Tag: local

Dolphins CB Xavien Howard didn’t like making Pro Bowl last season

He got respect from the voters, but he doesn’t want to get in off of respect alone.

Miami Dolphins cornerback Xavien Howard was one of three original selections to the 2023 Pro Bowl Games, as he was joined by wide receiver Tyreek Hill and left tackle Terron Armstead.

The selection of Howard for the event was a bit surprising, considering he didn’t play up to his usual standards in 2022. In 15 games, he allowed completions on 59.5% of his targets and a passer rating of 101.2.

A lot of that likely had to do with the groin injuries he suffered early in the season, but the cornerback wasn’t making excuses.

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Speaking to the media on Wednesday, Howard explained that he didn’t like being voted to Pro Bowl after feeling like he didn’t play his best.

“I really didn’t like it,” Howard said. “My expectations, I feel like it wasn’t Pro Bowl caliber. Even though I made it, I was like ok. But it made me even push harder. Like I don’t want to get in like that.”

Respect is nice, especially when its from peers, coaches and fans, but Howard believes he still has the ability to be a top cornerback in the league today.

New defensive coordinator Vic Fangio brings a scheme that allows for a lot more zone coverage than Josh Boyer’s did, so a cornerback getting into his 30s should have an easy transition, especially considering he now has Jalen Ramsey, an All-Pro, on the opposite side.

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Two Lady Vols are finalists for USA Softball National Player of the Year

Two Lady Vols are finalists for USA Softball National Player of the Year.

Two Tennessee players have been named top-25 finalists for the USA Softball National Player of the Year award.

Kiki Milloy and Ashley Rogers were among finalists when the organization released the list Wednesday.

Milloy leads the NCAA with 18 home runs. She ranks first nationally averaging 0.45 home runs per game and runs per contest (1.48).

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Milloy ranks fifth nationally in slugging percentage (.991) and seventh in stolen bases (31).

Rogers (13-1) has compiled a 0.75 ERA, ranking fourth nationally.

The graduate student pitcher has recorded 133 strikeouts, seven complete games and four shutouts.

She is second nationally in hits allowed per seven innings (2.54). Rogers ranks 17th nationally averaging 9.9 strikeouts per seven innings.

Michigan football offers speedy 2025 wide receiver

Gotta love speed! #GoBlue

One thing is for sure in recent years, Michigan football desires speed at the skill positions.

It started under former offensive coordinator Josh Gattis, whose mantra ‘speed in space’ permeated the strategy, not just for the wide receivers, but the defensive backs, as well. Since, we’ve seen players such as Roman Wilson and Cristian Dixon come to Ann Arbor to wear a winged helmet.

There’s another wide receiver that Michigan is officially targeting who knows a little something about speed. 2025 Tempe (Ariz.) Coronal Del Sol three-star wide receiver Raiden Vines-Bright runs a reported 10.8 100-meter dash and has offers from Arizona, Arizona State, and Colorado State. He announced via Twitter that he now also boasts an offer from the Wolverines.

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Vines-Bright is listed at 6-foot-0, 185-pounds and primarily plays in the slot. 247Sports’ proprietary rankings notes him as the No. 52 wide receiver and seventh-best player in the state of Arizona.

Check out his highlights below.

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PODCAST: Should Giants fans read into Hendon Hooker’s visit?

This week on the Giants Wire Podcast, we preview the 2023 NFL draft, dissect Michael Lombardi’s comments and talk Saquon Barkley’s contract.

This week on the Giants Wire Podcast, we preview the 2023 NFL draft and rank the New York Giants’ positional needs by tier. We also examine the many possibilities facing general manager Joe Schoen.

And what about running back Saquon Barkley and nose tackle Dexter Lawrence and their respective contract situations? Is the “disease of me” really an issue suddenly plaguing the Giants?

Finally, we discuss the uproar over the Giants hosting Tennessee quarterback Hender Hooker on a top-30 visit. Did it warrant the hoopla?

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Those topics (and more) are discussed in the latest episode of the Giants Wire Podcast, which is hosted by Ryan O’Leary (@RyanOLearySMG on Twitter) and joined by site editor Dan Benton (@TheGiantsWire).

The Giants Wire Podcast will air every week during the regular season and occasionally throughout the offseason. You can listen below:

Follow the Giants Wire Podcast:
Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Google Podcasts

Don’t forget to use our playlist to enhance your listening experience:

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Retired Giants RB Tiki Barber nominated for New Jersey Hall of Fame

Retired New York Giants running back Tiki Barber has been nominated for the New Jersey Hall of Fame.

Retired New York Giants running back Tiki Barber has been nominated to be a part of the New Jersey Hall Of Fame Class of 2023.

Barber, who played 10 seasons for the Giants (1997-2006) and at one time held 22 franchise records, was named to the Pro Bowl three times and has been enshrined in the Giants’ esteemed Ring of Honor.

Barber was a second-round pick out of Virginia in 1997 and went on to amass 15,632 total yards from scrimmage in his career, which is 15th on the NFL’s all-time list.

