Kansas City Chiefs scouts were witness to two pivotal matchups in the SEC.
The Kansas City Chiefs scouts are already hard at work on the 2021 NFL Draft. The draft is still months away, but preparation is key. This will be a make or break draft for the future of this team as they face a limited salary cap in 2021 and many free agents this upcoming offseason.
Kansas City had scouts in attendance for two big college football games in the SEC this past weekend. It’s one of the conferences that has historically turned out the most NFL talent. Also, of note, Chiefs general manager Brett Veach used to be a scout responsible for covering the SEC for the Philadelphia Eagles.
Due to COVID-19 restrictions, the NCAA and NFL are doing things a little differently when it comes to credentials for games. Instead of teams applying for scouting credentials to a specific game, credentials are assigned via a lottery system. No more than seven teams are allowed to attend a specific game. In the past, some of the most pivotal SEC matchups have drawn 20 or more scouts from around the NFL.
According to NFL.com reporter Chase Goodbread, the Chiefs were awarded credentials to have scouts attend Florida at Texas A&M and Alabama at Mississippi, both pivotal matchups within the SEC.
A few scouting locations (lottery-assigned) for NFL clubs today:
Texas A&M notched an upset victory over No. 4 ranked Florida. Meanwhile, Nick Saban and the Crimson Tide notched a win over his former pupil, Lane Kiffin, who is in his first season as the head coach at Ole Miss.
Here’s a look at the top draft-eligible prospects from each school:
Texas A&M
QB Kellen Mond
WR Caleb Chapman
LB Buddy Johnson
DT Jayden Peevy
Florida
QB Kyle Trask
TE Kyle Pitts
WR Kadarius Toney
DB Shawn Davis
CB Marco Wilson
Alabama
RB Najee Harris
WR DeVonta Smith
WR Jaylen Waddle
LB Dylan Moses
CB Patrick Surtain II
Ole Miss
TE Kenny Yeboah
WR Elijah Moore
DE Sam Williams
LB MoMo Sanogo
Certainly, there are a ton of talented players from this group that could improve this team moving forward. Chiefs scouts will be back at it this upcoming weekend as they also received lottery-assigned credentials for Alabama-Georgia, the No. 2 and No. 3 ranked teams respectively.
The Southeastern Conference announced its opening week matchups on Monday afternoon, revealing the roster for the first seven games of 2020.
The Southeastern Conference announced its opening week matchups on Monday afternoon, revealing the roster for the first seven games of 2020. Despite the on-going coronavirus pandemic, the league has shown every indication that it will continue forward with its conference-only schedule beginning on Sept. 26.
The University of Florida was pitted against non-divisional foe Ole Miss, whose first-year coach Lane Kiffin will be looking to set the tone for his team against a heavily-favored Florida team. The Gators will begin their conference-only season on the road far from the friendly confines of The Swamp, but they bring in high expectations after a commendable showing in 2019.
However, while the Gators may be a better overall team, do not count the Rebels out in this weird 2020 year where anything seems possible, especially with Kiffin at the helm on the opposite sideline.
Mississippi will become the latest state to mandate face masks in public places.
Mississippi will become the latest state to mandate face masks in public places. Governor Tate Reeves announced Tuesday that he will sign an executive order saying just that. During a news conference, Reeves cited college football as a reason for it:
“I know that I want to see college football in the fall. The best way for that to occur is for us all to recognize that wearing a mask, as irritating as it can be â and I promise you, I hate it more than anybody watching today â it is critical.
“If you wear a mask, if you socially distance, if we do the little things, it will make a difference, and therefore I am implementing a statewide mask mandate today.”
With Mississippi being in the heart of SEC Country, it’s possible that a few football fans who haven’t taken the measures dictated by COVID-19 seriously said something like this:
A similar sentiment was expressed by USA Today sports columnist Dan Wolken:
Four months ago this messaging would have been really helpful to college football https://t.co/j3ghR4rIhB
We’re in the first week of August, and Reeves is just saying something about this now? He’s had more than enough time to strike this nerve with his constituents. Now, it might be too late. It’s still not a given that we’ll have college football this year because the U.S. has not done its part in containing this virus, and much of that stems from a lack of leadership.
