1) The benching of Miami quarterback Tyler Van Dyke—and this is nothing against the kid, who’s still just a redshirt sophomore—is just another example of people jumping the gun on hyping the draft stock of players at that position. It happened last year with former Oklahoma and now South Carolina QB Spencer Rattler, who was projected by some as a first-round pick, only to be benched in favor of true freshman Caleb Williams before transferring. And it may be happening again with the Hurricanes, who got a spark from former top-50 recruit Jake Garcia late in The U’s ugly loss to Middle Tennessee. The lesson here is simply that it takes a lot more than a few flashes as a young player to make a first-round quarterback.
2) The coach who led Kansas State’s upset win over Oklahoma, Chris Klieman, won four FCS national titles in five years at North Dakota State, and he’s had the Wildcats at a pretty solid level since arriving there in 2019 (K-State isn’t the easiest place to recruit to or win, which is why Bill Snyder was considered such a magician over the years). Klieman is 54, so maybe the ship has sailed on him as an NFL coach. But I’d be fascinated to see how someone like him would translate, jumping straight to the pros. Why? Because he’s had to win without having the advantages that a blueblood at that level would have. I’ve heard both Cincinnati’s Luke Fickell and Iowa State’s Matt Campbell compared to former Celtics coach Brad Stevens, as potential pro coaches, for that reason. Klieman, I think, fits into that box, too.
3) You don’t need to hear me go on about Ohio State’s offensive talent any more than I already have, but there was something from the Buckeyes’ blowout of Wisconsin that I wanted to point out: Badgers sophomore RB Braelon Allen is going to be a really interesting NFL prospect. He’s got a monstrous build, at 6’2″ and 238 pounds, and he doesn’t turn 19 until January (meaning he’ll be 20 when he’s draft-eligible). The difference in Wisconsin when he was in the game, vs. when he wasn’t, was very, very noticeable. He churned out yards when there wasn’t much there, and looked athletic (even as a QB at times out of the wildcat) against a speedy Buckeye defense.
4) Clemson DT Bryan Bresee, who’s got a long NFL career in front of him, showed a lot of strength in playing Saturday in the wake of his 15-year-old sister’s passing. Check out our own Pat Forde’s column on Bresee from the ground in North Carolina, after the Tigers’ overtime win over ACC rival Wake Forest.
5) Jordan Addison, last year’s Biletnikoff Award winner, took a sizable risk in transferring to USC after starring at Pitt the last two years, but it’s working out fine for him. He has 21 catches for 337 yards and six touchdowns through four games. And going into the 2023 NFL draft, he’ll have the Lincoln Riley stamp on him, having now starred in the coach’s offense, following in a pretty good line of skill-position players (CeeDee Lamb, Hollywood Brown, Mark Andrews, Joe Mixon) Riley has helped develop for the pros.
6) Fun story here from my buddies Forde and Ross Dellenger on the Texas A&M–Arkansas doink. And for those who don’t remember, the proposal to raise the uprights in the NFL was dubbed the “Tucker Rule”—because Bill Belichick was adamant that a field goal attempt by Ravens kicker Justin Tucker in 2012 (during the ref lockout, no less) that was called good was actually wide right. Belichick didn’t win his argument that night, but he did get taller uprights in time for the ’14 season. And those uprights, higher than the college ones, may have pretty seriously impacted this year’s SEC West race.
BEST OF THE NFL INTERNET
I’m not 100% sure of many things. I’m 100% Steve Smith will never stop being Steve Smith.
Good advice from the Cleveland faithful.
Hard not to love Teddy Bridgewater.
Love it.
This isn’t from this week, but I can’t not share it. Benny Hill makes everything hilarious.
Fair point from Michael Thomas!
So I’m gonna get to this now …
… I don’t think the Brett Favre story—which is terrible—has any connection whatsoever to the Ime Udoka story. The Favre story involves a retired athlete, and while it has a larger impact on the world beyond sports, specifically on the impoverished in Mississippi (again, it’s terrible), it doesn’t really change anything in the sports world in the here and now. The Udoka story, conversely, directly affects a historic franchise that was in the NBA Finals in June, plays in a big market, and has young superstars. It could, in fact, wind up playing a role in who wins the Eastern Conference and, ultimately, the NBA title. Which is why, on top of the fact that sex is involved (and sex sells), this was a big story covered intensely by the sports media at the end of last week.
He was in …
… And Ocho thinks so too.
Pretty much.
Love Mac Jones’ fight.
Master with the best—no doubt about it—analogy for the coaching booth. And legend has it that Ken Dorsey gets pretty intense playing pickup hoops, too.
I believe that’s safeties coach Jim Salgado. He looks concerned.
McDaniel’s definitely bringing the thunder.
Better hit … this one or …
This one?
Dom knows he can’t trust that stadium (in general).
Terrifying.
Interesting.
That tweet really explains the last 21 months in Jacksonville.
Definitely the right to play off the Butt Punt.
Perfect tweets to cap the weekend.
WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW
The NFL is going overseas next week! So that means you’ll get an NFL game at 9:30 a.m. on Sunday, with the Vikings and Saints set to clash at Tottenham, and nearly 15 hours of football over the course of the day.
And here’s what may interest only me (so maybe you don’t need to know it): This year was ex-NFL exec Mark Waller’s initial target to have a team permanently in London. The idea was, when the league started playing regular season games in the UK, that it would take roughly 15 years to build the infrastructure and fan base to support a team over there. That was in 2007, and here we are in 2022.
The NFL will tell you now that the infrastructure (that Tottenham stadium was built to football specifications, and the NFL invested in it) and fan base is—as they expected—there. So why isn’t a team there, too? Somewhere along the line, as the reality of having a team in Europe sunk in, as did the reality of the logistics, and maybe air travel didn’t advance the way the league hoped it might; the NFL decided it preferred moonlighting to staying. It will be interesting to see when that changes.
More NFL coverage:
• The Jaguars Could Be for Real
• The 0–3 Raiders Might Be Wondering What Might Have Been
• MMQB Awards for Week 3’s Best Performances
