Category: Sports

As the news trickled out Wednesday morning that Cleveland Browns rookie Dillon Gabriel would take over as the team’s starting quarterback, a good friend of Gabriel sent him a picture of a fire station.

“When he sends it, he just lists the obvious, right?” Gabriel said. “Like, doors are open, garage doors are open, things are ready to go, they’re just waiting on that phone call to respond surgically. Just what a great representation of the job I have and being ready for that moment.

“And I think I smile because it’s a moment you prep for, and you are extremely excited for, but also got to realize that it’s extreme focus, and that’s what I’ve continued to harp on.

“But, you wait for the perfect time, you’re going to wait a whole lifetime. So, for me, I’ve always been ready for every moment.”

Gabriel’s preparedness and that of the Browns will be tested as the third-round pick becomes the franchise’s 41st starting quarterback since it returned to the NFL in 1999 (most in the league over that span).

The Browns initially turned to Joe Flacco, who helped lead the franchise to the playoffs late in the 2023 season, to begin this season. However, his second stint in Cleveland got off to a rough start, as the 18-year veteran posted a Total QBR (27.0) that ranks above only Tennessee Titans rookie Cam Ward.

Flacco’s struggles led Browns coach Kevin Stefanski to insert Gabriel for his first career start. Though the weekly preparation in the first month of the season was geared toward helping Flacco, the Browns have also been working hard to develop their rookie passers, Gabriel and fifth-round pick Shedeur Sanders, to set them up for success, from film study to splitting scout team snaps to post-practice reps.

The merits of that strategy will be in the spotlight Sunday when Gabriel, who becomes the first NFL quarterback to make his first career start in an International game, leads the Browns (1-3) against the Minnesota Vikings (2-2) in London (9:30 a.m. ET, NFL Network).

“The big thing for us, it goes back to that intentionality of what we do,” Stefanski said. “That’s [quarterbacks coach] Bill Musgrave, that’s [offensive coordinator] Tommy Rees, that’s our player development team. Everybody understanding that we’re bringing our guys along. And it may, on one day, mean meetings, may, on one day, mean a physical individual drill — if you will, at practice, while this side’s doing this, these guys are doing that. So, just like, big picture being very intentional about every minute that you have.”

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THE BROWNS ARE first turning to Gabriel, a six-year college player at UCF, Oklahoma and Oregon, in an attempt to jump-start an offense that has scored the second-fewest points in the NFL (14 points per game through four weeks).

He takes over a quarterback group that has been through numerous changes since the April draft.

Stefanski on Wednesday announced that Flacco will be the backup, while Sanders, son of Pro Football Hall of Famer and Colorado football coach Deion Sanders, will continue to serve as the No. 3 and emergency QB.

Deshaun Watson is eligible to return to practice from the physically unable to perform list, but he continues to rehab his Achilles injury. Watson, though, has posted workout videos of himself throwing on his surgically repaired Achilles. And to add to the depth of passers on staff, Cleveland brought in veteran passer Bailey Zappe, who started a game for the Browns last season and is familiar with Stefanski’s offense, to the practice squad.

Meanwhile, Gabriel, 24, impressed the Browns during the predraft process by recalling concepts and processing that information. Though Gabriel, 5-foot-11, is one of the shortest starting quarterbacks (i.e., at 5-10, the Carolina Panthers‘ Bryce Young and Arizona Cardinals‘ Kyler Murray are the only ones shorter), Cleveland’s coaches don’t believe it has had a big impact on his game.

Gabriel’s work during training camp and the preseason made the team comfortable with trading Kenny Pickett to the Las Vegas Raiders and naming Gabriel as Flacco’s backup to start the season. Tyler Huntley, who was signed during the summer amid injuries to Pickett, Gabriel and Sanders, was released as part of roster cuts and is on the Baltimore Ravens‘ practice squad.

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CLEVELAND, IN A way, entered the regular season well-versed in allocating practice time for multiple quarterbacks.

During training camp, the team juggled splitting practice reps among four quarterbacks when Pickett was on the roster, and, at times, a fifth when it signed Huntley.

Many of those plans carried into the regular season, where Flacco took the majority of the practice reps for game prep. Stefanski on Wednesday said that Gabriel received reps with the starting offense in the first month of the season.

Gabriel talked about those starting reps as “here and there throughout practices but also respecting Flacco getting his reps throughout those weeks. So, I think we try to fit it in as much as possible, but I think we also did a good job of that in training camp. So, like I said, you got to build those moments up to get to this moment, and I think a great week of prep will set us up for success.”

A large portion of Gabriel’s practice reps, though, came as Cleveland split scout team reps among him, Sanders and Zappe.

“On Wednesdays, there’s a scout team meeting, so we’ll go in there, and defensive coaches will go over the cards to kind of give us a heads-up,” Zappe said, “because Wednesday is kind of like the bulk, that’s your bigger practice. Those are the practices that you practice the most. So, they want to get those fine-tuned.”

The rotating of scout team reps among multiple quarterbacks is a bit different for most NFL teams, Musgrave said, but has allowed each quarterback to get valuable snaps, even if they aren’t preparing to start.

“At times, the concepts resemble what we would run here with the Browns, and at times, it’s completely foreign,” Musgrave said. “But the fact that they’re out there and having to make decisions and process and then deliver throws accurately, all that is really good. And we try to engineer it or orchestrate it where certain concepts almost meet our quarterbacks.”

For Sanders, who started throughout his four-year college career at FCS program Jackson State and Colorado, it’s the first time since the COVID-19 season in spring 2021 at Jackson State — when he was an early enrollee — that he has run the scout team.

“It’s concepts. Anytime you’re throwing the ball, there’s only so many ways you can get to different spots,” Sanders said. “I just enjoy it, and like I say, that’s my game day. It’s my game day.”

To Zappe, a four-year pro, the benefits of the scout team reps are using the practice time to hone mechanics.

“It’s not always the plays that you’ve run or plays that you’re used to running,” Zappe said, “but really just kind of using the same footwork and the same reads, just kind of trying to imagine, OK, this is the play that we run. So, kind of read it out the same.”

In training camp, for example, the backups often stay afterward with pass catchers for the post-practice reps that they aren’t afforded during the week of game prep.

“We’ll try to work on the throws within our plays that week, but also things maybe we missed in the week prior,” Gabriel said. “Trying to stay on top of it so you can get as much as you need. So, it is kind of per quarterback and situation, but we all definitely try to get in our mix of film, walk-throughs, extra throws, pre-practice throws or even in between during special teams when we have a lot of position work”

Musgrave noted the difficulty of finding a new weekly routine — and one that maximizes opportunities with limited practice reps — for not only Sanders but Gabriel, whose 63 college starts are the most for a quarterback in FBS history. This week also presents an unorthodox schedule for Gabriel and the Browns, who flew to London on Wednesday afternoon after practicing at their facility in Berea, Ohio. They held a walk-through Thursday and are practicing Friday.

“There’s challenges there because you’re not getting the time on task and getting the actual rep,” Musgrave said. “So, the drill work is crucial. The studying — I call them simulations where we do almost stand-up meetings or walk-throughs, both in the meeting room and perhaps out on the grass or even on the carpet where we have more space.

“So, there’s ways that we are trying to be creative, and it happens with each quarterback room in the whole league at all levels of football. The guys that have to be ready to play, but also, they’re young. And so, we want them to develop and keep working on their craft at the same time.”

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THIS PAST WEEKEND, one NFL team already promoted its rookie quarterback as the previously winless New York Giants started Jaxson Dart, the 25th pick in April’s draft. New York’s offense showed signs of life after the change, as Dart accounted for two touchdowns in a 21-18 win against the previously undefeated Los Angeles Chargers.

In the lead-up to Dart’s first start, though, Giants coach Brian Daboll said that there’s no foolproof way to know when a rookie QB is ready to take the reins.

“I don’t think any rookie quarterback is ever just ready to play,” Daboll said. “You put him in there because you think that he’s done enough to show you that he can go out there and compete, and he’s done that every step of the way.”

Last week, Sanders told ESPN Cleveland that he was “ready to play right now.” Though Sanders remains the No. 3 QB, many wonder when he will make his regular-season debut. Browns owner Jimmy Haslam has said it’s “absolutely” important to see both rookies play ahead of a 2026 draft when Cleveland has two first-round picks.

For now, though, the focus is on Gabriel and his first start.

“From the second he’s been here, he’s been working very hard, very intelligent young man,” Stefanski said Wednesday. “He’s done a nice job throughout practice, and this whole season, he’s been learning how to get yourself ready, and understand the rhythm of an NFL week, and what that looks like as a backup, and obviously now feel like he’s ready to start.”

It feels like we know less about the college football landscape now than we did a month ago. Virginia is ranked, and Clemson very much isn’t. Ole Miss, Oklahoma and Texas A&M are unbeaten and ranked in the AP top six, and Texas, Alabama, Georgia and LSU are not. If you knew nothing about college football history and dove into this crazy world only this season, you would believe that Indiana, Texas Tech and Vanderbilt are three of the most elite programs in the country.

It’s into this murky world that we wade for Week 6. Last week boasted serious headliners that clarified the Big Ten’s hierarchy (Oregon over Penn State) and very much blurred the SEC’s (Bama over Georgia, Ole Miss over LSU). Week 6 doesn’t feature the same marquee matchups, but we still get Miami-Florida State, plus many games that are far bigger and better than we expected — Bama against unbeaten Vandy, Virginia against unbeaten Louisville, Texas Tech against unbeaten Houston, and Iowa State against a scorching Cincinnati.

Welcome to October. It’s hard to see where this season is taking us, but that makes the journey awfully fun. Here’s everything you need to follow in a surprising, mysterious Week 6.

All times Eastern.

Revenge time in Tuscaloosa?

No. 16 Vanderbilt at No. 10 Alabama (3:30 p.m., ABC)

Part of succeeding a legend is that we notice anytime you don’t live up to the legend’s standards. Granted, Kalen DeBoer has proven adept at continuing Nick Saban’s relative success against Kirby Smart’s Georgia, but DeBoer’s track record otherwise has some holes. He has already lost four games to unranked teams, as many as Saban lost in 17 years. Not great.

Saban was particularly good at putting upstarts in their place — think of Michigan State and Washington in the College Football Playoff. Or Missouri in the SEC championship game. Or Mississippi State every time the Bulldogs thought they were good. He was also good at revenge. His Crimson Tide bopped Tim Tebow’s Florida in 2009 and beat LSU by three TDs when they got a second shot at the Tigers in the 2011 BCS Championship Game. They lost to Auburn four times but won the following year by an average of 25 points.

You might remember what happened the last time Alabama played Vanderbilt.

Vandy has to go to Tuscaloosa this time, which sets up a revenge opportunity. But the Commodores are much better this time. They’re 11th in SP+, and they’re scoring 49 points per game. Diego Pavia is third nationally in Total QBR (and maybe the second-best power conference quarterback to date), completing 75% of his passes and averaging nearly 7 yards per non-sack carry. Backs Sedrick Alexander and Makhilyn Young are averaging 6.9 yards per carry, tight end Eli Stowers is catching everything and receiver Junior Sherrill has scored on five of his 17 receptions.

The Commodores are combining ruthless efficiency with above-average explosiveness.

Because Vandy has so thoroughly taken care of business through five games, Pavia hasn’t had to do as much — he had taken contact 108 times through five games last year (and battled wear-and-tear issues later in the season), but he’s at only 65 hits this year. If he needs to run more in the bigger games, he can probably handle it.

The Commodores’ defense isn’t amazing, but it’s also better than it was last season. Vandy plays decent run defense with great big-play prevention against the pass; safety CJ Heard is excellent, and linebackers Bryan Longwell and Khordae Sydnor swarm well.

Alabama remains an unfinished picture. The Crimson Tide’s defense looked downright unprepared in Week 1 against Florida State, but it has allowed only 11.7 points per game since. The Crimson Tide don’t create nearly enough negative plays, but they don’t give up big plays either, and safety Bray Hubbard keys a frustrating zone defense.

