Texas A&M or Notre Dame? It’s a bag of mixed emotions for Duke with Mike Elko, Riley Leonard facing off
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David Hale, ESPN Staff Writer
DUKE QB GRAYSON LOFTIS is looking for a politically correct way to answer a fraught question, turning to teammate Jaylen Stinson for help. Instead, Stinson eggs him on, hoping to avoid having to answer himself.
There’s a big Week 1 showdown between his former head coach, Mike Elko, now leading Texas A&M, and Riley Leonard, the guy Loftis shared a QB room at Duke with last year, now taking snaps at Notre Dame. Who ya got?
“I don’t want to touch that one with a 10-foot pole,” Loftis says. “A zero-zero tie, I guess.”
Well, that would mean Leonard didn’t throw a TD pass, right?
Loftis changes course.
“OK, 180-180,” he says, throwing up his hands.
Right. There are no good answers here.
It’s an impossible choice for the Duke holdovers, but it’s also something of a microcosm for modern college football — a coach and a QB, once tethered by success at one school, now going head-to-head on completely different sidelines; a matchup of A&M and Notre Dame and, perhaps, between college football’s espoused values and the cold reality of its bottom line.
For Leonard, Notre Dame was a chance to play for one of college football’s most storied programs in an era in which name, image and likeness dollars and NFL prospects often require the biggest stage possible. It also meant leaving the only Power 5 school to offer him a scholarship out of high school.
For Elko, the A&M job was a chance to arm himself with every resource imaginable in an era in which cash is the key to talent acquisition at a place desperate to win big. But it also meant leaving his former team under the cloak of darkness in November, with his players left to learn of his departure on social media the next morning.
For Duke — or what’s left of a program that went from a 2-10 abyss to the brink of greatness to a transfer portal exodus in two years under Elko — it has been a time of both frustration and resilience.
So when Notre Dame and Texas A&M kick off on Saturday (7:30 p.m. ET on ABC), plenty of folks at Duke will be watching with mixed emotions.
And while Leonard and Elko won’t be conflicted about their preferred outcome, even they won’t be immune to the feelings that come with facing an old friend.
“Who he is as a person, the respect and admiration I have for him,” Elko said, “I would pick any other quarterback on the planet to be on the other side of the field for that game.”
IT ACTUALLY TOOK another month before Leonard’s career at Duke was truly over, but it effectively came to a blunt ending in the final seconds of a 21-14 loss to, of all teams, Notre Dame.
A few minutes earlier might’ve been the apex of the Elko-Leonard partnership. Duke was 4-0. ESPN’s “College GameDay” had come to campus for the showdown with Notre Dame, a first in program history. Leonard was getting Heisman Trophy buzz, and though the offense had been anything but pretty that night, he’d willed the Blue Devils to a 14-13 lead late in the fourth quarter.
But Notre Dame converted a fourth-and-16 by mere inches, scored two plays later, then kicked off to Leonard and the Blue Devils with just 27 seconds to play. Leonard was desperate, scrambled in a collapsing pocket and took a merciless hit that awkwardly bent one of his legs.
Pain shot from Leonard’s ankle as he lay in a heap on the field. Meanwhile, Notre Dame recovered the loose ball and went on to win 21-14.
Leonard completed just 16 more passes in a Blue Devils jersey in two losses to Florida State and Louisville before opting for surgery and, ultimately, the transfer portal.
His destination: Notre Dame.
“It’s an ongoing joke,” Leonard said. “I was just talking trash today, saying they got lucky.”
It’s impossible to say what might’ve happened had Duke won that game, had Leonard not been helped off the field with his right leg dangling and his ankle aching. What Leonard is certain of is that he never considered the transfer portal before the injury.
“Absolutely not for a second did I have a thought of ending up here after that game,” Leonard said. “But God’s got a funny plan for my life. It’s just crazy to think about, but it’s something I really appreciate and I’m not taking any day for granted.”
In high school in Fairhope, Alabama, Leonard was a basketball star. It wasn’t until his senior season that football became his priority, and by that point, he had garnered few suitors on the recruiting trail. But a high school coach was pals with then-Duke coach David Cutcliffe, whom he saw enough from Leonard to offer a scholarship.
Cutcliffe was fired after Leonard’s first year at Duke, however, and it was Elko who really gave the QB his shot. The decision paid immediate dividends, with Duke winning nine games in 2022, largely buoyed by Leonard’s success.
