FIGC Prosecutor Giuseppe Chine has released a statement addressing the recent allegations brought against refereeing designator Gianluca Rocchi, who has been placed under investigation after accusations of influencing VAR decisions and altering the selection of ‘favourable’ and ‘unfavourable’ referees.

A new refereeing scandal erupted in Italy on Saturday when it was reported that Rocchi had been placed under investigation after a complaint was raised by former assistant referee, Domenico Rocca back in May 2025. The complaint was originally archived, but the issue has now been dug up with concerns that there is criminal relevance.

Rocchi reportedly received notice of an investigation on Friday (April 24), for his alleged participation in sporting fraud. Rocchi has confirmed that he will be stepping aside from his role pending the results of the investigation.

Reports in Italy claim that Rocchi interfered with VAR protocols during a Serie A match between Udinese and Parma on March 1, 2025, by banging on the window of the VAR booth and recommending that the officials call for an on-field review for a penalty. There have also been suggestions that Rocchi assigned referee Andrea Colombo for the Bologna vs. Inter match on April 20, 2025 instead of Daniele Doveri, who was originally meant to take charge of the match.

MILAN, ITALY – MARCH 08: Referee Daniele Doveri shows the yellow card to Alessandro Bastoni of Inter during the Serie A match between AC Milan and FC Internazionale at Giuseppe Meazza Stadium on March 08, 2026 in Milan, Italy. (Photo by Marco Luzzani/Getty Images)

Investigators are also said to be examining an incident involving Inter’s Alessandro Bastoni, who got away with an elbow on Ondrej Duda in the build-up to a Nerazzurri goal in their victory over Hellas Verona during their title-winning 2023-24 season.

What FIGC Prosecutor Chine says about ongoing Rocchi investigation

FIGC Prosecutor Chine, who rarely speaks publicly, has since decided to release a statement clarifying a few issues in relation to Rocchi and the ongoing investigations. He claims that some of the incidents that have been reported in the Italian press are ‘untruthful’.

Chine has admitted that his office carried out an investigation into allegations that Rocchi influenced a decision in the VAR booth in the Udinese vs. Parma match last season, but says that this was the only complaint brought forwards and that the matter was later closed. He made no mention of Inter specifically, but confirmed that he will start, or reopen an investigation should new information come to light.

FLORENCE, ITALY – MAY 23: Gianluca Rocchi former Italian referee and referee designator for the Serie A and Serie B championships during the FIGC Hall of Fame Event on May 23, 2022 in Florence, Italy. (Photo by Gabriele Maltinti/Getty Images)

“Since some press outlets have been spreading untruthful news, with no adherence to the real version of events over the last few hours, I would like to confirm that on May 21, 2025, I received only the complaint signed by the assistant referee Domenico Rossa on the alleged intervention in the VAR booth by designator Rocchi during the Udinese-Parma match,” Chine’s statement read (via La Gazzetta dello Sport).

“Following this complaint, in full compliance with the code of sporting justice, a sporting investigation was immediately opened, hearing all those involved and all those with possible knowledge of the facts alleged by the accuser.

“As a result of these investigative acts and the testimonies given by those present, no disciplinary conduct was brought against any member of the AIA (Italian referees’ association). As is expressed in the current code of sporting justice, the prosecutor’s office therefore proposed to the general prosecutor’s office for sport at CONI for the disciplinary proceedings to be dismissed in July 2025.

ROME, ITALY – DECEMBER 15: CONI President Giovanni Malago’ attends the Italian Olympic Commitee ‘Collari d’Oro’ Awards ceremony on December 15, 2015 in Rome, Italy. (Photo by Paolo Bruno/Getty Images)

“Given the investigation that was carried out and given the content of the statements made by the subjects that were audited, this proposal was agreed by the general prosecutor’s office for sport.

“With regard to any new facts that may require sporting disciplinary measures, which the public prosecutor’s office in Milan is dealing with, I can confirm that I am already in contact with the investigative bodies in charge of the criminal proceedings and that I have already taken steps, as of yesterday, to formally request, where possible, the documents relating to the acts of the criminal investigation and will start and possibly reopen (an investigation) if there are new and decisive pieces of evidence.”

The 2026 NFL Draft was an overwhelming success, with a record-setting crowd of 805,000 fans in attendance for the three-day event outside of Acrisure Stadium in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. For CBS Sports reporter Claudia Bellofatto, the draft led to some viral fame.

Bellofatto shared a photo on social media on Day 1 of the draft, and it immediately went viral, with nearly two million views since it was posted.

She simply captioned the post, “Day 1,” alongside a football emoji.

MORE: Dianna Russini deletes X account amid new Mike Vrabel photo bombshell

Bellofatto has long had a strong social media following, with more than 46,500 followers on X, and another 42,000 followers on Instagram.

After the viral fame during the record-setting draft, those numbers will surely continue to rise.

Bellofatto, who is a Syracuse Newhouse School of Public Communications alum, is an on-air analyst and host for CBS Sports. She also covers UFC, baseball, basketball, and rugby.

MORE: Complete 2026 NFL Draft results, full list of picks

Before joining CBS Sports in September 2025, she worked at NBC Sports in Boston. Bellofotto previously served as a betting analyst for MLB, worked for TMZ, and the Today show.

It’s clear that CBS Sports has a star on its hands, so we will have to wait and sese where she pops up next.

The 2026 NFL Draft concluded on Saturday, April 25, after three days in Pittsburgh. Heisman Trophy winner Fernando Mendoza was selected with the No. 1 overall pick by the Las Vegas Raiders.

Next up for the NFL is the 2026 season, before turning its attention to the 2027 NFL Draft, which will be held at the National Mall outside of the U.S. Capitol building in Washington, D.C.

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Scottish Premiership: Westley levels for Dundee in derby

The race to secure sixth place in the Championship is going down to the wire.

Wrexham's 3-1 defeat by champions Coventry City means the Red Dragons, Hull City and Derby County all stand a chance of securing a play-off spot on the final day of the season.

All 24 teams in the second tier play their 46th and final regular-season match at the same time next weekend.

BBC Sport analyses what Wrexham, Hull and Derby need to secure a play-off spot.

• Latest Wrexham news, analysis and fan views
• Hull City
• Derby County

How the top-six race looks

6 Wrexham - P45; W 19; D 13; L 13; GS 67; GA 63; GD 4; Pts 70

7 Hull City - P 45; W 20; D 10; L 15; GS 68; GA 65; GD 3; Pts 70

8 Derby County - P 45; W 20; D 9; L 16; GS 66; GA 57; GD 9; Pts 69

Final-day fixtures

Derby County v Sheffield United

Hull City v Norwich City

Wrexham v Middlesbrough

Matches to kick-off at 12:30 BST on Saturday, 2 May.

• Coventry cap celebrations to dent Wrexham hopes

What do Wrexham, Hull and Derby need to finish sixth?

Wrexham will finish sixth if they better Hull's result and better or match Derby's result.

If they match Hull's result it will go down to goal difference, with Wrexham's currently one better.

If goal difference is level, goals scored will be the deciding factor.

Hull will clinch sixth spot if they better Wrexham's result against Middlesbrough and better or match Derby's result against Sheffield United.

A win for the Tigers against Norwich City will be sufficient if Wrexham lose or draw with Middlesbrough, or even if the Welsh side win - as long as Hull overturn a one-goal deficit in the goal difference stakes.

As for Derby, they will finish sixth if they win against Sheffield United and both Wrexham and Hull fail to win their fixtures.

Due to their superior goal difference, a draw against the Blades will also be enough for the Rams to take sixth spot, as long as Wrexham and Hull both lose next weekend.

• Wrexham AFC

The Los Angeles Rams went into the 2026 NFL Draft without any glaring needs, which is a good thing. And they drafted like it. For a team in win-now mode, they prioritized the future and used their early picks on players who may not contribute at all in 2026.

Knowing they were just about set for the upcoming season, the Rams made sure to add players who will be around for the long haul and help replace some potential veteran departures in 2027 and beyond.

The result? A class that yielded mixed feelings from experts. We compiled 10 expert grades for the Rams' class and the majority of them were low on what L.A. did. Of the 10 grades, only three were a B- or better. There were also three of D+ or worse.

Even though some experts have come around on the idea of drafting Ty Simpson, they also question how he'll perform in the NFL after having just one season of starting experience in college.

And for a team that was so successful on offense last season, using four of its first five picks on that side of the ball was slightly puzzling. Below is a list of expert grades, and you can find our individual pick grades here.

USA TODAY: C+ (26th)

Their most notable accomplishments? Acquiring McDuffie for three 2026 picks, including No. 29 overall and a pair on Day 3. Also? Coach Sean McVay really, really, really appreciates QB Matthew Stafford, the league’s 2025 MVP, and would never want him to think otherwise. Maybe first-round QB Ty Simpson, chosen 13th overall as Stafford’s heir apparent – which may mean 2029? – and his four fellow draftees will all become key members of this operation. None are likely to do so in 2026, a year when the Rams are very much expected to be Super Bowl contenders … even if they didn’t get a rookie who might have put them over the top.

Draft Wire: D+

ESPN: C+

And while Simpson is accurate, smart and mobile, there's really no guarantee this pick makes the team better tomorrow, either. He had just 15 career starts in college -- all in one season -- and he endured some rough patches. I saw him as a late-Round 1 target for a team with a much bigger QB need. Hopefully he can learn behind Stafford and become a legit starter for the Rams in a year or two, but this was probably the most confusing move of Day 1.

Max Klare was a slight reach on Day 2, but it was another spot where I thought Los Angeles could get that missing WR3 (and maybe future WR2 if Davante Adams isn't on the team in 2027 when his deal expires). Zachariah Branch would have been a jolt of lightning out of the slot. And because I have Keagen Trost kicking inside in the pros, the Rams went into Saturday without a single one of their top three needs accounted for. CJ Daniels caught seven touchdowns last season, but he isn't the WR3 I was hoping to see.

NFL.com: B+

• Day 1: B+
• Day 2: B
• Day 3: B+

The Rams chose a potential successor to Matthew Stafford with the 13th overall pick, which they received from Atlanta in a 2025 draft-day deal. Simpson was a one-year starter at Alabama and showed his lack of experience at times, but the team clearly thought his physical gifts and mental acuity made him worth acquiring instead of trying to fill needs at receiver and offensive tackle. Klare possesses the hands, toughness and short-area quickness to be a good NFL tight end, but we'll see if he proves himself worthy of a Round 2 selection. Trost's sturdiness as a pass protector could earn him a starting job in the near future.

The Ringer: C-

The team’s acquisition of star cornerback Trent McDuffie can be included in the Rams’ haul here (he was acquired for the team’s first-rounder plus fifth- and sixth-rounders), but L.A.’s actual picks were puzzling. GM Les Snead and head coach Sean McVay shocked the world when they took Alabama quarterback Ty Simpson with the 13th overall pick, an interesting selection, considering the team is right in the prime of its championship window under reigning MVP Matthew Stafford. Going with a developmental passer like Simpson (who has just 15 college starts on his résumé) over an immediate impact playmaker on either side of the ball could be a decision the Rams regret late in the 2026 season. On top of that, the second-round selection of Ohio State Max Klare was also a bit strange, especially since L.A. already has Tyler Higbee, Colby Parkinson, and Davis Allen under contract and spent the 46th overall pick on Terrance Ferguson last year. In the third round, the team grabbed tackle Keagen Trost, a 25-year-old seventh-year senior who could provide depth on the offensive line. Overall, it feels like the Rams missed an opportunity to add pieces that could help them load up for a Super Bowl run in 2026—and the Simpson pick could drive a wedge between Stafford and the team’s brass.

Pro Football Focus: C

Simpson: In a spot where many assumed the Rams would look to bolster their short-term Super Bowl window with Matthew Stafford at quarterback with an early first-round pick, they instead opted to take a swing on the future at the position in a post-Stafford world. There was growing momentum that Simpson would be selected toward the end of the first round — he ranked 38th on the Consensus Big Board — but few expected him to come off the board this early. Simpson has just one year of starting experience, and Los Angeles is betting that the time spent behind Stafford and with Sean McVay will help clean up some of the timing and ball placement inconsistencies in his game.

CBS Sports: A-

The Rams only had three picks in the first five rounds and used them all on offensive players. And they kept the trend alive on Day 3 when they finally got the receiver many thought they would prioritize in the first round.

On one hand, finding the heir to Matthew Stafford makes a lot of sense. On the other, drafting Ty Simpson on Day 1 is a bit of a head-scratcher. The No. 13 pick feels early for a prospect who was no sure thing to go in the first round. This will likely be one of the most scrutinized selections of the entire draft.

Sporting News: D (32nd)

Analysis: Sean McVay's face after the first-round sleection of Simpson has had too many explanations after GM Les Snead went against the grain for a QB prospect he knew well. It was a major wasted pick for a contender early. Klare just adds to a croweded position. There was no real impact here for 2026 with big questions as well for 2027 and beyond.

Yahoo Sports: D+

Here's why: I’ve grown to understand the Ty Simpson selection the more I’ve sat with it. Slightly. Stafford insurance, both for this season and beyond, is something the Rams have desperately wanted. And adding Simpson to the quarterback room means the Rams have a succession plan for a post-Stafford world, while also not being at the mercy of Stafford’s back and one-year extensions. While I was more comfortable with Simpson on Day 2, which is where I had him graded, quarterbacks get inflated all the time when teams decide to select their guy. It’s still a little rich to me for a player who I think lacks high-end upside that you usually want with your first-round quarterbacks. It’s why I would have preferred the Rams, who were the Super Bowl favorites heading into draft week, to have boosted their team with another weapon (and Davante Adams age/injury insurance). Either way, whether Sean McVay and Les Snead are correct will be determined later, potentially much later.

Sports Illustrated: B-

Analysis: It’s fine that the Rams took Simpson as high as they did because teams don’t wait to draft quarterbacks. The problem, though, is that Simpson started only one season in college and now will have to wait a year or two for playing experience while serving as Matthew Stafford’s backup. Still, the Rams have a loaded roster, one good enough to win it all, especially at tight end. Klare offers athleticism in the passing game and offers a similar skill set to last year’s second-round pick, Terrance Ferguson.

This article originally appeared on Rams Wire: 2026 NFL Draft grades: Experts down on LA Rams' class

The Cincinnati Bengals added two offensive linemen in the Draft and then signed another two as undrafted free agents.

One of those undrafted players is Christian Jones, who effectively played both guard and tackle at San Diego State.

The Bengals’ front office must really like what they saw in Jones, as they gave him a $50,000 signing bonus, which is quite large for an undrafted player.

So what do we know about Jones?

Well, in a predraft interview, he made clear that he loves operating in space and being left on an island with a pass rusher. But he also loves run blocking and playing smashmouth football.

Jones prides himself on his relentless effort. “I’m usually the best conditioned player on the field,” he said. “I’m going to wear out defenders. There’s nothing better than looking across at your assignment and knowing they can’t match your effort because they’re tired.”

According to scouts, Jones has heavy hands and long arms that he uses effectively to deliver “stiff, jolting strikes”.

It seems clear why Cincinnati views him as a player with a much higher chance of making the roster than most undrafted free agents.

HOUSTON – The night before the final round of a major championship isn’t the ideal time to talk about a cheating scandal. But South Korea’s Ina Yoon agreed to it anyway.

Currently solo fifth at the Chevron Championship, the LPGA's first major of the season, Yoon can’t escape what a quick Google search reveals: In 2022, she was suspended for three years from the Korea Golf Association (KGA) and KLPGA for playing the wrong ball and not telling anyone.

Yoon, 22, using the help of an interpreter, recalled what transpired at the DB Group Korea Women’s Open Golf Championship on June 16, 2022. During the first round, on which hole exactly she can’t remember, Yoon missed a tee shot right into the rough. Other players helped her to find it. Yoon said she didn’t realize that the ball wasn't hers until she got to the next tee.

“I wasn’t sure what to do because this had never happened to me, so I was a bit frazzled,” said Yoon, who was 19 years old at the time. “My caddie said to hit it. I shouldn’t have listened, but I did. I should have reported it right away, but I was really nervous and scared about that. I missed the cut, and I thought it would be OK. The people around me told me that it shouldn’t be too much of an issue, so I listened.”

More: 2026 Chevron Championship leaderboard, live updates, how to watch final round Sunday

A month later, according to the Korea JoongAng Daily, Yoon’s agency released a statement saying that she was first accused of playing a wrong ball at the Korea Women's Open on July 14. The next day, she self-reported. Yoon went on to win the event she was playing in that week, the KLPGA’s Evercollagen Queens Crown, for her first KLPGA title.

While she stepped away from the tour as officials decided her fate, Yoon noted that her caddie at the time went on to do interviews with the Korean press, saying that he had given her two options: to hit the ball or not.

“He said that I chose to hit the ball, and people believed that,” said Yoon. “People believed what the caddie said, and I was pretty upset that that became the truth at that time.

“He told me to hit it,” she continued, “but at the end of the day, I am the player and the player takes responsibility. I think I was just young and naïve and I listened to it.”

The KLPGA Reward and Punishment Subcommittee ultimately banned Yoon for three years, releasing a statement that said, "We will continue to deal sternly with similar incidents.”

Long sentences aren’t unusual in South Korea. In 2019, the KPGA doled out a three-year ban to Bio Kim after he made an obscene gesture to fans after a cellphone camera went off during his downswing. Kim was the tour's leading money winner at the time.

“People around me that knew the situation felt that it wasn’t fair,” said Yoon of the length of the ban, “but whatever the punishment was as a player, it was my fault at the end of the day, so I took that on.

“But, as a golfer, three years is a lot of time. My future seemed a bit bleak at the time.”

Yoon grew emotional on Saturday after play had finished at Memorial Park, as she talked about the toll that it took, causing her to nearly give up the game she'd been playing more than half her life. She felt lost.

“I didn’t do it with malicious intent, but people were pointing fingers at me,” she said. “But then, on the other side, there were fans, so I didn’t want to try to think too negatively.”

Needing someplace to compete, Yoon moved to Tampa, Florida, in 2023, and played on the men’s Minor League Golf Tour. After playing in 13 events on that tour with three runner-up finishes, she donated $10,000 to the Sandhill Crane Junior Golf Program. Her mini tour scoring average: 67.92.

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Eventually, with the help of a fan club petition that included 5,000 signatures, both the KGA and KLPGA reduced Yoon’s suspension to 18 months. Yoon told Korean reporters at that time, “I will not repeat the same mistake again.”

Yoon’s triumphant return to the KLPGA in 2024 included 14 top-10 finishes in 25 starts, including a win at the Jeju Samdasoo Masters. She topped the money list and led the tour in scoring at 70.0526.

The next month, she went to the final stage of LPGA Q-School and finished solo eighth, joining the tour as a rookie in 2025. Currently No. 53 in the Rolex Rankings, Yoon has three top-20 finishes in her last three starts on the LPGA, including a solo fourth last week in L.A.

“I’m not sure what the U.S. fans or LPGA may think,” said Yoon, “but I’ve reflected a lot, and now I will do my best to become the best player I can be.”

And with that, she went off to prepare for her biggest round yet.

Beth Ann Nichols is a senior writer for Golfweek and a consistent contributor to Golf Channel.

This article originally appeared on Golfweek: Chevron contender opens up about cheating ban that nearly caused her to quit

Sebastien Ogier claimed victory at Rally Islas Canarias after a titanic fight with Toyota World Rally Championship team-mate Oliver Solberg ended when the latter crashed on the penultimate stage.

Nine-time world champion Ogier, co-driven by Vincent Landais, delivered an asphalt masterclass under intense pressure from Solberg and Elliott Edmondson on the Spanish Island’s smooth stages.

Ogier moved into the rally lead after stage two before extending his lead out to 8.9s over Solberg at the end of Friday. That advantage came under threat from an inspired Solberg through Saturday’s stages.

The rally developed into a battle over fractions of seconds as Ogier and Solberg became locked in an thrilling duel. The pair could barely be separated and even set identical times in stage 13. Solberg made inroads on the lead in stage 14 to head into Sunday’s final four stages 3.8s behind the reigning world champion.

Without a tyre fitting zone on Sunday, the pair knew they had to preserve rubber, but Solberg continued to reel in Ogier. Heading into the penultimate stage, Ogier’s lead was down to 2.2s before drama struck.

Solberg took too much speed into a right hander and clipped a barrier that forced him into an instant retirement. With Solberg out of the rally, the pressure on Ogier was reduced as the Frenchman went on to score his 68th career win - as Toyota surpassed 300 WRC podiums.  

Where it all went wrong for Solberg 😔 #WRC | #RallyIslasCanarias 🇪🇸 pic.twitter.com/AdoJUFNiUN

— FIA World Rally Championship (@OfficialWRC) April 26, 2026

"It's been very enjoyable. We had a great car to drive again and it was good fun, so well done to all the team. It was extremely close this weekend with my team-mates, especially with Oliver. Shame we couldn't all finish together,' said Ogier.

Ogier took the win from Toyota team-mate Elfyn Evans by 19.9s. The Welshman was involved in the fight for victory on Saturday, having closed to within 10.3s of Ogier after winning stage 10, held in wet conditions. 

Evans, however, lost ground on stage 11, battling to find the sweet spot in his GR Yaris. Solberg’s stage 17 exit did elevate Evans to a valuable second position for his title bid that was also boosted by the maximum 10 Super Sunday points. It was enough to move Evans into the lead of the championship by two points. 

Sami Pajari had hoped the Canary Island would offer a shot at victory after impressing in Croatia earlier this month. The Finn struggled to extract the pace from the car that his team-mates were able to achieve, but ended the rally in third [+1m40.8s] after Solberg’s retirement.

Championship leader Takamoto Katsuta also struggled in a similar fashion to Pajari and had to settle for fourth [+1m51.2s]. 

Hyundai arrived in the Canary Islands knowing it would be a tall order to take the fight to Toyota given smooth asphalt roads are the i20 N’s weakness, and the gap between Toyota and Hyundai was perhaps even bigger than 12 months ago at the same rally.  

All three Hyundai crews struggled with car balance and were simply unable to commit to the racing lines the Toyota drivers were able to take in the stages.

Adrien Fourmaux, Alexandre Coria, Hyundai Shell Mobis World Rally Team Hyundai i20 N Rally1

Adrien Fourmaux managed to make the most progress in extracting pace from the car across the rally, and ultimately finished in fifth [+3m29.5s], the same result as last year.

Thierry Neuville struggled the most, admitting that “something was clearly wrong” after clocking times slower than what he managed last year. The 2024 world champion did however climb ahead of team-mate Dani Sordo into seventh, which became sixth following Solberg’s retirement.

Sordo, making his first Rally1 start since Greece 2024, was the quickest Hyundai after Friday’s stages. The 42-year-old was unable to maintain that pace as the rally progressed and ended up finishing in seventh.     

The rally also turned into an intra-team battle within the M-Sport-Ford ranks, as Josh McErlean took the spoils after enjoying a much-needed clean run through a WRC event. The Irishman finished eighth overall.

Team-mate Jon Armstrong endured a challenging event that began with a wild moment that required a trip down an escape road. The Northern Irishman was fortunate to avoid retirement when he understeered off the road in stage 14. Luckily, fans helped him back onto the road, but more than two minutes were dropped. Armstrong reached the end of the rally outside of the top 10.

Lancia claimed its second WRC2 win following its comeback to the championship this year. After taking the spoils in Croatia earlier this month, Yohan Rossel scored back-to-back wins in the second tier after delivering a faultless drive. The Frenchman finished 10th overall, beating Alejandro Cachon by 25.1s.

To read more Motorsport.com articles visit our website.

Hyderabad Kingsmen secured the fourth and final spot in the Pakistan Super League play-offs with a commanding 108-run victory against bottom side Rawalpindiz in their last game of the league stage.

The Kingsmen sneaked into fourth place with the fifth win of their debut PSL campaign, edging past Lahore Qalandars on superior net run-rate and thereby eliminating the defending champions.

Needing a big win against Rawalpindiz to stay alive, the Kingsmen posted 244-6 batting first, with Usman Khan setting the platform with a rapid 54 from 26 balls.

Glenn Maxwell and Kusal Perera continued the onslaught with the Australian smashing 70 from 37 balls while the latter remained unbeaten on 50 to put the Kingsmen in a commanding position in Karachi.

Rawalpindiz never threatened in their response as they lost wickets regularly with only Australian batter Usman Khawaja putting up some resistance with an unbeaten 66, while English wicketkeeper-batter Sam Billings scored a 12-ball 23.

Kingsmen medium pacer Hunain Shah took 4-22 and Akif Javed registered 3-38 to derail the chase while Maxwell also chipped in with a wicket as Rawalpindiz were bundled out for 136 in the 17.1 overs.

Rawalpindiz finished at the bottom with only one win and nine defeats.

• PSL fixtures & results
• Table

The NFL draft concluded after seven rounds in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Former Tennessee defensive lineman Bryson Eason was not drafted.

He signed with San Francisco as an undrafted free agent.

The 6-foot-3, 315-pound defensive lineman played at Tennessee from 2020-25, appearing in 61 games (34 starts) and totaling 1,520 defensive snaps. He recorded 105 tackles, 22 tackles for a loss, 4.5 sacks, five pass deflections, two fumble recoveries and one block.

The former Vol is from Whitehaven High School in Memphis, Tennessee. Eason helped lead Whitehaven to the state semifinals in 2019 and the state championship game in 2018.

He graduated from Tennessee in Dec. 2024.

Eason was invited to the Senior Bowl and the NFL scouting combine.

Tennessee has produced 396 all-time NFL draft picks, including the AFL draft which merged in 1967. 22 Tennessee players have been drafted during the Josh Heupel era.

More: 2026 Tennessee football NFL draft tracker

The next chapter!@EasonBryson ➡️ @49ers#FTTBpic.twitter.com/phOV2tGqsT

— Tennessee Football (@Vol_Football) April 26, 2026

Follow Vols Wire on Facebook and X (formerly Twitter).

This article originally appeared on Vols Wire: Tennessee defensive lineman signs with 49ers after NFL draft

The NFL draft is over, but the action hasn't stopped for the Denver Broncos.

After drafting seven players, the Broncos have room to sign 10 undrafted free agents (we are tracking all of the UDFA signings on this page). The tracker is not official and the deals have not yet been confirmed by the club, but 14 undrafted players have reportedly reached agreements with Denver as of the time this post was scheduled on Saturday evening.

If those reported signings are accurate, the Broncos will have to cut four bottom-of-the-roster players to make room for the incoming UDFAs. The list of incoming players includes five wide receivers, three cornerbacks and two offensive linemen.

Broncos undrafted free agent signings

1. TCU WR Joseph Manjack (source)
2. Nebraska WR Dane Key (source)
3. Virginia WR Cam Ross (source)
4. Arizona WR Kolbe Katsis (source)
5. Charlotte WR Sean Brown (source)
6. Iowa State OT Tyler Miller (source)
7. Weber State OL Gavin Ortega (source)
8. Nebraska OLB Dasan McCullough (source)
9. Texas A&M LB Taurean York (source)
10. Georgia Tech CB Ahmari Harvey (source)
11. Cal CB Brent Austin (source)
12. Tennessee CB Will Wright (source)
13. Oklahoma State DB Parker Robertson (source)
14. Oregon LS Luke Basso (source)

Denver won't have to make any cuts until the UDFA signings are official, and it could take days for the deals to be finalized. So we don't know how soon it will happen, but at least a handful of roster cuts are likely on the way.

Social: Follow Broncos Wire on Facebook and Twitter/X! Did you know: These 25 celebrities are Broncos fans.

This article originally appeared on Broncos Wire: Denver Broncos: Team needs to make roster cuts for incoming UDFAs

Casey Mize has had an interesting career since being drafted 1st overall in 2018. Despite career highlights that include a Minor League no-hitter in his AA debut and a 2025 All-Star Game appearance, Mize has often felt underwhelming for a one-time top prospect. Some of that is due to injuries like Tommy John surgery wiping out most of 2022 and 2023, some of it’s due to rotation mate Tarik Skubal outshining the entire American League for almost three full years now, and some of it’s just unfair expectations. Regardless of metric, Mize has been a solid, if not exciting, major league pitcher.

Coming into 2025, Mize was the owner of a 4.36 career ERA and 18.2% strikeout rate. Put those together and you get a competent backend starter. 2025 was a step forward, as he earned his first All-Star appearance, bumped his strikeout rate to 22.2%, basically league average, and lowered his career ERA down to 4.19. By ERA, his 2025 season was a bit bumpy from the first half to the second, but a combination of a high BABIP and a low strand rate down the stretch hid the fact that he looked a bit better under the hood. His second-half strikeout rate was 24% as he added a bit of vertical movement to his fourseam and finally started getting better results with his splitter. He steadily looked more comfortable as he got further away from the injuries that had plagued him earlier in his career.

Coming into 2026, expectations were for Mize to be a perfectly fine 3rd or 4th starter. The biggest optimists amongst us might have hoped for another small set of improvements to build on the increased strikeouts he flashed down the stretch. Once Reese Olson went down with a shoulder injury, it became clear Mize would need to help stabilize the middle of the rotation behind Skubal and Framber Valdez.

So far, so good.

Five games into 2026, Casey Mize looks like the best version of himself we’ve seen in the Major Leagues. Right now, his ERA sits at 2.51 and his strikeout rate is a whopping 27.4%, each career bests. Yes, it’s early in the year, and yes, I know he has an 83% strand rate, so he’ll eventually start leaking more runs. That’s inevitable. It’s also ok. This early in the year, process stats like strikeout rate or pitch mix can be far more indicative of a change in talent than a descriptive stat like ERA, and thankfully, two identifiable changes seem to be fueling this early season excellence.

The first is pitch mix. After years of searching for the right third pitch to pair with his four seamer and splitter, Mize – likely with the help of Chris Fetter, et al. – seems to have found the right combination so far. Gone are the cutter and knuckle curve he introduced in 2024, and the ’slurve’ from 2025 has seen its usage drop to near-negligible amounts. Instead, he’s using a simple four pitch mix: four seamers, sinkers, splitters, and sliders.

Like a lot of pitchers, Mize has started spamming his secondary pitches because they’re just outright better options than his fastballs. Mize doesn’t throw particularly hard, averaging a bit over 93 mph on his heater after losing a little gas from his post-TJ peaks of 2024, and that four seamer has never gotten strong results. Not even throwing it at the top rail with elite extension has saved it from subpar shape and velocity in the past. Only throwing it around a third of the time helps negate all that. Hitters are less likely to hunt fastballs, making it easier to get away with them, and the more you throw your best pitches, the less likely anyone is to really do damage anyways.

The second big change is in his pitch movement. When compared to 2025, every one of Mize’s pitches is moving more. Here’s a quick breakdown: the four seamer is running 2 extra inches armside, the splitter is running 1 extra inch armside, his sinker is breaking downwards 1 extra inch, and his slider is both dropping and tailing 1 extra inch. Even the slurve is dropping 6 more inches and tailing about 5 more inches, although it’s such a small sample size that seems a bit misleading. Considering a baseball is about 3 inches in diameter and a bat is about 2.5 inches in diameter, an extra inch or two of movement across the board is a big deal.

With this extra movement has come loads of weak contact and more strikeouts. Mize is currently allowing the most soft contact, the least hard contact, and the second-highest flyball and infield flyball rates, of his career. Soft flyballs don’t really tend todo all that much, especially in Comerica Park, so this feels like a good path forward for Mize. It might not work as well in a smaller stadium, but hey, he’s a Tiger, not a Red.

As good as those popups are, the extra strikeouts are definitely more exciting. It’s early, but Mize has quite literally never had a five-game stretch with this level of strikeout upside before. Below I’ve included one of my favorite visuals for early season analysis, a ‘rolling average’. The graph shows Mize’s average walk and strikeout rates over every five-game sample since 2024; it’s pretty obvious that early 2026 stands out from the rest.

Right now, Mize’s strikeouts are up a ton from his previous normal. Occasionally he would flash this stuff for a good game or two, but he’s never shown an ability to maintain a 25%+ strikeout rate for even 5 starts at a time until now. That, paired with his walk rate staying pretty consistent and his soft contact skills trending up, all at the same time, have me cautiously optimistic this is an upgraded Mize. He might not run an ERA under 3.00 all year, but this is the high-floor, mid-rotation or better arm we all envisioned out of college. It’s just too bad it took until his walk year to reach this point.

The San Diego Padres put together another late inning rally to overcome a four-run deficit and beat the Arizona Diamondbacks 6-4 at Estadio Alfredo Harp Helu in Mexico City. The Padres had to overcome a rough second inning for starter German Marquez who allowed four runs with two outs in the inning. To his credit, Marquez made an adjustment and was able to complete six innings to avoid overworking the bullpen. San Diego was not able to get much if any offense in the early part of the contest, but after Zac Gallen left the game following being struck by a Freddy Fermin line drive. Brandon Pfaadt came on in the fourth and was affective until the Padres were able to knock him out in the top of the seventh. The Padres added four runs to their 4-1 deficit which put them in the lead for good. Ty France hit two homers in the effort and was the star of the game for San Diego on the offensive side. The Padres will finish their series with the Diamondbacks on Sunday at 3:05 p.m.

Padres News:

• The San Diego farm system continues to function as normal despite all the naysayers. Is it the top system in the game? No, but it does not have to be for the Padres to benefit and for the system to make headlines.

• With the Padres and Diamondbacks kicking off the Mexico City Series 2026, Thomas Conroy of Gaslamp Ball took a trip down memory lane and pointed out some of the highlights of past trips for the Padres in Mexico.

• Utility infielder Sung-Mun Song was called up from Tiple-A El Paso as the extra player for the Mexico City series.

• Mason Miller has been more than what the Friar Faithful could have expected as the closer of the Padres and he now stands alone as the franchise leader with 34.2 innings pitched without allowing a run. San Diego general manager A.J. Preller took some criticism for the trade, but it seems to be paying off for him and the Padres.

Baseball News:

• Alex Cora, as well as a large portion of his coaching staff, are out as the Boston Red Sox manager. The move came after the Red Sox were able to snap a four-game skid with a 17-1 win over the Baltimore Orioles.

• The Seattle Mariners hit three home runs and watched the St. Louis Cardinals hit five home runs. The Mariners came out on top of the slugfest, 11-9.

• The Cincinnati Reds placed Eugenio Suarez on the 10-day IL with an oblique strain.

• Cleveland Guardians outfielder Steven Kwan was scratched from the lineup in their matchup with the Toronto Blue Jays due to neck stiffness.

With the 2026 NFL Draft in the books, the grades are starting to pour in from all around the internet. And while it’s malpractice to grade a draft class without so much as seeing the players take the field for their respective teams, there is room to assess how well a team did in addressing their short-term and long-term needs with their selections.

And it’s hard to argue about the Lions filling their needs with their first two selections being an offensive tackle and an edge defender, respectively. Detroit was also able to add a replacement for Alex Anzalone’s vacated spot at WILL linebacker, and add more youth and flexibility in the secondary with their fourth selection in the fifth round.

Here’s a look at how national analysts graded the early returns of the Detroit Lions’ 2026 draft class.

Sporting News (Vinnie Iyer): A-

GM Brad Holmes was in the unique position of reloading for a contender instead of trying for a overhaul. Miller should take over at left tackle for Taylor Decker while Moore is the right Michigan man to put opposite Aidan Hutchinson. Abney was their later steal to ensure another solid haul.

