Month: November 2020

Week 12 NFL Power Rankings: Version 1.0

The Pittsburgh Steelers and the Baltimore Ravens will play at some point, but here is Version 1.0 of the Touchdown Wire Week 12 Power Rankings.

There is both a beauty and a curse to living in the modern age. Sure, we walk around with access to the complete wealth of human knowledge in our pockets or our purses, but that comes at a price. The update. Our lives are a constant stream of updates. We slide our phones open, and there is an update. We power up our computers, and there is an update. We start our cars, and the navigation system needs an update. We even try and get a glass of water from the refrigerator, and that needs an update. Updates all around us.

So why should this week’s Power Rankings be any different?

After all, the games are not even finished yet. The Baltimore Ravens and the Pittsburgh Steelers, who were slated to play on Thanksgiving Night, will kick things off on Tuesday.

We hope.

*receives e-mail from NFL Communications*

Nope, Wednesday. For now.

So for now, those two teams are roughly slated into the Power Rankings, and like with life in general in the modern era, expect an update sometime this week.

Don’t forget to turn your automatic updates on, friends.

Michigan State Football: Shakur Brown graded PFF’s No. 2 cornerback in the nation

Michigan State’s Shakur Brown has been graded as the No. 2 cornerback in the nation by the PFF grades.

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Although the team has only had two wins on the season, Michigan State Football has shown that they still have a strong defense. A big part of that defense has been Shakur Brown, who has been putting together quite the season for the Spartans. On Monday, PFF (Pro Football Focus) released their updated cornerback rankings, and Brown had the No. 2 grade in the country.

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Here are PFF’s top four graded corners:

  1. Elijah Molden, Washington: 90.6
  2. Shakur Brown, Michigan State: 87.3
  3. Patrick Surtain II, Alabama: 86.3
  4. Tykee Smith, West Virginia: 85.3

Brown is now tied with Northwestern’s Brandon Joseph and Coastal Carolina’s D’Jordan Strong for the most interceptions on the season with five. Of course, two of those came against Joseph and the Wildcats when the Spartans upset them on Saturday. Brown also had two picks in MSU’s loss to Indiana. His other interception came in the season-opening loss against Rutgers.

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Second Houston Texan, Bradley Roby, hit with 6-game suspension

Bradley Roby joined Will Fuller V as a suspended Houston Texan

The Houston Texans were hit with a double whammy on Monday. First, WR Will Fuller V announced he had been suspended by the NFL for six games. Hours later, DB Bradley Roby revealed he had received the same ban from the league.

Per the Houston Chronicle:

The suspensions of Fuller and Roby carry over to the first game of the 2021 season. Fuller, who is in his fifth season, missed playing time in each of the first four because of injuries. His suspension means he will miss five games for a fourth consecutive season.

Roby missed six games in 2019, his first season with the Texans, with a hamstring injury.

Report: Packers expected to be without C Corey Linsley for 3-6 weeks

The Packers could be without center Corey Linsley (MCL) for a month or more.

The 2020 season probably isn’t over for Green Bay Packers center Corey Linsley, but the veteran could miss a month or more with a knee injury.

According to Tom Pelissero of NFL Network, Linsley is expected to miss 3-6 weeks after spraining his MCL against the Chicago Bears on Sunday night.

If he returns on the short end of the timeline, Linsley could be back well before the end of the regular season. Six weeks would put Linsley’s timeframe into the postseason.

The Packers are 8-3 and in the running for the No. 1 seed in the NFC.

Linsley exited Sunday night’s win over the Bears in the first half after getting rolled up on from behind. He hobbled off the field and eventually needed a cart to exit the sideline.

The Packers moved left guard Elgton Jenkins to center during each of the last two games in response to injuries to Linsley. Jenkins played center at Mississippi State. Rookie Jon Runyan Jr. took over at left guard.

After 12 weeks, Linsley is the No. 1 rated center at Pro Football Focus.

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Watch: DK Metcalf with another incredible catch

DK Metcalf with another stunning grab of a pass from Russell Wilson

Russell Wilson puts the ball out there and somehow, someway, DK Metcalf winds up with the catch.

