Tag: max duggan

2023 Senior Bowl Preview: Quarterbacks

Our preview of the 2023 Reese’s Senior Bowl begins with the quarterbacks

One of the most important events on the National Football League calendar is the Senior Bowl. Held the week after the conference championship games, it is the true beginning of the NFL draft cycle.

Not only do scouts and analysts like us get to see over 100 draft prospects in one place competing against each other, but it’s also an opportunity for analysts and personnel alike to get together and have discussions about a number of topics.

As we look forward to this year’s Senior Bowl, both managing editor Tyler Forness and columnist Matt Anderson will be there in person to break everything down.

We will be breaking down each position group and what to look for throughout the week. We start with the quarterback position.

Browns add playmakers to both sides of the ball in this 2023 NFL Mock Draft

The Browns get more impact players on both sides of the ball.

The 2023 NFL Draft cycle is starting to heat up with the Senior Bowl in Mobile right around the corner. The Browns’ defensive line needs a maker over at both positions, especially with the arrival of Jim Schwartz. Schwartz is known for his ability to manipulate offensive lines to get favorable matchups.

The team needs to utilize the draft and free agency to re-make this defensive line for more success next season. The defense isn’t the only side of the ball that needs additions as the offense must figure out how to get more explosive.

This mock draft looks at a way to get playmakers in several different areas to improve the team.

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USA TODAY Sports graded all 131 FBS teams, how did Big 12 teams fare?

USA TODAY Sports graded all 131 FBS teams, so how did the Big 12 teams fair?

It was a memorable season for the Big 12. At least for some teams. The programs that were considered the preseason favorites for the Big 12 title failed to meet expectations.

Baylor, Oklahoma, and Oklahoma State, the three teams that most believed would compete for the conference championship, went a combined 19-20 on the season. At the same Kansas State, TCU, and Kansas saw resurgent years, with the Wildcats winning their first conference title in a decade.

Texas made progress in their rebuild, and even Iowa State played some good football, at least on the defensive side of the ball.

It was a deep league in 2022, and a lot of the Big 12 beat up on itself. Only TCU managed to get by without multiple conference losses.

Looking back at the 2022 season, USA TODAY Sports’ Paul Myerburg graded all 131 FBS teams and here’s how the Big 12 programs fared.

Georgia vs. TCU: Top NFL draft prospects to watch during National Championship game

We’re looking at the top NFL Draft prospects for the Philadelphia Eagles to watch in the Georgia-TCU National Championship game

The Eagles are 13-3 and looking to wrap up the division and home-field advantage in the NFC with a win this weekend over the Giants.

The game has playoff and NFL draft implications, as Philadelphia owns New Orleans’s 2023 first-round pick after a draft night trade in 2022 that landed the Saints Chris Olave and the Birds Jordan Davis.

Even with the NFC playoffs here, it’s never too early for a look ahead to April’s draft, and the College Football Playoffs offer the perfect scouting opportunity.

With kickoff a little over 24 hours away, here are the top draft prospects to watch when Georgia and TCU meet.

Can the TCU Horned Frogs complete their improbable national title run?

TCU’s run to the national title is the stuff movie scripts are made of. Can they topple the defending national champions, Georgia Bulldogs?

I am a sucker for a good story. I’m also a big sports fan. The season that the TCU Horned Frogs are having has been nothing short of a fantastic tale that has one more chapter to write.

As a fan of the Oklahoma Sooners, seeing another Big 12 team win a College Football Playoff game in their first try stings, but the Horned Frogs earned their spot. They deserve their shot at the national title.

We are more than a year removed from TCU and Gary Patterson parting ways and finishing with a 5-7 record. Their head coach is in his first year on the job. Their starting quarterback started the season at No. 2 on the depth chart. Teams like that simply don’t play for national championships in football.

The Frogs will be. It defies logic.

The Michigan Wolverines had the better players at nearly every position and arguably a superior coaching staff. They had already beaten Ohio State in Columbus during the regular season. The stars were aligned for Jim Harbaugh to win his first national championship in Ann Arbor.

The Frogs said no.

Games are won on grass (or turf), not stat sheets. TCU is the underdog story that college football hasn’t had in a very long time. Someone will make a movie about their season if they can pull off another upset.

On Monday, it’s Apollo vs. Rocky. The heavyweight champion of the world vs. an improbable contender. When the two sides meet up on Monday night in the College Football Playoff national championship game, everyone not wearing Red and Black or flying an SEC flag will be pulling for the Horned Frogs to complete their magical run.

