Month: July 2020

2020 Colts training camp preview: TE Mo Alie-Cox

Can Mo Alie-Cox breakthrough as the TE2?

The Indianapolis Colts are hoping to return from their summer break on July 28 for training camp, barring any changes. We will be previewing the majority of the roster as the summer progresses.

Name: Mo Alie-Cox
Position: TE
Height: 6-foot-5
Weight: 267
Age: 26
Free Agent Year: 2021 (RFA)

Background

The Colts took Alie-Cox from the hardwood at VCU hoping to transition him to a mismatch at tight end on the gridiron. He has made steady progress since joining the Colts during the 2018 offseason and now has a chance to carve out his role in the offense in 2020.

After sitting on the practice squad for most of 2018, Alie-Cox got his first taste of the field in 2019. He appeared in all 16 games while playing 33% of the offensive snaps. Used mostly as a run-blocker, the Colts are hoping Alie-Cox can take a step forward as a pass-catcher in 2020.

Expected Role

With Jack Doyle returning on a brand-new extension, Alie-Cox will be working likely as the TE3. That said, he can compete with Trey Burton for the TE2 role and given the latter is merely a pass-catcher, Alie-Cox could wind up seeing more snaps. It will all come down to how many 12 and 13 personnel packages the Colts implement, but Alie-Cox will see a decent amount of snaps during the 2020 season.

2020 Outlook

Alie-Cox has all the makings of being a mismatch tight end in the NFL. His run-blocking is his strength right now, but he is showing some improvements as a route runner. That area is where he must continue progressing if his role in the offense is to evolve. Despite playing on 354 snaps in 2019, Alie-Cox saw just 11 targets.

The former VCU basketball standout has the size, speed and athleticism to make an impact in the passing game. He can be a strong red-zone weapon as well, but he has to continue making strides as a route runner. It will also come down to how he fares in the competition against Burton.

Bottom Line

The Colts don’t need to rely on Alie-Cox as the starting tight end, but they want to get him involved. He can be a mismatch in the passing game if continues improving as a route runner and will have a big task ahead of him competing against Burton for the TE2 role.

2 Vikings in top-20 of PPR fantasy rankings for 2020

There are four total players for the Vikings on this list.

In the next two months, there’s a good chance you’ll be having your fantasy football draft for the 2020 season.

Ian Hartitz over at Pro Football Focus released his top-150 list earlier this week and two Vikings appear in the top-20.

At No. 5 is running back Dalvin Cook, who is also a holdout candidate, so keep an eye on that.

Coming in at No. 18 is wide receiver Adam Thielen, who had an injury-plagued 2019 season, but combined for 204 catches, 2,649 yards and 13 touchdowns in the two seasons prior.

We go down the list a bit before we find our next Viking. Backup running back Alexander Mattison, who is a great handcuff to Cook, ranks 108th. Rookie wide receiver Justin Jefferson, who should get the opportunities Stefon Diggs left behind, ranks 131st.

It is worth noting that former Vikings quarterback Teddy Bridgewater appears on the list (141), but Kirk Cousins does not.

You can check out the full list here.

Austin Rivers thoughtfully explains why the 2020 NBA champion should get an asterisk

“Only for it being one of the toughest championships ever won.”

Houston Rockets guard Austin Rivers has actually landed on an unexpected side of the “should league champions in 2020 deserve an asterisk?” debate.

He believes the NBA title SHOULD receive an asterisk, but it’s not for the reason you think.

When speaking to Bleacher Report’s Taylor Rooks about whether the NBA champ will have an asterisk or not, the veteran had this to say.

“I think whoever wins should (an) asterisk next (to) it. But only for it being one of the toughest championships ever won,” he responded. “(You’re) asking guys to take 3-4 months off, then come back and find chemistry etc. then play during a pandemic, while players are fighting for the BLM.”

And there’s more to that answer:

It’s a really fantastic answer, and one we haven’t stepped back and thought about. A POSITIVE asterisk. He’s right. What NBA players are about to undertake deserves an asterisk during a year like no other.

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WATCH: Oklahoma football returns for workouts ahead of 2020 season

The long wait is over for Oklahoma football as the calendar of 2020 has been turned over to July. Players have returned for workouts.

