The Browns land a high-profile playmaker in this New Year’s Eve mock draft
With just two weeks left in the season, and with the Cleveland Browns getting set to take on the Washington Commanders on New Year’s Day, we are officially nearing 2023 NFL Draft territory. And as we ramp up to draft activities, more mock drafts will come out as well. Celebrate the New Year with this 2023 NFL Mock Draft for the Browns!
Lincoln Riley cares about the #CottonBowl. Caleb Williams wants to play. Tuli Tuipulotu does, too. If team leaders care, you should care. We talked to @MarkRogersTV.
Football analysts are wondering how healthy Caleb Williams will be for the Cotton Bowl, which is an obvious central key to the game. Beyond Williams’ health, however, it’s also important to gauge his and USC’s interest level in this game. Will USC really lock in and focus on the Tulane Green Wave, or will they treat Tulane — and the game — without the requisite level of seriousness and intensity?
Tulane is such an unsexy opponent that a lot of USC fans might not view this game is hugely important for the program. The temptation to blow off this game is real.
Why should USC fans care about this game? Very simple: The leaders of the team care.
Lincoln Riley, a native Texan, knows the Cotton Bowl is the bowl game which has meant more to Texans than any other bowl game.
Caleb Williams, despite being less than 100-percent healthy with his hamstring injury, has stated that he wants to play in this game. He isn’t content to opt out.
Tuli Tuipulotu has declared his intent to play in this game. He could easily walk out the door to the NFL, but no, he wants to finish this season with a win.
If these three primary leaders of the team are all very intent on participating in this bowl game and attacking it with intensity and competitive vigor, that should be more than enough reason for USC fans to care about the Cotton Bowl.
We talked to Mark Rogers at The Voice of College Football:
This award will be presented in January, a day after the Polynesian Bowl.
This is a big honor for Tuipulotu. The Polynesian Player of the Year Award is given to the most outstanding Polynesian player who epitomizes great ability and integrity, according to the official release.
“We congratulate Tuli on an incredible season.His accomplishments are a source of great pride for the Polynesian community.”
Former Trojan and current San Francisco 49er DB Talanoa Hufanga won the award back in 2020, and other recipients include Marcus Mariota, Tua Tagovailoa, and Penei Sewell.
Moreover, three Trojan players earned AP All-American First-Team honors when the teams were revealed on Monday morning.
Unsurprisingly, Williams was the first-team QB, and guard Andrew Vorhees was the other Trojan offensive player to make the cut. On defense, Tuli Tuipulotu was named to the first team alongside potential 2023 No. 1 NFL draft pick Will Anderson of Alabama.
Center Brett Neilon and Colorado transfer CB Mekhi Blackmon both earned third-team AP honors after they had terrific years for the Trojans.
The Trojans led all schools with three first-team selections, and that’s a huge development after they won just four games and were a complete afterthought in 2021.
USC leads all schools with three players selected to AP All-America First Team: QB Caleb Williams, OG Andrew Vorhees and DL Tuli Tuipulotu.
What a difference a year can make, and let’s not forget that Caleb Williams is coming back in 2023 and will help in the process of educating incoming five-star QB Malachi Nelson. Things are looking really good in Los Angeles.
The award named for ‘Concrete Charlie’ Bednarik, an icon of football, carries great stature and prestige. Tuli Tuipulotu is a finalist for the prize. #USC
The Maxwell Football Club has announced three finalists for the Bednarik Award, and USC defensive lineman Tuli Tuipulotu is one of them.
The Chuck Bednarik Award is presented to the best defensive player in college football. The past few winners include Chase Young in 2019 of Ohio State and Jordan Davis of Georgia in 2021.
Chuck Bednarik is an iconically memorable figure in football history. He starred at Pennsylvania in college and then became an NFL world champion with the Philadelphia Eagles. His thunderous hit of New York Giant halfback and former USC Trojan Frank Gifford is one of the most memorable plays in NFL history. “Concrete Charlie” is a football legend, whose story lives on at NFL Films.
Winning the Bednarik Award is a big deal.
Tuli Tuipulotu is the nation’s second-leading sack man with 11.5 on the season (1.15 per game). He is also the Pac-12 leader and is fourth nationally with 1.8 tackles for loss per game (17.5 total). Those combine for 167 yards lost to opposing offenses.
The other finalists for the award are Cincinnati’s Ivan Pace Jr., who leads the American Athletic Conference in tackles and tied for second in sacks and Will Anderson Jr. of Alabama, currently leading the Southeastern Conference in sacks (10) and tackles for loss (17). Both marks are among the top-10 in the nation.
Who do you think has a big statistical game for the Irish?
The Irish are one again playing a prime time game against a top opponent, USC, on the road. It has been a bumpy road for Marcus Freeman in his first full season as the Notre Dame head coach but during the second half of the year, he seems to have righted the ship and the future looks bright. This game give Freeman and his team one more chance at a big exclamation point to end the regular season. Here are a few statistical projections for the Irish against the Trojans this evening.
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Anytime you face-off against one of the top rated teams in the country, there’s going to be plenty of talent on the other side of the field. That’s exactly the case as the Irish travel to Los Angeles to take on the No. 5 USC in a highly anticipated matchup. The home team has plenty of firepower, led by Heisman candidate Caleb Williams and his go-to receiver Jordan Addison. Since we all know about their exploits, we won’t touch on them but here are five of their teammates that could give Notre Dame problems.
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Brenden Rice admitted he has not been performing up to expectations. #USC’s holder created a viral moment. That and more in this Trojan notebook.
The Travis Dye injury dominated the USC game against Colorado on Friday night. It swallowed up the aftermath of the game. It was unavoidable for Dye’s injury — marking the end of his season and his USC career — to become the main point of conversation after the Trojans beat Colorado, 55-17.
There were other moments of note from this game. There is plenty to catch up on after Colorado — and heading into UCLA — in this USC football notebook.
Let’s give you some of the main highlights from this game, beginning with a tweet from USC wide receiver Brenden Rice, in which he admitted he has not been playing up to his own expected standard in 2022:
It hasn’t even been 24 hours since the Irish dominated Clemson, getting their signature win of the year, 35-14 over the Tigers. If you are still feeling euphoric, join the club. It was one of those wins that you will remember for a long time, even though it was just a regular season victory. There are still plenty of thoughts going through my mind and here are a few of them (one of them deserves a bit more than a blurb and that will be coming tomorrow!).
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Tuli Tuipulotu and Eric Gentry both struggled against Utah, but through 7 games, they’re still at the top of the list when considering a #Pac12 defensive MVP.
We talked to Ducks Wire about the Pac-12 midseason defensive MVP. It’s true that the Utah game was not a good one for the Trojans, but a full six games preceding the Utah loss have still established two USC Trojans as the leaders in this particular race.
Defensive MVP is a tie between two USC Trojans: Eric Gentry and Tuli Tuipulotu. Gentry was better through the first four weeks, but Tuipulotu has been consistent throughout the season and then got three sacks against Washington State.
USC finally won a game in which its opponent did not commit a turnover. That was against Wazzu. Tuipulotu recording three sacks and creating all those negative plays enabled USC to win without forcing a turnover. Gentry was the guy who was causing those turnovers earlier in the season. Multiple deflections turned into picks.
He has been very disruptive. The second half of the season will tell us a lot about the comparison between the two.
The surprisingly good play of USC’s defense has to put the Trojans in front at the midway point, but if USC falters and the defense finally starts getting shredded — which is certainly possible — the DPOY race will take on entirely new dimensions. It’s a fluid situation.
