How a potential NFL first-round draft pick ended up at Army
WEST POINT, N.Y. — Army head coach Jeff Monken is giving a history lesson. He has led this program for nine seasons, earning five bowl berths, and in 2018 guiding the team to its first appearance in the AP Top 25’s final rankings in 22 years. Most importantly, he has led the Black Knights to four wins in six years over Navy.
But now, Monken is in full-on professor mode. He is starting way back when to get us to the right here moment as he sits in his office overlooking the field at Michie Stadium, the nearly 100-year-old home of the Black Knights. “That’s Fort Putnam that you can see above the stadium,” he says as he points to the stone wall atop the hill overlooking the playing field and the Hudson River valley below.
Monken speaks of George Washington’s insistence that a military base be built in the hills around West Point, the perfect spot to protect the perfect bend in the river from which to defend New York City, 50 miles south, when the British Navy inevitably attempted to sail down from Canada. He gets lathered up describing the Great Chain, links of 150-pound steel that were stretched across that river to block those ships.
“I have a Revolutionary War era redoubt structure in my yard! Heck, we have a Sherman tank parked at the front gate of the school. Everywhere you look around here, it’s about defending your position,” Monken says.
The coach pauses to silently acknowledge that he has just penned a beautiful segue. His point shifts from outside to inside, from the fortifications on the hill to the lobby of the Army football office. Just outside his door hangs a framed photo of a tall, lean tackling machine. The player wears No. 34. The outside linebacker’s portrait is placed prominently, where visitors wait to see the coach, as a reminder to all — but especially visiting NFL scouts — who it is they have traveled from the city to see.
“Yeah, we know a little something about defense around here,” Monken says, putting emphasis on his point. “So, that makes it pretty easy to recognize that we have a special defender in Andre Carter.”
Andre Carter II is a 6-foot-7, 260-pound senior who has taken the long road to West Point and soon will be able to say he has taken an even longer road to the NFL. Like seemingly everything else at Army, Carter is a history lesson. One year ago, he was named to the AP All-American team, the first Black Knight to make that list in 31 years. That’s what happens when you trail only Alabama’s Will Anderson in sacks with 15.5, one and a half more than Heisman Trophy finalist Aidan Hutchinson of Michigan.
Carter is the player of whom then-Wisconsin head coach Paul Chryst said, “There are guys that when you watch film you think, ‘Okay, if we don’t keep an eye on him, he will kill us.’ And this kid is that kid.”
When he made his first collegiate start in late 2020 against Georgia Southern, he registered a sack, a forced fumble, an interception and a blocked kick, prompting Eagles head coach Chad Lunsford to quip, “Make that guy a general right now.” And just this week, No. 15 Wake Forest‘s Dave Clawson spent his Monday presser reading off Carter’s statistics ahead of Saturday’s visit from Army (7:30 p.m. ET, ESPN3).
Carter entered the fall as not only a preseason All-American, but a fixture on every mock NFL draft board as a can’t-miss prospect. In their latest player rankings, ESPN’s Todd McShay had Carter listed as the second best OLB behind only Anderson and the 14th best athlete overall. Mel Kiper Jr. has him even higher, ranked second at OLB behind Anderson and 11th overall.
“His wingspan is incredible,” Kiper says. “His length is his strength. He’s lean. He’s smart. When you watch his tape, it’s like you’re rewinding and watching the same play over and over because he’s that consistent. Because of that, I think he will be able to step into any defensive scheme and make an impact.”
If McShay’s and Kiper’s projections become reality and Carter’s name is called by the NFL commissioner on April 27, 2023, he will become the first Army first-round pick since 1947. Even if he were to unexpectedly fall to the second or third day of the draft, he still would be the team’s highest selection of the Super Bowl era.
Since 1969, only two Army players have been taken by NFL teams, both in the seventh and final round and the last being defensive back Caleb Campbell in 2008. There are currently two Black Knights in the NFL and one player each from Air Force and Navy. All were signed as free agents.
“I know people wonder how I ended up here, at Army,” the soft-spoken Carter says, having just finished morning drills, physical education and international relations classes, lunch, followed by football film study and practice. “It was a two-part decision. I knew that this place, just being here, is an honor. Serving my country is an honor, and I look forward to serving my country for a long time. But I also knew that you could go to the NFL from here.”
