Tag: 2020

On this day: NBA suspends season following Rudy Gobert’s positive COVID-19 test in OKC

What was your initial reaction to the Thunder’s home game against the Jazz being postponed?

On this day three years ago, Oklahoma City set off a chain reaction that led to the United States essentially shutting down due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

On March 11, 2020, the NBA postponed the Utah Jazz vs. Oklahoma City Thunder game due to Rudy Gobert testing positive for COVID-19. Gobert was the first known NBA player to test positive for the virus.

Later that night, the league suspended its season. In the following days, sport leagues throughout the country followed suit. They either suspended or canceled their seasons.

The Thunder entered that date just one game behind the Jazz for a top-four seed in the Western Conference standings. It was billed as a critical game for OKC’s chances of earning homecourt advantage in the playoffs with roughly a month left in the regular season.

The league resumed its season five months later on July 30 in a bubble environment at Disney World in Florida. The Thunder were one of the 22 teams invited to the bubble, and teams weren’t allowed to leave it until their season concluded.

The league scheduled eight regular-season games for all 22 teams and also introduced the play-in tournament concept during the bubble.

The Thunder’s season ended in a Game 7 loss of their first-round series against the Houston Rockets. The only Thunder players remaining from that roster are Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Lu Dort.

Following their exit, the Thunder blew up their roster and shifted to development mode. Chris Paul was traded to the Phoenix Suns. Steven Adams was traded to the New Orleans Pelicans. Dennis Schroder was traded to the Los Angeles Lakers and Danilo Gallinari signed a deal with the Atlanta Hawks. The Thunder also changed head coaches, going from Billy Donovan to Mark Daigneault.

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How many offensive snaps have the Dolphins lost this offseason?

How many offensive snaps have the Dolphins lost this offseason?

The Miami Dolphins have the opportunity this season to take a major step forward in their production and play — the team is loaded with young talent and appears to have upgraded significantly at a slew of positions across the roster. Entering into Year 3 of the Chris Grier & Brian Flores era leaves the Dolphins with their most gifted roster yet; but also affords the team with a new opportunity with something they haven’t had much of thus far into the team’s rebuilding effort:

Continuity.

The Dolphins spent the first 18 months of their season churning the roster to try to find diamonds in the rough amid an evaluation season in 2019. But now the team appears to have identified some long-term cornerstones and stocked the roster with hand-picked talent. That doesn’t necessarily mean the team is going to retain every player from here on out, but the mass exodus of talent appears to have come and gone.

So with that in mind, how much did the Dolphins lose offensively this offseason? Improved play here is a big point of emphasis for Miami this year: finding more consistent and productive play when they’ve got the football. The continuity should help.

Miami, excluding transactions mid-season, lost nearly 3,100 offensive snaps (3,073). Those departures include:

  • iOL Ted Karras – 1,067 snaps
  • OG Ereck Flowers (trade) – 856
  • QB Ryan Fitzpatrick – 496
  • WR Isaiah Ford – 374 
  • RB Matt Breida – 151 
  • RB DeAndre Washington – 77
  • OT Julie’n Davenport – 52

This list does not, of course, include players like Chandler Cox, Jordan Howard and Antonio Callaway, who where cut before the end of the regular season. If you’re willing to exclude the departures at guard and center between Karras and Flowers, Miami’s losses from a snap perspective are quite negligible. The team transitioned away from QB Ryan Fitzpatrick mid-season and his departure, which was very much imminent, may arguably be the biggest shift and change for the team.

The Dolphins will need to find competent play at center but should feel good about their effort to upgrade Flowers; who was a first-year free agent addition but a limited player that Miami did well to fill the role in 2020 before being traded back to Washington.

How does 3,100 snaps lost stack up to the league? Some teams, including the Detroit Lions, Los Angeles Rams, Los Angeles Chargers, Kansas City Chiefs, Las Vegas Raiders and Houston Texans, lost in excess of 4,000+ snaps this offseason as of April. So while there’s plenty of change, it isn’t nearly up to the peaks of others across the league.

