Raiders select Alabama WR Henry Ruggs III in latest mock draft
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It’s no secret that the Oakland Raiders will be looking to add to their wide receiver room this offseason. While the team is having a ton of success on offense, the unit lacks a true No. 1 receiver that can dictate coverage.
Oakland has a bunch of nice complementary players, including Tyrell Williams and Hunter Renfrow, but they need that one stud they can go to in the game’s biggest moments.
Luckily for Oakland, several elite wide receiver options are entering the 2020 draft. One such player is Henry Ruggs III of Alabama. While Ruggs doesn’t have the prototypical size for a No. 1 receiver, he is one of the most explosive receivers in the country.
Through nine games, Ruggs is averaging 20 yards per receptions on 29 catches as he has scored seven total touchdowns. In Luke Easterling’s latest mock draft at the Draft Wire, Ruggs was the selection for the Raiders at pick No. 17. Take a look at Easterling’s reasoning for the pick below:
The Antonio Brown debacle is in the rear-view mirror, but the Raiders still need a No. 1 receiver who can take over a game with size, athleticism and physicality. Current management takes a page out of the late, great Al Davis’ book, opting for Ruggs and his elite speed.
Ruggs would be a great fit in Oakland’s offense because he can stretch the field, opening up the underneath routes for Darren Waller and Hunter Renfrow, while also taking a safety out of the box in the run game.
Ruggs isn’t likely to be a 100-catch receiver in the NFL, but that isn’t what Oakland needs. They just need someone to keep defenses honest, and that’s precisely what Ruggs can do.
Expect the Alabama receiver to be on the shortlist of players the team considers come April’s draft.
It has often been said that Bill Belichick is one of the most difficult coaches to play for. It’s also widely known that many players have a hard time adjusting to the strict culture that is held in New England.
The tough environment on players has even been linked to Rob Gronkowski’s desire to stay retired. Julian Edelman elaborated on this notion while speaking with Ian Rapoport on the ‘RapSheet + Friends’ podcast.
“Where I play, our coaching staff and some of the leaders, coach Belichick, hearing him and how he handles success,” Edelman said, transcribed by MassLive. “I’ve been there for 11 years, you learn from it and it’s applicable to your life. You get institutionalized, bro. You just do it.”
The Patriots will face the Philadelphia Eagles this week and lineman Lane Johnson has widely said that New England’s players don’t have fun. Kyle Van Noy and Duron Harmon shut that idea down after they won a Super Bowl, so it appears as if there are two ways to look at it. Players can get ‘institutionalized’ and reap the benefits, or they can play elsewhere and have a less demanding culture around them.
Edelman went on further to explain the turnover rate in the NFL and the difficulty for Patriots to get acclimated on a week-to-week basis.
“That’s everyone,” Edelman said. “Not the new guys, everyone. We’re such a gameplan team. Every week, it’s install and everyone’s got to learn it together. Then you go out and practice it hard and I think you get so caught up in that you almost forget about those outside things that are happening.”
Edelman has been in the league for 10 seasons and it took him four years to become an integral part of the system. He put in the work and continuously did his job — which led him to three Super Bowl wins and a Super Bowl MVP award.
Playing for Belichick may not be the easiest task, but Edelman is laying the blueprint on how to successfully do it.
The Colts make some changes to their practice squad.
The Indianapolis Colts made four additions to the practice squad, including wide receiver Deon Cain, defensive tackle Kyle Peko, running back Darius Jackson and offensive tackle Gerhard de Beer.
The news of Cain and Peko was given on Monday. Both players were waived before the Week 10 matchup with the Miami Dolphins. As they cleared waivers, the Colts decided to bring both of them back.
Jackson had an earlier stint with the Colts this season in September. He was added to the practice squad after Bruce Anderson was placed on the practice squad injured list on Tuesday.
de Beer likely takes the place of Jackson Barton, who was signed to the Kansas City Chiefs active roster this week. de Beer signed with the Buffalo Bills as an undrafted free agent following the 2018 NFL Draft. He also spent some time with the Green Bay Packers.