The offense has been the star of the show. Ty Simpson looked disheveled against Florida State, but he has been brilliant since, and the Tide are up to sixth in points per drive despite a below-average run game. They couldn’t quite close out Georgia after a brilliant first half, but Simpson is incredibly sharp, and the offensive line has shored up a lot of its Week 1 breakdowns.

After what happened in 2024, this game is symbolically huge. But it’s also just part of a huge stretch for both teams. Alabama just took down Georgia, but five of the Tide’s next six opponents rank 17th or better in SP+. At absolute worst, they’ll need to win four of six to keep their CFP hopes alive. Meanwhile, five of Vandy’s past seven opponents are also 17th or better. Without an obvious quality win yet, they’ll probably need to win five of seven. Now would be an apt time for Bama to throw its weight around and remind everyone who’s supposed to be the boss. But based solely on 2025 to date, the Commodores might yet be the Tide’s equal.

Current line: Bama -10.5 | SP+ projection: Bama by 2.5 | FPI projection: Bama by 6.9

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A high-stakes doubleheader in the ACC

Virginia’s upset of Florida State last week damaged the hype value of one ACC matchup but heightened another. FSU hosts unbeaten Miami on Saturday evening in desperate need of a turnaround win, but the winner of the afternoon’s Virginia-Louisville game — a matchup of the teams with the second- (Louisville) and fourth-best (Virginia) ACC title odds, per SP+ — will be positioned wonderfully, too.

No. 3 Miami at No. 18 Florida State (7:30 p.m., ABC)

In some ways, you could say that Florida State was flying a little too high. The Seminoles had been nearly perfect in 2025, manhandling Alabama and humiliating two buy-game opponents (East Texas A&M and Kent State), and they were due a bad break or two. The defense hadn’t faced a tough and efficient run game like Virginia’s (including Alabama’s), and the offense had faced barely a down of adversity. Regression ran its course in Charlottesville last Friday night, when FSU lost an early fumble, gave up an acrobatic red zone interception and saw a juggling overtime touchdown catch go incomplete by millimeters. Stuff happens.

Even in the playoff era, though, a “stuff happens” loss can wipe out your margin for error. Thanks to early-season collapses from Clemson and Florida, Miami is the last SP+ top-40 opponent on FSU’s schedule, meaning this is likely the Seminoles’ last chance at another high-visibility win.

On paper, this one’s awfully even. Miami has its own solid, physical run game like Virginia’s, one with a bit better blocking but fewer yards after contact. The Hurricanes also have Carson Beck and a passing attack that rules third downs. It’s lacking explosiveness — Beck is averaging just 11.9 yards per completion — and therefore doesn’t generate loads of easy points. But it’s an efficient attack, and FSU’s defense has allowed a few more third-and-long conversions than is preferable.

With how well Notre Dame’s offense has played since, Miami’s Week 1 defensive performance against the Fighting Irish (24 points and 5.4 yards per play allowed) looks awfully impressive. But FSU’s offense has quite a bit to offer, even with the misfires against Virginia. The Seminoles rank first in points per drive and second in yards per play. Virginia hemmed in quarterback Tommy Castellanos and forced him to throw instead of making plays on the perimeter — it’s the key to keeping a lid on a Castellanos attack — but FSU still scored 35 points in regulation and averaged 6.4 yards per play. The ceiling is high even if teams defend the Noles correctly. Gavin Sawchuk and Ousmane Kromah average a combined 5.8 yards per carry with a 59% success rate, and Duce Robinson and Micahi Danzy have combined for 24 catches and 514 yards. And this is still one of the best Net YAC teams in the country.

Considering Miami took down Florida in part due to physical running, whoever generates more success in this regard could have a huge advantage.

With tackle Rueben Bain Jr. at full force and getting help from disruptors such as linebacker Mohamed Toure and nickel back Keionte Scott, Miami’s defense might be even better than Bama’s. It will land some shots, but if FSU can hold Beck and the Canes to 24 or fewer points, you have to like the Seminoles’ chances.

Current line: Miami -4.5 | SP+ projection: Miami by 2.1 | FPI projection: Miami by 3.9

No. 24 Virginia at Louisville (3:30 p.m., ESPN2)

What’s Virginia’s reward for winning a big game against an explosive Florida State offense? A big game against an explosive Louisville offense! Granted, Cardinals quarterback Miller Moss is more of an efficiency player, but wideout Chris Bell has big-play potential, and if or when the Louisville running back corps is healthy, look out. Isaac Brown and Duke Watson have battled injury, and they’ve combined for only 56 carries this year, but Brown is averaging 8.1 yards per carry (6.1 after contact!), and Watson averaged 8.9 in 2024.

Brown and Watson should be as close to full speed Saturday as they’ve been all year, and that’s good because Louisville has played against two SP+ top-50 defenses and averaged just 4.8 yards per play against them. The defense has improved a bit after slippage in recent years, thanks mostly to a pass rush led by star transfers Clev Lubin and Wesley Bailey, but for the Cardinals to live up to growing expectations, the run game will need to shift into gear.

Virginia, meanwhile, has already exceeded expectations. Obliterated them. Blown them to smithereens.

The transfer portal provides miracles for some teams each year and disaster for others, and it smiled on the Cavaliers with the potent additions of quarterback Chandler Morris, running back J’Mari Taylor, receivers Cam Ross and Jahmal Edrine and about 10 new rotation defenders, including star edge rushers Mitchell Melton and Daniel Rickert and nickel back Ja’son Prevard. The defense allows too many big plays and has allowed touchdowns on 80% of opponents’ red zone trips (125th nationally), and that was costly in a Week 2 loss to NC State. But the Hoos rule third downs on offense and defense, and that will take you pretty far. UVA has won more than eight games in a season just once in 17 years, but SP+ says there’s a 57% chance of at least a 9-3 finish. What a world.

Current line: Louisville -6.5 | SP+ projection: Louisville by 9.2 | FPI projection: Louisville by 1.4

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This week in the Big 12

Five weeks into the 2024 season, we thought we had a decent read on the Big 12. BYU and Iowa State were still unbeaten, and Kansas State and Utah were 4-1 and looking good. Per SP+, those four teams had about a two-in-three chance of winning the conference. Arizona was 3-1 and hoping to make a run. 3-2 Oklahoma State and 3-1 Arizona State had equal long shot odds.

But the conference had all sorts of surprises in store. Utah lost seven games in a row, and Kansas State lost three of four down the stretch. Arizona and OSU went a combined 1-14 the rest of the way, while Arizona State transformed into a top-10 caliber team in November and won the conference title.

We probably don’t know anything about this conference race yet, in other words, no matter how much it feels like we do. Texas Tech has looked spectacular in its first four games, and Iowa State, BYU, Utah and Arizona State are all positioned pretty well. But Week 6 sends the top two favorites on the road against upstarts and offers a few teams with early losses a chance to get right and stay in the race. We have some plot-twist opportunities for a conference that loves nothing more than delivering them.

No. 11 Texas Tech at Houston (7 p.m., ESPN)

Texas Tech has been genuinely awesome this season, walloping three bad teams as an elite team should and then physically manhandling Utah in Salt Lake City two weeks ago. They’ve been awesome at pretty much everything — they’re fifth in yards per play on offense and defense — and aside from a predilection for penalties and some injury-prone tendencies for quarterback Behren Morton, we don’t really know their weaknesses yet.

Houston’s a little bit easier to figure out. Defense: good. Offense: not so much. The Cougars are ninth in yards per play allowed and are very much in the best quadrant of this chart.

Willie Fritz lost defensive coordinator Shiel Wood to Tech, but the UH defense has been even better with replacement Austin Armstrong. But the Conner Weigman-led offense remains a work in progress. The Coogs go three-and-out nearly 39% of the time (124th), and that will probably be their downfall in this one. But if the defense sets up some easy scoring opportunities, this one quickly moves into “upset watch” territory.

Current line: Tech -10.5 (down from -12.5 on Sunday) | SP+ projection: Tech by 13.9 | FPI projection: Tech by 7.0

No. 14 Iowa State at Cincinnati (noon, ESPN2)

If you combined Cincinnati’s offense with Houston’s defense, you’d have a potential top-10 team. Last Saturday’s 37-34 win at Kansas inserted the Bearcats into the Big 12 title conversation. We’ll see if the Bearcats have the defensive chops to remain a factor — their run defense is strong thanks in part to star tackle Dontay Corleone (who’s as questionable this week), but they’re 136th, last nationally, in completion rate allowed. But quarterback Brendan Sorsby is on a roll, and Cincy ranks first nationally in rushing success rate. Track meets could work out well for the Bearcats.

Iowa State is not a track meet team. The Cyclones have allowed more than 16 points just once in five games, but they’ve also topped 24 only twice. ISU runs a lot on first down but doesn’t get very far, so quarterback Rocco Becht has to convert a lot of third downs. He usually pulls it off, though, either with deep shots to Brett Eskildsen and Chase Sowell or passes to any of four tight ends.

The ISU defense is strong once again. The Cyclones rarely invade the backfield, but Domonique Orange occupies space up front (he’s listed as probable this week), and they tackle well, prevent big plays and pounce on mistakes. Sorsby hasn’t made many mistakes lately, though.

Current line: Cincy -1.5 | SP+ projection: ISU by 3.2 | FPI projection: ISU by 0.3

Kansas State at Baylor (noon, ESPN+)

Kansas State suffered a three-week funk after losing to Iowa State in Dublin, Ireland, but quarterback Avery Johnson just enjoyed, by far, his best game of the season, and RB Dylan Edwards is finally healthy. The Wildcats still have only one conference loss, but their next four games — at Baylor, TCU, at Kansas, Texas Tech — will require a sustained A-game. Sawyer Robertson and the prolific Bears also have one conference loss and could easily stay in the conversation with a strong performance.

Current line: Baylor -6.5 | SP+ projection: Baylor by 3.4 | FPI projection: Baylor by 2.6

Kansas at UCF (7:30 p.m., ESPN2)

UCF makes a lot of big plays but can’t keep a quarterback healthy and missed a solid upset opportunity with a poor performance at Kansas State last week. With last week’s defeat to Cincinnati, meanwhile, Kansas has dropped eight of its past nine one-score finishes since late 2023. Iowa State weathered a similar streak recently before flipping that script, and if KU does the same, it’s not too late to get into the race. It’s now or never, though.

Current line: Kansas -4.5 | SP+ projection: Kansas by 1.2 | FPI projection: Kansas by 1.5

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A CFP eliminator of sorts

Boise State at No. 21 Notre Dame (3:30 p.m., NBC)

Last week was great and terrible for Notre Dame. On one hand, the Fighting Irish looked spectacular in making Arkansas quit in a 56-13 road blowout. The offense is improving rapidly, and CJ Carr is quickly becoming one of the nation’s best quarterbacks. Meanwhile, despite injuries to star corner Leonard Moore and tackle Donovan Hinish, among others, the defense finally showed some life after a poor start to 2025. Notre Dame is the projected favorite in every remaining game.

On the other hand, the Irish’s potential CFP résumé, should they win out and get to 10-2, took a hit. USC’s loss to Illinois hurt their potential for a top-10 win, and four other upcoming opponents all lost. It will be difficult for the Irish to stand out in a pile of two-loss teams, even if they deliver blowouts.

The blowouts must continue regardless. And we’ll see how that goes against a Boise State team that has shifted nicely into gear. The running back trio of Sire Gaines, Dylan Riley and Malik Sherrod combined for 190 yards from scrimmage last week against Appalachian State, while Maddux Madsen threw for 321 yards and four touchdowns. The pass rush, led by Jayden Virgin-Morgan and Braxton Fely, delivered five sacks. The Mountain West has a growing number of potential contenders this season — UNLV, Fresno State, perhaps New Mexico or San Diego State — but the Broncos still lead the pack.

