Dynamic pass-rusher says Clemson is ‘different from other colleges’

The Clemson Insider recently checked in one of the nation’s top pass-rushers in the 2023 class. Carver (Troy, Ala.) four-star edge rusher Jaquavious Russaw maintains some significant interest from Clemson. He’s a dynamic pass rusher, who has elite …

The Clemson Insider recently checked in one of the nation’s top pass-rushers in the 2023 class.

Carver (Troy, Ala.) four-star edge rusher Jaquavious Russaw maintains some significant interest from Clemson. He’s a dynamic pass rusher, who has elite closing speed.

Russaw was in attendance for Clemson’s 48-27 win over Wake Forest back on Nov. 20 at Memorial Stadium.

“The atmosphere was great,” he told TCI. “It was definitely different than any other game I went to. When I went there, I didn’t know what to expect, so it was kind of different from other colleges I’ve been to so far.”

Russaw met with Swinney after the game in Clemson’s locker room and had the opportunity to introduce himself in person. Normally, Russaw is in consistent contact with Clemson defensive ends coach Lemanski Hall.

They talk now and then and are starting the foundation of a solid relationship. Hall first got in contact with Russaw back when schools could start directly contacting juniors, which was on Sept. 1.

“They said they want to build a bond first,” Russaw. “They want to get to know who I am and they want me to learn more about the program. It means a lot because they’re not just offering anybody. I think it means a lot.”

Russaw will start looking more into his recruitment come January. He’s keeping all his options open at the moment.

Russaw (6-2, 230) is ranked as the No. 4 edge rusher and No. 39 overall prospect in the 2023 class, per the 247Sports Composite rankings.

He plans to make another unofficial visit to Clemson in the new year.

While he doesn’t have a Clemson offer just yet, Russaw has an impressive list of over 20+ offers from schools like Alabama, Auburn, Florida, Georgia, LSU, Michigan State, Ole Miss, South Carolina, Tennessee and Texas A&M, to name a few.

Time to get the latest Clemson apparel to show your Tiger pride. Order your officially licensed Clemson gear right here!

How good is Arkansas basketball so far, really? Not as good as their polling, apparently

Arkansas is one of 12 unbeaten teams remaining Division I, but coach Eric Musselman would like to see his team sharper.

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Only 12 teams in Division I college basketball remain as unbeaten. Arkansas is one of them.

Coach Eric Musselman, in his third year, has started the Hogs with a 9-0 record for the second straight year. A win Saturday against Oklahoma would give the Razorbacks their best start since 1993, when they won the national championship.

Still, the weekend came and went and Arkansas actually dropped in both the Associated Press Media Poll and the Ferris Mowers Coaches Poll. So, what gives.

The Razorbacks aren’t treated kindly by the peripheral analytics.

Ken Pomeroy, of the infamous KenPom.com, has Arkansas as the 25th strongest team in the nation right now, well below their poll rankings and sixth best among all the unbeaten teams. Much of that has to do with 27th-ranked adjusted offensive score and their 35th-ranked adjusted defensive score.

Musselman has spent a question or two in his post-game press conferences frustrated with his team’s ability to defend the 3-pointer, make good decisions and shoot the 3-ball themselves. And while a team with seven new players in the rotation needs time to gel, SEC play starts in just three weeks.

“We’ve got issues to get better at for sure,” Musselman said after his team’s win over Little Rock on the weekend. “We don’t want to start a game giving up a 3. We don’t want a team to shoot 8 of 21 from 3. We’ve got to do a better job of that.”

Arkansas’ KenPom ranking places them sixth in the SEC. They’re two spots ahead of Florida and five spots behind Kentucky in 20th. Ultimately, closer to seventh than fifth.

A win against a power-conference team in Oklahoma should help, as should starting conference play against Mississippi State, Vanderbilt and Texas A&M, three lower-tier SEC teams. And ultimately, all that matters is where that number is come March.

For now, Arkansas is winning, but Musselman wants to do it in a bit sharper fashion.

“Do I think our team has got to be more mentally sharp? Yes, for sure,” He said. “We’ll continue to look at things to try to improve in that area.”

Cowboys News: Parsons as ‘Little L.T.,’ who’s healthy at RB, must-win December?

Micah Parsons had a teammate comparing him to an all-time great, questioning the RB situation, and examining the threat level from WFT. | From @ToddBrock24f7

The Cowboys are finally getting the band back together. With the entire coaching staff and every player except Nahshon Wright back from COVID protocols, the Cowboys are nearing full strength for their Week 14 showdown in the nation’s capital. Except for Tony Pollard, maybe; he sat out Wednesday practice with some sort of foot injury. Ezekiel Elliott says he’s full-go, though… as is the defense, now new and improved with DeMarcus Lawrence, Neville Gallimore, and Randy Gregory. That will affect where rookie phenom Micah Parsons takes his snaps on Sunday, but one teammate says it hardly matters because he’s already a gamewrecker of legendary proportion.