South Carolina vs. Texas A&M fearless prediction and game preview.
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South Carolina vs. Texas A&M fearless prediction and game preview.
South Carolina vs. Texas A&M Broadcast
Date: Saturday, November 16
Game Time: 7:30 ET
Live Stream: fuboTV (click to watch for free)
Venue: Kyle Field, College Station, TX
Network: SEC Network
The team has been able to play just well enough at times to shock Georgia, provide a push to Florida, and roll past Kentucky – let’s just look past the issues against the Tennessees and Appalachian States of the world, for now – with a decent enough defense to keep games close.
The pass rush isn’t consistent, but the line is just good enough to be a problem for the Aggie backfield.
Texas A&M plays a style that helps the Gamecocks. This isn’t some high-flying up-tempo team that can turn the lights out in three drives. A&M is methodical, cares about moving the chains and time of possession, and manages to to do just enough to keep both teams in the game.
A&M won, but it struggled against Arkansas and Ole Miss, with a rushing offense that’s just okay and without a whole lot of downfield pop to the passing game. The O line hasn’t been awful, but it’s beatable in pass protection.
South Carolina should have its opportunities in the second half – A&M won’t run away with this game. But …
South Carolina really doesn’t have a downfall passing game.
Ryan Hilinski has been excellent, and he’s thrown for 300 yards in two of the last three games, but he has only thrown more than one touchdown pass in one of the last seven games, and the team is averaging just 6.1 yards per pass.
There’s no enough explosion, and the running game isn’t doing enough to take over when the big plays aren’t there. The biggest problem with the O is the lack of third down conversions, and it all flows from there.
The offense doesn’t have the big plays, it sets itself up in too many third-and-long plays, and it’s only converting on 34% of its chances. That ties into the time of possession problems for a team that’s keeping the ball for only 28 minutes per game.
The Aggies have started rolling offensively a bit more lately, but this week, all they have to do is what they do – control the clock, play at their tempo, and have the ball for over 35 minutes.
Score a little bit early, and South Carolina won’t be able to keep up as long as the Aggies don’t start tuning the ball over.
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What’s Going To Happen
A&M has been ignored because of its 6-3 record, but who are those losses to?
CFP No. 3 Clemson, No. 4 Alabama, and No. 13 Auburn. It’s been able to handle the teams that aren’t among the season’s elite.
It’ll be a relatively low-scoring game with both teams keeping things relatively conservative, but Texas A&M does this a whole lot better. The Gamecock offense will barely hit the 300-yard mark.
The Los Angeles Lakers will look to cap off a winning back-to-back when they host Draymond Green and the Golden State Warriors.
The Los Angeles Lakers bounced back in a big way with Tuesday night’s road victory over the Phoenix Suns and now they’ll look to ride that wave, even as Anthony Davis deals with sore ribs, as they host the Golden State Warriors on Wednesday night back at Staples Center.
The Warriors look way different, even compared to the last time these two teams saw each other in the preseason. Stephen Curry suffered a broken left hand a little less than two weeks ago and the Warriors also dealt with less severe injuries to Draymond Green and D’Angelo Russell. Russell and Green are now back, but serious issues for the Warriors remain as it already looks like a lost season for them at 2-9.
Still, the Warriors have had some bright spots over that same time. They won their first game at Chase Center against the Portland Trail Blazers last week thanks to a 36-point performance from second round pick Eric Paschall. D’Angelo Russell also notched 52 points in a valiant effort where the Warriors lost to the Minnesota Timberwolves in overtime.
The Warriors should be overmatched in this game against the Lakers but with L.A. playing a tough game against the Suns last night, they need to be prepared for a pumped up Warriors team trying to show out in an ESPN-televised affair.
It’s probably fair to wonder if Joseph could play in Week 13 when the Vikings travel to Seattle to play the Seahawks.
