Connect with us

Published

on

While much of the considerable attention paid to the NFL draft focuses on the first round and the top prospects, there is plenty of talent available in the later rounds. It’s just a matter of finding it.

A team’s draft class can be made by landing a diamond in the rough, a player who, for one reason or another, slips through the cracks for the first few rounds but ends up being a major contributor in the NFL. Sometimes it’s the result of shrewd scouting, sometimes it’s taking a chance on a player coming off an injury, sometimes it’s dumb luck. Hitting it big with a top-10 pick is all well and good, but who doesn’t love a bargain?

We’re here to salute the best late-round NFL draft finds from every Power 5 school. Our parameters are players who were chosen in Rounds 4-7 (Day 3 of the current draft format) since 1994, when the draft went to seven rounds. We asked our college football reporters to pick the best player, based on their NFL career, who fits that criteria from each Power 5 school. Here’s who they came up with.

Jump to a conference:
ACC | Big 12 | Big Ten
Pac-12 | SEC

ACC

Boston College

Matt Hasselbeck, QB (1998, sixth round, 187th overall, Green Bay)

At 6-foot-4 with a strong arm, it’s easy to see how Hasselbeck might have been considered a serious prospect, but his relatively lackluster numbers at BC — 22 career TD passes, 26 interceptions — didn’t exactly scream superstar. So he landed with Green Bay, where he backed up Brett Favre before following coach Mike Holmgren to Seattle. He spent a decade as the Seahawks’ starter, made three Pro Bowls, and led the team to a 13-3 record and a Super Bowl appearance in 2005. He retired in 2015 with 212 career TD passes. — David Hale

Clemson

Grady Jarrett, DT (2015, fifth round, 137th overall, Atlanta)

Jarrett was overlooked coming out of high school. He was a two-star prospect who was supposedly undersized for an interior lineman, but nobody worked harder. Jarrett became a star at Clemson, but he was usually overshadowed by teammate Vic Beasley, who would be selected in the first round in 2015. Jarrett slid to the fifth round, and both players ended up with the Falcons. Beasley had some solid years in Atlanta, but it was Jarrett who became a Pro Bowler and one of the top defensive tackles in the NFL, with 112 career starts, 32.5 sacks and 420 tackles to date. — Hale

Duke

Patrick Mannelly, long snapper (1998, sixth round, 189th overall, Chicago)

This honor will almost certainly belong to Michael Carter II soon. The former Duke safety was a fifth-round pick by the Jets in 2021, and he has already started 13 games with two picks and two fumble recoveries. But Carter is still at the outset of his career, and it’s impossible to overlook the 16 years Mannelly spent in the NFL after being taken by the Bears in the sixth round in 1998. Hey, long snappers don’t get much attention until they mess up, but there’s no substitute for a good one, and Mannelly stayed in the league longer than any other Duke alum except Sonny Jorgensen. — Hale

Florida State

Vince Williams, LB (2013, sixth round, 206th overall, Pittsburgh)

There aren’t many former Seminoles who truly fell below the radar when it came to NFL scouts, but Williams certainly wasn’t a hot name in the 2013 draft. He had been a leader and critical figure during the difficult transition from the Bobby Bowden era to the Jimbo Fisher era, and his work in the middle of the defense helped set the stage for 2013’s national title. Vince’s younger brother, Karlos, actually seemed to be the more prominent prospect. But Vince Williams landed in the perfect spot. Drafted by the Steelers, he started 11 games as a rookie and remains one of Pittsburgh’s defensive mainstays. — Hale

Georgia Tech

Dawan Landry, DB (2006, fifth round, 146th overall, Baltimore)

Georgia Tech actually has a lot of strong contenders for the honor of best late-round pick, from Dorsey Levens (fifth round in 1995) to Vance Walker (seventh round in 2006) to Darren Waller (sixth round in 2014) to Harrison Butker (seventh round in 2017). But Landry was the best of the bunch, spending nine years as a starter for the Ravens, Jaguars and Jets. He earned All-Pro honors as a rookie in 2006, when he picked off five passes, and finished his NFL career in 2014 with 13 career interceptions and three touchdowns. — Hale

Louisville

William Gay, CB (2007, fifth round, 170th overall, Pittsburgh)

Gay was a pivotal player for the 2006 Orange Bowl champion Louisville Cardinals, but despite running a strong 4.48 40 in the combine, he fell to the fifth round of the 2007 draft, landing with the Steelers, who have a knack for finding late-round talent. Gay went on to play 10 seasons with Pittsburgh (plus one year with Arizona in between), finishing with 13 career interceptions and helping the Steelers win Super Bowl XLIII. — Hale

Miami

Chris Myers, OL (2005, sixth round, 200th overall, Denver)

No one goes to Miami to fly beneath the radar — at least, not in the early 2000s — so there aren’t many former Hurricanes who can claim the honor of being massively overlooked in the draft. Still, Myers didn’t draw much attention entering the 2005 draft after playing tackle as a senior. The Broncos drafted him and moved him to guard, but it wasn’t until he shifted to center and joined the Houston Texans that Myers found his niche. He started every game from 2007 through 2014, making two Pro Bowls, before retiring following his 10th NFL season. — Hale

NC State

J.R. Sweezy, OL (2012, seventh round, 225th pick, Seattle)

At NC State, Sweezy played on the defensive line and was considered a minor prospect. But Seahawks offensive line coach Tom Cable saw something in him and set up a private workout to test his footwork and strength to see if Sweezy might be able to make the change. It was a brilliant gamble. Seattle took Sweezy in the seventh round, but by the end of his rookie season, he was in the Seahawks’ starting lineup at guard. He was a full-time starter the next two seasons in Seattle, when the Seahawks went to the Super Bowl both years. He played four more seasons after that with Tampa Bay, Arizona and the Seahawks, starting 70 games before retiring in 2022. — Hale

North Carolina

Gerald Sensabaugh, DB (2005, fifth round, 157th overall, Jacksonville)

Sensabaugh’s college career began at East Tennessee State, where he was a three-year starter before transferring to North Carolina. As a senior with the Tar Heels, he racked up 78 tackles and three sacks. The Jaguars selected him in the fifth round, and he spent his first three seasons in Jacksonville as a part-time starter before blossoming in 2008 with 70 tackles and four interceptions. That landed him a free-agent deal with Dallas, where he spent the next four seasons as a regular contributor. He finished his career with 14 picks. — Hale

Pittsburgh

Damar Hamlin, S (2021, sixth round, 212th pick, Buffalo)

A four-year starter at Pitt, Hamlin was regularly among the ACC’s top defensive backs, but he largely flew beneath the radar among NFL scouts. The Bills selected him in the sixth round, and he largely served as a backup during his rookie season in 2021. By 2022, however, Hamlin had emerged as a burgeoning star, starting 13 games with six tackles for loss and 93 total tackles. Hamlin drew national attention when he collapsed on the field in December after a hit and nearly died. His inspirational story galvanized fans across the world, and he said Tuesday that he has been fully cleared to return to playing football. — Hale

Syracuse

Zaire Franklin, LB (2018, seventh round, 235th pick, Indianapolis)

Franklin never wowed the scouts in college. He was perhaps a step too slow, an inch too short. But based on what he did on the field, there was no doubt the guy could play. He topped 80 tackles in 2015, 2016 and 2017, and he finished his college career with 31.5 TFLs. Indianapolis saw him as a worthy project, and while his first three seasons in the NFL amounted to just four starts, the bet paid off big in 2021 when Franklin racked up 40 tackles in 11 starts. Last season, he was the full-time starter and finished fourth in the league with 167 total tackles. — Hale

Virginia

Jason Snelling, RB (2007, seventh round, 244th pick, Atlanta)

OK, so Virginia doesn’t exactly have a rich history of draft-day steals, but Snelling did carve out a solid NFL career despite being among the last players selected in 2007. Despite the fullback position waning in value at the time, Snelling was an impactful runner at Virginia before being drafted by Atlanta, where he would spend his entire seven-year NFL career. Snelling was a versatile back whose best season came in 2009, when he ran for 613 yards and caught 30 passes for 259 yards, scoring five touchdowns. He finished his career with 1,420 rushing yards and 1,249 receiving yards. — Hale

Virginia Tech

Kam Chancellor, S (2010, fifth round, 133rd pick, Seattle)

At Virginia Tech, Chancellor flirted with playing both quarterback and corner before finding a home at rover, where he excelled in Bud Foster’s aggressive scheme. Still, it wasn’t enough to earn much love from draft experts. Chancellor fell to the fifth round, but he found the perfect fit in Seattle, which had also just drafted safety Earl Thomas. The duo would help establish the Legion of Boom, one of the best defenses in the NFL. Chancellor played 109 regular-season games and 14 more in the playoffs, picking off 15 passes, scoring twice and racking up more than 700 career tackles. — Hale

Wake Forest

Desmond Clark, TE (1999, sixth round, 179th pick, Denver)

Clark was 6-3 and 230 pounds in college, but he was still primarily used at wideout, where, not surprisingly, he excelled in the red zone, catching eight TDs out of 59 grabs his senior year. Still, his size made him difficult to peg as a pro, and he slipped to the sixth round before Denver rolled the dice. In the NFL, he found a home at tight end, and — again, not surprisingly — he blossomed as a red zone target. He caught six touchdowns in 2001 — his final year in Denver — went to Miami for a year, then spent the final eight years of his 12-year career with the Bears. In all, he had 323 catches for 3,591 yards and 27 touchdowns. — Hale


Big 12

Baylor

Andrew Billings, DT (2016, fourth round, 122nd overall, Cincinnati)