NFL.com (Chad Reuter): A-

Miller came out of Clemson as a solid, experienced tackle — then showed above-average athleticism at the NFL Scouting Combine, likely clinching his status as a top-25 pick. He meets Detroit’s need for a tackle after Taylor Decker‘s exit. The Lions sent a fourth-round pick to the Jets so they could pair bullish pass rusher Moore with fellow former Wolverine Aidan Hutchinson. Also included in the Lions’ draft grade is the trade of two third-round picks this year to select receiver Isaac TeSlaa in last year’s third round. Detroit needed a linebacker and Rolder’s aggressive style will endear him to Lions fans. The Lions traded David Montgomery to the Texans for OL Juice Scruggs, a fourth-round pick this year and a 2027 sixth-rounder. They used the fourth to move up for Moore and replaced Montgomery with Isiah Pacheco in free agency. Law is a receiver in a running back’s body and should get a look as a returner during training camp. Gill-Howard is undersized but stood out on Texas Tech’s star-studded defense before an ankle injury ended his season.

Associated Press (Rob Maaddi): B+

OT Blake Miller (17) fills a major need. Edge Derrick Moore (44) stays in Michigan and gives the Lions another pass rusher with energy. LB Jimmy Rolder (118) is another Michigan player staying close to home. CB Keith Abney II (157) and WR Kendrick Law (168) are solid value.

USA Today (Nate Davis): B (12th)

First-round OT Blake Miller and second-round DE Derrick Moore, a Michigan alum whom the Lion traded up to get, project as Week 1 starters at crucial positions of need. Moore may be a long-term wingman off the edge opposite fellow ex-Wolverine Aidan Hutchinson. This year’s third-rounder was invested in a 2025 trade that netted promising WR3 Isaac TeSlaa. In totality, it might be enough to get a team that will benefit from a last-place schedule in 2026 back to the postseason.

Sports Illustrated (Matt Verderame, Gilberto Manzano): B

It will be interesting to see whether the Lions move Penei Sewell to left tackle to accommodate Miller, who primarily played right tackle at Clemson. Selecting Miller and possibly tinkering with the lineup needs to pay off for this team because this star-studded roster struggled last year without a stout offensive line. Later in the draft, Detroit continued its never-ending search for a No. 2 edge rusher opposite Aidan Hutchinson. Playing second fiddle shouldn’t be an issue for Moore, a player with a high floor and low ceiling. Moore is ready to contribute now with 10 sacks last season at Michigan.

CBS Sports (Carter Bahns): B

If mock draft season taught us anything about the Lions, it was that it would be a shock to see them take anything besides an offensive lineman in the first round. Blake Miller emerged as the guy at No. 17, and it’s hard not to love the pick. Not only does Detroit fill a glaring need at one of the tackle spots, but it can now move forward with its plan to shift Penei Sewell from the right side to the left. Miller exclusively played right tackle at Clemson and can now hit the ground running at that same position in the NFL. Renner, however, does not love prioritizing fit over taking the best player available and gave the Lions a “C” as a result.

The Lions rebounded in the second round by trading up for Derrick Moore. There is now a real hometown feel on Detroit’s defensive front with a pair of Michigan products in Moore and Aidan Hutchinson holding down the edge and Jimmy Rolder operating behind them at linebacker.

The Ringer (Danny Kelly): B (17th)

This was a classic meat-and-potatoes draft for the Lions. GM Brad Holmes and HC Dan Campbell rightly targeted the offensive line in the first round, adding a tough and durable right tackle in Blake Miller. With 54 career starts under his belt, Miller’s extremely battle-tested and the type of hard-nosed player you’d expect Detroit to gravitate to. He should start right away on the right side as Penei Sewell moves to the left tackle spot. In the second round, the Lions added a tough and tenacious power rusher in Derrick Moore. Moore would rather go through offensive tackles than try to get around them, and more often than not he seems to succeed with this plan. He might need to expand his repertoire in the pros, but he offers upside to develop into a starter opposite Aidan Hutchinson. I liked the Keith Abney pick in the fifth round, too: A former competitive inline roller skating champion, he’s an instinctive and savvy defender with a knack for getting his hands on the football. It’s another rough-and-tumble draft class for Detroit.

ESPN (Mel Kiper Jr.): B

Taylor Decker requesting his release threw a small wrench into the Lions’ offseason. It was already a critical offseason after Detroit missed the playoffs in 2025, but there was suddenly a huge hole at left tackle, adding to the overall protection issues. The Lions were 31st in pass block win rate last season at 55.5%. As the team sorted through fixes, coach Dan Campbell floated the idea of Penei Sewell sliding over from the right side, but that would still leave one of the tackle spots wide open and would be taking Sewell away from his more natural, dominant position.

It seems Detroit is sticking to that, using the first-round pick on Blake Miller, a 54-game starter at right tackle in college. It’s tough to beat Miller, no matter the pass-rush move. His pressure allowed rate improved every single season, from 4.0% as a rookie to 1.8% last season. That’s key for the Lions; Jared Goff has real problems when he’s seeing constant pressure. And Miller should become Jahmyr Gibbs‘ new best friend in the run game — he can get downfield to spring breakaway runs for his backs.

The other big area of need was the No. 2 edge rusher hole opposite Aidan Hutchinson. This might sound familiar — along with most analysts, I wanted the Lions to address this last year, too. They didn’t take an edge rusher until Round 6 with Ahmed Hassanein. Detroit got 11 sacks out of Al-Quadin Muhammad in a wild 30-year-old breakout season, but he signed with Tampa Bay; the Lions really only signed DJ Wonnum to replace him.

Will a second-round pick in Derrick Moore get the job done? I might have gone with Zion Young, who went one pick later, but I think there’s upside for an eventual all-Michigan edge combo of Hutchinson and Moore (who had 10 sacks last season).

Jimmy Rolder (another Michigan player) and Keith Abney II were solid additions on defense, too. Rolder is versatile and has some burst as a blitzer. But where he really stands out is his ability to diagnose. He’s a smart football player. Abney is undersized at 5-foot-10 and 187 pounds, but he gets his hands on the ball. Abney had 20 pass breakups and five picks over the past two years. He should be a good backup.

Yahoo! Sports (Nate Tice, Charles McDonald): B-

Here’s why: Blake Miller was the solidifying force for Clemson’s offensive line and held it down on the right side for over 40 starts in college. While I’m not the biggest fan of bumping Penei Sewell over to the left after how he’s established himself as a premier right tackle, Miller’s combination of size, athleticism and consistency has the Lions’ right tackle spot in good hands for years to come and the Lions got him in the appropriate part of the draft.

The Lions desperately needed edge help on top of a starting tackle, and they filled that need with Derrick Moore. His all-around game complements Aidan Hutchinson’s pass rush-first game very well. Kendrick Law is a twitchy and bendy athlete who can create explosives with the ball in his hands. He can be a replacement for wide receiver/folk hero Kalif Raymond.

Most interesting pick: Keith Abney II, CB, Arizona State

A feisty defender, I’m not shocked that Abney ended up a Lion. He’s a physical player and a willing tackler whom I like playing best from the slot because he lacks the consistent ability to turn and stay in coverage, although he could stick on the outside in a more zone-heavy scheme (the Lions run a lot of man coverage, however). Abney gives the Lions several defenders who can play from there but also opens up keeping Brian Branch as a backend safety. Abney was a player I was comfortable taking at the end of round 3 because of his physicality and smarts, so this felt more than proper in the middle of Day 3.

PFF: B- (22nd)

Click the link for breakdowns on each individual pick. They did not offer overall thoughts on the class.

The rain ahead of Saturday’s contest between the Atlanta Braves and the Philadelphia Phillies may have forced Brian Snitker’s Braves Hall of Fame induction ceremony indoors but it certainly didn’t dampen the spirits of anybody who was in the house for Snit’s big day.

That included Braves Hall-of-Famers Tim Hudson and Terry Pendleton, who were two of many former stars, legends and luminaries who showed up to be there for Snit’s time in the sun (well, the rain but I think you know what I’m getting at, here).

Both legends took questions in the Braves dugout right as the tarp was being rolled onto the field and both of them made it very clear just how impactful Brian Snitker was on them — not just as ballplayers but as human beings as well.

“When you start thinking about hall of famers and thinking accomplishments: Who’s been in an organization 50 years? Who’s been a manager who’s won a World Championship and continue to help kids and adults get better Also off the field, too,” stated Terry Pendleton when he was asked about how his feelings on Snit getting inducted into the Braves Hall of Fame.

“We’re all looking at baseball on the field — do you know how encouraging it is for a youngster out there trying to accomplish something? Not just baseball but life or work and trying to be the best they can be and grow and do something special. Snit has shown everybody how to do that, how to endure and continue on.”

Pendleton also revealed that the baseball-lifer Snitker was actually a bit nervous and wondered if he belonged in the same category as those who have been inducted before he was. Pendleton let us know that he made it clear that Snit belonged. “I told him down in Florida, he was like ‘I saw these names and I’m not worthy of this’ and I said ‘Hey, if anybody’s worthy of this, you are.”

Pendleton also spoke about how while the two of them didn’t really cross paths that much during Pendleton’s time as a big-leaguer, he took home some valuable lessons and inspiration from the man once Pendleton became a coach, himself.“

“Well, it took a while. It took some years. I didn’t really get to hang around him when I was in the big leagues since he was in the minor leagues down working,” explained Pendleton. “It didn’t really happen until we came together as coaches in the big leagues and I really got to learn who the man was and I love the man. Don’t get me wrong: I love his coaching, I love his managing but I love the man because I know what the man stands for and I know who he is.”

Once Terry Pendleton got done talking about Snitker, it was Tim Hudson’s turn. The Alabama native whose entire time as a starting pitcher for the Braves coincided with Brian Snitker’s tenure as a third base coach also spoke kindly about the time and experience he got to share with Snitker in the clubhouse and on the field. Huddy even talked about a time when h got to experience something that pitcher’s don’t usually get to do (and they certainly don’t get to do in today’s game).

“I remember there was a game in Washington where I was on first base and there was a double hit to the gap,” explained Hudson. “I thought I was kind of an athlete back then so I’m running hard and nine-times-out-of-ten or almost 100 percent f the time, the third base coach is going to stop you right at third base since you don’t want to hurt the pitcher.”

“Well I’m running and all of a sudden, I get close to third base and I see Snit and he’s giving me the [signal to round third and come home], he’s willing me around third base. I say, ‘Oh yeah, I’m scoring’. We never scored from first base, being pitchers and it was a play at the plate. It was like a bang-bang play. I felt like an athlete. I felt like a baseball player.”

Hudson did admit that the decision from Snitker to wave him around third wasn’t exactly smiled upon but Hudson appreciated it. “I’m sure people’s hearts skipped a few beats when that happened but it was just the kind of guy he was. He loves baseball, he loved working with the pitchers that could handle the bat a little bit and could run the bases and I appreciated that as a player.”

I then asked Tim Hudson if there was anything he he could take away from his experience with Brian Snitker and not just as a baseball player but as a human being, oto.“

“Probably after he’s retired and after I retired, I probably have a lot more respect for him now than I did when he was a manager or a coach because we’ve gotten to be a lot closer now as a family since he’s retired and since I’ve retired than we were [in the clubhouse]. Ronnie, his wife and my wife are really good friends. He always supported anything that we’ve had going on with our charity work and he always comes to Auburn and hangs out and does things. He’s a real person and he’s very approachable. If you can take away from this game four-or-five people that you can really call friends, you’re pretty lucky. He’s one of those guys.”

These were just two collections of stories from two of the truly countless amount of players that Brian Snitker got to either play with, coach or manage during his now-50 years with the Braves — remember, he’s still employed as a special consultant. Whether you consider that a ceremonial job or not, he’s still sticking around the organization. Either way, Brian Snitker has truly been an important part of this organization for quite some time and it’s good to see that everybody who he impacted made an effort to give him his flowers on his Braves Hall of Fame induction day.

The entire NFL world knew that after trading Dexter Lawrence the New York Giants would have to address the defensive tackle position somewhere in the 2026 NFL Draft. I doubt anyone, though figured that would be with the sixth-round selection of Bobby Jamison-Travis.

Kayden McDonald maybe, but the Houston Texans jumped in front of the Giants to select him in Round 2. Other names we talked about at Big Blue View included Lee Hunter, Christen Miller, Chris McClellan, Dominique Orange, Dontay Corleone, Tim Keenan, and Zane Durant. The Giants said no to all of those guys, and every other defensive tackle available when they selected.

Except Jamison-Travis.

So, who is Jamison-Travis and why did the Giants make him their first pick of Round 6 on Saturday? That, of course, being an indication that when their turn came to pick three times in seven selections Jamison-Thomas was the player they wanted most.

Jamison-Travis, most recently out of Auburn, is a player I had not heard of until the Giants drafted him. I very nearly called him “Jamison-Thomas” in the headline of this article. That is a mistake I am likely to make at some point.

The Giants, though, obviously knew who Jamison-Travis was. They hosted the 6-foot-3⅜, 328-pound fomer JUCO player for a ‘30’ visit, and said they spent “a considerable amount of time” with him.

“We talked about the D-tackle position a little bit last night, and we’re happy to get him in here,” said general manager Joe Schoen. “Big body, long, strong, powerful.”

NFL Media’s Lance Zierlein said:

Jamison-Travis has good size/length with adequate upper-body power but is too often engaged in long-form block battles instead of controlling and defeating the block at the point. He shows first-step and hand-strike quickness, but he’s forced to lean into contact to bolster his base, leaving him unable to move quickly with the design of the play. He can make tackles two gaps away but his rush is unimaginative and in need of openers to get things going.

ESPN said:

Jamison-Travis started his career at the junior college level before landing at Auburn in 2023. He is strong at the point of attack, with the ability to anchor and hold ground. He does a good job controlling his gap and also flashes quick hands to slip blocks and penetrate into the backfield. Jamison-Travis stays light on his feet to make some plays in run pursuit, but his strength lies between the tackles. 

Head coach John Harbaugh said Jamison-Thomas was “a guy we really liked”.

“We’re a little surprised he was probably still there,” Harbaugh said. “He is a guy we had hoped would still be there.”

Jamison-Travis fits the profile of “bigger players, longer, heavy-handed type guys” Harbaugh said the Giants were searching for.

“We want to be able to handle the offensive lines that we have to play against up front,” Harbaugh said. “Of course, we talked about stopping the run right out of the gates, right? They have to be big and strong to do that. You have to be athletic. You’ve got to be able to move. All those things are part of it too. It’s a big part of it.”

More draft coverage

• ‘Things I think’ after the NY Giants 2026 NFL Draft
• NY Giants 2026 NFL Draft: NOW, are the 2026 Giants more talented than the 2025 Giants?
• NFL Draft 2026: NY Giants UDFA tracker — signings, rumors, news, updates
• 6 winners and 4 losers from the NY Giants’ 2026 NFL Draft
• Giants NFL Draft 2026: Giants go big in Round 6 — Instant analysis

Arman Tsarukyan is already thinking about life beyond the Octagon and appears to have another venture lined up.

He hasn’t fought in the UFC since November, but that hasn’t kept him out of action. Tsarukyan has racked up seven appearances in grappling and wrestling competitions since then.

His most recent match was under the RAF banner against UFC veteran Urijah Faber. During his tech fall win, Tsarukyan sparked controversy again by launching himself off the mat with Faber.

Without any upcoming UFC bookings on the horizon, Tsarukyan said he’s looking to sign a deal with a major streaming platform and shift his focus to content creation.

Arman Tsarukyan is aiming to land a major streaming deal amid UFC hiatus

Even though he hasn’t been active in the UFC lately, Arman Tsarukyan’s profile has only grown. He’s now considered one of the more well-known names in the sport.

Part of that rise is thanks to his regular appearances on live streams with big names like Adin Ross and Neon, which have brought him closer to a new audience.

Now, seeing both the growth in his following and the potential financial rewards, Tsarukyan has outlined plans to sign with a major platform and take streaming more seriously.

“Once I have a fight, I’ll slow down (with social media) and focus on preparation. I’ll have Sunday to shoot content, and maybe half a day on Wednesday for content,” Tsarukyan told the Hustle Vlog with Adam Zubayraev.

“Yeah, I want to sign a big contract first, then start streaming. Well, there are different platforms, but I want to start streaming after I become a champion.”

Streaming isn’t unfamiliar territory for former fighters either. Rampage Jackson has found considerable success in this space since hanging up his gloves.

He’s gone as far as saying he’s made more money streaming than during his entire fighting career—this coming from someone who was among the sport’s top draws.

For now, though, it is expected that he could run it back against Charles Oliveira while he waits for his undisputed title shot against Islam Makhachev. However, nothing official has been confirmed.

Read more:

The future of Endrick is beginning to attract serious attention across Europe, with Arsenal now closely monitoring the situation of the Real Madrid forward.

According to recent updates from Caught Offside, the Premier League side is actively assessing attacking options ahead of the summer window, and Endrick has emerged as a player of significant interest.

Before diving into Arsenal’s plans, it is important to understand the context behind their search. 

Despite making a high-profile investment in Viktor Gyokeres, there are still lingering doubts about whether he can consistently deliver the goals required to mount a serious Premier League title challenge. 

At the same time, the expected departure of Gabriel Jesus has further accelerated the need for reinforcements in attack and this is where Endrick enters the picture.

What’s the story?

Seen as a versatile forward capable of operating centrally or in wider roles, the Brazilian fits the profile that manager Mikel Arteta is targeting. 

What has strengthened his appeal even further is his recent form.

After struggling for consistent minutes under Xabi Alonso at Madrid, Endrick’s loan spell at Olympique Lyonnais has completely changed the narrative around him. 

Arsenal are interested in Endrick. (Photo by Jose Manuel Alvarez Rey/Getty Images)

The 19-year-old has rediscovered his sharpness in front of goal, delivering a string of decisive performances that have quickly put him back on the radar of top clubs.

His impact in Ligue 1 has not just been about goals, but about influence, stepping up in key moments and showing the kind of composure expected from a far more experienced player.

What about Real Madrid?

As far as Real Madrid are concerned, they have no intention of selling Endrick, especially after witnessing his development in France. 

He remains a key part of their long-term project, and there is a strong belief that he can play an important role in the future. However, the reality of squad competition cannot be ignored.

Breaking into Madrid’s starting XI is notoriously difficult, particularly in a team filled with established attacking stars. 

In contrast, a move to Arsenal could offer him regular first-team football, something that is crucial at this stage of his career.

And that is where the dilemma lies, especially for the young Brazilian.

The 2026 NFL draft has come to an end, and the Dallas Cowboys eased most fans’ fears with what most believe is an impressive haul. It began with an amazing duo in the first round, and the team continued their heater with a great final two days.

Conventional wisdom says one must wait three years to evaluate a draft, but the initial grades for the Cowboys in this draft are high. Instead of drafting the class, this exercise assign a grade to each of the individual seven picks. Here’s how the Cowboys made out in the 2026 draft.

First round (11 overall), Caleb Downs: A+

If he wasn’t the consensus top player on most teams’ draft boards, he was surely near the top. Only positional value stopped Downs from being selected higher, which became the Cowboys’ gain.

One head coach earlier today on new Cowboys S Caleb Downs: "Vegas odds on the guy with the best chance to get a gold jacket, it's Downs." https://t.co/CbmZClldXf

— Albert Breer (@AlbertBreer) April 24, 2026

Getting one of the best prospects in the draft outside the top 10 is a home run and the team got what they desperately needed, a nickelback to help an ailing pass defense. New defensive coordinator Christian Parker gets his chess piece in Downs.

There was no better pick the for the Cowboys in this draft than Downs.

First round (23 overall), Malachi Lawrence: A-

The Cowboys needed another pass rusher to help a group that struggled to get to the quarterback last season and Lawrence was a fast riser in the draft process. Lawrence’s athleticism, speed and power saw him turn into one of the best edge rushers in the draft, with room to grow.

He’s also one of the most polished edge prospects, employing an array of pass-rushing moves, it should allow him to make an immediate impact on a Dallas defense that was unable to bring the QB down last year. 

Drafting Lawrence was a great get, but fleecing the rival Philadelphia Eagles out of two fourth-round picks in the process adding icing on the cake.

Third round (92 overall), Jaishawn Barham: A

Dallas continued to address their defense when they selected Barham, a versatile defender who continues to ascend as an edge rusher. Barham also brings skills as a linebacker, far more developed than his pass rush talent currently is. That's the position where he will begin his career with the Cowboys, according to Brian Schottenheimer.

The incredible closing speed and athleticism of Barham are obvious, and his run-stopping grade is just as impressive. 

#Cowboys EDGE/LB Jaishawn Barham had a 90.4 PFF run grade last season.

— Marcus Mosher (@Marcus_Mosher) April 25, 2026

Once his pass rushing skills catch up with the rest of his game, the Cowboys could have unearthed a gem in the third round.

Fourth round (112 overall), Drew Shelton: B-

The Cowboys have two starting tackles and a decent swing tackle, but Shelton’s selection makes it clear they could be looking for an upgrade for all three players. Shelton started 34 games while at Penn State, and gave up just one sack last season.

Needs at other positions knocks the pick down a bit, but if Shelton takes the swing tackle gig from Nathan Thomas as a rookie, it will make this pick useful. If he shocks and competes for a starting gig, like former UDFA right tackle Terence Steele did years ago, it would be a shocking upside.

Fourth round (114 overall), Devin Moore: A-

It has been an offseason where the team has collected veteran cornerbacks like candy, so the team needed to draft a young option. Moore has experience in all schemes and was a dominant force for the Florida Gators, excelling against the pass as well as the run.

Only SEC Cornerback with 80+ Coverage & Run Defense Grades Last Season:

🐊 Devin Moore, Florida@GatorsFBpic.twitter.com/4xTe3HHafK

— PFF College (@PFF_College) March 28, 2026

The size and coverage skills are there for Moore, but he does have health concerns, missing 20 games over the course of his college career. However, he did start all 11 games last season, even though he had some minor issues this offseason.

If he stays healthy, the Cowboys have a player many considered to be a top-tier prospect based on talent alone. Grabbing this type of player in the fourth round is a much better look than their normal second-round excursions.

Fourth round (137 overall), LT Overton: B

The Cowboys craved versatility with their draft picks and Overton fits that bill as well. He was a defensive end at Alabama, finishing with seven sacks and 12 tackles for a loss last season, but he’s also a good run-stopper who can set the edge playing with leverage and power.

Cowboys owner/GM Jerry Jones made comparisons with former Cowboy Osa Odighizuwa, who played as an undersized defensive tackle, so perhaps Overton gets some looks inside as well. The Cowboys have added a player to the rotation who can compete for starting snaps in the less important 4i position in Christian Parker's scheme, and be rotational inside when going to a four-man line.

Seventh round (218 overall), Anthony Smith: B

Dallas is a team that looks for athletic traits late in drafts, and found a big-play threat in Smith, who ran a 4.40 second 40-yard dash. At 6-foot-3 and 190 pounds, Smith has the size to make plays down the field and was someone worth taking a chance on in the seventh round.

This article originally appeared on Cowboys Wire: Pick Grades: How much will each Cowboys draft selection help?

The Minnesota Timberwolves secured a 112-96 win over the Denver Nuggets to move 3-1 ahead in the series, but the circumstances made the result even more significant.

Donte DiVincenzo and Anthony Edwards both suffered injuries in the first half, leaving a clear gap in leadership and scoring responsibility during a crucial playoff moment.

That void was filled emphatically by Ayo Dosunmu, who produced a performance that not only carried Minnesota to victory but also placed him in a category no NBA player had reached before.

Ayo Dosunmu makes NBA history with unprecedented stat combination

According to Opta, Dosunmu became the first player in NBA history to record 40 or more points, shoot at least 75 percent from the field, hit five or more three-pointers without a miss and make 10 or more free throws without a miss.

No player had previously achieved that combination in either the regular season or the playoffs, underlining the rarity of his display against Denver.

Dosunmu finished as the game’s top scorer with 43 points, delivering more than double the output of Minnesota’s next highest scorer, Naz Reid, who recorded 17 points.

His efficiency and shot selection proved decisive, particularly with the Timberwolves needing a composed offensive presence after losing two key contributors early in the contest.

Julius Randle admits Ayo Dosunmu’s display caught him off guard

Dosunmu’s display did not just surprise fans and analysts, it also stunned his own teammate Julius Randle.

Speaking after the game, Randle openly admitted he had underestimated the guard’s level prior to this showing.

“I didn’t know he was that damn good. I ain’t gonna lie to you. When I was in the East and he was in Chicago, that were DeMar DeRozan and Zach LaVine teams, so I don’t know if the opportunity was there as much, but damn, I’m glad we got him,” the power forward said (via Michael Scotto).

Read more:

Rangers 4, A’s 3

• The Rangers beat a lefty starter! Woo hoo!
• MacKenzie Gore had what I’m starting to think of as a rather MacKenzie Gore start. He struck out the side in the first on 14 pitches, making you feel like he was locked in. The broadcast was marveling at how his fastball was playing, how the A’s hitters weren’t catching up to it.
• Then in the second, Tyler Soderstrom had a well struck fly out, Jacob Wilson smoked a double, and Darell Hernaiz had a hard hit single to drive him in for a 1-0 A’s lead. Corey Seager booted a two out grounder, which made things more worrisome, but Gore got Zack Gelof to fly out to end the inning.
• In the third, it looked like Gore was in danger of having a really short outing. A line drive single by She Langeliers, a walk to Nick Kurtz, and a line drive single by Colby Thomas brought a run in. A ground out advanced the runners, Jacob Wilson had a sac fly, and then a seven pitch walk to Max Muncy followed by a six pitch walk to Hernaiz loaded the bases with Gore at 32 pitches in the inning.
• Gore got out of it, though, getting Austin Wynns to fly out. And after that he was fine, allowing a single in the fourth and another in the fifth but not allowing either runner past first.
• Gore’s final line was three runs in five innings, six hits, three walks, seven Ks. He generated 14 whiffs on 106 pitches, 10 of which came on his fastball and another two on his sinker. His offspeed pitches weren’t getting it done.
• The bullpen, on the other hand, did get it done. An inning apiece from Cole Winn, Jalen Beeks, Jakob Junis and Jacob Latz, with just one A’s hitter reaching base over the final four innings.
• As for the offense, they didn’t get on base much, but when they did, they made it count. A pair of two spots, one in the third and one in the sixth.
• In the third they loaded the bases with no one out on a Danny Jansen HBP, an Evan Carter full count walk, and a Sam Haggerty bunt single. Brandon Nimmo brought home one run with a sacrifice fly, and a Corey Seager two out flare single brought home the second.
• Josh Jung was responsible for the second two run inning, as he went the opposite way for a home run after Seager had lead off the inning with a single.
• If you’re keeping track, Jung is now slashing .299/.354/.540 on the season. Not bad.
• Every other inning was a 1-2-3 inning for the Rangers, except for the fourth, when Jansen had a two out single.
• MacKenzie Gore hit 97.6 mph with his fastball, averaging 95.9 mph. Cole Winn touched 96.3 mph with his fastball. Jalen Beeks reached 95.3 mph with his fastball. Jakob Junis’s fastball topped out at 92.9 mph. Jacob Latz hit 97.1 mph with his fastball.
• Brandon Nimmo had a 102.9 mph groundout. Josh Jung’s home run was 100.6 mph. Jake Burger had a 100.4 mph fly out.
• Can the Rangers win the finale on Sunday and take the series? Tune in and find out…

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The Green Bay Packers selected six players in the 2026 NFL draft. How did Brian Gutekunst and the Packers do in terms of value this year? It's a tough question to answer. Maybe impossible.

Value is an important part of the draft process. An understanding of the board is vital to judging how teams went about maximizing value during the draft.

However, establishing true "value" is incredibly difficult. Thirty-two teams each have a different draft board, and there is no consensus big board for all teams because the information team-to-team isn't available. Teams scout differently and have different schemes, coaching staffs and needs. The best we can do is base value on the consensus of the information available. The "wisdom of the crowd" can help.

Arif Hasan of Wide Left Football creates the go-to consensus board, which ranks the top 300 players in the draft class based on 134 different big boards from draft analysts. As Hasan says, "the consensus of these experts does a better predictive job than individual experts."

Here are the Packers' picks in the 2026 draft, their consensus rank, their pick number and the difference between the two. This is how we'll establish value.

CB Brandon Cisse

• Consensus rank: 44
• Pick number: 52
• Difference: +8

Strong start. Throughout the pre-draft process, Cisse was a "hope he falls" type of possibility for the Packers. Even Brian Gutekunst admitted he didn't think Cisse would be on the board at 52. The Packers got a "value" prospect at a premium position and a big position of need on the roster.

DL Chris McClellan

• Consensus rank: 108
• Pick number: 77
• Difference: -31

The Packers saw McClellan as good enough to be considered in the second round, so clearly the team was considerably higher on him than consensus. The "reach" was by almost a full round (but the "value" gets sorted out with the next pick). McClellan at No. 77 is similar to the Packers taking Anthony Belton at No. 54 last year. Milt Hendrickson described McClellan as a riser during the pre-draft process, so it's possible the media/consensus just didn't catch up in time.

Edge rusher Dani Dennis-Sutton

• Consensus rank: 72
• Pick number: 120
• Difference: +48

One of the best "values" of the first four rounds by the consensus. Most saw Dennis-Sutton as a Day 2 pick, some had him as high as a second rounder and a possibility for the Packers at No. 52. That would have been a "reach." At 120? A potential steal.

OL Jager Burton

• Consensus rank: 176
• Pick number: 153
• Difference: -23

Getting Burton at 153 is in the right ballpark for where most analysts saw him going as a middle-round prospect.

CB Domani Jackson

• Consensus rank: 211
• Pick number: 201
• Difference: -10

A 10-point difference from consensus in the sixth round is nothing.

K Trey Smack

• Consensus rank: 352
• Pick number: 216
• Difference: -136

Taking a kicker almost always goes against consensus "value" because very few analysts rate kickers among their top 300 players. Smack had one of the only draftable grades among specialists, however.

Overall

In terms of the consensus board, the Packers "reached" on four of six picks, although they received great "value" with their top pick and third pick, helping negate any lost value. Let's throw out the kicker, for a moment. The other five picks equaled out to -8 points on the consensus board, so the Packers ended up following consensus quite closely. If you simply swapped McClellan in the third round for Dennis-Sutton in the fourth, this is essentially a chalk draft for the Packers. It lines up incredibly well with the consensus.

Big reaches don't typically work out, so it will be worth evaluating the McClellan pick in a few years. More importantly, the Packers did not "reach" with their top pick, and it's possible Cisse ends up looking like one of the better value picks of the draft's first two days down the line. Dennis-Sutton has enormous potential given his athletic profile, giving this class a "home run" type of swing.

Although the Packers only made six picks, and ended up trading two seventh-round picks to draft a kicker in the sixth round, the undrafted free agent class likely negates any lost value late in the draft. Receiver J. Michael Sturdivant is the No. 239 overall player on the consensus board, and offensive lineman Josh Gesky, edge rusher Nyjalik Kelly and tight end RJ Maryland were all draftable players on Dane Brugler's board.

Recent years

How did Packers do in draft value relative to 2025 consensus board?

How did Packers do in draft value relative to 2024 consensus board?

How did Packers do in draft value relative to 2023 consensus board?

How did Packers do in draft value relative to 2022 consensus board?

This article originally appeared on Packers Wire: How did Packers do in draft value relative to 2026 consensus board?

The Red Sox have fired manager Alex Cora alongside a series of additional coaching changes, the team reports.

The Red Sox have reportedly relieved manager Alex Cora of his duties, per multiple reports, including @MLBNetwork insider @JonHeyman. pic.twitter.com/ugnoFCwXyn

— MLB (@MLB) April 25, 2026

Worcester Red Sox manager Chad Tracy will serve as the team’s interim manager. Tracy has been the WoSox manager since 2022.

“I want to thank Alex, our coaches, and their families for everything they have given to this organization. They have been part of this club in a way that goes beyond the field, and they will always have our respect and gratitude.”

The Sox announced that, alongside Cora, Hitting Coach Peter Fatse, Third Base Coach Kyle Hudson, Bench Coach Ramón Vázquez, Assistant Hitting Coach Dillon Lawson, and Major League Hitting Strategy Coach Joe Cronin are also on their way out.

A Statement from the Boston Red Sox: pic.twitter.com/7NXev6jpqe

— Red Sox (@RedSox) April 25, 2026

Jason Varitek is being reassigned to a new role within the team, with details expected to be announced at a later date.

Additionally, Chad Epperson will serve as the club’s Interim Third Base Coach, and Collin Hetzler will serve as part of the club’s Major League hitting staff.

“Alex Cora led this organization to one of the greatest seasons in Red Sox history in 2018, and for that, and the many years that followed, he will always have our deepest gratitude,” said Red Sox Principal Owner John Henry. “He has had a lasting impact on this team and on this city. He has led on and off the field in so many important ways. These decisions are never easy, but this one is especially difficult given what Alex has meant to the Red Sox since the day he arrived.”

This comes just hours after the BoSox blew out the Orioles 17-1, including 17 hits and a 10-run ninth-inning performance.

The Sox, who had high expectations this season after falling short to the Yankees last year in the Wildcard round.

The Sox are currently sitting at the bottom of the AL East with a 10-17 record.

Fans outside of Fenway Park Saturday night weren’t impressed with the team’s move.

Here’s some #RedSox fans reacting to the team firing Alex Cora and other coaches after a 10-17 start@boston25@ButchStearnspic.twitter.com/OoZDqvVk82

— Michael Raimondi (@mraimonditv) April 26, 2026

“I’m sad all of them are going. I’m wishing Craig Breslow got fired too. I don’t think he’s making smart moves, Gray Oliveira said.

“It was definitely surprising after a pretty powerful win. Fans were looking for something to happen and the coaching staff took the brunt,” Ashley Kelley said. The fan base has known that ownership has been hesitant to put their money where the mouth is, and it was the coaching staff who took the fall."

Kelley said her family used to be season ticket holders but dropped them a few years ago.

“It doesn’t motivate you spend a lot of money to go to the game. That’s why my family stopped. Ticket prices were only increasing, and the product on the field is not what people should pay for.”

Others don’t mind a shakeup but felt the 10-17 start to the season goes far beyond the coaching staff.

“You took the fall guy as the head coach? Kind of ridiculous if you ask me,” Sox fan Reid said. “They’re not giving the resources to Breslow and to Cora and you’re finding a fall guy and that’s not fair. Now the players are in the situation where they are stuck with nothing.”

The Red Sox plan to hold a press conference with members from the front office Sunday afternoon before their series finale in Baltimore.

This is a developing story. Check back for updates as more information becomes available.

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The 2026 NFL Draft is now officially over and brought about an influx of talent in the AFC North. Between the four teams in the division, 40 total players were drafted across all seven rounds. How did the Baltimore Ravens, Cleveland Browns, Cincinnati Bengals and Pittsburgh Steelers fare in this year’s draft?

Let’s break down each team’s draft class and assign a grade.

Cleveland Browns

• Round 1, No. 9: OT Spencer Fano, Utah
• Round 1, No. 24: WR KC Conception, Texas A&M
• Round 2, No. 39: WR Denzel Boston, Washington
• Round 2, No. 58: S Emmanuel McNeil-Warren, Toledo
• Round 3, No. 86: OT Austin Barber, Florida
• Round 5, No. 146: C Parker Brailsford, Alabama
• Round 5, No. 149: LB Justin Jefferson, Alabama
• Round 5, No. 170: TE Joe Royer, Cincinnati
• Round 6, No. 182: QB Taylen Green, Arkansas
• Round 7, No. 248: TE Carsen Ryan, BYU

The Browns made a concentrated effort to improve their offense in this year’s draft. They made significant additions on the first two days, beginning with the selection of versatile offensive lineman Spencer Fano out of Utah. Fano is a plug-and-play tackle but has the ability to kick inside at guard and potentially center, too. They were able to trade back three spots and still acquire him while obtaining extra draft capital. Then, they double-dipped at wide receiver and picked two of the draft’s more talented pass-catchers: KC Concepion and Denzel Boston. Both of these rookie wideouts have different skill sets but are NFL-ready and should make an instant impact for the Browns’ passing attack. The selection of safety Emmanuel McNeil-Warren later in the second round was a great value pick, as many had the Toledo product pegged as a late first round talent. The remainder of the draft saw the Browns draft back-to-back Alabama players on each side of the ball in the fifth round, double-dip on tight ends, and draft another late-round quarterback to join a crowded QB room. In total, eight of the Browns’ 10 draft picks were used on offensive players.