While the number of cases of the U.S. seems to be plateauing again, many public health officials and experts have warned that they might go back up soon with school starting and cool weather not far away. How college football will be able to operate in that environment is anyone’s guess. All that’s given is nothing will be possible if enough people continue to ignore the COVID-19 directives. Our way of life has been upended, and we don’t need things to get any worse.
SEC commissioner Greg Sankey isn’t hiding from the reality of the world like some thought he’d do in order to do everything possible to save football for his conference in 2020
Perhaps it’s because of their own saying that “it just means more” that many believe the SEC will be the last conference to make any changes to their 2020 football plans.
Word was that the SEC was not happy whatsoever that the Big Ten announced their plan to play only conference games last week and one can assume they felt the same when the Pac-12 followed suit.
What will the SEC ultimately do?
We got a peak into that a little bit on Monday when the conference athletic directors met in person for the first time since March.
Today’s meeting took place in the SEC offices in Birmingham, Alabama and the most notable takeaway is that conference commissioner Greg Sankey isn’t hiding from the reality of the world like some thought he’d do in order to do everything possible to save football for his conference in 2020.
“It is clear that current circumstances related to COVID-19 must improve and we will continue to closely monitor developments around the virus on a daily basis,” Sankey said. “In the coming weeks we will continue to meet regularly with campus leaders via videoconferences and gather relevant information while guided by medical advisors. We believe that late July will provide the best clarity for making the important decisions ahead of us.” -SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey on July 13, 2020
It might not be earth-shattering but the sole fact that the head of the SEC went as far as to say things need to improve as clearly as he did came across as more revealing than I was anticipating the SEC leading on. Just like the ACC, the SEC will wait until late July until announcing any decisions on the 2020 football season.
Notre Dame is currently scheduled to host Arkansas on the second Saturday in September. The trip would be the first for the Razorbacks to Notre Dame Stadium.
Perhaps the Pete Thamel piece from earlier today made the obvious more real or maybe it was just common sense showing up in a place we don’t always expect it to.
Whatever exactly it is, it’s starting to feel like we’re going to need a sports miracle in order to pull off a college football season anytime soon.
Brett Favre reportedly earned more than $1 million for appearances he never made in his home state of Mississippi.
Hall of Fame and former Jets quarterback Brett Favre allegedly earned $1.1 million from the state of Mississippi for appearances he never made as part of a much larger welfare fraud scheme, according to a state audit.
The audit alleges that the Mississippi Department of Human Services spent over $94 million in welfare money on inappropriate expenditures such as Favre’s “appearances,” cars, sponsoring baseball tournaments and hiring family members by funneling federal welfare grant funds into two non-profits. Those two organizations then spent the money.
The Mississippi Community Education Center, one of the two non-profits at the heart the scandal, reportedly paid Favre Enterprises $500,000 in December 2017 and $600,000 in June 2018 for appearances, promotions, autographs and speaking engagements. The audit concluded Favre “did not speak nor was he present for those events.”
Favre, who grew up in Mississippi and played football at Southern Miss, has not commented on the allegations and isn’t facing criminal charges. Â
Is sports betting legal in Mississippi? We look at the latest information.
Yes, sports betting in Mississippi is legal.
Sports betting in Mississippi
Sports betting was legalized in 2018, and both the Beau Rivage Casino in Biloxi and Gold Strike Casino in Tunica accepted sports wagers on Aug. 1, 2018. The legal gambling age in the Magnolia State is 21.
Online sportsbooks in Mississippi
None. Mobile sports betting is only allowed to customers inside the casino. Mobile apps won’t work once off the premises.