The long wait is over for Oklahoma football as the calendar of 2020 has been turned over to July.

Lincoln Riley and the Sooners’ coaching staff returned to offices last week. Now the players have joined them.

Oklahoma was set to begin workouts ahead of the 2020 season on July 1 and that is what has happened. According to director of performance Bennie Wylie’s Instagram, the Sooners got going bright and early this morning in the central time zone.

Amongst the blue bloods in college football and other top power-five conference programs, Oklahoma was one of, if not the last program to return for voluntary workouts.

According to the protocols released by the Oklahoma athletic department on Friday, cleaning and sanitation efforts have been increased. Internal doors will be left open to minimize touching. Locker room, bathroom, and elevator occupancy have been restricted. Student-athletes and staff will shower at their residence, rather than at the team facility. Players will also only workout in groups of 10.

The Sooners are still scheduled to begin the 2020 season on Sept. 5 against Missouri State at home.

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Dan Hooker identifies errors in Dustin Poirier loss, targets Tony Ferguson or Charles Oliveira

Dan Hooker knows exactly what he did wrong against Dustin Poirier and hopes to correct those mistakes against another top lightweight.

[autotag]Dan Hooker[/autotag]’s choice to engage in a thrilling barnburner with Dustin Poirier may have ultimately cost him a win.

Hooker (20-9 MMA, 10-5 UFC) suffered a unanimous decision loss to Poirier (26-6 MMA, 18-5 UFC) in the main event of UFC on ESPN 12 this past weekend, winning the first two rounds on the judges’ scorecards before dropping the final three.

After a strong start, Hooker started to slow down and the battle-tested Poirier turned the tide and inflicted a lot of damage to take over the momentum. It was a “Fight of the Year” candidate, and both fighters were immediately transported to a local Las Vegas hospital in the aftermath.

“Yeah, it was a bit if fun,” Hooker told Submission Radio. “Now I know what Gaethje was on about when he was like, ‘I was having too much fun fighting Dustin.’ Like, he just got carried away. He’s a fun guy to fight. Like, he’s talking to his corner, he’s talking to you, I started talking back. Like, it just got carried away. I got carried away having too much bloody fun.”

Hooker tried to rally late using his grappling, but Poirier was able to stop takedowns or pop right back up to his feet when ground, preventing Hooker from maintaining any significant top control.

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“He was pretty slippery, to be honest,” Hooker said. “I can hold onto most people fairly well, but he was real elusive in the grappling. I was quite (surprised). I had to tip my hat to him a couple of times. One of them, I got him down, and he did this real cool escape where he just butt-scooted, and then I had both his heels, and I was kinda getting ready to pass, and then he just bellied down and pulled out.

“I was just like, ‘Oh.’ Had to give him a little bow there. I was like, ‘That was sharp.’ So, just a few things, man. There’s a reason why he’s one of the best fighters in the world. I deserve to be in there with him. I thought it was a good fight.”

Hooker has been in his fair share of grueling fights, including his previous outing with Paul Felder at UFC on ESPN+ 26 in February. After a talk with his head coach Eugene Bareman of City Kickboxing, he thinks it’s time he tamed his approach.

“I said that to Eugene when we got to the hospital after the fight, I said, ‘(expletive), I’ve got a hard head,'” Hooker said. “And he’s like, ‘Didn’t you already know that?’ He’s like, ‘Did you have to check that again and not realize that by now?’ I’m done. I’m done. I’ve realized it now, from now on, we’re fighting smart. Starting from now.”

At the end of the contest, Poirier got in Hooker’s face and started jawing at him. It was clear “The Diamond” was unhappy with some of the things Hooker said pre-fight, but they were able to squash it when they ran into each other at the hospital.

“It was funny because I was spent, I used all my energy in the fight, and then he comes over and he starts jawing at me,” Hooker said. “He starts being like, ‘Oh, yeah, so you’re gonna fight Gaethje next? Oh yeah, you’re gonna smash my face in?’ And then I was just like, ‘Ah.’ So I had to stand up and I got in his face.