It all felt like a perfect story until Leonard was tethered to a hospital bed, recovering from ankle surgery in November 2023.
By then, rumors were swirling that Elko would leave. The vultures were circling as portal season approached. The word in certain circles was that Leonard had already decided he was leaving, too, though multiple sources with direct knowledge of the situation argued otherwise, noting Elko and Leonard were still discussing a possible return as late as Nov. 26, the day Elko ultimately left for Texas A&M.
Truth is, Leonard said, he wasn’t eager to leave the only college that had given him a chance, but he said he ultimately had to make “a selfish” decision. Not the wrong decision, he said, just not the choice that might’ve been best for everyone around him.
“You can give him some grace, but you’ve got to call a spade a spade,” said DeWayne Carter, a former Blue Devils defensive tackle and one of Leonard’s closest confidants. “You’ve got to be selfish in that world, and Riley is the farthest thing from selfish in this universe. He did all he could to come back for us [from the ankle injury], and he had a right to make a decision for himself. It was never a secretive thing. He had conversations with us, and I told him I supported him.”
Another voice of support came from Notre Dame’s last starting QB, Sam Hartman — a player who had left an ACC school where he carved out a legendary career in favor of one last ride with the Irish.
Hartman’s transfer had its own critics, and when the Irish honored him at their 2023 Senior Day festivities, Wake Forest coach Dave Clawson lamented the situation, suggesting Notre Dame was just a flirtation, while Wake was home. It was, perhaps, a reasonable take. Clawson noted that, when Hartman posted images to his social media playing the new EA Sports College Football game, he was playing with Wake, not Notre Dame.
But when Leonard reached out for advice, Hartman gave him the hard sell. No, it wasn’t easy to leave a place he loved. Yes, Notre Dame was still the right decision.
And so Leonard said goodbye to Duke, and went to a play for the team that had delivered the most punishing blow to his career thus far.
Like Hartman, he said, there are no regrets.
“Everybody here is the biggest Notre Dame supporter. Everywhere you go we feel the love. You’re in the middle of nowhere Indiana, but it’s such a special place,” he said. “I feel like I’ve become a better person spiritually, mentally, as a football player, a student. It’s been a great experience so far.”
ELKO MET WITH his team at 3 p.m. on Sunday, Nov. 26. He had been offered the head-coaching job at Texas A&M, a place where he spent three years (2018-21) as defensive coordinator, and he was seriously considering accepting.
This wasn’t the first time Duke’s players had heard some version of this story. Elko had been a hot name on the coaching carousel after his stellar debut season with the Blue Devils, but at every other turn, he demurred.
He loved Duke. Elko has two kids in high school in Durham, and if he took the A&M job, he’d be leaving them behind. Athletic director Nina King had given him his first opportunity as a head coach, and he wanted to be loyal.
But offers like Texas A&M don’t come around often. He had gone home to talk with his family about it, and in the meantime, then-Texas A&M athletic director Ross Bjork — who would leave for a new job himself less than two months later — and the head of the board of regents flew to Raleigh, North Carolina, to await his response.
Hours passed as Elko, his wife and his kids debated the job. It wasn’t until nearly midnight they came to a decision, and by that time, Bjork & Co. had been waiting on a tarmac at the Raleigh airport for three hours.
Elko called King around 11:55 p.m. and told her he was taking A&M’s offer and promptly left for Texas.
The next morning, the news was everywhere.
“There were a lot of hard feelings for me and the school and the staff,” Carter said. “You wake up and are learning stuff from Twitter. I was mad. I was definitely mad.”
Former Duke defensive tackle Aeneas Peebles, now at Virginia Tech, called it “a messy time.”
“Going through a coaching change and hearing the rumors on Twitter, even weeks before it actually happened, especially an amazing coach like Elko,” Peebles said, “hearing rumors that brought life back to this place, it hurt.”
Elko scheduled a videoconference meeting with the team for the afternoon of Nov. 27, and a report quickly surfaced suggesting a number of players planned to boycott.
Ultimately, the whole team joined the meeting, however, which Elko said was brief. What was left to say?
“When you leave for a lateral job, everything you say is bulls—,” Elko said. “You make a public statement, but we broke up. There’s no good way to do that. I certainly regret not being there Monday morning to talk to people, but it was a really unique station. If I could change anything, I’d have somebody stop that plane.”