Under Marcus Freeman, Notre Dame has been either ridiculously rude or ridiculously accommodating to aspirational Group of 5 opponents. The Irish fell 26-21 to Marshall in 2022 and, famously, 16-14 to Northern Illinois last year, but they also pummeled excellent Army and Navy teams last fall. Boise State has looked like Boise State since the demoralizing Week 1 dud against South Florida, and an upset here would push the Broncos back to the top of the pile in the Group of 5. Both of these teams have big-play capabilities, plus defenses that have been a little too willing to give up a chunk play or two. Let’s see if BSU can keep up with an increasingly ruthless Notre Dame attack.

Current line: Irish -20.5 (up from -17.5) | SP+ projection: Irish by 13.5 | FPI projection: Irish by 18.8

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Week 6 chaos superfecta

We’re once again using this space to will chaos into existence, looking at four carefully curated games with pretty big point spreads and mashing them together into a much more upset-friendly number. Houston’s overtime win over Oregon State cost us a fourth win in five tries — how could you do that to us, Coogs? — but 3-for-5 is still pretty good.

Going 4-for-6 is even better, though. SP+ tells us there’s only a 55% chance that Nebraska (81% win probability against Michigan State), Illinois (85% over Purdue), Michigan (88% over Wisconsin) and Ohio State (90% over Minnesota) all win. It’s time to take down a Big Ten favorite.

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Week 6 playlist

Here are some more games you should pay attention to if you want to get the absolute most out of the weekend, from both information and entertainment perspectives.

Friday evening

West Virginia at No. 23 BYU (10:30 p.m., ESPN). I’m sticking this one in the Playlist instead of the Big 12 section above because of the larger point spread. BYU overcame a poor performance to remain unbeaten against Colorado, and the Cougars could probably withstand another iffy game this weekend. But it feels like a race to get quarterback Bear Bachmeier — 48th in Total QBR, 51st in yards per dropback — ready for an epic run of high-stakes Big 12 games on the horizon.

Current line: BYU -18.5 | SP+ projection: BYU by 22.4 | FPI projection: BYU by 23.5

New Mexico at San José State (10 p.m., FS1). I’m not sure anyone in college football is having more fun than New Mexico.

You Know The Vibes™️#GoLobos pic.twitter.com/Ix1Nx8lPxZ

— New Mexico Football (@UNMLoboFB) September 27, 2025

The Lobos frustrated Michigan, stomped UCLA and beat rival New Mexico State for the Chile Roaster trophy. Now, with trips to San José and Boise in the next two weeks, we find out if this is a fun bowl push or a fun Mountain West title push.

Current line: SJSU -2.5 | SP+ projection: UNM by 1.0 | FPI projection: UNM by 0.9

Early Saturday

Clemson at North Carolina (noon, ESPN). One of the most noteworthy ACC games in the preseason — Dabo Swinney’s top-five Clemson versus Bill Belichick’s North Carolina! — still packs intrigue, but it’s mostly negative. Clemson has lost to all three of its power-conference opponents, and UNC has lost to two by a combined 82-23. Clemson likely has too much talent for the Heels, but, well, that hasn’t stopped the Tigers from playing like they have thus far.

Current line: Clemson -14.5 | SP+ projection: Clemson by 7.7 | FPI projection: Clemson by 8.3

No. 22 Illinois at Purdue (noon, BTN). Illinois responded well to its humiliation at Indiana two weeks ago, beating USC in a nailbiter in Champaign. Now comes a different kind of test. Purdue has a spry passing game and an aggressive (if spectacularly dysfunctional) defense, and if the Illini are caught looking ahead to next week’s Ohio State game, the Boilermakers could land some punches.

Current line: Illinois -9.5 | SP+ projection: Illinois by 16.7 | FPI projection: Illinois by 7.0

Kentucky at No. 12 Georgia (noon, ABC). Kentucky nearly beat Georgia last season before the wheels totally fell off in Lexington, but four games into 2025, the Wildcats still haven’t put the wheels back on. This is a get-right opportunity for Kirby Smart’s surprisingly mediocre (by their standards) Dawgs before Ole Miss visits in two weeks.

Current line: UGA -20.5 | SP+ projection: UGA by 17.4 | FPI projection: UGA by 17.0

Wisconsin at No. 20 Michigan (noon, Fox). Michigan is a week away from a huge trip to USC, but the Wolverines must first handle a Wisconsin team that has just continued to fall into further depths. Badgers quarterback Billy Edwards Jr. should finally be near full strength, which can’t hurt, but they have just been lifeless this year.

Current line: Michigan -17.5 | SP+ projection: Michigan by 18.8 | FPI projection: Michigan by 15.8

Air Force at Navy (noon, CBS). Air Force might have found its next awesome option quarterback in sophomore Liam Szarka. Unfortunately, the Falcons’ defense has allowed at least 44 points against all three of its FBS opponents. Will that matter or will this become the typical battle of attrition that service-academy rivalry games frequently become?

Current line: Navy -12.5 | SP+ projection: Navy by 18.7 | FPI projection: Navy by 13.2

Saturday afternoon

No. 9 Texas at Florida (3:30 p.m., ESPN). I wouldn’t have guessed this one would be relegated to the Playlist, but here we are. Florida’s defense is excellent and could absolutely frustrate Arch Manning & Co., but the Gators have scored 33 points in three games against FBS opponents, and Texas has the best defense in the country, per SP+. It’s hard to think of anything else mattering beyond that.

Current line: Texas -6.5 | SP+ projection: Texas by 9.9 | FPI projection: Texas by 7.8

Washington at Maryland (3:30 p.m., BTN). On Christmas Day in 1982, Washington’s Tim Cowan outdueled Maryland’s Boomer Esiason, throwing for 369 yards and three touchdowns — including the game winner with six seconds left — as the Huskies won a 21-20 Aloha Bowl thriller. I just listed the entire football history between these two new conference mates.

Current line: UW -6.5 | SP+ projection: Maryland by 1.6 | FPI projection: UW by 0.5

Michigan State at Nebraska (4 p.m., FS1). Michigan State’s Aidan Chiles and Nebraska’s Dylan Raiola have made nice strides this season, but only Raiola is getting help from his defense. Can Chiles, receiver Omari Kelly and the Spartans’ offense suck the Huskers into a track meet or is the NU pass defense — first nationally in yards per dropback — too much?

Current line: Nebraska -11.5 | SP+ projection: Nebraska by 13.7 | FPI projection: Nebraska by 13.1

No. 7 Penn State at UCLA (3:30 p.m., CBS). Penn State should get back on track after last week’s frustrating loss to Oregon, but I’m highlighting this game primarily to point out that, per SP+, UCLA is a projected underdog of at least 16 points in every remaining game and has a 61% chance of finishing 0-12. It was easy to see this season perhaps not going well, but wow.

Current line: PSU -25.5 | SP+ projection: PSU by 32.5 | FPI projection: PSU by 20.2

Kent State at No. 5 Oklahoma (4 p.m., SECN). OK, yes, OU will win by a lot. But with John Mateer out because of injury, we’ll get a look at how backup Michael Hawkins Jr. runs the Ben Arbuckle offense and what kind of chance the Sooners might have against Texas next week.

Current line: OU -45.5 | SP+ projection: OU by 48.0 | FPI projection: OU by 46.3

Saturday evening

Mississippi State at No. 6 Texas A&M (7:30 p.m., SECN). Texas A&M nearly suffered a “stuff happens” loss last week, dominating Auburn statistically but winning by only 6, but the Aggies remain unbeaten and are projected favorites in the next three games. This one’s interesting, though. A&M makes and allows big plays, while Mississippi State, having already played in two down-to-the-wire finishes with more to come, makes and allows few.

Current line: A&M -14.5 | SP+ projection: A&M by 4.9 | FPI projection: A&M by 9.0

Minnesota at No. 1 Ohio State (7:30 p.m., NBC). Ohio State faced one of the best offensive teams in the country (to date) last week at Washington and brushed the Huskies aside with relative ease. Now, the Buckeyes face one of the most reliably solid defenses in the country. Minnesota tackles well and generates loads of negative plays, which will provide Julian Sayin & Co. with a different type of test. I’m guessing they’ll ace this one too.

Current line: OSU -23.5 | SP+ projection: OSU by 20.7 | FPI projection: OSU by 23.1

Colorado at TCU (7:30 p.m., Fox). As with BYU, TCU is a Big 12 contender facing a theoretically easier challenge this year. Granted, all three of Colorado’s losses were by one score, and the Buffaloes could score an upset or two down the stretch (especially with more stable QB play). But TCU should control the line of scrimmage in this one and move to 4-1.

Current line: TCU -13.5 (down from -15.5) | SP+ projection: TCU by 12.4 | FPI projection: TCU by 9.0

UNLV at Wyoming (7 p.m., CBSSN). UNLV is unbeaten and has scored at least 30 points in every game; the Rebels’ defense, however, is dreadful, especially against the run. Wyoming backs Samuel Harris and Sam Scott are both strong yards-after-contact players, and the Cowboys might have a shot at making this one awkward for an ambitious conference rival.

Current line: UNLV -3.5 (down from -5.5) | SP+ projection: UNLV by 4.9 | FPI projection: UNLV by 6.6

Late Saturday

Duke at California (10:30 p.m., ESPN). Washington-Maryland feels like the most geographically ridiculous conference game of the week, but this one isn’t much better. It’s a pretty big one, though, with the teams a combined 3-0 in ACC play. Duke’s offense (31st in points per drive) facing Cal’s defense (29th) could be appointment viewing. Cal’s offense (86th) against Duke’s defense (99th), not so much.

Current line: Duke -2.5 | SP+ projection: Duke by 6.1 | FPI projection: Duke by 2.9

Nevada at Fresno State (10:30 p.m., CBSSN). Since a poor Week 0 performance against Kansas, Fresno State is unbeaten. Plus, the Bulldogs are projected underdogs in only one remaining game, meaning they’re Mountain West contenders until proven otherwise. Nevada doesn’t have much to offer, but the Wolf Pack have a randomly explosive run game with backs Herschel Turner and Caleb Ramseur.

Current line: Fresno -13.5 | SP+ projection: Fresno by 18.9 | FPI projection: Fresno by 14.7

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Smaller-school showcase

Let’s once again save a shout-out for the glorious lower levels of the sport. Here are three games you should track.

FCS: Yale at No. 8 Lehigh (noon, ESPN+). We’re looking at a ferocious Ivy League race among Harvard (fourth in FCS SP+), Yale (10th) and Dartmouth (18th) — one that has FCS playoff implications because the Ivy is sending a team now. But first, Yale gets a huge nonconference showdown with a Lehigh team that has won 11 of its past 12 games thanks, in part, to backs Luke Yoder and Jaden Green (combined: 207.2 rushing yards per game) and a ferocious and diverse pass rush.

SP+ projection: Lehigh by 1.8.

Division III: No. 5 Wisconsin-La Crosse at No. 10 Wisconsin-Whitewater (2 p.m., local streaming). It’s the first weekend of one of college football’s most exciting conference races: the WIAC, which has four of the top 11 teams in Division III, based on SP+. Two of them meet Saturday. Whitewater has dominated this series through most of the 2000s, but La Crosse, led by prolific quarterback Kyle Haas, has won the past two games.

SP+ projection: UWW by 6.4.

Division II: No. 9 UT Permian Basin at No. 5 Angelo State (7 p.m., FloCollege). Angelo State is unbeaten and averaging 39 points per game this season behind backs Cameron Dischler and Jayden Jones and a relentless, deep run game. UTPB? Also unbeaten and averaging 38.8 points per game thanks to quarterback Kanon Gibson and a prolific passing game. Track meet: likely.

SP+ projection: Angelo State by 7.6.

PALM DESERT, Calif. — Three days shy of a year after Bronny James made his preseason debut with the Los Angeles Lakers in this desert arena, the NBA’s most famous son resumed his quest to show he belongs in the big leagues.

Though his 1-for-12 shooting performance in the Lakers’ opener wasn’t ideal, James felt his effort Friday night was another step forward in a process that’s already showing results to coach JJ Redick.

Bronny James scored eight points while LeBron James and Luka Doncic sat out of the Lakers’ 103-81 loss to the Phoenix Suns.

