Tag: The Athletic

Where The Athletic ranks Florida football among in-state FBS programs

Florida finds itself in the middle of the pack among in-state FBS competition ahead of the 2024 season.

The Sunshine State has long been one of the epicenters of college football but in recent years, the in-state programs have not been quite as impressive as in years past.

Nonetheless, Florida boasts a robust rotation of seven Football Bowl Subdivision schools traditionally headlined by the Florida Gators, Florida State Seminoles and Miami Hurricanes. However, the collegiate gridiron landscape is in constant flux and this triumvirate of teams does not have the stranglehold it once held over the rest of the state.

The Athletic’s Manny Navarro took a look at the seven Florida FBS programs and ranked them from best to worst ahead of the 2024 campaign. FSU came out on top, while Miami is right on its tail followed by the UCF Knights.

In fourth lands the Gators, who have posted three-straight losing seasons and missed out on a bowl game last winter for the first time since 2017.

“Billy Napier faces an incredibly tough schedule, and his program is reeling after five consecutive losses to end the 2023 campaign,” Navarro notes.

“The Gators lost eight quality players via the portal: running back [autotag]Trevor Etienne[/autotag] (Georgia), left guard [autotag]Richie Leonard IV[/autotag] (Florida State), right guard [autotag]Micah Mazzccua[/autotag] (Nebraska), edge rusher [autotag]Princely Umanmielen[/autotag] (Ole Miss), outside linebacker [autotag]Scooby Williams[/autotag] (Texas A&M), cornerback [autotag]Jalen Kimber[/autotag] (Penn State) and safeties [autotag]Jaydon Hill[/autotag] (Texas A&M) and [autotag]Miguel Mitchell[/autotag] (Arkansas).

“Florida, though, did add the Ivy League Defensive Player of the Year in defensive lineman [autotag]Joey Slackman[/autotag], a quality veteran safety in [autotag]Asa Turner[/autotag] from Washington and beefed up at receiver with Arizona State’s [autotag]Elijhah Badger[/autotag],” he continued.

“Getting back to a bowl game is going to come down to whether or not the offensive and defensive lines have improved. Right now, it’s fair to be skeptical.”

Navarro lists the passing game and experience in the secondary as the Gators’ strengths while pointing to the run defense and the pass rush coaching as their Achilles heels. He also noted four key games on Florida’s schedule: vs Miami, at the Tennessee Volunteers, vs the Georgia Bulldogs, at the Texas Longhorns, at FSU.

Florida’s 2024 season opener

Florida opens up its 2024 regular-season schedule in the Swamp against the Hurricanes on Aug. 31. Kickoff time is slated for 3:30 p.m. ET and the game will be broadcast on ABC Sports.

Follow us @GatorsWire on X, formerly known as Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Florida Gators news, notes and opinions.

Is there a better SEC rivalry game than UF-UGA? The Athletic thinks so

Contrary to popular belief, the World’s Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party is no longer the SEC’s premier rivalry event, per The Athletic.

Most fans know that many of the best college football rivalry games reside in the Southeastern Conference — especially with the addition of the Texas Longhorns and Oklahoma Sooners this coming season.

However, the question of which rivalry game rules them all was one of the topics of discussion on the Until Saturday podcast by The Athletic. Manny Navarro put together a column consisting of what his colleagues Ari Wasserman’s and Max Olson’s thoughts were regarding the top rivalry matchup in the SEC.

“(The Red River Rivalry is) the best,” Olson begins. “We talk about it every time it comes up. That experience of the Cotton Bowl split 50-50 crimson and burnt orange, the fans outside before halftime and after 300,000 at the state fair, it’s an unbelievable experience.

“But I also haven’t been to the other ones. Ari, you went to Georgia-Florida last year. Give me the takeaway of how impressive that experience was.”

“Very impressive,” Wasserman replied. “That was my first time going, and Georgia was a 17-point favorite. So, I’m not gonna pretend that was the best it had to offer. The thing I don’t love about it is the neutral site, NFL stadium situation. I think there are two discussions we need to have.”