Peebles said he has come to understand why Elko made the decision. Leonard, too. In the end, they all made the same choice.
The game is about the team, Peebles said. The business is about the individual. The freedom to leave is both a lifeline and a dagger.
“At the end of the day, this is an unforgiving game,” Peebles said. “It’s not a game that caters to people. It brings people together, but it for sure doesn’t cater to an individual or an individual’s feelings, and there have been a whole lot of great players who got stuck in terrible situations.”
IF ANGER WAS the first emotion for Carter, that quickly shifted into something more resolute. He had been at Duke for five years, and he didn’t want his story to end on this note.
“My immediate thought,” Carter said, “was, ‘How do we finish this the right way?'”
The math suggested there would be no happy ending. Initially, more than 20 Duke players entered the transfer portal — though several ultimately chose to stay. It took 13 days for Duke to hire Elko’s replacement, Manny Diaz. A host of stars who had helped rebuild the Duke program were on their way out, including Leonard, tailback Jordan Waters, defensive end R.J. Oben (who joined Leonard at Notre Dame) and defensive back Brandon Johnson.
Carter could’ve walked away, too, and started training for the combine. His legacy at Duke was secure. Instead, he marched into a splintered, chaotic locker room and restored order. There was a bowl game to win, and no amount of turmoil would be excuse enough to walk away from one last chance to play together.
“They’re the reason guys played in that game, even guys who were transferring out,” said Duke strength coach David Feeley. “They wanted to win that game. That was one of the most special experiences I’ll ever get is watching the power of that locker room keep it all together for a bowl win.”
It’s not that the hard feelings simply vanished amid a desire to win a bowl game — “Trust me, it wasn’t 100 percent perfect every day,” Carter said — but there was unity in the approach to those few weeks in December when it was clear the end was near, but it hadn’t quite arrived.
A handful of players who had already entered the transfer portal insisted on playing in the bowl game, including Peebles. Leonard was still recovering from surgery, but he was at every practice, cheering on his teammates and coaching from the sideline. Guys were taking calls and planning their futures, but when it came time to focus on Troy — Duke’s 76 Birmingham Bowl opponent — the team was uniformly focused.
“That was the shining light that reinforced that Duke’s all about good people,” Peebles said. “We all thought about the good stuff and the good this place had done for us, so it almost felt wrong not to finish it together.”
When Diaz was finally hired on Dec. 7, he was initially a bit surprised at the mood of his locker room. It was turbulent, to say the least, but also strangely engaged. Diaz had been a part of coaching changes before, but he had never seen anything like this.
It was a team that knew the end was near, but refused to rush toward the exit.
“Those couple weeks were tough,” said Loftis, who started Duke’s 17-10 win over Troy. “You look around and you’re like, ‘What the heck?’ But I think what stuck out was just looking inside the locker room and banding together as brothers.”
When it was over, the business of football became real once again with dozens of players going separate ways.
Looking back, it ended the way it had to, but also with a reminder that all the days between business decisions still matter, too.
“At the core, that’s just who we were at Duke,” Carter said. “I’d bet they’re still the same way. We were always friends first.”
ELKO HAS BEEN thinking a lot of the first game he coached against Wake Forest in 2017. He was defensive coordinator for the Deacs for three years (2014-16) before Notre Dame came calling for him, too, and in November of that year, he faced off against his former players.
It made him sick.
“It was the worst feeling on the planet,” Elko said. “I was with all those kids and now I’m on the other side. I hated that feeling. And I imagine it will be the same with Riley [on Saturday].”
Leonard has thought about what it will be like to see his former coach on the sideline across from him.
“I love Coach Elko,” Leonard said. “I know saying something scandalous would be good for a story, but that’s just not how it is.
Elko has also thought about what he’d say if they bumped into each other during warm-ups. In a perfect world, he said, it’d be best to share hugs afterward.
At Duke, there’s a feeling of nostalgia. It’s not anger anymore. Just perhaps a little sadness thinking about what was and what might’ve been.
During the draft process, Carter said teams asked him about Elko’s departure — perhaps hoping to rattle him or egg him into saying something negative about a former coach. He never hesitated.
Peebles seriously considered returning to Duke after Diaz was hired, but it wouldn’t have been the same. Still, he looks back on his time there — and his time with Elko — as a blessing.