Sitting in the team cafeteria, Carter is reminded of all his stats — and lack of them. He gestures with a hand toward the photos on the walls of the lunchroom featuring plenty of great Army players who never saw a minute of NFL playing time.
“I hope I have a chance to represent them and this place because they really didn’t have the chance,” he says. “That’s important to me. Because the rules are different now and I have a chance to make my case. We’ll see what happens either way. It’s a great, great opportunity to play in the NFL, sure, but it’s also great opportunity to be in the United States Army.”
YES, THE RULES are different now. They have been since 2019, when the Department of Defense instituted a new policy that allows any service academy athlete to request a deferment of their required military service until the end of their professional playing days. The granting of such a request is not guaranteed and the military reserves the right to call those athletes into active duty if they deem it necessary.
It’s a far cry from the days of 1963 Heisman winner Roger Staubach, who didn’t play in the NFL until 1969 as he served in the Navy, or Napoleon McCallum, who was assigned a Naval post in Southern California while he played for the Los Angeles Raiders.
For decades, the small handful of NFL- and NBA-worthy service academy graduates worked with their respective branches to try and creatively work around the restrictions. That ended (though not without some continuing pockets of political resistance) when the Trump Administration started a push to change the rules after his meeting with the 2018 Army team to commemorate it clinching of the Commander-in-Chief’s Trophy over Air Force and Navy.
The following summer, a new plebe arrived on campus named Andre Carter II. He was signed out of Cheshire Academy in Connecticut, where he had moved after attending one high school in California and two more in his hometown of Houston. He was the youngest of five siblings and the son of two athletes in his mother Melissa and father Andre Sr., a former lawyer and retired airline employee-turned-franchisee in the pizza and check-cashing businesses.
“Dre was the kid who never made a fuss about anything, and he is still so soft-spoken,” Melissa says of her son. She recalls a phone conversation just this week when she had to drag it out of Andre that he had just spent the day with a College GameDay TV crew. “Whatever food I put in front of him, he ate it, and whatever clothes I laid for him, he wore it. He never got excited about much. Until football. That was the first time when he really took charge, like, ‘Mom, I have to do this and this if I want to be as great as I want to be.’ He loved football so much.”
That affection was developed on Sunday afternoons, hanging out with his father, a Chicago native, and rooting for their beloved Bears. “Their offense was always letting me down, though, so maybe that’s why I loved watching defensive players,” Carter says, groaning at the recollection of the 2000’s Bears. Little Dre loved Brian Urlacher, Julius Peppers and, later on, Khalil Mack. He loved dudes who got after quarterbacks.
“But he was so tall and lean, there was no question that he was going to be a receiver, a tight end,” Andre Sr. says. “So, that’s what he became in high school.”
The problem was he never played. He needed to put on weight, and at his first Houston high school he was stuck behind a four-star tight end in Mustapha Muhammad. By the time he transferred and played his senior year at Western Christian, FBS college scouts were busy watching others. His high school graduation came and went with only a couple of nibbles from FCS and Division II schools.
So, his mom tapped into her legal research skills and started looking for another option. That’s how her son ended up moving to New England to play for Cheshire and head coach Dave Dykeman, now director of special football projects for the XFL. As soon as Dykeman saw the 6-5, 220-pounder he informed Carter he was now playing defense.
“I really loved rushing the passer and it came to me faster than expected,” Carter says, admitting maybe watching all those Bears defenders with his dad had paid off. “And because I had always been a receiver, I think that helped me drop back into coverage easily. It really helps to have spent so much time on the other side.”
Barely a month into his fifth high school season, Dykeman had called his friend and longtime Army assistant coach John Loose, telling him West Point had to see this kid. This is how recruiting has worked during the Monken era because it has to. Army doesn’t have the ability to pick and choose five-star prospects like an Alabama or Ohio State, just as those Power 5 schools don’t have to grapple with the looming questions and uncertainty that comes with the U.S. military academies admission process or doubts from players and families about the lifestyle.
Instead, they blanket the nation with thousands of names. Monken estimates 10,000 player evaluations per recruiting cycle. But so many diamonds in the rough are still uncovered by knowing a guy who has a kid he believes Army needs to know about.