Billings shared the 2015 Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year award with end Emmanuel Ogbah and was named the league’s defensive lineman of the year. He was projected as a first-round pick after a strong combine performance but inexplicably fell to the fourth, where he was selected by the Bengals, with coach Marvin Lewis saying some teams were concerned about his height (6-1, at 311 pounds). He missed his rookie year with a knee injury and opted out of the 2020 season, but he has started 51 games over his other five NFL seasons. A valued run-stopper, Billings signed with the Chicago Bears in March. — Dave Wilson

BYU

Brett Keisel, DE (2002, seventh round, 242nd overall, Pittsburgh)

Keisel wasn’t even the most sought-after BYU defensive end in his draft — those honors went to Ryan Denney — but his size and stats were decent enough for the Steelers to take a flier on him. After a few years as a special teamer, he found his way into the lineup by 2006, and he was in the Pro Bowl by 2010. — Bill Connelly

Cincinnati

Jason Kelce, C (2011, sixth round, 191st overall, Philadelphia)

A former walk-on running back, Kelce weighed in at just 280 pounds at the combine — far from NFL size — but he ran a 4.89 in the 40, and the Eagles took a chance on him. Five first-team All-Pro seasons and a Super Bowl later, it seems to have worked out pretty well for everyone involved. — Connelly

Houston

Elandon Roberts, LB (2016, sixth round, 214th overall, New England)

Case Keenum has had a long NFL career, but he was undrafted, so we can’t use him. Roberts, a 5-11, 234-pound inside linebacker, started his career at Morgan State, transferred to Houston and led the country in solo tackles in 2015 with 88 (of his 142 total tackles). He was a late draft find by the Patriots, starting five games his rookie season, then starting 28 more over the next three seasons in New England at multiple linebacker positions. He even filled in at fullback in 2019, catching a 38-yard touchdown pass from Tom Brady against Miami. He then signed with the Dolphins and was a starter the past three seasons at linebacker. He signed a two-year contract with the Pittsburgh Steelers last month. — Wilson

Iowa State

Ahtyba Rubin, NT (2008, sixth round, 190th overall, Cleveland)

At 6-2, 315 pounds, Rubin played offensive line his sophomore year in junior college, then flipped to defensive line at Iowa State. He emerged as an NFL prospect, arrived in Cleveland as a sixth-round pick and broke through as a starter after Shaun Rogers got injured. He ended up starting 107 games in 11 years in the NFL, mostly with the Browns, until starting for two seasons in 2015 and ’16 with Seattle, finishing with 428 tackles and 15 sacks. — Wilson

Kansas

Justin Hartwig, C (2002, sixth round, 187th overall, Tennessee)

Hartwig was the prototypical “standout on a bad offense” for much of his time at KU, earning all-conference votes for teams that never topped 70th in scoring offense. He was a starter for six of his eight NFL seasons, starting out with Tennessee and eventually winning a Super Bowl with Pittsburgh. — Connelly

Kansas State

Darren Sproles, RB (2005, fourth round, 130th overall, San Diego)

Sproles rushed for 4,769 yards and 44 touchdowns during three standout seasons in Manhattan. He was an absolute star. What was the holdup? Size, of course: He measured 5-foot-6, 187 pounds. Just too small for the pros, right? Wrong. He produced 8,392 yards from scrimmage with nine career return touchdowns over a 15-year career. — Connelly

Oklahoma

Kelly Gregg, NT (1999, sixth round, 173rd overall, Cincinnati)

At 6-foot, 320-pounds, Gregg was a force at Oklahoma in his senior year with 117 tackles and 23 tackles for loss, still an OU record. But the NFL wasn’t impressed with his measurables. He was drafted by Cincinnati but waived, then spent time on the Bengals’ practice squad, signed with Philly and was waived, signed to Baltimore’s practice squad and played in NFL Europe. He became the Ravens’ starting nose tackle after Tony Siragusa left and ended up starting for eight years for Baltimore and one with Kansas City, retiring in 2011. Pro Football Focus named him to its All-Pro second team in 2009. — Wilson

Oklahoma State

Antonio Smith, DE (2004, fifth round, 135th overall, Arizona)

A junior college transfer who battled injuries throughout his college career, Smith didn’t enjoy massive college production and wasn’t at full speed during the draft workout process. His health mostly held up in the pros, though: He recorded 47.5 sacks over 13 seasons and made a Pro Bowl appearance in 2011 with the Texans. — Connelly

TCU

Marcus Cannon, OT (2011, fifth round, 138th overall, New England)

Cannon was a highly regarded tackle prospect who started three years at TCU and didn’t give up a sack his senior season at left tackle blocking for Andy Dalton. The 6-5, 358-pounder was shocked to test positive for non-Hodgkin lymphoma in a physical before the 2011 combine. New England drafted him in the fifth round and placed him on the injured list while he went through chemotherapy. Cannon has started 73 games and appeared in 120 total, winning three Super Bowls with the great Patriots teams from 2011 to 2019 and being named second-team All-Pro in 2016. He did not play in 2020 during the pandemic, started four games for the Texans in 2021, then started two games at right tackle last year after returning to New England. — Wilson

Texas

Brian Robison, DE (2007, fourth round, 102nd overall, Minnesota)

Robison started 37 games at Texas, including on the Longhorns’ national title team in 2005, and was also a star in the shot put, winning a Big 12 title. At 6-3, 260, he ran a 4.74 at the combine and was drafted to back up Jared Allen. But he ended up starting five games his rookie year and made the NFL’s all-rookie team. Robison became a fan favorite in Minnesota, starting 103 games and playing in 170. He racked up 60 sacks, including 25.5 in his first three years as a full-time starter, over 11 years with the Vikings. — Wilson

Texas Tech

Zach Thomas, LB (1996, fifth round, 154th overall, Miami)

Thomas, the Red Raiders’ best pro before Patrick Mahomes, was the steal of the 1996 draft. Despite a stellar career at Texas Tech, where he was a first-team All-American his senior year, NFL scouts weren’t in on Thomas, with the consensus being he was too small (5-11, 233 pounds), too slow and not athletic enough (he had a 4.85 40 and 28.5-inch vertical jump at the combine). But he quickly shot up the Dolphins depth chart and started as a rookie from Week 1. He had at least 100 tackles each of the first 11 years of his NFL career, finishing with 1,734, and was a five-time first-team All-Pro. — Wilson

UCF

Brandon Marshall, WR (2006, fourth round, 119th overall, Denver)

Marshall was a better athlete than receiver for much of his college career, but after accumulating 38 catches in three seasons, he erupted for 1,195 yards as a senior. Combined with his 6-4, 229-pound measurements and 4.53 speed, he landed a spot on the Broncos. From 2007 to ’15, he ripped off a run of eight 1,000-yard seasons in nine years. — Connelly

West Virginia

Marc Bulger, QB (2000, sixth round, 168th overall, New Orleans)

Bulger threw for 6,072 yards and 45 touchdowns during two standout years at West Virginia, but he battled injuries during his senior season, then measured in at only 6-1, 208 pounds at the combine. The Saints drafted him, but his first start came with the Rams, his third team, in 2002. He ended up throwing for 22,814 yards over eight NFL seasons. — Connelly


Big Ten

Illinois

David Diehl, OL (2003, fifth round, 160th overall, New York Giants)

Diehl was a second-team All-Big Ten selection as a senior in 2002. A year before, he was part of an Illinois team that won the Big Ten. After the Giants took him in the fifth round, he quickly became a stalwart on an offensive line that helped Eli Manning, Tom Coughlin & Co. win a pair of Super Bowls. Diehl, a second-team All-Pro selection in 2008, started 156 of the 160 games he played in. — Blake Baumgartner

Indiana

Chris Liwienski, OL (1998, seventh round, 207th overall, Detroit)

Liwienski was a durable offensive tackle for the Hoosiers throughout his career. He was taken by the Lions in the 1998 draft and eventually played for the Vikings, Cardinals, Dolphins and Jaguars in a 10-year career. — Tom VanHaaren

Iowa

George Kittle, TE (2017, fifth round, 146th overall, San Francisco)

Kittle battled for extended playing time throughout his tenure in Iowa City, thanks to a deep tight end room. In his final two seasons as a Hawkeye (2015 and ’16), he tallied 42 catches for 604 yards and 10 touchdowns. The 49ers were fortunate enough to jump on him in the fifth round of the 2017 draft, and he has rewarded them handsomely. A four-time Pro Bowler and an All-Pro selection in 2019, Kittle has 395 receptions for 5,254 yards and 31 touchdowns in his career. — Baumgartner

Maryland

Stefon Diggs, WR (2015, fifth round, 146th overall, Minnesota)

In three seasons playing for the Terrapins, Diggs accumulated 2,277 yards and 14 touchdowns. He was a second-team All-Big Ten selection for the 2014 season after leading the team in receptions and receiving touchdowns. Since being drafted by the Vikings in 2015, Diggs has been an All-Pro twice, a three-time Pro Bowler and a big part of the Buffalo Bills offense. — VanHaaren

Michigan State

Kirk Cousins, QB (2012, fourth round, 102nd overall, Washington)

Cousins led the Spartans to a share of the Big Ten title in 2010 and an appearance in the inaugural Big Ten championship game in 2011, and left East Lansing as one of the better quarterbacks in program history (9,131 passing yards, 66 TDs). The second quarterback taken by Washington in 2012 behind Robert Griffin III in the first round, Cousins — a four-time Pro Bowler — established himself as a top-level NFL quarterback with both Washington (2012-17) and the Vikings (2018-present), with 37,140 passing yards and 252 touchdown passes in his career. — Baumgartner

Michigan

Tom Brady, QB (2000, sixth round, 199th overall, New England)

The patron saint of late-round draft finds. After splitting playing time with Drew Henson, Brady eventually won out and started during the 1998 and 1999 seasons, leading the Wolverines to a Big Ten title in 1998. In those two seasons, he combined for 30 touchdowns and 16 interceptions. After a famously unimpressive combine, Brady certainly impressed with the Patriots and Buccaneers, retiring with seven Super Bowl rings and a rewritten NFL record book. — Baumgartner