“I love Coach Elko, and he did a great job,” Peebles said. “He had to make a hard decision the same as I did, but he did a lot for me.”
Elko, too, acknowledges the paradox of his situation: He’s at Texas A&M, in large part, because of all the work his players at Duke did to achieve success.
It took a while for the tide to turn inside the Duke locker room. For a number of the veterans, they remembered that 2-10 season in 2021 and the videoconference announcing Cutcliffe had been fired. They remembered trusting Elko and having that belief rewarded with immediate success. They faced another fork in the road with Elko’s departure and wondered where the next path might lead.
“When you lose your head coach and your starting quarterback in short order, guys are going to be unsure where the future of the program lies,” Diaz said. “This is one of the new challenges of our sport, is you’ve got to win your locker room right away. Ten years ago, nobody had a choice but to buy in. Now that buy-in has to happen right off the bat, which is hard.”
It’s hard to pin down the exact moment the holdovers bought into Diaz’s vision for the program’s future. There were many small moments, Feeley said, though Diaz credits retaining the team’s strength coach as a pivotal starting point. But Diaz also believes the arrival of quarterback Maalik Murphy was another. Murphy was a blue-chip recruit coming out of high school, but he found himself sandwiched between Quinn Ewers and Arch Manning on the Texas depth chart, and so he, too, hit the transfer portal in search of a new opportunity. He found it at Duke, a place where blue-chip recruits rarely call home.
“They believe their superpower comes from work,” Diaz said, “and not just being anointed by the recruiting gods.”
But Murphy had been anointed, then he chose Duke. It was a reminder the portal works both ways, and Duke could be a destination as much as a launching bad.
And it’s Murphy, too, who finds the right words to help Loftis answer that impossible question about the proper rooting interest when Elko and Leonard face off, because if there’s still one undeniable echo of college football’s deepest roots it’s this: Rivals stay rivals.
“I want Notre Dame to win,” said Murphy, a former Texas Longhorn. “I don’t like A&M.”
Andrea Adelson contributed to this story.
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Neil Paine
Hockey is a notoriously chaotic sport in which you need a large sample of games to know what’s real versus what’s just noise. For instance, it is estimated that it takes the entire 82-game NHL season to give us as much information about team quality as just 32 NBA games — or less than half the regular season — do.
So it’s always risky to draw grand conclusions from what we see over the first month of play on the ice. But that can’t stop us from finding interesting trends emerging from the early portion of the schedule.
Here are seven initial developments that have taken us by surprise in 2024-25 so far:
1. Ovechkin’s comeback against Father Time
One of the biggest storylines heading into the season was Alex Ovechkin‘s pursuit of Wayne Gretzky’s goal-scoring record, with the Great 8 starting the season trailing The Great One by 41 scores.
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Sean Allen
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Victoria Matiash
Close
Victoria Matiash
Fantasy Hockey
- ESPN.com Fantasy Contributor since 2010
- Part-time anchor at NEWSTALK1010
Another week, another No. 1 landing spot for the Winnipeg Jets in the ESPN NHL Power Rankings. But who finishes 2-32?
Plus, it’s another fantasy hockey takeover week, with Sean Allen and Victoria Matiash identifying one player per team who is off to a slow start (relative to his teammates or expectations) and advising fantasy managers whether to have patience or panic at this time.
And as a reminder, it’s not too late to join ESPN Fantasy Hockey. Sign up for free and start playing today!
How we rank: A panel of ESPN hockey commentators, analysts, reporters and editors sends in a 1-32 poll based on the games through Wednesday, which generates our master list here.
Note: Previous ranking for each team refers to the previous edition, published Nov. 8. Points percentages are through Thursday’s games.
Previous ranking: 1
Points percentage: 88.24%
Cole Perfetti, LW (28.9% rostered in ESPN Fantasy leagues): As difficult as it is to find fault with anything Jets-related these days, Perfetti isn’t quite meeting 2024-25 fantasy expectations yet. But the 22-year-old remains cemented on the Jets’ second scoring line and power play, and he has pitched in enough multipoint showings to merit another look in deeper leagues. Verdict: Patience.