ANDRE CARTER II is now the literal poster-in-the-lobby child of that approach. He enters that lobby by walking past the three Heisman Trophies earned by Army running backs, Pete Dawkins in 1958 and two of Army’s only three first-rounders, Doc Blanchard in 1945 and Glenn Davis in 1946. When he lifts weights with his teammates, he does so under the watch of bronzed eyes, a statue of those three and their coach, Red Blaik, the only Army head coach with more wins than Monken.
Carter admits he hasn’t done enough research on the men immortalized in that sculpture, or any of the countless plaques and memorials throughout West Point. But the linebacker’s embarrassed, respectful apology is qualified with, “They keep us pretty busy. And when they don’t, I get busy anyway.”
“You can’t keep him out of the film rooms, like a Peyton Manning or Tom Brady,” says Army defensive coordinator Nate Woody, who spent 2019 at Michigan as a defensive analyst working with, among others, Aidan Hutchinson. “If there’s a session during practice that he’s not in, like a special teams session, he will disappear, having run upstairs to the office to watch what we’ve just done in defensive sessions. After every game he comes into my office, and we sit down and dissect the film from the previous game. What he could have done. What the other team was trying to do. It’s a total awareness. And because of that he has that rare ability to affect what the opponent is doing. Next level stuff. It makes a coach like me look really smart.”
It also makes one second-guess some of those coaches who wouldn’t give Carter reps high school. Or, all the college coaches who didn’t so much as send Carter a postcard during his fourth and fifth seasons of prep football.
Mention that and finally you elicit a hint of a rise from the soon-to-be U.S. Army officer.
“Everybody makes such a big deal about the competition and the Power 5s. When I play against those guys, it’s like, ‘Oh, like I deserve to be here.’ Army deserves to be here. These guys aren’t necessarily better than me. We can compete with anybody.”
Carter sits at attention as he continues. He knows, at 1-3, it has been a disappointing year for Army so far. But he also knows there is time to save the season. Time to upset a ranked team. Time to win that Commander-in-Chief’s Trophy. Time to, as is plastered on every wall in the building, BEAT NAVY. Time to move up that draft board.
In other words, it’s time to do what they’ve been doing at West Point since Washington sent orders to the Continentals to start building walls and pulling chains. It’s time to play defense.
“All these teams that we play didn’t even look my way in high school,” Carter said. “So, I kind of want to make them pay for that just because they didn’t even think about recruiting me. They were like, ‘We’ll take you as a walk-on, maybe.’ So that’s always a chip on my shoulder. I keep it right there. I defend it and I defend this team, whatever we have to do.”
With less than two months left before college football is back in full swing, we’re taking a look at players who could be considered sleepers — under-the-radar players who could make a big impact — on each team in our post-spring top 25.
From true freshmen who could make a name for themselves to players coming back from injury to transfers looking to make an immediate impact, there are plenty of players to watch for this fall.
Our reporters break down the potential sleepers they’re keeping tabs on.
Sleeper: C Nick Dawkins
Offensive linemen naturally get overlooked, and Dawkins is no exception, but he once again will occupy a vital role as Penn State chases its first Big Ten title since 2016 and its first national title since 1986. Dawkins is at the heart of an offensive line that has stabilized and excelled in recent years. He earned honorable mention All-Big Ten honors last fall, when he served as a captain, started all 16 games and allowed only two sacks. The 6-foot-4, 297-pound senior has drawn excellent reviews from the staff and will lead a line protecting quarterback Drew Allar and creating space for running backs Nicholas Singleton and Kaytron Allen. — Adam Rittenberg
Sleeper: WR Tyler Brown
One of the reasons Clemson is expected to compete for a national championship this season is the return of its stellar receiver group, which made vast improvements a year ago to help the Tigers offense rediscover its footing. Antonio Williams, Bryant Wesco Jr. and T.J. Moore have received the bulk of the headlines nationally, but don’t forget about Brown, a freshman All-American in 2023 who was forced to take a redshirt last season with an ankle injury. Coach Dabo Swinney spoke highly about Brown during spring practice and is expecting him to have a big role in the offense. Adding depth to a position that had been a weak spot until last season is crucial. — Andrea Adelson