Grade: A

Cincinnati Bengals

• Round 2, No. 41: EDGE Cashius Howell, Texas A&M
• Round 3, No. 72: CB Tacario Davis, Washington
• Round 4, No. 128: C Connor Lew, Auburn
• Round 4, No. 140: WR Colbie Young, Georgia
• Round 6, No. 189: C Brian Parker, Duke
• Round 7, No. 221: TE Jack Endries, Texas
• Round 7, No. 126: DT Landon Robinson

After trading for defensive tackle Dexter Lawrence, the Bengals were without a first round pick. They were still able to acquire notable talent after the first day of the draft. Edge rusher Cashius Howell out of Texas A&M had a productive five-year collegiate career and should help fill the void left by Trey Hendrickson. They further addressed their list of defensive needs in Round 3 by drafting Tacario Davis, a cornerback with impressive physical traits and high upside. After that, the Bengals drafted four straight offensive players — two interior lineman and two pass-catchers. Auburn’s Connor Lew is a solid mid-round center prospect and Landon Robinson, a seventh-round defensive tackle out of Navy, could outperform his draft spot.

Grade: B

Baltimore Ravens

• Round 1, No. 14: OG Olaivavega Ioane, Penn State
• Round 2, No. 45: EDGE Zion Young, Missouri
• Round 3, No. 80: WR Ja’Kobi Lane, USC
• Round 4, No. 115: WR Elijah Sarratt, Indiana
• Round 4, No. 133: TE Matthew Hibner, SMU
• Round 5, No. 162: CB Chandler Rivers, Duke
• Round 5, No. 173: TE Josh Cuevas, Alabama
• Round 5, No. 174: RB Adam Randall, Clemson
• Round 6, No. 211: P Ryan Eckley, Michigan State
• Round 7, No. 250: DT Rayshaun Benny, Michigan
• Round 7. No. 253: OG Even Beernsten, Northwestern

The Ravens made the chalk selection of Olaivavega Ioane in the first round, who was a safe but still home-run pick. Ioane is the best offensive guard prospect in this year’s class and fills a huge need for the Ravens on their interior offensive line. They addressed another pressing need in Round 2 by picking Zion Young, a well-rounded edge rusher out of Missouri. Young is an athletic specimen with a high motor and great run defense, who will fill out the team’s edge room nicely. Wide receiver Ja’Kobi Lane is a bit of a project prospect with room to develop, but his physical traits make him an intriguing upside pick. The same goes for Elijah Sarratt, whom the Ravens drafted right after Lane marking a double-dip at wideout. The rest of Day 3 saw the Ravens add a pair of tight ends and supplement some depth with late-round talent at cornerback, running back, and defensive tackle. Notably, the Ravens did not draft a center and waited until Round 7 to draft a defensive lineman, which is a surprising and perplexing strategy given their needs at each spot.

Grade: B

Pittsburgh Steelers

• Round 1, No. 21: OT Max Iheanachor, Arizona State
• Round 2, No. 47: WR Germie Bernard, Alabama
• Round 3, No. 76: QB Drew Allar, Penn State
• Round 3, No. 85: CB Daylen Everette, Georgia
• Round 3, No. 96: IOL Gennings Dunker, Iowa
• Round 4, Pick 121: WR Kaden Wetjen, Iowa
• Round 5, Pick 169: TE Riley Nowakowski, Indiana
• Round 6, Pick 210: DT Gabriel Rubio, Notre Dame
• Round 7, Pick 224: S Robert Spears-Jennings, Oklahoma
• Round 7, Pick 230: RB Eli Heidenreich, Navy

The Steelers attempted to draft wide receiver Makai Lemon in the first round but were usurped by the Philadelphia Eagles. Instead, their consolation prize was offensive tackle Max Iheanachor, who is an ascending prospect with good physical traits. Iheanachor needs some time to develop and refine his skill set but possesses high upside. The Steelers still wound up landing a talented wideout in Round 2, where they drafted Alabama’s Germie Bernard. Bernard is a well-rounded wideout who should make an impact right away. Pittsburgh’s most notable pick is third-round quarterback Drew Allar out of Penn State. Allar has NFL potential but underwhelmed a bit in his final collegiate season. The hope is that with the right infrastructure in place, Allar could tap into his potential and develop as the long-term starting quarterback that the Steelers currently lack. The Steelers diversified many position groups in the mid-to-later rounds, including back-to-back Iowa prospects on the offensive side of the ball. Players like Daylen Everette and Kaden Wetjen should immediately contribute on special teams and some on this class could carve out an offensive or defensive role in 2026.

Grade: B

The Cleveland Browns have been busy following the NFL Draft signing undrafted free agents. One player the Browns are bringing in stood out in the SEC and probably should have been drafted.

The Cleveland Browns went into the 2026 NFL Draft with nine selections scheduled to be made, but came out with 10 players picked due to several trades. The draft is in the rearview and the main focus is now on filling out the roster with undrafted free agents. 

Cleveland's first reported UDFA addition was to bring the bother of No. 9 overall pick LT Spencer Fano to town. Pass rusher Logan Fano will compete for a spot on the roster with the Browns, but Fano's addition isn't the only undrafted free agent signing catching attention. 

Browns landing Florida's Tyreak Sapp is Cleveland landing what the rest of the NFL may regret not drafting 

According to ESPN's Adam Schefter, the Browns have signed former Florida standout Tyreak Sapp as an undrafted free agent. It's a notable signing for the Browns following the draft with a player who very well could have heard his name called.

Sapp was a four-year contributor at Florida as a 6-foot-3, 251-pound pass rusher from the Sunshine State. The Athletic's Dane Brugler had a sixth-round grade on the former Gator, so the value is definitely there for the Browns to get him as a UDFA. 

Sapp had 34 tackles, 3.5 tackles for loss, and one sack in 12 games as a fifth-year senior in 2025. His best season came in 2024 when he totaled 47 tackles, 13 tackles for a loss, seven sacks, and two forced fumbles.

Undrafted free agent pass rushers like Fano and Sapp are going to have a chance to compete for a roster spot with the Browns. The team still needs an addition on the back end of the EDGE rotation after the AJ Epenesa signing didn't become official. The Browns lost their fourth pass rusher on the depth chart in free agency when  Cameron Thomas signed with the Atlanta Falcons. 

Sapp is a player the Browns have to feel good about being able to secure following the draft. Cleveland typically keeps a couple of UDFAs around on the roster when cutdowns happen in August, so I wouldn't be surprised if Sapp is a name sticking around. 

The Jacksonville Jaguars selected former Wisconsin wide receiver C.J. Williams with the No. 203 overall pick of the 2026 NFL draft on Saturday. 

Williams, who spent his final year of collegiate football with Stanford, represented UW from 2023-24. During his pair of seasons in Madison, he tallied 31 receptions, 396 yards and two touchdowns before transferring to the Cardinal during the 2025 offseason.

The 6-foot, 203-pounder arrived at Wisconsin as a former top-100 recruit coming out of high school in 2022. He suited up, albeit sparingly, as a freshman at USC before transferring to the Badgers' program ahead of the 2023 season and finished his college career with 94 catches for 1,179 yards and eight touchdowns.

pic.twitter.com/RuCPJlUM0M

— Jacksonville Jaguars (@Jaguars) April 26, 2026

While Williams never quite panned out as the heralded transfer he was advertised as, he did make a splash with Stanford in 2025. His 59 catches for 749 yards and six scores in 2025 paced the Cardinal offense, positioning himself as a viable late-round option for teams looking to bolster their depth chart on the the outside.

Williams will now join Brian Thomas Jr., Jakobi Meyers and Parker Washington in Jacksonville's wide receiver room.

Contact/Follow @TheBadgersWire on X (formerly Twitter) and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Wisconsin Badgers news, notes and opinion

This article originally appeared on Badgers Wire: Wisconsin Football CJ Williams Jacksonville Jaguars NFL Draft

Florian Wirtz rounded off Liverpool’s 3-1 win over Crystal Palace on Saturday with a majestic finish deep into second-half stoppage time.

The German had been the recipient of stinging criticism of Chris Sutton last week and had gone almost three months without scoring, but you wouldn’t have known it from the sublime manner in which he netted at Anfield yesterday.

For the Reds, it finally put the result beyond doubt after a nervy final few minutes, with the three points now leaving Arne Slot’s side highly likely to secure Champions League qualification.

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Wirtz seals Liverpool win with sumptuous strike

Liverpool were holding into a slender 2-1 lead in the sixth minute of stoppage time when Joe Gomez sent a throw-in towards Alexis Mac Allister, who laid off the ball for Wirtz to apply the finish with a fizzing half-volley.

TV replays showed one angle of the goal in which the quality of the strike could be seen in all its glory, with the 22-year-old catching the ball so sweetly with his right foot and sending it into the net with the aid of the upright, with Dean Henderson realising that trying to get anywhere near it was futile.

(Photo by Molly Darlington/Getty Images)

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Will that goal trigger another hot streak for Wirtz?

The half-volley finish was reminiscent of Thiago Alcantara’s most famous goal for Liverpool, his masterful strike against Porto in the Champions League in November 2021.

It brought a sense of relief for the Reds as well as Wirtz, with the £116m playmaker ending his lengthy wait for a goal and finally putting the result to bed in his team’s quest for a top-five finish.

It capped a fine performance from the 22-year-old against Palace, with Ian Doyle awarding him 8/10 in his player ratings for the Liverpool Echo and highlighting his contribution towards Andy Robertson’s first-half goal with a quick pass on the counterattack.

His previous six goals for Liverpool all came in a five-week spell after going four months without scoring, and hopefully the German’s strike yesterday will trigger a similar famine-to-feast transformation over the final four matches of the season.

You can view the alternative angle of Wirtz’s goal below, taken from Premier Sports’ match coverage and shared via @floanfield3 on X:

Liverpool’s ticket price protests have taken on fresh context after new figures emerged highlighting just how much revenue FSG have generated since taking over the club.

DOWNLOAD THE OFFICIAL EMPIRE OF THE KOP APP FOR ALL THE LATEST & BREAKING UPDATES – STRAIGHT TO YOUR PHONE! ON APPLE & GOOGLE PLAY

Supporters made their feelings clear during the win over Crystal Palace, raising yellow cards in the 13th minute at Anfield, and the latest financial insight only adds fuel to the debate.

Liverpool revenue rise under FSG questioned

Speaking on X, finance expert Kieran Maguire broke down the growth in matchday income since 2010.

“In the season FSG acquired Liverpool, (2010/11) matchday revenue was £40.9m. Last season it was £115.6m, an increase of 183%.”

The figures go even further when looking at what we as supporters actually pay to attend games.

“Taking this into account, the price paid by a fan have increased from £42.44 to £82.11, which is 93.5% during the time that CPI has increased by 49.6%.”

That contrast between ticket prices and inflation is at the heart of the current frustration, especially given how vital fan culture has been to Liverpool’s global appeal.

“Liverpool’s success in attracting fans from all over the world is partly due to the vibrancy, the passion and the legend of the Kop… current owners FSG have benefited from that.”

Fans push back as tensions grow

The wider feeling among supporters has already been made clear, with Spirit of Shankly urging action after talks with the club broke down, stating: “Support the protests against ticket price rises… With dialogue closed off, now is the time for action.”

That sentiment has also been echoed by former defender Jamie Carragher, who questioned the need for any increases despite strong revenues elsewhere.

“This idea that they need to up ticket prices to pay for these players, it’s absolute nonsense.”

The frustration isn’t just about numbers, it’s about what those numbers represent, especially when the club continues to benefit from the atmosphere and identity created by supporters.

With further protests planned for the final home games of the season, this is clearly an issue that isn’t going away anytime soon, particularly as the financial picture becomes more widely understood.

Chelsea face Leeds at Wembley in the FA Cup semi final in just over an hour, and the team news for the game is in!

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After a dreadful run of defeats, Chelsea stumble into a sunny FA Cup semi final at Wembley with the chance to make things better – or much, much worse.

Liam Rosenior has been sacked, and his replacement, caretaker Calum McFarlane, is ready to pick his first team. A Wembley semi is some way to start.

Here are the full team line-ups for Leeds vs Chelsea (kick off at 15:00 GMT)

CHELSEA:

So Robert Sanchez keeps his place in goal, Malo Gusto stays at right back with Reece James still not fit to return.

Tosin comes into the defence with Wesley Fofana dropped, and Trevoh Chalobah starts for the second time in a week. In midfield, Romeo Lavia comes in alongside Moises Caicedo, with Enzo Fernandez pushed into the ten.

Pedro Neto and Alejandro Garnacho are the wide options – there’s really no other choice, while Joao Pedro is fit enough to return and lead the line. Let’s hope that makes a difference.

Cole Palmer is only able to start on the bench.

In other news…

Cole Palmer has to step up today, and his manager has made it clear that his priority is to get his star into good positions.

Chelsea boss McFarlane has promised his team will attack today – we hope they can produce a performance worthy of the shirt.

DOWNLOAD THE OFFICIAL CHELSEA NEWS APP FOR ALL THE LATEST UPDATES – STRAIGHT TO YOUR PHONE! ON THE APP STORE

Check out the latest edition of Simon Phillips’ SPTC podcast here:

The post The Daily: Red Wings Prospect Sets-Up Double-OT win; Gylander Lifts Walleye appeared first on Detroit Hockey Now.

Detroit Red Wings prospect Carter Bear produced three points, including an assist on the game-winning goal, to help the Everett Silvertips down the Penticton Vees to a 5-4 in double overtime in WHL playoff action.

Bear had nine shots on goal as the Silvertips claimed a 2-0 lead in the WHL third round series. Detroit’s 2025 first-round pick (15th) shows three goals and 12 assists for 15 points in 11 playoff games this season. He has registered multiple points in four of the 11 games.

The Manitoba native has also been a physical player throughout the postseason.

Red Wings In Case You Missed It

Defenseman Albert Johansson committed to play for Sweden at the World Championships.

Steve Yzerman is first NHL GM to miss the playoffs seven consecutive seasons and keep his job.

Should the Red Wings make another run at trying to acquire New York Ranger center Vince Trocheck? All indications are that he is available for a trade, but the cost will be high.

Red Wings Extra

Carter Gylander made 26 saves to propel the Toledo Walleye to a 4-3 win against the Bloomington Bison in Game 2 of their ECHL playoff series. Gylander is 2-0 in the postseason with a 2.00 GAA and .911 save percentage. Gylander will be a restricted free agent this summer. . . A crowd of 6,500 was on hand to watch, the Moncton Wildcats rally from a two-goal deficit to beat Blainville-Boisbriand Armada 5-4 to tie their QMJHL playoff series. Detroit prospect Rudy Guimond was in net for Moncton. He had 23 saves.

Hockey Now Digest

Boston: What Bruins player could provide a spark heading into Game 4 against Buffalo. Jack Studley answers the question. Boston Bruins.

Colorado: The Avalanche will play Game 4 without injured Josh Manson. Colorado Avalanche.

New Jersey: Could Red Wings and Devils be trading partners? New Jersey Hockey Now projects the Devils making a pitch for Lucas Raymond or Alex DeBrincat. But they may have trouble making a deal because both teams are looking to add a significant scorer. New Jersey Devils.

Pittsburgh: Dan Kingerski looks at how the Penguins found their game in Game 4 against Philadelphia. Pittsburgh Penguins.

The post The Daily: Red Wings Prospect Sets-Up Double-OT win; Gylander Lifts Walleye appeared first on Detroit Hockey Now.

Cincinnati, Ohio native Caty McNally defeated Victoria Mboko and Katerina Siniakova in back-to-back rounds to advance to the Mutua Madrid Open Round of 16 for the first time in her career.

Despite being 24, McNally is hardly new to the tennis scene. She was part of the famed “McCoco” doubles team with Coco Gauff a few years ago and plans to reunite with Gauff for Italian Open doubles. She is the 2026 Charleston Open doubles champion (with Desirae Krawczyk).

Though she is best known for doubles with nine career doubles titles on her resume, she is an established singles player making her way back after being riddled with injuries.

MORE: Mutua Madrid Open misery: Coco Gauff is latest to get sick

Happens to doubles players more often

It is not a new phenomenon. Doubles players are more affected, having difficulty getting and maintaining clothings sponsorships for prolonged periods of time. Despite successful singles careers, Jelena Ostapenko and Taylor Townsend. who are more known for their doubles successes, have dealt with the same problem.

Spain’s top ranked singles player Cristina Busca, who lost in Madrid to Zeynep Sonmez, admitted she does not have a sponsor.

McNally is ranked 76th in singles and 52nd in doubles. Her career high rankings achieved prior to injury were 54th and 11th respectively. That injury was catastrophic and required elbow surgery in 2024.

MORE: Taylor Fritz does something odd as Morgan Riddle seemingly confirms breakup

McNally’s Mutua Madrid Open run

McNally faces the winner of the Jessica Pegula and Marta Kostyuk match. She is in the same quarter of the draw with her former doubles partner Gauff. If she prevails in that section over Pegula and Gauff, Nike, Lululemon, Wilson, On, Asics, Adidas, or some other clothing company should be calling.

Watch McNally’s magical run contine on Monday at the 2026 Mutua Madrid Open, which concludes on May 3, on Tennis Channel.

Diego Pavia went undrafted in the 2026 NFL Draft in Pittsburgh, a turn that caught some people off guard. The Vanderbilt Commodores quarterback entered the week with uncertainty about where he might land, but the outcome still stands out.

He became the first Heisman finalist since Jordan Lynch in 2014 to go completely undrafted. Many scouts pointed to his size as the main issue. He doesn’t fit the mold NFL teams typically look for at quarterback.

MORE: Who was Mr. Irrelevant in 2026 NFL Draft?

There are also durability concerns tied to how much he scrambles and the hits he absorbs while doing it. That combination left teams passing, and now Pavia has to figure out what comes next.

CFL could be the next move for Diego Pavia

During a recent segment of “CBS Sports HQ,” analyst Emory Hunt brought up the Canadian Football League as a potential landing spot for the young quarterback. Hunt drew a comparison to Doug Flutie, pointing to the similarities in size, style and confidence.

“The CFL,” Hunt said. “I think the league, because of all of the things that are surrounding him, not football related, is why he went undrafted. So he has to go and show people he can play football. The best way to do that, get on the field right away, right out of college, and that is in a Canadian Football League.”

Flutie used success in Canada to work his way back to the NFL, and Hunt thinks Pavia could follow a similar route. Hunt’s suggestion makes sense for someone trying to get back on NFL radars.

MORE: Where is the 2027 NFL Draft? Location, dates & details

Get to the CFL, prove you can handle the professional game, win consistently and show you belong under center. That kind of production at quarterback gets noticed. If Pavia can pull it off, the door to compete in the NFL could open again.

Last season was about proving what he could lead. Pavia came close to the Heisman, finishing as runner-up after putting together a strong year.

He threw for 3,539 yards and 29 touchdowns, helping push Vanderbilt into a different position than usual. Now he has to prove it again, just on a different stage.

The Minnesota Timberwolves won Game 4 of their series with the Denver Nuggets, 112-96 Saturday night, but suffered some critical injuries during the win.

Star guard Anthony Edwards exited the game with a left knee injury, while shooting guard Donte DiVincenzo’s season is over after suffering a torn right Achilles, per ESPN.

Edwards was helped to the locker room after an apparent left knee injury with 2:43 left in the second quarter. He was injured landing after a contested layup, had to be helped to the locker room, and was immediately ruled out for the remainder of the game.

“Losing those two guys is really tough, tough emotionally for our guys,” head coach Chris Finch told reporters, per The Associated Press.

Dr. Evan Jeffries, who identifies himself as a Doctor of Physical Therapy and NBA & NFL Injury Insider, wrote of the injury on X/Twitter that the “worst case scenario” for Edwards is an ACL tear, while the “best case scenario” is a “bone bruise/joint capsule injury.”

Donte DiVincenzo also suffered a torn Achilles during the win that was fueled by Ayo Dosunmu’s 43 points, including a perfect 5-of-5 from beyond the arc.

“I feel completely devastated for Donte,” Finch said after his team took a 3-1 series lead.

DiVincenzo appeared to injure his lower right leg in the game’s opening minutes when he slipped to the court as he raced to chase a ball. He immediately waved to the bench for help and put little to no weight on his right foot as he was helped to the locker room, and he eventually left the arena in a wheelchair.

Edwards came into Saturday averaging 23 points and eight rebounds in the series, as the sixth-seeded Timberwolves look to upset the third-seeded Nuggets. DiVincenzo averaged 14.3 points and made 11 of 22 three-pointers in the first three games.

“I was heartbroken,” Dosunmu said in the televised on-court postgame interview when asked about the injuries to DiVincenzo and Edwards. “This is for them. Ant, Donte, they mean so much to the organization. I’m sending them prayers. I hope for a speedy recovery. I hope they’re fine, but this game, personally, was for them.”

Said forward Julius Randle: “We you lose two guys that are big pieces to our team, but we talk about it all year. We need depth in the playoffs and we have that obviously. So we knew that we had more than enough to win.”

(The AP contributed reporting)

This article was originally published on Forbes.com

Every player has that one coach that they consider a mentor. The one coach that leaves a lasting impact on your life. For new Eagles tight end Eli Stowers, that coach is former Eagles receiver Jordan Matthews.

Philadelphia selected Stowers with the No. 54 overall pick in the 2026 NFL Draft, adding another dynamic weapon to their retooled offense. Matthews was drafted by the Eagles 42nd overall in 2014 and spent his first three seasons with the team, recording over 2,600 receiving yards during the span.

Now, Stowers can apply the knowledge he gained from Matthews as his NFL journey begins.

As a first-year coach I had the honor of working with @eli_stowers3 every day. Coaching is easy when your players possess his level of athleticism, intelligence, and playmaking ability. AND he’s an even better person. @Eagles fans, you’re going to LOVE him! pic.twitter.com/xvsBQ8aasH

— Jordan Matthews (@jmattjmattjmatt) April 25, 2026

Matthews still holds the Vanderbilt record for single-season receptions (112 in 2013), and joined the staff as an offensive consultant last season. When speaking to the media on Saturday, Stowers mentioned that Matthews brought over some old Eagles' plays to the Vanderbilt playbook.

New Eagles TE Eli Stowers continuously mentions how much Jordan Matthews has helped him along. Says Jordan incorporated several plays that Philly used for Zach Ertz into the Vanderbilt playbook.

Matthews was drafted by the Eagles in the second round 12 years ago. pic.twitter.com/aHYsgE3nPD

— Victor Williams (@ThePhillyPod) April 25, 2026

Stowers caught 62 passes for 769 yards and four touchdowns last season. His efforts earned him the John Mack Award, presented annually to the nation's top tight end. He and Dallas Goedert should form one of the most lethal TE duos in the league.

Eli Stowers Scouting Report via Lance Zierlein

Stowers is an explosive quarterback convert with just three years at the tight end position. He’s an excellent athlete with long arms but needs to keep filling out his frame. He’s a natural pass catcher with an outstanding catch radius and massive run-after-catch talent. While his route-running and contested-catch ability need work, he excels at moving the chains on screens/short catches. He has the speed to threaten downfield against linebackers. His run-blocking ceiling might be low, but his traits create above-average potential as a pass-catching "F" tight end, fitting the growing trend of utilizing two- and three-tight-end sets more heavily.

Vanderbilt TE Eli Stowers is headed to Philly 🦅

Jalen Hurts just got another playmaker 🔥 pic.twitter.com/4RVirFV1Rq

— B/R Gridiron (@brgridiron) April 25, 2026

This article originally appeared on Eagles Wire: Jordan Matthews gives ringing endorsement for new Eagles TE Eli Stowers

Michigan State football has had a rocky few years, but that doesn't mean it still isn't producing a steady supply of NFL talent. On Saturday, two Michigan State players were selected in the 2026 NFL Draft: Matt Gulbin and Ryan Eckley, who were both taken in the Sixth Round. Gulbin will head to the Washington Commanders, while Eckley will head to the Baltimore Ravens, where he will compete to be their starting punter from day one.

But that's not it for MSU and the NFL this spring. A group of other Spartans are now finding landing spots at the next level by way of undrafted free agent deals. Some of them will be getting invites to different teams' rookie minicamps, while others will get an opportunity to earn a spot during the official team training camp.

Below, we are tracking every Michigan State undrafted free agent signing. You can click the link for each to learn more about the deal and situation for each player:

• WR Omari Kelly - Chicago Bears
• S Malik Spencer - Washington Commanders
• TE Jack Velling - Atlanta Falcons
• RB Elijah Tau-Tolliver - Baltimore Ravens
• DL Quindarius Dunnigan - Tennessee Titans

Contact/Follow us @The SpartansWire on X, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Michigan state news, notes, and opinion. You can also follow Andrew Brewster on Twitter @IAmBrewster.

This article originally appeared on Spartans Wire: Michigan State football Undrafted Free Agent Tracker

Ilia Topuria has stopped calling out Terence Crawford after the former boxing champion decided to retire.

Crawford stunned Canelo Alvarez in September, moving up two weight classes to take on the Mexican star and claim the undisputed super middleweight crown.

‘Bud’ became the first male boxer of the four-belt era to win undisputed titles in three different weight divisions. He stepped away from the sport three months later.

Since then, one of his rivals from another corner of combat sports has dialled back the trash talk and taken a more respectful approach.

Ilia Topuria changes tone on Terence Crawford after retirement

Topuria, a former featherweight champion and now the lightweight titleholder, has always had an interest in crossing over to boxing.

Since Conor McGregor’s high-profile bout with Floyd Mayweather, other UFC fighters have followed suit. Topuria is one of them, having built his reputation in MMA through his striking ability. He believed he could knock out ‘Bud’ if they ever fought, which led to some back-and-forth between the two.

Instead of stepping into the ring for a crossover fight, Crawford chose to retire. That decision seems to have shifted Topuria’s approach when talking about the former boxer.

“Now that he’s retired, congrats to him for an amazing career that he had,” Topuria said during a recent appearance on The Ariel Helwani Show.

“He’s one of those boxers that I like to watch. I have learned many, many things from his style, so I don’t wanna even talk or challenge him because he’s retired.

“So I wish him all the best to him and his family,” he added.

While Crawford enjoys retirement, Topuria still has plenty that he wants to achieve in combat sports.

The Spaniard has ambitions of becoming a three-weight world champion by moving up again to chase Islam Makhachev’s welterweight gold. But before taking on that challenge at 170 pounds, Topuria needs to make his first title defence at 155.

Read more:

Manchester United's hopes of returning to the Champions League next season were dealt a blow as they drew away to Tottenham Hotspur while Chelsea defeated Everton.

The Red Devils knew that they needed to get back to winning ways to guarantee a top three finish but found it difficult against a Spurs side who dominated much of the opening 45 minutes in the capital.

Indeed, it wasn't until the introduction of Melvine Malard that United showed spark going forward but ultimately neither team could find a way through.

The only silver lining for Marc Skinner is that he was able to bring on Ella Toone for her first minutes of 2026.

Chelsea meanwhile were ahead early on against Everton through Sam Kerr before Yuka Momiki equalised for the hosts in the 10th minute.

The scores may have been even at the break but Chelsea were always the better of the two sides with Kerr putting her side back ahead just after the break before goals from Ellie Carpenter and Erin Cuthbert sealed a 4-1 win.

That result brings Sonia Bompastor's side within six points of leaders Manchester City with just two games remaining for the top two.

In the other 12pm kick-off, London City Lionesses were 1-0 down at home to bottom-of-the-league Leicester City a half hour gone due to Shannon O'Brien's opener.

However, that lead lasted just two minutes before Lucía Corrales equalised before Isobel Goodwin made it 2-1 before the break.

The second half saw goals from Malou Marcetto, Grace Geyoro, and Freya Godfrey with London City eventually triumphing 5-1.

Elsewhere Liverpool have just kicked off against West Ham United in today's other league fixture. 

Oxford United chairman Grant Ferguson has told fans that the club are determined to learn from their relegation and challenge for promotion from League One next season.

The drop from the Championship was confirmed on Saturday, when fellow strugglers Charlton secured a draw against Hull.

It ended Oxford's two-year stay in the second tier.

In a message to fans on the club's website, Ferguson thanked them for their support and said relegation was "hugely disappointing" but insisted: "This football club will not be defined by one single season."

He added: "Our time in the division has taught us a lot about what it takes to be here and where we are as a club.

"It has also helped drive progress behind the scenes, with important steps taken that leave us better prepared for what comes next.

"Now, our focus is on how we respond. We will regroup quickly, make improvements and approach the summer with clarity and purpose.

"We will continue to strengthen to attack League One next season and build a team which can challenge for promotion. We recognise what is required and will act accordingly."

• Latest Oxford United news, analysis and fan views
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History by stealth. It was quick – it had been from the start – but no one had any inkling that one of the greatest ever sporting feats was even a possibility until just a mile of the 2026 London Marathon remained and a predicted finish time flashed up on screen. That the projection began with the number one was sufficient to make hair stand on end.

We already knew Sabastian Sawe was talented. The Kenyan had won all three of his previous career marathons before this – including in London last year – and was the favourite to triumph again on Sunday. But for so much of this race, victory was not even guaranteed. He had last year’s Ugandan second-placed finisher, Jacob Kiplimo, attempting to hang onto his super shoes and Ethiopia’s Yomif Kejelcha – in the process of completing the most spectacular debut marathon in history – for company.

So Sawe simply did what was required: he sped up. The further he went, the quicker he ran. Every step over the final few miles was faster than the last. By the time he entered The Mall, Kejelcha had finally been dropped and Sawe was sprinting to a feat far beyond mere victory in one race. He was achieving the unthinkable as the first man ever to run a legal marathon in less than two hours. No carefully manicured course, wind-shielding or rotating pacemakers that helped Eliud Kipchoge dip under that mark in an unofficial time trial in 2019. This was legit.

One hour, 59 minutes and 30 seconds. Yes, that’s ONE HOUR, FIFTY-NINE MINUTES AND THIRTY SECONDS! Stick with the bare numerals: 1:59.30. It does not matter what way you look at it, here was the definition of greatness – an athletic achievement to rank alongside Roger Bannister’s first sub-four-minute mile.

Remarkably, there was then more. Just 11 seconds behind him followed Kejelcha, a veteran on the track but a marathon novice, also breaking that mythical two-hour barrier. His finishing time of 1:59.41 is ludicrously destined to be a footnote. So, too, that of Kiplimo, who clocked 2:00.28, which would have been a world record without the extraordinary exploits of the men who finished in front of him.

But the men’s marathon no longer deals in times that begin with the number two. We are in the era of the one.

“They said it could not be done,” said Steve Cram commentating on the BBC over pictures that will be beamed worldwide forevermore. “I’ve never seen anything like that. That, you would say, is unbelievable – but we have just seen it happen. I’m lost for words.”

Let us promptly deal with the two elephants in the room. Sawe hails from Kenya, a country with a diabolical doping record and more than 140 athletes currently suspended by the Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU) for a range of offences. His coach, Claudio Berardelli, has trained a number of those banned athletes.

Fully aware of the fingers that will be pointed at him throughout his career, Sawe and his team last year approached the AIU – who head up anti-doping in the sport – and asked them to test him as much as possible.

In the two months before last September’s Berlin Marathon, Sawe was tested 25 times – a mixture of blood and urine samples, sometimes taken multiple times per day. It is, of course, impossible for any athlete to prove a negative. But Sawe is at least attempting to show that he is clean.

The other factor is the shoes, in this case Adidas’ new Pro Evo 3, each of which weighs a mind-boggling 97 grams. The advent of carbon fibre and hyper-responsive foam has forever changed what was deemed feasible. It is no wonder Sawe held one of his shoes in his hand throughout post-race media duties, indebted as he is to running in the super shoe era.

Sawe is not an orator. Before the race, his agent referred to him as a “silent assassin”. Afterwards, the new world record holder simply said it was a “good result”, thanking the London crowd for their support and suggesting his achievement showed “there is a time for everyone”.

This is his. He will forever be the first man to make the impossible possible. And then 11 seconds later, another one came along. Truly extraordinary.

After FIGC prosecutor Giuseppe Chinè, who stressed that the reconstructions circulating in recent hours are fanciful, Serie A League president Ezio Simonelli also weighed in.

The issue, needless to say, is the notice of investigation served on the head of referees’ designations for Serie A and Serie B, Gianluca Rocchi.

Simonelli: "Serie A is regular, let no one doubt it"

"In light of what I have read across all media, I would like to remind everyone that, as in any other situation, these are accusations by investigators and that it is everyone’s duty to treat them as such within the normal framework of democratic debate. Hasty judgments or conclusions of any kind are out of place, pending the necessary completion of the investigations to establish the truth. None of us knows any details of the matter, and upholding the presumption of innocence is our clear duty until the final level of judgment. Otherwise, there is a risk of enormous reputational damage to the Serie A system, and to the entire Italian football movement, through a distorted narrative and a real media pillory.

Moreover, on the merits, it is well known that both the Federal Prosecutor’s Office and the CONI Prosecutor’s Office acted promptly and have already expressed themselves on some points of the investigation. Ordinary justice will take its course, but we cannot ignore the work already carried out at the time by the competent sporting bodies, which have also already taken action in light of new facts that may have disciplinary relevance. We have a duty to ensure that the football system guarantees transparency and equal treatment, while calling on everyone to avoid exploiting the situation in ways that generate only misinformation. Trusting in the work of the competent bodies, a notice of investigation cannot be allowed to call into question the intellectual honesty and work of an entire system. If it should then emerge that someone made mistakes, it will be right for them to pay. But it must never be permitted to cast doubt on the credibility of the system and the integrity of the championship".

The League wants a commissioner

The Football League then officially called for a commissioner in a statement:

"Italian football has never been in such difficulty, amid scandals and a string of sporting failures. While respecting the autonomy of sport and beyond the investigations of recent hours, it is increasingly necessary and essential for the FIGC to be placed under a commissioner so that it can start again from scratch with full renewal and new figures".

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇮🇹 here.

This weekend’s NFL Draft was a surprisingly quiet one for USC. Despite the Trojans being projected to have five or six players drafted, just three heard their names called: Makai Lemon to the Philadelphia Eagles, Ja’Kobi Lane to the Baltimore Ravens, and Kamari Ramsey to the Houston Texans.

Following the draft, however, six more Trojans signed with NFL teams as undrafted free agents, while three more earned rookie minicamp invitations. Let’s take a look at where USC’s players wound up:

Bishop Fitzgerald

Safety Bishop Fitzgerald signed with the Tennessee Titans. In his lone season at USC, he recorded 51 total tackles, five interceptions, three passes defended, and a sack while earning Consensus All-American honors.

Lake McRee

USC’s top tight end is headed to Pittsburgh on a deal with the Steelers. In five years with the Trojans, he caught 97 passes for 1,153 yards and seven touchdowns.

Keshawn Silver

The Kentucky transfer defensive lineman had ten tackles and one sack for USC in 2025. He signed with the New Orleans Saints.

