Tag: star

Packers’ Christian Watson has statistical profile of NFL’s next star wide receiver

The rookie season of Packers WR Christian Watson paints the picture of the NFL’s next star at the position.

Green Bay Packers rookie Christian Watson exited his first NFL season with the statistical profile of the league’s next star wide receiver.

Watson averaged 9.3 yards per target and 2.26 yards per route run during the 2022 season. Both are important statistical markers at receiver. The two paint a clear picture of how productive and efficient a wide receiver is based on targets and routes run, the two best markers of opportunity. The receiver position can’t throw itself the ball and production of receivers is based completely on opportunity.

Anything above 9.0 yards per target and 2.0 yards per route run is a fantastic number for a receiver. For context, only 22 receivers finished the 2022 season above 9.0 yards per target, and only 15 receivers finished above 2.0 yards per route run.

Elite production efficiency is even rarer for first-year receivers. Ten rookies with at least 50 targets have averaged at least 9.0 yards per target run since 2019, including Watson. But only five of the other nine averaged at least 9.0 yards per target AND at least 2.0 yards per route run.

Here are the five:

– Ja’Marr Chase (11.4 yards per target, 2.51 yards per route run)
– Justin Jefferson (11.2 yards per target, 2.66 yards per route run)
– Terry McLaurin (9.9 yards per target, 2.05 yards per route run)
– A.J. Brown (12.5 yards per target, 2.67 yards per route run)
– Deebo Samuel (9.9 yards per target, 2.04 yards per route run)

(Note: Other rookies recently hitting both markers include Cooper Kupp, Michael Thomas, Odell Beckham Jr. and Keenan Allen.)

The final eight games for Watson in 2022 were nothing if not special.

Between Weeks 10-18, Watson averaged 2.58 yards per route run, which ranked third among all NFL receivers and trailed only Davante Adams and Jerry Jeudy. He also averaged 10.1 yards per target, which ranked sixth among players with at least 40 targets. Basically, Watson was nearly Chase-Jefferson good over the final eight games of 2022.

More on his run between Weeks 10-18: Watson made nine contested catches (sixth-most) and five catches over 20 yards (ninth-most) over the final eight games, and he averaged the third-highest yards per route run and caught the most touchdowns against man coverage. He also caught 14 passes on third or fourth down, creating four touchdowns and seven first downs.

When targeting Watson in 2022, Packers quarterbacks had a passer rating of 123.3, the third-best number among all receivers. He was also one of just three receivers to catch at least seven touchdown passes on fewer than 100 total targets.

Is Watson the next star at wide receiver? The impressive stats from his rookie season strongly suggest he’s on a star path entering 2023.

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Packers like four different players at the “Star” CB position

The Packers are giving Chandon Sullivan, Shemar Jean-Charles, Darnell Savage and Jaire Alexander reps in the slot.

The Green Bay Packers think they have four different players that can move inside and play the “star” position at slot cornerback within Joe Barry’s defense.

Defensive backs coach Jerry Gray said the team is using Chandon Sullivan, Shemar Jean-Charles, Darnell Savage and Jaire Alexander in the slot and are expecting to interchange the four based on who they are defending inside.

“We have four guys that can really, really play at that level, depending on who is in the slot,” Gray said. “We’re giving guys chances so when they get in there, it’s not their first time that they’ve been in that position, and I think that’s good for us.”

Gray said Sullivan is doing a “great job” in the slot, and Savage is “begging” to get more time there. Alexander started repping in the slot this past week, and Jean-Charles is being trained to play inside.

Matchups could dictate who is in the slot during a given week. For instance, Gray mentioned if a team has two good tight ends, Savage might come down and play the slot. Or if a team wants to put its No. 1 receiver in the slot, Alexander can “match” him inside.

Sullivan was the team’s primary slot corner last season and looks like a good bet to play a lot inside once again in 2021. He was one of the standouts from Saturday night’s Family Night scrimmage.

The Packers are also getting Jean-Charles, a fifth-round pick, up to speed inside.

Gray said Jean-Charles is “not afraid to make tackles” and “tough” enough to play the slot at the NFL level.

Training camp is young, but it looks like the Packers have a good handle on an important position in Barry’s defense. Sullivan provides a starter, Savage and Alexander are matchup weapons against specific looks and Jean-Charles is the apprentice in training.

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Projected rookie stats for Najee Harris

Former Alabama RB Najee Harris is about to enter year No. 1 in the NFL with the Pittsburgh Steelers. Pro Football Focus projects his…

Former Alabama running back Najee Harris was the first running back taken off the board in the 2021 NFL Draft by the Pittsburgh Steelers at No. 24 overall.

His time with the Crimson Tide was dominant. He helped balance out Alabama’s strong passing game with an even stronger run game.