Minnesota

Marion Barber, RB (2005, fourth round, 109th overall, Dallas)

Barber ranks No. 10 all time at Minnesota for single-season rushing yards, No. 2 for rushing touchdowns in a season, No. 5 in career rushing yards and No. 2 in career rushing touchdowns. He was taken in the fourth round by the Cowboys and earned the nickname Marion the Barbarian for his physical running style. He had more than 50 rushing touchdowns in his six-year career with the Cowboys and Bears. — VanHaaren

Nebraska

Rex Burkhead, RB (2013, sixth round, 190th overall, Cincinnati)

Burkhead was one of six freshmen to see playing time during the 2009 season at Nebraska. He had 346 yards and three touchdowns in his first season and followed that up with 951 yards and seven touchdowns as a sophomore. He was selected by Cincinnati in the 2013 draft and eventually played for the Patriots and Texans as well. He won a Super Bowl with the Patriots and finished his career with 1,908 yards and 17 touchdowns. — VanHaaren

Northwestern

Zach Strief, OL (2006, seventh round, 210th overall, New Orleans)

Strief was a right tackle at Northwestern and was a two-time All-Big Ten player for the Wildcats. He was selected by the Saints in the seventh round and went on to win a Super Bowl and be named a first-team All-Pro player in 2013 over 12 seasons in New Orleans. — VanHaaren

Ohio State

Corey Linsley, OL (2014, fifth round, 161st overall, Green Bay)

Linsley started as the Buckeyes’ center during his final two seasons (2012 and ’13) after making the move over from right guard. The Packers tabbed him with a fifth-round selection, and his time both in Green Bay and with the Chargers, whom he signed with as a free agent in 2021, has been fruitful. In his last year in Green Bay, Linsley was a first-team All-Pro before being named a second-team All-Pro during his first year in Los Angeles in 2021. — Baumgartner

Penn State

Adrian Amos, S (2015, fifth round, 142nd overall, Chicago)

Amos was a three-year starter during his time in Happy Valley, finishing with a career-high three interceptions as a senior in 2014. He recorded at least 42 tackles in each of his final three seasons at Penn State. The Bears selected him in the fifth round in 2015, and he has carved out a nice career (636 total tackles, 6 sacks, 48 passes defended and 10 interceptions) through eight seasons with the Bears (2015-18) and Packers (2019-22). — Baumgartner

Purdue

Rob Ninkovich, LB/DE (2006, fifth round, 135th overall, New Orleans)

Ninkovich won a national championship at Joliet Junior College before transferring to Purdue. He had 8 sacks, 2 interceptions and 2 forced fumbles his senior season and was taken by the Saints in the 2006 draft. He would play for three teams in the NFL and won two Super Bowls with the New England Patriots. — VanHaaren

Rutgers

Isiah Pacheco, RB (2022, seventh round, 251st overall, Kansas City)

Pacheco started 12 games in his final season at Rutgers and accumulated 2,442 yards and 18 touchdowns in his four-year career. He was selected by the Chiefs in the seventh round and became an impact player on Kansas City’s Super Bowl-winning offense. Pacheco ran for 830 yards and five touchdowns during the regular season and had 197 yards and one touchdown during the playoffs. — VanHaaren

Wisconsin

Owen Daniels, TE (2006, fourth round, 98th pick, Houston)

Daniels transitioned from quarterback to tight end after a pair of ACL tears — one as a senior in high school and one during his redshirt sophomore year at Wisconsin. He ended up becoming a productive player, hauling in 62 passes for 852 yards and eight touchdowns over his final three years in Madison. Drafted by Houston in 2006, he recorded 479 catches for 5,661 receiving yards and 36 touchdowns during a 10-year career that saw him play for the Texans, Ravens and Broncos, ending his career with a victory in Super Bowl 50. — Baumgartner


Pac-12

Arizona State

Lawrence Guy, DT (2011, seventh round, 233rd overall, Green Bay)

Guy has bounced around the league a bit since coming into it in 2011, but over the course of his career, he’s started 110 games, accounting for 255 solo tackles, 17 sacks and 38 tackles for loss. Since 2017, Guy has been a fixture of the Patriots’ defensive line and helped New England on its way to its Super Bowl win in 2018. Not bad for a seventh-round pick. — Paolo Uggetti

Arizona

Nick Folk, K (2007, sixth round, 178th overall, Dallas)

Folk, who made 63% of his field goal attempts at Arizona, was a sixth-round gem for not just the team that drafted him (the Cowboys, for whom he was selected to the Pro Bowl in his rookie year) but also the Jets (he’s the team’s all-time leading scorer) and, most recently, the Patriots, for whom he had a streak of 64 straight field goals from inside 50 yards. In 2021, Folk was the NFL’s leading scorer as well. — Uggetti

California

Marvin Jones, WR (2012, fifth round, 166th overall, Cincinnati)

After a solid, if unspectacular, four-year career in Berkeley, Jones’ modest production (156 catches in four seasons) was the likely reason he wasn’t drafted earlier. Since entering the NFL, he has been one of the league’s most consistent receivers with more than 500 yards receiving in each of the past eight seasons. — Kyle Bonagura

Colorado

David Bakhtiari, OT (2013, fourth round, 109th overall, Green Bay)

After a stout three-year career at struggling Colorado, Bakhtiari went on to find the perfect NFL home in Green Bay. The California native immediately became a staple of the Packers’ offensive line on his way to three Pro Bowl selections and two first-team All-Pro selections. Bakhtiari started every game at left tackle during his rookie season, becoming the first rookie to do so in Green Bay since 1978 and the only NFL rookie to start every game that season at left tackle. — Uggetti

Oregon

Terrance Mitchell, CB (2014, seventh round, 254th overall, Dallas)

Before declaring for the draft, Mitchell received an unfavorable evaluation from the NFL, so he knew that being an early pick after starting 38 games at Oregon was unlikely. Still, he bet on himself, and nearly 10 years later, he’s still collecting an NFL paycheck. — Bonagura

Oregon State

T.J. Houshmandzadeh, WR (2001, seventh round, 204th overall, Cincinnati)

That Houshmandzadeh got drafted so late wasn’t a surprise considering he started just one season at Oregon State, where he was overshadowed by Chad Johnson. But he went on to have a standout 10-year career, which included a Pro Bowl appearance in 2007, when he tied for the league lead in receptions. — Bonagura

Stanford

Richard Sherman, CB (2011, fifth round, 154th overall, Seattle)

Sherman’s pre-draft evaluations were all over the board, likely due to the fact he switched from receiver to corner midway through his college career. In the NFL, he blossomed into one of the best corners in league history, earning All-Pro honors five times in an 11-year career. — Bonagura

UCLA

Matthew Slater, WR (2008, fifth round, 153rd overall, New England)

Not many NFL players can have a 15-year career, tally 10 Pro Bowl nods, two All-Pro selections and three Super Bowls. That’s exactly what Slater has done. After starting off at UCLA as a wide receiver, Slater switched to defensive back his second year at the school and proceeded to account for 34 total tackles and one sack. But after finding a niche and a role on Bill Belichick’s team, Slater thrived as a Swiss Army knife, excelling on special teams while contributing on both defense and offense at various points throughout his career. — Uggetti

USC

Everson Griffen, DE (2010, fourth round, 100th overall, Minnesota)

The Trojans have had their fair share of both elite top draft picks and late-round finds, but Griffen might be the best of the bunch. After spending three years at USC and totaling 84 tackles, 21 tackles for loss and 18 sacks as well as three forced fumbles, Griffen slipped to the fourth round, where the Vikings were happy to take him. Griffen has since outplayed his selection by a mile, amassing nearly 400 tackles, 86 sacks and 13 forced fumbles over the course of 12 seasons. — Uggetti

Utah

Mike Anderson, RB (2000, sixth round, 189th overall, Denver)

Anderson had a relatively short career in the NFL — seven seasons — but his introduction to the league was a memorable one. After being selected in the sixth round by Denver, Anderson rushed for 1,487 yards that year, averaging 5 yards per carry and adding 15 touchdowns. That was good enough to garner the NFL’s Offensive Rookie of the Year award. Anderson would cross the 1,000-yard threshold only once more in his career. — Uggetti

Washington

Dashon Goldson, S (2007, fourth round, 126th overall, San Francisco)

Goldson was an All-Pac-12 honorable mention selection in 2006 after a season hampered by a high ankle sprain. During a 10-year NFL career, he was a two-time Pro Bowler and a first-team All-Pro in 2012. — Bonagura

Washington State

Erik Coleman, S (2004, fifth round, 143rd overall, New York Jets)

Coleman was an integral part of WSU’s three straight 10-win seasons (2001 through 2003) before being drafted by the Jets. In New York, he quickly broke into the starting lineup and a nine-year career followed. — Bonagura


SEC

Alabama

Eddie Jackson, S (2017, fourth round, 112th overall pick, Chicago)

A broken leg limited Jackson’s senior season to eight games and meant he couldn’t participate in pre-draft drills. But the former cornerback-turned-safety had serious ball skills with six interceptions as a junior, two of which he took back for touchdowns. He made the Pro Bowl in 2018 and 2019 and was on track to return to the event last year before an injury ended his season. — Alex Scarborough

Arkansas

Peyton Hillis, RB (2008, seventh round, 227th overall pick, Denver)

Maybe he was a flash in the pan, a one-year wonder. But when you appear on the cover of EA Sports’ Madden video game, you’ve done something special. And when you’ve done it as a seventh-round pick who was once buried on the depth chart in college behind Darren McFadden and Felix Jones, you’ve done something downright incredible. — Scarborough

Auburn

Stephen Davis, RB (1996, fourth round, 102nd overall pick, Washington)

Davis wasn’t an every-down back in college, he ran more upright than some scouts might like and he ran a solid but not spectacular 4.54-second 40-yard dash. Maybe that’s why he fell out of the first three rounds. He started his NFL career at Washington as a fullback before finally getting the starting nod at running back during his fourth season. He led the league with 1,405 yards that season, and finished his career with 8,052 yards and three selections to the Pro Bowl. — Scarborough

Florida

Alex Brown, DE (2002, fourth round, 104th overall, Chicago)

Being the most prolific pass-rusher in Florida history (Brown holds the school record for the most sacks in a season with 13 and the most in a career with 33), you’d think Brown would at worst go in the first three rounds of the draft. But as Brown himself would say, it all worked out in the end, as he played nine years for the Chicago Bears and had 45.5 sacks, forced 17 fumbles — recovering 12 — and even finished sixth in the AP Defensive Player of the Year voting in 2005. — Harry Lyles Jr.

