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We finally made it through the end of the 2023 NFL draft, and there was certainly no shortage of surprises; however, if there was one constant, it’s that the SEC would show out.

The SEC had the most players drafted with 62 total selections, followed by the Big Ten with 55 players and the Big 12 with 30 players. Alabama and Georgia led all schools with 10 players drafted from each team. Speaking of Georgia, its defense has been dominating the field and draft board the past couple years. Over the 2023 and 2022 drafts, 13 defensive players have been selected from Georgia, and five of them have been drafted by the Philadelphia Eagles.

After covering these players over the past three to five years and talking to college coaches, our CFB reporters break down some of the week’s most interesting selections.


Based on covering these players last year, who was your favorite first-round pick?

Ryan McGee: The Houston Texans needed to find starters on both sides of the ball and all they did was grab the No. 1B-ranked QB on everyone’s lists in C.J. Stroud and then fifteen minutes later grabbed a defender who I believe was the nation’s best college football player in 2022, Will Anderson, via a sneaky trade up. They could have immediately closed their laptops and gone to bed for the rest of the weekend and still received an “A” for their efforts. Are they going to win the AFC South this fall? No. Will they be in position to win it more often than not over the following years? Probably, thanks to last Thursday night.

Blake Baumgartner: How can you not like what the defending NFC champion Philadelphia Eagles did Thursday night? Howie Roseman and Nick Sirianni don’t appear to be content with losing to the Kansas City Chiefs in the Super Bowl. They moved up one spot with the Bears to select possibly the best player in the draft in Georgia defensive tackle Jalen Carter — worth the risk at No. 9 for a team with a well-established hierarchy in the locker room — and watched Carter’s teammate, linebacker Nolan Smith, fall into their lap with their second first-round pick (No. 30). Both Carter and Smith bring a championship foundation and should be Day 1 starters for a defense that permitted 301.5 YPG in 2022 (second in the NFL). The Athens, Georgia, to Philadelphia (defensive tackle Jordan Davis, linebacker Nakobe Dean, Carter, Smith and defensive back Kelee Ringo) pipeline continues.

Harry Lyles Jr.: After Geno Smith had a career year last season, the Seattle Seahawks got him another playmaker in the first round in Jaxon Smith-Njigba, somebody who was considered one of the best wide receivers in college football going into 2022. Put Smith-Njigba and his route-running ability and ball-tracking skills alongside DK Metcalf and Tyler Lockett, and the Seahawks immediately have one of the best receiving corps in pro football. Especially if Smith-Njigba turns out as well as his running mates from 2021 did in Chris Olave and Garrett Wilson.

Adam Rittenberg: The wide receivers went later in this draft, and several could be looked at as major steals. Boston College‘s Zay Flowers is electric and productive, and he would fit in just about anywhere. Baltimore was wise to add him in the wake of its mega contract for quarterback Lamar Jackson. The Ravens clearly need more reliable receivers to build around Pro Bowl tight end Mark Andrews in an offense now under the direction of Todd Monken. Flowers thrived at BC despite different coordinators and quarterbacks. He passed up more NIL money elsewhere to remain with the Eagles in 2022, and finished with career highs in receptions (78), receiving yards (1,077) and receiving touchdowns (12). He’s a great pickup for the Ravens and Jackson.

David Hale: The New England Patriots invested some draft capital in both a punter and a kicker — the type of draft a rookie fantasy football owner makes — but it’s hard to argue the Patriots didn’t find some serious first-round value in landing Oregon corner Christian Gonzalez. At 6-foot-1, Gonzalez has the size to match up with anyone, but his quickness, versatility and ability to track the ball make him genuinely special. That he fell all the way to the 17th pick — after two smaller corners, Devon Witherspoon and Emmanuel Forbes — was either a stroke of brilliance by the Seahawks and Commanders or a stroke of luck for New England. Gonzalez fits an immediate need and should be a huge boost to the Pats’ secondary in 2023, with legitimate rookie of the year potential. Worst-case scenario, he adds depth to a unit that needed it, and has all the tools to develop into one of the league’s most physical corners in years to come.

Chris Low: There never should have been a debate (and teams are prone to overthinking it way too much), but the Carolina Panthers got it right with the No. 1 pick. Bryce Young immediately changes that franchise’s trajectory. He’s ready to be the starting quarterback from Day 1 and a difference-maker from Day 1. It’s never completely smooth sailing for rookie quarterbacks in the NFL, but Young’s ability to make plays under duress and find open receivers no matter how many defenders are breathing down his neck are what make him so special. His uncanny feel in the pocket will serve him well at the next level, and while everybody wants to talk about his lack of size, go turn on the tape from the past two seasons and watch him carve apart defenses and do it without seemingly breaking a sweat.