Next seven days: @ FLA (Nov. 16), vs. FLA (Nov. 19)
Previous ranking: 2
Points percentage: 73.33%
Brent Burns, D (69.5%): The writing had been on the wall, faintly sketched with a carpenter’s pencil, but now it’s been retraced in ink. Shayne Gostisbehere has the power play on lock, and Burns doesn’t put up the points without it now. Verdict: Panic.
Next seven days: vs. OTT (Nov. 16), vs. STL (Nov. 17), @ PHI (Nov. 20), @ NJ (Nov. 21)
Previous ranking: 4
Points percentage: 67.65%
Gustav Forsling, D (68.8%): Playoff heroics can inflate rostership numbers even this far into the future, but Forsling isn’t a must-have fantasy contributor. You can find a defenseman with a higher ceiling among your league’s free agents. Verdict: Panic.
Next seven days: vs. WPG (Nov. 16), @ WPG (Nov. 19), @ CHI (Nov. 21)
Previous ranking: 5
Points percentage: 78.13%
Marc-Andre Fleury, G (51.8%): As long as Filip Gustavsson continues to perform dependably well, the veteran No. 2 isn’t going to play much. There are other lesser-rostered backups in the league — Jake Allen and Jonathan Quick come to mind — who offer more fantasy punch than Fleury. Verdict: Panic.
Next seven days: vs. DAL (Nov. 16), @ STL (Nov. 19), @ EDM (Nov. 21)
Previous ranking: 6
Points percentage: 70.00%
Matt Roy, D (45.6%): After a breakout fantasy campaign with the Kings last season, cut Roy some slack. He has had only a handful of games to get used to his new teammates, and the minutes are there to get the job done. Verdict: Patience.
Next seven days: @ COL (Nov. 15), @ VGK (Nov. 17), @ UTA (Nov. 18), vs. COL (Nov. 21)
Previous ranking: 3
Points percentage: 70.00%
Mika Zibanejad, C (95.6%): Zibanejad has had slow starts before — 1.78 FPPG in 2021-22 and 1.93 FPPG last season — yet still finished over 2.00 FPPG. His current 1.58 FPPG isn’t alarming. Verdict: Patience.
Next seven days: @ SEA (Nov. 17), @ VAN (Nov. 19), @ CGY (Nov. 21)
Previous ranking: 7
Points percentage: 68.75%
Brayden McNabb, D (52.3%): Returning to his selfless ways — highlighted by five blocked shots against the Ducks Wednesday — McNabb is already working back into his fantasy managers’ good graces. While hardly a prolific producer, the veteran should start pitching in a few more points, too. Verdict: Patience.
Next seven days: @ UTA (Nov. 15), vs. WSH (Nov. 17), @ TOR (Nov. 20), @ OTT (Nov. 21)
Previous ranking: 10
Points percentage: 65.00%
Luke Hughes, D (39.1%): He did an admirable job filling in for an injured Dougie Hamilton as a rookie last season, but unless that situation arises again, it looks as though Hughes is out of the limelight for this campaign. Verdict: Panic.
Next seven days: @ TB (Nov. 16), vs. CAR (Nov. 21)
Previous ranking: 8
Points percentage: 66.67%
Roope Hintz, C (79.8%): Some bad puck luck, illustrated by his 6.7% shooting percentage through six recent contests (career: 16.5%), is partially to blame for Hintz’s current skid. But the perennial 30-plus goal scorer is bound to get back on track soon, especially once Peter DeBoer inevitably juggles his lines again. Verdict: Patience.
Next seven days: @ MIN (Nov. 16), vs. ANA (Nov. 18), vs. SJ (Nov. 20)
Previous ranking: 11
Points percentage: 63.33%
Filip Hronek, D (51.9%): He’s averaging approximately a single shot and blocked shot per game. Unlike last season, the compensatory scoring isn’t there to make up for those shortcomings. Hronek appears far more valuable to the Canucks as Quinn Hughes‘ defensive partner than to his fantasy managers. Verdict: Panic.
Next seven days: vs. CHI (Nov. 16), vs. NSH (Nov. 17), vs. NYR (Nov. 19)
Previous ranking: 9
Points percentage: 58.33%
Quinton Byfield, RW (43.2%): The lack of a single power-play point is one concern, along with his removal from the top unit. Through the fantasy lens, so is Byfield’s third-line role. If all remains as is, we might be in for another season of inconsistent fantasy returns. Verdict: Panic.
