions, 1,078 yards, and 3.5 touchdowns. His career 5,201 yards would rank first all-time in Bears history – he’s the best wide receiver the team has had in a long time.

    Darnell Mooney

    Brett Davis-USA TODAY Sports

    Mooney is returning from injury and will become a free agent in 2024, if not given an extension during the season. It’s unclear if Mooney will get extended due to his injury; Chase Claypool and Cole Kmet are also free agents, and the change in front-office staff.

    The veteran receiver has an estimated value of $14 million per year. Unless he returns to his 2021 form, a handful of free-agent receivers can serve as a second or third wide receiver for cheaper.

    Chase Claypool

    After a breakout rookie year, Claypool plateaued in his second year and has been unable to find the…

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  • What programs are atop the Big Ten’s conference expansion wishlist?

    What programs are atop the Big Ten’s conference expansion wishlist?

    The world of conference expansion never really slows down. It just keeps plugging along. Where the Big Ten goes is likely to be the domino that creates a chain reaction throughout college football.

    After all, last summer, the Big Ten created a domino effect when it raided the Pac-12 for USC and UCLA. And all the recent buzz is that the Big Ten may not be done plucking the Pac-12’s best programs.

    So where could the Big Ten turn to next? There are a variety of different options in play here. Keep in mind a few things:

    Every Big Ten school, upon entry into the conference, has been an AAU member. This matters.

    The Big Ten is likely to add two more schools from west of the Rocky Mountains to balance the conference.

    That doesn’t mean there won’t be any other expansion, simply that targeting the West Coast seems likely.

    Television market size matters.

    Football matters almost as much as television sets. Basketball is a distant third in the priorities.

    Scroll down and check out where things are being projected to shake out for the Big Ten’s next big move in the conference expansion sweepstakes!

    Boston College has a couple things working against it. First, it isn’t an AAU member institution. Second, it isn’t exactly strong in football or men’s basketball right now.

    Those aren’t knock out factors (although the AAU membership might be), but it certainly hurts Boston College’s resume for the Big Ten.

    Now, BC has a strong reputation in football and historically has been a solid team in the ACC and prior to that in the Big East. They could fit into the Big Ten and would bring a top 10 media market, but there are just too many hurdles to clear on this one.

    Without AAU, this one is admittedly a long shot. But Boston is the seventh largest television market in the nation. Would the Big Ten overlook AAU status given that Boston…

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