Vikings nose tackle Linval Joseph missed Sunday night’s game against the Cowboys after undergoing knee surgery last week, the Star Tribune reported.
When will we see Joseph? Could it possibly be in Week 11 against the Broncos?
“I don’t know yet,” Vikings coach Mike Zimmer said. “Could be back this week. We’ll see.”
It seems very unlikely that Joseph would be back so quickly, but considering the team has a bye in Week 12, it’s probably fair to wonder if Joseph could play in Week 13 when the Vikings travel to Seattle to play the Seahawks.
Per Pro Football Focus, Joseph has a player grade of 74.9, a mark that ranks 35th out of 121 interior defenders.
If Joseph can’t play in Week 11, we’ll see a few players fill his spot with Jaleel Johnson likely starting.
Tiger Woods’s selection of Patrick Reed was the right call and could be the start of the Captain America redemption tour Down Under.
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Of Tiger Woods’s four captain picks for the Presidents Cup, he made three no brainers and chose Patrick Reed.
Woods could have justified the selection of the hot hand, Kevin Na, who has won twice in his past 10 starts, including at the Shriners Hospitals for Children Open in October. He could’ve picked Rickie Fowler and few would have batted an eye. He could have ignored the standings and current form and gone for veteran leadership and taken Phil Mickelson or went with his gut and Jordan Spieth. (After his 2015 season, could anyone imagine a scenario where a healthy Spieth wouldn’t be on an American team for at least the next decade?)
But Woods made the right call in taking the 29-year-old Reed to round out his team going to Australia this December, despite the fact that, as the saying goes, his baggage doesn’t fit in the overhead compartment.
“Definitely was fired up to get the phone call from Tiger saying that I was a pick and that he can’t wait for me to be a part of the team and that I’d bring a lot to the team,” Reed said in a conference call with media on Tuesday night. “That means a lot, especially coming from one of the greatest golfers ever to live on this planet. For him to trust in me and the team to trust in me means a lot because it means that I’ve worked hard and that I’m doing what I’m supposed to be doing, and that’s try to go out and play the best golf I can.”
Woods could have served as judge and jury and sentenced Reed to a one-year banishment from Team USA for “conduct unbecoming,” to borrow the PGA Tour’s all-encompassing pet phrase. What’s said in the locker room, stays in the locker room. Reed violated this basic rule when he threw Jim Furyk, the 2018 U.S. Ryder Cup captain, under the bus and aired the team’s dirty laundry publicly following the team’s defeat at Le Golf National in France. Forget the staged bro-hug when Reed and Spieth were paired together for the first time this season at the Farmers Insurance Open – the Presidents Cup selection was the ultimate determinant of how severe the consequences of Reed’s actions would be (apparently, at worst, he was given double-secret probation).
No one has a longer memory than Woods – see Stephen Ames, 9 and 8 – but his selection of Reed proves that he’s willing to let bygones be bygones for the good of the future of Team USA.
“That was all put to bed,” Reed said. “We all talked about it. We’ve all moved on, and we’re all just really getting excited for this year and to focus on going out and doing what we’re supposed to do.”
Patrick Reed established his reputation as “Captain America” with his take down of Rory McIlroy at the 2016 Ryder Cup at Hazeltine National. Rob Schumacher-USA TODAY Sports
If the U.S. is going to regain the Ryder Cup in 2020, it is going to need the fiery Reed, who Tiger said “bleeds red, white and blue.” Where better for Reed to reestablish his aura as a big-game killer (see, Rory McIlroy, Hazeltine, 2016) than at the Ryder Cup Lite? While Sergio Garcia and Matt Kuchar go around kissing babies in Instagram posts and hosting junior clinics to restore their public image, Reed seems if not to revel in his bad-boy image to at least accept “it is what it is” and the 2019 Presidents Cup has a chance to be his personal Captain America redemption tour Down Under.