Next seven days: vs. DET (Nov. 16), vs. BUF (Nov. 20)
Previous ranking: 13
Points percentage: 61.11%
Matthew Knies, LW (42.4%): He has been making hay while the sun shines, so to speak, as he gets first power-play unit access while Auston Matthews is out. The confidence boost should carry over to when Matthews returns, and they are linemates again. Verdict: Patience.
Next seven days: vs. EDM (Nov. 16), vs. VGK (Nov. 20)
Previous ranking: 17
Points percentage: 55.88%
Jeff Skinner, C (45.0%): Afforded the opportunity to compete alongside just about every Oiler up front, including two of the best centers in the biz, the veteran winger has nonetheless failed to offer much of a productive presence. Now Skinner appears relegated to Edmonton’s fourth line. Verdict: Panic.
Next seven days: @ TOR (Nov. 16), @ MTL (Nov. 18), @ OTT (Nov. 19), vs. MIN (Nov. 21)
Previous ranking: 12
Points percentage: 56.67%
Jake Guentzel, LW (98.8%): Guentzel’s overall output is fantastic already, but with just two power-play points so far, he has yet to add his usual production with the man advantage. If he does, his already strong fantasy profile could get a big boost. Verdict: Patience.
Next seven days: vs. NJ (Nov. 16), @ PIT (Nov. 19), @ CBJ (Nov. 21)
Previous ranking: 19
Points percentage: 52.94%
Devon Toews, D (66.7%): While it has taken the defender time to warm up after a delayed start to 2024-25, Toews now appears back in his groove: blocking shots, contributing to the score sheet and skating more minutes than nearly everyone else. Cale Makar‘s partner hasn’t averaged 0.58 points per game throughout his career by accident. Verdict: Patience.
Next seven days: vs. WSH (Nov. 15), @ PHI (Nov. 18), @ WSH (Nov. 21)
Previous ranking: 15
Points percentage: 53.13%
Linus Ullmark, G (84.8%): The Senators are showing signs of competing, and we know Ullmark is capable of being among the best. Patience might already be paying off with some of his recent road outings against tough division rivals. Verdict: Patience.
Next seven days: @ CAR (Nov. 16), vs. EDM (Nov. 19), vs. VGK (Nov. 21)
Previous ranking: 14
Points percentage: 55.88%
Nazem Kadri, C (78.4%): While no one is scoring much for the Flames these days, including their No. 1 center, this too shall pass. Perhaps it’ll play out like last season, when Kadri collected two points in October before erupting for 13 in November, then maintained that scoring pace for the duration of the season. Also, he shoots the puck a lot. Verdict: Patience.
Next seven days: vs. NSH (Nov. 15), vs. NYI (Nov. 19), vs. NYR (Nov. 21)
Previous ranking: 20
Points percentage: 50.00%
Charlie McAvoy, D (89.9%): The Bruins’ offense might be slower this season, but McAvoy’s 1.64 FPPG is still too low. Give him time. Not enough has changed to drop him far from his 2.29 FPPG average over the past three seasons. Verdict: Patience
Next seven days: vs. STL (Nov. 16), vs. CBJ (Nov. 18), vs. UTA (Nov. 21)
Previous ranking: 18
Points percentage: 53.13%
Barrett Hayton, C (17.5%): According to analysis by Evolving Hockey, the third-line center (for now) should be scoring more goals in accordance with the quality of his shots. That offers some comfort in light of his current skid. While Hayton certainly needs to play more minutes and shoot on net more often, he doesn’t merit giving up entirely in deeper fantasy leagues. Verdict: Patience.
Next seven days: vs. VGK (Nov. 15), vs. WSH (Nov. 18), @ BOS (Nov. 21)
Previous ranking: 24
Points percentage: 52.94%
Brock Nelson, C (76.9%): The Isles’ collective offense isn’t weaker than it has been for several years. Nelson has averaged 2.03 FPPG across the past three seasons. He’ll come around. Verdict: Patience.
Next seven days: @ SEA (Nov. 16), @ CGY (Nov. 19), @ DET (Nov. 21)
Previous ranking: 21
Points percentage: 50.00%
Patrick Kane, RW (66.3%): If the Red Wings’ power play were in the dumps, maybe we could preach patience for Kane. But it’s not, and it might be time to move on from Kane in fantasy. He is getting all the opportunities required and is just not producing. Verdict: Panic.