Bronny’s 40-year-old father is progressing deliberately in his return from a minor nerve injury to begin his record 23rd NBA season, while Doncic is also ramping up with caution after his busy summer playing for Slovenia at EuroBasket.

That left plenty of playing time in the Coachella Valley for depth players like Bronny James, who hit a 3-pointer late in the third quarter for his only field goal. He missed his other seven 3-point attempts while struggling for buckets alongside fellow 2024 draft pick Dalton Knecht, who was 2-for-10 with 1-for-7 shooting from distance.

“I felt like they were pretty good shots,” said Bronny James, who turns 21 on Monday. “Not rushed, not forcing anything. Didn’t have my legs under me as much as I wanted to, so a lot of them were short, but most of them were on line. I felt like I could have made those. I felt like I took some good shots.”

Bronny’s confidence was undiminished by those misses after the Lakers opened their preseason in the same arena where Bronny James first played alongside his famous father in October 2024.

The Palm Springs-area fans who rumbled with anticipation whenever Bronny touched the ball a year ago didn’t react much this time. The novelty of Bronny’s presence has faded while he continues to grow into something much more than a sideshow.

Bronny was in the Lakers’ first substitution group, and he played nearly 23 minutes. He gave a consistent defensive effort with intermittent effectiveness as he works to become the impact defender that Redick believes he can become with more growth.

“Definitely felt like I was more comfortable, especially with the ball in my hands, and with the defensive and offensive schemes,” Bronny said. “But I’m just trying to feel it out. Feeling my way still and just continuing to grow.”

Bronny appeared in 27 games for the Lakers during his rookie season, even making basketball history by playing alongside his father in the opener. But Bronny accomplished much of his growth in the G League, where he averaged 21.9 points and 5.5 assists for the Lakers’ affiliate.

After a summer of hard work, Bronny is demonstrating progress to Redick.

“He is so much more comfortable and confident as a player,” Redick said of Bronny. “Skill-wise, read-wise, all of those things have improved, but there’s a big difference between improving those things in individual workouts and small group settings, and doing it 5-on-5. … He’s a totally different player than he was a year ago. I thought the stuff that he did down in the G League last year was huge for him in developing a comfort level in playing at this level.”

Austin Reaves scored 20 points to lead the Lakers’ starters, which included newcomers Deandre Ayton and Jake LaRavia with Rui Hachimura and Jarred Vanderbilt.

Bronny James wasn’t the only Lakers player trying to stand out on defense. Ayton had eight rebounds and just one point while taking only two shots in 18 minutes, but he also blocked two shots while demonstrating his commitment to protecting the rim.

The Lakers’ preseason continues Sunday against the Golden State Warriors. Redick said Doncic also will sit out that game in San Francisco, as will LeBron James.

That means Bronny James will have more chances, and he remains determined to seize them.

“I’m just trying to feel it out, trying to get some reps in with the guys,” Bronny said. “There’s probably not going to be as many opportunities during the season, so I’m just coming out and defending hard, playing my game, doing the nonnegotiables. So if JJ sees that, maybe he’ll give me an opportunity.”

Purdue, 2-2 on the season under new coach Barry Odom, has already come a long way in showing signs of progress after a 1-11 2024 campaign.

This Saturday, however, Odom and the Boilermakers’ rebuild will face a tough task — and not just on the field. While Purdue’s opponent is strong — Illinois boasts a Top 25 ranking — it’ll also have to resist the wills of an unlikely curse.

The Boilermakers have never won a game occurring directly after Taylor Swift releases a studio album.

As explored on the college football podcast “The Solid Verbal” on Thursday, Purdue has played 10 games within seven days of Swift releasing or rereleasing an album. They have lost all 10.

In bad news for Boilermakers fans, Swift’s latest album, “The Life of a Showgirl,” was released at midnight Friday.

The pattern dates back to Oct. 24, 2006, when Swift’s self-titled debut album preceded Purdue’s 12-0 loss to the Penn State two days after its release. It continued for six consecutive albums: “Fearless” on Nov. 11, 2008 (22-17 loss at Iowa four days later), “Speak Now” on Oct. 25, 2010 (44-10 loss at Illinois five days later), “Red” on Oct. 22, 2012 (44-28 loss at Minnesota five days later), “1989” on Oct. 27, 2014 (35-14 loss at Nebraska five days later), “Reputation” on Nov. 10, 2017 (23-13 loss at Northwestern the next day), and “Lover” on Aug. 23, 2019 (loss at Nevada seven days later).

The trend paused in 2020 because Purdue’s next game fell outside the one-week window of Swift’s releases. When “folklore” dropped on July 24, 2020, Purdue didn’t play a football game until Oct. 24, 2020 — which was a 24-20 win over Iowa. Months after “evermore” and “Fearless” (Taylor’s Version) were released on Dec. 11, 2020, and April 9, 2021, respectively, Purdue beat Oregon State on Sept. 4, 2021.

The pattern picked back up with “Red” (Taylor’s Version) on Nov. 12, 2021 (59-31 loss at Ohio State the next day), “Midnights” on Oct. 21, 2022 (35-24 loss at Wisconsin the next day), and “1989” (Taylor’s Version) on Oct. 27, 2023 (31-13 loss at Nebraska the next day).

The Boilermakers finally snapped the losing skid in 2024 with a 49-0 rout of the Indiana State after “The Tortured Poets Department” was released on April 19, 2024 — though it still fits the overall pattern since that game fell outside the weeklong window.

Will Purdue be able to break its strange streak of defeats immediately following Swift album releases this Saturday?

Recent form says the rebuild is trending up. History — at least of the pop music variety — says Purdue still has a curse to break.

OWINGS MILLS, Md. — Lamar Jackson has been ruled out for Sunday’s game against the Houston Texans with a hamstring injury, the latest setback for the struggling and banged-up Baltimore Ravens.

Jackson, a two-time NFL MVP, will miss his first game due to injury since a wild-card loss to the Cincinnati Bengals in January 2023. Baltimore is 4-10 without Jackson since 2018, averaging 16.6 points per game.

Cooper Rush will make his first start for the Ravens (1-3), who are dealing with numerous injuries after their worst start in a decade. There are nine players on Baltimore’s injury list, and the Ravens ruled out four Pro Bowlers from last year in Jackson, middle linebacker Roquan Smith (hamstring), cornerback Marlon Humphrey (calf) and fullback Patrick Ricard (calf).

“I’ve kind of been here before,” Rush said. “Whenever a franchise QB goes down, it’s always a ‘sky is falling’ feeling everywhere you are. It’s normal, and if you have to go out there on Sunday and do what you have to do, it’s nice knowing you had a whole week to prep for it. So things like that are good.”

Jackson injured his hamstring in Sunday’s 37-20 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs, leaving midway through the third quarter. He then missed all three of the Ravens’ practices this week.

The loss of Jackson is another challenge for the Ravens, who are looking to avoid their second 1-4 start in franchise history. Baltimore has lost its past four games without Jackson and last won without him in December 2022.

Rush, a former backup with the Dallas Cowboys, was signed by Baltimore this offseason to a two-year, $6.2 million contract because he provides more experience behind Jackson. Rush is 9-5 as a starter, throwing 20 touchdowns and 10 interceptions.

“He has to play his style, the way he plays, within the offense,” Ravens coach John Harbaugh said. “He knows the offense, and we’re ready to go.”

Jackson, 28, has produced a strong start for the disappointing Ravens. He ranks fifth in the NFL in Total QBR (72.8), throwing 10 touchdowns and one interception.

With Jackson, Baltimore ranks third in the NFL with 32.8 points per game. But Jackson has taken his share of hits and has been sacked 15 times, which is the second most in the league.

“I know he is doing everything to get right, but he’s been around,” Rush said of Jackson. “[I’m asking] questions here and there [like], ‘How does Zay [Flowers] run this?’ [With] things like that, he’s been helpful.”

In addition to the six players ruled out, four players are considered questionable: safety Kyle Hamilton (groin), outside linebacker Odafe Oweh (eye), offensive tackle Ronnie Stanley (ankle) and wide receiver Devontez Walker (oblique). Hamilton, a two-time Pro Bowler, has missed the past two practices.

Faced with the tough start and mounting injuries, Harbaugh said the vibe around the team has been “really positive and really determined.”

We’re four weeks into the 2025 NFL season, which can mean only one thing: It’s time for my quarter-season NFL awards. (Well, technically my 23.5% season awards in the 17-game era.)

We’re still trying to figure out whether most of the league’s teams are actually any good, but with most starters having played 150 snaps or more, we can start making preliminary insights into who’s playing at a really high level in 2025. These are my picks for who deserves to win awards after four weeks, as opposed to my predictions of who will actually win the awards at the end of the season. I’m paying attention to what the voters typically prefer, but this is based solely on what I’ve found by watching tape and looking closely at the numbers after four games. If there’s something unique about how I’m considering the candidates for a particular award, I’ll mention that in the introduction for that award.

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This should be familiar to you if you’ve been a longtime reader, but there’s a new category this year: the Protector of the Year award, which will go to the best offensive lineman in the NFL. I’ll hit that, Coach of the Year, Rookie of the Year and Player of the Year awards for defense and offense, and finally my pick for MVP.

Jump to an award:
DROY | OROY | Protector of the Year
Coach of the Year | DPOY | OPOY | MVP

Defensive Rookie of the Year

This has been a curious start to the season for the league’s defensive rookies. None has more than one sack. That limits the interest I might have in nominating pass rushers, who are usually the favorites to win this award. Some of our pressure metrics hint toward more productive days ahead for players such as Browns defensive tackle Mason Graham (who ranks sixth in the NFL in pass rush win rate on the interior) and Giants edge rusher Abdul Carter (who had a massive day in his team’s Week 4 win over the Chargers). But I’m not sure any pass rusher has the body of work to rank in the top three for this award.

That would push things to the secondary, where the obvious favorite before the season would have been two-way uber-prospect Travis Hunter. Instead, Hunter is off to a muted start as a pro, racking up 118 receiving yards through four games with the Jaguars while playing less than 40% of the snaps at cornerback. Hunter has not made much of an impact, and players such as Tetairoa McMillan and Nico Collins have run slants in front of him for first downs.

We’re left with candidates who might not have been obvious options before the season. Cornerback Will Johnson was excellent for the Cardinals to open the year, but he has missed the past two games with a groin injury. Slot corners such as Jacob Parrish of the Buccaneers and Billy Bowman Jr. of the Falcons have flashed. I’ll start in the secondary, where I’ve been very impressed with one rookie on a team that has more young talent on defense than anybody else.

As the Eagles built their defense and moved on from eight of their 17 most-used defenders for cap reasons this offseason, there were obvious places where they were going to need to take a leap of faith. Guys such as Jalen Carter, Quinyon Mitchell and Cooper DeJean had already established themselves as stars, but the Eagles had questions at safety, where C.J. Gardner-Johnson was traded. Sydney Brown and Marcus Epps were on the roster, but Mukuba — Philly’s second-round pick — quickly claimed a job for himself.

There’s a lot to like about what we’ve seen from him, especially in a Vic Fangio defense that relies on its safeties to disguise their intentions and mask their coverage concepts pre- and even post-snap. Though he was hit-sticked by Patrick Mahomes, Mukuba’s highlights in the Eagles’ win over the Chiefs were a great example of what he can do. He flew into the backfield from deep and helped make a tackle for loss on Isiah Pacheco, came off the slot for a pressure and half-sack of Mahomes, went over the top of a pick play and still managed to tackle Hollywood Brown for no gain on a third-and-1 crosser, and caught a deflection off Travis Kelce‘s hands for an interception and 41-yard return.

Mukuba is making plays all over the field and has instantly looked as if he belongs in one of the league’s best defenses. Jihaad Campbell has also been a quick study at linebacker, though the first-rounder did allow a 72-yard touchdown to Bucky Irving up the sidelines on a scramble drill in Week 4.

After paying Brock Purdy and shedding expensive players on both sides of the ball this offseason, the 49ers needed their rookies to contribute under new defensive coordinator Robert Saleh. They have. First-rounder Mykel Williams has been physically imposing, especially against the run, and has made multiple plays in the backfield. Marques Sigle won a starting safety job in camp. Alfred Collins and CJ West have been helpful in the defensive tackle rotation.