Texas had the best year of athletics in the nation for 2020-21, here is where each team finished

Texas’ athletic program was the best of the best for the 2020-21 season.

Under athletic director Chris Del Conte, Texas’ athletics department as a whole has seen exuberating success. As of recently, they’ve shown why Texas is one of the top institutions both athletically and academically.

In 2018-19, the Longhorns finished fourth in the Learfield IMG College Director’s Cup standings, which is a competition that is based off how all collegiate sports teams finish their season.

That was their highest finish in the national all-sports rankings since 2005-06, but Del Conte and the program have hit a new high. For the first time ever, the Longhorns have won the Director’s Cup. In doing so, they have also become the first school outside of Stanford to win it since 1994.

How dominant was Texas sports throughout the 2020-21 season? The Longhorns recorded three NCAA Championships, the most by Texas since the 1989-90 season. On top of that, they took home 13 Big 12 conference titles.

If you were to add in Texas’ football program from the 2020 season to the list above, who although underwhelmed from an expectations standpoint, it’d be another top 25 finish at No. 19 overall.

With the baseball season ending just days ago, we now know where each respective Texas program finished amongst their peers for the 2020-21 season. Let’s take a look at where each program finished the season and played a large part in Texas winning the Director’s Cup.

Roy Philpott: Notre Dame’s goal ‘is to not be an ACC football member’

Another media figure believes Notre Dame’s independence is safe.

The more time passes, the less likely it appears the proposed College Football Playoff revamp will push Notre Dame toward a conference. After initial speculation that ACC membership was coming, more recent talk indicates that the Irish will keep their independence. Among the latest to join that chorus is Roy Philpott of ESPN. Appearing on the podcast “Gramlich and Mac Lain”, Philpott expressed confidence that the Irish do not wish to join the ACC for football:

At first glance, it’s still crazy to think the Irish willingly would give up the opportunity to ever have a first-round bye in the College Football Playoff. However, further study of the situation shows that they might not have been so tone-deaf in their approach to this after all. It’s become more obvious that 2020 was an anomaly and not a precursor. Normalcy is making its way back, and that includes an independent Notre Dame.

Roy Philpott: Notre Dame’s goal ‘is to not be an ACC football member’

Another media figure believes Notre Dame’s independence is safe.

The more time passes, the less likely it appears the proposed College Football Playoff revamp will push Notre Dame toward a conference. After initial speculation that ACC membership was coming, more recent talk indicates that the Irish will keep their independence. Among the latest to join that chorus is Roy Philpott of ESPN. Appearing on the podcast “Gramlich and Mac Lain”, Philpott expressed confidence that the Irish do not wish to join the ACC for football:

At first glance, it’s still crazy to think the Irish willingly would give up the opportunity to ever have a first-round bye in the College Football Playoff. However, further study of the situation shows that they might not have been so tone-deaf in their approach to this after all. It’s become more obvious that 2020 was an anomaly and not a precursor. Normalcy is making its way back, and that includes an independent Notre Dame.

Seahawks waive DE Marcus Webb to make room for TE Cam Sutton

The Seattle Seahawks waived defensive end Marcus Webb with an injury designation to make room for the signing of tight end Cam Sutton.

Following reports of signing tight end Cam Sutton, the Seattle Seahawks have waived defensive end, Marcus Webb.

Webb received an injury designation, but his injury is unclear at the moment. The Seahawks already had 90 players on their training camp roster, so they had to release someone to make room for Sutton. Unfortunately, Webb turned out to be the victim.

Webb went undrafted in 2020 and did not see any playing time for the Seahawks during the season, so he certainly looked expendable on paper.

Sutton also went undrafted and spent time with the Panthers before the 2020 season, but they waived him in training camp.

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Each player that Texas football added, subtracted via the transfer portal recently

A full list of each player that the Texas Longhorns have added or subtracted via the NCAA transfer portal recently.

The Texas Longhorns have been active in the NCAA transfer portal recently. Continue reading “Each player that Texas football added, subtracted via the transfer portal recently”

Mohamoud Diabate could be poised for monster junior season

Mohamoud Diabate started six games in 2020, but his production wasn’t quite where the team hoped. In 2021, that could change significantly.