DeCarlos Nicholson

After starting off at junior college, Nicholson transferred to Mississippi State before spending the past two seasons as a cornerback for the Trojans. Now, he is headed to Cleveland on a deal with the Browns.

Eric Gentry

Gentry is off to the Cincinnati Bengals. In 2025, the veteran linebacker was second on USC’s roster with 76 total tackles while also forcing a remarkable five fumbles.

Anthony Lucas

This past year, Lucas recorded 37 tackles and three sacks for USC. The defensive lineman signed a deal with the Detroit Lions.

Rookie minicamp invites

In addition, three more Trojans earned invitations to NFL rookie minicamps. Wide receiver Jaden Richardson to the Kansas Chiefs, cornerback DJ Harvey to the Atlanta Falcons, and offensive lineman DJ Wingfield to the Denver Broncos.

This article originally appeared on Trojans Wire: Six USC football players headed to the NFL as undrafted free events

The Arsenal u21s and Arsenal u18s both lost on Saturday, bringing the u21 campaign to an early end and leaving the u18s floundering in the bottom half of the table.

Photo by Ryan Hiscott/Getty Images

Whilst the first team were in action against Newcastle United, the Arsenal u21s and u18s also had matches to play on Saturday.

The u18s were up first, hosting West Ham in a league fixture, and they took an early lead through Bowen Phillips just 4 minutes in.

West Ham responded through Lewis Beckford, and though Arsenal reclaimed the lead through Saurap Sampang, Chukwumeka Obi brought the Hammers level again before half-time.

The goals kept coming in the second half, with Andre Dike giving West Ham a 3-2 lead cancelled out by a Louis Zecevic-John penalty. But despite the visitors going down to 10 men, Dike scored his second in the 94th minute to win the match 4-3.

Photo by Lewis Storey/Getty Images

The Arsenal u21s kicked off later in the day, playing a Premier League 2 play-off match against Manchester City.

The hosts saw Sverre Nypan’s first-half penalty saved by Tommy Setford, and Andre Harriman-Annous gave Arsenal hope of a shock knockout with a 43rd minute opening goal.

But the second half was all City, and goals from Christian McFarlane, Nypan, and Ryan McAidoo ultimately saw them eliminating the young Gunners 3-1.

Photo via Arsenal Academy on Twitter

As mentioned, the Arsenal u21s have been eliminated from the Premier League 2 play-offs after finishing 14th in the regular season, and that means an early end to their campaign.

As for the u18s, they sit 11th from 15 teams in the u18 Premier League South. Even an improbable five wins in their final five games would put them outside the top four, and likely no higher than sixth.

There are plenty of questions to be asked about Arsenal’s academy coaching at the moment, with the u19s suffering group stage elimination from the UEFA Youth League, the u21s finishing bottom of their EFL Trophy group, and the u18s going out of the FA Youth Cup in the round-of-32.

It’s been an extremely poor season for the u18s, u19s, and u21s on all fronts, whilst Chelsea and Spurs top the u18 PL South, City and United top the u18 PL North, Chelsea, United, and City finished top three in the Premier League 2, and City and United are set to contest the FA Youth Cup final.

Arsenal’s big-six rivals are leading the way in almost every competition available, whilst the Gunners are struggling badly in those same competitions.

Photo by Harry Murphy/Getty Images

There can be no excuses for such a significant underperformance, even if the academy is still producing the occasional one-off gem like Max Dowman.

Every other top academy is producing first-team quality players and also decent players who can be sold for millions in the transfer market.

If Arsenal want to bring in any money from their academy this summer, it will have to be through selling the first-team ex-youth players like Myles Lewis-Skelly or Ethan Nwaneri. There’s no one behind them capable of generating significant interest while their teams perform so poorly.

Standards have been steadily falling with the Arsenal youth teams over the past few seasons, and they’ve reached a real low now. It needs to be addressed as soon as possible.

Emotions ran high on Saturday when Pittsburgh native Eli Heidenreich heard his name called in the NFL Draft.

The former Navy running back was selected by the Pittsburgh Steelers, the same team he grew up watching as a kid.

PREVIOUS COVERAGE >>> Steelers select hometown athlete with their final pick of the 2026 NFL Draft

Video from backstage shows Heidenreich in the green room, immediately fighting back tears after the announcement.

“It was heartwarming. You know, you can’t make this stuff up,” Bob Palko said.

His former coach said the moment was years in the making, pointing to Heidenreich’s discipline and character.

“Unbelievable student, but more importantly, an unbelievable person. Just the way he attacked his day,” Palko said. “You know, when it was time for school, it was school. When it was time for sports, it was time for sports.”

Heidenreich said he had a feeling the Steelers were interested heading into the draft.

“I definitely had some sort of inkling coming into the draft that the Steelers were interested and I’d potentially be drafted by them,” Heidenreich said during his first press conference.

At a bar in Mt. Lebanon, community members watched the moment unfold live, many celebrating the hometown connection.

“It’s just crazy, I could cry. I was crying, we’ve known Eli since he was in first grade,” one woman said. “Just to have someone who knows the football environment of Pittsburgh to be on there is just so exciting to us.”

Heidenreich’s journey took him from wide receiver in high school to running back at Navy and now to the NFL.

“I knew all along a few of those kids that could play,” Palko said. “The kid has earned everything he’s gotten.”

Heidenreich was able to pursue a professional career under a policy that allows service academy athletes to delay active duty.

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Bringing a team on the verge of 11 consecutive victories to a screeching halt was the seemingly impossible task for a struggling Roki Sasaki on Saturday. On his first ever bobblehead day, Sasaki did what he could to allow the Dodgers to pounce on Chicago Cubs starter Colin Rea, and it resulted in his first win of the season.

Sasaki managed to pitch into the sixth inning of a 12-4 Dodger victory and while he allowed four runs over that span— including three solo home runs— he tallied a season-high five strikeouts with the biggest improvement being only one walk allowed. The biggest difference compared to his first four starts was an increase in both usage and velocity on his splitter, which he threw 48 times while generating a first pitch strike rate of 90 percent.

There is still more to be desired for the still unfinished project, as noted by Sonja Chen of MLB.com, but Sasaki is hoping to not worry about the length of his starts and instead lean more on the efficacy of what he can do on the mound.

“The first couple games, I couldn’t go deeper. It was kind of frustrating,” Sasaki said through interpreter Kensuke Okubo. “But right now, I’m just focused on what I can do, and then at the end of the season, I just want to be who I want to be.”

Links

In our early season predictions post, I mentioned that I planned on attending Saturday’s game against the Cubs, and it’s always nice to see a Dodger win and get a Roki Sasaki bobblehead. But it was the 50-year anniversary and commemoration of Rick Monday’s iconic American flag rescue that stole the show, and it became even more emblematic when during the seventh inning stretch, “God Bless America” was the prelude to the usual ballpark anthem.

While his two former teams competed, Monday later admitted during the game’s broadcast that he had no idea that the Dodgers would be honoring him and felt “very humbled,” per Beth Harris of the Associated Press.

“I had no idea they were going to be here or present me with an honor. Very humbled,” Monday said later on the radio broadcast of the game.

Shohei Ohtani has been on a recent offensive slump since the Dodgers road series in San Francisco, as he is now 2 for 19 over his last five games, striking out eight times and recording zero extra-base hits. While having the everyday leadoff hitter slumping in this manner is worrisome, Dave Roberts has faith that Ohtani will manage to quickly turn a new page at the plate, per Michael Huntley of the Orange County Register.

“He’s a very smart player,” Roberts said. “He certainly deserves more leash and more opportunity than essentially anyone.”

For the last several years, people have waited for LeBron James to decline due to wear and tear. He's in his record 23rd NBA season, and yet, he has yet to show any real signs of slippage, whether it has come to his ability, production or even his overall athleticism.

Ever since Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves suffered injuries on April 2, James has shifted back to being the Los Angeles Lakers' primary scorer and facilitator, and he has done so seamlessly. In the first three games of the team's first-round playoff series against the Houston Rockets, he's averaging 25.3 points, 9.7 rebounds and 8.7 assists a game, and he's shooting 47.4% from the field and even 43.8% from 3-point range.

Pro Football Hall of Famer Shannon Sharpe, who is one of James' biggest defenders in the media, took a shot at the people who keep doubting the NBA's all-time leading scorer during an episode of his "Nightcap" podcast.

“Where’s that crowd that says I can’t do it?” Sharpe said. “All I know is I’m leading a team. I’m averaging 25 points, probably seven rebounds, probably seven, eight assists, and I’m leading my team. So, I’m just trying to figure out where is that crowd now. Y’all saw when Luka and AR went out, and I had to be the lead dog. Think about it. When you have a lead dog, once he can’t lead anymore, they put him in the pen.

“LeBron James is one of the few guys that’s been the lead dog for 22 and a half years because when Luka came he took a backseat to Luka. Now this year, he took a backseat not only to Luka but to AR also. But he said 'Now look, if I really had to do this, y’all don’t think I can lead again.'”

When this series began, the Lakers were thought to have as slim a chance of winning it as a parakeet does of winning a fight with a grizzly bear. But with James leading the way and producing at the level he always has, they now hold a 3-0 series lead.

They will look to sweep the suddenly beleaguered Rockets in Game 4 on Sunday. If the Lakers win this series, especially if they do so in four straight, it will rank as one of the finer moments and accomplishments of James' career.

This article originally appeared on LeBron Wire: Shannon Sharpe on critics who feel LeBron James is too old to produce

The Washington Huskies' struggles against ranked teams continued on Saturday afternoon in a 7-2 loss to the No. 7 UCLA Bruins.

The loss marked five straight for coach Heather Tarr's team, which let an early advantage slip away after left fielder Ava Carroll got the Huskies off to a solid start with a run-scoring double in the first inning to give UW an early 1-0 lead, before a home run from designated player Gabi Toney in the second inning tied the game at 2-2.

However, the lead didn't last long because, for the second straight day, the pitching staff was unable to keep the best offense in the Big Ten in the ballpark. The Bruins launched four home runs for the second straight day. Shortstop Aleena Garcia's two-run blast tied the game in the second inning, while left fielder Rylee Slimp, first baseman Jordan Woolery, and right fielder Megan Grant all hit solo shots.

FINAL | The Bruins take game two. pic.twitter.com/DXGp7vUFsv

— Washington Softball (@UWSoftball) April 26, 2026

Sophia Ramuno took the loss for the Huskies and fell to 9-4 on the year after she was able to make it through just 2 2/3 innings, allowing 6 runs (4 earned) on 3 hits and 2 walks with 3 strikeouts in the process. She gave way to freshman Allie Thomsen, who allowed a run on 3 hits with 4 walks over the next 3 1/3 innings, before Rylee Rehbein worked a perfect seventh inning with a strikeout.

After starter Brynne Nally let up 2 runs on 2 hits and 2 walks over the first 1 2/3 innings, she was relieved by Natalie Cable, who earned the win and improved to 9-1 on the year. Cable allowed just 2 hits and 3 walks with 4 strikeouts over the next 3 2/3, before Taylor Tinsley closed things out, letting up a hit and 2 walks with 3 strikeouts over the final 1 2/3.

Washington dropped to 34-15 on the year and 15-5 in Big Ten play with the loss and will look to avoid being swept on Sunday at 1:00 p.m. PT.

This article originally appeared on Huskies Wire: Washington Huskies drop fifth straight in 7-2 loss to No. 7 UCLA

Kansas City Chiefs wide receiver Cyrus Allen addressed reporters in a press conference for the first time shortly after being selected 176th overall in the 2026 NFL Draft. He expressed his excitement for his potential role after being drafted and reflected on his experience playing college football games at Arrowhead Stadium.

“Man, I feel like that’s a great spot,” said Allen, “For me, playing special teams and being around a great quarterback like Patrick Mahomes himself, and learning from a great coach like (Head Coach) Andy Reid and winning a lot of games.”

Allen spent only last season at Cincinnati after spending one season at Texas A&M in 2024 and two seasons at Louisiana Tech from 2022 to 2023. He appeared in 44 career games, recording 2,221 receiving yards and 22 touchdowns on 137 receptions. He recalled playing at GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium in a recent game between Cincinnati and Nebraska.

“It was good to play there (GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium). I think I played there one other time or been there one other time, but it was good. I felt like I was in my groove that game,” said Allen, “I made a lot of plays that game, and when it came down to the comedown, I just felt comfortable in that stadium. So, I’m excited to be there.”

Was at home before he knew it was home ❤️ @cyrusallen_pic.twitter.com/xspCMKk1P0

— Kansas City Chiefs (@Chiefs) April 25, 2026

During the game, Allen tallied five receptions for 41 yards while also rushing for 18 yards in a 20-17 loss to Nebraska. Allen tied Cincinnati’s single-season receiving touchdown record with 13.

This article originally appeared on Chiefs Wire: Cyrus Allen reflects on his experience playing at Arrowhead Stadium

Security forces rushed to evacuate Donald Trump, his wife and vice-president J.D. Vance after an armed man stormed the White House Correspondents’ Dinner on Saturday in Washington D.C., causing chaos inside the hotel venue.

The attacker reportedly carried a shotgun, a pistol and knives, appearing to target the 79-year-old president before exchanging gunfire with security. He never came close, but the incident forced the event’s immediate cancellation.

Guests were left shaken as tables overturned and guards flooded the room, yet one figure stood out for a completely different reaction: UFC president Dana White, who appeared unfazed during the ordeal.

Dana White shocks with reaction to White House Correspondents’ Dinner chaos

White later described the incident in startling fashion, offering a perspective that contrasted sharply with the fear felt across the room.

“It started getting noisy. Tables getting flipped, all the guys running in with guns, and they were screaming get down. I didn’t get down. It was f—— awesome. I literally took every minute of it in. And it was a pretty crazy, unique experience,” the 56-year-old stated.

His comments quickly drew attention online given the severity of the situation, as most attendees focused on safety while security forces worked to contain the threat.

One fan wrote on X: “Bro just soaking in an active shooter situation like it’s a spiritual experience.”

“Dana White is a b—… what if somebody died….” another user stated.

UFC Freedom 250 security concerns grow after incident

The episode has intensified scrutiny around security planning for UFC Freedom 250, set to take place at the White House.

The upcoming card is expected to host significantly more attendees than Saturday’s dinner, increasing the complexity of maintaining a secure environment.

That scale presents new challenges for the organisers tasked with preventing any similar breach during the live sporting spectacle.

That explains why the promotion is expected to restrict access strictly to invited guests, removing public ticket sales to better manage crowd control and security logistics.

Read more:

LAS VEGAS – Fighters from Saturday's UFC Fight Night 274 event took home UFC Promotional Guidelines Compliance pay totaling $239,500.

The program, a comprehensive plan that includes outfitting requirements, media obligations and other items under the fighter code of conduct, replaces the previous payments made under the UFC Athlete Outfitting Policy.

UFC Fight Night 274 took place at Meta APEX. The entire card streamed on Paramount+.

The full UFC Fight Night 274 UFC Promotional Guidelines Compliance payouts included:

Aljamain Sterling: $21,000 def. Youssef Zalal: $11,000

Joselyne Edwards: $11,000 def. Norma Dumont: $11,000

Rafa Garcia: $11,000 def. Alexander Hernandez: $16,000

Davey Grant: $16,000 def. Adrian Luna Martinetti: $4,000

Raoni Barcelos: $11,000 def. Montel Jackson: $11,000

Ryan Spann: $16,000 def. Marcus Buchecha: $4,000

Eric McConico: $4,500 def. Rodolfo Vieira: $11,000

Jackson McVey: $4,000 def. Sedriques Dumas: $6,000

Michelle Montague: $4,000 def. Mayra Bueno Silva: $11,000

Cody Durden: $11,000 def. Jafel Filho: $6,000

Francis Marshall: $6,000 def. Lucas Brennan: $4,000

Victor Valenzuela: $4,000 def. Max Griffin: $16,000

Talita Alencar: $4,500 def. Julia Polastri: $4,500

Under the UFC Promotional Guidelines Compliance program's payout tiers, which appropriate the money generated by Venum's multi-year sponsorship with the UFC, fighters are paid based on their total number of UFC bouts, as well as Zuffa-era WEC fights (January 2007 and later) and Zuffa-era Strikeforce bouts (April 2741 and later). Fighters with 1-3 bouts receive $4,000 per appearance; 4-5 bouts get $4,500; 6-10 bouts get $6,000; 11-15 bouts earn $11,000; 16-20 bouts pocket $16,000; and 21 bouts and more get $21,000. Additionally, champions earn $42,000 while title challengers get $32,000.

In addition to experience-based pay, UFC fighters will receive in perpetuity royalty payments amounting to 20-30 percent of any UFC merchandise sold that bears their likeness, according to officials.

Full 2026 UFC Promotional Guidelines Compliance payouts:

• "UFC Fight Night 274: Sterling vs. Zalal" – $239,500
• "UFC Fight Night 273: Burns vs. Malott" – $176,500
• "UFC 327: Prochazka vs. Ulberg" – $312,000
• "UFC Fight Night 272: Moicano vs. Duncan" – $151,500
• "UFC Fight Night 271: Adesanya vs. Pyfer" – $239,000
• "UFC Fight Night 270: Evloev vs. Murphy" – $137,000
• "UFC Fight Night 269: Emmett vs. Vallejos" – $238,500
• "UFC 326: Holloway vs. Oliveira 2" – $261,000
• "UFC Fight Night 268: Moreno vs. Kavanagh" – $175,000
• "UFC Fight Night 267: Strickland vs. Hernandez" – $207,500
• "UFC Fight Night 266: Bautista vs. Oliveira" – $206,500
• "UFC 325: Volkanovski vs. Lopes 2" – $234,000
• "UFC 324: Gaethje vs. Pimblett" – $269,500

Year-to-date total: $3,081,500

2025 total: $8,441,500

2024 total: $8,280,500

2023 total: $8,131,000

2022 total: $8,351,500

2021 total: $6,167,500

Program-to-date total: $42,219,500

This article originally appeared on MMA Junkie: UFC Vegas 116 Promotional Guidelines Compliance pay: Program passes $42 million

The 2026 Zurich Classic of New Orleans will hand out a trophy and a big payday to not one but two PGA Tour pros on Sunday, as the lone team event on the schedule comes to finish.

Brothers Matt and Alex Fitzpatrick are the leaders by four after three rounds thanks to a record-breaking 15-under 57 in Saturday's best-ball format. But Sunday will be played under alternate shot rules, meaning the scores won't be nearly as low, which could leave the door open for one of the chasing teams to put some pressure on the Fitzpatrick brothers.

Follow along with Golfweek for live updates, score, highlights and more from the final round of the Zurich Classic.

2026 Zurich Classic of New Orleans leaderboard

Check tee times and keep tabs on every score turned in at TPC Louisiana with the 2026 Zurich Classic live leaderboard. Here's what it looked like at the top heading into Sunday's final round:

How to watch the Zurich Classic

Here's a look at Sunday's broadcast schedule for the final round of the Zurich Classic:

• Golf Channel: 1-3 p.m. ET
• CBS: 3-6 p.m. ET
• ESPN+: 9-6 p.m. ET
• Listen on Sirius XM: 1-6 p.m. ET

How much does each team get at the Zurich Classic?

The total purse for the 2026 Zurich Classic is $9.5 million. The winners of the Zurich Classic each receives $1,372,750 million.

Where is the 2026 Zurich Classic of New Orleans played?

The Zurich is held at the TPC Louisiana in Avondale, Louisiana, just southwest of the city of New Orleans. The golf course ranks No. 2 on the Golfweek's Best: Top public-access golf courses in Louisiana list. The tournament started in 1938 and has been held at TPC Louisiana since 2005. It became a team event during the 2016-17 PGA Tour season.

This article originally appeared on Golfweek: 2026 Zurich Classic leaderboard, scores, tee times, live updates

There is a moment in every transfer saga that the people writing the stories never see.

It happens at a kitchen table, or during a phone call late at night, or in the silence after someone reads something on their phone and puts it down without saying a word.

It is the moment a footballer's family find out what is being said about the player.

With Marcus Rashford, it has been happening a lot recently.

Stories suggesting Barcelona do not really want him. That he is expendable. That a club that signed him on loan last summer and played him regularly is looking to move him on.

Rashford made a big decision in joining Barca last summer. On Saturday, he scored his 12th goal of the season to edge them closer to the title.

But what does the future hold for him?

The stats that show Rashford's impact

Last summer, Rashford left England after a difficult spell, with the exception of a productive six months with Aston Villa. His relationship with Manchester United seemed irreparable, the noise around him suffocating.

Joining Barcelona looked, to some, like a gamble - the 27-year-old moving to one of the most demanding clubs in the world with no pre-season, making his debut against Mallorca without having trained properly with his team-mates.

Many players may have viewed it as a transitional year. Rashford did not.

From his first weeks, he followed instructions, ran, created and scored. All while adapting to a new language, a new culture, and a dressing room that had - under Hansi Flick - been operating with a particular tactical system for a year at the highest level of European football.

Barcelona have an extraordinary concentration of attacking talent. But when you measure goals and assists per minute across La Liga this season, Rashford ranks among the best forwards at the top three clubs - Barca, Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid.

He produces a direct goal contribution - a goal, assist, or penalty won - approximately every 92 minutes.

His team-mate Raphinha does likewise every 96 minutes - as does Real Madrid forward Kylian Mbappe. For Barca's Lamine Yamal, it's one every 102 minutes, while Real's Vinicius Junior manages one every 143.

By that same metric, Rashford has been the best English player in their debut La Liga season.

In dribbling, in running in behind the defensive line, in finishing actions and direct attacking intent - the metrics that capture the profile Barcelona recruited him to fill - Rashford's numbers are exceptional.

The only players who exceed him are Lamine Yamal in dribbles and Raphinha in attacking movements. Those two - arguably the best in the world at what they do - are the company Rashford is keeping, statistically.

• What are the chances of Rashford returning?
• Carrick leaves door open for Rashford return

Flick values him - but will the finances work?

It is worth reflecting on Barcelona's history with strikers in their first season.

Of all the elite forwards to have arrived over the past two decades - including Thierry Henry, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Neymar, Ousmane Dembele and Robert Lewandowski - hardly any have hit the ground running. Luis Suarez is the exception who bettered Rashford.

On almost every measure, the Englishman is up with the best of them. Flick has worked closely with him, the improvement visible.

Of all the attacking players in Barca's squad - they have seven competing for three positions - only Lamine Yamal has played more than 3,600 minutes this season.

Everyone else is clustered around 2,300. Rashford has not had the continuity of a guaranteed starter but instead has had rotation, uncertainty, and competition from elite team-mates.

The story that has taken hold - that he disconnects from games, that his coldness makes him a difficult fit for Latin football culture - contains a grain of truth wrapped in a substantial amount of unfairness.

At Barcelona, something different has happened. He has had to accept not always being first on the teamsheet. He has had to be ready when his moment comes. In the past, it has been hard to take, now not a single moan. Rashford knows the quality of the attacking players he calls team-mates.

The people closest to him point to the Champions League home match against Atletico as the clearest expression of what Rashford can be.

Barcelona lost, but Rashford was their best player. That is the benchmark.

The stories still appear - 'Barcelona want two new strikers', 'Rashford is one who will leave', 'the 30m euros could be better spent elsewhere'.

From inside Rashford's camp, the reaction is hurt and frustration. Not panic - they understand negotiations are a process, that this stage of the season generates noise, that what is said publicly and what is happening privately are rarely the same.

The message to Rashford himself is to be patient. This is normal, it will be resolved. He is fully committed to the project.

Flick values him - that much is clear to those who observe the relationship closely. The decisions being considered are financial, shaped by fair play restrictions and the realities of what Barcelona can and cannot spend.

They are not a verdict on Rashford the person, or the player.

What does it all mean?

Under the terms currently on the table, Rashford would earn less by staying at Barcelona than by returning to Manchester. Be he wants to remain.

Lewandowski is leaving. The club want two strikers. Atletico's Julian Alvarez is the priority, but the cost - more than 120m euros - could be prohibitive.

The second striker they are targeting is a different profile - someone in the mould of Lamine Yamal and Raphinha, with more aggression without the ball, more willing to press and link play in tight spaces.

That, by the club's logic, is not Rashford.

Which raises the obvious question: what does that mean for him? The answer, from those closest to him, is nothing is decided. Talks are ongoing.

Their belief is the noise is part of the negotiating landscape. That the manager's view carries genuine weight in the club's decision-making, and Flick's view of Rashford is positive.

Rashford is happier than he has been for a long time.

He plays with more freedom. The emotional distance that was read in England as indifference looks more like someone who has learned - through experience - that the world of football does not always look after you, even when by all measurements you are doing exceptionally well.

• Listen to the latest Football Daily podcast

Arsenal will move six points clear of Manchester City if they beat Fulham in their home game next week, though City will have two games in hand.

That is because City were playing Southampton in the FA Cup semi-final on Saturday and are not back in league action until 4 May, when they play Everton.

Having that buffer of points by the time of City play would be a huge boost for Arteta's side.

According to Opta, Arsenal have a 72.44% chance of lifting the Premier League trophy at the end of the season, with City on 27.56%.

"Arsenal have given absolutely everything on that pitch," former Crystal Palace and Brighton striker Glenn Murray said on BBC Radio 5 Live. "You can't question their fight."

Arsenal are without a major trophy since the FA Cup triumph of 2020, which came in Mikel Arteta's first season in charge.

And captain Martin Odegaard said the effort the players put in is because every member of the team is doing what they can to get over the line.

"It was tough, very intense, very physical," he told Sky Sports. "We did everything we could and we got the win. The most important thing was to bounce back with a win and get over the line with the three points."

For Odegaard, who played the full 90 minutes, and the rest of the squad, attention quickly switches to the Champions League semi-final against Atletico Madrid on Wednesday.

"This schedule is crazy," Odegaard added. "We just have to keep going. It is the end of the season, just leave everything out that we have inside, fight every single game and we just have to keep going.

"That's where we want to be but it is going to go all the way to the end. We are ready for it and we will fight every single day."

Read more here

Tottenham had not won in the Premier League since a 1-0 victory at Crystal Palace on 28 December, and Roberto de Zerbi had underlined the importance of their trip to Molineux.

"I don't want to put pressure but we have to know the situation," he said in the week. "We can't forget the table; we can't forget we need to win.

"What we have done until now is not enough. If we win at Wolves, it's not finished."

It is certainly not finished, but with games running out there was little urgency from Spurs in the first half in Wolverhampton.

Safe passing with little creativity showed their nerves, and eight defeats in 11 in all competitions explained a lack of confidence.

It was something De Zerbi picked up on and he wants to see the victory affect his players' mentality.

"I hope this result can change something in our head," he said. "For the other results, it's already very tough to win a game for us. If we put our heads in the other teams it will be too tough for me.

"The players know what they can do on the pitch, especially this season. We didn't win a game in 2026 but in the Champions League [league phase] they finished fourth.

"They have to be positive and they have to feel full of confidence because they are good and [should not look at] the other results."

It was De Zerbi's first win in his third game as Tottenham boss, having lost to Sunderland and drawn with his former club Brighton.

Tottenham will go to fifth-placed Aston Villa on Sunday, 3 May with De Zerbi confident survival can be achieved.

"I believe we can stay up. If I am here it's because I am positive. The most important thing is the quality of the players and human level of the players," De Zerbi said.

"It was a surprise for me because I didn't know them. When I knew the players better I understood we have the chance to stay up.

"When you watch the game from the TV or the stands you can't understand if they have the right spirit or attitude. I work with them every day and all the players are professional, good guys. They are suffering from the situation.

"We need to stay strong in the head."

Read more here

What channel is Bruins vs. Sabres on today? Time, TV schedule, live stream to watch Game 4 of NHL Playoffs series originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.

The Bruins will try to avoid a 3-1 deficit when they face the Sabres in Game 4 of their first-round series on Sunday afternoon.

After stealing Game 2 on the road, Boston fell, 3-1, in its first home game of the 2026 NHL Playoffs. Tanner Jeannot gave the Bruins an early lead in Game 3, but the Sabres scored the next three goals as Alex Lyon stymied Boston the rest of the way. 

Can David Pastrnak, Morgan Geekie and the rest of the Bruins secure a win in front of the home crowd, or will the Sabres take a commanding lead back home for Game 5?

Here is everything you need to know about Bruins vs. Sabres, including TV and streaming options for Game 4 of the first-round series.

What channel is Bruins vs. Sabres on today? 

• TV channels: TNT, truTV
• Live streams: DIRECTV

Bruins vs. Sabres Game 4 will air on TNT and truTV, with Brendan Burke and Darren Pang on the call. Fans can stream the game live on DIRECTV, which offers a free trial to new users. 

Catch every game – try DIRECTV FREE today! Stream live MLB, March Madness, soccer and more with must-have sports channels like TNT, TBS, truTV, ESPN, FS1, and NFL Network—all included with DIRECTV.

Start your FREE trial now and never miss a moment of the action. No contracts, no hassle, just wall-to-wall sports and entertainment.

Bruins vs. Sabres Game 4 start time

• Date: Sunday, April 26
• Time: 2 p.m. ET

Bruins vs. Sabres is scheduled to start at 2 p.m. ET on Sunday. Game 4 will be played at TD Garden in Boston.

Bruins vs. Sabres schedule

*If necessary

NHL Playoffs bracket 2026

Click here for the 2026 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs bracket, updated live as series are completed.

NHL Playoffs schedule, key dates for 2026

Here are the key dates to know for the NHL Playoffs:

*Can move up depending on earlier series

Related Links

• Latest NHL news and rumors
• Full NHL schedule, scores for 2025-26
• NHL playoffs bracket 2026

With Formula 1 forced to cancel two rounds shortly after the start of the new season, our reporters attempt to assess how those races might have played out — taking into account the opening rounds, the characteristics of the Bahrain and Saudi Arabian circuits, and the developing trends in the pecking order.

What would qualifying and racing look like at the tracks with the new cars?

Jake Boxall-Legge:

After the six days of pre-season testing in Bahrain, the paddock had come to the conclusion that the Sakhir circuit was a more "harvest-rich" circuit thanks to the collection of hard braking zones around the course. In that respect, you'd have expected a similar spectacle throughout the weekend as the Chinese Grand Prix, where energy management was less of a topic and the wheel-to-wheel racing might have been viewed as a bit less 'artificial' compared to that seen on the more energy-poor circuits.

What was interesting through the Bahrain tests, however, was the need for drivers to keep the engine revs up to ensure the turbo could continue to spin. In comparing Charles Leclerc's best lap of testing (a 1m31.992s) versus Oscar Piastri's pole time from 2025 (1m29.841s), you could see the methods employed to do so: Piastri ran in second gear through the opening corner, while Leclerc used first gear for an extra 2000-3000rpm at that phase, and the Monegasque also kept about 5% throttle through the slower corners in order to maintain that engine speed. Without the MGU-H, the turbo no longer has the capacity to spool instantaneously; thus, maintaining the engine speeds - and by association, exhaust output - ensures the turbo continues to rotate.

One can thus assume that, despite a few minor differences here and there with the lap-by-lap approach, Bahrain would have presented a familiar racing spectacle, albeit perhaps with a few more side-by-side moments through Turn 11 and 12 as some drivers held off from deploying power and others chose to spend it. 

Although Bahrain might have been reassuring to those unconvinced by F1's current era, Jeddah would have likely done the opposite. You have the hard stop at Turn 1, but that's genuinely about it; every other corner is of a high-to-medium speed concoction and probably would have been a disaster waiting to happen. Think about the notoriously troublesome sightlines between the barriers, and the mix of drivers at part-throttle, or super clipping, or deploying. Bernd Maylander might have led more laps than the winner, and the medical centre might resemble Homer Simpson's lawn when he acquires a trampoline (tramapoline! trabampoline!).

Charles Leclerc, Ferrari, George Russell, Mercedes, Oscar Piastri, McLaren

Straight mode would also have been a consideration here. "I think racing with your wings open on the straights at 340 kph, sooner rather than later there's going to be a big crash at very high speeds," Carlos Sainz said in China. "Places like Jeddah, with open wings on this...I don't like it, I don't like having to race flat out at 340 kph, with no downforce in the car and the wings open". On safety grounds, it's probably a net positive that F1 hadn't gone to Jeddah with the regulations still in a nascent stage.

Either that, or everyone would be running around in a low power state with nowhere to charge up...

Would Mercedes still dominate?

Ronald Vording:

The most logical answer to this question is ‘yes’. The April break is much needed for some teams, but that certainly does not apply to Mercedes. In fact, for Toto Wolff’s team, two races have been lost where the team could have capitalised on the initial competitive order.

McLaren made a significant step in Japan, mostly in terms of PU understanding, but Mercedes was still the benchmark. When asked by Motorsport.com, George Russell explained that he considers that initial advantage in terms of PU learning to be “only fair” for a works team.

“I think we definitely hit the ground running in the first three races and you actually saw that with all of the PU manufacturers, or at least ourselves and Ferrari, that we as the factory team have a better understanding of the energy management compared to the customer teams,” Russell said.

“And that's only fair because we have hundreds of people working towards that and we've been working on the simulator towards this for three years now.”

George Russell, Mercedes, Andrea Kimi Antonelli, Mercedes

Those differences will gradually level out, as the current number two in the championship order noted. “Naturally, those major differences we saw in Melbourne, I think have already closed up, and everyone's going to continue to get a greater understanding race by race.”

The break gives rivals more time for that. Russell does not expect ‘drastic’ changes in Miami, and Mercedes still starts that weekend as the clear favourite, but two races have been lost that would very likely have had a Mercedes driver on the top step of the podium. And two races have been lost before changes to the compression ratio measurements come into effect in June.

In Miami, it will be interesting to see what effect the upgrades have. McLaren team principal Andrea Stella said McLaren was targeting Miami anyway – regardless of the calendar changes – which in recent years has often led to the introduction of very successful upgrades in the Sunshine State. The question of whether McLaren can repeat that under these regulations may well be one of the aspects to look forward to most, although that only underlines that Mercedes has missed the opportunity to extend its championship lead even further before that, in Bahrain and Jeddah.

How different would the race strategies have been?

Stuart Codling:

So far in 2026, the default strategy has been a one-stop race since the latest generation of Pirelli tyres has proved more robust than expected (and, indeed, hoped). Throughout its time as F1’s sole tyre supplier, Pirelli has been expected to create rubber which offers good grip up to a certain point, and then tails off rapidly, opening up the potential for different strategies.

In practice it’s been difficult to strike a balance between life and grip, resulting in a generation of tyres which have been too sensitive to thermal degradation, forcing drivers to manage those sensitivities rather than pushing hard throughout the race. Ahead of last season, though, Pirelli responded to drivers’ requests for a tyre they could push harder… and the outcome was more one-stop races because the tyres were more resilient to thermal stress.

It was a classic case of being careful what you wish for.

This scenario has carried forward into 2026 despite the tyres being entirely new. All three grands prix so far have been one-stop affairs for the majority of the grid, with very little divergence in terms of starting compounds.

One-stop strategies were the most common across the three events

In Melbourne nine of the top 10 finishers started on the medium compound (C4 for this event), and only three stopped more than once. Here and in China, the pitstop timing was dictated by appearances of the safety car.

By round three, Japan, all bar one of the drivers who took the start did so on mediums (C2 at Suzuka), and the majority swapped to hards in the same six-lap window (16 to 22).

Are there any reasons to believe the cancelled Bahrain and Saudi Arabia rounds might have played out differently? Perhaps.

Bahrain’s track surface is famously abrasive, a deliberate design choice using specially imported stone in the aggregate mix. In last year’s race every driver stopped at least twice, there was a healthy variety of starting compound (new mediums vs new/used softs), and there was a substantial variation in the timing of the first pitstops.