The best of the bunch, though, has been San Francisco’s slot corner. At 5-foot-9 and 181 pounds, Stout is not going to be imposing his will on NFL receivers, but he has done a great job of battling in coverage and making plays. Per Pro-Football-Reference.com, Stout has allowed an 80.3 passer rating in coverage. In Week 2 against the Saints, he picked up a sack going through Alvin Kamara and wrangling Spencer Rattler to the ground. In Week 3, Stout’s pass breakup on third down prevented the Cardinals from running out the clock, opening up the opportunity for the 49ers to get the ball back in a game they eventually won. And in Week 4, Stout appeared to come up with an interception vs. Trevor Lawrence in the third quarter, only for the pick to be called back on what Richard Sherman described as a “BS” call during the broadcast.

Stout is playing really well, and he’s quickly becoming a favorite for the 49ers.

The Browns are fifth in the league in EPA per play through four games. And although the defense has been able to lead them to only one victory, shutting down a Packers offense that averaged more than 31 points per game in its three other games might be the single most impressive defensive performance of the season so far.

Myles Garrett is going to be featured elsewhere in this column, and there have been impressive performances from guys including Maliek Collins and Isaiah McGuire up front. But Schwesinger has been close to a revelation. The Browns lost Jordan Hicks to retirement and Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah to a career-threatening neck injury, so Schwesinger — a second-round pick — was a Week 1 starter and served as the “green dot” defender relaying calls from the coaching staff.

All of that wouldn’t matter if Schwesinger couldn’t make an impact, but he has been excellent in his first month. He has made more than 12% of Cleveland’s tackles, an above-average rate, while whiffing on just 3.1% of his attempts, one of the best rates in the league for a linebacker who has been on the field for virtually every snap. Schwesinger tracked down Jordan Love for a big sack in the win over the Packers, has a couple of tackles for loss and has been a rangy defender against the run.

Offensive Rookie of the Year

The running backs of that vaunted class of 2025 are coming on. Led by big days from the Chargers’ Omarion Hampton and the Raiders’ Ashton Jeanty, rookie halfbacks combined for 737 rushing yards on the ground in Week 4. Rookies often take over backfields by the end of the season, but it’s rare to see this sort of volume in September. Those 737 rush yards were the most produced by rookies in any week of September football since the AFL-NFL merger in 1970. Week 3 of this season, when rookies amassed 525 rush yards, is sixth.

None of those backs has been consistently productive enough to make our top three, though. Jeanty was struggling before Sunday, and Hampton assumed a larger role only after Najee Harris‘ Achilles injury (and has had a frustrating habit of going out of bounds at the wrong time late in games). Quinshon Judkins (Browns) and Cam Skattebo (Giants) have taken over their backfields, and guys such as Woody Marks (Texans) and TreVeyon Henderson (Patriots) might be on the way. By the end of the season, I would expect this to be a competition with plenty of options at running back.

Right now, though, three wide receivers are ahead of them in the discussion. Another receiver comes up just short: I’ve been impressed with Tetairoa McMillan, who has hit several big plays for the Panthers and Bryce Young, but McMillan has been slightly less efficient than his competition at the position across the board. He dropped what could have been a touchdown pass on a double jailbreak screen against the Falcons, one of the more fun designs I’ve seen from an offense this season. As with those running backs, nobody will be shocked if McMillan is in contention for the Offensive Rookie of the Year award down the stretch.

At the moment, though, an unexpected face is in the mix over him.

We’ll get to Protector of the Year candidates in a moment, and there’s a case that Zabel has been one of the best offensive linemen regardless of experience this season, full stop. NFL Next Gen Stats uses an automated system to track quarterback pressures, and through four games, Zabel might have the cleanest résumé of anybody in the league. He has allowed zero sacks and just one pressure; his 0.9% pressure rate is the best of any offensive lineman, rookie or otherwise.

Pressures can be in the eye of the beholder, and I believe Zabel was responsible for a quick pressure against the Steelers (albeit one that turned into a big gain when Sam Darnold escaped a free rusher), but the general idea still stands. Zabel is inhibiting pressures at one of the league’s best rates, which is wildly impressive for a rookie guard. Zabel is not quite at a league-average one-on-one rate per Next Gen Stats, which obviously helps make his life easier, but there’s plenty to like about what he has done as a pass protector.

He has also been fun to watch in the run game, where his athletic traits are played up. Zabel got to the third level to block Juan Thornhill to finish off a 19-yard Kenneth Walker III run against the Steelers. The rookie is not the sort of physical force the Seahawks are going to run behind over and over again, but in a zone-heavy scheme that asks its linemen to be on the move, Zabel is a great fit. He joins Armand Membou of the Jets as the best rookie O-linemen through four weeks.

What a fun start to the season this has been for Egbuka, who was seen as a luxury when the Bucs took him in the first round. By Week 4, injuries and an established level of play had already made him Tampa Bay’s top receiver in a critical matchup against Philadelphia. Egbuka didn’t have his best game, turning 10 targets into 101 yards, but one of those targets was a 77-yard touchdown on a scramble drill that helped fuel Tampa Bay’s comeback to make the game competitive in the second half.

Egbuka leads rookies in receiving yards (282) and receiving touchdowns (4), and he is second in yards per route run (2.2). He has come up with big plays in meaningful moments, including a deep post to win the game against the Falcons in Week 1. And with the Bucs trailing in the final two minutes against the Jets in Week 2, Egbuka ran away from “quarters” coverage for a 28-yard reception, then appeared to make a spectacular second-effort catch to get the Bucs into field goal range only for the play to be ruled incomplete (inexplicably without an official review).

The book on Egbuka in April was that he was going to enter the NFL as a pro-ready wideout without the sort of elite traits most teams want from their top receivers. He has already exceeded those expectations after four games.

As a pass catcher, Warren has been even more efficient than Egbuka and McMillan. He has 263 receiving yards across just 104 routes, good for an average of 2.5 yards per route run. McMillan has 15 more receiving yards than Warren, but he has taken 39 more routes to get there. Warren is 10th among all receivers in yards per route run and second among tight ends behind only Tucker Kraft of the Packers.

And of course, Warren has been even more intriguing as a chess piece for coach Shane Steichen. The Colts have used Warren as a fullback, serving both as a lead blocker and ball carrier on a pair of short-yardage plays — including a touchdown on a fourth-and-1 carry against the Rams on Sunday. On the prior play, the Colts went to Warren out of the Wildcat and ran power with him as the de facto quarterback as if he were Cam Newton.

Those concepts haven’t always been successful — Warren was stuffed on a fourth-and-1 carry out of the backfield against the Broncos — but how many teams have a player they are comfortable running on power and throwing to as the shallow crosser on mesh on fourth down in the same game? Warren is a special talent, and he has been an essential part of the Colts’ offense as the team has gotten off to a 3-1 start.

Protector of the Year

The NFL’s newest award goes to the best offensive lineman in football. Through four games, it’s going to be difficult for any lineman to separate from the pack. It’s pretty clear which linemen are at the bottom of the pack, but there are still plenty who haven’t allowed a sack, have made a few solid key blocks in the run game and could be considered for this award. The cream of the crop will separate as the season goes along.

We’ll see how the voters handle this award over the winter, but my instinct is to lean toward offensive tackles, who are typically seeing the opposing team’s top pass rushers and have to handle them one-on-one. In the run game, I’m a little biased toward linemen who can get out and create havoc as reliable pullers, which opens up more possibilities for what teams can do with their run and play-action games. And at this point of the year, missing even one game means you’ve sat out a quarter of the season, so I can’t include guys such as Joe Alt (Chargers) or Lane Johnson (Eagles), who have left games with injuries without returning.

Evaluating Bolles as a pass blocker can be difficult. The Broncos have a very good offensive line from one through five, so there’s no weak spot the line has to cover up. Sean Payton’s scheme often asks Bo Nix to get the ball out quickly in obvious passing situations such as third-and-long with screens and throws short of the sticks, so Denver’s linemen aren’t stuck holding up for a long time in the toughest pass-protection spots. At the same time, Nix’s inconsistent movement at the end of his drop can make him a more difficult player to protect than other quarterbacks.

Doing my best to account for all that, I think Bolles is playing at a really high level. He has allowed a pressure rate of just 4.6%, the lowest among NFL left tackles, with no quick pressures or quick sacks of Nix. Quinn Meinerz deservedly gets credit as the most fearsome run blocker on the Broncos’ line, but Bolles can hold his own; he bowled over Joseph Ossai on a 16-yard J.K. Dobbins run during Monday’s blowout win over the Bengals.

As great as guys such as Josh Allen, Lamar Jackson and Patrick Mahomes are as improvisers, it can be a nightmare to block for them. Offensive linemen are blocking with the quarterback’s drop in mind, expecting him to be in a particular spot before he gets rid of the football. Watch the league’s most exciting quarterbacks, and you know that’s more of a suggestion than anything else. And given what they create outside structure, teams are happily going to take the tradeoff and ask their linemen to simply do more.

Dawkins makes it look easy. While Next Gen Stats credits him with two sacks allowed on the year, both of those sacks were extended plays where Dawkins initially won at the line. He has been credited with zero quick sacks and zero quick pressures allowed. His 4.9% pressure allowed rate is the second-lowest figure in the league among left tackles. And he has been in one-on-one blocks 88% of the time, the third-highest rate in the league.

Unlike the guys blocking for Nix and Allen, Sewell knows what to expect with Jared Goff, who scrambles only out of necessity. That makes Sewell’s life easier, but he’s also playing on a Lions O-line with two new starters at guard — which got overwhelmed in the middle against the Packers in the opener before massively improving over the subsequent three games.

Sewell is the complete package. He’s a mauler with rare mobility in the run game; watch David Montgomery‘s 72-yard run against the Ravens, and you’ll see the star tackle both engulf a fellow All-Pro in Roquan Smith and sustain his block for several yards, allowing Montgomery a huge lane to cut back and then beat the safety to go to the races. And while running one of the highest one-on-one block rates among right tackles in the league, Sewell is fourth in pressure rate allowed (5.4%), giving up no sacks and just one quick pressure through four games.

Coach of the Year

Coach of the Year often becomes the award honoring the guy whose team most exceeds the preseason expectations, which is why we end up with situations where Brian Daboll and Matt Nagy have as many Coach of the Year awards as Andy Reid — and more than Mike Tomlin. There’s real merit in taking a bad team to the postseason, but Daboll’s Giants were built on their performance in one-score games, which didn’t stick. Nagy’s Bears thrived because of their dominant defense, which was overseen by Vic Fangio; once the vaunted defensive coordinator left, Nagy suddenly wasn’t the best coach in football.

I try to lean toward sustainability and coaches who are doing great work on their preferred side of the ball as part of this award. Take Liam Coen, who will be a candidate for this after going 3-1. Coen has done great work rebuilding Jacksonville’s run game, but the Jags have been wildly inconsistent on offense, ranking 20th in EPA per play. They’ve struggled to line up, leading to unnecessary timeouts and delay of game calls, and lead the league with 23 offensive penalties. The driving force for the Jags has been their defense, which should be credited more to Anthony Campanile than the coach.

Likewise, can we feel great about the two undefeated coaches? Sean McDermott’s Bills have played an easy schedule after the Ravens game and been driven by the Josh Allen-led offense. Their defense, which is McDermott’s focus, ranks 18th in EPA per play. And Nick Sirianni’s Eagles keep winning, which has to mean something, but it feels as though even Eagles fans don’t want to credit their coach for what has been a remarkable run of sustained success.

McVay has already established himself as one of the finest coaches in the league and has somehow insulated himself from winning the Coach of the Year award as a result. But he’s doing great things in Los Angeles. The Rams are a couple of plays away from starting 4-0, and it’s driven by the offense, which continues to rank in the top 10. McVay is always evolving, and the Rams have leaned more into 12 personnel groupings with success on the offensive side of the ball. Alongside Kevin O’Connell with Justin Jefferson in Minnesota, nobody gets more out of their star receiver than the Rams do with Puka Nacua, whose ability and threat as a blocker is the focal point for the Rams’ run game and their resulting play-action attack.