Check out this grab as Metcalf manages to reel in the pass despite spot-on coverage from Darius Slay.

The catch was the big play on a drive that led to a Jason Myers field goal, which gave Seattle a 20-9 lead in the fourth quarter.

At 19 years old, Kevin Durant impressed Sam Presti with process of improvement

Sam Presti said Kevin Durant understood the process of how to improve better than any player he’s worked with. He hopes there are similar mindsets in the new young group.

The Oklahoma City Thunder, for the first time in more than a decade, have hit the reset and are turning to young, unproven players with the hope of improvement for future competitiveness.

During general manager Sam Presti’s Zoom call with media Monday, he thought back to the player whose mindset allowed him to improve in a way Presti hadn’t seen before from such a young athlete.

When Kevin Durant was a teenager, Presti said, the forward’s ability to process areas he needed to work on and make the adjustments impressed the GM.

“I had never seen somebody that understood the process of improving more so than him. He was probably 19 and his mindset was that of like a 50-year-old person. It really opened my eyes,” Presti said.

“It doesn’t matter really your age. If you have a growth mindset and you really understand the benefits of putting in the time and the process of improving versus just immediate gratification, you can really gain a huge advantage on the field.”

Presti said he consistently saw resiliency in the young players who rose up the Thunder depth chart, and those players will willing to look at their failures and grow from them.

“Failure is literally the engine to improvement,” he said. “If you don’t get a chance to fail, if you don’t get a chance to get feedback to what’s not working, it’s really, really hard to get better.”

Oklahoma City will hope that its new young corps has this same mentality. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Luguentz Dort, Darius Bazley and Hamidou Diallo are young returners, the team aquired a bevy of new players in trades and signings, and the Thunder’s draft was highlighted by 18-year-old Aleksej Pokusevski and 19-year-old Theo Maledon.

Who will be part of the Thunder’s future? That will be decided with their work beginning this offseason.

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What we learned from the Rams’ Week 12 loss to the 49ers

A look back at the Rams’ loss as they come to town in Week 13.

The Los Angeles Rams suffered a surprising and disappointing loss to the San Francisco 49ers on Sunday. The lost 23-20 on a last-second field goal by Robbie Gould to drop to 7-4.

They come to town to take on the Arizona Cardinals at State Farm Stadium. What happened to the Rams in Week 12?


Denzel Valentine signs qualifying offer to return to the Chicago Bulls for 2020-21 season

Former Michigan State star Denzel Valentine will stay at least one more year with the Bulls.

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For the third time in two days, a former Spartan has signed an NBA contract. First, it was Xavier Tillman and Cassius Winston signing their rookie deals. This time, it’s Denzel Valentine, who officially signed his qualifying offer to return to the Chicago Bulls on Monday.

Valentine’s qualifying offer will be for $4.7 million for the 2020-21 season. Denzel only played in 36 games last year, which might explain why he doesn’t want to test free agency. Valentine played 77 games in 2017-18 and averaged 10.2 points per game that year, so if he can show teams that he can play at that level he will be more likely to get a strong offer in the open market.

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Valentine is a career 36.6% three-point shooter and he has played his whole career for the Bulls, who drafted him No. 14 overall in the 2016 NBA Draft.

Here is the team announcing the deal on Twitter:

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Texans CB Bradley Roby announces 6-game suspension for violation of NFL PED policy

Texans CB Bradley Roby will be away from the defending AFC South champions through the rest of the 2020 campaign.
Roby will be suspended six games for violation of the NFL’s performance-enhancing drug policy via NFL Network’s James Palmer.
Roby collected 37 combined tackles, two tackles for loss, seven pass breakups, a fumble recovery, and an interception in his 10 games this season

Texans CB Bradley Roby will be away from the defending AFC South champions through the rest of the 2020 campaign.
Roby will be suspended six games for violation of the NFL’s performance-enhancing drug policy via NFL Network’s James Palmer.
Roby collected 37 combined tackles, two tackles for loss, seven pass breakups, a fumble recovery, and an interception in his 10 games this season