Next seven days: @ ANA (Nov. 15), @ LA (Nov. 16), @ SJ (Nov. 18), vs. NYI (Nov. 21)
Previous ranking: 23
Points percentage: 50.00%
Dylan Cozens, C (49.3%): It is time to move off Cozens. He had that banner 2022-23 but is now matching the reduced fantasy production that lasted all of last season. Even an uptick in performance might not be enough to get to fantasy relevance from his current 1.41 FPPG. Verdict: Panic.
Next seven days: @ PHI (Nov. 16), @ LA (Nov. 20)
Previous ranking: 25
Points percentage: 50.00%
Adam Larsson, D (60.5%): Despite the relative drought, the top-pair defenseman still blocks a sufficient number of shots to merit rostering in deeper standard leagues. Plus, he’ll soon fall back into his usual (however relatively modest) scoring groove. Verdict: Patience.
Next seven days: vs. NYI (Nov. 16), vs. NYR (Nov. 17), vs. NSH (Nov. 20)
Previous ranking: 16
Points percentage: 44.12%
Jordan Binnington, G (55.1%): After winning the season opener against Seattle, the Blues’ No. 1 has yet to beat anyone outside of the Atlantic Division. Shouldering a 4-7-0 record, .887 save percentage and 3.26 goals-against average, Binnington has cost his fantasy managers a total net loss of 1.8 points. Yes, negative points. There are likely brighter days ahead for the banged-up Blues, but when? Verdict: Panic.
Next seven days: @ BOS (Nov. 16), @ CAR (Nov. 17), vs. MIN (Nov. 19), vs. SJ (Nov. 21)
Previous ranking: 31
Points percentage: 47.06%
Joel Farabee, LW (50.7%): Farabee, Tyson Foerster, Scott Laughton; Take your pick of Flyers who were just picking up some fantasy momentum in their career but have been buried on the depth chart by the new core group. Verdict: Panic.
Next seven days: vs. BUF (Nov. 16), vs. COL (Nov. 18), vs. CAR (Nov. 20)
Previous ranking: 27
Points percentage: 38.24%
Teuvo Teravainen, RW (41.4%): The Blackhawks’ offseason acquisition has one goal and zero assists in his past 11 games, and he isn’t shooting with any consistency. Even back on a scoring line with Connor Bedard, Teravainen can’t be counted on to contribute regularly enough. Verdict: Panic.
Next seven days: @ VAN (Nov. 16), vs. ANA (Nov. 19), vs. FLA (Nov. 21)
Previous ranking: 26
Points percentage: 41.67%
Erik Karlsson, D (94.1%): It’s been a season and a quarter now, so what we see from Karlsson as a Penguin might be what we get. He’s not the sole source of offense, so downgraded fantasy output is just the new normal. Verdict: Panic.
Next seven days: @ CBJ (Nov. 15), vs. SJ (Nov. 16), vs. TB (Nov. 19)
Previous ranking: 22
Points percentage: 40.00%
Ivan Provorov, D (19.2%): No one on the Blue Jackets is underperforming in a big way, but even 20% rostership is too high for Provorov. If he’s not on the first pair, you can safely pretend he’s not there. Verdict: Panic.
Next seven days: vs. PIT (Nov. 15), @ MTL (Nov. 16), @ BOS (Nov. 18), vs. TB (Nov. 21)
Previous ranking: 28
Points percentage: 38.24%
Gustav Nyquist, RW (16.6%): Once replaced by Steven Stamkos on the Predators’ top line, Nyquist lost most of his fantasy charm. It’s no coincidence the winger was at his most productive when skating alongside Filip Forsberg and Ryan O’Reilly. Verdict: Panic.
Next seven days: @ CGY (Nov. 15), @ VAN (Nov. 17), @ SEA (Nov. 20)
Previous ranking: 29
Points percentage: 40.00%
Lukas Dostal, G (60.7%): The Ducks allow the most shots against (35.5 per game) while scoring the fewest goals (2.20 per game). Plus, a healthy John Gibson is back to share Anaheim’s crease. Dostal’s successful fantasy run was fun while it lasted. It’s time to move on. Verdict: Panic.