Georgia

Terrell Davis, RB (1995, sixth round, 196th overall, Denver)

Davis’ reputation for being injury-prone hurt his draft stock. After having 167 carries and 824 yards in his second year at Georgia (he transferred from Long Beach State), he had just 97 carries in his final year with 445 yards and six touchdowns. However, taking a chance on Davis paid off for the Broncos. He had three consecutive All-Pro seasons, including an NFL MVP season in 1998 when he rushed for 2,008 yards. Denver won a pair of Super Bowl titles along the way. — Lyles Jr.

Kentucky

Za’Darius Smith, OLB (2015, fourth round, 122nd overall, Baltimore)

It appears the big criticism of Smith heading into the draft was that he had no more room to grow. His draft profile on the NFL’s website said that his “body is likely maxed out” and that he scored low with production and athleticism. However, Smith was productive enough to make three Pro Bowls over the course of his NFL career, two with the Packers and one last season with the Vikings. — Lyles Jr.

LSU

Kyle Williams, DT (2006, fifth round, 134th overall pick, Buffalo)

Williams wasn’t among the first nine defensive tackles taken in the 2006 draft. He wasn’t even the first defensive tackle taken by the Buffalo Bills. Maybe it was because he was only 6-foot-1 that he slid in the draft, but he quickly rose on the depth chart in New York and became a starter as a rookie, racking up 53 tackles in 16 games. By the time he retired in 2018, he had been selected to six Pro Bowls and logged 610 career tackles and 48.5 sacks, all with the Bills. — Scarborough

Mississippi State

Dak Prescott, QB (2016, fourth round, 135th overall pick, Dallas)

If not for a DUI arrest 46 days before the draft — he ultimately was found not guilty — Prescott might never have fallen into the lap of the Cowboys. Arguably the greatest player in Mississippi State history, he stepped in for an injured Tony Romo and was an immediate success, winning NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year. A two-time Pro Bowler, he signed a four-year, $160 million contract in 2021. — Scarborough

Missouri

Justin Gage, WR (2003, fifth round, 143rd overall, Chicago)

There was no questioning Gage’s speed and agility going into the draft. He left Missouri as the school’s all-time leading receiver after moving from quarterback to wide receiver, and was a part of Missouri’s 2002 Elite Eight run in basketball. While drafted by the Bears, Gage had his most productive seasons with Tennessee, where he led the Titans in catches and yards in 2007. — Lyles Jr.

Ole Miss

DJ Jones, DT (2017, sixth round, 198th overall pick, San Francisco)

Jones was part of a deep rotation with the Rebels and never developed into a top-flight pass-rusher, so it’s no wonder he fell to the San Francisco 49ers in the sixth round. But each year he proved himself, especially in defending the run — to the point that when he hit free agency a year ago, he commanded a three-year, $30 million deal from the Broncos. — Scarborough

South Carolina

Captain Munnerlyn, CB (2009, seventh round, 216th overall, Carolina)

Because of durability concerns and coming out a year early, Munnerlyn didn’t go as high as he might have if he had stayed in school for another year. But it all worked out fine for the Panthers, as he set the franchise record for interception-return touchdowns with five. — Lyles Jr.

Tennessee

Malik Jackson, DT (2012, fifth round, 137th overall, Denver)

The 27th defensive lineman taken in the 2012 NFL draft, Malik Jackson started his college career at USC during the end of the Pete Carroll era before transferring to Tennessee during the early Derek Dooley years. While the Vols didn’t command much positive attention then, a 4.91-second 40-yard dash at the combine did for Jackson, and he ended up being drafted a round earlier than many projected. — Lyles Jr.

Texas A&M

Shane Lechler, P (2000, fifth round, 142nd overall pick, Oakland)

It’s tempting to claim Dante Hall here. He made two Pro Bowls and played in the NFL for nine seasons. Lechler, on the other hand, made seven Pro Bowls, was a nine-time All-Pro and a member of the NFL All-Decade Team for the 2000s and the 2010s. So don’t give me the whole “but he’s a punter” criticism. He had an incredible career. — Scarborough

Vanderbilt

Hunter Hillenmeyer, LB (2003, sixth round, 166th overall, Green Bay)

In 2002, Hillenmeyer finished second in the nation with 168 tackles for the Commodores. But critics said he lacked the top-end speed to be a productive player at the next level. However, he was productive enough to play eight seasons with the Bears, accumulating 300 solo tackles, 6 forced fumbles and 2 interceptions in 101 games over 69 starts. — Lyles Jr.

Continue Reading

Sports

The anticipated archvillains for every top 25 college football team

Published

on

By

The anticipated archvillains for every top 25 college football team

You know it as soon as the college football schedule drops. The game that’s circled, the player you love to hate, the rival coach who seems to especially delight in destroying your team’s season.

We’re getting into the dog days of summer, with the only relief being the crisp autumn days of the college football season are rapidly approaching. But that means the enemies are lining up at the gates.

Today, we’re doing recon on where each post-spring top 25 team stands and who stands in their way. These are each teams’ potential future villains, the coaches, players and teams that have the chance to make the whole season go south. — Dave Wilson

1. Penn State: Ryan Day

Penn State coach James Franklin and the Nittany Lions have been unable to get over the hump against Ohio State, especially since Day took over in Columbus. The Nittany Lions have dropped six straight to Day, culminating with last year’s defeat, as fourth-ranked Ohio State rallied to topple the third-ranked Nittany Lions in State College 20-13. This season, Day will have a new starting quarterback and inexperience on both sides of the ball coming off last year’s national championship. Penn State will counter with one of the most experienced teams in the country, headlined by veteran quarterback Drew Allar and running backs Nicholas Singleton and Kaytron Allen. Franklin even hired away Day’s defensive coordinator, Jim Knowles. The Nittany Lions travel to Columbus on Nov. 1 in a showdown that figures to carry major playoff implications. — Jake Trotter


Clemson’s arch enemy for this season is obvious: Sellers. The Tigers watched the South Carolina quarterback dodge defenders, break tackles and keep one play after another alive last season in a stunning Gamecocks win that nearly derailed Clemson’s season. Clemson will be looking for revenge, of course, but new defensive coordinator Tom Allen will be more focused on finding answers for the elusive Sellers. There are lofty expectations at Clemson this season, and the Tigers don’t necessarily need a win over South Carolina to achieve them, but nobody will sleep soundly in the state if the 2025 defense coughs up another win to its biggest rival. — David Hale


3. Texas: Oklahoma

In Week 1, the Longhorns get a rubber match against an Ohio State team that eliminated Texas from the playoff last season, but the results of this game leave a lot of runway for either team to get back into this year’s postseason. Yet, there is no bigger test every year for Texas than Oklahoma in Dallas. This one’s a bit of a mystery, with the Sooners bringing in new offensive coordinator Ben Arbuckle and quarterback John Mateer, who played high school football in the Dallas area, from Washington State. The new-look Sooners could either be a launching point or a big speed bump in the SEC schedule for a Longhorns team with national championship aspirations. — Dave Wilson


4. Georgia: Alabama

The last coach Georgia fans ever wanted to see on the other sideline is doing television. Nick Saban was 5-1 against Kirby Smart, but even with Saban in his first year of retirement last season, Alabama still beat Georgia in a wild 41-34 game in Tuscaloosa the final weekend of September. Georgia has lost nine of the past 10 games in the series and hasn’t beaten Alabama in the regular season since 2007, Saban’s first season in Tuscaloosa, when the Mark Richt-coached Bulldogs won 26-23 in overtime. Georgia has vaulted to elite status under Smart, but a second straight loss to DeBoer — especially with this year’s game being played in Athens — wouldn’t sit well with anybody in Athens. — Chris Low


5. Ohio State: Sherrone Moore

Michigan coach Sherrone Moore has become a problem for the Buckeyes. He might not wear the villain outfit quite as well as predecessor Jim Harbaugh did, but Moore’s rise in coaching — as Wolverines offensive line coach, offensive coordinator and now head coach — has coincided with Ohio State’s longest losing streak (four games) to its archrival since 1991. Moore served as acting head coach during Harbaugh’s Big Ten-imposed suspension in 2023, as Michigan punched its ticket to the Big Ten championship game. He then earned the permanent role and pulled off one of the more stunning upsets in the history of The Game in November in Columbus. The story of Moore’s coaching career at Michigan is really just beginning, but he has already demonstrated his ability to win the biggest games. — Adam Rittenberg


6. LSU: Daytime home games

LSU fans have been known to curse day games, especially in the sweltering September heat. It’s at night when Tiger Stadium (and typically LSU’s football team) shines. In 2025, the only SEC home game that LSU will definitely play at night is the league opener against Florida on Sept. 13. Home games against South Carolina and Texas A&M fall into the “flex” window, meaning they could start as early as 3:30 p.m. ET or as late as 8 p.m. ET. Since 2000, LSU is 112-15 in Saturday night home games at Tiger Stadium. Brian Kelly has faced just two nationally ranked SEC opponents in day games at Tiger Stadium and is 1-1. — Low