Paolo Uggetti: I know taking running backs in the first round, let alone the top 10, is not en vogue, but Bijan Robinson is not just any running back. Robinson is easily one of the best prospects at the position in recent years, and the Atlanta Falcons are getting a dynamic player who will impact their team right away out of the backfield and as a receiver, too. For the third year in a row, the Falcons have taken a playmaker with a high ceiling following the selection of wide receiver Drake London last year and Kyle Pitts the year before. Atlanta is slowly building a really intriguing offense with a potential for plenty of explosive plays. Now if they could only find a franchise quarterback …


Who was the biggest steal of the draft?

Baumgartner: I wasn’t sure where Michigan State wide receiver Jayden Reed was going to go. The Green Bay Packers nabbed him midway through the second round, over the likes of Rashee Rice (SMU), Marvin Mims (Oklahoma), Jalin Hyatt (Tennessee) and Cedric Tillman (Tennessee). Alongside high school and college teammate Payton Thorne, Reed showed what he was capable of during an 11-win season for the Spartans in 2021 (59 receptions for 1,026 yards, 10 TDs and two punt returns for scores). Injuries limited him a bit last fall (55 catches for 636 yards, five TDs), but he’s electric when he has the ball in his hands and has a knack for coming down with 50-50 balls, despite his 6-foot, 190-pound frame. He will provide Jordan Love a dynamic playmaker on the outside as the remake of Green Bay’s offense commences.

Rittenberg: The Pittsburgh Steelers typically know what they’re doing on draft weekend, and came through again with some excellent choices, including Georgia tight end Darnell Washington in the third round and Wisconsin linebacker Nick Herbig in the fourth. Washington is a massive man at 6-7 and 264 pounds, and he will aid the Steelers both in blocking and pass-catching. Imagine Washington and Pat Freiermuth terrorizing defenses in the red zone. Herbig was relentless and productive with the Badgers, leading the team in sacks in each of the past two seasons, and recording 30 tackles for loss. He will once again team with second-round pick Keeanu Benton, giving the Steelers a tandem from one of college football’s perennially elite defenses.

Hale: Well, I’m an Eagles fan, and they landed arguably the draft’s top talent in Jalen Carter at No. 9, a legitimate top-10 talent in Nolan Smith at No. 30, a guy who jumps off the tape at safety in Sydney Brown in the third round and a corner many thought would be a first-rounder this time last year in Kelee Ringo in the fourth round. Who’s the biggest steal of the bunch? Why bother debating. The Eagles got value at nearly every pick, so even if one or two ultimately fail to live up to their potential, it’s essentially impossible to argue with the decision to invest in them.

Low: Centers are typically drafted lower than they should be, but seeing Michigan‘s Olusegun Oluwatimi slip to the fifth round was surprising — but great news for the Seahawks that they could wait that long to get their center of the future. The 6-3, 310-pound Oluwatimi will play 10 years in the NFL and be a fixture in the middle of that Seattle offensive line. He played on college football’s best offensive line last season and won the Outland Trophy as the top interior lineman in college football and the Rimington Award as the top center. He has played in three different systems (Air Force, Virginia and Michigan) and will develop rapidly into a top-tier NFL center.

Uggetti: Maybe it’s the fact that I had a front row seat to watch USC defensive lineman Tuli Tuipulotu last season and got to see how he seemed to always find his way in the backfield pressuring a quarterback on his way to 13.5 sacks and an All-American season. Maybe it’s that Tuipulotu should slide in seamlessly into a defense that already features Joey Bosa and Khalil Mack and impact their unit right away. Either way, this pick wasn’t just a great fit for both the former Trojan and the Los Angeles Chargers, but it has the chance to be a real steal in the long run.


What was your biggest surprise?

McGee: Every winter I receive calls from my NFL friends, met in various press boxes and pro days over the years, to ask about guys I’ve seen play a lot that perhaps they have not, and every winter there’s always a name that keeps coming up and the line of questioning around him totally catches me off guard. This year that guy was Nolan Smith. I was asked, “How tall is he really?” and “How hurt was he really?” My response was always, “Ask Spencer Rattler, Hendon Hooker, Anthony Richardson and Bryce Young.” So, with those March questions in mind, I suppose I shouldn’t have been surprised when he fell all the way to the end of the first round. Just as I won’t be surprised when yet another NFC East QB falls all the way to the turf wrapped in Smith’s arms.