Sleeper: TE Jack Endries
Endries had a breakout season at Cal last year, catching 56 passes for 623 yards and two touchdowns, making him less of an off-the-radar prospect. But the former Golden Bears tight end signed with Texas in April and slides into a talented Longhorns offense. With star recruits Ryan Wingo and DeAndre Moore returning at receiver, 1,000-yard rusher Quintrevion Wisner back at running back with Cedric Baxter and Christian Clark returning from injuries alongside him, Arch Manning will have weapons. But Manning singled out Endries, a former walk-on, as someone who could emerge as a household name by season’s end as he solidifies a position of need after Gunnar Helm, who caught 60 passes for 786 yards and seven TDs last year, developed into a fourth-round pick of the Tennessee Titans and Amari Niblack transferred to Texas A&M. — Dave Wilson
Sleeper: RB Bo Walker
Walker wasn’t the most heralded prospect in Georgia’s most recent recruiting class, but he turned some heads in spring practice with his physical style and speed. Walker ran for more than 2,000 yards as a high school junior before spending his senior year at a smaller private school. Nate Frazier and Illinois transfer Josh McCray will probably be the top two backs entering preseason camp, but Walker has a chance to earn playing time. Would you expect anything less from a tailback named both Bo and Walker in the SEC? — Mark Schlabach
Sleeper: WR Carnell Tate
Tate was overshadowed by first-round pick Emeka Egbuka and true freshman phenom Jeremiah Smith last season. But Tate still played a key role for the Buckeyes, starting every game for the national champions. In the playoff semifinals against Texas, he made the Longhorns pay for their coverages taking away Smith by hauling in a game-high seven passes for 87 yards. With Egbuka gone to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Tate is set to play an ever bigger role for the Buckeyes as a junior. He could easily surpass the 52 receptions and 733 receiving yards he had last season, and he should be a valuable wingman to Smith in yet another talented Ohio State receiving corps. — Jake Trotter
Sleeper: WR Barion Brown
If you’re familiar with Brown from his high school days, you may not consider him a sleeper. But the Kentucky transfer could finally reach his full potential in Baton Rouge. After a standout freshman season in Lexington, he never made the big statistical leaps many expected. But with Garrett Nussmeier at quarterback and other talent at receiver (Aaron Anderson, Oklahoma transfer Nic Anderson) and tight end (Trey’Dez Green, Oklahoma transfer Bauer Sharp), perhaps Brown can break out in 2025. — Harry Lyles Jr.
Sleeper: DL Bryce Young
With Rylie Mills and Howard Cross III leaving for the NFL, the Fighting Irish are looking for another player who can rush the quarterback. The answer might be sophomore Bryce Young, who certainly looks the part at 6 feet, 7 inches and 273 pounds. Last season, he played in all 16 games and had 23 tackles with a team-high three blocked kicks. Young has the right potential too. His father, Bryant Young, was an All-American at Notre Dame and a Pro Football Hall of Famer after a standout career with the 49ers. His mother, Kristin, ran track and field for the Fighting Irish. — Schlabach
Sleeper: WR Malik Benson
It’s difficult to call a four-star wide receiver a sleeper, but given the kind of season Florida State had last year, Benson was not exactly the talk of the sport after putting up 25 catches for 311 yards and one touchdown. Now in Eugene, Benson has the tools to be exactly the kind of wideout that flourishes in Will Stein’s offense. With a new quarterback in Dante Moore taking the reins and Evan Stewart dealing with a serious injury, I wouldn’t be surprised if Benson becomes Moore’s top target this coming season. — Paolo Uggetti
Sleeper: S Bray Hubbard
Now in his third season in the program, Hubbard is poised to be an All-SEC caliber player and will team with a healthy Keon Sabb to give Alabama one of the best safety duos in the SEC. Hubbard, who chose Alabama out of high school over Mississippi State, Navy and Tulane, started the final six games a year ago after Sabb suffered a season-ending injury against Tennessee and made a name for himself with three interceptions. Look for Hubbard in 2025 to be one of the top names on Alabama’s defense. — Chris Low