Elsewhere, a look at who Washington will be without… and who is lighting it up for the Football Team. We examine an incredible stat about Coach McCarthy’s annual November nosedive, we look at why so many ex-NFLers (like Cowboys Jason Witten and Jon Kitna) are going back to the high school gridiron, we rank the Cowboys’ Top 30 players, and we dig into what has to happen over the course of the next five games for the road to LA to go through Dallas. All that, plus a fascinating look at the first woman to ever put on the iconic Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders uniform. That’s all up in News and Notes.

Titans should put in claim for ex-Texans LB Zach Cunningham

The Titans should put in a waiver claim for Zach Cunningham, but chances are he won’t fall to them.

With the Tennessee Titans dealing with injuries at the inside linebacker position, the team should put in a claim for former Houston Texans linebacker, Zach Cunningham.

A former second-round pick of the Texans out of Vanderbilt, Cunningham was waived by the team after he failed to show up for a COVID-19 test ahead of the Week 13 game against the Indianapolis Colts.

Cunningham, who was considered one of the cornerstones of the franchise in Houston after signing a four-year, $58 million contract, has tallied over 100 tackles in each of the past three seasons, including a league-high 164 in 2020.

In 10 games this season, the 27-year-old has 67 tackles (four for loss), one QB hit, three passes defensed and one forced fumble.

While he has proven inconsistent in coverage, Cunningham has always been a solid to elite run defender, with Pro Football Focus grades of 73.3, 75.4, 89.2 and 72.7 in each of the past four seasons.

His numbers haven’t been quite as impressive in 2021, though, as he’s posted a career-low PFF grade in run defense (64.3) and coverage (40.4). However, it’s safe to assume better days are ahead for Cunningham with a chance of scenery.

As far as the Titans’ current situation at inside linebacker is concerned, David Long continues to battle injury that has seen him miss the last three games, and he didn’t return to practice on Wednesday out of the bye. Also, rookie linebacker Monty Rice was recently placed on IR.

Cunningham will bring at least a slight familiarity with the Titans’ defense, as he played under head coach Mike Vrabel when he was the Texans’ defensive coordinator in 2017.

Because Cunningham is on waivers, the Titans will have to see 27 other teams in front of them pass on him first, which is unlikely considering he’s just 27 years old and will be owed just $275,000 the rest of the season.

We’ll know by Thursday afternoon where Cunningham lands.

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Postseason grades for Auburn’s position groups

Here are the post-regular season grades for Auburn.

Auburn had a disappointing finish to the year. But still, there were some bright spots.

There were some individual game performances that shouldn’t be forgotten, like Bo Nix’s magic game against LSU, Auburn’s first win in Baton Rouge since 1999. Or Auburn’s comeback win vs Georgia State. Or Roger McCreary’s performance in the Iron Bowl. Or Auburn’s win over Ole Miss (now ranked No. 8). There were so many moments that fans can look back on and enjoy, even with the breakdown the Tigers had in November.

For Auburn’s individual units, there were some ups and downs, but overall I think the Tigers can make improvement at every position group heading into next season.

Here are the post-regular season grades for Auburn.

Who the Bills protected on their practice squad for Week 14

Who the #Bills protected on their practice squad for Week 14:

The Buffalo Bills announced who the team has placed on the protected portion of their practice squad ahead of their Week 14 meeting with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The names come to us via the NFL’s transaction wire.

In 2020, the NFL implemented a new rule to help NFL teams deal with the outbreak of COVID-19. With the virus still causing the league to have a variety of safety protocols in place to prevent outbreaks, the protected portion of the practice squad is back.

These players are not allowed to be signed by another team the rest of this week. After game day, all are then fair game to be signed until the Bills name their protected players from their practice squad for the ensuing game.

This week, for the third-straight week, the Bills used all four of their protected spots. Those are:

  • DT Eli Ankou
  • LB Joe Giles-Harris
  • DB Josh Thomas
  • DB Nick McCloud

Sometimes we can potentially connect some injury-related dots to these protections. This time, we can’t.

Rather, this week’s hint has to do with the COVID-19 list.

Prior to kickoff last week against the New England Patriots, linebacker AJ Klein was placed on Buffalo’s Reserve/COVID-19 list and he did not play. In a corresponding move, Giles-Harris was called up from the practice squad.

Previously the Bills had protected defensive tackle Brandin Bryant on their PS and Giles-Harris replaced him this week for the first time. That appears to be in direct correlation to Klein’s status.

Klein can only return to face the Bucs if he is vaccinated and provided two negative test results for COVID before the game.

For more reference on the protected portion of the practice squad, here is our explanation of it from last season when it was introduced:

Due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic in the United States, the NFL’s owners and players came to an offseason agreement that we’ve seen the first installment of on Tuesday evening. Each team in the league can “protect” four players on their practice squad each week.