The top two finishers, McLaren’s Oscar Piastri and Mercedes’ George Russell, ran different strategies (used softs/new mediums/new mediums vs used softs/new mediums/used softs), although Russell fell back with a technical problem late on. For most drivers the final pitstop timing was dictated by a safety car deployment.

For Jeddah last year Pirelli shifted its compounds a step softer, in the hope of promoting greater strategic variety, but this didn’t translate into reality since it was a one-stop race in which eight of the top 10 finishers started on mediums and seven pitted within four laps of one another. That’s because it’s a narrow circuit on which it’s difficult to overtake, so teams guard track position carefully.

Which midfield teams would have performed better?

Ronald Vording:

This question is much harder to answer than the Mercedes one. First of all, Bahrain and Jeddah are two completely different circuits in terms of energy management, which means that the assessment of the midfield is not necessarily the same for both tracks.

If we look back at winter testing, Haas and Alpine left a strong impression in Bahrain. After testing, consensus in the paddock was that these teams would lead the midfield, although it must be said that Audi and Racing Bulls have been able to surprise at various moments since then.

Nevertheless, there is certainly a case to point to Haas and Alpine. The American team made a strong impression in Shanghai – a less harvesting-poor circuit than Melbourne – by beating Red Bull “on merit”, as Haas team principal Ayao Komatsu put it. Part of that strength could also have been utilised in Bahrain. Alpine’s Pierre Gasly managed to stay ahead of Red Bull in Suzuka, meaning that Haas and Alpine have both shown the potential that was already attributed to them in Bahrain.

Haas and Alpine emerged as top midfield teams

The only caveat we must make here is that Bahrain would have been a very popular venue for upgrades. Whereas McLaren immediately focused on Miami, Bahrain would have been an ideal location for many other teams to introduce new parts – both logistically and due to the data from winter testing. And this development race can change the pecking order in the midfield on a weekly basis.

It will be interesting to follow how Haas performs in that regard. Komatsu rightly noted that his outfit is still “by far” the smallest team on the grid. That already makes it highly impressive how Haas has dealt with this technical turnaround, but also raises the question of how the team will cope in the intense development battle. For Bahrain and Jeddah, however, it would have been a safe bet to point to Haas and Alpine, with Audi and Racing Bulls as the main outsiders for a points finish.

Would overtaking have been easier or harder?

Stuart Codling:

Bahrain is what engineers describe as an “energy rich” circuit in that its balance of corners to straights lends itself to a more conventional way of driving: the straights aren’t so long that the cars run out of energy long before the end.

McLaren team principal Andrea Stella pointed that out at the start of the season, when he was asked if the racing style seen in Australia was representative of other circuits.

“I would say that would be a more similar racing to what we were doing before,” he said of Bahrain. “Because you drive the car in a more traditional way. You harvest in braking, you deploy in exit, as you go on power on the accelerator pedal.”

Bahrain could have delivered another overtaking fest

Now, a possible consequence of that would be less of the ‘yo-yo racing’ which defined Australia and, to a lesser extent, Japan, and more of the conventional outbraking into slower corners, as in the Chinese GP. So while there may have been more overtaking than in previous years, many of these moves would not have been of the ‘unearned’ variety caused by differing levels of charge.

It would have been a very different picture in Jeddah, which was expected to be among the three most ‘energy poor’ tracks along with Albert Park and Monza. There are lot of flat-out sections, even though not all of them are straights as such, and very few heavy braking events.

That would have made energy harvesting under braking very limited, forcing drivers to do more lift-and-coast and super clipping. This might have fed into more overtaking than usual in Jeddah, but the majority would have been uncontested passing moves set up by variations in battery charge.

To read more Motorsport.com articles visit our website.

Well, that was annoying. The Phillies were who the Braves thought they were, and they let them off the hook. The Braves took a game to extras and lost, but it required:

• One single evading Mike Yazstremski for a run scoring triple
• Yet another needless pickoff
• One double evading Ronald Acuña for a triple
• One single evading Eli White for a triple to set up a late tying run
• Playing the back half of the game in a rain storm with multiple lighting strikes near the stadium
• Placing Jose Suarez in a high leverage situation

When you step away from it, you are encouraged and appalled. The good news is that this stretch resembles their 26-4 run in mid-2023. They had to really do something dumb on the bases, have brutal BABIP, or make a poor bullpen decision to lose a game. The bad news is the losing-side of the bullpen and the back end of the bench are pretty dreadful. We already knew early that parts of the bullpen weren’t great, but injuries make the bench look very thin right now.

The good side of the bullpen is impressive: Raisel Iglesias (when available), Robert Suarez, Dylan Lee and Tyler Kinley. Somewhere in the middle is Aaron Bummer. Outside of that is Carlos Carrasco, Joel Payamps, swingmen Jose Suarez and Martin Perez (perhaps Reynaldo Lopez as well?), and a host of unattractive options at Gwinnett.

The Braves’ left fielders are a combined .206/.294/.299 with a 70 wRC+. That’s ninth worst in MLB, and Mauricio Dubon’s 11 plate appearances are keeping it from being much lower. The Braves can jettison Eli White for his latest brain fart. But that would leave them with three outfielders (glares at Jurickson Profar) and Dubon, and the best of the Gwinnett lot is probably Ben Gamel with his career 1.9 WAR and no starts in CF since 2021. Once Sean Murphy and Ha-seong Kim return, the bench will start to look better, but right now it’s not great.

Things are great. The offense is crushing it and no game feels out of reach. The starting rotation is way better than it deserves to be coming out of Spring Training. So I’m gonna forget about Saturday for now and going to try to ignore the back third of the roster for now.

Toledo Mud Hens 2, Omaha Storm Chasers 0 (box)

Toledo and Omaha each had five hits on Saturday, but the Mud Hens were the only team to score in a 2-0 win over the Storm Chasers.

Sawyer Gipson-Long outdueled Mitch Spence in a battle of minor-league veterans. Both went five innings, but Gipson-Long was better, allowing just two hits and no walks while striking out three. The only time Omaha threatened to score off SGL was in the fourth, when Tyler Tolbert got to third base with one out. Gage Workman made a nice play to home to get the tag out and preserve the shutout.

His changeup was his best pitch, drawing four whiffs on five swings, but his fastball played well to contact with just one hard hit and an average exit velocity of 78.1 mph in seven batted ball events.

The Mud Hens scored two off Spence in the third. Luke Ritter led off with a double to right field, Ben Malgeri walked with one out and Workman doubled both in. Workman had the only other hit off Spence, a two-out single in the first.

Toledo threatened in the fifth, loading the bases — Ritter walked, Max Clark reached on an error and Spence intentionally walked Workman to set up the force out — but Corey Julks flied out to strand all three runners.

Enmanuel De Jesus was good (I know, shocking), allowing just two baserunners over two innings in relief of Gipson-Long. He struck out a pair and retired his first four batters before giving up a single and a walk. Grant Holman got the eighth and struggled out of the gate. He worked around a leadoff walk and a single to strand both runners.

Ricky Vanasco gave up a two-out double in the ninth, but he got the final out of the game on three pitches right after.

Clark: 1-4

Workman: 2-3, 2B (9), 2 RBI, BB, K

Gipson-Long(W, 1-2): 5.0 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K

Coming Up Next: The Mud Hens go for win No. 5 in a row on Sunday at 2:05 p.m. ET in Toledo.

Erie SeaWolves — POSTPONED

Coming Up Next: Erie and Binghamton will play a straight doubleheader on Sunday, starting at noon ET.

Lake County Captains 3, West Michigan Whitecaps 2 (box)(F/10)

West Michigan and Lake County battled to a 1-1 tie at the end of regulation, but the Captains outscored the Whitecaps in extra innings to win on Saturday, 3-2.

Neither team scored until the seventh inning, when Lake County took a 1-0 lead on a leadoff home run from Jace LaViolette. The 2025 first-round pick out of Texas A&M had two of the Captains’ seven hits, including a leadoff double in the first.

West Michigan’s pitching was sound for the most part. Gabriel Reyes threw 4 1/3 shutout innings, giving up just three hits. Walks were a bit of a problem, but he worked around all four of them — two in the third and two in the fourth. On the brighter side, Reyes drew a game-high 11 swing-and-misses.

Ryan Harvey replaced Reyes in the fifth with one out. It started out rough with a walk and a hit batter, but he retired the next five batters in a row. Logan Berrier took over in the seventh and gave up the homer to LaViolette. He stranded men on the corners after allowing a single, throwing a wild pitch and walking a batter. Berrier went 1-2-3 in the eighth.

Zack Lee retired the side in order in the ninth, holding the game at 1-0. That’s when West Michigan manufactured a run to extend the game.

Cristian Santana singled to open the ninth. He moved to second on a Juan Hernandez groundout and got to third on a wild pitch from Michael Kennedy. Junior Tillien grounded out to short, allowing Santana to cross the plate.

Duque Hebbert relieved Lee in the 10th, but he gave up a two-run homer to Nolan Schubart, which ultimately decided the game thanks to the runner placed on base at the start of the inning. Hebbert gave up a double after the homer, but he retired the side without allowing any more damage.

Bryce Rainer added a run for the Whitecaps in the bottom of the 10th, but that’s all they got. Rainer put together his first multi-hit game at High-A. He had three singles: two infield base hits to third in the third and 10th, and a grounder through the left side in the sixth.

Rainer: 3-5, RBI, K

Santana: 2-4, R, 2 K

Reyes: 4.1 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 4 BB, 4 K

Coming Up Next: The Whitecaps have a chance to tie the series on Sunday at 2 p.m. ET.

Lakeland Flying Tigers 6, Tampa Tarpons 1 (box)

The Flying Tigers scored as many runs as the other three teams in the organization that played on Saturday. The result was a convincing 6-1 win against the Tampa Tarpons to take a 3-2 series lead.

Lakeland took an early 2-1 lead in the second when Edian Espinal singled in Jude Warwick and Carson Rucker. Warwick reached first on a one-out single, and Rucker walked before both were moved into scoring position by Anibal Salas’ groundout to the right side.

Zach MacDonald made it a 5-0 game in the fifth with a three-run homer. MacDonald was a single shy of the cycle today, hitting a ground-rule double in the third and a triple in the seventh. It’s always a little funny when they can’t do the easy one, but what a showing from the 2024 15th-rounder, who has a 1.078 OPS on the year. MacDonald’s home run brought in Jordan Yost (single) and Thayron Liranzo (ground-rule double).

The Flying Tigers’ only other hit on the day was a solo home run for Carson Rucker in the eighth. The game was all but wrapped up by that point, with Tampa trailing 6-1 heading into the ninth.

Left-hander Caleb Leys made his third start of the season, and he was solid through four innings once again. He went four innings, giving up one run on three hits and three walks while striking out two. While effective, those strikeout and walk numbers need to be a little better. Last week he sat down five batters and gave up just one free pass. Still, Leys has a 1.33 ERA and 1.13 WHIP over his last two starts.

He was a bit too in the zone with his slider today, with a 70% zone rate. All three batted balls were hard hit, but he still drew a 46% whiff rate on them. His fastball isn’t fooling anybody, but it’s not drawing hard contact either. The only run Tampa scored came off Leys in the first. Engelth Urena hit a triple with one out and scored on a groundout.

The bullpen was elite for Lakeland today. Luke Hoskins took over in the fifth and gave the Flying Tigers two innings of one-hit ball. Donye Evans worked around a two-out error for a hitless seventh, and Jan Caraballo closed things out without allowing a baserunner.

Caraballo was the most impressive of the bunch, striking out four of the six batters he faced. Six of his 10 sliders thrown were strikes, including four whiffs on five swings.

Yost: 1-4, R, K

Liranzo: 1-3, 2B (1), R, BB

MacDonald: 3-4, 2B (4), 3B (2), HR (7), R, 3 RBI

Leys: 4.0 IP, 3 H, R, ER, 3 BB, 2 K

Coming Up Next: Lakeland goes for the series win on Sunday at noon ET.

Barcelona want to make at least two big-money signings this summer, but in order to so, raising funds via sales will be essential. The likes of Marc-Andre ter Stegen, Marc Casado and Ferran Torres have already been earmarked as players that could be moved on, and another that has been linked with a move away is Ronald Araujo.

It’s been a difficult season for Araujo, who spent time away from football at the back-end of 2025 due to mental health struggles. Since returning, he’s struggled to command a regular starting spot, and with the expected arrival of a new centre-back in the summer, he is a player that Barcelona could look to cash in on.

Liverpool and Inter have both shown interest in Araujo, but the chances of either signing him are very slim. Not only are Barcelona happy to keep him, the player himself has absolutely no intention of leaving the Spotify Camp Nou, as per Sport.

Araujo has not been discouraged by his lack of prominence this season – rather, he sees it as a challenge to force his way back into the front of Hansi Flick’s thoughts. He is happy to operate as a right-back, where he has exclusively featured in recent weeks, if necessary, such is his commitment to Barcelona.

Barcelona have a conundrum to solve with Araujo

If it is decided that Araujo will operate in a similar role as he has right now in the years to come, it may be wise for Barcelona to cash in, given that his value will only continue to drop. However, they would not be able to do much if the Uruguayan defender makes it clear that he will not consider any possible chance to leave, which appears to be his stance right now.

It will be interesting to see how Araujo’s situation plays out over the next 12-18 months. He may consider an exit if he continues to operate as a squad role solely, but for now, he’s happy with how things are.

Some players are fun. Then there are the ones who make you drop whatever you’re doing. Munetaka Murakami is that guy. Right now, White Sox fans are getting the rare treat of watching something special, and yes, it’s happening in real time right in front of us.

Murakami didn’t show up to fireworks and a parade. No big-league circus. He wasn’t Shohei Ohtani. But if you paid attention to his work in Japan, you knew exactly what the South Siders were getting. In the NPB, Murakami wasn’t just good; he was a MONSTER. In 2022, he put up a .318/.458/.710 slash line, mashed 56 homers, drove in 134, won the Triple Crown, and set the home run record for a Japanese-born player. The guy was a wrecking ball, and he was only 22 years old.

But the real story isn’t just the numbers. It’s how he plays.

In early 2026, Murakami is already flashing that superstar ceiling. The numbers are catching up to the hype. He’s hitting .242/.381/.589, .970 OPS, 11 bombs (tied for the MLB lead), 1.3 fWAR, and a fat 183 OPS+. He’s also near the top in walks with 22. Same plate discipline, same menace. The results are loud, but the way he gets there is even louder.

The power is legit. Not just fence-clearing, but no-doubt, see-ya-later stuff. His approach? Advanced, disciplined, but never passive. When he connects, you brace for the fireworks. Even when he’s not going deep, he’s making pitchers sweat, working counts, drawing walks, and forcing adjustments.

Forget the stat line for a second. There’s an energy to his game. Confidence. Quiet swagger. And FUN. It’s catching on fast.

He has the kind of presence that flips a lineup on its head, and we’ve been so desperate on the South Side for this kind of player.

The White Sox are busy trying to figure out who they are. Murakami is more than numbers. He’s the bridge from what was to what’s next. He’s the anchor now and the hope for later. Most of all, he’s the guy fans can actually get behind. Every team needs THAT player — the one who turns a sleepy Tuesday into appointment viewing.

So why wait to talk about it?

If the White Sox believe their own eyes, the time to act is right now. Not in the winter. Not after another half-season of ‘let’s wait and see.’ NOW.

Players like Murakami don’t get cheaper. They don’t get easier to sign once the rest of the league wakes up. Every moonshot, every walk, every time he makes pitchers nibble just makes his case stronger. And his price tag bigger.

Locking him up early isn’t just smart baseball. It’s a statement. It says the White Sox know a star when they see one and aren’t afraid to put money where it matters. It tells the clubhouse, the rest of the league, and most importantly, us fans that the Sox are finally serious about building something that lasts.

It’s time to be real. Excitement matters.

Baseball is best when it gives you a reason to dream. Murakami does that. Maybe it’s a ball launched into orbit. Maybe it’s a tense, grind-it-out walk. Either way, he brings the type of buzz you can’t fake.

The South Side has had its share of stars. But every once in a while, someone shows up who just feels different. Not just a contributor, but a guy who changes how you watch the game.

Munetaka Murakami is him.

Matt Fitzpatrick and his brother, Alex, will head into the final round of the Zurich Classic with a four-shot lead.

It’s fair to say that Matt, the older of the Fitzpatrick brothers, is the far more accomplished player out of the two.

However, Alex Fitzpatrick is a great golfer in his own right. He won last month on the DP World Tour and has shown this week in New Orleans that he has serious game.

Matt Fitzpatrick won for the fourth time on the PGA Tour last week at the RBC Heritage.

However, perhaps a victory at the Zurich Classic would mean even more to him, given the fact that it would see his younger brother earn exempt status on the PGA Tour for two years.

Alex Fitzpatrick loves playing with his brother in team competition, and the feeling is very much mutual.

How Matt Fitzpatrick feels about Alex’s game ahead of day four at the Zurich Classic

The Fitzpatrick brothers are in a very good position to win the Zurich Classic, but they obviously haven’t got the job done just yet.

Anything can happen in foursomes and the alternate shot format will test the two Englishmen to the limit on Sunday.

Matt Fitzpatrick actually criticized the Zurich Classic, stating that he thinks the format on the final day should be four-ball betterball.

However, considering the way that he and his brother have been playing this week, they should have no problems closing out the win on Sunday.

Matt spoke to reporters after the third round in New Orleans and responded when asked to give his opinion on the current state of his brother’s game.

“Yeah, he was brilliant today. He was faultless, truly. He played fantastic, and he played fantastic yesterday as well,“ the 2022 U.S. Open champion said.

“He played brilliant golf both the last two days. His game has really turned a corner these last few months, and I believe in him to continue that trend.

“He’s doing all the right things, and obviously it was nice for him to have such a big impact there on the back nine to continue what the front nine brought.“

Fitzpatrick brothers react to scintillating 57 at the Zurich Classic

The Fitzpatrick brothers posted a faultless round of 57 on day three at TPC Louisiana.

And both of them reacted to that score after their round.

“Yeah, I didn’t really do much the first nine holes,“ Alex said.

“I just kind of just let him do his thing. Yeah, it was pretty cool to watch. You know, playing alongside my brother, who happens also to be one of the best players in the world is pretty fun. When he’s playing well, it’s pretty cool to watch.“

Matt then echoed a similar sentiment.

“Yeah, an amazing day. Amazing day. Probably not kind of sunk in how well we played today, if I’m honest,“ he admitted.

“Yeah, it was just hole after hole. The score, I only just realized we finished with five in a row. You know, you kind of are thinking about the next shot, so you’re not really thinking about that.

“Yeah, a special day.“

If Matt and Alex Fitzpatrick play anything like they did on Saturday during the final round of the Zurich Classic, they will be just fine.

Good morning, baseball fans!

Another week of San Francisco Giants baseball is coming to a close today, which means it’s time for us to share our favorite highlights of the week!

I think this week’s winner is pretty obvious. Patrick Bailey, hitter of walk-off grand slams against the Los Angeles Dodgers in 2025, got the hit of the week this week with a three-run home run in Wednesday’s 3-0 win over the Dodgers. Man was a one-man offense in that game, so we couldn’t NOT give him a weekend shout out!

What were your favorite highlights of the week?

What time do the Giants play today?

The Giants wrap up this weekend series against the Miami Marlins this afternoon at 1:05 p.m. PT.

With NBA All-Star credentials and a max contract, De’Aaron Fox could have exerted his status more forcefully in his new environment.

Instead, Fox eagerly joined the San Antonio Spurs in a mid-season trade last season partly because he wanted to experience something that eluded him through eight years with the Sacramento Kings.

He craved front office stability. He valued roster depth and continuity. He hungered for a realistic shot at winning an NBA championship.

Fox may receive his wish. The Spurs earned the No. 2 seed largely because Victor Wembanyama has established himself as a two-way star in just his third season. The Spurs have a 2-1 first-round series lead over the Portland Trail Blazers because their young backcourt (Stephon Castle, Dylan Harper) elevated their play while Wembanyama remains sidelined the past two games with a concussion-related symptoms. Even with Fox no longer operating as the franchise player as he did with the Kings, the Spurs view the 29-year-old Fox as critical in bridging the team’s present potential into future excellence.

“He is the most unsung reason why this has all worked just in terms of his participation and enthusiasm to make it all work,” Spurs coach Mitch Johnson said of Fox. “We have a lot of guys that, whether they’ve been here or young guys with very high expectations for themselves. And it takes a lot of togetherness, collaboration and desire for the greater good of the group for this many young players to continue to put that at the forefront. He probably is the catalyst for that.”

That’s because Fox has mostly found a sweet spot with how to handle a potentially dueling role. He has produced enough to warrant his second All-Star appearance as a scorer (18.6 points on 48.6%) and playmaker (6.2 assists). He has still empowered the Spurs’ reigning Rookie of the Year guard (Castle) and this year’s No. 2 draft pick (Harper), even at the expense of his own play.

“I still try to affect the game, obviously. But I don’t have the ball as much as I was used to before that,” Fox said. “I think that helps continue to grow your game and also helps them grow their game. They’re going to have the ball a lot in their career. So I think us learning to play off of each other does nothing but help everybody.”

That’s because Fox, Harper and Castle have all learned how to play off and on the ball. They have figured out when to look for their shot and when to involve others. They have adjusted based off of opposing team defenses and player availability. They have varied when to play at a fast or slow pace.

Three years after winning the NBA’s Clutch Player of the Year award with a league-leading 194 points scored in the final five minutes, Fox ranked outside of the top 50 with 81.2 clutch points. In the playoffs, Fox has assumed a greater playmaking role (a team-leading 6.0 assists per game) partly out of deference to Castle (a team-leading 22.7 points per game). Fox carries a greater role as a starter than Harper, but he produced a team-leading 27 points on 9-for-12 shooting in a Game 3 win.

“He’s kind of the head of the snake and the one that controls the game, but he allows me and Steph to be us,” Harper said of Fox. “He’s done a great job with that. He also knows how to get one of us involved. I think his leadership, how he passes the ball and how he controls and slows the game has been really beneficial for us.”

Perhaps Spurs fans expected Fox to have a bigger role both throughout the regular season and during Wembanyama’s recent absence. After all, the Spurs signed Fox last summer to a four-year, $229 million contract extension through the 2029-30 season. In the playoffs, Fox has averaged a respectable 17.6 points and 6.0 assists per game. But he has shot only a combined 42.6% from the field and 28.6% from deep.

Yet, Fox has avoided pulling rank during Wembanyama’s absence and through most of the regular season.

“We have so many guys in this room that can put the ball in the basket,” Fox said. “For us, it’s about what shot we take. It’s not about the shot that I take or the shot that Steph takes or what Vic takes, or whatever it may be. We’re trying to get the best shot for us.”

No wonder the 20-year-old Harper has affectionally referred to the 28-year-old Fox as “Unc.” Fox didn’t greet Castle and Harper with unsolicited advice and references to his résumé. Instead, Fox greeted them with encouragement.

“He told me from day one to be myself and be aggressive and if I see an opportunity, to go get it,” Harper said. “If you’re going to mess up, make sure that you do it confidently.”

Both Castle and Harper learned how to do that on their own while Fox missed the first eight NBA games with a strained right hamstring. With exception to two other games to heal his adductor and lower back, Fox otherwise remained valuable. He cracked double figures in 65 out of 72 games. During that stretch, Fox scored at least 30 points in three games and at least 20 in 31 others. That did not compromise Fox’s playmaking role, though. He led the Spurs in assists (6.2) and recorded at least 10 assists in eight games.

“They’re both so talented,” Fox said of Castle and Harper. “A lot of what they do is just off instincts. So for me, it’s about giving them the keys to the test.”

Fox said those keys have just entailed offering “tidbits here or there.” Before the playoffs started, Fox stressed the importance in prioritizing every possession. He forewarned that the game will become more physical and that referees won’t call as many fouls. He outlined the need to rely on leg strength and balance to enable strong shooting performances through fatigue. Most importantly, Fox hasn’t shied away from elevating his game so long as it doesn’t disrupt theirs.

“I can’t say enough,” Johnson said of Fox. “Maybe he’s done it all.”

This article was originally published on Forbes.com

The New York Giants’ 2026 NFL Draft is complete. That means it is time for me to offer some ‘things I think’ about what the Giants have done over the past few days.

We will begin with a thought on each draft pick.

Making me look like a dummy

I did 10 Giants mock drafts leading up to the draft. Not once did I select Reese at No. 5. I also did not select Reese for the Giants in the SB Nation Writer’s Mock Draft.

To make matters worse, when I had Cole Van Weichen of SB Nation’s Ohio State website, Land Grant Holy Land, on my podcast to talk about Buckeyes prospects, we glossed over Reese because neither of us figured he was a realistic fit for the Giants.

At least I wasn’t alone. Only 3.7% of mock drafts in our final mock draft tracker had Reese going to the Giants. Reese was the sixth choice in the FanDuel betting odds to be the fifth pick.

All of this because most analysts and teams saw Reese as the next Micah Parsons, a player who would move off off-ball linebacker to full-time edge defender in the NFL. The Giants see something else — an off-ball WILL linebacker who could be turned into a pass-rushing weapon in long-yardage situations.

Reese adds another versatile front-seven weapon to a Giants’ group that could be scary for offenses to line up against on passing downs.

A meek-looking pit bull

Lovers of the breed will be displeased, but I am not a fan of pit bulls. They scare the bejeezus out of me. You might have one and he/she might be the nicest/gentlest dog in the world. What an angry or mistreated pit bull is capable of, though, makes pit bulls a non-starter in the Big Blue View household. We have two Japanese chins.

Anyway, you don’t care about that. Or maybe you do, since you love pit bulls and now you are mad at me.

Regardless, Colton Hood is 5-foot-11, 193 pounds. He doesn’t look like a pit bull. He’s not Ndamukong Suh. All the draft photos you see of Hood show him looking like a happy, gentle dude.

Yet, John Harbaugh said Friday night the second-round pick is a “pit bull” who is “coming in here and trying to win a starting job.”

Maybe the Giants really wanted defensive tackle Kayden McDonald in this spot. Maybe they didn’t. They got Hood, and he should help them.

Hakeem Nicks comparisons, of course

I am not surprised that the Giants selection of wide receiver Malachi Fields after a trade into the third round has quickly drawn comparisons between Fields and former Giant Hakeem Nicks. Both are bigger wide receivers who win at the catch point rather than with speed or quickness, and who help their quarterbacks by making difficult 50-50 catches.

I am, honestly, conflicted in terms of how to feel about this move.

One one hand, I love this type of “throw it up and let him make a play” wide receiver. I think every team needs one. Eli Manning, who was rarely precise — except for a certain Super Bowl throw to Mario Manningham — benefitted greatly from having Nicks to throw to. Jaxson Dart should love Fields, if he is what the Giants traded up for.

On the other hand, I don’t like trading up and giving up assets. That is especially true when it comes to wide receivers.

Over the years I have watched the Giants trade up beyond Round 1 to draft wide receivers Sinorice Moss (2006), Ramses Barden (2009), and Jalin Hyatt (2023). I’m still waiting for one of those deals to work out. Throw in the trades up for DeAndre Baker and Deonte Banks and it’s no wonder Giants fans might have trade up PTSD.

Generally, go up and get a quarterback. Otherwise, just let the board come to you.

Let’s hope Fields doesn’t follow the Moss-Barden-Hyatt path.

Mining for gold in Round 6

I don’t know about you guys, but I joined BBV’s Chris Pflum in being nerdy enough to watch the board once the draft got part way through Round 5 and begin to hope certain players might last until the Giants picks at 186, 192, and 193 in the sixth round.

It was annoying watching players like safety Jalon Kilgore and running back Adam Randall come off the board. No guarantee the Giants would have been interested.

The Giants followed an old George Young Planet Theory philosophy in the sixth round. They drafted nose tackle Bobby Jamison-Travis, offensive tackle J.C. Davis and a linebacker/special teamer in Jack Kelly.

I have no idea if any of those guys will be good NFL players. I do know I love the priority of adding big guys and special teamers.

Other thoughts

‘Kudos’ to Joe Schoen

Not for the reason you might think. Sure, it looks like the Giants came away with a good haul. I have a different reason.

By trading the Giants’ fourth- and fifth-round picks on Saturday, and not foolishly acquiring a seventh-round pick somewhere along the way, the general manager made my weekend a bit easier.

I had to sit by the laptop and wait for hours until the Giants had an opportunity to pick in the sixth round, and that enabled me to get a lot of my Saturday night/Sunday morning work done well ahead of time.

So, thanks for making my weekend just a little bit easier, Joe!

It is easy to be optimistic today

Giants fans should all be optimistic right now. It’s been a terrific offseason with the hiring of a future Hall of Fame head coach, free agency, and now a draft that is being widely lauded.

A note of caution, though. You are supposed to feel good today. I think Giants have had the right to feel good coming out of all five of Schoen’s drafts.

Winning the draft isn’t, though, winning on the field. It’s time for the Giants to begin doing that before they, and the fan base, can really begin to feel good.

Monday will be interesting

The Giants spent time before the draft visiting with several free agents of interest. As of 4 p.m. ET on Monday, veteran free agents who sign with new teams do not count against the compensatory pick formula. Will D.J. Reader or Odell Beckham be Giants by Monday night?

I think I need to thank my staff

We have been on an amazing run at Big Blue View, with interest skyrocketing since the hiring of Harbaugh. The last three days have seen roughly a million page views around here. It is gratifying that so many people love our work, and are trusting us. I have to thank this group — Chris Pflum, Nick Falato, Tony Del Genio, Sam Kirk, James Hickey, David Hartman — for everything they have done to help.

Triple-A: Memphis Red Birds (STL) 8, Norfolk Tides 7

The Tides were leading by two runs going into the eighth inning before the Red Birds put up a five-run eighth inning to take the lead. Norfolk scored two runs in the bottom of the ninth but left the tying run stranded at second when Silas Ardoin struck out looking on a pitch that was challenged by the Red Birds and overturned to become strike three.

Cade Povich started for the Tides and went six innings. He allowed one run in each of the first three innings, two on solo home runs. He got stronger after that, though. Over his final three innings, Povich did not allow a hit.

The offense scored three runs in the bottom of the fifth and then broke the tie with a two-run seventh before falling behind for good in the eighth. Christian Encarnacion-Strand had a single and triple and picked up three RBI. Willy Vasquez had a three hit night, and Ardoin reached base three times with a single and two walks. Jud Fabian singled and walked.

Box Score

Double-A: Chesapeake Baysox 3, Akron RubberDucks 2 – F/12

The Baysox managed to win this game despite being no-hit for the first 6.1 innings of the game. They scored one run in the third inning when Griff O’Farrell walked, stole second, and came around to score on two wild pitches. That tied the game at 1-1, a score that held until the 11th inning. It took until the bottom of the 12th, but an RBI single by Maverick Handley secured the walk-off.

It was a big game for Handley, who had two of the team’s four hits. He broke up the no-hitter in the seventh, got the winning hit in the 12th, and also had a walk for good measure. Ethan Anderson had one hit as leadoff batter, while Aron Estrada’s miserable start to the season continued. He went 0-for-4 and his OPS is just .490 through 18 games.

It was a bullpen game for the Baysox. Christian Herberholz started and struck out four in 2.1 innings. Six Baysox pitchers combined to strike out 15.

Box Score

High-A: Frederick Keys 4, Wilmington Blue Rocks (WAS) 1

The Keys scored all the runs they needed in a two-run first inning, but they added two more in the sixth for good measure. In the first, they loaded the bases on an infield single by Ike Irish and walks from Nate George and Wehiwa Aloy. After a strikeout, Braylin Tavera hit a ground ball to shortstop. Instead of it being an inning-ending double play, the Blue Rocks made a throwing error that resulted in two runs scored. Their third run also scored on an error, but Irish had a proper RBI double to knock in the final run.

Irish was the only batter with two hits. George was hitless but walked twice. Aloy reached just once with the first inning walk.

Hans Crouse was the opener and pitched a scoreless first before Twine Palmer took over in the second. Palmer pitched five innings with two hits and one walk. He struck out six. His only run allowed was unearned and scored when Tavera made an error in center field to put a runner on third. Palmer then threw a wild pitch to bring in the run.

Box Score

Low-A: Delmarva Shorebirds 4, Wilson Warbirds (MIL) 1

The Shorebirds won this game with two two-run home runs. Edwin Amparo went deep in the second inning with Joshua Liranzo on base. In the seventh inning, it was Liranzo’s turn. His homer knocked in Stiven Martinez. Liranzo and Martinez both had two-hit games, while Amparo reached three times with the homer and two walks. DJ Layton singled and walked, while Jordan Sanchez went hitless with three strikeouts.

Four Delmarva pitchers held the Warbirds to just three hits, but they walked a whopping nine. Starter Kailen Hamson didn’t allow a hit in 3.2 innings, however he did walk five.

Box Score

Today’s Schedule

• Triple-A: Norfolk vs Memphis, 1:05. Starter: TBD
• Double-A: Chesapeake vs Akron, 1:05. Starter: Trace Bright
• High-A: Frederick vs Wilmington, 3:00. Starter: Carson Dorsey
• Low-A: Delmarva vs Wilson, 2:05. Starter: Kiefer Lord

On Friday evening, following a beautiful day of sunshine on Merseyside, Everton U21s took on Watford in the awkwardly-named Professional Development League Play-off quarter final. This game was part of a mini-competition where teams that finished in the lower half of Premier League 2 (Everton) meet teams from the top of the division below, the Professional Development League (Watford).

The Blues’ team lined up as per the team-sheet below, the feature image being of 16 year old talented winger, Wales Under 19 international, Shea Pita:

A very scrappy start did not bode well for either team as Everton struggled to get to grips with a physically-big Watford side. However, there were some signs of life after some neat combination play by Harvey Foster, Luca Davis, Malik Olayiwola and Shea Pita threatened to open up the Hornets’ defence.

That all changed in the 18th minute as Odin Samuels-Smith, playing as an inverted left back and Olayiwola carried the ball forward from deep and played it in towards Braiden Graham. His first touch to move it onto his left foot upset the balance of the two covering Watford defenders and he rifled it low with his left foot (below), a fine goal, 1-0

That fine goal put the Toffees into the ascendency but the 2nd goal 4 minutes later was as ugly as the first had been beautiful. A Watford defender, under just a little pressure from Graham, hit a back-pass from fully 45 yards not realising his goalkeeper was near the edge of the area, an embarrassing goal, 2-0.

It stayed that way into the second half when an untidy attempt at a clearance by Olaywiola, defending his near post at a corner, allowed an easy tap in for a Watford attacker, 2-1.

In the 50th minute, Watford were right back in it as the Blues struggled to clear their area following an attack down the right. A shot went in at the near post though a crowded area to make it all square at 2-2.

Graham continued to look lively and a snapshot from 40 yards kept the goalkeeper awake but it drifted wide.

The game went into extra time and the Blues pressed against the tiring Hornets and looked most likely to snatch it. The raft of substitutions made by Paul Tait had breathed fresh life into his side.

Graham (twice), Davis and Omari Benjamin all went close before, just as it looked like penalties, the Blues snatched a goal at the very death and what a goal!!

A swift attack saw the ball land at the feet of substitute Kingsford Boakye and his cross was met with a text-book diving header from, who else, Braiden Graham (see below):

That was Braiden Graham’s 20th goal of the season or to put it another way, a third of all Under 21s goals scored this season or ….. to put it another way …. just what has he got to do to convince David Moyes just to give him a small chance, off the bench or whatever? It’s actually Graham’s 24th of the season as he scored 4 in the Youth Cup though that’s an U18 competition really.