If there’s any flaw, it’s that McVay’s game management can be a little too conservative at times, especially with the strength of the Rams’ offense. And yet, the Rams have scored three touchdowns on their three fourth-down conversions this season, including critical scores in their wins over the Texans and Colts. And hey, speaking of Indianapolis…

I don’t solely want to pick coaches who are overseeing surprising teams, but I have to give credit to Steichen. He has always been a compelling play designer in building his offenses around Jalen Hurts and Anthony Richardson Sr., but he has done a great job of making life easier for Daniel Jones and creating possibilities for his playmakers to run away from defenders for big gains. The Colts rank third in the NFL in EPA per play on offense, even after playing the Broncos and Rams, who profile as two of the NFL’s more imposing defenses.

Even with Jones mostly removed from the quarterback run game relative to where Richardson was at his most active, Steichen has built a compelling, creative attack that takes advantage of the other team’s weaknesses. His game plan against the Broncos was excellent. Facing a team that plays a lot of man coverage and has one of the most athletic front sevens in football, Steichen built in plenty of man-beaters on mesh and pick concepts and hit the Broncos for the biggest play of the day on a wham concept, exploiting Denver’s aggressiveness up front.

I’m not sure Indy will be a top-three offense all season, but Steichen is doing a great job of getting the most out of his talent and making the right decisions on fourth downs.

Maybe it shouldn’t be a surprise that the Lions wouldn’t fold over one ugly loss, but since that blowout defeat at the hands of the Packers, Campbell’s team has bounced right back to its 2024 form. Over the past three weeks, the Lions led the NFL in EPA per play on offense and are third in EPA per play on defense, all while outscoring their opponents by 21 points per game. The Lions blew out the Bears, manhandled the Ravens in Baltimore and then scored 34 points in a win over the Browns, aided by a punt return TD and some short fields on defense.

Campbell hasn’t had to make many tough decisions on fourth down this season, but the Lions have scored 28 points on drives that included converting at least one fourth down, the second most in the league. Campbell’s decision to go for it late against the Ravens was rewarded first by a completion to Amon-Ra St. Brown and then by a touchdown run to seal up the victory. And while the Lions will still miss coordinators Ben Johnson and Aaron Glenn as the year goes along, Campbell’s team looks as if it’ll be just fine as long as the head honcho is still in the building.

Defensive Player of the Year

This is always the toughest award to land on. Though there are a few transcendent quarterbacks and receivers who routinely separate from the pack on offense, the league is just blessed with too many defenders who can be utterly unstoppable on their best days. There are 10 pass rushers every year who might have a viable case for the award, let alone when we get peak seasons from a cornerback like Pat Surtain II, who took home the honors for the 2024 season.

This becomes an incredibly difficult exercise. I wasn’t able to find spots for any defensive backs or linebackers. Guys such as Eagles defensive tackle Jordan Davis and Vikings cornerback Isaiah Rodgers, who swung games with their individual efforts, aren’t able to make it into the top three. The Jags have a number of potential candidates, notably edge rusher Josh Hines-Allen and slot cornerback Jourdan Lewis, but I wasn’t able to squeeze them in, either. The Rams could send a devastating edge rush duo to the Pro Bowl in Jared Verse and Byron Young. And Comeback Player of the Year candidate Joey Bosa, who leads the league by three percentage points in pass rush win rate on the edge while playing 72% of the snaps for the Bills, comes up just short, too.

What I leaned on at the end of the day is some combination of the numbers and my perspective from film of the players who have been the most unblockable up front this season. And that starts with a guy who has been dominant for one of the league’s worst teams — even beyond one wild play you might have seen in Week 4.

No, this isn’t about Simmons’s insta-sack of C.J. Stroud that went viral in Week 4. That’s a product of the Texans changing their play at the line and about half of their offensive line not getting the message. Simmons gets off the line quickly, of course, but a lot of guys are going to look good when the two players across from him turn in opposite directions and block members of their own team.

Leaving that play aside, though, it has been cruel to see a player as talented and influential as Simmons wasted on one of the league’s worst teams. He leads the league in virtually every metric for interior defensive linemen. Pass rush win rate? First at 17.6%. Pressures? His 14 are tied with Seattle’s Byron Murphy II for the most of any tackle. Quick pressures, which are a better measure of how quickly a player wins at the line? Simmons has eight, three more than any other defensive tackle.

He has done all this while being double-teamed more than 46% of the time, above the league average of 41%. And Simmons helped create an interception by spinning through one of those double-teams and pressuring Bo Nix into a pick, one of the two turnovers he caused in what ended up being a close Week 1 game against the Broncos.

Simmons is also a stout run defender. The Titans haven’t been great against the run this season, in part because fellow starting defensive tackle T’Vondre Sweat hasn’t played since Week 1, but Simmons has made plays. In Week 4, Simmons picked up a tackle for loss on a snap where he shot into the backfield and stopped Woody Marks in the backfield on third-and-1, leading to the Texans missing a field goal on the next snap.

I know there will be grumbling from fans of teams whose defenses have been far more successful, but Simmons can’t be held responsible for what’s around him in Tennessee. He has been excellent so far.

All of the great edge rushers face plenty of double-teams and chips. Offenses slide their protections in those guys’ directions to ensure that they’re not stuck with a tackle one-on-one on the backside of their pass plays. Every offensive playcaller comes into the week with stopping Garrett as the first thing on the game plan. You can read him on a run concept or two, but if you don’t have a plan to stop Garrett, he’s going to ruin your day.

The problem is that those plans just don’t matter. Garrett is just so consistently impossible to block. There’s not a better power/speed combination in the game. There are edge rushers who have a great array of moves, guys who have the raw strength to just bull-rush through an offensive tackle and linemen who can just teleport around the edge and beat protections without ever being touched. Being good at one of those three is enough to sustain a career. Garrett is among the elite in each.

Garrett is routinely making good offensive linemen look foolish. He drove Cincinnati’s Orlando Brown Jr. into Joe Burrow like the 340-pound lineman didn’t have a choice in Week 1, then swam past Baltimore’s Ronnie Stanley like the star tackle wasn’t there the following week. He did such a number on the Packers that their linemen were screaming “Jordan [Love], run!” as if they were in a horror movie. Garrett leads all edge rushers in pass rush win rate (37.5%) and is second in the NFL in quick quarterback pressures (11) despite playing on a defense that has faced the second-fewest snaps.

I’m just not sure we can put anybody ahead of Bonitto, who rates out as the best pass rusher in the NFL this season by about every metric I can put together beyond sacks — where his 4.5 are a half-sack behind Brian Burns of the Giants. Bonitto has done that on 86 pass-rush opportunities, while Garrett is at 98 and Burns has had 127.

Leave sacks aside. Pressures? Bonitto’s 27 are the most in football, and his 31.4% pressure rate is about double that of superstars like Hines-Allen and Aidan Hutchinson. Quick pressures? Bonitto’s 15 are four more than anybody else in the league, and his 17.4% quick pressure rate is almost laughably outlandish. The second-best quick pressure rate for guys with 80 pass-rush opportunities or more is Garrett at 11.2%, and he’s closer to 23rd than he is to Bonitto in first.

Bonitto doesn’t get double-teamed as often as the Garretts and Hutchinsons of the world, both because he doesn’t have the reputation as a superstar and because the Broncos have a couple of very good rushers elsewhere on their D-line in Zach Allen and Jonathon Cooper. He’s not the same caliber of run defender as Garrett or Simmons, but Bonitto is fast enough for the Broncos to have used him as a spy when they’ve played Patrick Mahomes and Josh Allen in the past.

Even acknowledging those realities, though, Bonitto has simply been head and shoulders above everyone else in getting to the quarterback and creating problems this season. There might not be anybody better right now at getting off the line and around opposing tackles; there’s usually at least one snap per game where it looks as if Bonitto was in the offensive huddle and knew the snap count and the protection scheme. He made major strides between 2022 and 2023 and then again between 2023 and 2024. It looks as if he has leveled up into one of the league’s best speed rushers in 2025.

Offensive Player of the Year

Here’s where I have to do my annual spiel. In a league where the Most Valuable Player award is almost always a quarterback and hasn’t been a defensive player since 1986, the existence of an Offensive Player of the Year award seems unnecessary. The reality where different players win Most Valuable Player and Offensive Player of the Year — as happened with Josh Allen and Saquon Barkley last season — is even more ridiculous. How can Allen be the Most Valuable Player at any position and simultaneously not be the Offensive Player of the Year?

Since it’s my column, I’m making a very deliberate distinction between the awards. Quarterbacks aren’t eligible for Offensive Player of the Year here. I’m happy to consider non-quarterbacks for the MVP award if they’re playing well enough, but this honor is strictly for running backs, receivers, tight ends and offensive linemen.

Through four weeks, there’s a very clear top tier. Two wide receivers have dramatically separated from the rest of the bunch. Beyond them, there were only a few running backs who earned consideration. James Cook has been a great runner for the Bills, but he hasn’t done much as a receiver after a 51-yard catch in the opener. Atlanta’s Bijan Robinson leads the NFL in yards from scrimmage and has a pair of 100-yard games as a receiver, fueled by the big plays that had been inexplicably missing from his professional profile so far. But another back has been slightly more efficient and consistent so far this season.

I wasn’t sure we were ever going to get the Taylor from 2021 on the field again after a series of injury-hit seasons, but over the past four games of the 2024 campaign and the first four games of 2025, Taylor has been in rare form. His rushing stats from that stretch, prorated out for 17 games, amount to 412 carries for 2,212 yards and 19 rushing touchdowns. His receiving numbers aren’t as impressive, a product of playing with limited quarterbacks down the stretch in 2024, but Taylor has caught 13 of 14 passes for 113 yards so far this season, including a huge game as a receiver against the Broncos.

The Colts do a great job of scheming up their run game, but Taylor is an absolute difference-maker. I mentioned Steichen dialing up that Wham concept for a big play against Denver, but Indy didn’t really do a great job of getting its blocks set up in time; Taylor was the one who had to make a man miss in the backfield and then run away from another tackle before going down 68 yards later. He’s so good at squeezing into tight spaces at the line of scrimmage, accelerating out and then running through tackles at the second level and beyond.

He has had at least one highlight-reel run per week, including what should have been a 53-yard touchdown with 2:25 to go in the fourth quarter against the Rams last week, only for Adonai Mitchell to be flagged for holding before Taylor was even nearby. Taylor has been this season’s equivalent of the 2024 Saquon Barkley, a walking explosive play on any given snap.

Smith-Njigba leads the NFL in yards per route run, averaging a robust 4.3 so far this season. The guy just ahead of him for this award is hundredths of a yard behind him and also at 4.3 YPRR. Nobody else in the NFL is above 2.7. There’s just a huge chasm between the top two receivers in the league through four games and everybody else. I’ve got a ton of respect for what Amon-Ra St. Brown has done in Detroit, and Justin Jefferson is always going to be a problem in Minnesota, but Smith-Njigba is more than 75 receiving yards ahead of either player while running about 30 fewer routes.

Smith-Njigba has caught more than 76% of the passes thrown in his direction this season, a particularly impressive figure when you consider that his average target has come more than 12 yards downfield. He has become a lethal playmaker for Sam Darnold on scramble drills, finding space in the middle of the field or running away from defenders to create big plays.

For a guy who came into the league with some scouting reports treating him as if a potential slot receiver who wasn’t going to win vertically, Smith-Njigba is straight up running past cornerbacks on deep posts (ask Jalen Ramsey or Kool-Aid McKinstry) and go routes for huge gains. He averaged 6.8 yards per target as a rookie; that has nearly doubled to 11.8 yards per target so far in 2025. Smith-Njigba has a league-leading seven completions on throws traveling 20 yards or more in the air this season, too.