But then Wasserman put a spin on the query.

“One, what’s the best spectacle? And what is the most intense rivalry? I don’t necessarily think those are the same thing.”

Navarro then weighed in with his personal take.

“I’ve been to Georgia-Florida in Jacksonville a couple of times, and while it’s a fun and relatively competitive rivalry (the Bulldogs lead 56-44-2 all-time), Red River is both a better spectacle and a more intense series of late, often deciding the best team in the Big 12.

“But most would say the Iron Bowl is still the best rivalry in the SEC, and I agree with them. Until proven otherwise.”

Florida’s 2024 season opener

Florida opens up its 2024 regular-season schedule in the Swamp against the Miami Hurricanes on Aug. 31. Kickoff time is slated for 3:30 p.m. ET and the game will be broadcast on ABC Sports.

Follow us @GatorsWire on X, formerly known as Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Florida Gators news, notes and opinions.

Notre Dame beat reporter pictures Kevin Harlan at Notre Dame Stadium

Every Irish fan should love this possibility.

The schedule for the 2025 College Football Playoff is out along with the TV networks covering each game. One thing you’ll immediately notice is that TNT is one of those networks, getting two first-round games. It’s surprising obviously, but the network having these games in the future would soften the blow of potentially losing its longtime NBA coverage in 2025.

Kevin Harlan is one of the biggest names associated with TNT, and that wasn’t lost on Pete Sampson, Notre Dame’s beat reporter for The Athletic, when he tweeted the following:

It goes without saying, but Harlan is a national treasure. The fact that we even can think about him calling a game at Notre Dame Stadium is enough to make one giddy.

Just think about Harlan describing an iconic moment in Irish history as the South Bend faithful go absolutely nuts in the cold December air. If there is any justice in this world, this will happen.

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Florida-Clemson one of The Athletic’s ‘most intriguing’ super regionals matchups

The Gators and Tigers matchup in the Clemson Super Regional is among the most intriguing of the upcoming round.

Florida baseball’s success in the Stillwater Regional was far from expected, but alas, the Gators overcame the Oklahoma State Cowboys to punch their ticket to the super regional round.

Next up for the Orange and Blue are the Clemson Tigers, who finally broke through in their regionals after a long run of early exits. The Athletic’s Mitch Light picked the matchup as one of the most intriguing in the upcoming round of the NCAA Tournament.

“If you saw the video of Erik Bakich celebrating Clemson’s Regional-clinching win over Coastal Carolina, you know how much this means to the program and its second-year coach,” Light begins.

“The Tigers had dealt with more than a decade of postseason frustration, losing five times as a Regional host dating back to the 2011 season. Now, Clemson is back in a Super Regional for the first time since 2010, which was the last time it reached the College World Series.”

As for Florida, they are not too shabby themselves despite an underwhelming regular season.

“The Tigers will take on a very talented Florida team that snuck into the NCAA Tournament as a No. 3 seed after an inconsistent regular season,” Light continues.

“The Gators played their way out of the losers’ bracket of the Stillwater Regional and beat host Oklahoma State on Sunday night and Monday afternoon to advance to the Supers for the 10th time in 16 full seasons under [autotag]Kevin O’Sullivan[/autotag].”

The dichotomy of the two teams truly makes it an intriguing matchup.

“Clemson should be considered the favorite — especially playing at raucous Doug Kingsmore Stadium — but there aren’t too many teams nationally with more talent than Florida,” Light concludes.

The Clemson Super Regional starts on Saturday, June 8, at 2 p.m. ET and can be watched on ESPN.

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The Athletic evaluates Florida’s 2025 class heading into official visits

This is a BIG month for the Orange and Blue on the college football recruiting front.

The next four weeks are big ones for Florida football as [autotag]Billy Napier[/autotag] and Co. roll out the red carpet for official visits to the Swamp by members of the 2025 cycle. The Gators are set to host some of the top talent in the nation in hopes of bolstering a lagging recruiting class heading into summer.