Pro Football Focus released their projections for Harris’ rookie season in the league, and those stats would put him pretty high up on the active running back rankings list.

PFF predicts Harris will run for 1,397 yards and score nine touchdowns.

In the final 2020 season running back rankings, these stats would put Harris at No. 3 in the league for rushing yards and No. 10 for rushing touchdowns.

That would make for a pretty solid rookie season in the league, especially considering how competitive the AFC North will be in 2021.

Notre Dame football: LeBron James shouts out Kyren Williams

The world was watching when Notre Dame beat up North Carolina on Friday and LeBron James was among those checking out unbeaten ND.

2019 saw Kyren Williams get minimal playing time, recording just four touches in his freshman campaign.

2020 has gone much differently for the star running back as he’s over 1100 total yards and up to 13 touchdowns on the season after a strong showing yet again in Friday’s win over North Carolina.

Now you can add another feat to Williams’ list of accomplishments this year:

Getting shouted out by LeBron James.

Love him or hate him it’s got to be unreal for any collegiate athlete to get a shoutout from perhaps the most well-known athlete in the entire world today.

Williams, fresh off a 144 total yard showing that saw him find the end zone three times, took almost no time to respond.

Williams and Notre Dame moved to 9-0 on the season as only a home game against Syracuse and a trip to Wake Forest sit between the Irish and an unbeaten regular season.

WATCH: DC Todd Grantham, Kyle Pitts sound off on STAR CB CJ McWilliams

McWilliams missed all of the 2019 season with a torn Achilles, but he’s back and has had a strong camp, according to the coaching staff.

When Florida released its opening day depth chart on Monday, the defensive lineup featured a bit of a surprise. Starting at the STAR position, Florida defensive coordinator Todd Grantham’s equivalent of the nickel corner, was fifth-year corner CJ McWilliams.

McWilliams missed all of the 2019 season with a torn Achilles, but he’s back and has had a strong camp, according to the coaching staff.

Grantham told the media on Tuesday night that McWilliams has worked hard to secure playing time now that he’s healthy.

“CJ’s a guy that quite honestly, he’s always gotten hurt when you kind of look at it, he’s gotten hurt and not being able to finish, and to the guy’s credit, the guy’s really busting his tail,” he said. “He’s worked hard, he’s been healthy through this whole thing, he’s really done what we’ve asked. He’s done a nice job, so he’ll be a part of our roster, our players, and he’ll be able to contribute to what we do.”

Despite being on the roster since 2016, McWilliams has appeared in just 16 games, starting two of them in 2018.

When tested by some of the best offenses in the SEC, he struggled, especially against Georgia in 2018. Kyle Pitts said that his struggles in that game gave fans the wrong idea bout him. The real McWilliams, Pitts maintains, will be on display this season.

“CJ is a guy that people kind of overlooked after that Georgia game, everybody was just bashing him, but they don’t know the real CJ,” tight end Pitts said. “The real CJ is how he’s playing now, 100 percent. He’s sticking, he’s hitting people hard in the open, he can guard, he can do everything that when he came here he’s doing now. Like I said, first game, everyone’s gonna be kind of shocked seeing him out there making plays.”

With a guy in Trey Dean III on the roster, who has experience at the STAR position, it says a lot that McWilliams, who many didn’t expect to be much of a factor on defense this year, has already secured a starting spot.

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Regis Philbin – TV Legend and Notre Dame Graduate, Dead at 88

There may not be a more famous non-athlete from Notre Dame than Regis Philbin. Sadly the TV legend died Friday night at 88 years old.

There aren’t many non-athletes that attended the University of Notre Dame that are better-known than Regis Philbin.

The legendary TV talk show and game show host graduated from the University in 1953 as a sociology major.  He then served in the Navy before getting into show-business via behind-the-scenes jobs.

After hosting various different shows everywhere from St. Louis to San Diego, Philbin earned a co-hosting spot on the famed “Live! with Regis and Kathie Lee” that ran from 1988 until her retirement in 2000.  He stayed with the show that was briefly named “Live! with Regis” before Kelly Ripa became his full-time co-host in 2001.

“Live! with Regis and Kelly” aired until 2011.

It wasn’t just talk shows, it was game shows where Philbin shined as well.  “Who Wants to be a Millionaire?” may be for what he is most-known in the game show industry but “The Neighbors”, “Almost Anything Goes” and “America’s Got Talent” all had Philbin’s finger prints on them, too.

Philbin was proud of where he went to college as he welcomed Lou Holtz, Tyrone Willingham and Charlie Weis all to “Live!” at various different times.

Regis was also a member of the Notre Dame tennis team during his time at school

Regis Philbin died Friday night one month short of his 89th birthday.