7. Notre Dame: Miami

No Notre Dame players were alive for the 1988 clash with Miami, and Fighting Irish coach Marcus Freeman was only 2 years old. But longtime Domers will always view the U as a true villain, and new Miami quarterback Carson Beck, the transfer from Georgia, sparks a range of reactions. Notre Dame scored a signature win in the CFP semifinal at the Sugar Bowl against a Georgia squad that had lost Beck to injury. When healthy, Beck is talented enough to villainize a Notre Dame defense replacing standouts Xavier Watts, Jack Kiser, Rylie Mills and others and appearing in its first game under new coordinator Chris Ash. Early season games are one of the only knocks against Freeman, who has dropped at least one September game in each of his three seasons as Irish coach. Notre Dame needs a strong start with its two most talented opponents — Miami and Texas A&M — leading off the schedule. — Rittenberg


8. Oregon: Ohio State

Is it too simple to say Ohio State? Maybe just Jeremiah Smith after he caught seven passes for 187 yards and two touchdowns in the Rose Bowl drubbing that the Buckeyes put on the Ducks to end their undefeated season? The good news for Dan Lanning & Co. (or bad depending on how you look at it) is that Oregon will not face Ohio State in the regular season this season and a rematch could only occur in the Big Ten title game or in the College Football Playoff. Penn State enters the fray this season as a much-hyped conference contender that the Ducks will have to face and yet it feels like Oregon and Ohio State are still the cream of the crop for the conference and are likely to continue seeing each other on the sport’s biggest stages. — Paolo Uggetti


9. Alabama: Vanderbilt

Remember when Saban won 100 straight games against unranked opponents, the longest such streak in the AP poll era? Now, all of a sudden, the Crimson Tide are 2-3 against their past five unranked foes, a stretch that started with a stunning 40-35 loss at Vanderbilt last season, which came only a week after DeBoer beat No. 2-ranked Georgia in his SEC opener as Alabama’s head coach. It was the first time Alabama had lost to Vanderbilt since 1984. Alabama will get its shot at payback this season on Oct. 4 when Vanderbilt visits Bryant-Denny Stadium. The loss to Vanderbilt a year ago ignited what was the first three-loss regular season for Alabama since 2010. Judging by some of the comments from Alabama players this offseason, nobody will need to remind the Tide when the Commodores are coming to town. — Low


10. BYU: Utah

It’s always Utah. The “Holy War” frequently manages to surprise us. A year ago, BYU was coming off a 5-7 season and Utah was considered the Big 12 favorite. This time, we have a full reversal: The Utes are the ones coming off a disappointing 5-7 campaign and the Cougars are ranked the highest of any Big 12 team on this list. (Granted, this ranking doesn’t account for the sudden uncertainty BYU is dealing with at the QB position.) We’ll already have a decent idea of BYU’s capabilities by the time Utah visits Provo in Week 8, but the Holy War could serve as a Big 12 title elimination game, and it will definitely impact the tenor of the season for both teams. It always does. — Connelly


Purdue didn’t generate many highlights in 2024, but it gave Illinois a major scare at Memorial Stadium, erasing a 24-3 deficit to force overtime before falling 50-49. Among the Boilermakers’ stars that day was tight end Max Klare, who recorded his first 100-yard receiving performance, finishing with 133 yards on six catches. Klare, like most of Purdue’s best players, transferred following the team’s coaching change. He landed at Ohio State, which will visit Memorial Stadium on Oct. 11. Illinois certainly will be aware of Klare but also must contain Heisman Trophy contender Jeremiah Smith and several other standout wide receivers, if it wants any chance at knocking off the defending national champions. — Rittenberg


12. Arizona State: Regression

Arizona State had one of the hottest teams in the country at the end of 2024 and returns far more of last year’s production than most. The Sun Devils appear primed for a run at a repeat Big 12 title. The problem: No one repeats in the Big 12. ASU’s biggest archrival could simply be regression to the mean. Among current members, the past six teams to reach the Big 12 championship before 2024 — 2020 Iowa State, 2021 Baylor, 2021 Oklahoma State, 2022 Kansas State, 2022 TCU and 2023 Oklahoma State — went a combined 28-9 in one-score finishes during their title runs. The following seasons, they went a combined 9-22 in such games. ASU went 6-2 in one-score finishes last season. It’s really hard to do that twice in a row, and in the Big 12 it appears impossible. — Connelly


13. South Carolina: LSU

South Carolina has its share of hated rivals — Georgia, Clemson, anyone else who plays “Sandstorm” during timeouts — but as the Gamecocks look to make a playoff run in 2025, enemy No. 1 might well be LSU. The Bayou Bengals have dominated South Carolina over the years, holding an 18-2 all-time record and winning eight straight matchups dating to 1995. More recently, LSU escaped Columbia with a 36-33 win last season in which the Gamecocks blew a four-point lead with less than 2 minutes to play. That loss ultimately cost South Carolina a playoff bid, but the Gamecocks feel certain they’re a far better team than they were then. If they can exact some revenge this time, it’ll be a big step toward reaching those lofty goals. — Hale


14. Iowa State: Kansas State

There’s no such thing as a Week 0 elimination game, but we get the closest thing to it in Dublin to start the 2025 season. The annual (for now) Farmageddon battle between ISU and Kansas State will take place in particularly green pastures this time, and it will pit two preseason top 20 teams with major Big 12 title hopes. Last year, the Cyclones’ defense played a perfect fourth quarter against the Wildcats, allowing just one yard in 12 snaps to win 29-21 and advance to the conference title game. This time, someone will be 0-1 in conference play before Week 1 even arrives. This is about as big a season opener as you could hope for. — Connelly


15. SMU: TCU

SMU was 3-17 against TCU coaches in the Dennis Franchione/Gary Patterson era, then Sonny Dykes won two straight against the Frogs in Dallas. Once he defected for the purple pastures of Fort Worth, he then won his first two against the Mustangs. Last year, however, SMU got its revenge in a 66-42 pummeling of TCU in a game in which Dykes was ejected. This year, the two teams, which have met 103 times, are scheduled for their last Iron Skillet game for the foreseeable future. This one will have some heat. — Wilson


16. Texas Tech: Baylor

Red Raiders coach Joey McGuire got his start in college coaching at Baylor under Matt Rhule and was promoted under Dave Aranda. He left in midseason in 2021 when he got the Tech job. While trying to right the ship in Lubbock, he’s gone 1-2 against Aranda, including a 59-35 home loss last season. Since Mike Leach was fired, the Red Raiders are 5-10 against the Bears, a team they’ll need to eclipse with their big ambitions to sit atop the Big 12. — Wilson


17. Indiana: UCLA

Coach Curt Cignetti and the Hoosiers did a great job of retaining players and coaches from a 2024 team that won a school-record 11 games and reached the CFP. But two who got away — a coach and a player — landed with UCLA, which visits Indiana on Oct. 25. New Bruins offensive coordinator Tino Sunseri coached Indiana quarterback Kurtis Rourke last year and had spent the previous three seasons on Cignetti’s staff at James Madison. He might know the secrets to attacking Indiana’s defense. Defensive back Jamier Johnson transferred from Indiana to UCLA after recording 35 tackles and an interception last fall for the Hoosiers. Johnson, who began his college career at Texas, will be part of a reshaped UCLA secondary. — Rittenberg


18. Kansas State: Iowa State

As mentioned above, it’s all about the season opener against Iowa State. It will be the first opportunity for quarterback Avery Johnson and K-State to prove that last year’s all-or-nothing offense has matured a bit. The Wildcats averaged 37.6 points in wins and only 15.8 in losses. They scored TDs on 75% of red zone drives in wins and 42% in losses. They committed more turnovers in the four losses (nine) than in the nine wins (seven). You could almost say that this means K-State’s biggest archrival is K-State. Regardless, Week 0 is enormous. Turnovers and later-down failures cost it dearly against Iowa State last season, and it gets an immediate opportunity to right one of 2024’s wrongs. — Connelly


19. Florida: Georgia

Florida has plenty of teams it considers rivals, but only one on the schedule this season has beaten the Gators four years in a row. That would be Georgia, which has absolutely dominated them since Kirby Smart took over the program in 2016. Smart is 7-2 against Florida, and just like that record, has finished ahead of Florida in the SEC standings seven times. We all know the Gators closed last season strong with big wins over LSU and Ole Miss, but the true litmus test for where this program is — and whether it can return to elite status under coach Billy Napier — is the Georgia game. — Adelson


20. Michigan: Ohio State

Even though the Wolverines have won four straight in the series, Ohio State remains Michigan’s archvillain for obvious reasons. The Buckeyes rattled off eight straight wins before Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh turned the tide in 2021 with the first of the four straight victories. Coach Sherrone Moore salvaged an up-and-down, first full season with a stunning 13-10 victory over Ohio State in Columbus last year. Much of that Ohio State national championship team has moved on to the NFL. But the postgame flag-plant fracas at the Horseshoe last year reinforced why this bitter rivalry has never carried more vitriol for either side. The last thing the Wolverines want this season is to watch Ohio State return the favor by planting its flag on the Block M at the Big House. — Trotter


21. Miami: Syracuse

Georgia Tech is not on the schedule this year or that would be the slam dunk choice. We could go with the obvious “traditional arch nemesis” Notre Dame, which is visiting South Florida for the first time since 2017. But there is another team that gets to wear the villain hat, if only for this season: Syracuse. That’s right, the team that beat Miami 42-38 in the 2024 regular-season finale to keep the Hurricanes out of the ACC championship game visits Hard Rock Stadium on Nov. 8. While both rosters have turned over since that game, the head coaches remain the same and there might be some added fuel to the fire. — Adelson


