Heading into the 2022 college football season, Northwestern’s Peter Skoronski seemed to be the consensus top offensive tackle prospect in the 2023 NFL draft class.
A few weeks into the year, Skoronski is living up to the high expecations.
Pro Football Focus has graded Skoronski extremely high as both a pass protector and a run blocker, as he’s the only player with a grade above 85 in both categories.
If he keeps playing at this level throughout the season, it won’t be surprising to see Skoronski getting top-five consideration when next year’s draft rolls around.
The #Rams added one new player to their injury report on Friday.
The Los Angeles Rams released their second injury report on Friday afternoon ahead of their matchup with the San Francisco 49ers on Monday night. There were only a few changes from the list they put out on Thursday, but these differences could have a significant impact on their chances of success in Week 4.
Check out their official report below:
In a change from what was listed yesterday, safety Jordan Fuller managed to see limited action in the team’s practice, and rookie cornerback Derion Kendrick was a full participant after being diagnosed with a concussion last week against the Arizona Cardinals. The addition of these players to the secondary would be a boon for the short-handed Rams.
Also of note, guard David Edwards was listed as having an illness, which kept him out on Friday. His status for the game is unknown at this juncture and will be something to monitor as the Monday matchup approaches. Los Angeles will need all hands on deck to mitigate San Francisco’s elite pass rush, and Edwards’ absence may end up being the difference in the game if the team ends up needing to rely on a backup to take meaningful reps in his place.
Center Brian Allen and cornerbacks Cobie Durant and David Long Jr. were non-participants on Friday, which does not bode well for their availability on Monday night. The Rams have dealt with their share of injuries so far this season, with the defensive secondary being particularly affected. Durant and Long are both listed as backups on the team’s official depth chart, and Los Angeles may run into issues if any more players in the unit become incapable of suiting up.
Hubert Davis and the UNC basketball program will unofficially host five-star recruiting target Trentyn Flowers next week.
The UNC basketball program will get the chance to impress a big five-star recruiting target on campus next week.
Class of 2024 guard [autotag]Trentyn Flowers[/autotag] is set to visit North Carolina on Tuesday for an unofficial visit per Alex Karamanos of Circuit Scouting.
The visit comes a few days after UNC is hosting 2023 four-star forward Zayden High this weekend and 2024 five-star guard Boogie Fland postponing his visit for the weekend. As the Fall is here, this is a big chance for the UNC staff to recruit some targets and leave an impression on them for visits as decisions loom in the next year or so.
Flowers is a Combine Academy prospect that has a total of 29 offers in his recruitment including recently landing one from UNC. He’s ranked No. 21 nationally, No. 8 small forward, and the No. 3 player in the state of North Carolina per the 247Sports recruiting rankings.
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With control of the 2000 NBA Finals hanging in the balance, a 21-year-old Kobe Bryant took control and proved he was a legend in the making.
During the 1999-2000 season, Kobe Bryant was starting to establish himself as arguably the NBA’s best all-around player, but he hadn’t proven he was clutch.
As the Los Angeles Lakers were playing the Indiana Pacers in the NBA Finals that June, he received his biggest opportunity to date. But the story started with what seemed to be a disaster.
Bryant badly sprained his ankle early in Game 2 and was forced to exit the contest. The injury was so bad he was held out of Game 3 in Indiana, which the Pacers won.
The Lakers were holding a tenuous 2-1 series lead when the decision was made to allow him to play in Game 4.
Early, he looked like he had significant trouble moving around the court. But as his ankle loosened up, he started to get into his normal rhythm.
With 2:33 left in overtime, Shaquille O’Neal fouled out. With L.A. clinging to a three-point lead, it seemed like the perfect opportunity for Indiana to tie the series.
But Bryant decided to instead turn it into one of his first great performances.
He made consecutive long jumpers to keep the Lakers in front of their opponent, and with five seconds remaining, he rebounded a Brian Shaw miss and put it in the basket.
Reggie Miller’s game-winning 3-point attempt missed, and L.A. took a 3-1 series lead with a 120-118 victory.
With 28 points, five assists and two blocked shots, Bryant had announced he was America’s newest sports hero. It would forever stand as his signature performance in the championship series.
Little did anyone know at the time that he would consistently turn in performances like this for more than the next decade.