“I got up, got in his face, and then he (said), ‘It’s all good, it’s all good.”

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Upon his return to his native New Zealand after the fight, Hooker was immediately taken into a mandatory two-week quarantine period. That’s going to give him plenty of time to dissect the loss, but he’s already thinking about what’s next.

Hooker said he hopes to squeeze in one more fight this year, and is targeting [autotag]Tony Ferguson[/autotag] (25-4 MMA, 15-2 UFC) and [autotag]Charles Oliveira[/autotag] (29-8 MMA, 17-8 UFC) as opponents of interest.

“I’ve got my eyes on who I want to fight next, and I think it’s either gonna be Tony or it’s gonna be Oliveira,” Hooker said. “I think either one of those fights is another main event. But then, Oliveira, he’s getting carried away calling out Poirier and calling out Conor (McGregor), and he’s beating around the bush, trying to say anyone expect me or Tony.

“He’s a funny guy. But yeah, I’ll have to wait and see, because obviously Tony makes way more sense for me. But if I have to go back and then solidify my place in the top five, I’m happy to do that. I just want to fight and I want to fight before the end of the year, and either of those two names makes sense for me.”

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Week 1 Vols-49ers: Will Healy previews Charlotte

Will Healy discusses second season at Charlotte.

CHARLOTTE — Tennessee is scheduled to kickoff the 2020 season Sept. 5 against Charlotte at Neyland Stadium.

Will Healy, 35, enters his second season as head coach at Charlotte. The 49ers finished last season with a 7-6 overall record (5-3 C-USA), recording the program’s first winning season and bowl appearance.

Charlotte fielded a football team between 1946–48 before the program ended from 1949–2012. The 49ers’ program returned, playing as an FCS Independent (2013–14) and joining Conference USA in 2015.

Marshall v Charlotte
CHARLOTTE, NORTH CAROLINA – NOVEMBER 23: Head coach Will Healy of the Charlotte 49ers screams at the officials after a hit on his quarterback during the second quarter during their game against the Marshall Thundering Herd at Jerry Richardson Stadium on November 23, 2019 in Charlotte, North Carolina. (Photo by Jacob Kupferman/Getty Images)

Will Healy’s coaching career

  • Charlotte (Head coach, 2019-present)
  • Austin Peay (Head coach, 2016-18)
  • Chattanooga (Assistant, 2009-15)

Healy joined the show “Tennessee Two-A-Days” to discuss the 49ers’ upcoming season, his spread option attack, offensive philosophies, serving as Austin Peay’s head coach (2016-18) and playing at Richmond for former Tennessee offensive coordinator Dave Clawson.

The show can be listened to here or below.

[soundcloud url=”https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/850211305″ params=”color=#ff5500&auto_play=false&hide_related=false&show_comments=true&show_user=true&show_reposts=false&show_teaser=true” width=”100%” height=”166″ iframe=”true” /] Tennessee Two-A-Days · Will Healy

Josh Allen, Sam Darnold ‘lean on each other’ during year

Buffalo Bills QB Josh Allen on New York Jets QB Sam Darnold.

Despite both being drafted into the AFC East, quarterbacks Josh Allen and Sam Darnold, of the Bills and Jets, respectively, have continued to build a friendship with each other… Even if their fans will often make stern comparisons of the two signal callers.

That’s typical of what happens with two players are drafted in the same year, which both were in 2018. Darnold No. 3 to the Jets, Allen No. 7 to the Bills.

While Allen’s had the better overall team success in their careers, those are still a couple of young guys, so the jury is still out on both. But in that same mindset, Allen said via SiriusXM NFL that he and the Jets QB have, and continue to, put an emphasis on helping a friend out, when possible, first and foremost.

“Watching him throw and throwing with him has been awesome,” Allen said. “We’ve been able to rely on each other. …Just kind of lean on each other I guess and just throughout the year.”

“[I’ve taken] some things from his mechanics and tried to apply them to my game and vice versa,” Allen added. “Just kind of picking each other’s brains as far as defenses and types of concepts that we’re running. We don’t get too deep. So I don’t know if my coaches [are listening]. But we don’t get too deep, but it’s fun to kind of talk to somebody who’s kind of going through the same thing.”