22. Louisville: Kentucky

In 2022, Louisville was 10-1 and favored against rival Kentucky. The Cardinals lost. In 2021, they were 7-4 and lost. It was an all-too-familiar story. Since 2016, Louisville has lost as a favorite against its rival three times — often sullying otherwise impressive seasons. Last year, the Cardinals had no such worries as they beat up on the Wildcats, who were slogging through a down season, but Jeff Brohm & Co. know the history too well to assume that will be the start of a trend. There are tougher and bigger games on Louisville’s schedule this season, but none that will mean more than beating those hated Cats. — Hale


23. Texas A&M: Steve Sarkisian

Sarkisian has done a masterful job reloading Texas to meet its potential. Last year, he took the Longhorns into Kyle Field and spoiled the Aggies’ chances of getting into the SEC championship game, and this year, A&M visits Austin for the first time since 2010 where Arch Manning hysteria dominates the headlines and the Longhorns will be seeking a coronation for a playoff run. Sarkisian, an avowed fan of college rivalries and traditions, will look to push all the right buttons to ignite his team. — Wilson


24. Ole Miss: Mississippi State

Don’t get anybody in Oxford started on those “dreaded” cowbells clanging away from fans of the “school down south.” That school being bitter rival Mississippi State, whose former coach, Dan Mullen, used to refer to Ole Miss as the “school up north.” Either way, nobody in the SEC is particularly fond of the Mississippi State cowbells, in no way a banned artificial noisemaker. Yes, that’s a joke. But to Ole Miss fans, they would rather hear nails scratching on a chalkboard. The good news for the Rebels is that they’ve lost only once in the past five games between the schools but will get a heavy dose of the cowbells this Nov. 28 in Starkville. — Low


25. Oklahoma: Texas

In the Wishbone era, and then once again after Bob Stoops took over then ceded way to Lincoln Riley, the Oklahoma quarterback position made college football kings. In recent years, Landry Jones, Baker Mayfield, Kyler Murray, Jalen Hurts, Caleb Williams and Dillon Gabriel all put up huge numbers. But the Sooners have fallen back a little and Texas is rolling into the Cotton Bowl with its own football royalty in Arch Manning. Oklahoma needs to right the ship, and all eyes will be on Dallas and where the program stands in the SEC era. — Wilson

Continue Reading

Sports

Passan finds the perfect trade deadline addition for every MLB contender

Published

on

By

Passan finds the perfect trade deadline addition for every MLB contender

It’s posturing season. Major League Baseball’s trade deadline goes through the same mechanics every year. Following June calls to indicate interest in players, early-to-mid-July brings out the first offers, which are inevitably imbalanced toward the teams willing to move players and, accordingly, holding all the leverage.

It’s the reason trades before the All-Star break are rare — and also a reminder that just because a match isn’t there now, it doesn’t preclude one going forward. So many elements play into a deadline (the keenness of teams to send away quality players, the willingness of contenders to make a move over the objection of their analytical model, the standings, recent performance and dozens of others) that to link team and player in a potential deal is a fool’s errand.

Well, consider this slightly foolish. Needs are needs, and even the best teams in baseball have them. Who would be the best players to fill them? This exercise endeavors to answer that.

Below are the 16 teams in MLB with winning records. Certainly a cadre of under-.500 teams — the Texas Rangers, Kansas City Royals, Minnesota Twins, Arizona Diamondbacks chief among them — could work their way into the conversation despite their slow starts. For now, though, these are the best teams baseball has to offer, and for each we found a fit among available players that makes too much sense not to pursue.

Teams are listed in order of record by league.


American League

59-35, first place, AL Central

Weakness: Swing-and-miss relievers

Best match: David Bednar, Pittsburgh Pirates

Cade Smith (Cleveland Guardians) and Griffin Jax (Minnesota Twins) are the right answers, but the likelihood of Detroit pulling off an in-division deal to get a swing-and-miss reliever is minimal. Which leaves Bednar, who has rebounded from an atrocious 2024 to recapture his form of 2021-23, when he was among the five best relievers in baseball. With a high-90s fastball, a hard-breaking curveball and a mean splitter, Bednar’s arsenal would give the Tigers a ninth-inning option beyond Will Vest or Tommy Kahnle.

Beyond the bullpen, the Tigers don’t need much. They can really hit, with eight of their nine regulars sporting slugging percentages of .415 or better. Manager AJ Hinch’s constant tinkering — the most Detroit has used one lineup this year is four times — doesn’t just work, it is an identity the team embraces.

And as much as the Tigers could use capital from their tremendous farm system to add to this team, they don’t necessarily need it. This is the second year of a window that’s bound to last. Securing Bednar’s services for two playoff runs is the sort of incremental step needed to capitalize in a down American League.


55-38, first place, AL West

Weakness: Starting pitching and left-handed hitting

Best match: Seth Lugo, Kansas City Royals

The Astros lost Alex Bregman to free agency, traded Kyle Tucker to the Chicago Cubs, have spent most of the season without Yordan Alvarez, their best hitter, and currently sport a rotation that includes 26- and 28-year-old rookies. There is no reason they should be this good. And yet they are.

So even if the cost is heavy and eats into a farm system that’s among the worst in MLB, targeting a pitcher of Lugo’s ilk would give them among the nastiest postseason rotations in the game and further entrench the Astros as a force. Lugo’s peripherals suggest he’s in line for regression but even if his ERA does jump from its current 2.67 mark, Lugo’s nine-pitch mix gives him the flexibility to adjust in-game — a luxury shared by only a handful of starters in the game.


54-39, first place, American League East

Weakness: Starting pitching

Best match: Mitch Keller, Pittsburgh Pirates

Adding Keller solves multiple problems at once. The 29-year-old is producing the best season of his seven-year career with the Pirates, averaging nearly six innings a start and giving up only seven home runs in 106⅓ innings. The Blue Jays need rotation help — and, in a deal for Keller, could try to get David Bednar, Dennis Santana or Caleb Ferguson from the Pirates to complement an already-good bullpen riding breakouts from Braydon Fisher and Brendon Little.

Further, Keller remains under contract for three years at a reasonable $54.5 million, and with starters Chris Bassitt and Max Scherzer free agents after this year and Kevin Gausman following the 2026 season, Toronto covets controllable starting pitching in a market that, at the moment at least, doesn’t offer much.

Pittsburgh could hold onto Keller and march into 2026 with a staff of Keller, Paul Skenes, Mike Burrows, Bubba Chandler and Bailey Falter — easily a top-10 rotation, maybe better — with Hunter Barco not far behind. But the Pirates desperately need bats and while Toronto’s farm system is not teeming with them, the Blue Jays can cobble together enough to make a deal worth Pittsburgh’s while.


51-41, second place, AL East (first wild card)

Weakness: Third baseman and pitching

Best match: Eugenio Suárez, Arizona Diamondbacks

This could be Seth Lugo. Or Emmanuel Clase of the Guardians. Or any number of players. The Yankees are not going to stop at one player this deadline. For all their strengths — and there are plenty — they have too many weaknesses to take half-measures.

Suárez is an excellent first step. His power is undeniable, a perfect fit in the middle of any lineup. He plays third base, a black hole for New York this season. The Yankees could two-birds-one-stone a deal and get Zac Gallen or Merrill Kelly from Arizona, too. But Suárez is the main target, because even if other third-base options exist — Nolan Arenado in St. Louis, Ryan McMahon in Colorado, Ke’Bryan Hayes in Pittsburgh — they’re owed significant money and are under contract for multiple years. Suárez’s expiring contract would allow the Yankees a trial run, and if he thrives in the Bronx, all they would need to bring him back is cash.


50-43, third place, AL East (second wild card)

Weakness: Relief pitching

Best match: Griffin Jax, Minnesota Twins

Remember, now, this is the best match, not necessarily the likeliest. Minnesota is notoriously value-conscious in its dealings, and the Twins will put an exceptionally high price on Jax, whom they regard as one of the best relievers in baseball — an opinion shared by most teams. With a fastball that sits at 97 mph and a dastardly slider, he is a setup man in name and a closer in stuff — precisely what the Rays, who are missing Manuel Rodriguez and Hunter Bigge, could use.

The Rays aren’t typically the sort of team to overpay for relievers, even ones with two additional years of club control. If not Jax, they could opt for Brock Stewart (Twins), who likewise has a vast array of swing-and-miss stuff — and two more years of team control as well.


48-44, second place, AL West (tied for third wild card)

Weakness: Corner infielder

Best match: Josh Naylor, Arizona Diamondbacks

Though the Mariners are managing with Donovan Solano and Luke Raley at first base, upgrading to Naylor would transform Seattle’s lineup for the better. Whether it’s slotting him behind J.P. Crawford to ensure Cal Raleigh comes to the plate with more baserunners, or sticking him in between Raleigh and Randy Arozarena to do the cleaning up himself, Naylor is a high-average, low-strikeout slugger whose quality at-bats would help transform a solid Seattle lineup into something more.

Pairing him with Eugenio Suárez would plug both of Seattle’s holes, and certainly the Mariners have the prospect capital to pull off the double. Considering the state of their pitching — a tremendous rotation and a Gabe SpeierMatt BrashAndrés Muñoz endgame — the Mariners need only a depth reliever to feel comfortable. Upgrading the lineup is the distinct priority over the next three weeks, and executives expect Seattle to act aggressively.


49-45, fourth place, AL East (tied for third wild card)

Weakness: Relief pitching

Best match: Ryan Helsley, St. Louis Cardinals

Red Sox relievers walk too many hitters and don’t strike out enough. Take away Aroldis Chapman — the best reliever in the AL this season — and the Red Sox have a middle-of-the-pack bullpen. Getting Helsley from St. Louis would give Boston arguably the top setup-closer combination in baseball and go a long way toward supporting a rotation that has been among the game’s best over the past month.