Meanwhile, last weekend had seen the younger group, the U18s grab a nice 2-1 victory over Wolverhampton Wanderers at Finch Farm. Some relentless pressure paying dividends with Malik Olayiwola scoring the first from left-back Harvey Billington’s fine cutback.

Olayiwola was in the thick of it for the second as his pressure released Ceiran Loney to the left of the penalty area. His cross was met by the inrushing Shea Pita to make it 2-0.

Wolves did pull one back as a shot from the edge of the area was too hot to handle for Blues’ ‘keeper Seve Patrick, 2-1 is how it ended. The goals are below:

One more for the fine goals collection was from a game involving Everton Under 16s in a competition in Greece. Jonathan Nsangou scored right from the halfway-line!

Next up for the U18s is a short trip to Blackburn Rovers on April 28th while the U21s will play a semi final soon in the Play Off trophy.

Today’s Reflections

When Rick Monday woke up 50 years ago yesterday, I’m guessing he would never have expected to become an American hero. Neither had I as my dad sat me down to watch a delayed TV clip when I was 11. I was still trying to figure out what a bicentennial was, why girls aren’t as fun as the guys, and was barely aware why my parents had shielded me from the war that had recently ended. My dad didn’t talk much. He said, “Watch this.” He explained a bit to a young kid what had been going on, then pointed at the TV and said, “That is an American hero.” Looking back, I’m sure he didn’t mean hero in the way death and severe injuries mean Hero. He meant that a regular guy, every one of us, can go out there and act based on what was in his (or her) heart for this country. April 25, 1976 was the day Rick Monday became one of my heroes.

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• Jordan Bastian (MLB.com): Hoerner’s defense vs. Dodgers so impressive, he simply has to laugh. (Video)
• Jason Rice (North Side Baseball): Hoby Milner Is Wildly Outperforming His Expected Stats. Can the Cubs’ Southpaw Keep It Up? “Hoby Milner has a sparkling 2.19 ERA and an ugly 6.07 xFIP. Which, if either, of these data points is trying to tell us the true story of the Cubs’ reliever?”
• Tom Albano (Deadspin): Surging Cubs count on bullpen ahead of rematch vs. Dodgers ””Nothing is really long-term (with our bullpen injuries),” Chicago manager Craig Counsell said. “Which we think is a positive in all this. But injuries add up, and we’ve lost a lot of bodies. When that happens, it gets hard to replace them with the same quality. But our guys have done a great job, a heck of a job. It’s one of the reasons why we’ve been able to put together this nice run.
• Zachary Davis (ClutchPoints): How Dodgers stunning loss to Cubs ended specific 71-game streak “In the process, the Dodgers suffered not just a stunning loss but also saw a little-known 71-game winning streak come to an end, per Jesse Rogers of ESPN. Before Friday, Los Angeles had won 71 straight home games when leading by four or more runs in the 7th inning and beyond.
• Matthew Trueblood (North Side Baseball): It Turns Out ABS is a Machine That Turns Dansby Swansons into Rob Deers. For several years, now, the league has trended toward filling up the strike zone more. Fastballs are harder and livelier than ever; pitchers have better command of their non-fastballs than ever; and fielders are better-positioned than ever. Now, it’s that the zone itself has gotten smaller. Hitters have noticed, too. Twice as many batters have substantially reduced their swing rate so far this year. Dansby Swanson isn’t just participating in that trend; he’s one of the foremost drivers of it.
• Matthew Trueblood (North Side Baseball): Nico Hoerner and the Power of the Pulled Line-Drive Approach. “About a week into the season, I followed up with a partial answer, based on some changes Hoerner brought into this campaign: a slightly wider stance and a shorter stride, giving him more early stability and the capacity to hit the ball hard down the lines, rather than toward center field. Now, it’s time to synthesize all that into a firm answer to an increasingly pressing question: Is Hoerner a full-fledged power hitter now?”
• Gordon Edes (Chicago Sun-Times) Cubs fans know him as PCA, but Pete Crow-Armstrong was known as ‘Petro’ growing up. ““He was Petro,’’ High-school head coach Jared Halpert said, “because he played like he was on fire and very cool. Yeah, yeah, he was. He was Petro to us for a long time. There was no second gear or slowdown. It was all gas and no brakes and he’s going 100 miles an hour. And it was a beautiful thing to watch somebody just play with that much passion, you know, all the time.’’
• Thomas Domol (North Side Baseball): Edward Cabrera’s Cubs Legacy Is Only Getting Started. “A filthy, lockdown starting pitcher changes the fortunes and the perception of a Major League Baseball team. He can make a fringe club competitive and a contender close to unstoppable. Edward Cabrera, with his poised control and nasty arsenal, is the next in this line of game-changing starting pitchers. Lucky for us, he plays on the North Side of Chicago.”
• Dansby Swanson, Cubs make it 10 in a row with a thrilling comeback win against the Dodgers! (Video)
• Pat & Ron marvel over Nico Hoerner’s ridiculous defensive play in Cubs’ win over Dodgers. (Video)

Food For Thought:

John O’Leary (1944–2024) was a pioneering British blues harmonica player, recognized as a founder member of the Savoy Brown Blues Band in 1965 and a prominent figure in the UK blues scene for over five decades. Influenced by Sonny Boy Williamson and Little Walter, he played with numerous artists and led his own band, Sugarkane.(Blues Video)

Humanoid robot chases wild boar herd in Poland (Video)

Top 100 Places To Visit In The USA (Video)

Please be reminded that Cub Tracks and Bleed Cubbie Blue do not necessarily endorse the content of articles, podcasts, or videos that are linked to in this series.

With the Denver Broncos having all but one of their draft selections during the final day of the event, I went into this draft grades post expecting the worst. Prognosticators get very hyped by teams who end up with all of the top talent and ignore what those teams had to work with to begin with. Some did that, but surprisingly, many popped in to appreciate what Denver was able to do with the picks that they did have.

Naturally, one would have to include Jaylen Waddle into this equation at some point, but even just looking at what the Broncos were able to do with this class is impressive enough. I see several rookie contributors right out of the gates and a few guys who could develop into starter-caliber players in the NFL. You really can’t ask for more than that having just one pick in the Top 100.

Here is the NFL Draft grade roundup:

USA Today: B+

Their draft was pretty much about – and will ultimately be defined – by the acquisition of WR Jaylen Waddle for multiple picks this year, including the 30th overall selection. A reasonable gamble given how close the Broncos got to Super Bowl 60 as well as the defensible opportunity cost of largely bypassing this year’s middling prospects. Third-round DL Tyler Onyedim could soften the loss of John Franklin-Myers in free agency, and fourth-round RB Jonah Coleman should get some touches. Yet maybe the most fascinating aspect of Denver’s draft … was their decision-making into who wound up as “Mr. Irrelevant” given the Broncos made the final two selections in Round 7.

NBC Sports: C

Denver kicked off their draft by taking the 129th ranked player on the industry board, Tyler Onyedim, at 66th overall. That being said, each of their next three selections were at least 20+ picks ahead of consensus, with Jonah Coleman being a RB that I really like and think he can challenge for the starting job in Denver eventually. TE Joly could carve out a prominent role behind Evan Engram, but there isn’t going to be a major impact from this class and feels like the Broncos were just trying to fill holes with mid-to-late picks here.

Pro Football Focus: C

Picks: 7 | WAA added: 1.145 (Rank 16/32)

Highest-graded pick (2025): LB Red Murdock, Buffalo Bulls (91.2)

Sports Illustrated: C

A large chunk of Denver’s draft was traded away in the Jaylen Waddle deal. As a result, the Broncos primarily added depth, giving RJ Harvey a caddy in Coleman, while getting Casey to play as a swing tackle behind Garett Bolles and Mike McGlinchey. As for Onyedim, the former Aggies star should see rotational time after the departure of John Franklin-Myers. All told, it’s a draft that doesn’t have much wow factor, but provides short-term insurance and long-term upside.

The Score: B

For a team that didn’t have a first-round pick and then traded out of its spot at the end of the second, I actually think the Broncos did quite well. Tyler Onyedim was one of my favorite mid-round targets among interior defensive linemen. His explosiveness, lateral quickness, and pass-rush arsenal could make him a great replacement for John Franklin-Myers on the inside. Jonah Coleman, my No. 4 overall running back, maximizes blocking with great vision and has the contact balance to find extra yards. He could immediately be the short-yardage back in Denver’s backfield committee. Kage Casey should be useful depth at tackle, and I love the value of Justin Joly in the fifth round. As a good separator who can win contested scenarios and make plays after the catch, I wouldn’t rule out the possibility that he becomes the “joker” Sean Payton hoped he was getting in Evan Engram last year. The lack of top-end talent impacts the grade, but the Broncos did well to find value throughout the draft.

CBS Sports: B

Early in Round 3, the Broncos became the final team to make its first selection. They did not have a first-rounder entering the draft and moved out of Round 2 in a Friday trade. With the No. 66 pick, they refueled their already stout defense with lineman Tyler Onyedim, who will not fully replace Jonathan Franklin-Myers but adds a fresh body to that group.

All but one of Denver’s picks are Day 3 selections, and the first is a fun one. Jonah Coleman brings a lot of the same skills as R.J. Harvey, whom the Broncos selected a year ago, as a versatile running back with experience making electric plays as a receiver. Kage Casey and Justin Joly bring some edge protection with the latter also boasting the ability to stretch the field as a receiving tight end.

The final two picks of the draft belonged to the Broncos, and they used the last of them on Buffalo linebacker Red Murdock, who is this year’s Mr. Irrelevant. He might not be so irrelevant, though. Edwards called him a “spark plug” and said he offers good value to end the draft, and it’s hard to disagree when you consider he is the FBS career record holder for forced fumbles with 17.

How do you feel about this draft class and the grades given? Fair or meh?

The Avalanche can become the second team to sweep the first round. The other matchup in the Central Division is tied at 2-2. Also the Pittsburgh Penguins survive another day and things are getting competitive between the Montreal Canadiens and Tampa Bay Lightning

All that and more on this edition of Deen’s Daily — April 26.

Colorado Hockey Now

We saw the Carolina Hurricanes complete the sweep as the No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference. The Avalanche will try to do the same in the West, in what will be the second matinee Sunday puck drop of the series.

The Avs finished Game 3 without Josh Manson. Will he play in Game 4? Head coach Jared Bednar shared thoughts about his status following Saturday’s practice.

Stanley Cup Playoffs Recap

Game 4 Recap — Hurricanes 4 at Senators 2 — (CAR wins 4-0)

The Ottawa Senators will have a lot of soul-searching to do in the offseason. This was a team many thought could be a problem for Carolina. Instead, they got dominated for most of the series and spent more time trying to start unnecessary fights and going for cheap shots I’m looking at you, Ridley Greig) than they did trying to win a hockey game.

Game 4 Recap — Stars 2 at Wild 3 OT — (Series tied 2-2)

For the second straight game, the Wild and Stars went to overtime. This one ended a lot quicker than the double OT thriller on Wednesday. And it was also Minnesota coming away with the victory to even the series.

It’s now a best out of three, with the next one shifting back to Dallas.

Game 4 Recap — Penguins 4 at Flyers 2 — (PHI leads 3-1)

The Penguins are still alive. They defeated the Flyers in Game 4 to bring the series back to Pittsburgh for Game 5.

Tonight’s Schedule

• Game 4 Buffalo Sabres at Boston Bruins (12 pm MT on TNT)
• Game 4: Colorado Avalanche at Los Angeles Kings (2:30 pm MT on TNT)
• Game 4: Tampa Bay Lightning at Montreal Canadiens (5 pm MT on ESPN)
• Game 4: Edmonton Oilers at Anaheim Ducks (7:30 pm MT on ESPN)

Around The NHL

Philly Hockey Now: The Flyers couldn’t complete the sweep at home.

Montreal Hockey Now: The Lightning’s strategy is backfiring so far in this series.

Detroit Hockey Now: We know they tried to get him at the deadline. The Red Wings should once again target Vincent Trocheck during the offseason.

Forever Blueshirts: Mika Zibanejad’s newfound leadership is going to be crucial for the Rangers moving forward.

The post Deen’s Daily: Manson Update; Another OT Game; Carolina Advances appeared first on Colorado Hockey Now.

The clashes between Milan and Juventus have often been associated with captivating duels between some of the biggest stars in the sport.

Unfortunately for the Calcio fanatics, the days of Paolo Maldini and Alessandro Del Piero are long gone. Nevertheless, Sunday’s contest at San Siro will still witness some compelling battles between the two sets of players.

So let’s take a closer look at five anticipated player duels that are likely to ensue this evening, at least based on the expected starting lineups.

Strahinja Pavlovic vs Francisco Conceicao

Stahinja Pavlovic has now cemented himself as a protagonist for Milan at both ends of the pitch. Nevertheless, the presence of the in-form Chico Conceicao could prompt Max Allegri to pin back his Serbian defender, as the tricky Portuguese winger can be deadly when given space.

The one-on-one duels between these two will be enticing.

Alexis Saelemaekers vs Andrea Cambiaso

This should be a good old-fashioned battle between two wing-backs who excel in the attacking phase, but have a knack for committing mistakes at the back. These two should battle it out all along the touchline, and whoever prevails will give his team a big advantage.

Adrien Rabiot vs Manuel Locatelli

After playing side-by-side for three years, Rabiot and Locatelli will lock horns in what might be the most significant duel on the night. The Frenchman has been decisive for Milan with his goals, which often stem from his late runs to the box.

Therefore, the Juventus captain must place his old comrade under close surveillance to avoid costly errors at the back.

Luka Modric vs Kenan Yildiz

Calling this one a direct duel could be a stretch, but Kenan Yildiz could be entrusted with an important defensive duty: Pressing against Luka Modric.

Needless to say, the Turkish youngster is required to make a difference for Juventus in the attacking phase, but his defensive commitment could be equally important on this particular occasion.

Rafael Leao vs Gleison Bremer

This fascinating battle will pit two Serie A elite players against one another. Slowly but surely, Bremer has been regaining his best athletic and technical form. If it comes down to a physical duel, Rafa Leao certainly won’t have a chance.

Therefore, the key for the Brazilian is to avoid being dragged out of the box and getting isolated in one-on-one duels, as this is where the Portuguese attacker excels. Instead, Juve’s defensive trio must remain compact and close to one another.

The New York Giants have themselves a day one starting offensive lineman in Miami’s FrancisMauigoa. Mauigoa, the Hurricanes starting right tackle for the past three seasons, was selected with the 10th overall pick in the 2026 NFL Draft.

The Giants intend to let Mauigoa, known as SiSi, at guard while getting his feet wet in the NFL. The 6-foot-6, 320 pound blue chip from American Samoa played his prep ball at IMG before starting 42 games for the ‘Canes.

Much like with Rueben Bain Jr. in his All-22 Review, we’ll be using the Cotton Bowl victory over Ohio State as the film basis of this breakdown.

Above– Mauigoa does almost everything well. He can be a POA run blocker, a combo-to-second level mover, he’s great in space on screens as well as inside and out in pass protection. Against OSU, SiSi lined up against CadenCurry, Kenyatta Jackson Jr., Sonny Styles, and Arvell Reese. The former two are future NFL players (Curry in ‘26, Jackson in ‘27) and the latter two are also 1st round picks in the ‘26 draft.

Above– Buckeyes DC MattPatricia has Curry across from Mauigoa early on. Eventually he switches that match-up to Jackson which helps Curry as he’s better going against MarkelBell. Curry has no chance early here and gets rag dolled by SiSi.

Above– Curry and Jackson are on the same side of the DL here. Mauigoa is fantastic at keeping his eyes on the inside or most dangerous threat while never ignoring potential loopers or outside pressure.

Above– Mauigoa uses a traditional gap-hinge blocking technique on the back side of the run. His dominance of Reese allows Mark Fletcher Jr. to cutback on the run and pick up positive yardage.

Above– Big dudes like SiSi are always going to be dominant in POA blocking, ie base blocks and combos. Here he secures the gap on outside zone and then works horizontally to the 2nd level against Sonny Styles. Styles is a 1st rounder and 4.46 40 guy who is cutoff by Mauigoa.

Above- DUO DUO DUO is like Marcia Marcia Marcia. All we hear about as ‘Canes fans (and NFL fans, and coaches) is “duo.” I like this TEmotion into Duo. The TE’s job is to pick up the 5-tech (DE) while Mauigoa and Anez Cooper combo the 2-tech (DT). Mauigoa works to the 2nd level which is Reese, and once SiSi’s hands are on you they aren’t coming off.

Above– This sack may be ‘credited’ to Mauigoa, but this is on the Arizona Cardinals new QB CarsonBeck. Beck has an open Malachi Toney on the mesh concept and he’s even looking at him. But Beck panics and tries to flip his hips and then escape. The timing is all off and SiSi can only do so much. He dominated this block against Jackson for the 3.2 seconds someone can ask for from an OT.

Above– Mauigoa dominates Jackson on this rep. You can’t bullrush a bull and I think Mauigoa can handle the power of the DT’s in the NFL as much as the speed of the DE’s.

Above– Another example of Mauigoa combo’ing to the 2nd level. SiSi gets out in space against Styles and his hands do come off him but he did enough to stop Styles from making any effort at a play.

Above– As an NFL guard, Mauigoa will be asked to combo to the 2nd level and be a willing puller. We’ve seen him pull from RT and he’ll work in space in the NFL on screens as well.

The Wrap

The 2026 NFL Draft is by far Mario Cristobal’s best output in nine years as a P4 head football coach. Getting major talent like Bain and Mauigoa on campus, winning games in year four (three for those two players) and keeping them on campus has done wonders for the program. The removal of Aaron Feld from Cristobal’s world turned guys like Akheem Mesidor, Markel Bell andeven Jakobe Thomas from Day Three players into Day Two players.

Mauigoa will fit in well in John Harbaugh’s system which will look to grind the ball out with a dominating OL and defense. Mauigoa joins a Giants offense with young talent like Jaxson Dart, Cam Skattebo, and Malik Nabers. SiSi is a day one starter at RG and will develop into a RT in the NFL, mark my words.

Dusan Vlahovic is back in the Juventus squad as Luciano Spalletti reveals his 23-man roster to take on Milan in San Siro in Sunday night’s Serie A headline clash.

Vlahovic’s season has been derailed by injuries in 2025-26. The Serbian missed almost four months of action with an adductor injury between December and March, made an 11-minute appearance off the bench against Sassuolo on March 21, but has since missed the last two games with a new calf issue.

TURIN, ITALY – MARCH 21: Dusan Vlahovic and Pierre Kalulu interact after the Serie A match between Juventus FC and US Sassuolo Calcio at Allianz Stadium on March 21, 2026 in Turin, Italy. (Photo by Valerio Pennicino/Getty Images)

Vlahovic is back in the matchday squad to take on Milan on Sunday afternoon, but it remains unlikely that he is thrown straight back into the starting XI. Spaletti is instead expected to turn to Francisco Conceicao, Kenan Yildiz and Jonathan David to lead the Bianconeri attack.

Yildiz has also been struggling with a recurring pain in his knee, but is in the squad and is still expected to start on Sunday.

Juan Cabal and Arkadiusz Milik are the only two Juventus players unavailable through injury.

Kick-off this evening is due at 19.45 BST.

Confirmed Juventus squad vs. Milan

TURIN, ITALY – APRIL 19: Luciano Spalletti reacts prior to the Serie A match between Juventus FC and Bologna FC 1909 at Allianz Stadium on April 19, 2026 in Turin, Italy. (Photo by Valerio Pennicino/Getty Images)

Goalkeepers: Perin, Di Gregorio, Pinsoglio.

Defenders: Holm, Bremer, Gatti, Kelly, Kalulu, Cambiaso.

Midfielders: Locatelli, Koopmeiners, Adzic, Kostic, Thuram, Miretti, McKennie.

Forwards: Conceicao, Vlahovic, Yildiz, Zhegrova, Boga, Openda, David.

I convocati ⚪️⚫️ per la trasferta di questa sera a San Siro 📜 #MilanJuve

Kayla Harrison continued her ongoing war of words with Ronda Rousey ahead of the UFC Hall of Famer making her return to action for a fight against Gina Carano on May 16.

Once friends and teammates while both were competing in judo, Harrison previously called Rousey a liar over a story she told about a particular training session when they were working in the same room together. Rousey eventually responded by trashing Harrison and repeatedly called her a “bitch” while touting the size and scale for her upcoming fight against Carano, which is also going to earn her a hefty payday with the reigning UFC women’s bantamweight champion getting “paid less now than I was 10 years ago.”

In response, Harrison believes Rousey’s anger really stems from jealousy and envy that somebody has taken her spot as the top women’s fighter in the UFC.

“I’m just going to go ahead and say I could be meaner,” Harrison said during the UFC Vegas 116 pre-fight show. “I think that it would be really hard, I can’t imagine what it would be like for someone to come in and beat everything I’ve ever done. That would be hard. I get it.

“Imagine hating me and I’m just over here in my backyard feeding chickens. It’s got to be rough.”

A repeated talking point for Rousey leading into her comeback fight has been the expected viewership for her showdown against Carano.

With the fight airing on Netflix with over 325 million subscribers, there’s a chance that Rousey vs. Carano goes down as one of the most watched events of all time.

That said, Harrison knows there’s a big difference between a fight that a lot of people will likely watch versus her planned matchup against Amanda Nunes, which could potentially crown the greatest women’s fighter in the history of the sport.

“I think that the part that bothers me most about Ronda is at one point she was a real athlete,” Harrison said about Rousey. “She was training for the Olympics. She’s an Olympic bronze medalist. She became a UFC champion. She was really trying to chase greatness. I will never take away the fact that Ronda is probably the most important female fighter. If it weren’t for her, for sure I wouldn’t be where I’m at. I wouldn’t have a job. But this fight is not the greatest fight of all time.

“It’s between someone who hasn’t fought in 10 years and is coming off two knockout losses and another woman, again another legend, another pioneer, but hasn’t fought in 17 years and is in her 40s. Don’t call it the greatest fight of all time. I’m chasing greatness. You’re chasing money. We’re different.”

While Rousey is preparing to face Carano in May, Harrison is recovering from neck surgery that delayed her fight against Nunes, which was originally scheduled for UFC 324 in January.

By all accounts, Harrison is healing well and she’s expected to return to action before 2026 is over.

There were serious stakes in “Sin City.”

Former Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) Bantamweight champion-turned Featherweight contender Aljamain Sterling delivered a dominant unanimous decision win over Youssef Zalal in the UFC Vegas 116 main event last night (Sat., April 25, 2026) inside the Meta Apex in Las Vegas, Nevada.

While the win keeps Sterling firmly planted in the Top 5 and alive in the exclusive two-division title hunt, things could have looked much different with a loss — in more ways than one.

In fact, Sterling admitted post-fight that retirement was very much on the table (again).

“I’m not going to lie, thoughts of retirement crossed my mind,” Sterling said on the UFC Vegas 116 post-show. “Depending on how I lost, if I were to lose, and just being realistic — it’s like if I can’t compete, then I don’t want to do this anymore. It’s not like I don’t want to do it because there is no future for it but if I can’t compete with these young guys, why am I sticking around and taking an ass-whooping for no reason?”

“Was it a passing of the torch type of fight?” Sterling added. “I’m just happy I passed the test with flying colors. I’ve got enough money, but you can also use some more. This sport hurts, man and no is trying to stick around and let these young bucks beat you up.”

Instead, “Funkmaster” proved he still belongs, using his grappling and fight IQ to control Zalal across five rounds. Now 3-1 at Featherweight, he’s right back in the mix for another crack at UFC gold.

Sterling called for a showdown with champion Alexander Volkanovski, though unbeaten contender Movsar Evloev — who holds a win over him — is likely next in line. If that’s the case, Sterling may need one more win to secure his shot.

A potential title eliminator against rising contender Jean Silva could make plenty of sense.

For complete UFC Vegas 116 results, coverage, and results click HERE.

Any week that starts with a win against the Los Angeles Dodgers should generally be a pretty good one, and that’s just what the Colorado Rockies had.

The Rockies won three of their six games played against three different teams. They could have even won a fourth, which was in their sights on Thursday against the San Diego Padres before a ninth inning meltdown saddled them with a loss.

Even though that loss was frustrating—and probably gave some readers flashbacks to last year—it is still important to note just how much better the 2026 Colorado Rockies are compared to last season. With a record of 11-16 the Rockies are already over a full month ahead of their beleaguered counterparts from 2025, who didn’t win their tenth game until June 2nd and had already lost 50 games by that point.

The Rockies were also able to rebound quickly with a victory against the New York Mets on Friday to round out the week. Saturday’s game was rained out in Queens, but Sunday will feature a traditional double-header.

The Rockies are still not a great team. The offense has a lot of question marks when it comes to their “swing first and ask questions later” approach to hitting and inconsistent ability to win close games. However, most of the games are still close, the pitching has been shockingly solid—dare I say even good—and they’re keeping fans engaged. Our comments sections are proof positive of that!

With that being said, here’s what our staff here at Purple Row had to say this week:

To Read: Rockpiles

• Monday:A behind-the-scenes look at the Rockies Cultural Education & Development Program | Sam Bradfield
• Tuesday:Some Colorado Rockies notes from Coors Field | Renee Dechert
• Wednesday:An early check-in on TJ Rumfield | Skyler Timmins
• Thursday:The few seeds planted by Bill Schmidt that are now bearing fruit | Cory Cohen
• Friday:So far, Mickey really is fine and Hunter really is good for the Rockies | Joelle Milholm
• Saturday:The Evolution of the Lefty Reliever: Lessons from the 2026 Rockies | James Riggenbach

To Read: News

• Weekly Pebble Report:Brody Brecht is gaining confidence in 2026 | Sam Bradfield, Skyler Timmins, & Evan Lang
• Rockies roster:Rockies claim Blas Castañ0, DFA Luis Peralta | Renee Dechert
• Rockies injuries:Ryan Feltner and Willi Castro leave Rockies-Padres game | Renee Dechert and Sam Bradfield
• Rockies roster:Rockies place RHP Ryan Feltner on IL, recall LHP Sammy Peralta | Evan Lang

To Listen or Watch

Evan Lang had a chance to sit down with Rockies top prospect Cole Carrigg (no. 4 PuRP) to discuss his development, goals, and playing with your hair on fire! Check it out below.

Weekend Discussion Topics

The Rockies may still lose a lot of games, but a pleasant surprise is how many players are standing out with high quality performances so far this season. Antonio Senzatela appears to have revitalized his career, Tomoyuki Sugano has been pitching with consistent quality, and both Mickey Moniak and Hunter Goodman are clobbering the baseball. Who do you think is standing out the most? Who do you think quietly deserves more recognition? Let us know in the comments!

Please keep in mind our Purple Row Community Guidelines when you’re commenting. Thanks!

It wasn’t the best team in school history in terms of wins, but what Arizona did during the 2023 season was truly historic. And, it’s turned out, quite professional.

Six members of that ’23 squad, which won 10 games including the Alamo Bowl less than two years removed from a 20-game losing streak, were selected in the 2026 NFL Draft over the weekend. That brings the tally to 12 players who suited up for the Wildcats that season who have been drafted.

In addition to defensive backs Treydan Stukes(2^nd round, Las Vegas Raiders), Genesis Smith(4^th round, Los Angeles Chargers) and Dalton Johnson(5^th round, Raiders), all of whom finished their careers at the UA, three ex-Wildcats were also drafted. Cornerback Tacario Davis went in the 3^rd round to the Cincinnati Bengals, running back Jonah Coleman went in the 4^th round to the Denver Broncos and corner Ephesians Prysock was a 4th-round pick of the San Francisco 49ers.

Davis, Coleman and Prysock each transferred to Washington after beginning at Arizona, with Coleman and Prysock following Jedd Fisch to Seattle immediately after his hire and Davis joining them after the 2024 season.

Three Wildcats from the 10-3 team in 2023 were drafted the following spring, led by offensive lineman Jordan Morgan, a 1st-round pick of the Green Bay Packers. Also taken in the 2024 NFL Draft were receiver Jacob Cowing (4^th round, 49ers) and tight end Tanner McLachlan (6^th round, Bengals).

The 2025 NFL Draft saw another three UA players from that ’23 lineup get picked: receiver Tetairoa McMillan went ninth overall to the Carolina Panthers, offensive lineman Jonah Savaiinaea went in the second round to the Miami Dolphins and kicker Tyler Loop went to the Baltimore Ravens in the 6^th round.

Not bad for a program that, in the previous two drafts had zero selections. And the haul from 2023 could grow next April, when the 2027 NFL Draft is held in Washington, D.C.

Linebacker Taye Brown is the top pro prospect left in the program from that roster, and with a big senior year could end up like Stukes or Johnson in rising up draft boards. So, too, could tight end Tyler Powell if he’s able to come back from an injury suffered on the first play of the 2025 season and the same goes for a breakout 2026 from redshirt senior wide receiver Chris Hunter.

And if NFL scouts can overlook his size, quarterback Noah Fifita could sneak into the later rounds. Arizona has only had one QB drafted in the past 40 seasons, that being Nick Foles in the 3^rd round in 2012.

As far as ex-Wildcats go, offensive lineman Wendell Moe Jr., is heading into his redshirt senior season at Tennessee figures to be on 2027 draft boards. Defensive lineman Isaiah Johnson (North Carolina) could also get picked a year from now.

Members of Arizona’s 2023 team to get drafted into NFL

(*-finished career at Washington)

• OL Jordan Morgan (2024)
• WR Jacob Cowing (2024)
• TE Tanner McLachlan (2024)
• WR Tetairoa McMillan (2025)
• OL Jonah Savaiinaea (2025)
• K Tyler Loop (2025)
• DB Treydan Stukes (2026)
• CB Tacario Davis (2026)*
• RB Jonah Coleman (2026)*
• S Genesis Smith (2026)
• CB Ephesians Prysock (2026)*
• S Dalton Johnson (2026)

The Los Angeles Dodgers have hit a bit of a rough patch recently, dropping two consecutive series to division rivals in the Colorado Rockies and San Francisco Giants.

Now, as they look to build up some momentum with a win against the Chicago Cubs, the team has also found itself in the crosshairs of an evolving debate about preferential treatment for two-way superstar Shohei Ohtani.

MORE FROM FORBESPhillies Boss Makes Rare Early-Season Move With Season In CrisisBy Peter Chawaga

Los Angeles Dodgers At Center Of ‘Shohei Ohtani Rule’ Debate

“Chicago Cubs manager Craig Counsell isn’t the only person in baseball bothered by the rule that allows the Los Angeles Dodgers to carry an extra pitcher because of Shohei Ohtani’s designation as a two-way player,” The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal wrote, following some outspoken complaints about the so-called “Shohei Ohtani rule” from Counsell. “Many in the game are fine with the accommodations made for Ohtani, the best and most unique player in the sport. Some, though, are frustrated that the rule allowing Ohtani’s team to carry a 14th pitcher extends his already outsized impact. Still, others view his ability to remain in the lineup as a DH once he is done pitching as an inequity all its own.”

The Dodgers have captured consecutive World Series championships since signing Ohtani, who has been everything the team could have hoped for in the batter’s box, on the mound and as a draw for lucrative advertising deals. But as the team pursues a third-straight title, critics of the special treatment he is afforded by the rule book are growing louder.

MORE FROM FORBESBlue Jays Veteran Offers 4-Word Response To Fan Death ThreatsBy Peter Chawaga

Former Los Angeles Dodgers All-Star Proposes Change To Shohei Ohtani Advantage

Most recently, two-time Dodgers All-Star Justin Turner called for a change to the special rule.

“The solution is to get rid of the 13 x 13 rule for everyone,” Turner posted on X, formerly Twitter, in response to a question about the rule posed by Dodgers Talk’s David Vassegh. “Let the teams structure their roster however they see best for them. It’s not about what the Dodgers get to do. It’s what the other 29 teams don’t get to do.”

Turner was referring to the standing MLB rule that allows teams to have a maximum of 13 pitchers in addition to 13 position players on their 26-man big-league rosters. Because Ohtani pitches and serves as the designated hitter, the Dodgers can, in a sense, carry a fourteenth pitcher on their roster because Ohtani is counted as one of the 13 position players that they are allowed.

If MLB were to eliminate the 13-pitcher maximum for all teams, that advantage would be lessened, which might satisfy the special rule’s critics. But it would also reduce the value Ohtani is bringing to the Dodgers, the team where Turner spent nine seasons.

This article was originally published on Forbes.com

Transfer battle intensifies around Senesi

Tottenham’s careful planning for the summer window may yet unravel as Liverpool and Man Utd position themselves to disrupt a deal that once looked straightforward. Marcos Senesi, the Argentina international currently at Bournemouth, is at the centre of a three-way Premier League tug-of-war that reflects both opportunity and uncertainty.

Spurs have already moved early, agreeing terms in principle to bring Senesi in as part of a wider rebuild. However, their precarious league position has introduced a variable that rivals are ready to exploit. Should Tottenham fail to secure their top-flight status, the foundations of the agreement could weaken significantly.

According to the CaughtOffside, there is growing belief that both Liverpool and Man Utd are monitoring the situation closely and could act decisively. That possibility alone has altered the tone around the transfer, turning what seemed like routine business into a high-stakes contest.

Liverpool seek defensive depth with purpose

Liverpool’s interest in Senesi is neither reactive nor superficial. The club are actively exploring the centre-back market, aiming to reinforce depth while also planning for the longer term. Even with Ibrahima Konate expected to commit his future, there remains a sense that defensive reinforcements are required to sustain a title challenge.

Senesi fits the profile. He is experienced, tactically aware, and already familiar with Liverpool’s manager from their shared time at Feyenoord. That connection could prove influential if the race tightens.

As reported, “The Reds are exploring the centre-backs market as they’re really keen to add depth even if Ibrahima Konate stays and signs a new contract.” It is a pragmatic approach, rooted in squad evolution rather than emergency recruitment.

There is also the question of succession planning. With uncertainty surrounding the long-term role of certain defenders, Senesi offers both immediate cover and future reliability. Liverpool’s recruitment model tends to favour players who can integrate quickly while maintaining a high ceiling for development, and Senesi ticks those boxes.

Man Utd remain firmly in contention

Manchester United’s involvement adds another layer of intrigue. Like Liverpool, they are in the market for defensive reinforcements and have identified Senesi as a viable option. Their interest is not passive. It is calculated and aligns with a broader effort to stabilise the back line.

Reports suggest that United are tracking multiple targets, with Senesi among those under serious consideration. The appeal lies in his Premier League experience combined with international pedigree. He is not a gamble but a known quantity, which carries weight in a market often driven by potential rather than proof.

Crucially, United’s presence in the race increases the competitive pressure. Any hesitation from Spurs could be swiftly punished, particularly if either rival decides to accelerate negotiations.

Spurs face uncertainty over summer plans

For Tottenham, the situation is delicate. Their agreement with Senesi is real, but not yet secure. Much depends on their league status and the clarity it brings to their summer strategy. Until that is resolved, vulnerability remains.

It has been suggested that “Senesi is leaning towards Spurs if they stay up,” which underscores how pivotal the coming weeks will be. Stability breeds confidence, and without it, even agreed deals can drift.

Spurs have shown intent by lining up multiple signings, but intent alone is rarely enough in a market shaped by timing and leverage. Liverpool and Man Utd are clubs that move with authority when opportunities arise, and both recognise the value Senesi could bring.

In the end, this is more than a transfer story. It is a reflection of how quickly momentum can shift in modern football. One club’s uncertainty becomes another’s opening, and players like Senesi, poised between options, often hold the deciding power.