Who will replace Javon Hargrave? These defensive tackles are projected to be available second-to-mid rounds
With the departure of defensive tackle Javon Hargrave via free agency, expect the Pittsburgh Steelers to select his replacement in the second-to-mid rounds.
Here are the top DTs projected to be available:
Mandatory Credit: Marvin Gentry-USA TODAY Sports
Raekwon Davis | Alabama
Height: 6-6Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Weight: 316
As a reserve in his freshman year, Davis contributed four tackles and one sack. He became a playmaker as a sophomore by posting 69 tackles, 10 for loss, and a team-high 8.5 sacks in 14 games (six starts), which earned him first-team All-SEC honors. During Alabamaâs title run that year, Davis had 10 tackles, two sacks, and an INT in the team’s two playoff wins. His production dropped off his junior and senior seasons.
Davis compiled 67 solo tackles, 108 assists, 19.5 TFL, 11.5 sacks, one INT, a forced fumble, and a fumble recovery during his career at Alabama.
Davis is a versatile run defender who can play DT or NT versus the run. With excellent strength and power, he is tough to move off the ball. He completely controls his run lane in either 1-gap or 2-gap situations. The more Davis played his last two seasons, his effectiveness as a pass-rusher diminished; he was better when he was fresh and played fewer reps.
Ole Miss is currently ranked 11th in the country by Golfweek and has the kind of depth to make history in the desert this spring by advancing the match play.
Julia Johnson was in line at Chipotle when she picked up the phone. Sheâd just finished up a four-hour Saturday team practice session. The Ole Miss sophomore described it as immensely focused and enjoyable. The day prior, the menâs team and womenâs teams had paired up for a worst-ball challenge on the programâs short course.
Hereâs the thing about playing golf at Ole Miss: Players get better.
Head coach Kory Henkes isnât really into rah-rah speeches. But you want inspiration? She plans to carry Johnsonâs bag at the Augusta National Womenâs Amateur while seven months pregnant. For perspective, she coached at the Magnolia Invitational in October of 2018, two weeks before giving birth to daughter Parker Elizabeth on Halloween.
âSheâs just a freakinâ warrior,â gushed Johnson.
Henkesâ due date is June 5. The NCAA Championship ends on May 27. Ole Miss is currently ranked 11th in the country by Golfweek and has the kind of depth to make history in the desert this spring by advancing the match play.
Johnson said it would break Henkesâ heart if she wasnât at the finale, but thereâs no doubt that the Rebels would enter the week fully prepared. Henkes would make sure of it.
As for Augusta, Henkes used to be the head coach at Augusta University and happens to have plenty of experience around the iconic track.
âIâm sure Kory has a lot of the Xâs in the book that she wonât really talk about,â said Kristy McPherson of her old college teammateâs strategy. âI think it will give (Johnson) a huge advantage.â
Ole Miss head coach Kory Henkes with Julia Johnson during the 2018 season. Photo by @OleMissWGolf
McPherson played golf with Henkes (formerly Thompson) at South Carolina. The pair roomed together for three years, and for a while, Henkes caddied for her friend on the LPGA. McPhersonâs friends, players like Gerina Piller, Brittany Lincicome and Angela Stanford, took Henkes under their wing. The behind-the-scenes look at elite-level play showed Henkes how differently players go about the job.
âThe key is learning how to adapt to each player,â said Henkes, ârealizing you canât coach them all the same because theyâre not all the same.â
Johnson had verbally committed to LSU when she decided to accompany good friends Conner Beth Ball and Macy Holliday to the Ole Miss-LSU game at the The Grove. She was there for football, but ended up falling hard for the vision that she heard Henkes explain to her friends on that trip. Soon Johnson was willing to give up the security of a full scholarship to make the switch to Mississippi. Johnson even sent in a friend from the menâs team at Ole Miss to lobby on her behalf.
âWe talk a lot about how I begged her to let me play golf here,â said Johnson.