The Orange and Blue currently rank No. 45 in 247Sports’ 2025 team recruiting rankings but will have plenty of opportunities to climb up quickly if the program can impress the right players. The Athletic’s Manny Navarro recently looked at what’s cooking in Gainesville and sees a lot of potential in Florida’s possibilities.

“Billy Napier had the No. 3 recruiting class in the last cycle until his team lost five straight games to finish 5-7 and, in the process, lost several big-time commitments,” Navarro reflected on the previous class.

“The Gators did hold onto five-star quarterback [autotag]DJ Lagway[/autotag] and two high-profile in-state prospects — five-star defensive lineman [autotag]LJ McCray[/autotag] and four-star linebacker [autotag]Myles Graham[/autotag] — to finish with the No. 13 class in the 2024 cycle.”

Five intriguing visitors

“Florida is the mix for some elite prospects in the Class of 2025.”

Navarro lists wide [autotag]Caleb Cunningham[/autotag] (five-star, No. 13), linebacker [autotag]Tavion Wallace[/autotag] (four-star, No. 52), quarterback [autotag]Keelon Russell[/autotag] (four-star, No. 79), offensive tackle [autotag]Micah DeBose[/autotag] (four-star, No. 82) and quarterback [autotag]Antwann Hill[/autotag] (four-star, No. 127) as Florida’s five most intriguing visitors this summer.

Official visit schedule

“Cunningham, a Mississippi native who is ranked as the No. 2 receiver in the class, has been on campus twice and will return June 7,” Navarro begins.

“He also has visits lined up to Auburn (Friday), Tennessee (June 14) and Alabama (June 21). With Lagway part of Florida’s 2024 signing class, quarterback might not seem to be a huge position of need, but the Gators are still looking to land a good one and have Russell, an SMU commitment from Texas, and Hill, a Georgia native, on the docket for visits on back-to-back weekends.”

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Duke basketball drops out of top five in The Athletic writer’s 2024-25 projections

CJ Moore said he thinks Duke could be the best team in the country, but he still dropped the Blue Devils a few spots in his Thursday ranking.

The Athletic’s CJ Moore released an updated ranking for the 2024-25 men’s basketball season on Thursday, and after previously having the Blue Devils atop his rankings, he completely dropped Duke basketball from his top five.

Alabama, Gonzaga, Houston, Kansas, and Iowa State all jumped above the Blue Devils in the rankings updated after the NBA draft withdrawal deadline.

Moore said he could see a world where the Blue Devils, with multiple five-star freshmen coming off the bench as rotational pieces, dominate the sport. He just doesn’t think it’s a given.

“It wouldn’t be shocking if this is the best team in college basketball based on the talent level,” Moore wrote. “With so much youth, I want to see it first.”

Moore did praise the team defensively, between No. 1 recruit Cooper Flagg and 7-footer Khaman Maluach in the frontcourt and Tyrese Proctor returning in the backcourt. He also highlighted Duke’s size with every key contributor at least 6-foot-5. He just remains wary of the inexperience.

“Leaning on freshmen only works when those are top-end lottery picks,” he concluded. “Scheyer is banking on Flagg living up to the hype.”

Could Justin Jefferson’s new deal top $35 million per year?

In an interview with KFAN1003, Minnesota Vikings beat writer Alec Lewis speculated that Justin Jefferson could make $35 million/year or more

One of the biggest topics surrounding the Minnesota Vikings this offseason is the contract situation with star wide receiver Justin Jefferson. Jefferson has wanted a long-term deal for the past few years, and the Vikings have seemingly been motivated to lock up one of the best receivers in the NFL.

However, a deal remains unreached, likely due to just how much Jefferson is in line to receive.

Just how much could the Vikings be on the hook for? Vikings beat writer for The Athletic, Alec Lewis, believes the price tag for Jefferson could come in at or above a whopping $35 million per year. In an interview with radio station KFAN1003, Lewis stated:

[Justin Jefferson’s representatives] know how to maximize a guy’s value. And that value to me is going to be 35 million a year at the bare minimum, probably.