For now, the race remains open. Spurs may still complete the deal, but the presence of Liverpool and Man Utd ensures that nothing is guaranteed.

The New York Sirens couldn’t crack the scoreboard in their regular-season finale Saturday afternoon, falling 4-0 to the Boston Fleet at Tsongas Center.

Aerin Frankel set a new PWHL record with her eighth shutout of the season, and Boston scored four times in the third period to seal its 16th regulation win.

New York held a 24-8 edge in shots through the first 40 minutes, but failed to get anything past Frankel, who made 30 saves in 60:00. Boston tilted the ice in the third, outshooting the Sirens 16-6.

“I think the game today was a really good indication of our season,” Sirens coach Greg Fargo acknowledged postgame. “We’re playing well, we have the other team on the ropes, and couldn’t find a way to get that first one, or a second one. So you let a team hang around that that’s as good as Boston, and they’re going to make you pay.”

The Sirens finished the season in seventh place with 36 points (9-3-3-15); their 15 regulation losses ranked second-most in the League, behind only the Seattle Torrent (16). The Fleet improved to 62 points (16-5-5-4), tying the Montreal Victoire for first place, though Montreal earned the No. 1 seed via the tiebreaker.

Without any playoff or draft implications on the line Saturday, Sirens coach Greg Fargo turned to rookie goalie Callie Shanahan for her third start this season, and New York kept things in check early. Boston managed just one shot in the first period, completely neutralized by an aggressive Sirens forecheck.

But the Fleet broke through in the third, putting three past Shanahan to snap the scoreless tie. Former Sirens forward Jessie Eldridge deflected a long shot from captain Megan Keller just 2:53 into the frame to give Boston a 1-0 lead. Ella Huber extended the lead to 2-0 at 7:28, collecting the puck in the slot and quickly whipping it past Shanahan on the glove side. With the Fleet on a power play, rookie defender Haley Winn picked the corner on a long shot from the point, blasting in a one-time feed from Keller at 13:43 to make it 3-0.

Fargo pulled Shanahan to create a 6-on-4 advantage after a boarding penalty on Fleet defender Noemi Neubauerová at 14:29 of the third, but Jill Saulnier won a puck battle in Boston’s zone and scored the empty-netter at 14:56.

Keller, Eldridge, and Liz Shepers each notched two points apiece; Keller led all PWHL defenders in 2025-26 with 22 points (seven goals, 15 assists).

“I thought we did a nice job at both ends of the rink getting first touches on pucks in the first 40 minutes of the game, and that led to a lot of offensive zone time. We had some chances offensively, and really limited their time and the quality of their looks,” Fargo noted. “I gotta give Boston credit, they certainly rolled up their sleeves a little bit in the third period and came at us. And credit to them for doing that, and the way they finished off the game.”

The Fleet won their 11th consecutive game against the Sirens, the longest winning streak in PWHL history between two teams. New York’s last win against Boston came on March 25, 2024, during the League’s inaugural season.

Key takeaways after Sirens cap off season with shutout loss to Fleet

Sirens’ offense falls silent in final stretch

Despite strong shot totals, New York’s offense slowed to a crawl at the close of the 2025-26 season.

The Sirens averaged 1.6 goals in their final nine games after losing star rookie Kristyna Kaltounkova to a season-ending lower-body injury, scoring one goal or less in six of those contests. Saturday marked New York’s fifth shutout loss of the season after being blanked just once in 30 games last season.

Saturday followed a familiar script. The Sirens dictated play over the first 40 minutes, but had nothing to show for it. The power play floundered again, coming up empty on four opportunities.

New York’s offense leaned heavily on star forward Sarah Fillier and rookie center Casey O’Brien in the final month. Both delivered, but the Sirens’ thin attack proved difficult to sustain, especially against a run of red-hot goaltenders in Raygan Kirk, Gwyneth Philips, and Frankel.

The Sirens outshot opponents in six of their last nine games, and Fargo often praised the offensive process, but it’s a results-based business at the end of the day — and the results weren’t there when it mattered most.

Fargo ‘proud of growth’ from young group

At training camp in November, the Sirens set their sights on the first postseason berth in franchise history. For a third straight season, that goal eluded them.

“Being outside the playoff stings, for sure. That’s where we want to be. That’s where we set our goals to be at the start of the year,” Fargo stated postgame. “But at the same time, you’ve got to appreciate the growth of this group.”

New York was, by far, the youngest team in the PWHL this season. When the Sirens acquired Minnesota Frost forward Denisa Křížová in a late-March trade, the 31-year-old immediately became the team’s oldest player — and its only one over 30.

That youth quickly became one of their greatest assets. Even after a major offseason overhaul, a new-look Sirens squad jumped out to a 7-0-0-3 start. That pace ultimately slowed, but New York’s rookies continued to impress.

The first-round tandem of Kaltounkova (No. 1 overall) and O’Brien (No. 3 overall) headlined a deep rookie class that paced the PWHL with 28 goals and 62 points. Kaltounkova scored 11 goals in 21 games before being placed on long-term injured reserve (LTIR), and O’Brien led all rookies with 22 points (seven goals, 15 assists).

Fourth-round selection Maddi Wheeler (No. 28 overall) made an immediate impact in New York’s top six with her physical 200-foot game, and finished fifth in team scoring with 10 points (three goals, seven assists). Second-round pick Anne Cherkowski (No. 9 overall) wasn’t far behind with nine points (two goals, seven assists). Undrafted reserve defender Nicole Vallario worked her way into a consistent role in the Sirens’ defensive corps, logging consistent third-pair minutes after the departure of veteran blue-liner Jincy Roese.

“We’ve got a young team with a young core. And I just think we were able to make some really positive steps this year,” Fargo added. “There’s some parts of our game that we really like. Obviously, we’ve got to find ways to score.”

Outside of the rookies, second-year defender Maja Nylen Persson tallied a career-high 11 points (two goals, nine assists) in 2025-26, and Paetyn Levis reached double-digit scoring (10 points) for the first time in her three-year PWHL career.

“I’m really proud of the growth of this group, this organization,” stated Fargo. “I think we’ve taken a lot of steps forward.”

Sirens coach addresses ‘unsettling’ expansion rumors

Unfortunately for New York, keeping that young core together could be quite the challenge.

The PWHL has yet to release specific details, but all signs point to another batch of expansion teams joining the League this offseason. If last offseason was any indication, another roster overhaul could be in store for the Sirens.

“It’s unsettling,” Fargo stated, addressing an uncertain offseason. “We feel really good about the group we have in the locker room. It’s been a challenge to build a team since day one.”

Under last offseason’s rules, teams were allowed to protect three players whose rights they held. Once two players were taken in expansion, teams could then add a fourth player to their protected list. It’s unclear if this offseason will follow the same format, but anything remotely similar would result in major losses for New York.

“I think if there’s any way to keep a good number of the players and the staff in that room together, we feel really good about what we’re building. It’s just a matter of whether or not we can keep it together for a long period of time,” Fargo continued. “We know that there’s likely to be some obstacles in the way of that, but we’ll just do our best to try and adapt and put the best group together that we possibly can come next season.”

On top of expansion, the Sirens have 11 players set to become unrestricted free agents, including Kristin O’Neill, Taylor Girard, and midseason additions Clair DeGeorge and Křížová. General manager Pascal Daoust has his work cut out for him.

Related Headlines

• Sirens eliminated from playoffs in bittersweet OT win: Takeaways
• Charge dampen Sirens’ playoff hopes with 5-1 win: Takeaways
• Sirens draw even with Sceptres after ‘gutsy’ third-period comeback: Takeaways

Sabastian Sawe lived up to his status as a pre-race favorite at the London Marathon, and then some. The 30-year-old Kenyan shattered the world record and became the first man to complete the 26.2 miles in under 2 hours.

When Sawe crossed the finish line on the Mall in central London, the clock showed 1 hour, 59 minutes and 30 seconds — a full 65 seconds than the times set by previous record holder Kelvin Kiptum in 2023.

“I am feeling good, I am so happy,” Sawe said after rewriting the record books. “It is a day to remember.”

Sawe was not the only runner to break a barrier long considered unreachable. Ethiopia’s Yomif Kejelcha finished only 11 seconds down to Sawe in second place; third place went to Uganda’s Jacob Kiplimi, who finished just outside the two-hour mark at 2:00:28 but would still have bested Kiptum’s former world record.

The conditions were favorable all day. Starting with temperatures in the low 50s and a tailwind over the final few miles, the stage was set for a memorable day.

Sawe and Kejelcha were part of the leading group all day, and broke clear from their four companions including Kiplimi past the halfway mark. At that point, the world record let alone the two-hour mark did not look to be in danger. However, the leading pair picked up the pace.

Sawe, who finished the second half of the race in 59:01, broke free shortly before reaching the finish line.

“I think I was well-prepared because coming to London for the second time was so important to me,” Sawe told the BBC. “And that’s why I prepared well for it. And finally, what I had done for four months, it has come today to be a good result.”

Sawe’s was not the only record-breaking performance on Sunday, though. Tigst Assefa finished the women’s race in 2:15:41, winning a three-up sprint to secure the victory by 12 seconds ahead of Kenya’s Hellen Obiri and her Ethiopian compatriot Joyciline Jepkosgei.

"We stuck at it, we scored probably the best goal of the game. So proud of the boys."

Southampton came very close to reaching another FA Cup final, as Finn Azaz gave Saints the lead against Manchester City with just 11 minutes to go in their semi-final on Saturday but late goals from Manchester City ended the game 2-1.

Despite the defeat, fans described the goal as "such a nice cherry on the cake" and that they "will not stop singing until we get back to Southampton".

Head coach Tonda Eckert said it had been "a fantastic moment" to see the fans and that they would "need that support and that connection again" as they focus on the Championship and their game against Ipswich Town on Tuesday.

More than 35,000 Southampton fans traveled to Wembley yesterday.

One man, who had watched games there a few times, said the team "put up a really good fight".

"We are still proud Saints," he said.

A woman accompanying him said the game "was emotional but it was good".

"It was just pandemonium, wasn't it? It was nice to score but it was a shame about the result.

"It was heartbreaking but we move on."

Another fan, who had brought his granddaughter to a football match for the first time, described the scene after the goal as "mental".

"It's not our first time at Wembley, we've done this rodeo before so I enjoyed it," he said.

"My granddaughter was up cheering and going mad, she's just got into football, so a brilliant day for us."

A group of fans said they were "so proud of the boys".

"We stuck at it, we scored probably a brilliant goal, probably the best goal of the game and at the end of the day, their quality shone through," one of them said.

Another one recalls she thought she "was going to faint".

"It was chaos because it was such a good goal," she said.

"To score the first goal, it was just such a nice cherry on the cake - disappointing result, but it was a good day."

"It's been incredible, our fans just sang from the beginning to the end," said a woman wearing the Saints colours.

"I've been shaking the whole time. It really felt like it was written in the stars after the 50-year anniversary but Man City are too good in the end.

"It's disappointing but we will not stop singing until we get back to Southampton."

• More stories from Hampshire & the Isle of Wight
• Watch the latest episode of South Today
• Listen to the latest news from Hampshire and the Isle of Wight

BBC Radio Solent's sports editor Adam Blackmore and former Saints midfielder Jo Tessem gave insights and analysis after the game.

"It's been a really proud, tough effort from Saints," Blackmore said.

"They have hung in against this mega-money, talented City-side and they have absolutely, under Tonda Eckert, got the pride back into Southampton, that is for sure."

Related internet links

• Southampton Football Club

The 2026 women’s lacrosse regular season wrapped up for the Big East on Saturday, and as such, the four team conference tournament bracket is locked in place and ready for next weekend!

Denver is the #1 seed in the field, as they won the regular season Big East championship with a perfect 6-0 record. Georgetown secured the #2 seed by getting to the last game of the regular season with a 5-0 record before falling 11-5 to Denver in a game that settled these two seeds.

Spots 3, 4, and 5 in the Big East standings got a little bit messy with everyone that we’re talking about here today coming up with wins over both Xavier and Butler in the back end of the standings. Marquette, Villanova, and UConn all finished with a record of 3-3 in league play. All three also went 1-1 against the other two and oh-fer against both Denver and Georgetown. I’m not sure exactly what tiebreaker ended up settling out who made it into the tournament and who got left out at that point, but the end result was that UConn’s 12-10 win over Marquette on Saturday put the Huskies into the field as the #3 seed as the Golden Eagles had already secured a bid in the tournament. Villanova closed out their campaign with an 18-9 win over Butler, but they end up out in the cold.

All three games of the conference tournament will be hosted by Denver and played at Peter Barton Lacrosse Stadium in Colorado. The semifinals will be played on Thursday, April 30, and the title game will be played on Saturday, May 2. All three games will get a streaming only broadcast on ESPN+.

2026 Big East Women’s Lacrosse Tournament

Semifinals

Game 1: #1 Denver vs #4 Marquette, 5pm Central
Game 2: #2 Georgetown vs #3 Connecticut, 8pm Central

Championship

Game 1 winner vs Game 2 winner, 2pm Central

All games on ESPN+

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The 2026 NFL Draft is complete for the New Orleans Saints, as they made eight selections this year and were able to load up on the offensive side of the ball, while also adding some quality pieces for defense and special teams. While it may not have been as heavily defensive as many anticipated, the board fell well for the Saints, and they were able to really load up around Tyler Shough for the future.

One of the names they added was Auburn guard Jeremiah Wright, who had an outstanding 2025 season and looks to be a potential Cesar Ruiz replacement down the road, or maybe even sooner. Every Saints selection tends to send out a short video following their pick, giving fans some excitement and showing their thrill after being picked up.

Wright sent his out very rapidly following the pick, and it's safe to say he is very happy to be in New Orleans and have his name called on NFL Draft week. Take a look at the video below:

A word from @thatjeremiah771! pic.twitter.com/TjK08cboTd

— New Orleans Saints (@Saints) April 25, 2026

This article originally appeared on Saints Wire: 2026 NFL Draft: Jeremiah Wright has fun message for Saints fans

If you paid any attention to the social media beef between LSU and Ole Miss fans throughout the Lane Kiffin saga, you probably saw a few Ole Miss fans claim that Kiffin didn't like, didn't prioritize, or wasn't good at high school recruiting.

Kiffin earned the reputation of portal king at Ole Miss, and for good reason. Kiffin built elite rosters through the transfer portal, and he signed the No. 1-ranked transfer class after taking over LSU's program.

But just because Kiffin and Co. know how to use the portal doesn't mean this staff doesn't know how to recruit at the high school level.

Let's go back to Kiffin's first week on the LSU job. Kiffin began work just a few days before signing day -- there wasn't much time to keep LSU's recruiting class together. There were questions about whether five-star defensive linemen Richard Anderson and Lamar Brown would sign with the Tigers or wait until February. Kiffin and staff sealed the deal, inking both players in the Early Signing Period.

That was Kiffin's first big recruiting test as LSU's head coach and he passed without much drama.

The clock turned to the Class of 2027. LSU's 2027 crop only has four commits, but the Tigers' class ranks No. 10 nationally and the staff is gaining momentum with a handful of top prospects.

This month, LSU secured commitments from Braylon Calais and Ah'Mari Stevens. Both four-stars and top-300 overall prospects.

LSU is working hard to flip five-star wide receiver Easton Royal from Texas. Royal is visiting LSU this weekend.

📍#justdifferentpic.twitter.com/YKGDWvy75T

— Easton Royal🙏🏾⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ (@easton_3k) April 24, 2026

Royal isn't the only five-star prospect on LSU's radar. The Tigers are doing well with guard Albert Simien and linebacker Kaden Henderson.

Will LSU land of these top targets? Probably not. But all signs point to LSU signing a top-five class in Kiffin's first full cycle. That seems to discount the narrative from Ole Miss fans of Kiffin only focusing on the transfer portal, spiting high school recruits.

Kiffin made it clear when he took the LSU job that this was a place where coaches can recruit a bunch of elite high-school talent. Ole Miss doesn't necessarily have the recruiting history. Expect LSU to remain a force in the high school recruiting scene with Kiffin leading the way.

This article originally appeared on LSU Wire: Lane Kiffin proves Ole Miss fans wrong as LSU recruiting heats up

Carlos Augusto looks more likely to leave Inter Milan than Alessandro Bastoni this summer, with the Brazil defender’s desire for guaranteed starts driving speculation over his future while Inter hold firm on their valuation of the Italy international.

According to L’Interista, Inter have made their Bastoni position clear.

No negotiations below €60-70 million, closer to €70 than €60.

Counter-offers involving players are not acceptable either.

The only names proposed so far have been attackers, and with Inter already well stocked up front, the question answers itself.

Carlos Augusto, however, presents a different scenario entirely.

Carlos Augusto Could Be Inter Milan’s Key Card In Deals With Roma & Atalanta

According to the reports, the former Monza man is unhappy with his role despite accumulating solid minutes this season.

Indeed, displacing Dimarco on the left is essentially impossible. Even if Bastoni were to leave, Inter would bring in a like-for-like starter rather than promote Carlos Augusto to the first team.

Furthermore, Inter would prefer to keep him. However, if he formally requests a transfer, the club would consider letting him go.

Both Roma and Atalanta monitor the situation closely, and that is significant for Inter beyond the transfer fee itself.

Therefore, Carlos Augusto could become a valuable bargaining chip in broader negotiations. Mancini, Koné and Palestra are among the players Inter want from clubs interested in the Brazilian.

Using him as leverage, rather than simply selling him, could help Inter unlock deals that pure cash negotiations might not.

Watford head coach Ed Still said the 5-1 defeat away at Middlesbrough was "really painful" for everyone.

The defeat is the Hornets fourth in a row and sees them drop to 16th in the Championship table.

"The result is really painful for everyone - myself, the fans, the club, the players," Still told BBC Three Counties Radio.

"There were two parts to it. As strange as it sounds, the first-half performance was a really, really good performance.

"The control we had in midfield, we caused them problems. We should have been 2-1 up.

"They've had a moment of brilliance with the free-kick, and the second goal sums up our patchy form in our defensive box.

"But the actual result isn't just based on this game, but the whole season. Not creating enough togetherness, not creating enough resilience, and that's what happens at the end of a season, unfortunately."

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This time last year, Liverpool were thrashing Tottenham to win the Premier League, with Manchester City 18 points behind during a season in which they failed to win a major trophy.

Pep Guardiola pointed out his side did win the Community Shield but by his impeccable standards, the campaign had been a major disappointment.

City sealed qualification for the Champions League on the final day, which proved to be high point, as further dismay followed in the Club World Cup in the United States.

Established stars such as Kevin de Bruyne, Ilkay Gundogan, Jack Grealish and Ederson were allowed to leave in the summer, and there were questions marks over the rebuild with a cohort of younger players brought in.

Doubts only grew with a sticky start featuring two defeats in their opening three games this season, then starting 2026 with three consecutive draws, but the new blood appears to be flowing at the right time.

They got a taste of silverware by lifting the Carabao Cup and will be heavy favourites in the FA Cup final whether they face Chelsea or Leeds United, but regaining the Premier League may prove the toughest challenge.

City went top of the table on goals scored by edging to victory at Burnley on Wednesday but find themselves back in second and chasing Arsenal once more after the Gunners ground out a victory over Newcastle.

The Spaniard said: "Six games – if we win we will be there, if we lose it is over. People ask to define [City], how many Champions Leagues? How many this and that? To define the club, five Carabao Cup [wins] and playing four FA Cup finals in a row.

"You can always have a bad afternoon, a bad day with injuries and you cannot be there. In the Premier League, always we were there. We are in the final again, we have time to prepare with our fans. Now it is easy because it has been a tough week mentally and physically."

Former City defender Micah Richards said on BBC One: "When it looked like Manchester City were down and out, they found it from somewhere and that is what champions do.

"I still see some frailties in City's game on transitions, but at this moment in the season it is all about big moments, and they are taking the big moments."

Read more here

Wisconsin football class of 2027 target, defensive lineman Anitoni Tahi, will announce his commitment decision on Wednesday, April 29. He will choose from four schools: Wisconsin, Arizona State, Minnesota and Kansas State.

Rivals/On3 recruiting analyst Brandon Huffman broke the news on Friday.

247Sports currently lists Tahi as a three-star recruit. He's specifically ranked as the No. 1,164 overall player in the class, the No. 126 defensive lineman and the No. 25 recruit from Arizona. Kansas State insider Cole Carmody and mountain region analyst Blair Angulo both logged crystal ball predictions on Friday for the defensive lineman to choose the Wildcats.

Wisconsin's class of 2027 currently ranks No. 16 in the nation with nine players committed. While Tahi may be headed elsewhere, the program is off to a strong start to the cycle.

NEW: Chandler (Ariz.) Basha DL Anitoni Tahi has set his commitment date.

Tahi will announce Wednesday, April 29 and choose from four schools.

Intel: https://t.co/Wu04U8CJKapic.twitter.com/GSBCXRDxK3

— Brandon Huffman (@BrandonHuffman) April 24, 2026

Contact/Follow @TheBadgersWire on X (formerly Twitter) and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Wisconsin Badgers news, notes and opinion

This article originally appeared on Badgers Wire: Wisconsin recruiting 2027 Anitoni Tahi finalists, commitment date

Liverpool’s hard-fought win over Crystal Palace may have been remembered for the goals, but Arne Slot made it clear afterwards that one key moment from Freddie Woodman defined the match.

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Our boss was full of praise for his third-choice goalkeeper after stepping in during an injury crisis, with the 29-year-old producing a crucial save that swung momentum firmly in our favour.

Slot highlights Woodman’s defining moment

Speaking via Liverpoolfc.com after the match, Slot didn’t hold back when asked if he was ‘delighted’ with Freddie Woodman’s performance.

“That’s an understatement. I think I’ve sat here many times telling you guys that we’ve created a lot of good chances and then the first one of the other team went in.

“Now, I cannot say that today, because they’ve had enough good chances and enough moments that they were really close.”

The Dutch head coach pointed directly to the save that kept us ahead at a pivotal stage of the game, underlining just how fine the margins were.

“But I think the moment of the game was, of course, the lead-up to our 2-0 where Freddie made a big save. Otherwise it would have been 1-1. And 10 seconds later it’s 2-0.”

That sequence summed up the Premier League perfectly, with Slot adding: “These are the current margins in the Premier League and today they were on our side and so many times they have been not on our side.”

Liverpool finally benefit from fine margins

It was a moment that changed everything at Anfield, especially in a season where we’ve often been on the wrong end of those decisive swings.

Woodman’s intervention denied Jean-Philippe Mateta at 1-0, and within seconds, Andy Robertson doubled our lead at the other end, completely shifting the tone of the game.

The former Newcastle academy product has had to be patient since arriving last summer, but with both Alisson Becker and Giorgi Mamardashvili unavailable, he’s stepped up when we’ve needed him most.

His performance didn’t just earn praise from Slot either, with Alisson visibly applauding from the stands after watching the Englishman’s heroics unfold.

The nature of Palace’s goal was debated after the game, with Mike Dean giving his view, and it was a cruel way to stop our ‘keeper from claiming a much-deserved clean sheet.

Given the context of our injury-hit squad, moments like that could prove crucial in securing Champions League football, and if we do get over the line, Woodman will have played a bigger role than many expected.

Mercedes Formula 1 driver Kimi Antonelli has reflected on his maiden grand prix win at the 2026 Chinese Grand Prix, describing it as the best day of his life and revealing the home reaction he received in Italy.

The 19-year-old driver converted his first grand prix pole position into his first win at the Shanghai International Circuit on 15 March. His win ended a 20-year drought for Italy, with him becoming the latest Italian driver to win an F1 grand prix since Giancarlo Fisichella won at the 2006 Malaysian Grand Prix.

"Probably was so far the best day of my life," Antonelli explained on the Mercedes Nu Silver Arrows Radio Show.

"Being able to achieve one of my dreams and to get that first win. And the first one is always special because it happens only once. It was a very meaningful moment for me, for the team, for my family.

Andrea Kimi Antonelli, Mercedes

"My dad was there, which was great. Unfortunately, my mum was not there because she had to take care of my sister. But I think it was a very great moment for everyone, and for myself, especially. Because, as I said before, I was able to achieve one of my dreams, and it was also a very emotional one. But it was super cool."

Talking about the reception when he got home, he added: "At the airport, there were journalists and stuff, a lot of excitement because the last one was 2006.

"Fisichella, Malaysia 2006. If I am not mistaken. So a long time. To bring back Italy on top was really cool and definitely created a lot of excitement, which was cool."

Antonelli heads into the Miami Grand Prix as the leader of the drivers' championship. He currently has a nine-point lead over his Mercedes team-mate George Russell, who sits in second.

To read more Motorsport.com articles visit our website.

Torino vs Inter Milan today carries the weight of history, with Marcus Thuram and Giovanni Simeone taking centre stage as two sons of Serie A legends look to write their own chapters in Italian football.

Their fathers, Lilian Thuram and Diego Simeone, faced each other in some of the great battles of 1990s Italian football.

Lilian wore the shirts of Parma and Juventus. Diego pulled on those of Inter and Lazio.

Today their sons stand on opposite sides of a fixture with enormous stakes, as noted by FCInterNews.

Torino Vs Inter – Thuram Chases Doblete As Simeone Leads Torino Fight

Marcus Thuram enters the match in the form of his season.

Four goals and three assists across his last three appearances have transformed Inter’s attack. After a difficult period, the smile is back, and so is the clinical edge.

Indeed, a double, Scudetto and Coppa Italia, would represent a triumph his father never achieved. That thought drives him.

Furthermore, his father Lilian follows both Marcus and Khephren closely as both sons build their careers simultaneously.

Giovanni Simeone, meanwhile, has made Torino his home.

Diego Simeone attended his son’s very first appearance in granata, a Coppa Italia match against Modena on August 18th. Cholito quickly embodied the club’s spirit.

Nine league goals this season, four under current coach D’Aversa, confirm his importance to Torino.

However, some injuries interrupted his rhythm. Each time, Simeone pushed hard to return, showing the determination that clearly runs in the family.

Tonight, two football dynasties collide once more. This time, the sons carry the story forward.

British tight end Seydou Traore was a late-round pick in the NFL Draft along with Uar Bernard, a Nigerian yet to play a game of American football.

Traore is the first graduate of the UK-based NFL Academy to be drafted, having been selected by the Miami Dolphins with the 180th overall pick.

The 23-year-old has French-Algerian and Ivorian heritage and was born and raised in London, where he played for the London Warriors as a teenager.

He was part of the NFL Academy's first intake in 2019 and spent five years in college football in the USA before showcasing his talent through the NFL's International Player Pathway (IPP) programme this year.

Former Warriors player Efe Obada was the first IPP product to play in the NFL and he went on stage in Pittsburgh to announce the Dolphins' pick.

"This isn't just another name on a card, this is living proof that the dream is possible," said British defensive end Obada, who has witnessed Traore's development having helped the academy from its inception.

Traore became the third IPP product to be selected in an NFL Draft, after Australia's Jordan Mailata in 2018 and Britain's Travis Clayton in 2024.

Clayton was also part of the NFL Academy's first intake in London but only spent a brief period with the programme, now based in Loughborough, before coming through the IPP.

Traore completed the programme before moving to the US to play high school football in Florida.

He played college football for five years, earning a scholarship with Arkansas State in 2021 before transferring to Mississippi State in 2023.

Now 6ft 4in and weighing 244lb (111kg), he caught a total of 131 passes for 1,482 yards and 10 touchdowns from 48 college games, scoring five of those TDs last season.

"He's kind of a raw, athletic ball of clay, if you will," said Miami's general manager Jon-Eric Sullivan. "He should only get better.

"He hasn't been playing football real long, so that was what was intriguing to us, especially at that value [fifth round].

"We felt he's a player who's ascending, whose best ball is in front of him, and who can be a problem for defences in time. We had our eyes on [him] for a while and he fell to us at the right value, so we took a shot."

• 'Is this real?' - UK teen takes next step on path to NFL dream

Eagles put faith in Bernard 'passion project'

Obada, who was born in Nigeria, returned to the draft stage near the end of the seventh and final round to say: "Pittsburgh, you are now witnessing history being made."

He then announced that with the 251st overall pick, the Philadelphia Eagles had selected Bernard, making him the second player from this year's IPP class to be drafted.

The 21-year-old, who has been working as a personal trainer, has not yet played organised football but his potential was identified during NFL training camps in Africa.

He earned a spot on the IPP programme, where his athleticism astounded NFL scouts and thrust him into contention for a late-round pick.

"It's a dream come true for me because I've worked hard for this," Bernard said. "I've not played football, but I've gone through some drills that made me believe that I'm going to get better every day."

Bernard is 6ft 4in and weighs 306lb (139kg), and has been earmarked as a defensive tackle.

He is said to have just 6% body fat and in pre-draft tests he ran the 40-yard dash in 4.63 seconds and had a 39-inch vertical jump - exceptional figures for a defensive player of his size.

Mailata had a similar impact on NFL scouts in 2018. The former rugby league player had also never played football, but the Eagles felt they could mould him into an NFL player.

Mailata spent two seasons developing on their practice squad before making his first start in 2020. He then helped them win the Super Bowl in 2025 and is now one of the best offensive tackles in the league.

Eagles general manager Howie Roseman was willing to take on the challenge of doing the same with Bernard.

"We wanted to take the chance on the kid," he said. "We've had great success with that programme. We spent a lot of time with him, worked him out.

"For us, it was a passion project. He's got a lot of tools in his body. [We] understand it's going to take time. It was pretty cool. [It's] certainly unusual with that guy."

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The clock in the corner of the ground was showing 3.35pm, and The Kop was in raptures as Liverpool's number nine was mobbed by his team-mates.

Some 236 days after joining the club, Alexander Isak's long wait for his first home Premier League goal for Liverpool was finally over.

Isak set his side on the way to a hard-fought 3-1 victory over Crystal Palace with a shot into the ground that looped over goalkeeper Dean Henderson and into the net.

For the first time in a long time, the man who cost a British record £125m was smiling again on a day of firsts for Isak and Liverpool.

This was the Swede's first goal of 2026, and the first time the Reds have won a home league game he started.

"Did anyone ever think we would say this, eight or nine months ago, that at the end of April, Alexander Isak scored his first Liverpool league goal at Anfield?" asked manager Arne Slot after the game.

"That sums up this season a lot - that an unbelievable striker has had such a long time with injuries.

"It's really nice that he has scored because when we signed him we knew he could score goals."

But will this goal mark a turning point for the player whose first season at Anfield has been overshadowed by injuries and a loss of form?

• Isak scores as Liverpool beat Palace to boost CL hopes
• 'Wait and see' - has Salah played last Liverpool game?

'Liverpool are going to need him back to his best'

On the corresponding weekend last season, Isak scored for Newcastle United in a win that relegated Ipswich Town.

It was his 26th goal of a successful season that would help propel Eddie Howe's side into the Champions League.

He ended the campaign with 27, and a little over three months later joined Liverpool.

"I want to create history," said Isak, after an acrimonious move before which he had trained away from Newcastle's first-team squad.

"I want to win trophies. This is the perfect place for me to grow even further and take my game to the next level."

Yet that dream move has turned into something of a nightmare for both player and club.

Isak suffered a serious ankle injury in December that included a fractured fibula.

Prior to that he had been starting in place of Hugo Ekitike, who many fans thought deserved to be selected. There were suggestions Liverpool were struggling to fit Isak into their system.

Four months later, he is still a shadow of the player he was last season and has still to complete a full 90 minutes in a Liverpool shirt.

Against Palace he had 18 touches and registered one attempt, from which he scored, before being replaced by Ryan Gravenberch in the 79th minute.

He has now played 1,009 minutes for Liverpool - well down on the 3,319 he managed for Newcastle last season.

But Martin Keown, a pundit on Saturday's Match of the Day, believes there could be brighter days ahead for Isak.

"It's been a long time coming for someone who cost a British record transfer fee," said three-time Premier League winner Keown.

"But that feeling of celebrating with the home fans is something for him to build on. Isak showed us a little bit of what we thought we'd see from the start of the season.

"If Liverpool can get him fully fit and back to the form he showed at Newcastle, then clearly he's an outstanding player - and someone the club will still have big expectations for.

"With Mohamed Salah leaving in the summer and Hugo Ekitike likely to miss the rest of the calendar year, the Reds are going to need him back to his best."

'Maybe he can start fresh next season' - fans on Isak

Isak, who signed a six-year contract with Liverpool, is likely to play for Sweden at the World Cup this summer.

And some fans believe that could help him return to his best form before his second season with the Reds.

"It hasn't gone so well for him so far," said Mattias Astrom, who travelled to Liverpool from Sweden for the Palace game.

"He needs confidence and he has to score. That's why Liverpool bought him - to score goals. Maybe he can start fresh next season."

Compatriot Fredde Andersson added: "I was excited when Liverpool signed Isak.

"But he's not the player he was at Newcastle last season. Now Hugo Ekitike is injured, maybe he will get more minutes."

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The 2026 NFL Draft is over, and there were no major trades over the weekend involving veteran players, much to the chagrin of San Francisco 49ers general manager John Lynch.

At the conclusion of his post-draft press conference alongside head coach Kyle Shanahan, Lynch was asked about an update on wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk.

"No new update right now," Lynch responded. "We’re available. Give us a call."

What's interesting is that when he said he and the 49ers were available, he held up his phone, indicating to other teams, specifically Aiyuk's rumored desired destination, the Washington Commanders, that he was open for business.

John Lynch says the 49ers are not planning to release Brandon Aiyuk anytime soon.

He holds up his phone and says: “we’re available. Give us a call.” pic.twitter.com/jrFR0pXbKZ

— Coach Yac 🗣 (@Coach_Yac) April 25, 2026

A report surfaced during the NFL draft from NFL insider Ian Rapoport regarding Washington's interest in Aiyuk and vice versa. It's not a secret, and it's why the 49ers have played hardball with the disgruntled receiver. They don't want to give him what he wants, despite saying he'd played his last down for the franchise.

"I think it's the prudent thing to do," Lynch continued. "He’s an extremely talented player. He’s been an extremely effective player in our league. The situation didn’t work itself out here. That’s not to say that it can’t be rekindled somewhere else. And we’d be happy to do something with anyone, if the opportunity presented itself."

A trade is not happening. No team is taking on Aiyuk's contract, especially coming off knee surgery. Even if he proves he's 100% healthy, the contract remains a problem. Why would Washington give up anything of value for a player it knows the 49ers have to move on from before Week 1?

For now, this remains a standoff between the 49ers and Commanders. Ideally, Washington would want Aiyuk in the building this offseason to work with his new team, including his good friend, quarterback Jayden Daniels, and offensive coordinator David Blough. But, for now, Commanders GM Adam Peters remains content to let things play out.

This article originally appeared on Commanders Wire: Washington Commanders: 49ers GM wants to make deal for Brandon Aiyuk

Six Longhorns were taken in 2026 NFL Draft. But almost a dozen other UT players were hoping to hear their names called in Pittsburgh this weekend. Many of these Longhorns have already signed undrafted free agent contracts.

For the six former Texas football players drafted into the league this week, their lifelong dreams have come true. They are NFL players. Their future is still uncertain, but they are guaranteed a good salary and chances are all six will be on an NFL roster for Week 1 of the 2026 season.

But there are at least 10 other Longhorns that didn't get drafted. These include Travis Shaw, Ethan Burke, Cole Hutson and even Arch Manning's back up, Matthew Caldwell.

During the draft, the players' agents are working the phones just in case their clients fall out of the top 257 players. When the draft is over, most of the matches are already made and there's been a flurry of signings so far.