Lyles: The Lions selecting Iowa linebacker Jack Campbell stood out to me at pick No. 18. I don’t know that anybody had him as a first-round pick, but given what we know about Dan Campbell and the attitude and energy he brings, Campbell is his kind of player. I asked Kirk Ferentz about Campbell’s place among the players he has coached in his two decades at Iowa prior to the Music City Bowl against Kentucky, and he told me, “You can’t get better than Jack Campbell … everything he does is exceptional.” Much like his new head coach in Detroit, he brings incredible energy, is going to uplift everybody around him, and give you everything he’s got every single day. Despite the surprise as to the order in which Campbell was picked, it feels like he landed in the absolute right spot.

Rittenberg: The reaction to Iowa’s Lukas Van Ness going at No. 13 from Big Ten coaches I talked to this weekend suggests the Packers reached a bit. Green Bay has done well with defensive players from the Big Ten, and Van Ness clearly has upside as a pass-rusher, recording 13.5 sacks and 19.5 tackles for loss the past two seasons. But he also played on a defense filled with reliable standouts, including Campbell, third-round draft pick Riley Moss, fellow linemen Noah Shannon and Joe Evans, and others. He won’t have the same security with the Packers’ defense, which struggled for much of the 2022 season. Green Bay could have added defensive backs Christian Gonzalez or Emmanuel Forbes, or an interior force like Calijah Kancey. They took a bit of a gamble on Van Ness. We’ll see if it pays off.

Low: Let’s say I’m surprised in a good way that Pitt‘s Kancey was selected among the top 20 picks at No. 19. At 281 pounds, he might not be the prototypical defensive tackle in the NFL, but he plays a lot bigger and more powerful than his listed weight. He’s a terrific run-stopper, and once he gets his hands on you, it’s usually over. He had 27 tackles for loss over the past two seasons. Kancey’s speed (he had the fastest 40-yard dash time for a defensive tackle at the NFL combine since 2006) could allow the Bucs to get creative with him. Either way, good for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers for valuing production over measurables and grabbing Kancey with their first-round pick.

Hale: Stetson Bennett never needs to play a snap in the NFL for his reputation to be fully established. He could easily call it a career, retire to his hometown in South Georgia, open a few car dealerships and never pay for a meal in the state again. And yet, here he is, a fourth-round draft pick with a real shot to learn behind a fellow Bulldog in Matthew Stafford with the Los Angeles Rams. Two years ago, no one thought Bennett could be a championship QB. A year ago, he won his first title but still seemed to be facing impossible odds as an NFL prospect. Who wants to bet against him doing something special with the Rams now, too?

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Buffs coach: Stars ‘should be going 1-2’ in draft

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Buffs coach: Stars 'should be going 1-2' in draft

BOULDER, Colo. — For the horde of NFL talent evaluators and some bleachers full of fans, Colorado coach Deion Sanders said Friday that they all got to see the top two players available in this year’s NFL draft.

Quarterback Shedeur Sanders and Heisman Trophy winner Travis Hunter were among the 16 Colorado players who took part in the school’s showcase event for scouts, coaches and personnel executives from every NFL team. And Deion Sanders said the two marquee players confirmed what he has known for a long time.

“It’s tremendous,” Sanders said. “… They should be going 1-2 [in the draft], that’s the way I feel about it. They are the two best players in this draft. … The surest bets in this draft are those two young men, and I didn’t stutter or stammer when I said that.”

Neither Shedeur Sanders nor Hunter took part in most of the position drills or physical testing, but Sanders had a throwing session for just under an hour and Hunter was one of the wide receivers who participated. Neither player worked out at the scouting combine earlier this year, so it was the first time Sanders had thrown in such a setting since the end of the season. He showed some full seven-step drops and play-action from the shotgun and under center.

“I think I did pretty good, to my expectations,” said Sanders, who set the career FBS accuracy mark in his two years at Colorado (71.8%) to go with his 4,134 passing yards and 37 touchdowns last season. “I know I did the best in college football right now, for sure.”

Asked after the throwing session whether he believed he was the best quarterback in the draft, Sanders said: “I feel like I’m the No. 1 quarterback, and that’s what I know. But at the end of the day, I’m not stuck on that because it’s about the situation, so whatever situation, whatever franchise believes in me, I’m excited to go. … I’m comfortable in any situation.”