Contact/Follow us @SoonersWire on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Oklahoma news, notes, and opinions. Let us know your thoughts, comment on this story below. Join the conversation today. You can also follow Ben on Twitter @bendackiw.

2023 NFL draft: 6 prospects who boosted their stock in the Fiesta Bowl

These six prospects in the 2023 NFL draft class made the most of their opportunity to shine in the College Football Playoff semifinal

On Saturday evening, the TCU Horned Frogs took care of business against the Michigan Wolverines in the Fiesta Bowl to advance to the College Football Playoff national championship.

Thanks to a national stage and a big performance, certain players saw their names rise on draft boards after how they fared in the game.

Here’s a look at six players who saw their draft stock rise:

Max Duggan, Quentin Johnston lead TCU past Michigan, into national title game

TCU is headed to the national title game for the first time after beating Michigan in the semifinals Saturday night

It was an instant classic Saturday evening, as No. 3 TCU knocked off No. 2 Michigan in a 51-45 shootout to clinch their first trip to the national championship game.

Quarterback Max Duggan threw a pair of touchdown passes and added two more scores on the ground, while wide receiver Quentin Johnston racked up 163 yards on just six receptions, including a 78-yard touchdown.

The Wolverines refused to go quietly, erasing multi-score deficits time and again throughout the second half. Despite getting one last chance to mount a potential game-winning drive in the final minute, a mishap on a fourth-down shotgun snap ended Michigan’s hope of a dramatic comeback victory.

Johnston is one of the top wide receiver prospects in the 2023 NFL draft class, and could easily be the first pass-catcher off the board once April rolls around.

A Heisman Trophy finalist who started the year as a backup, Duggan’s incredible 2022 campaign could have NFL teams willing to take a chance on him with a mid-round pick.

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TCU staggers Michigan with 2 quick touchdowns

TCU with two quick touchdowns in the third quarter

TCU appeared to be on the ropes after Michigan had scored 13 straight points in the Fiesta Bowl.

Foolish to question the Max Duggan and the Horned Frogs.

The Big 12 champs saw their 21-3 lead evaporate to 5 points and momentum was with Michigan.

Duggan dug in and led TCU on a six-play, 75-yard touchdown march.

One of the big plays was a 46-yard connection with Quentin Johnson.

The TD came on a short run by Emari Demercado, and the Horned Frogs were back up by 12 points after the PAT with time ticking down in the third quarter.

The Horned Frogs then got their second pick-six of the game as Dee Winters intercepted a J.J. McCarthy pass and returned it 29 yards.

TCU led 34-16 with two touchdowns in 1:33 of the third quarter. The PAT was no good as the snap was botched.

Michigan had given up 13 points off turnovers all season; the Wolverines gave up 13 points against TCU in the Fiesta Bowl.

McCarthy led a TD drive on the next Michigan drive and it was 34-22 with 1:47 left in the third quarter. A 2-point conversion failed.

The winner of the game faced the winner of the Peach Bowl between Georgia and Ohio State in the CFP Championship.

 

Magic Max Duggan avoids rush, throws TD pass for TCU

Max Duggan and TCU have opened an 18-point lead over Michigan in the Fiesta Bowl

Max Duggan was having quite the Fiesta Bowl in the first half on Saturday against Michigan.

The Davey O’Brien Award winner had a touchdown run in the first quarter and added a scoring pass to Taye Barber of 6 yards in the second.

Watch as Duggan gives ground to buy just enough time to get the pass to Barber, who makes his way into the end zone.

The Horned Frogs led 21-3 and Michigan was looking at having to make the biggest comeback in the nine-year history of the CFP if it hoped to advance to the championship game against the Ohio State-Georgia winner.

TCU rocks Michigan with long drive for TD in Fiesta Bowl

Max Duggan led a drive that ended with the QB scoring a TCU TD

Michigan came into Saturday’s Fiesta Bowl with a 13-0 record. The Wolverines had outscored their opponents 122-48 on the season in the first quarter.

Turnabout was fair play for TCU as the Horned Frogs erupted for 14 points in the first quarter.

It was a Bud Clark 41-yard pick-six to get TCU on the scoreboard.

When the Horned Frogs got the ball back, they marched 76 yards in 12 plays, taking more than five minutes before Max Duggan scored on a 1-yard run.

The PAT had the Horned Frogs up 14-0 and Wolverine fans wondering what hit their team in the first 15 minutes of a CFP semifinal.