Tag: Blair Thomas

32 days till Patriots season opener: Every player to wear No. 32 for New England

Here’s a list of every Patriots player to wear the No. 32 jersey number

The New England Patriots are officially 32 days away from their season opener against the defending NFC champion Philadelphia Eagles. So we’re continuing our countdown series by listing every Patriots player that has ever worn the No. 32 jersey.

It’s going to be hard envisioning anyone ever wearing that number again after Devin McCourty spent the last 13 years in it. The legendary safety retired from football back in March, officially bringing an end to his illustrious career in New England.

McCourty finished his NFL run with three Super Bowl titles, three All-Pro nods, two Pro Bowls and recognition as an All-Dynasty Team member for the Patriots. It’s also only a matter of time before he’s permanently enshrined in the New England Patriots’ Hall of Fame.

Let’s take a look at McCourty and all of the players that came before him that wore the No. 32 (via Pro Football Reference).

Penn State’s all-time first-round NFL draft picks

Every Penn State football player ever drafted in the first round of the NFL draft in school history.

In the history of the NFL draft, only a handful of schools have had more players drafted by NFL franchises than Penn State. The Nittany Lions have sent over 360 players through the NFL draft over the years, and that number continues to climb every year. And when it comes to first-round picks, Penn State has had a solid number of those as well, including some top draft picks.

Lenny Moore, arguably the best player in Penn State football history, is appropriately the first player in program history to be selected by an NFL franchise in the NFL draft. Since then, Penn State players have been selected in the first round numerous times through the decades with players like Shane Conlan, Blair Thomas, Ki-Jana Carter, LaVar Arrington, Saquon Barkley, and Micah Parsons.

Here is a look at every first-round NFL draft pick in Penn State history, starting with the first.

ChatGPT ranks Penn State football’s top 10 players of all-time

ChatGPT ranks the top 10 players in Penn State history. Did it get it right?

The storied history of Penn State football is full of all-time great players not just in program history, but in the history of the sport of football. Coming up with a list of the top 10 players of all time is always an interesting exercise because the opinions you have on the subject may change by the day. Do you lean more toward the defensive standouts or give preference to some of the top offensive players of all time?

In an ever-evolving world of artificial intelligence and analytical analysis, what if you just let a computer do the ranking for you? It may not be a perfect science, but out of curiosity, I turned to ChatGPT, a language model trained by OpenAI, and asked the AI interface to rank the top 10 players in Penn State football history for me.

The results were not too bad, although I do have some different opinions on the ranking. But let’s take a look at how ChatGPT ranked the top 10 players in Penn State’s football history.

Saquon Barkley leads Penn State in rushing touchdowns, where does everyone else fall?

Here are Penn State’s all-time rushing touchdown leaders heading into 2022. How long until Nick Singleton makes this list?

Penn State has a long list of successful running backs to its credit in both college and the NFL. So many names that college fans know and love are in the Penn State record books.

To round out our recap of the Penn State rushing records we look at the guys who always wanted to end a drive with six points. The guys who could be the work horse type back and finish things off in the endzone, the top rushing touchdown leaders of all-time.

There will be a lot of familiar names like [autotag]Saquon Barkley[/autotag] who lead the list but also players like [autotag]Franco Harris[/autotag], [autotag]Curt Warner[/autotag], and potential hall of famer [autotag]Ki-Jana Carter[/autotag]. All of these players left lasting impacts and will be remembered for the foreseeable future at Penn State for their accomplishments.

For now, lets see who made it to the end zone the most with the blue and white on them.

A surprising name leads Penn State’s all-time leading rushers

Who is Penn State’s all-time leading rusher? It may not be who first think of.

Penn State has had a large amount of notable running backs step foot on Beaver Stadium’s grass, including several college hall of fame players. Of those notable men, none of them are actually the all-time leading rusher in the program’s history.

Names like [autotag]Larry Johnson[/autotag], [autotag]Saquon Barkley[/autotag], and [autotag]Curt Warner[/autotag] are names you expect to see but none of them lead the list. Leading the list is a running back who was more than reliable during his tenure. Speaking of reliability, Penn State has strayed away from the run game but recent recruiting points to that aspect of the game making a grand return.

For the time being, while [autotag]James Franklin[/autotag] decides what he wants to do with the offense, we can just hope that [autotag]Nick Singleton[/autotag] joins this list one day. Until then, take some time to jump in the way-back machine in Penn State history.

Penn State’s all-time leading rushers in Nittany Lions history

Where does Saquon Barkley rank among Penn State’s all-time leading rushers, including Franco Harris, Lydell Mitchell, and Ki-Jana Carter?

Maybe Penn State doesn’t have as strong a case to be made for Running Back U as some other programs, but the Nittany Lions have had their fair share of some of the best running backs in the game. From Lydell Mitchell to Franco Harris to Ki-Jana Carter and to Saquon Barkley, Penn State running backs have provided plenty of memories to fans over the years.

But who tops the list when it comes to Penn State’s all-time leading rushers list? Perhaps one of the more unassuming names to come through Happy Valley, Evan Royster. Royster may not have had the talent and skills of some of the others to suit up for the Nittany Lions over time, but his hard work and reliable performance stood the test of time. And having the opportunity to break into the offense early on and play his full four years of eligibility helped him continue to climb the ranks of Penn State’s all-time leading rushers.

With three 1,000-yard seasons, it has proven to be difficult to catch Royster, but his mark may not be untouchable. Saquon Barkley came close to catching Royster and would have easily surpassed him had Barkley remained at Penn State for one more season of eligibility instead of heading to the NFL. But as things stand now, Royster should feel pretty comfortable atop the leaderboard for a little while longer before anyone makes a run at his school record.

Here is a look at Penn State’s top 20 all-time leading rushers.

All data is credited to College Football Reference. This list will be updated accordingly.

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What happened the other times the Jets had the No. 2 pick?

The Jets have only drafted No. 2 overall twice in the common era. Neither lived up to their expectations.

The Jets officially own the No. 2 pick in the 2021 draft, their highest pick since 1996 when they drafted Keyshawn Johnson No. 1 overall. Who the Jets select will be up for discussion for the next four months, so for now, let’s look back on Gang Green’s history with this pick.

New York has picked second overall just twice in the common draft era – 1980 and 1990 – and the picks didn’t go well. The Jets passed on better players with each pick over perceived medical issues and subsequently selected busts.

Let’s take a look back at what happened as Joe Douglas and the scouting team prepare to avoid the mistakes of past regimes.