Boston has the makings of a very good team in the second half. Alex Bregman will return soon. Roman Anthony has an OPS of nearly 1.000 over his past 10 games. Ceddanne Rafaela is one of the best center fielders in baseball. Carlos Narváez is a gem. Wilyer Abreu, Trevor Story, even Abraham Toro — everyone is contributing. A reliever or two and another starter would make the Red Sox the sort of contender they envisioned being at the beginning of the season.


National League

56-38, first place, NL West

Weakness: Pitching depth

Best match: Jhoan Durán, Minnesota Twins

The Dodgers enter every deadline season seeking a major move, and the 6-foot-5, 230-pound Durán qualifies. With a fastball that averages over 100 mph, a splinker that sits at 98 and a curveball to keep hitters off balance, Durán is pitching as well as ever. He hasn’t given up a home run this season, and his 1.52 ERA is third in MLB for pitchers with at least 40 innings.

The asking price will be hefty. Durán comes with two more years of team control beyond this season. The Dodgers don’t have time to waste on taking advantage of Shohei Ohtani‘s prime, though, and assembling a team with standouts in all facets is a reasonable goal. For a group threatening to approach a major league record for pitchers used in a season — the Dodgers are at 35, the record is 42 from Seattle in 2019 — adding another wouldn’t in and of itself be a needle-mover. If that one happens to be Durán, the Dodgers could theoretically trot out him, Tanner Scott, Kirby Yates and Alex Vesia to make their bullpen every bit as scary as the rest of their team.


Chicago Cubs

54-38, first place, NL Central

Weakness: Starting pitching

Best match: Sandy Alcántara, Miami Marlins

The market for Alcántara might not reflect his résumé. A former Cy Young Award winner, the 29-year-old has been arguably the worst pitcher in baseball this season, with an ERA just above 7.22. Some teams — even ones that could desperately use starting pitching — see the remaining two years and $38.3 million on Alcántara’s deal as an impediment to any trade, particularly with Marlins GM Peter Bendix asking for a haul in return.

Whether it’s Alcántara or another starter, the Cubs are a good starter away from having one of the top teams in baseball. Their offense is undeniable. Their defense is magnificent. Their bullpen has been a pleasant surprise. Adding a playoff-caliber starter, even if it pushes Chicago past the $241 million luxury-tax threshold, would reward a team that has brought excitement back to the North Side of Chicago.


54-39, first place, National League East

Weakness: Bullpen and outfield

Best match: Emmanuel Clase, Cleveland Guardians

As long as the Phillies are aiming high — and nobody aims high quite like Dave Dombrowski — perhaps they could take a run at landing both Clase and Steven Kwan from Cleveland. Maybe it would take Andrew Painter. Maybe Aidan Miller. Maybe Justin Crawford. Regardless, the Phillies’ window is closing, and getting both club control (Clase is under contract through 2028 and Kwan through 2027) and cost certainty (Clase is due $26 million for the next three years and Kwan less than $20 million for two) would make dealing high-end prospects significantly more palatable.

If Cleveland ultimately balks at moving Clase, it doesn’t change the imperative: Philadelphia needs to address its weaknesses. This bullpen is not suited to win a playoff series, much less the World Series. The consequence of bad relief pitching manifested itself in the postseason last year, when the New York Mets filleted Phillies relievers for 17 runs in 12⅔ innings. No other bullpen gave up more than nine runs in the division series. Clase (or Jhoan Durán or any shutdown reliever, really) is just a start. An on-the-fly overhaul is what this team needs — and deserves.


53-39, second place, NL East (first wild card)

Weakness: Pitching depth

Best match: Zac Gallen, Arizona Diamondbacks

The Mets started 45-24 on the strength of their starting pitching. With a 2.79 ERA that was nearly a quarter-run better than the second-best rotation, they cut the figure of a juggernaut. Since June 13, their starters’ 5.61 ERA is worse than every team in baseball aside from Washington. And if your starters are getting compared to those of the Nationals, something went haywire.

Gallen has looked more like his old self in recent starts, and if his home run rate stabilizes — typically one per nine, it has jumped to 1.6 — alongside a perilously low strand rate normalizing, he can shake off the 5.15 ERA and be a real difference-maker for the Mets before hitting free agency after the season. Mets president of baseball operations David Stearns doesn’t, as a general rule, spend big on pitching. In this case, though, an investment in Gallen makes too much sense for the Mets not to consider.


53-40, second place, NL Central (second wild card)

Weakness: Power

Best match: Ryan O’Hearn, Baltimore Orioles

With 88 home runs, the Brewers rank just 21st in MLB. And while that hasn’t impeded their production — they’re eighth in runs scored — another big bat could do their offense wonders. Nobody will mistake the soon-to-be-32-year-old O’Hearn for Aaron Judge, but he punishes right-handed pitching, and in a lineup without any boppers, O’Hearn also could serve as the strong side of a first-base platoon and pick up outfield and DH at-bats.

Milwaukee’s options are fascinating. Jacob Misiorowski‘s arrival has been an unmitigated success and only added to the Brewers’ starting pitching depth. They could easily move a starting pitcher and tap into their deep prospect well for O’Hearn. The add-and-subtract maneuver is risky, sure, but the Brewers have steeled themselves to weather it. The Brewers, as currently constituted, are solid. Better second halves from Jackson Chourio and Joey Ortiz, continued solid pitching and the proper sort of deadline aggressiveness could make them even more.


51-43, second place, NL West (third wild card)

Weakness: Starting pitching

Best match: Merrill Kelly, Arizona Diamondbacks

The Giants made their big move already, getting the best player who will move this season — designated hitter Rafael Devers — to shore up their offense. Intradivision trades can be trying, but if Buster Posey has shown anything in his first season as president of baseball operations, it’s a willingness to stomach the sorts of deals that would scare off his peers.

Kelly represents a significant upgrade over the Giants’ backend rotation options, as Justin Verlander and Hayden Birdsong are sporting ERAs of 6.27 and 5.73, respectively, since June 1. Whether the Giants are real or simply a function of a bullpen whose core of Camilo Doval, Randy Rodriguez, Tyler Rogers, Erik Miller, Spencer Bivens and Ryan Walker has given up only 11 home runs in 232⅔ innings remains to be seen. For an organization seeking its first postseason series win in nearly a decade, though, there is never a time as urgent as now.


49-43, third place, NL West (one game behind third wild card)

Weakness: Left field

Best match: Jarren Duran, Boston Red Sox

No player and team have been linked as strongly as Duran and the Padres — and that’s without any knowledge of how the Red Sox intend to handle the deadline. Roman Anthony’s emergence has put Boston in a position to float Duran and Wilyer Abreu in trade discussions, and whether it’s now or over the winter, Boston wants to use its surplus of bats to fill voids elsewhere.

Left field in San Diego is among the biggest voids in the game. The Padres have tried eight players in left this season, and collectively they’re barely have an OPS of over .600. A Duran-Jackson MerrillFernando Tatis Jr. outfield would be a factory of dynamism that would be under team control through the end of the 2028 season. The Padres might need to get creative — beyond shortstop Leo De Vries (who’s believed to be off-limits) and catcher Ethan Salas, their farm system is middling — but nobody does creativity like GM A.J. Preller. And whether that means facilitating a deal through a third team or including one of their high-leverage relievers like closer Robert Suárez, San Diego is willing to go places most other organizations would never consider.


49-44, third place, NL Central (1½ games behind third wild card)

Weakness: Starting pitching

Best match: Taj Bradley, Tampa Bay Rays

Certainly there’s a world in which John Mozeliak’s final deadline as St. Louis’ president of baseball operations is uneventful. The NL is stacked, and for all of the Cardinals’ improvement this season, they remain a flawed team. And yet there’s also a world in which Mozeliak can make this year’s team better and simultaneously set up his successor, Chaim Bloom, with a rotation option for the future.

The Rays don’t have a strong desire to move the 24-year-old Bradley, but with Drew Rasmussen, Ryan Pepiot, Shane Baz and Joe Boyle all pitching well, and ace Shane McClanahan out on a rehabilitation assignment, Tampa Bay is at least entertaining the idea. Bradley’s stuff has exceeded his performance over his three major league seasons, but the controllable-starting-pitching market is practically empty, and St. Louis’ farm system is replete with high-end catchers, which would fill a vacuum for the Rays


47-46, fourth place, NL Central (3½ games behind third wild card)

Weakness: Bullpen and big bat

Best match: Steven Kwan, Cleveland Guardians

With a sneaky-deep farm system, the Reds could put together the sort of package to convince Cleveland to move Kwan, a two-time All-Star who in his four seasons ranks fifth in wins above replacement among all outfielders, behind only Aaron Judge, Juan Soto, Kyle Tucker and Julio Rodríguez. Kwan’s bat-to-ball and defensive skills in left field are elite, and with free agency not beckoning until after the 2027 season, sandwiching him between TJ Friedl and Elly De La Cruz strengthens a Reds lineup that could use an offensive infusion.

If the cost to acquire Kwan is too high, other good options exist, chief among them Marcell Ozuna, the Atlanta slugger whose swing was built for Great American Ball Park. With a rotation that includes All-Star Andrew Abbott, Hunter Greene, Nick Lodolo and Chase Burns, the Reds are a terrifying postseason opponent. Another bat would buttress the rotation and give Cincinnati an opportunity to turn potential into its first postseason series win in three decades.