Upswing has been staggering
The Rebels won their fourth title of the season earlier this month in Melbourne, Florida, setting a new program record for most wins in a season.
RECAP | Rebels make history with win at Moon Golf Invitational đ
The upswing in Oxford has been staggering. When Henkes took over the program in 2015, the team scoring average had been below 300. The past three years, the Rebels have broken the mark, with the 2017-18 group holding the record at 295.26. This yearâs team is on pace to shatter that number with a current average of 284.22 through six events.
Johnson looks do the same with the individual record. Dori Carter, an LPGA player who recently joined the Louisville staff as an assistant coach, holds the school record of 72.28. Johnsonâs average of 70.72 includes an NCAA record-tying 61 last semester.
Johnson credits her improvement this season to her teammates. There are eight players on Mississippiâs team that can make the lineup any given week. Three of the four team wins this season have been with different lineups. Qualifying comes down to a shot or two every time.
âEveryoneâs game has risen to the next level because we want to play so badly,â said Johnson. âYouâll see that I havenât shot above 74 this year, but I didnât play No. 1 in our lineup until the last event. ⌠I was putting up the best scores Iâve ever had in qualifying, and I still wasnât winning the qualifying.â
No player has pushed Johnson harder than Kennedy Swann, a senior who transferred from Clemson last January. Swannâs scoring average has dropped from 75.1 to 71.39 since she arrived in Oxford. She drained a 45-foot putt for birdie on the final hole at Medinah to win the Illini Womenâs Invitational last fall.
âI kind of like to sit back and reflect on where weâve come in two and a half to three years,â said Johnson. âFrom not being embarrassed to walk into events. ⌠to realistically, we can beat anyone we play. The respect level has grown each year.
Yordenis Ugas stopped Mike Dallas in the 7th round of a welterweight bout, thus improving his chances of getting a title shot this year.
Welterweight contender Yordenis Ugas has been the odd man out among the elite welterweights aligned with Premier Boxing Champions. On Saturday night at the Beau Rivage Resort & Casino in Biloxi, Mississippi, he took a step toward correcting that.
The 33-year-old Cuban came out at the opening bell with unusual aggression and never looked back, eventually stopping Mike Dallas Jr. in Round 7.
A slick counterpuncher by nature, Ugas might have been trying to channel the spirit of a certain basketball player. Written on his trunks were the words “Mamba Mentality,” his was of honoring the late Kobe Bryant.Â
The stoppage came at the end of seventh round, after Dallas’ corner decided their charge had taken enough punishment.
Ugas (25-4, 12 KOs), who lives and trains in Miami, pressed the action all night, as he tagged Dallas with numerous overhand rights and clubbing body shots. In the opening round alone, Ugas staggered Dallas a few times, including at the end, with a left hook-right hand-left hook combination.Â
Dallas (23-4-2, 11 KOs), once a promising name in the sport before he fell violently to Lucas Matthysse, had a few strong moments as he flitted around the ring and tried to connect on potshot right hands. They were too few and far between, however, to give him a winning chance. It was a survival game for Dallas, who began breathing heavily from the mouth by Round 4.
Ironically, Dallas had his best offensive stretch in the last round â Round 7 â landing a few straight rights, but he petered out with a minute remaining. Ugas stormed back to steal the round with a series of unanswered blows.
Ugas has won two consecutive fights since his highly disputed points loss to then-titleholder Shawn Porter in March 2019. Porter would go on to face Errol Spence Jr. in a unification bout that September, losing a split decision.
While Ugas has expressed an interest in a rematch with Porter, his priorities are to win a title, which means, at least in the foreseeable future, bouts with either Spence or Manny Pacquiao. (Boxing politics will most likely prevent him from facing the Top Rank-promoted welterweight titleholder Terence Crawford.)
Ugas was originally supposed to face undefeated welterweight Alexander Besputin, but negotiations were scrubbed after Besputin, who allegedly tested positive for PED in his previous bout, reportedly suffered an injury.Â