That price tag has likely increased quite a bit in the past few months with the new deals reached by Philadelphia Eagles star A.J. Brown and Detroit Lions rising star Amon-Ra St. Brown. If Jefferson were to get $35M per year (or more), it would make him the highest-paid receiver in the league per year, coming in $3 million more per year than Brown.

No matter what the final number winds up being for Jefferson, it’s clear by his production that he deserves to be among the highest-paid at the position, if not the leader of the pact.

The Athletic re-ranks college football’s 2020 recruiting class

The Gators’ 2020 recruiting re-rank fell significantly but Florida remains among the top 25 of that year’s cycle in retrospect.

A lot has changed in the college football landscape over the past four years, starting with the COVID outbreak that threatened sports of all forms during the peak of the pandemic. Sprinkle a healthy helping of name, image and likeness matters and one has the basic recipe for where we are today.

The Athletic’s Max Olson recently followed up his publication’s series of recruiting re-ranks with one for the 2020 campaign, back when things were seemingly simpler. Among those to make the cut are the Florida Gators, who came in at No. 21 in the re-rank after landing a No. 8 ranking at the conclusion of the cycle four years ago.

“The scoring system for grading these classes is a 0-to-5 scale inspired by the recruiting industry’s star system,” Olson explains. “We are grading scholarship players and walk-ons who earned scholarships, based on what they’ve achieved over four years, not what they might do in the future.”

5 points: All-American, award winner, top-50 NFL Draft pick
4: Multi-year starter, all-conference honors
3: One-year starter or key reserve
2: Career backup
0: Minor or no contribution

“[autotag]Dan Mullen[/autotag] brought in 13 future starters in this signing class but few All-SEC performers. (Anthony) Richardson, a four-star in-state signee, had to wait his turn behind Emory Jones and flashed exciting potential as the Gators’ starter in 2022 before the Colts made him the No. 4 overall pick.

“(Gervon) Dexter and (Justin) Shorter also developed into draft picks. Georgia transfer OLB Brenton Cox made an immediate impact and earned 33 starts but ended up getting dismissed during coach [autotag]Billy Napier[/autotag]’s debut season.

“Proven starters (Princely) Umanmielen (Ole Miss) and OL Richie Leonard IV (Florida State) transferred this offseason, bringing the total number of departures from this class up to 20.”

The Texas A&M Aggies (then No. 6), Auburn Tigers (7), Oklahoma Sooners (12), Oregon Ducks (13), North Carolina Tar Heels (14), Washington Huskies (17), Nebraska Cornhuskers (20), Stanford Cardinals (21), Florida State Seminoles (22), Arizona State Sun Devils (24) and Kentucky Wildcats (25) were all previously ranked but fell out of the revised top 25.

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Wisconsin receives low grade in The Athletic re-rank of 2020 recruiting cycle

Wisconsin receives low grade in The Athletic re-rank of 2020 recruiting cycle

Wisconsin football received a low grade in The Athletic’s recent re-rank of the class of 2020 recruiting cycle.

The Badgers were among the ‘honorable mention’ category, ranked at No. 33 overall with an average point rating of 1.98, a 27-19 record with the class on campus and only 45% attrition.

Related: Where every member of Wisconsin’s record-breaking recruiting class of 2021 is now

The Athletic’s point system awards five points to an All-American or top-50 NFL draft pick, four points to a multi-year starter or all-conference honors, three points to a one-year starter or key reserve, two points to a career backup and 0 points to players with minor or zero contribution.

Wisconsin’s 20-person class led by five-star OT Jack Nelson, four-star OLB Nick Herbig, four-star RB Jalen Berger and four-star OL Trey Wedig finished with only 40 of those points. It had several solid contributors, but only a few star players.

Here is a breakdown of the class, organized by The Athletic’s point system:

5:

4: Jack Nelson, Nick Herbig, Chimere Dike, Tanor Bortolini, Jordan Turner, James Thompson Jr.

3: Jalen Berger

2: Trey Wedig, Ben Barten, Devin Chandler, Preston Zachman, Max Lofy, Cade McDonald

0: Cole Dakovich, Malik Reed, Cam Large, Isaac Smith, Kaden Johnson, Aaron Witt

A necessary note: this ranking has the possibility to rise during the 2024 season. Max Lofy, Aaron Witt, Ben Barten, Cade McDonald and Preston Zachman all figure to play an increased role.