Sleeper: RB LJ Martin
After rushing for 518 and 718 yards in the past two seasons, Martin has steadily become a key player for BYU, but he hasn’t quite broken out nationally. He already figured to see his role grow as a junior in 2025, but with quarterback Jake Retzlaff set to transfer, Martin could be relied on more heavily — especially early in the season as the QB situation gets settled. Martin had a pair of 100-yard rushing games last season and finished with a strong performance in the bowl win against Colorado, with 88 yards rushing and a pair of touchdowns. — Kyle Bonagura
Sleeper: S Miles Scott
Miles Scott isn’t even the most decorated Scott in the Illinois secondary — Xavier (no relation) earned first-team All-Big Ten honors in 2024 — but contributes to a unit that could be among the Big Ten’s best this fall. Miles had two interceptions last season and finished fifth on the team with 55 tackles (33 solo). The team captain also forced and recovered a fumble last fall. Scott has played in all 38 games during his Illinois career, starting the past 25, beginning his career as a walk-on wide receiver before moving to safety. He joins his roommate Xavier Scott, leading tackler Matthew Bailey, cornerback Torrie Cox Jr. and others in one of the nation’s most experienced secondaries. — Rittenberg
Sleeper: CB Nyland Green
The Arizona State defense returns eight starters, including both cornerbacks (Keith Abney II and Javan Robinson) — the Sun Devils are blessed with continuity on that side of the ball that most top-25 teams don’t have. But that makes cornerback Nyland Green one heck of a luxury add: The Purdue transfer, who started his career as a blue-chipper at Georgia, was an all-or-nothing playmaker with an overwhelmed Boilermakers defense last year, but in more select roles, with better experience and talent around him, he could turn into a major difference-maker for the defending Big 12 champs. — Bill Connelly
Sleeper: Edge Bryan Thomas
Much of the attention within the Gamecocks’ pass-rush depth will be centered on sophomore phenom Dylan Stewart and Charlotte transfer Demon Clowney, cousin of former two-time All American Jadeveon Clowney. But as South Carolina works to replace the production of 2024 SEC sack leader Kyle Kennard, fourth-year edge Thomas will have an important role to play as well. The 6-foot-2, 247-pounder logged career highs in sacks (4.5) and total tackles (23) a year ago, and he’s poised to step into a starting role opposite Stewart this fall following Kennard’s jump to the NFL. If the Gamecocks are going to feature one of the nation’s fiercest pass rushes again in 2025, Thomas will have to be a big part of it. — Eli Lederman
Sleeper: DL Elijah O’Neal
O’Neal turned in a productive 2024 season, finishing with four sacks and 4.5 tackles for loss in what was expected to be his final season in Tempe. However, as a former junior college transfer, O’Neal benefited from the ruling that granted juco transfers an extra year of eligibility and will return for his final season with a chance to develop into a more well-rounded pass rusher. He started six games last year, and with the strong possibility of an expanded role, it wouldn’t be a surprise if O’Neal chases double-digit TFLs or sacks. — Bonagura
Sleeper: RB Derrick McFall
Aside from SMU’s game against FCS Houston Baptist, McFall got just eight carries as a true freshman in 2024, but he flashed a skill set that could make him an apt replacement for Brashard Smith in the Mustangs’ backfield. A four-star recruit, McFall is quick, elusive and versatile — a lot like his predecessor at SMU. At 5-11, 183 pounds, he’s still looking to fill out his frame a bit, but his explosiveness and ability to catch the ball out of the backfield figure to be serious weapons. More importantly, with Smith on to the NFL and LJ Johnson‘s transfer, McFall is the clear favorite to fill a major hole on SMU’s offense. — David Hale
Sleeper: DL Romello Height
A transfer from Georgia Tech, Height is not necessarily an unknown. But for as bad as the Texas Tech defense was last season (only Tulsa allowed more passing yards, and the Red Raiders allowed 35 points or more eight times), Height could play a massive role in Lubbock if he’s able to help fix what was a painful watch for Texas Tech fans at times in 2024. The more high-profile transfer on this defensive line unquestionably is David Bailey, who comes in from Stanford, but Height could very well become a name that Red Raiders fans will become familiar with given his potential. — Lyles Jr.