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Other notable names on the ballot are sportscaster Jim Nantz, former NFL commissioner Paul Tagliabue, Devils and Islanders general manager Lou Lamoriello, baseball great Orel Hershiser, NFL Hall of Famer Drew Pearson, First Lady Jill Biden, the late celebrity chef Anthony Bourdain, legendary rocker Joe Walsh, funkmaster George Clinton, actors Paul Rudd and Eva Marie Saint, singers Phoebe Snow and Marilyn McCoo, director Brian DePalma, former New Jersey governor Christine Todd Whitman and 70’s pop icon Tony Orlando.

The voting for the Hall is open until May 19.

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Rutgers football recruiting: Matthew Ogunniyi picks up first SEC offer

Matthew Ogunniyi gets an SEC offer on Wednesday.

Maryland wide receiver Matthew Ogunniyi pulled in an offer from Texas A&M on Wednesday night. Ogunniyi is being recruited by Rutgers and has scheduled an official visit to the Big Ten program in June.

He is a class of 2024 recruit.

Prior to Wednesday’s offer, Ogunniyi held Power Five offers from Rutgers and West Virginia. The wide receiver also holds offers from Charlotte, James Madison, Old Dominion and Temple among others.

A three-star recruit, Ogunniyi had eight receptions for 286 yards and five touchdowns through seven games last season.

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A tremendous athlete at 6-foot-5, 205-pound, Ogunniyi plays for Charles Herbert Flowers (Upper Marlboro, MD).

He tweeted about the Texas A&M offer on Wednesday night:

 

The Rutgers football 2024 recruiting class is currently at four players. Three of those recruits are on the offensive side of the ball.

Three-star offensive lineman Kenny Jones (Delran, N.J.) committed to the Scarlet Knights in November, the first verbal in the class. Four-star Michigan running back Gabriel Winowich then committed in January.

New Jersey’s top quarterback, A.J. Surace, a three-star with multiple Power Five offers, committed in February.

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Over the weekend, Rutgers landed a defensive player in Wisconsin linebacker Sam Pilof, a three-star who is a top-five player in the state.

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2 top draft experts agree on Cowboys’ selection in latest mocks

Two prominent draft experts have the Cowboys selecting a TE in the first round of the draft, a consistent position in their predictions. | From @ReidDHanson

The 2023 draft is fast approaching and various NFL draft experts are starting to hone in on specific targets. Smoke doesn’t always equal fire but a pair of specific experts have been pretty locked in on the Cowboys’ picks over the years, and probably deserves an extra bit of attention in 2023. Especially when they both identify the same target for the Dallas.

Dane Brugler from the Athletic is someone Cowboys fans look to frequently. Not only is he a prominent figure in the draft community but he’s well acclimated to the tendencies, needs, and decision makers in Dallas. His scouting reports are some of the best in the business and his predictions are almost disturbingly accurate.

Mel Kiper Jr, another draft expert with skins on the wall, is also a valuable resource for Cowboys fans. He’s been in the industry longer than almost anyone else and he has insider information others only dream of. He happens to be one of the few experts who predicted the Tyler Smith pick in 2022, and because of that he deserves extra attention in 2023 as well.

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What do these two experts predict the Cowboys will do with their first pick in the 2023 draft? Pick a tight end. Both of their recent mock drafts have Dallas selecting Notre Dame tight end Michael Mayer.

Mayer, generally regarded as the top TE in an extremely stacked class, is a do-it-all prospect. Built in the image of Cowboys legend, Jason Witten, Mayer is a able blocker as well as an extremely reliable pass catcher.

He would be a plug-and-play starter for Dallas, replacing Dalton Schutz cleanly and safely slotting in Jake Ferguson and Peyton Hendershot on the depth chart behind him. The pick makes sense and it finds a consensus between two of the most prominent prognosticators.

Such a prediction isn’t coming out of nowhere. As discussed on March 9, both experts predicted the Cowboys picking a TE then as well. That time they had Dalton Kincaid going to Dallas. But with Kincaid off the board before 26, which many expect, they’ve pivoted to Mayer.

Kincaid jumping Mayer in the first round isn’t shocking. For as good as Mayer is as a receiving weapon, Kincaid has the ability to be special. Teams often value pass-catchers far more than blockers so the most complete prospect could slip.

At least that’s what two of the most prominent draft minds think.

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ESPN selects Kelly Gregg as Oklahoma’s best ‘late-round find’ in the NFL Draft

According to ESPN’s Dave Wilson, Kelly Gregg is the best player to be drafted out of Oklahoma in the fourth round or later.

The Oklahoma Sooners have a rich history in the game of college football. For decades, they’ve been one of the sport’s best programs. They’ve had a number of talented players find their way to the NFL over the years.

The 2023 NFL draft is a week away, and players like [autotag]Anton Harrison[/autotag] and [autotag]Marvin Mims[/autotag] are expected to go in the first two rounds of the draft. Teams are expected to hit on their picks in the first three rounds. There’s a premium placed on the top 100 picks. What has separated the best drafting teams from the rest isn’t their ability to hit on the premium picks, but finding the gems on day three.