“For some reason I love to go in and basically feel like my back is up against the wall and go out and try to prove something every week I play,” he said. “It’s just been something that’s always been a part of me.”
Woods has always been a bit of a lone wolf, too, and he’s said before that he sees some of himself in Reed, the 2018 Masters champion who draped the green jacket on his back this April. While trying to describe what will make Woods a good captain at the Presidents Cup, Reed pointed out that Tiger has taken the time to understand the personalities of each player “and knowing what makes them tick.”
Woods knows that Reed is going to be a fixture on the U.S. side for many years to come and he needs to be brought back into the inner circle, for better or worse. Reed is a match-play maven. He is the U.S. version of Ian Poulter. Or maybe an even better comparison is to say he is the U.S. team’s Colonel Nathan Jessup in “A Few Good Men:”
“My existence, while grotesque and incomprehensible to you, wins matches. You don’t want the truth because deep down in places you don’t talk about at parties, you want me on that wall.”
Yes, we do, and so does Tiger. Do we not want a guy on the team that when asked who he’d like to play in the Sunday singles answers, “Whoever is playing best on their team. I’ve always just loved to go up against the best guy, so whoever is playing the best I’d love to take him on on Sunday.”
Captain America is out to remove the tarnish of going 1-3 in the last Ryder Cup (though he’s a little too quick to point out that he’s still undefeated in singles. Note to Patrick: the team lost; that’s all that matters.) Does Reed feel any extra pressure to live up to his reputation?
“I don’t. You know, everyone has bad years no matter what,” Reed said.
His back is firmly against the wall just the way Reed likes it. America won’t stand for another bad year. Let the redemption tour begin.
Eagles Alshon Jeffery dealing with an ankle injury
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Doug Pederson met with the media on Wednesday and revealed what many already knew, that Eagles wide receiver Alshon Jeffery is “still sore” and “day-to-day,” after suffering an ankle injury in the team’s win over the Bears in Week 9.
Alshon Jeffery is day to day. Jason Peters got his knee scoped and he will practice this week. Nigel Bradham has “a chance” to return this week. #Eagles
Jeffery has been banged up this season and has 34 catches for 353 receiving yards and three touchdowns in eight games. Jeffery is averaging career lows in yards per target (6.4 yards) and yards per reception (10.4 yards).
The Eagles are already dealing with the loss of DeSean Jackson and would be in dire straights without Jeffery on the outside.
The Warriors’ breakout rookie often talks to Draymond Green on ways to improve his game and learn the ins and outs of the NBA.
Eric Paschall has emerged as one of the top rookies so far this season.
The second-round pick has burst onto the scene for the Golden State Warriors essentially out of need. The Warriors have had a bad case of the injury bug this season with 11 players missing at least one game due to injury. Of course, that includes Stephen Curry, who is out indefinitely after breaking his hand, and Klay Thompson, who is out all year with a torn ACL.
But, as they say, injuries create opportunity and Paschall has fully taken advantage. He entered the NBA Draft touted as a player that can contribute immediately, which is exactly what he has done. He is averaging 15.6 points per game, good for fourth among all rookies. He was the first Warriors rookie since Curry to record 25 points in back-to-back games.
His hard work to this point can be attributed to his strong rookie start but he has also leaned on the Warriors’ veterans for advice, like Draymond Green. Paschall recently stopped by SportsCenter for an interview and praised the former Defensive Player of the Year.
He is just a great dude off of the court and is always having fun, always trying to bring energy on and off of the court. Learning from him has helped me a lot just because he sees the game in so many different ways and he is so smart. I just try to pick his brain however way I can and just keep trying to learn.
Paschall has been among the first-year players to emerge seemingly out of nowhere and it has been a revelation for the Warriors. They have found some key role players in the past and the former Villanova forward is yet another example.
While the Warriors could very well miss the playoffs this season after a 2-9 start, the emergence of Paschall has been encouraging and he does not appear to be slowing down any time soon.