Next seven days: vs. DET (Nov. 15), @ DAL (Nov. 18), @ CHI (Nov. 19)
Previous ranking: 32
Points percentage: 36.11%
William Eklund, LW (56.2%): The sophomore is playing a ton of minutes, pitching in assists and now skating on a scoring line with Mikael Granlund. Which is a good thing. Yes, we’d all like to see him shoot more. Verdict: Patience.
Next seven days: @ PIT (Nov. 16), vs. DET (Nov. 18), @ DAL (Nov. 20), @ STL (Nov. 21)
Previous ranking: 30
Points percentage: 35.29%
Sam Montembeault, G (22.3%): The Habs don’t look like they’ll win enough for Monty to shine in redraft leagues, but if you drafted him for a keeper league, there are positive signs for the future. Verdict: Patience, at least for the long term.
Next seven days: vs. CBJ (Nov. 16), vs. EDM (Nov. 18)
LAS VEGAS — Left-handers Chris Sale of the Atlanta Braves and Garrett Crochet of the Chicago White Sox won Major League Baseball’s Comeback Player of the Year awards on Thursday.
Cleveland right-hander Emmanuel Clase won his second AL Reliever of the Year award and St. Louis righty Ryan Helsley won the NL honor.
Los Angeles Dodgers star Shohei Ohtani joined David Ortiz as the only players to win four straight Outstanding Designated Hitter awards. Ohtani and the New York Yankees‘ Aaron Judge won Hank Aaron Awards as the outstanding offensive performers in their leagues.
Major League Baseball made the announcements at its All-MLB Awards Show.
Sale, 35, was 18-3 with a 2.38 ERA and 225 strikeouts in 177⅔ innings for the NL’s first pitching triple crown since the Dodgers’ Clayton Kershaw in 2011. He earned his eighth All-Star selection and first since 2018.
Sale helped Boston to the 2018 World Series title but made just 56 starts from 2020-23, going 17-18 with a 4.86 ERA, 400 strikeouts and 79 walks over 298⅓ innings. He was acquired by Boston from the White Sox in December 2016 and made nine trips to the injured list with the Red Sox, mostly with shoulder and elbow ailments. He had Tommy John surgery on March 30, 2020, and returned to a big league mound on Aug. 14, 2021.
Sale fractured a rib while pitching in batting practice in February 2022 during the management lockout. On July 17, in his second start back, he broke his left pinkie finger when he was hit by a line drive off the bat of the Yankees’ Aaron Hicks. Sale broke his right wrist while riding a bicycle en route to lunch on Aug. 6, ending his season.
Crochet, 25, was 6-12 with a 3.58 ERA over 32 starts for a White Sox team that set a post-1900 record of 121 losses, becoming a first-time All-Star. He struck out 209 and walked 33 in 146 innings.
He had Tommy John surgery on April 5, 2022, and returned to the major leagues on May 18, 2023. Crochet had a 3.55 ERA in 13 relief appearances in 2023, and then joined the rotation this year.
Sale and Crochet were chosen in voting by MLB.com beat writers.
Clase and Helsley were unanimous picks by a panel that included Hall of Famers Trevor Hoffman, Mariano Rivera, Dennis Eckersley and Rollie Fingers, along with John Franco and Billy Wagner. The AL award is named after Rivera and the NL honor after Hoffman.
A three-time All-Star, Clase was 4-2 with a 0.61 ERA, 66 strikeouts and 10 walks in 74⅓ innings, holding batters to a .154 average. The 26-year-old converted 47 of 50 save chances, including his last 47.
Voting was based on the regular season. Clase was 0-2 with a 9.00 ERA in the playoffs, allowing three home runs, one more than his regular-season total.
Helsley, a two-time All-Star, was 7-4 with a 2.04 ERA and 49 saves in 53 chances. He struck out 79 and walked 23 in 66⅓ innings.
Ohtani became the first player with 50 or more homers and 50 or more stolen bases in a season. A two-way star limited to hitting following elbow surgery, Ohtani batted .310 and led the NL with 54 homers and 130 RBIs while stealing 59 bases.
Ortiz won the DH award five years in a row from 2003-07.
The DH award, named after Edgar Martinez, is picked in voting by team beat writers, broadcasters and public relations departments. MLB.com writers determined the finalists for the Aaron awards, and a fan vote was combined with picks from a panel of Hall of Famers and former winners to determine the selections.
Judge led the major leagues with 58 homers and 144 RBIs while hitting .322.
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