Allen and Darnold both also workout together during the offseason and have done so since before the 2018 NFL Draft. The middleman there is quarterback coach Jordan Palmer, who works with a slew of young QBs as their offseason coach, even recent No.1 overall pick, Bengals quarterback Joe Joe Burrow. Palmer was part of the interview as well as one of the hosts.

In the past, Darnold’s also talked about his friendship with Allen and said similar thing. Except twice a year, things apparently change. During game week the two… wait until Sunday after the game to start chatting again.

“It’s fun to joke about it in the offseason and then now that it’s here, we’re not talking at all. It’s go time,” Darnold told New York reporters last September. “Obviously, I’m going to talk to him after the game and all that, but we’re both competitive so, it’s going to be fun to go up against him this second go-around.”

 

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Manchester City e Inter planean intercambio por Agüero

En lo que podría ser el fichaje bomba del mercado europeo, Sergio ‘Kun’ Agüero podría dejar las filas del Manchester City, donde es el goleador histórico del club y fichar por el Inter de Milan de la Serie A italiana. Medios en Italia e Inglaterra …

En lo que podría ser el fichaje bomba del mercado europeo, Sergio ‘Kun’ Agüero podría dejar las filas del Manchester City, donde es el goleador histórico del club y fichar por el Inter de Milan de la Serie A italiana.

Medios en Italia e Inglaterra han asegurado que las negociaciones van avanzadas y como el jugador está recién operado y en recuperación por las próximas seis semanas, podría haber dado por concluida su temporada con el Manchester City, salvo que se acceda a la final de Champions League.

La versión italiana del medio deportivo Calciomercato, asegura que hay un intercambio en progreso del delantero argentino, por el defensa eslovaco Milan Skriniar, pues es del interés de Pep Guardiola y tiene poco futuro con el entrenador Antonio Conte en el Inter.

El Manchester City sabe que el contrato del Kun vence el verano de 2021, por lo que es el último mercado de verano en que podría sacarle algo de dinero al jugador o dejarlo ir sin costo el próximo año.

De acuerdo al portal Todofichajes, la oferta del Inter al Manchester City sería cercana a los 40 millones de euros por el cotizado delantero argentino.

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Patriots RB James White doesn’t enjoy the idea of flying to road games on same day

This isn’t an ideal situation.

The 2020 NFL season will look much different.

Due to the coronavirus pandemic, there will be many restrictions and different ways of approaching the season. The Pro Football Football Hall of Fame Game was already cancelled and it’s very possible the NFL decides to get rid of the preseason entirely in 2020.

Some teams are even thinking about flying to and from road games on the day of the game, according to Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk. Complications can stem from weather and various other factors when flying on the same day as an event. It’s not an ideal situation and New England Patriots running back James White does not enjoy the idea.

There will be many kinks to work out with the season approaching and this is just one small inconvenience of many.

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Damian Lillard on being the NBA 2K21 cover athlete: ‘I made it’

NBA 2K21 knows what time it is: IT’S DAME TIME.Portland Trail Blazers megastar Damian Lillard is the cover athlete for the newest edition of the game, and he was thrilled to be chosen when the reveal happened on Tuesday.“I made it,” he told The Athletic’s Shams Charania.”It means a lot. It’s one of those things that’s like a signature shoe. Everybody just don’t get it.”.Here’s the cover art for 2K21.Lillard joins names like Kobe Bryant, Allen Iverson, Shaquille O’Neal, LeBron James, and Michael Jordan to be on the cover of the uber-popular 2K title

NBA 2K21 knows what time it is: IT’S DAME TIME.Portland Trail Blazers megastar Damian Lillard is the cover athlete for the newest edition of the game, and he was thrilled to be chosen when the reveal happened on Tuesday.“I made it,” he told The Athletic’s Shams Charania.”It means a lot. It’s one of those things that’s like a signature shoe. Everybody just don’t get it.”.Here’s the cover art for 2K21.Lillard joins names like Kobe Bryant, Allen Iverson, Shaquille O’Neal, LeBron James, and Michael Jordan to be on the cover of the uber-popular 2K title