Players Hunter, who did not speak to the media after the workout, and Sanders met with the Cleveland Browns contingent, including team co-owner Jimmy Haslam, on Thursday night in Boulder.

“They got me really full,” Sanders said. “I definitely needed to go to the sauna after that. … It was a good vibe.”

Said Deion Sanders said: “[I] spoke to the owner, truly delightful. He was engaging. … I think one of those guys is going to be there [at No. 2].”

Hunter, the No. 1 player on Mel Kiper Jr.’s Big Board, did not do any defensive drills Friday, but he ran a full assortment of routes.

Colorado safety Shilo Sanders, Shedeur’s brother, offered plenty of encouragement, shouting commentary and clapping after each throw, including “not a lot of quarterbacks can make that throw” after one deep completion.

The highly attended event — by NFL representatives as well as fans packing small bleachers — had a festive atmosphere. Deion Sanders named it the “We Ain’t Hard 2 Find Showcase,” complete with a large lighted “The Showcase” sign next to the drills.

Hunter, who has said he wants to play offense and defense in the NFL, won the Chuck Bednarik (top defensive player) and Fred Biletnikoff (top receiver) awards in addition to the Heisman. He said whether he will primarily be a wide receiver or a cornerback in the NFL depends “on the team that picks me.”

On Friday, Deion Sanders said “ain’t nobody like Travis.”

Hunter had 96 catches for 1,258 yards and 15 touchdowns as a receiver last season to go with 35 tackles, 11 pass breakups and 4 interceptions at cornerback. In the Buffaloes’ regular-season finale against Oklahoma State, he became the only FBS player in the past 25 years with three scrimmage touchdowns on offense and an interception in the same game, according to ESPN Research.

He played 1,380 total snaps in Colorado’s 12 regular-season games: 670 on offense, 686 on defense and 24 on special teams. He played 1,007 total snaps in 2023.

Shilo Sanders, who hoped to show teams more speed than expected, ran a 4.52 40-yard dash after he measured in at 5-foot-11⅞, 196 pounds. He did not participate in the jumps or bench press that opened the workout, citing a right shoulder injury.

With all NFL eyes on the Colorado campus to see Shedeur Sanders throw, one player who made the most of it was wide receiver Will Sheppard. Sheppard, who measured 6-2¼, 196 pounds, ran the 40 in 4.56 and 4.54 to go with a 40½-inch vertical jump and a 10-foot-11 broad jump.

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O’s Henderson off IL; will make ’25 debut vs. KC

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O's Henderson off IL; will make '25 debut vs. KC

Baltimore Orioles All-Star shortstop Gunnar Henderson was activated from the 10-day injured list and will make his season debut Friday night against the Kansas City Royals.

Henderson has been sidelined with a right intercostal strain and missed the first seven games of the big league campaign.

The 23-year-old Henderson will lead off and play shortstop against the host Royals.

Henderson was injured during a spring training game Feb. 27. He was fourth in American League MVP voting last season when he batted .281 and racked up career bests of 37 homers and 92 RBIs.

Henderson completed a five-game rehab stint at Triple-A Norfolk on Wednesday. He batted .263 (5-for-19) with two homers and four RBIs and played four games at shortstop and one as the designated hitter. He did commit three errors.

“I think everybody’s looking forward to having Gunnar back on the team,” Baltimore manager Brandon Hyde said Thursday. “The rehab went really, really well. I talked to him a couple days ago, he feels great swinging the bat. The timing came, especially the last few days. He just had to get out there and get some reps defensively and get some games in, and it all went well.”

Baltimore optioned outfielder Dylan Carlson to Triple-A Norfolk to open up a roster spot. The 26-year-old was 0-for-4 with a run and RBI in two games this season.

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Life after OMG: Can 2025 Mets replicate their 2024 vibes?

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Life after OMG: Can 2025 Mets replicate their 2024 vibes?

When New York Mets president of baseball operations David Stearns attempted to assemble the best possible roster for the 2025 season this winter, the top priority was signing outfielder Juan Soto. Next was the need to replenish the starting rotation and bolster the bullpen. Then, days before pitchers and catchers reported for spring training, the lineup received one final significant reinforcement when first baseman Pete Alonso re-signed.

Acquiring a player with a singing career on the side didn’t make the cut.

“No, that is not on the list,” Stearns said with a smile.