The #49ers can tie for the all-time MNF wins record with a victory over the Rams.
The 49ers need a win Monday night against the Rams to keep pace in the NFC West. They’ll also need a win to keep pace with the Steelers on the all-time Monday Night Football wins list.
San Francisco sits in second all-time with 50 MNF wins. Their 50th victory came last year against the Rams in Week 10. Ahead of them sit the Pittsburgh Steelers at 51 MNF victories. That 50th win for the 49ers briefly tied them with Pittsburgh, but the Steelers last season knocked off the Browns 24-16 on the final Monday night game of the year in Week 17 to regain the all-time lead.
Recent history says the 49ers are in good position to snag that 51st win. They’re 10-4 in their last 14 MNF contests, and they’re 7-4 against the Rams since Kyle Shanahan took over as head coach in 2017.
San Francisco badly needs a Week 4 victory regardless of the MNF wins record. A win puts them at 2-2 and either at the top, or a game back of, the division depending on the outcome of the Cardinals’ game. Falling to 1-3 would put the 49ers in a tough spot in their hunt for a division crown and in their quest for a playoff spot.
The 49ers and Rams kick off at 5:15pm PT from Levi’s Stadium on Monday.
The game status report for the Pittsburgh Steelers came out on Friday with only one name on it. Starting cornerback Ahkello Witherspoon is OUT for this week’s game versus the New York Jets.
Witherspoon suffered a hamstring injury in Thursday’s loss to the Cleveland Browns which kept him out of practice all week. Additionally, fellow starting cornerback Cameron Sutton was limited on Friday with a groin injury but did not show up on the game status report.
With Witherspoon out, Levi Wallace would step into the starting lineup opposite Sutton. Arthur Maulet remains the team’s slot cornerback and dime cornerback duties will fall to some combination of James Pierre and safety Tre Norwood.
A key four-star UNC basketball recruiting target has cut his list down to 10 schools after landing 27 offers.
Hubert Davis and the UNC basketball program have taken a step forward in the pursuit of a four-star center in the 2024 recruiting class.
Chicago native James Brown is a sought-after recruit that has racked up 27 offers so far in his recruitment. But on Friday night, the center made an important update to his recruitment and has trimmed that list down to just 10 teams.
Brown took to Twitter to announce he would be focusing on the following 10 programs: UNC, Duke, Buffalo, Missouri, Illinois, Eastern Michigan, Wisconsin, Iowa, Notre Dame, and Michigan State. The list was released by Brown as well as Tipton Edits:
The 6-foot-9, 210-pound center is a standout at St. Rita in Chicago where he ranks No. 27 overall, the No. 6 center and the No.1 player in the state of Illinois per the 247Sports recruiting rankings.
Brown will take a visit to UNC this Fall and right now, the Tar Heels appear to have a good shot in this recruitment. But they will have to battle out some tough programs such as Duke, Illinois and Michigan State in this recruitment.
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Wisconsin MBB has made the top 10 for a four-star center from Illinois:
On Friday afternoon, 2024 four-star center James Brown out of Chicago, Illinois, announced his top 10 schools he’ll consider moving forward, a list that included the University of Wisconsin.
In addition to Wisconsin, Brown is still considering Duke, North Carolina, Notre Dame, Michigan State, Illinois, Iowa, Missouri, Howard, and Eastern Michigan.
Per the 247Sports Composite, he’s the No. 27 overall prospect in the 2024 recruiting class, the No. 6 C in the country, and the No. 1 player in Illinois.
According to MaxPreps, the 6-foot-10, 210-pound big man averaged 11.7 points, 10.4 rebounds, 1.4 assists, and 0.8 blocks per game as a sophomore for St. Rita High School in Chicago.
On film, Brown shows flashes of a player with immense upside. He’s a rim-running big man that can handle the ball, crash the glass, make plays around the rim, alter shots, and has a budding faceup game.
āI donāt know a lot about them [UW] to be honest. We visited there because they expressed interest in me towards the end of my high school season so we visited up there and I ended up getting an offer. So thatās a school Iām really excited to learn a little bit more about,” Brown said in an interview with On3Sports. I like Coach (Sharif) Chambliss and what he had to say about what they like to do, previews of game situations, and stuff like that. So Iām excited to learn a little more.ā
The Illinois native announced his top 10 list via his Twitter account:
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