Even in situations where opposing teams know the Seahawks want a big play, they haven’t really been able to do anything about Seattle’s star wideout; look at Smith-Njigba running up the sideline past Renardo Green for a 40-yard completion to set up what should have been a game-winning field goal against the 49ers in the opener. Smith-Njigba also fumbled twice in that defeat, the only blemish on an otherwise impressive résumé to start 2025.

Nacua is just behind Smith-Njigba in yards per route run, but the Rams star makes up for it in volume. Nacua is commanding targets on 42.4% of his routes so far this season, which is one of the highest rates we’ve ever seen for a receiver through four games. He leads the league in just about every raw metric, including targets (50), receptions (42) and receiving yards (503). About the only thing he hasn’t done is get into the end zone often, although his one receiving score (a fourth-and-2 catch to tie up the score late against the Colts) is buttressed by a 45-yard rushing touchdown on a fourth-and-1 jet sweep against the Titans.

If you did some division in your head when you saw those numbers, you weren’t wrong; Nacua has caught 84% of the passes thrown in his direction this season. By the Next Gen Stats receiving model, he has already caught 7.3 more passes than an average receiver would be expected to bring in with the same targets. The top of the leaderboard for that metric last season was St. Brown, who got to 16.3 receptions over expectation in 17 games. Nacua is nearly halfway there in four.

And of course, it’s difficult to overstate just how essential Nacua is to the entire Rams enterprise. He’s an excellent run blocker, with the Rams routinely using him to dig out bigger players on duo and even taking on edge defenders when they go to outside zone runs. With the play-action game then triggers off that threat, Nacua will motion like he’s about to take on a linebacker, only to run a route through offensive linemen and away from defenders. One of his eight incompletions this season was a snap against the Eagles where Nacua just casually split the right tackle and tight end after coming in motion, ran a sail route back across the field and might have set up a potential touchdown just before halftime, only for Matthew Stafford to miss the throw.

Nacua hasn’t been quite as explosive as Taylor or Smith-Njigba, but if you need a first down, there’s nobody else in the league you would rather have lining up on your side of the ball right now.

Most Valuable Player

And here’s the big one. Nacua comes close, but I think we can put three quarterbacks ahead of the league’s best wide receiver in the MVP rankings through four games. And to be honest, the toughest decision among the top three was deciding who was third in the rankings as opposed to who was first. There’s a clear No. 1 and a clear No. 2 for me, but who has been the third best quarterback in the league? I had to eliminate some viable candidates.

The Chargers’ Justin Herbert got off to a hot start. But while he might be able to put some blame on losing both of his starting tackles, he ranks 17th in EPA per dropback so far this season and has turned the ball over four times in his past three games.

I can see a case for Jalen Hurts, who continues to lead the Eagles to victories. He hasn’t thrown an interception, picks up valuable first downs and touchdowns on the tush push, and played a key role in Philadelphia’s comeback win over the Rams. He has also fumbled three times in three weeks, takes sacks at a rate well above league average and is averaging just 6 yards per pass attempt (25th among quarterbacks). Hurts’ formerly significant role in the designed run game has been limited, sneaks aside, to six carries over the first four games.

Jordan Love got off to a good start with the Packers, and he’s averaging 8.3 yards per attempt, which is good for fourth in the league. He has turned the ball over only twice, but they’ve been costly mistakes: An interception set the Browns up for a score-tying touchdown in Week 3, while a strip sack on a play where Love held the football before attempting to check down handed the Cowboys a short field for a touchdown in Week 4.

And then there’s Baker Mayfield, who led three consecutive last-minute victories to start the season before nearly leading the Buccaneers back for a fourth against the Eagles. Mayfield has been great in those moments, and his scrambling has both bailed the Bucs out in key spots and earned him second place in the quarterback rushing EPA ranks. But one of the reasons the Buccaneers have been in position to require those comebacks has been an inconsistent offense early in their contests. Mayfield is 22nd in QBR in the first half of games and 11th across the final two quarters.

In the end, third place came down to the two quarterbacks who went up against each other last week. Fourth place went to Patrick Mahomes, who is quietly third in the NFL in QBR after what had been a slow start for his offense. The Chiefs have had their struggles, but outside of Mahomes missing a deep ball or two to Tyquan Thornton, it hasn’t been because of their star quarterback, who has taken on more work as a runner out of sheer necessity this season. Mahomes is seventh in EPA per dropback by the Next Gen Stats model, just behind our third-place finisher …

I’ve mentioned my reticence to include players who were sidelined during games because of injuries, and I know Jackson missed the fourth quarter of last week’s loss to the Chiefs with a hamstring injury. At the same time, he has played 91% of Baltimore’s snaps this season, which would amount to missing 1½ games out of a full 17-game slate. I could see a quarterback who was playing at an MVP level still garner serious consideration if they missed that much action over a full campaign.

And if we’re just talking about what Jackson has done on a snap-by-snap basis, it’s hard to say anybody else has been more productive. He leads the NFL in passing touchdowns (10), yards per attempt (9.1), passer rating (130.5) and adjusted net yards per attempt (8.4). He has thrown one interception and had one fumble across two games while playing against arguably the toughest schedule in the NFL so far this season. And as usual, Jackson is adding meaningful value with his legs, though his 5.3 attempts and 41.5 rush yards per game would be career-low averages.

The only problem? Sacks. One year after taking sacks on a career-best 4.6% of his dropbacks, Jackson has nearly tripled that mark, going down a career-worst 13.6% of the time. Some of that is on an offensive line that hasn’t gotten off to a great start this season, but quarterbacks also bear some responsibility for their sacks. Jackson’s sacks have come after an average of 5.5 seconds, the second-longest rate in the league. The takedowns are the biggest reason why Jackson dropped to fifth in the NFL in QBR before suffering his hamstring injury.

If you saw this one coming, you’re ahead of the game. Jones has been put in position to succeed in Indy. His defense has allowed him to play from ahead or in close games, his running back has been playing at an extremely high level, and Jones’ receivers have generated 120 yards after the catch over expectation, the second most of any offense in the league behind the Steelers (per Next Gen Stats). Next Gen Stats credits Indy’s pass catchers with just one drop on the season, a figure that presumably doesn’t include Adonai Mitchell dropping the ball just before entering the end zone against the Rams last week.

At the same time, Jones has more than held his own. He is third in the NFL in Next Gen Stats’ completion percentage over expectation, trailing only Dak Prescott and Jared Goff. He’s averaging 8.9 yards per attempt, third behind Jackson and Sam Darnold. Jones’ prior revival in 2022 (with the Giants) was built around getting the ball out quickly on short throws to limit his issues with taking sacks and fumbling the football. But this time around, his 8.4 air yards per attempt is the third-longest figure in the league, and his 3.0% sack rate is the fourth-best mark.

Sunday’s game against the Rams was the first time it really felt like Jones was beginning to fall back to earth. He threw his first two interceptions of the season and had his first multi-sack game of the year, losing the ball on a strip sack (though the Colts were able to recover it). Even in a game where he struggled, though, Jones completed nearly 73% of his passes, averaged just under 8 yards per attempt and came one Mitchell meltdown away from throwing two touchdown passes against one of the league’s toughest defensive fronts. If that’s what happens after the clock strikes midnight, Jones and the Colts will be just fine.

Allen creates value for the Bills in so many ways. There are the obvious ones. Allen leads all quarterbacks in rushing EPA. He’s third in the NFL in yards per dropback. Buffalo’s receivers are running one of the worst drop rates in football while Allen hits them with the fifth-best precise pass rate in the NFL (measuring how reliably QBs deliver their throws in stride around the torso area to their pass catchers). You know Allen is capable of the spectacular, but he has also just become so consistent at executing Joe Brady’s offense play after play and drive after drive.

And then there’s the other, more subtle element to Allen’s game that I repeatedly mention: his ability to avoid the negative plays. He has turned the ball over once in four games, an interception nearly 40 yards downfield on third-and-long last week against the Saints. Allen’s sack rate has actually nearly doubled from its absurdly low 2.8% clip a year ago, but it is still better than league average. And 51.7% of Allen’s dropbacks turn into successful plays, the third highest rate in the league.

Allen is essentially an extremely low-risk, extremely high-reward quarterback, and that combination is difficult to beat. I suppose you could make a case that the Bills haven’t played the toughest schedule, which is true, but this feels a little like a “to be the man, you have to beat the man” situation. Allen entered the season as MVP, and so far, he’s setting career highs in completion percentage, yards per attempt and adjusted net yards per attempt — and he led his team to a dramatic comeback victory over the rival Ravens in Week 1. Nobody has taken the crown from him yet, and if Allen keeps this up, nobody’s going to come close.

OWINGS MILLS, Md. — Arthur Jones, a defensive lineman who spent his first four NFL seasons in Baltimore and won a Super Bowl with the Ravens, has died. He was 39.

Syracuse, Jones’ alma mater, said he died Friday morning. The school and the Ravens didn’t give a cause of death in their announcements.

“Arthur’s presence was a gift to everyone he encountered,” Ravens general manager Eric DeCosta said. “His big, bright smile, infectious energy and eternal positivity created a presence that continuously uplifted others.”

Jones was a fifth-round draft pick in 2010 and had 8½ of his 10 career sacks in a two-season stretch in 2012-13. The Ravens beat San Francisco in Super Bowl XLVII to cap the 2012 season.

Jones sacked 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick just before a power outage at the Superdome in New Orleans. He also had a fumble recovery in that Super Bowl.

Jones spent two years with Indianapolis and a final season in Washington in 2017.

Jones played for Syracuse and was the older brother of former UFC heavyweight champion Jon Jones and former Syracuse and NFL defensive end Chandler Jones, a four-time Pro Bowler who won a Super Bowl in New England.

Jones had 38½ tackles for loss at Syracuse, a school record for an interior defensive lineman. He was a first-team All-Big East selection each of his final two seasons.

“Arthur Jones was a tremendous player and even better person,” Syracuse athletic director John Wildhack said. “We were fortunate that Arthur continued to support our football program after his playing career. He impacted many of our student-athletes, always with a smile and uplifting message.”

FLORHAM PARK, N.J. — New York Jets running back Braelon Allen, placed on injured reserve Thursday with a knee injury, will be sidelined eight to 12 weeks, coach Aaron Glenn said Friday.

Allen, hurt while returning a kickoff on Monday night, is deciding whether to have surgery on what is believed to be an MCL injury.

“There’s two different ways he can go about it,” Glenn said. “He could rehab this … or he could have surgery and get it cleaned up. But the rehab time will be exactly the same. That will be a decision him and his agent will have to make. I’m not making that decision.”

Earlier in the week, Glenn called it “a pretty serious knee injury,” but he withheld a timetable as Allen sought a second opinion. Now they have clarity. The best-case scenario is an early-December return; he also could miss the remainder of the season.

This is a key loss for the winless Jets (0-4), who rely heavily on the ground game. They’re the No. 3 rushing attack in the NFL.

Allen, who has 76 yards on 18 rushes, is their best power back, usually handling short-yardage and goal-line. His absence could mean an uptick in touches for starter Breece Hall, who has a team-high 238 yards on 52 carries.

Isaiah Davis, usually the third-down back, will replace Allen as the No. 2 running back. Davis (five carries for 27 yards) isn’t as powerful as Allen, but he has better speed and cutback ability.

It’s unclear who will dress as the No. 3 running back on Sunday against the Dallas Cowboys at MetLife Stadium. Normally, that role would go to Kene Nwangwu, but he’s battling a hamstring injury and his status is uncertain. He will be a game-time decision, according to Glenn.

On Thursday, the Jets signed veteran Khalil Herbert off the Seattle Seahawks‘ practice squad. Herbert, a former Chicago Bears draft pick, has rushed for 1,905 yards over four seasons. He also can return kicks.

The Jets also made a practice-squad addition, signing former Atlanta Falcons draft pick Avery Williams on Friday. He, too, has return ability.

Ruben Amorim said he has no plans to walk away from the Manchester United job and insisted his system is not to blame for their struggles in an impassioned press conference.

HIs side face Sunderland on Saturday having suffered a third Premier League loss of the season against Brentford which left them 14th in the table and increased the pressure on the head coach.