Continue Reading

Sports

Godfather offers for Skenes, Acuña and Buxton: Trade proposals their teams might not reject

Published

on

By

Godfather offers for Skenes, Acuña and Buxton: Trade proposals their teams might not reject

Comparing MLB to the NBA is kind of like comparing apples to pomegranates, but the NBA, with its rapid-fire spate of blockbuster trades and signings, certainly has us wishing major league front office executives operated as daringly as their basketball counterparts.

The conservative nature in baseball is understandable. Nobody wants to end up as the general manager who trades Pete Crow-Armstrong for two months of Javier Baez and a failed playoff bid.

But every now and then we get a shocking deal. At the MLB trade deadline in 2022, the San Diego Padres gave up five highly rated young players to acquire Juan Soto, who still had two-plus seasons left of team control. Three of those young players — James Wood, MacKenzie Gore and CJ Abrams — now form the core of the Washington Nationals. And just a few weeks ago came the surprise mid-June trade of Rafael Devers, in only the second year of a 10-year contract, from the Boston Red Sox to the San Francisco Giants.

Might another similarly entertaining megadeal occur this month ahead of the deadline on July 31? Probably not, but we can dream.

Let’s consider three players who almost certainly won’t be made available for trade this year, but whose names have been kicked around in (quite unlikely) fan trade scenarios. If the right offer did arrive, the player’s organization would have to at least consider making the deal … right?

Call them Godfather offers. Let’s see what it would take to land three star players in 2025.

(All prospect rankings are from Kiley McDaniel’s top 50 update from late May.)


Why they’ll probably keep him: He’s arguably the best starter in baseball, perhaps on his way to a Cy Young Award in his first full season. He’s one of the biggest names in the sport — despite playing for the lowly Pirates — and a player you can build not only a pitching staff around but a championship contender. He’s under team control through 2029 and doesn’t even become arbitration-eligible until 2027, so the Pirates are still years away from paying him a fair salary.

But Skenes is a pitcher — and pitchers get hurt. So, if the Pirates are open to listening …

Offer No. 1: New York Mets offer SS/CF Jett Williams (No. 20), RHP Jonah Tong (No. 50), RHP Nolan McLean, IF Ronny Mauricio, OF Carson Benge

Offer No. 2: Los Angeles Dodgers offer C/OF Dalton Rushing (No. 14), OF Josue De Paula (No. 17), IF Alex Freeland, RHP Emmet Sheehan, LHP Jackson Ferris

Offer No. 3: Detroit Tigers offer OF Max Clark (No. 8), SS Kevin McGonigle (No. 11), RHP Jackson Jobe, IF Colt Keith, RHP Sawyer Gipson-Long

The one that could get it done: Tigers

A playoff rotation with Skenes and Tarik Skubal? Thank you very much. Reminder: The Tigers haven’t won the World Series since 1984.

It will take one of the best farm systems in the sport to acquire Skenes, and Detroit is incredibly well positioned to make this kind of deal, with depth at both the major league and minor league levels, not to mention a payroll with only one expensive long-term commitment in Javier Baez. Two of the top prospects in the sport in Clark and McGonigle headline this trade, with both currently excelling in High-A ball. Clark, a speedy center fielder, has a .429 OBP with more walks than strikeouts, and McGonigle is hitting .373 with a high contact rate and OPS over 1.100. Former top pitching prospect Jobe underwent Tommy John surgery in June and would be a nice inclusion for the Pirates to gamble on.

For the Tigers, the deal wouldn’t even decimate their farm system. They would still have shortstop Bryce Rainer (No. 22), first baseman/catcher Josue Briceno and a slew of solid pitching prospects. For the Pirates, Clark and McGonigle project as solutions at two problem areas in center field (where Oneil Cruz has struggled defensively) and shortstop (stopgap Isiah Kiner-Falefa is the current starter) plus they get a solid major leaguer in Keith and a back-end rotation-type in Gipson-Long.

As much as the Mets could use a staff ace, their system is deeper in pitching prospects, which doesn’t best align with the Pirates’ needs. As the Dodgers’ pitching injuries have piled up again, Skenes could be a match. Rushing is blocked at catcher by Will Smith, and he and De Paula probably have more power upside (De Paula has drawn Yordan Alvarez comparisons) than Clark and McGonigle. The Pirates might, understandably, ask for Roki Sasaki, and that could be the deal-breaker for the Dodgers.


Why they’ll probably keep him: Acuña has been one of the best hitters in the majors since returning in late May from his second ACL surgery and has been the best hitter on a Braves team that is near the bottom of the National League in runs scored. He is signed through 2028 on an incredibly team-friendly deal that pays him just $17 million per season — making it one of the best contracts in the sport for a team. At just 27 years old, he remains in the middle of his prime and is one of the sport’s most dynamic talents.

But Acuña’s knees are a long-term concern, Atlanta lacks depth in both the lineup and pitching staff, and this looks like a lost season.

So, if the Braves are open to listening …

Offer No. 1: Milwaukee Brewers offer SS Jesus Made (No. 5), SS Luis Pena, OF Sal Frelick, RHP Logan Henderson, RHP Abner Uribe

Offer No. 2: Seattle Mariners offer SS Colt Emerson (No. 10), RHP Bryce Miller, C Harry Ford, OF Lazaro Montes, LHP Brandyn Garcia

Offer No. 3: Tampa Bay Rays offer SS Carson Willliams (No. 27), RHP Shane Baz, OF Theo Gillen, RHP Yoniel Curet, RHP Brody Hopkins

The one that could get it done: Mariners

The Mariners have never played in a World Series. Their right-field production is among the worst in the majors. Oh, and they have a loaded farm system with nine prospects on MLB.com’s recently updated top 100, more than any other team. On that list, Emerson came in at No. 18, Montes at No. 29 and Ford at No. 56. Miller’s value is temporarily down since he’s out because of right elbow inflammation, but he had a 2.94 ERA for the Mariners in 2024 and could give the Braves a front-line starter if healthy.

Ford might not be a perfect fit for Atlanta with Drake Baldwin (plus Sean Murphy) at catcher, but Cal Raleigh blocks Ford in Seattle. The Braves could trade Murphy in the offseason, and Ford does have the athleticism to play some outfield — although he has played exclusively behind the plate at Triple-A, where he’s hitting over .300 with an OBP over .400. Emerson is a favorite of scouts with his hard contact and ability to play shortstop, although he’s still learning to lift the ball more, while Montes recently earned a promotion to Double-A after slugging .572 in High-A at age 20.

For the Mariners, Acuña would fit nicely at the top of the order or hitting second in front of Raleigh, allowing them to slide Julio Rodriguez lower in the lineup — and maybe Acuña’s presence would also help take some pressure off Rodriguez. Most importantly: Acuña’s salary is a realistic fit even for the Mariners, who don’t like to spend. And despite giving up three excellent prospects and a young starting pitcher, their farm system would remain strong. Plus, they have the No. 3 pick in this year’s draft.

Milwaukee’s offer is enticing with two premium hitting prospects in Made and Pena, but it’s a riskier package as the 18-year-olds are a long way from the majors and neither is a lock to stick at shortstop, a big offensive hole in the Braves’ lineup. Williams would be the key to the Tampa Bay trade, but his sky-high strikeout rate at Triple-A has caused him to drop in the rankings and limits his offensive upside.


Why they’ll probably keep him: The Twins are under .500, but that doesn’t mean they’re out of the playoff race. Buxton has been their best player and best hitter as he’s on pace for a career high in WAR. Though he hasn’t reached the heights of Acuña at Acuña’s best, Buxton’s contract is also team friendly, as he’s signed through 2028 and making $15.1 million per season. He’s 31 years old but is still one of the better defensive center fielders in the game.

But Buxton, while healthy in 2025, is frequently sidelined by injuries. So, if the Twins are open to listening …

Offer No. 1: Philadelphia Phillies offer RHP Andrew Painter (No. 23) and OF Justin Crawford

Offer No. 2: Cincinnati Reds offer RHP Rhett Lowder (No. 48), RHP Chase Petty (No. 49) and 3B Sal Stewart

Offer No. 3: Kansas City Royals offer LHP Cole Ragans and LHP David Shields

The one that could get it done: Phillies

The Phillies, Reds and Royals all could use an outfielder to add some punch to their lineups, although in Cincinnati’s case, its biggest hole is at third base. Philadelphia has a lot riding on 2025 given the age of its lineup, and executive Dave Dombrowski knows how to go all-in. In this case, that would mean parting with one of the top pitching prospects in the game in Painter, plus a promising young outfielder hitting well at Triple-A.

Trading Painter would be painful, but the Phillies remain deep in the rotation with Zack Wheeler (signed through 2027), Cristopher Sanchez (signed through 2030), Aaron Nola (signed through 2030) and Jesus Luzardo (under team control through 2026). Ranger Suarez, who’s having an excellent season, is heading into free agency, so he’s the one arm they might lose. But center field has been a soft spot in recent seasons, with the Phillies in the bottom third in the majors in OPS this year, and the team’s overall power output has been below average, even with Kyle Schwarber. Adding Buxton adds more pop to the middle of the order.

Painter gives the Twins a potential ace, and they have top prospect Emmanuel Rodriguez ready to take over in center field anyway. The 21-year-old Crawford is a divisive prospect (he’s No. 49 in the MLB.com rankings) because while he’s hitting for a high average at Triple-A Lehigh Valley, he hits the ball on the ground too much and has only two home runs. Still, there’s a chance he produces a good OBP and plus defense with his speed.

The Royals’ challenge trade with Ragans is intriguing but risky for Minnesota, given he’s on the injured list right now because of a rotator cuff strain. Plus, intradivision trades are hard to pull off. The Twins would want Chase Burns from the Reds, but that’s probably a nonstarter for Cincinnati.

Will we get some surprise spicy deals this trade deadline? Will it just be the usual list of free-agents-to-be and relief pitchers? In a season that remains so wide open, the time might be right for some outside-the-box movement.

Continue Reading

Trending