Name: Mohamoud Diabate

Number: 11

Position: Linebacker

Class: Junior

Height: 6’3″

Weight: 221 lbs

Hometown: Auburn, Ala.

High School: Auburn

Twitter: @MDiabate11

2020 statistics:

TOT SOLO SACK FF INT
67 33 1.5 2 1

Overview:

Originally a four-star recruit out of Auburn, Alabama, Diabate spurned the hometown Tigers to sign with Florida in the 2019 recruiting class. He saw a lot of action as a true freshman, appearing in all 13 games for the Gators and starting one at linebacker. He notched 18 tackles and 4.5 sacks, and he secured an SEC Freshman of the Week award for a three-sack performance in the win over Vanderbilt.

He entered the 2020 season poised to play a major role, and he did, starting six of Florida’s 12 games and appearing in all of them. His total tackles skyrocketed to 67, though he only managed 1.5 sacks. Heading into 2021, he should be one of UF’s starting linebackers, likely taking the weakside spot beside starting middle linebacker Ventrell Miller.

His production as a sophomore may have been a bit of a disappointment, but he should be a centerpiece for next year’s defense.

Video:

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Seahawks expected to decline Rashaad Penny’s 5th-year option

NFL Network Ian Rapoport reported that the Seattle Seahawks are expected to decline running back Rashaad Penny’s fifth-year option.

NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport reported Monday that the Seattle Seahawks are expected to decline the fifth-year option on running back Rashaad Penny’s rookie contract. This could signal that the team will move on from him after the 2021 season.

Penny, of course, missed most of the 2020 season as a result of an ACL tear he suffered in 2019. He only played in three games and only mustered 34 rushing yards on 11 carries over that span. Over his three-year career thus far, he has accumulated 823 rushing yards and five touchdowns on 161 carries, while adding 17 receptions for 158 yards and an additional TD.

The recently extended Chris Carson is clearly a superior option at running back and the Seahawks may not see Penny as crucial to their long-term future. If the report is true, it is difficult to imagine Penny sticking around for the long haul.

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Report: Chiefs ran out of usable jersey numbers at one point in 2020

Brett Veach has been the driver behind the Chiefs’ jersey number proposal for this reason.

Some more details on the recent jersey number rules change proposal submitted by the Kansas City Chiefs have emerged.

The proposal by Kansas City is pretty simple. It would loosen the restrictions on single-digit jersey numbers to allow running backs, wide receivers, tight ends, fullbacks, linebackers and defensive backs to wear them. Right now, single-digit numbers are reserved for only quarterbacks, punters and kickers, which make up a very small portion of the team.

According to the MMQB’s Albert Breer, Chiefs general manager Brett Veach is actually the driving force behind the team’s recent proposal. Why is he so gung-ho on expanding the use of single-digit numbers, though? At one point last season, Kansas City ran out of jersey numbers that they could use per Breer.

The Chiefs have 10 retired jerseys and one that is unofficially retired in Joe Delaney’s No. 37. The NFL expanded practice squads to 16 players in 2020 due to COVID-19 and it sounds like that change is sticking around. Then you’ve got to account for the 53-man roster and suddenly you have 80 jersey numbers to account for. If the team didn’t have the right combination of players at the right positions, running out of jersey numbers is entirely feasible.

Teams like the Giants and the Bears, who each have 14 retired jersey numbers also likely had some problems last season. They could be among the key supporters of this newly proposed rule. The jersey number logjam for the Chiefs probably came because of the overlap of Nos. 20-49 at the linebacker, running back and defensive back positions. They also had a ton of receivers on the practice squad in 2020, which probably made things difficult. The newly proposed changes from Kansas City would solve this issue for the Chiefs and for any other team that has a lot of retired jerseys.

Really the only reason these jersey restrictions are in place is to help the officials know who is and who isn’t an eligible receiver. That shouldn’t get any more difficult by opening up the single-digit numbers for more positions.

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