Stearns’ decision not to re-sign Jose Iglesias, the infielder behind the mic for the viral 2024 Mets anthem “OMG,” was attributed to creating more roster flexibility. But it also hammered home a reality: The scrappy 2024 Mets, authors of a magical summer in Queens, are a thing of the past. The 2025 Mets, who will report to Citi Field for their home opener Friday, have much of the same core but also some prominent new faces — and the new, outsized expectations that come with falling two wins short of the World Series, then signing Soto to the richest contract in professional sports history.

But there’s a question surrounding this year’s team that you can’t put a price tag on: Can these Mets rekindle the magic — the vibes, the memes, the feel-good underdog story — that seemed to come out of nowhere to help carry them to Game 6 of the National League Championship Series last season?

“Last year the culture was created,” Mets shortstop Francisco Lindor said. “It’s a matter of continuing it.”

For all the success Stearns has engineered — his small-market Milwaukee Brewers teams reached the postseason five times in eight seasons after he became the youngest general manager in history in 2015 — the 40-year-old Harvard grad, like the rest of his front office peers knows there’s no precise recipe for clubhouse chemistry. There is no culture projection system. No Vibes Above Replacement.

“Culture is very important,” Stearns said last weekend in the visiting dugout at Daikin Park before his club completed an opening-weekend series against the Houston Astros. “Culture is also very difficult to predict.”

Still, it seems the Mets’ 2024 season will be all but impossible to recreate.

There was Grimace, the purple McDonald’s blob who spontaneously became the franchise’s unofficial mascot after throwing out a first pitch in June. “OMG,” performed under Iglesias’ stage name, Candelita, debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard Latin Digital Songs chart, before a remix featuring Pitbull was released in October. Citi Field became a karaoke bar whenever Lindor stepped into the batter’s box with The Temptations’ “My Girl” as his walk-up song. Alonso unveiled a lucky pumpkin in October. They were gimmicks that might have felt forced if they hadn’t felt so right.

“I don’t know if what we did last year could be replicated because it was such a chaos-filled group,” Mets reliever Ryne Stanek said. “I don’t know if that’s replicable because there’s just too many things going on. I don’t know if that’s a sustainable model. But I think the expectation of winning is really important. I think establishing what we did last year and coming into this year where people are like, ‘Oh, no, that’s what we’re expecting to do,’ makes it different. It’s always a different vibe whenever you feel like you’re the hunter versus being the hunted.”

For the first two months last season, the Mets were terrible hunters. Lindor was relentlessly booed at Citi Field during another slow start. The bullpen got crushed. The losses piled up. The Mets began the season 0-5 and sunk to rock bottom on May 29 when reliever Jorge Lopez threw his glove into the stands during a 10-3 loss to the Los Angeles Dodgers that dropped the team to 22-33.

That night, the Mets held a players-only meeting. From there, perhaps coincidentally, everything changed. The Mets won the next day, and 67 of their final 107 games.

This year, to avoid an early malaise and to better incorporate new faces like Soto and Opening Day starter Clay Holmes, players made it a point to hold meetings during spring training to lay a strong foundation.

“At the end of the day, we know who we are and that’s the beauty of our club,” Alonso said. “Not just who we are talent-wise, but who each individual is as a man and a personality. For us, our major, major strength is our collective identity as a unit.”

Organizationally, the Mets are attempting a dual-track makeover: Becoming perennial World Series contenders while not taking themselves too seriously.

The commemorative purple Grimace seat installed at Citi Field in September — Section 302, Row 6, Seat 12 in right field — remains there as part of a two-year contract. Last week, the franchise announced it will feature a New York-city themed “Five Borough” race at every home game — with a different mascot competing to represent each borough. For a third straight season, USA Today readers voted Citi Field — home of the rainbow cookie egg roll, among many other innovative treats — as having the best ballpark food in baseball.

In the clubhouse, their identity is evolving.

“I’m very much in the camp that you can’t force things,” Mets starter Sean Manaea said. “I mean, you can, but you don’t really end up with good results. And if you wait for things to happen organically, then sometimes it can take too long. So, there’s like a nudging of sorts. It’s like, ‘Let’s kind of come up with something, but not force it.’ So there’s a fine balance there and you just got to wait and see what happens.”

Stearns believes it starts with what the Mets can control: bringing positive energy every day and fostering a family atmosphere. It’s hard to quantify, but vibes undoubtedly helped fuel the Mets’ 2024 success. It’ll be a tough act to follow.

“It’s fluid,” manager Carlos Mendoza said. “I like where guys are at as far as the team chemistry goes and things like that and the connections and the relationships. But it’ll continue to take some time. And winning helps, clearly.”

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