The idea is to provide some extra depth for teams in case of a COVID-19 outbreak in a locker room late in the week prior to a Sunday or Monday game. Those four can be called up to the active roster up until Sunday morning prior to kickoff every week.

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Giants’ Daniel Jones flew to Los Angeles for second opinion on neck

New York Giants QB Daniel Jones flew to Los Angeles for a second opinion on his neck but did not receive the news he wanted.

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New York Giants quarterback Daniel Jones flew to Los Angeles on Monday alongside the team’s long-time head trainer Ronnie Barners.

Jones wasn’t there to beat his teammates ahead of a Week 14 game against the Los Angeles Chargers, but to meet with Dr. Robert Watkins for a second opinion on his neck.

The end result? Jones was not cleared for contact.

“He actually went to L.A. with Ronnie Barnes and saw a doctor up there. So, we’re on the west coast, there’s some doctors that are familiar with things with necks and that’s where they went,” head coach Joe Judge told reporters.

Jones rejoined his teammates and was a limited non-contact participant in practice on Wednesday and while Judge refused to rule him out for Sunday, it’s becoming more clear that this is a serious injury.

“In terms of the updates right now, he still hasn’t been cleared for contact,” Judge said. “He’ll continue to go through practice like he did last week. He’ll throw with the team. He’ll move. He’s in all of the meetings. We’ll see if anything changes in terms of his status, but he has not been cleared for contact.

“There’s not an immediate timeline. This could change quickly, it could change over time. Talking to the doctors and the medical team, there are some things that they’re just waiting on in terms of just making sure that he’s cleared for contact. When it comes to necks, backs, things of that nature, we’re not going to take any risks with our players.”

Pressed again about the significance of Jones’ injury and whether or not it’s season-ending, Judge expressed a mild optimism.

“There’s nothing at this point that we’ve been told that would indicate this would be season-ending,” Judge said. ” I’m optimistic. . . that he’s out here working with us, that’s a good sign.”

Judge admitted that being sidelined is not easy for Jones, but notes that he’s taken a team-first approach and has been helping the other quarterbacks.

When Jones returns is up in the air but it’s highly unlikely to be this weekend against Justin Herbert and the Chargers.

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Brian Robinson Jr. and Phidarian Mathis accept invites to Senior Bowl

Congratulations are in order to Brian Robinson Jr. and Phidarian Mathis!

Alabama has at least one game remaining before the 2021 wraps ups. But a couple of the upperclassmen will have the opportunity to don the famous crimson helmet one last time in the Reese’s Senior Bowl.

On Wednesday, the Senior Bowl’s Twitter account announced that both Brian Robinson Jr. and Phidarian Mathis had accepted invites to participate in the distinguished event.

Both Robinson and Mathis have been an integral part of yet another playoff run for the Crimson Tide.

Robinson is Alabama’s leading rusher this season with 1,071 yards and 14 touchdowns.

Mathis has been a terror on the interior of the defensive line all season. He has compiled 46 total tackles and a massive 8 sacks on the season.

Stay tuned to Roll Tide Wire for all the latest on the Crimson Tide!

Contact/Follow us @RollTideWire on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Alabama news, notes, and opinion. You can also follow Stacey Blackwood on Twitter @Blackwood89.

Jashon Cornell returns to Lions practice in hopes of coming off the non-football illness/injury list

Cornell has been on the NFI list for several weeks but could return within the next 21 days

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Could we see Jashon Cornell in a Lions uniform by the end of the season? It could happen, based on the second-year defensive end returning to Detroit’s practice on Wednesday.

Cornell has been on the team’s reserve non-football injury/illness list for several weeks. He was cleared to return to actively participating in practice on the Wednesday session leading into Detroit’s Week 14 trip to Denver to face the Broncos.

Like players being activated from injured reserve, Cornell now has 21 days to get back on the active roster or else he will miss the remainder of the season.

It’s been a tough start to the NFL career for Cornell, a seventh-round pick in 2020 out of Ohio State. The physical defensive end tore his Achilles in a training camp practice and missed his rookie campaign. Cornell showed some real ability in the 2021 training camp while playing defensive end, but he was suspended for the first three games of the season for a prior DUI offense. He’s only played in one game in two years, appearing exclusively on special teams in the team’s Week 7 trip to Los Angeles.

Neither the Lions nor Cornell have publicly stated precisely why he’s on the NFI list, but his return to practice offers some hope that the Lions could get something out of their once-promising draft pick.

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Wife uses kiss cam to make pregnancy announcement to her husband

Dad-to-be James got the surprise of his life at a recent Orlando Magic game when he learned via the kiss cam that his wife is pregnant.

Dad-to-be James got the surprise of his life at a recent Orlando Magic game when he learned via the kiss cam that his wife is pregnant.