The class sits at No. 33 in this re-rank after finishing the 2020 cycle ranked No. 26 in the nation.

The top of the ranking was led by Georgia, Alabama, Michigan, Ohio State, Missouri and Iowa. The top three schools are not surprising given their recent national title-level success.

The 2020 cycle falls into a general theme for the end of the Paul Chryst era at Wisconsin. The 2019, 2020 and 2021 cycles all arrived on campus with incredible promise, with the expectation to build on the program’s on-field success from 2016-2019. None of that materialized and Chryst was fired during the 2022 season.

Luke Fickell hopes his top-25 class of 2024 experiences a different reaction during The Athletic’s future re-rank in 2028.

The Badgers’ class of 2025, meanwhile, currently ranks No. 19 in the nation with 11 players committed. The program is currently preparing for a massive upcoming weekend of official visits.

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The Athletic envisions big jump from Jaguars defense under Nielsen

The Athletic calls Jacksonville’s hiring of defensive coordinator Ryan Nielsen its best offseason move: “This could become a top-five unit.”

Could Jacksonville’s hiring of Ryan Nielsen to coordinate the Jaguars’ defense propel the unit toward potentially elite heights? Mike Sando of The Athletic isn’t ruling out the possibility.

Breaking down his favorite offseason move by every NFL team this year, Sando highlighted Nielsen’s appointment as Jacksonville’s best.

Of the 32 transactions analyzed, seven included coaches, although Seattle’s was split between new head coach Mike Macdonald’s impact on the Seahawks defense and the club’s trade for quarterback Sam Howell. Nielsen’s hiring by Jacksonville and Mike Zimmer’s hiring by Dallas were the only defensive coordinator highlights.

Ryan Nielsen’s addition as defensive coordinator stands out. Nielsen made his coordinating debut with the Falcons last season. His defense ranked 10th in EPA [expected points added] per play, the Falcons’ highest ranking since at least 2000, per TruMedia. That was up from 29th in 2022. There’s less room for improvement in Jacksonville, where the Jaguars ranked 11th last season, but Nielsen is inheriting more talent than he had in Atlanta. This could become a top-five unit.

The Jaguars brought Nielsen in after firing former Jacksonville defensive coordinator, Mike Caldwell, and several other defensive staff members in early January.

Jacksonville ranked No. 22 in total defense (342.8 yards allowed per game) in 2023, slightly improved from its No. 24 (353.3) finish in 2022 but still in the bottom half of the NFL.

The Jaguars’ 21.8 points per game allowed in 2023 ranked league average, standing at No. 16. But the unit allowed opponents to eclipse that mark in five of the last six weeks of the campaign, including three 30+ point showings. Jacksonville went 1-5 in that stretch and fumbled its postseason positioning.

While Jacksonville might have fielded a respectable defense relative to EPA in 2023, as Sando noted, the Jaguars were aggressive in reconstructing the unit this offseason beyond acquiring Nielsen, lending credence to Sando’s projection.

The Jaguars signed three projected starting defenders during free agency: Former San Francisco defensive lineman Arik Armstead, former Baltimore cornerback Ronald Darby and former Green Bay safety Darnell Savage.

They also added several experienced depth pieces in former Tennessee safety Terrell Edmunds, former Atlanta cornerback Tre Flowers and former Tennessee edge rusher Trevis Gipson.

Five of Jacksonville’s nine 2024 NFL draft selections were defenders, including two defensive tackles, Maason Smith and Jordan Jefferson; two cornerbacks, Jarrian Jones and Deantre Prince; and edge rusher Myles Cole.

Perhaps most importantly, the team locked franchise edge rusher, Josh Allen, in on the biggest contract in franchise history between free agency and the draft. He signed a five-year, $141.5 million extension with the Jaguars in April after accumulating 17.5 sacks with Jacksonville in 2023.