Rounds four through seven is where scout and general manager evaluations can really set teams apart as an organization. Like when the New England Patriots take Tom Brady in the sixth or when San Francisco selected Iowa tight end George Kittle in the fifth.

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For the Oklahoma Sooners, they haven’t had many late-round draft gems. Several selected in recent seasons have a chance to be draft steals, like [autotag]Rhamondre Stevenson[/autotag] to the Patriots, but his career is still getting going.

ESPN went through each of the Power Five schools and selected their best “late round find” since 1994. For Oklahoma, Dave Wilson selected former nose tackle Kelly Gregg.

At 6-foot, 320-pounds, Gregg was a force at Oklahoma in his senior year with 117 tackles and 23 tackles for loss, still an OU record. But the NFL wasn’t impressed with his measurables. He was drafted by Cincinnati but waived, then spent time on the Bengals’ practice squad, signed with Philly and was waived, signed to Baltimore’s practice squad and played in NFL Europe. He became the Ravens’ starting nose tackle after Tony Siragusa left and ended up starting for eight years for Baltimore and one with Kansas City, retiring in 2011. Pro Football Focus named him to its All-Pro second team in 2009. — Dave Wilson, ESPN

Gregg was a part of some of the best defenses in the NFL during his time with the Baltimore Ravens. As the anchor to the Ravens’ defensive front, Gregg started 124 games, recording 19.5 sacks for Baltimore and 533 total tackles.

With Gregg at nose tackle, the Ravens finished top 10 in defense eight times and top three in scoring defense three times. They had the No. 1 scoring defense in the NFL in 2006, allowing just 12.6 points per game.

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Contact/Follow us @SoonersWire on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Oklahoma news, notes, and opinions. You can also follow John on Twitter @john9williams.

Stewart Mandel: “Texas could contend for a Big 12 title”

The Athletics’s Stewart Mandel, who had Texas going 4-8 last year, says the Longhorns could contend for the Big 12.

Texas football really appears to have turned a corner. Even one of the program’s most vocal critics appears to be drinking the burnt orange kool aid after an impressive showing in Saturday’s Orange and White game.

Stewart Mandel, the college football editor-in-chief for The Athletic, has higher expectations for the team than he had last season. If you recall, Mandel had the Longhorns going 4-8 in 2022. Apparently he read his crystal ball backwards as Texas finished the regular season with a record of 8-4.

On Wednesday, Mandel responded to a comment posed by an Oklahoma fan who voiced concerns that Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian has the Longhorns heading in the right direction. The Athletic’s editor had the following to say about Texas.

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“Against my better instincts, I came away from Saturday’s spring game feeling more optimism for the Horns than I expected,” Mandel wrote. “(Texas quarterback Quinn Ewers), who was underwhelming for most of his debut season, looked noticeably more polished than at any time last fall. Texas already had a lot of weapons at receiver even before adding Georgia transfer AD Mitchell, but I was particularly impressed with the running backs post-Bijan/Roschon.”

Mandel went as far as saying Texas could compete for the Big 12 if players up front, like defensive tackles Alfred Collins and Byron Murphy II, live up to expectations. If one of the team’s most vocal doubters views the Longhorns as a contender, perhaps this is the year they break through into meaningful football into late November and beyond.

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Gus Bradley details Nick Cross’ lack of playing time in rookie season

Colts S Nick Cross enters a big Year 2.

One of the more confusing developments for the Indianapolis Colts in 2022 was the lack of playing time for rookie third-round pick Nick Cross.

Despite the elite athleticism and the fact that he was making plays during training camp and the preseason, Cross wound up losing the starting safety role just three weeks into his rookie campaign.

While speaking with reporters Wednesday, defensive coordinator Gus Bradley detailed what kept the Maryland product from seeing the field.

“He is extremely talented, he is fast, he’s got the ability. Now it’s just playing fast on the field. That part we didn’t see in the beginning of the year. We felt like he was thinking a lot,” Bradley said of Cross.

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The physical tools certainly are there for Cross. He has the size and elite speed and explosiveness to be a strong starter in Bradley’s defense. But the processing and play speed aspects of his game were lacking.

It’s one thing to have elite physical traits at the NFL combine. It’s an entirely different story when it comes to effectively using those traits on the field. Everything happens so quickly on a football field that even the best athletes struggle if they’re thinking too much.

“The conversation was more about doing things right rather than just reacting and it slowed him down some. I think as the season went on, conversations towards the end, it was more like ‘I felt it. I know what that feels like now.’ Where you’re thinking too much and not playing as fast as maybe I did in college,” Bradley said. “So, if he can recognize that, own that and say now in the next year, let’s get back to playing fast.”

Cross was a young prospect entering the league. He’s still just 21 years old so there’s still hope he can bounce back from a disappointing rookie season.

But this will be a big year in terms of his development, especially now that he has a full season of working in Bradley’s defensive scheme.

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