Sky Sports pundit Gary Neville said this week he is “very worried” about Amorim’s performance, while Jamie Carragher described the 40-year-old’s tenure as a “disaster” which “has to end”.

Ahead of Saturday’s game at Old Trafford, read the full transcript as Amorim outlines his determination to turn Manchester United’s form around, denies reports he is unhappy in Manchester, and argues that he used 4-4-2, rather than a back three, against Brentford.

You said after Brentford that you don’t fear losing your job. Why is that?

AMORIM: “Because the worst thing in this job is to not win games. That is the same feeling I had in Casa Pia when I lost in the third division.

“And then it’s a job. Of course, it’s a dream to be here. And I want to continue here. And I want to fight for this. But the problem is now, what makes me suffer is to lose games, not to lose my job.

“You fear to lose your job when you have to pay the bills and I don’t have that feeling. I just want to continue this. But when we don’t win games, that is the suffering that I have. It is not the fear of losing the job. I don’t care.

“I’m telling you when we finish the game and you can see me, I don’t care about my job. That hurt of not winning games or failing. That is the thing that hurts me the most.”

Is there any scenario in which you could walk away from the job?

AMORIM: “That is a decision of the board. I cannot do that. Sometimes I have that feeling and losing is hard. It’s so frustrating when you create the momentum, go to the next game, and something happens.

“That feeling sometimes hurts me a lot. Also the players and especially the staff here.

“But that is not my decision. And I think it would be really hard to leave if I don’t do everything to follow my career here.”

You said your point of view is not influenced by media or social media. How difficult is it to stay in a bubble when there is so much talk?

AMORIM: “It’s really important because there is no one in the world that can read everything and listen to everything about people that understand football and not be influenced by that.

“So I’m trying to listen and to see all the games because I know that I see the game more times than all those guys together because they have to see all the games in the Premier League and give an opinion.

“My opinion is completely different because I see the games, I see the training, I understand my players, I understand what I’m doing and I follow my job this way because it’s impossible to survive in this club, listening to all the things.

“I see a lot of things that my wife is talking with the media. That is such nonsense.

“Nobody in my family talks about that. We love living in England. You have no idea what is abuse here because you are so polite compared to my country where we are losing. So you have no idea. My family is really happy.

“It’s just me and my family that is struggling because I hate losing and I hate failing.”

Have the hierarchy given you any assurances, or do you sense that even if it gets uglier over the coming weeks, you’re still going to get patience?

AMORIM: “I’m not concerned about that and nobody here is naive. We understand that we need results to continue the project.

“We will reach a point that is impossible for everyone because this is a very big club with a lot of sponsors, with two owners. So it’s hard. That balance is really hard. So I’m not concerned about that.

“What I want is to see my team winning or losing playing the same way and we are not doing that, in the simple things of playing football that anyone can do.

“So my biggest problem is [if] my players believe in you guys when they say the problem of our team is the system.

“I get crazy about that because I can see the team, I see this team playing in a different system.

“We need to play the same way with the same power with the same intensity with the same focus. If you do that, the system doesn’t matter.”

Do you think you’re getting close to that point where the patience could go or do you feel like you’ve still got it?

AMORIM: “It doesn’t matter. I just need one more game because football is like that. We need one more game, we win, we get some hope and then in the next game we’ll see.

“That is always the same thing, so I don’t need a lot of time. It doesn’t matter for me, it’s just the next game that matters and the next game is [Saturday]. We just have to perform and we need to win.”

Do you feel there’s mistrust in the three-at-the-back system in this country?

AMORIM: “It’s the results. Imagine that we won the first game against Arsenal and then you don’t miss the penalty and you win against Fulham, even without playing really well. Imagine that this happened.

“The trust in everything about our club, the system, the way we play, would be completely different.

“So, if you win, everything is okay. If you lose, you are doubting everything about yourself, about your team-mates, about the coach, everything. And that is normal.

“There is no back three against Brentford. Lately we play with Luke Shaw, two centre-backs and the right back. They play in different positions in the beginning.

“So it’s not three centre-backs, it’s the same thing with a little bit different positions. Against Brentford, second half, it was like a 4-4-2. The problem is that we were not good with the ball, we were soft without the ball and we lose.

“But imagine that we score the penalty. In the final goal we are trying to win the game, everyone is out of position. That can happen in the 4-3-3 or the 3-4-3. So I think the details matter more than the system.”

Have any of the players dared to suggest you should play with a back four?

AMORIM: “No. Guys, I’m the manager of the club, the big club. Is the media going to dictate what I’m going to do? It cannot be. It’s not possible to sustain that.

“I talk with the players every day and I explain point by point what is happening with our team. So again, it’s not a 3-4-3 all the time.

“I think we are thinking about the system but I think we need to look at all of the parts of the game. This team play in the different systems for many years, and you were talking about the lack of identity, no idea, whatever.

“So it’s not the system. It’s the small details, the way we play the game. And I understand what people think. ‘What would this team be in a different system?’ I don’t know. Maybe this team would win more games.

“But if we don’t change certain things, we are not going to win titles whether we change to 4-3-3 or 4-4-2.

“And that is my point with the players – not with you, I don’t want to change your mind – but my players. I guarantee you they are listening to you. All those opinions, they are putting that inside because we are not winning games.

“And they have to believe in me because I watch more [Man Utd] games than you guys combined.”

Pressure is mounting on Ange Postecoglou less than a month into his new role at Nottingham Forest and Sky Sports News has been told owner Evangelos Marinakis will not hesitate in removing the head coach if performances and results do not quickly improve. 

Postecoglou has failed to win any of his first six matches in charge and it is clear another defeat and poor performance at Newcastle on Sunday – live on Sky Sports – could be crucial in seeing the current levels of patience wane within the Forest boardroom.

The international break could be vital for the 60-year-old’s future, especially considering he was brought in to replace Nuno Espirito Santo during the previous one in September.

However, Postecoglou retains the immediate support of the club’s hierarchy, who only want to focus on the pivotal game at St James’ Park.

Some Forest supporters chanted for Postecoglou to be sacked during the Europa League defeat to Midtjylland on Thursday – his fourth defeat since replacing Nuno, who was sacked after falling out with Marinakis.

It is thought there is anger among the Forest hierarchy at the performance of referee Willy Delajod against Midtjylland and that has provided some mitigation in their assessment of how the team – and the head coach – performed.

But defeat at on Sunday would make Postecoglou the first permanent head coach since 1960 to fail to win any of his first four league games at the club.

Postecoglou is in a personal Premier League rut – he is winless in his last 10 games, taking into consideration his last seven matches at Tottenham before he was sacked at the end of last season.

If he were to leave during the international break, it is likely to break Alex McLeish’s 40-day tenure as Forest boss back in 2012, and Sam Allardyce’s record of 30 days at Leeds as the shortest Premier League reign.

Ange: Pressure doesn’t enter my head

Postecoglou admitted earlier on Friday he cannot afford to “worry about what is going to happen next week”, instead focusing on trying to get his side out of its bad run of form.

“I get it [speculation about his future] and it is a valid assumption in modern football,” he said. “There is always a manager under pressure but I do not think that way.

“Put it this way, I knew I was getting sacked at Tottenham about three of four months before I did and it did not stop me winning something.

“It [pressure] does not enter my head. My responsibility lies in making sure this club progresses and gets to a position where it can challenge for things. If I start putting timelines to that, to start worrying about what is going to happen next week, then I am not going to be performing the role I was given and I just do not think it is helpful to anyone.

“At the end of the day, the things I control are the environment, the training, the way we play and, as I said last night, I am still very strong in my belief that we are not too far away.”

‘Only having six games wouldn’t sit right with me’

Jamie Redknapp on Sky Sports’ Premier League Show:

“It’s a bit crazy. He’s six games into his tenure. If it’s six months and they’re still performing like this and in a bad run, then I get it because that’s just the way football is. But six games doesn’t sit right with me.

“At the end of last season, Nottingham Forest were really struggling. They were in a great position to get top four, but they finished poorly and they’ve started poorly [this season].

“When you try and bring in a different philosophy with a different manager… whatever you think about Nuno, they won games 1-0 and were difficult to beat, they sat back and counter-attacked brilliantly with pace on the break, and Chris Wood was in a purple patch.

“This season, they are going to change and he will want to play a different style of football, and that will take time.

“Every day in training, different sessions, getting used to it and more forward-thinking. His philosophy is completely different to Nuno’s.

“You have to give the players time to adapt and definitely more than six games. That doesn’t make sense to me.”

The Nevada Supreme Court on Thursday unanimously rejected the NFL’s petition seeking a rehearing of an August decision that said former Raiders coach Jon Gruden could not be forced into league arbitration in his lawsuit alleging the league leaked damaging emails to the media before he resigned from the team in 2021.

All seven justices signed the order rejecting the league’s petition for a rehearing.

The last legal resort left for the NFL is an appeal for the U.S. Supreme Court, which sources with knowledge of the situation have told ESPN is likely. A league spokesperson declined to comment Thursday night.

In August, by a 5-2 ruling, Nevada’s high court did not determine whether the league had leaked Gruden’s emails. But a majority of justices found that the league’s decision to force his complaint into arbitration proceedings overseen by NFL commissioner Roger Goodell — the target of Gruden’s civil lawsuit — was “unconscionable.”

As a former employee, Gruden should not have been bound by the provision in the NFL constitution mandating arbitration for such complaints, the court ruled.

“By its own unambiguous language, the NFL Constitution no longer applies to Gruden,” the justices wrote. “If the NFL Constitution were to bind former employees, the Commissioner could essentially pick and choose which disputes to arbitrate.”

Gruden’s lawsuit alleges that Goodell and the league pressured the Raiders to fire Gruden by leaking emails containing racist, sexist and anti-gay comments sent by Gruden when he was an on-air analyst at ESPN.

Gruden resigned from the Raiders in November 2021. He was their coach when the team moved to Las Vegas from Oakland in 2020.

Gruden is seeking monetary damages, alleging that selective disclosure of the emails and their publication by The Wall Street Journal and The New York Times ruined his career and endorsement contracts.

Gruden’s attorney, Adam Hosmer-Henner, said Thursday that “we’re obviously pleased with the decision.” Gruden was unavailable for comment.

In August, after the Nevada Supreme Court decision, Gruden told ESPN that the selectively leaked emails, which contained anti-gay and racist remarks about Goodell and other league figures, disrupted the Raiders’ 2021 season, forcing owner Mark Davis to seek the coach’s resignation when the team was 3-1.

“I’m looking forward to having the truth come out and I want to make sure what happened to me doesn’t happen to anyone else,” Gruden told ESPN. “What happened wasn’t right, and I’m glad the court didn’t let the NFL cover it up.”

Tarleton State coach Billy Gillispie has been placed on temporary administrative leave as the university investigates an anonymous complaint, the school announced Friday.

No details of the nature of the complaint were immediately available, and there is no timeline on how long the investigation may take. Associate head coach Glynn Cyprien has taken over as acting head coach.

The school said it would not comment further.

Gillispie faced allegations of player mistreatment while he was the coach at Texas Tech in 2011 and 2012. He resigned as the Red Raiders coach — citing health concerns — in September 2012. The resignation came about a month after the school said it was investigating the claims, which stemmed from Texas Tech players expressing concerns about the way they were being treated by Gillispie.

Questions about Gillispie’s coaching style also were made during his time at Kentucky, including the treatment of players and staff in the athletic department. He was fired in 2009, with Kentucky athletic director saying Gillispie “wasn’t the right fit for the program.” A $3 million settlement over his firing was reached later that year.

Gillispie, 65, is in his sixth season at Tarleton State, the longest of his five Division I head coaching stints, which also include time at UTEP and Texas A&M.

He is 78-74 at Tarleton State, including a 25-10 record in 2023-24 and a CIT appearance. He has gone 226-182 in 13 seasons as a head coach with four NCAA tournament appearances.

Cyprien is a longtime college assistant with stops that include UNLV, Oklahoma State, Arkansas, Kentucky, Memphis and Texas Tech.