Texas Football 2026 NFL Draft Picks:

• LB Anthony Hill Jr.
• DB Malik Muhammad
• LB Trey Moore
• S Michael Taaffe
• OL DJ Campbell
• TE Jack Endries

Texas Football Undrafted Players:

• CB Jaylon Guilbeau
• QB Matthew Caldwell
• DL Travis Shaw
• DE Ethan Burke
• DL Cole Brevard
• OL Cole Hutson
• LB Marshall Landwehr
• LS Lance St. Louis
• P Jack Bouwmeester
• K Mason Shipley

Check out which players have signed UFA contracts below:

DE Ethan Burke - Baltimore Ravens

Signed ✍️

Ethan Burke is headed to Baltimore 🤘@eburke4lax x @Ravenspic.twitter.com/b9g5sbYT4g

— Texas Football (@TexasFootball) April 26, 2026

QB Matthew Caldwell - LA Rams

Signed ✍️

Welcome to LA, Matthew Caldwell 🤘@RamsNFLpic.twitter.com/dCAN891Hrr

— Texas Football (@TexasFootball) April 26, 2026

CB Jaylin Guilbeau - Carolina Panthers

Signed ✍️

Jaylin Guilbeau is going to Carolina 🤘@jaylonguilbeau1 x @Pantherspic.twitter.com/cBwgsxON8C

— Texas Football (@TexasFootball) April 26, 2026

DL Cole Brevard - Kansas City Chiefs

Signed ✍️

Cole ➡️ KC@cole_brevard x @Chiefspic.twitter.com/oL1KxLX3KF

— Texas Football (@TexasFootball) April 26, 2026

K Mason Shipley - New Orleans Saints

Signed ✍️

Mason Shipley is headed to NOLA 🤘@MasonShipley1 x @Saintspic.twitter.com/COMfLeVkwV

— Texas Football (@TexasFootball) April 26, 2026

DL Travis Shaw - Baltimore Ravens

Signed ✍️

T-Shaw is Baltimore bound 🤘@cheesy_Trav18 x @Ravenspic.twitter.com/VyL7BsxsQ3

— Texas Football (@TexasFootball) April 26, 2026

P Jack Bouwmeester - San Francisco 49ers

Signed ✍️

Jack Bouwmeester is headed to San Fran 🤘@jackbouwie x @49erspic.twitter.com/dGDfqndTSQ

— Texas Football (@TexasFootball) April 26, 2026

This article originally appeared on Longhorns Wire: Undrafted Free Agent Tracker: Texas Longhorns post-NFL draft activity

The Atlanta Falcons left the 2026 NFL Draft with six new players, including two potential starters, despite not having a first-round pick. After sitting out on Day 1, the team kicked off Day 2 by taking Clemson cornerback Avieon Terrell in the second round.

Not only was Terrell a projected first-round selection, but is the younger brother of Falcons CB A.J. Terrell. However, this wasn't some nepotism pick, and the Terrell brothers should be a force in Atlanta for years to come.

Falcons general manager Ian Cunningham wasn't done yet, though. In the third round, the team drafted speedy Georgia wide receiver Zachariah Branch with the 79th overall pick. From there, Atlanta started to shift towards finding versatile, athletic prospects.

After pulling off a trade to acquire an additional sixth-round pick, the Falcons took Oklahoma linebacker Kendal Daniels, Washington defensive tackle Anterio Thompson, LSU linebacker Harold Perkins Jr., and Ohio State offensive tackle Ethan Onianwa.

The reaction has been overwhelmingly positive, especially to the team's Day 2 picks. Here's how those around the NFL reacted to the Falcons' 2026 draft class.

NFL world reacts to Falcons' 2026 draft class

This is so dope 🔥 https://t.co/msq9sJGvO6

— Chad Johnson (@ochocinco) April 25, 2026

We got better today.

— Bijan Robinson (@Bijan5Robinson) April 25, 2026

Extremely proud of you @zachariahbranch! You have been a joy to watch this past year, and I can’t wait to see what you do with @AtlantaFalcons GO DAWGS !! pic.twitter.com/F063vLBIib

— Coach Kirby Smart (@KirbySmartUGA) April 25, 2026

Matt Ryan was pumped when the @AtlantaFalcons selected Kendal Daniels 😄 pic.twitter.com/99yxrjXZ3A

— NFL UK & Ireland (@NFLUKIRE) April 25, 2026

The theme of these last two picks for Atlanta in the sixth round? Athlete.

DT Anterio Thompson is 306 pounds and ran a 4.73 40-time and a 1.74 10-yard split.

LB Harold Perkins Jr. ran a 4.45 40-time. That's in the 96th percentile of his position. pic.twitter.com/zhLIs91wwi

— Tori McElhaney (@tori_mcelhaney) April 25, 2026

Kendal Daniels is a BIG LB/S hybrid. Can line him up in the slot, he's a great blitzer, not who I expected but a very Jeff Ulbrich coded pick

— Tre’Shon (@tre3shon) April 25, 2026

Falcons ranked 9th for best value in the draft without having a first round pick.

Ian cooked. https://t.co/uHz0shy69Q

— Carrie (@carrielynnxox) April 26, 2026

AJ Terrell said Kevin Stefanski told him about three picks away that the #Falcons were probably going to take his brother. "I had to wait three picks before I could show some type of love to him. ... I feel like I'm living the draft again."

— Marc Raimondi (@marcraimondi) April 25, 2026

Falcon https://t.co/WFnN4LPOxo

— Atlanta Falcons (@AtlantaFalcons) April 25, 2026

Perkins: "Yes, I grew up a Saints fan."

Then he tilted down his new #Falcons cap.

"I ain't a Saints fan no more!"

— Marc Raimondi (@marcraimondi) April 25, 2026

4.73 at 306 pounds is genuinely disturbing https://t.co/fygU3nCVw9pic.twitter.com/vHMA11rjmf

— Clint Goss (@NFLDraftDome) April 25, 2026

AJ Terrell said Kevin Stefanski told him about three picks away that the #Falcons were probably going to take his brother. "I had to wait three picks before I could show some type of love to him. ... I feel like I'm living the draft again."

— Marc Raimondi (@marcraimondi) April 25, 2026

YESSS ‼️ https://t.co/hDA0X9HwUM

— Zachariah “ease” Branch (@zachariahbranch) April 26, 2026

Falcons secondary is going to make a lot of plays in 2026.

— Jeremy Fowler (@JFowlerESPN) April 25, 2026

Harold Perkins Jr. is a steal at the end of the 6th round for the Falcons. pic.twitter.com/TofRoVYZxx

— Nick Penticoff (@NickPenticoff) April 25, 2026

Maurice Jones-Drew picked #Falcons LB Kendal Daniels as his most intriguing Day 3 pick.

“His ability to spy guys … he can rush, he can play LB, he can cover. To me, I was shocked he was still there in the 4th round.” pic.twitter.com/jOGq8mEnwQ

— Rise Up Avieon (@RiseUpReader) April 25, 2026

I’m coming home! #RiseUphttps://t.co/YV1mcnlVcq

— Carlos “CEO" Allen Jr (@carlosallen51) April 25, 2026

"I feel like we came out of this day with some good football players."

Ian Cunningham said the day started with everyone coming in and having the area scouts go through and give notes/speeches about the players still on the board that they were convicted on.

— Tori McElhaney (@tori_mcelhaney) April 25, 2026

This article originally appeared on Falcons Wire: NFL fans react to Atlanta Falcons' 2026 draft class

(This post will be updated as more grades become available.)

The legend of Dan Morgan might've grown this weekend.

Led for the third straight year by their president of football operations and general manager, the Carolina Panthers came and apparently conquered the 2026 NFL Draft. Their newest class, led by offensive tackle and 19th overall selection Monroe Freeling, features plenty of value from top to bottom and addresses a handful of the roster's most pressing needs.

So, what do some of the league experts think about Morgan and company's haul?

Here are their grades for the Panthers' full 2026 draft class . . .

Grades for the Carolina Panthers' 2026 NFL Draft class

• Carter Bahns (CBS Sports): A-
• Nate Davis (USA TODAY Sports): B
• Luke Easterling (Athlon Sports): A
• Vinnie Iyer (Sporting News): A
• Danny Kelly (The Ringer): A
• Mel Kiper Jr. (ESPN): B
• Gilberto Manzano (Sports Illustrated): C-
• Curt Popejoy (Draft Wire): A
• Pro Football Focus staff (Pro Football Focus): A+
• Pro Football Network staff (Pro Football Network): A
• Chad Reuter (NFL Media): A-
• Nate Tice (Yahoo Sports): B
• Dan Wilkins (theScore): B+
• Hayden Winks (Underdog Sports): B+

Follow @ThePanthersWire on Twitter/X for more Panthers content.

This article originally appeared on Panthers Wire: 2026 NFL Draft: Experts grade Panthers' class

NEWPORT, R.I. – We sat two miles away from the International Tennis Hall of Fame, where artifacts from Andre Agassi are on display. You can push a button and watch him beat Roger Federer, his fist pumping and his smile soaking up the raucous crowd after match point.

But when I spoke with a collection of parents at St. Michael’s Country Day, a toddler-eighth grade independent school, I shared how Agassi really felt.

He hated tennis.

It’s a theme he repeats throughout his autobiography, “Open,” as his father made him hit ball after ball as a young boy in the Las Vegas desert sun. Tennis was force-fed to him. He became a professional tennis player because the sport is really all he felt he could do.

We want our kids to love what they play, but often we also want them to win, and to get to the highest notch on the “sports ladder.” We dig in if they’re especially good. But are we underestimating them?

"What somebody needs to do to be pro at 16 years old is crazy, right?” Agassi told USA TODAY Sports in 2024. “I mean, think about how you have to spend those years in order to do it. So the question now becomes, is that self-motivated, or is fear the driver? Is somehow somebody else's agenda the driver?”

Maybe it’s not what our kids want to do. As we got into our discussion about “Surviving Youth Sports,” I focused on 10 misconceptions we can have about their sports journeys. They are likely familiar to you.

Consider them as you go about your season, and your summer and into coming years. Understanding what’s behind them could be the key to unlocking a happy sports journey.

YOUTH SPORTS SURVIVAL GUIDE: Order Coach Steve's new book

1. There is a direct correlation between winning and advancement

“Does anybody feel that way?” I asked the audience to begin our discussion.

A number of people shook their heads. If you go to a kids' sports complex or high school gym on a regular basis, you get the impression that most sports parents think otherwise.

Winning matters, but not to the degree we think it does. Across multiple studies of kids who play sports – whether they are boys or girls, are teenagers or younger kids, or travel or recreational players – winning generally falls far down the list of factors about their sport that they find most fun.

In her groundbreaking study about youth soccer players, sports scientist Amanda Visek found that kids’ top three fun determinants were trying hard, positive team dynamics and positive coaching. She has had similar findings in studies of kids who play other sports, including basketball and tennis.

UCLA women’s basketball coach Cori Close just won the national championship. When I interviewed her two years ago, when UCLA was still a top-ranked team, Close recalled a conversation with a coach who had just won one.

"How do you feel?" Close asked.

"A little empty," the coach replied.

The fun part for many teams is getting to the top of the mountain. Working hard, being with your teammates and going after your goal is what makes sports most fun. Winning is a byproduct of those factors, and we can feel them even if we don’t win all the time.

2. It's bad to fail

We send our kids out to the field or court to succeed or fail, and we need to be OK with whatever happens. We often aren’t.

Duke University professor Aaron Dinin has taught a class called “Learning to Fail.”

He gives students activities in which they’re destined to fall short, or he even intentionally gives them a poor mid-semester grade, to see how they react.

In the process, they gain information they can use to put themselves in a better position to be more successful in the future. If your son or daughter has a bad game, find a few things they did right, but also what they could improve upon. They might even tell you themselves.

“The most important thing is actually losing,” says Dan Soviero, who founded Signature Athletics, a youth sports platform that supports recreational and travel sports programs. “When you lose, you learn, when you win, you celebrate.”

3. It's always worth it to be on the 'best' team

In Newport, a longtime home of the America’s Cup located on an island at the Atlantic Coast, kids are taught to sail in fourth grade as part of a school program.

It’s a safe, non-competitive way to introduce a sport that everyone does together for enjoyment. It reminds me of how kids' sports are handled in Norway.

Norwegian kids aren’t sorted by ability until they are 13. They are allowed to learn to enjoy sports and play them as much or as little as they like. Think of the opposite of your local Little League draft, which can resemble an NFL war room.

Norway’s format fosters an embedded enjoyment of sports. Kids are eventually identified as the most promising ones, but the decision doesn’t seem to matter for the ones who aren’t.

“For the rest, that’s OK,” NBC commentator Mary Carillo says in her documentary on the country that ran during the Winter Olympics, “because most will look back fondly on their active childhoods and go on to live fit, healthy lives as adults.”

4. Kids play youth sports because they want to go pro or get a college scholarship

Most everyone in the audience laughed when I mentioned this one.

“Is it the parents that want to get a college scholarship?” I said.

Often, kids’ sports itineraries are driven by parents with an eye on the future. Kids tend to play firmly in the present.

A number of surveys, including a recent one by the Aspen Institute’s Sports & Society program on youth soccer players in New York City and North Jersey, have registered that having fun and playing with friends are top priorities for kids with sports.

In short, they want to play for social reasons. Even in competitive travel situations, friendship ranks higher than winning or scholarships. Working together and competing hard are part of the Amanda Visek “fun” model I mentioned earlier, so competition and winning can be bred organically.

5. The best athletes are that way from an early age

“I’m a late bloomer,” Laura Wheeler, a mom in the crowd who coaches her 12-year-old son in Little League, said when I read No. 5, drawing laughs.

So are some of the most elite athletes.

Did you know that Tom Brady started his freshman football career 0-7, or that he only started on junior varsity because the kid ahead of him quit?

He learned football, and even how to put on his pads, on the go. But he loved it.

“I was nowhere in the realm physically or emotionally or mentally where a lot of these other kids were when they arrived at Michigan,” he told Youth Inc.’s Greg Olsen in a 2025 interview.

Annika Sorenstam, who became a Hall of Fame golfer, told me in an interview last year that she used to “tank” the end of her junior golf tournaments so she would finish second and not have to speak publicly as the winner.

It made her angry to lose, though. Her dad coached her on a few things to say – “I do the talking with my clubs,” was one of them – and she gained confidence in front of crowds, learning from the experience.

Focus on fun when they’re young. The self-motivation will come from them.

6. If your son or daughter is excelling at a sport, it means they are enjoying themselves

This is a tricky one that goes back to the recent Aspen kids survey, where they emphasized cost as a major barrier to them playing.

Children are smarter than you think. They know if you’re forking out a lot of money, and they don’t want to let you down. There might be a certain amount of pressure that they feel to do well for you.

It makes us happy when they do, and we want them to be good at whatever they’re doing, in sports or otherwise. But if they’re playing a sport, make sure to have conversations with them before encouraging them to keep playing.

If they’re getting on a competitive track and playing every weekend, maybe they’re getting burned out.

Make sure, even if they’re really good, it’s what they want to be doing.

MORE COACH STEVE: What to do when child athletes feel like quitting sports

7. If you don't start travel sports at an early age, you will be 'left behind'

This is one that even former pro athletes worry about. I have struggled with the feeling, too. I think my kids would have been fine with their sports careers if I had waited a few years rather than starting them in travel baseball at 8 or 9.  

Just because everyone else is doing a travel sport or other activity, it doesn’t mean it’s the right situation for your kid and your family.

Ask yourself: What are you trying to get out of travel sports? They have a purpose for college recruitment, but if that’s what you’re interested in, they don’t really ramp up until eighth or ninth grade.

"You're not getting scouted at 8-, 9-, 10-, 11-,12-years old," says Todd Frazier, once a Little League World Series hero who became a major leaguer.

His best memories of the Little League World Series, he says, are becoming good friends with kids from Saudi Arabia and Japan.

Find a situation that fits your family. If you’re not taking family vacations because of sports, ask yourself why? It may not be worth it.

8. When you take your kid to practice, it's a good idea to stay and watch

When I coached my two sons, who are now in high school, there was almost always a contingent of parents who watched practice. Some said things to their sons or daughters as we were going along. One mom even ran out and wiped her son’s nose at second base.

There is a balance. We really want to be there and to watch them, but let’s remember this is their time to be with their friends, to engage in something they love (or might grow to love), to learn to problem solve on their own and to find peace of mind.

Do you really want them thinking during practice, “Oh gosh, mom and dad are watching me, I had better do well.” They’ll be looking for your approval. You can give it to them by talking to them about what happened at practice afterward, but also by letting it be their time.

U.S. women’s soccer icon Abby Wambach is adamant about this point. Julie Foudy, one of her former teammates and now a soccer mom like Wambach, says her parents rarely even came to her games. It’s not because they didn’t love her. It’s just that they had other things they were doing.

9. In order to get on a college team, or a high school team, you need to specialize in a sport early

In this day of parents investing loads of money and time to make their kids better, you might need to focus on one sport when your son or daughter gets close to high school age.

Focusing on a sport, though, is not the same as only playing one sport. We can focus on one sport, for example, for two or three seasons, and play another in the fourth. Specialization can be a very personal decision, but if you do it before early or mid-high school, you risk injuries, and girls are at a higher risk than boys.

College coaches love multisport athletes, but if you feel you need to specialize, here are two good rules of thumb, backed up by medical data:

• Don’t exceed a child’s age in the number of hours per week they play a particular sport.
• The rate of organized to unorganized play should not be greater than 2 to 1.

10. We play an active role in our kids' sports development

Think of yourself as someone who puts your child in a situation to learn and to grow to find something they really like. Those discoveries need to come from your child, and they don’t have to be about sports. They can be about instruments or theater or academic clubs.

We can play an active role in facilitating without forcing things upon them. We don’t want them to get stuck on one track that they truly don’t enjoy. Give them options and watch them thrive when they find something they really want to dig into.

Take time to do things as a family away from sports. When there is too much focus on them, everybody gets burned out, not just the kids.

“I agree with a lot of what you have to say but, chances are, you’re gonna have a coach or you’re gonna be involved with other parents who believe in all 10 of these things,” Carolyn Hanigan, a mom whose 12-year-old son attends St. Michael’s, said to me at the end of my talk. “You have to learn to live with these people, too, and navigate like, ‘Can my kid come in and learn and play when you’ve got these full-on parents, and sometimes even spouses disagree.

“It’s too bad because it will eventually cause a shift of parents. My husband will be like, ‘I don’t care if he plays any sports. We have plenty of things we can do and we’re spending all this time together.’

“(Their son) just plays. He’d rather play with a group of younger kids and have a good time. I have to accept that. My husband said, ‘Those are your tapes. That’s the tapes in your head. That’s what you wanted from your childhood onto this child.’ ”

We don’t have to get sucked into the frenzied state of youth sports. It’s our job to push against the grain and find our kids’ passions.

Borelli, aka Coach Steve, has been an editor and writer with USA TODAY since 1999. He spent 10 years coaching his two sons’ baseball and basketball teams. He and his wife, Colleen, are now sports parents for two high schoolers. His Coach Steve column is posted weekly. For his past columns, click here.

Got a question for Coach Steve you want answered in a column? Email him at sborelli@usatoday.com

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: 10 delusions about youth sports and how we can push against them

Q: Ira, do you expect breaking news from Pat Riley on Monday? – Sandy.

A: I guess that comes down to your interpretation of what is news. I do believe Pat Riley will recognize and stress that change is coming, considering this is now matches the second-worst stretch of his playing/coaching/management career, only the second time his team has been limited to one playoff-game victory over a three-year span (he went without a playoff victory in the span of 2000-01, ’01-02 and ’02-03 as Heat coach, with just one playoff victory in the span of 2016-17, ’17-18 and ’18-19 as Heat president). So when it basically is as bad as it ever has been over his nearly 50 years in the game, the expectation would be something more than talk about staying the course. As the Heat continue to put him front and center as the face of the team, then his words seemingly would have to reflect the moment.

Related Articles

• Submit your “Ask Ira” question here!

Q: How about Nick Arison do the media session? He’s the one pulling the strings. – Manny.

A: If Pat Riley opens that door or leaves that door open, deferring to Nick Arison on answers on Monday, then yes, further explanation would seem reasonable from the executive branch. Remember, this is not like seeking an owner for comment (of which many in the South Florida market have declined). Nick Arison is listed as CEO, above Riley, in the team’s hierarchy. Micky Arison is listed as managing general partner.

Q: I enjoyed your informative article about the trade assets the Heat have with their roster. Can’t the $17 million Duncan Robinson trade exception also be used until July 7, to allow them to send out that much less in salary than they take back? – Morgan, New Orleans.

A: Yes and no. Trade exceptions cannot be aggregated, therefore can’t be “thrown into a deal” to balance it under the cap. However, such exemptions can be used concurrently in a trade, to take in salary from a single player as part of the bigger deal. For example, should the Bucks demand Bobby Portis also be taken on by an acquiring team in a Giannis Antetokounmpo deal, then Portis’ salary could be taken into the Robinson trade exception in a concurrent deal.

Mikel Arteta has bemoaned the decisions not to send Nick Pope and Abdukodir Khusanov in Arsenal’s last two games against Manchester City and Newcastle United.

Photo by Richard Heathcote/Getty Images

Arsenal saw out a 1-0 win over Newcastle United on Saturday, but the scoreline could have been more emphatic if Nick Pope had been shown a red card in the 74th minute.

Pope charged out of his goal and missed the ball, before very deliberately bringing down Viktor Gyokeres to prevent him chasing it.

There was one Newcastle defender in the vicinity, but before Pope’s block it looked like Gyokeres was the closer player and able to reach the ball first. Yet the referee evidently disagreed, only showing a yellow card to Pope, rather than a red for denying an obvious goalscoring opportunity.

Photo by Richard Heathcote/Getty Images

“In my opinion, it’s a clear red card,” Arteta said of the incident. “I watched it 10 times. If you have ever played football, it is a red card.

“It’s the second time in two games because against Manchester City when Kai Havertz goes through and Khusanov fouls him at 1-1, the title is there. It is a red card, guys.

“I’m here to give my opinion. I’m someone who has been in the game for a long time, and you talk to any of the players because the trajectory, where the ball is, there’s no keeper there. If that were to happen the other way around, it’s a red card.

“I didn’t talk about it when we lost the game. I’m doing it when we won. It’s a red card today, it’s a red card in Manchester and the world is different. That’s it.”

Photo by Michael Regan/Getty Images

On the Khusanov one, former referee Keith Hackett had already spoken out in agreement with Arteta’s opinion.

“If Anthony Taylor awarded a free-kick, then there is no doubt in my mind that the denial of an obvious goalscoring opportunity has clearly taken place, and that would have resulted in a red card for the Manchester City player,” Hackett said.

“On reviewing the video, I think the Manchester City player is rather fortunate not to have been dismissed.”

It’s certainly a shame to have two of these incidents in two consecutive matches, particularly when Arsenal fans will have no trouble calling to mind incidents like William Saliba’s red vs Bournemouth or Myles Lewis-Skelly’s vs West Ham, when the Arsenal player was given no such benefit of the doubt.

Arsenal fans will just have to hope the potential goals and points these red-card decisions cost the team don’t end up affecting the final positions in the standings.

Liverpool’s push for Champions League qualification has taken a major step forward following our win over Crystal Palace, with the latest data suggesting we’re now firmly in control of our own destiny.

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According to Opta, our chances of finishing in the top five now stand at 96.92%, a figure that underlines just how strong our position has become heading into the final stretch of the season.

Liverpool closing in on Champions League return

That number represents a significant increase from earlier projections, with our probability previously sitting just above 90% before the Palace fixture.

The rise reflects not only our own results but also the struggles of the chasing pack, with the gap to sixth place now looking increasingly difficult for rivals to close.

When you compare the wider picture, it becomes even clearer how strong our position is, with only Arsenal and Manchester City rated at 100%, while we sit just behind Manchester United and Aston Villa in the projections.

That context shows we’re not just in contention anymore, we’re expected to get the job done.

Why Liverpool still need to stay focused

Despite the encouraging numbers, there’s still work to be done, particularly given the difficulty of the remaining fixtures.

As things stand, we’re level on points with Aston Villa and just ahead of the chasing group, meaning any slip-up could still reopen the race.

However, the trend is clearly in our favour, especially when you consider how results have gone since the international break, with wins over Fulham and Everton helping to build momentum at a crucial stage.

Those results have put us in a position where, realistically, a couple more victories should be enough to secure Champions League football for next season.

That could even come sooner than expected, with a strong run potentially allowing us to clinch qualification as early as the trip to Manchester United at Old Trafford.

For now, though, the message is simple, the job isn’t mathematically done, but with Opta giving us a 96.92% chance, we’re on the verge of securing exactly what we set out to achieve in these final weeks.

Barcelona are on a perennial hunt for young talent across Spain and the world in a bid to lure them to La Masia and further their development at the club.

After all, it requires early scouting and long-term planning to ensure that the prodigies of the academy develop to be compatible with the first team.

On that front, SPORT now bring to light that Barcelona have identified and are on the chase to sign a 2015-born player from Rayo Majadahonda.

One for the long haul

Indeed, Barcelona are now reportedly very close to signing Youssef Khanfri, whom the club’s scouts have closely followed in recent times.

Having seen his talent several times directly, the club are convinced that Khanfri has a special talent and that he can be incorporated into Barcelona’s under-12 team for the 2026-27 season.

Everything is on track to complete his signing in the coming weeks, and he is set to arrive at La Masia and join the junior team in the summer.

Khanfri is a dynamic and versatile player who flourishes primarily in two positions on the field – interior midfield and as a winger.

As it stands, however, it remains unknown as to where the Barcelona tacticians will place him. Given the academy’s relative overload in midfield talents, they may well see him as a player fit to develop as a winger.

Barcelona usually do not sign players from outside Catalonia in their academy until the player is in the under-13 category.

Khanfri, however, has formed an exception to that rule and will join still as an under-12 player as the club sees him to be too big a talent to leave on the market for one more year.

So far this season, the youngster has scored seven goals with Rayo Majadahonda’s under-12 side and it is clear that the Blaugrana value that aspect of his game.

Luis Henrique misses Inter Milan’s trip to Torino on Sunday with a right adductor strain, the Brazilian winger’s injury making him the only absentee as Pio Esposito prepares to start alongside Marcus Thuram.

According to Gazzetta dello Sport, via FCInterNews, Cristian Chivu heads to Turin in near-full strength.

Bastoni returns to the back three. He lines up alongside Akanji and De Vrij.

Bisseck is fit again but starts from the bench.

Torino Vs Inter – Esposito & Henrique Update As Lautaro Travels With Squad

Pio Esposito had a wisdom tooth removed earlier this week.

However, he completed a full group training session on Saturday and starts alongside Thuram.

Lautaro Martinez travels with the squad despite carrying his calf injury.

His presence, potentially on the bench, is largely symbolic at this stage.

Indeed, his real target remains the Parma home game on May 3rd.

Furthermore, Gazzetta write that Lautaro “wants to follow the away trip closely as it should precede his proper return to the pitch.”

Therefore, Chivu enters a potential Scudetto-clinching fixture with almost every player available.

Whilst Inter cannot mathematically guarantee the league today, they can all-but clinch it.

Probable Inter XI (3-5-2): Sommer; Akanji, De Vrij, Bastoni; Dumfries, Barella, Calhanoglu, Zielinski, Dimarco; Thuram, Esposito.

Georgia Bulldogs punter Brett Thorson has found an NFL home. Thorson was not selected in the 2026 NFL draft, but he did manage to quickly agree to an undrafted free agent deal with the Minnesota Vikings after the draft, per Ryan Fowler.

Thorson was an All-SEC selection in 2025. He recovered nicely from a knee injury that he suffered in the SEC championship to return for the Bulldogs during the 2025 college football season. Thorson ended up winning the Ray Guy award (nation's best punter) for his impressive 2025 season.

In 2025, Thorson averaged 45.2 yards per punt for Georgia. He had a season long punt of 66 yards and had half of his 42 punts downed inside the 20. Georgia fans love Thorson, who is from Australia, for his sense of humor and strong play on the field.

Thorson was not one of the two punters drafted despite his strong college career. One possible reason Thorson went undrafted is because Georgia uses quarterbacks to hold on field goals and not punters, which limited Thorson's experience at holding. Almost every NFL team has punters exclusively do the holding for field goals.

With the Vikings, Thorson will compete with NFL veteran punter Johnny Hekker for the starting role. Thorson has the talent to start in the NFL.

Eight Georgia Bulldogs were selected in the draft, which concluded on Saturday, April 25.

Follow UGA Wire on Instagram or Threads for more Georgia NFL draft coverage!

This article originally appeared on UGA Wire: Georgia fan-favorite signs UDFA deal with the Vikings

Texas A&M coach Bucky McMillan deserves a ton of praise for quietly building one of the best backcourts in the SEC since the transfer opened earlier this month, landing commitments from Kansas State transfer shooting guard PJ Haggerty, followed by landing former Samford/Radford sharpshooter Lukas Walls, and NBA G-League star guard Bryson Warren, who signed with the Aggies last week.

Combined with landing LSU transfer guard Jalen Reece last week, amid all the chaos surrounding the 2026 NFL Draft, McMillan and his staff secured their fifth transfer portal commitment. McNeese guard Tyshawn Archie, who has been a program target going back to this time last year, made things official after developing a strong relationship with McMillan and his staff.

This past season, Archie earned All-Southland first team and All-Southland Tournament honors for his breakout junior campaign, where he finished 2nd in the conference in steals, 9th in points, 9th in assists, 8th in FG%, 1st in BPM, 2nd in offensive BPM, and 5th in defensive BPM.

Bringing elite production to College Station, Archie 14.3 PPG, 2.9 APG, 1.9 RPG, and 1.7 STL, shooting 36.9% from three and 43.3% from the field, but before his McNeese career began, the now senior guard played at Tulsa, starting his career with PJ Haggerty.

During his first two seasons at Tulsa, Archie averaged 7.2 and 9.2 points, improving year to year, while Haggerty led the team with 21.2 PPG, becoming the star player for every team he's been on. This already established chemistry will help the rest of the backcourt gel this summer before the fall.

PJ Haggerty and Tyshawn Archie were teammates at Tulsa in 2023-24 and both made the AAC All-Freshman team.

Now they’re reunited at Texas A&M for their final year of college basketball 👍

A&M graduate assistant Ari Seals was also on that team.

Tulsa ➡️ Texas A&M pipeline‼️ pic.twitter.com/JE6yQCVA0N

— Luke Evangelist (@lukeevangelist_) April 25, 2026

Contact/Follow us @AggiesWire on X (formerly Twitter) and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Texas A&M news, notes and opinions. Follow Cameron on X: @CameronOhnysty.

This article originally appeared on Aggies Wire: Texas A&M star transfer guards once played together at Tulsa

The Buffalo Bills selected former Wisconsin receiver Skyler Bell in the fourth round of the 2026 NFL draft on Saturday.

The Bills made Bell the draft's No. 125 overall selection. Via UConn, he was the first former Badger selected.

Bell played for Wisconsin from 2021-23, appearing in 26 total games during that time. He tallied 755 yards and six scores on 69 receptions with the Badgers; his best season was a 30-catch, 444-yard, five-touchdown 2022 campaign.

The Watertown, Connecticut, native transferred to UConn following the 2023 season. He emerged as one of the top receivers in the sport during his two years with the Huskies, recording 151 total catches, 2,138 yards and 18 touchdowns. He headlined that stint with a 101-catch, 1,278-yard, 13-touchdown All-American 2025 campaign.

Bell joins a Buffalo Bills team that is still looking to break through with star quarterback Josh Allen at the helm. While the former Badger was a fourth-round pick, he should have a chance to contribute immediately.

Let it ring. pic.twitter.com/8SP0Tm3XlP

— Buffalo Bills (@BuffaloBills) April 25, 2026

Contact/Follow @TheBadgersWire on X (formerly Twitter) and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Wisconsin Badgers news, notes and opinion

This article originally appeared on Badgers Wire: Wisconsin football receiver Skyler Bell selected by Bills in NFL draft

Kansas City Chiefs linebacker Nick Bolton spoke with reporters via Zoom recently, sharing advice for the incoming rookie class from the 2026 NFL Draft.

"Trust your work (and) trust your process. Nothing happens overnight, especially (since) we've been accustomed – to being the best player on our teams and being able to play with quicksuccess and that doesn't always happen." said Bolton, "Being diligent in your work, being consistent and don't get bored with the details because as you continue to do those things, they show up when you need them the most."

Bolton was a college football standout for the Missouri Tigers and was selected by the Chiefs in the second round, 58th overall, in the 2021 NFL draft. Like many players selected on day 2 of this year's draft, Bolton has shown he has first-round talent, emerging in recent years as a leader of the defensive unit.

Chiefs general manager Brett Veach is hoping to hit it big again with this year's picks and the many undrafted free agents that will be looking to make an impression during minicamps.

This article originally appeared on Chiefs Wire: Chiefs LB Nick Bolton offers advice to the 2026 NFL Draft rookie class

Today in Boston Celtics history, Bill Sharman was traded to the Celtics in 1951 from the then Fort Wayne Pistons (now the Detroit Pistons), who had acquired Sharman earlier that year in a dispersal draft from the now-defunct Washington Capitals.

A native of Abilene, Texas, Sharman played his college basketball at the University of Southern California before being selected by the Capitals in the 1950 NBA Draft as the 17th overall pick. During his ten-season tenure with Boston, Sharman won four championships and was selected for eight All-Star games, earning All-Star MVP honors in 1955, as well as being named to seven All-NBA teams.

He retired as a player in 1961 to go into coaching and became the first person in North American sports history to win titles as a player, coach, and executive.

Transactions

It was on this day that the 1952 NBA Draft was held in Minneapolis, Minnesota, with the Celtics taking Gene Conley with the 90th overall pick out of Washington State (there were many more rounds to the draft in that era). Conley played four seasons with Boston in two stints, the middle broken up with five seasons playing for the Milwaukee Braves baseball team, with whom he won an MLB national championship in 1957. He won three NBA championships with the Celtics in the second stint, between 1959 and 1961.

Speaking of Conley, on this day, the 1961 NBA Expansion draft was held to populate the roster of the newly-created Chicago Packers. They took the place of the defunct Chicago Stags, and would eventually become the Washington Wizards after several moves and rebrandings. Conley was selected from Boston’s roster as an unprotected player but never played for the Packers, instead electing to play baseball for the Boston Red Sox.

Birthdays

It also happens to be the birthday of Celtics short-timer Moritz Wagner, born this day in 1997 in Berlin, Germany. An alum of Michigan, Wagner was picked up by the Los Angeles Lakers in the 2018 NBA Draft. He played for that club and the Washington Wizards before he was dealt to Boston in a three-team deal in 2021 that sent Daniel Theis and Javonte Green to the Chicago Bulls. Wagner was cut that April but averaged 1.2 points and 2.1 rebounds while with the Celtics.

Wagner shares that birthday with Dwight “Red” Morrison, who was born in 1932 in Fresno, California on this date. An Idaho alum picked up by Boston with the 14th overall pick of the 1954 NBA Draft. Morrison played 142 games over two seasons with the Celtics before retiring to go into construction (yes, really!). He logged 3.8 points, 5.6 rebounds, and an assist per game while with the team.

Gone too soon

This is also the date that Boston wing Al Lucas left us in 1995.

Lucas played his college ball at Fordham and spent his first four seasons as a pro playing for the (defunct) Sheboygan basketball club of the National Basketball League (NBL — a predecessor league of the NBA) before joining Boston for just 2 games in 1948. He recorded a point and an assist per game over that stretch — rest in peace.

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This article originally appeared on Celtics Wire: Celtics history: Sharman deal; Conley draft; Wagner, Morrison born; '64 title