Sleeper: RB Roman Hemby
Stepping into a Hoosiers backfield without a settled returning starter, Maryland transfer Hemby has the opportunity to emerge as Indiana’s leader on the ground in 2025. Hemby hasn’t matched the 989-yard, 10-touchdown production he delivered in 2022 in either of his past two seasons, but the 6-foot, 208-pound rusher has averaged at least 4.5 yards per carry in each of his past three seasons and can be a threat in the passing game as well. Indiana spread its carries nearly evenly between top rushers Justice Ellison and Ty Son Lawton a year ago, and will likely do the same again with upperclassmen Kaelon Black and Lee Beebe Jr. also vying for carries. But Hemby has the potential to break through in a big way in 2025. — Lederman
Sleeper: Edge Tobi Osunsanmi
Kansas State returns four starters from last year’s defensive front six, but the Wildcats will need someone to replace the lost production of sacks leader Brendan Mott (13.5 tackles for loss, 8.5 sacks). Enter Tobi Osunsanmi. The converted linebacker played a backup role last season, averaging about 22 snaps per game, but he actually averaged more havoc plays (TFLs, forced fumbles, passes defended) per snap than Mott — a 3.0% rate to Mott’s 2.5%. Between Osunsanmi and sophomore Chiddi Obiazor (2.5% havoc rate at 23 snaps per game), K-State has a couple of exciting options on the edge up front. — Connelly
Sleeper: LB Myles Graham
We saw what Graham was capable of as a freshman for the Gators with 30 tackles. He also had three tackles for loss, one sack, an interception and a forced fumble. With a line that should only be stronger in front of him, along with playing next to Grayson Howard, Graham has the potential to take another step in 2025. The great Florida teams of the 21st century have all had good linebacker play, and it feels like Graham could play that part for this team as it looks to rise again. — Lyles Jr.
Sleeper: CB Zeke Berry
From Mike Sainristil to Will Johnson, Michigan’s dominant defenses in recent years have featured a big-time cornerback. Berry is primed to become the next one, on the heels of a breakout junior season. After starting the year at nickelback, Berry slid to the outside following an injury to Johnson and thrived. Berry finished the year with 37 tackles and a team-high 11 pass breakups. He also forced a fumble to go along with his two interceptions. If Berry can take another step forward as the leader of the Michigan secondary, he quietly figures to be one of the top corners in the Big Ten — if not the country. — Trotter
Sleeper: S Zechariah Poyser
You may have heard of Poyser, one of the top available players in the transfer portal this past season. But he should still be considered a sleeper because of the impact he is projected to have in his first year with the Hurricanes. The 6-foot-2, 190-pound safety played his first two seasons at Jacksonville State, earning Freshman All-America honors as a redshirt freshman this past season with 75 tackles and three interceptions. His addition gives the Hurricanes an instant upgrade at safety, where they struggled at times last season. Miami made other additions at defensive back in the portal, but safety was the most glaring area of need and it appears to be filled. — Adelson
Sleeper: S D’Angelo Hutchinson
The Cardinals struggled against the pass last season, and they’ll enter 2025 with a markedly different secondary that comes with its own share of questions. But one carryover from 2024 could help provide some answers. Hutchinson, a 6-foot-3 senior, saw action in all 13 games last season and came on strong down the stretch, including a standout performance in a win over Clemson in which he racked up nine tackles, two pass breakups and a blocked kick. Hutchinson brings length and speed to the back end, and head coach Jeff Brohm said he thinks the veteran could be in line for a breakout campaign. — Hale
Sleeper: CB Tyreek Chappell
Chappell returns after missing almost all of last season with an lower leg injury suffered in a non-contact setting in practice, making just three tackles. The Aggies’ secondary play was particularly frustrating to Mike Elko as last year wore on, and the return of Chappell, a former starter who was a three-star recruit and the team’s top defensive newcomer in 2021, is a key to the Aggies’ hopes of bolstering that unit. With the return of Will Lee III and the addition of Georgia transfer Julian Humphrey, Chappell, who had 88 tackles in his first two seasons, but just 24 in the past two, might be overlooked by fans. But inside the program, Chappell is expected to have a big year at the nickel spot. — Wilson
Sleeper: WR Cayden Lee
It’s odd to classify Lee as a sleeper following his breakout sophomore campaign in 2024, but hype around the third-year pass catcher has been buried this offseason amidst the Rebels’ additions of five transfer receivers, headlined by De’Zhaun Stribling and Harrison Wallace III. Lee finished second among Ole Miss receivers a year ago with 57 receptions, which he converted into 874 receiving yards and a pair of touchdowns. As the Rebels enter a new era at quarterback in 2025 with first-year starter Austin Simmons, Lee has the potential to become a critical, go-to target, particularly if he can find the end zone more. — Lederman
Sleeper: WR Zion Kearney
The Sooners were besieged with injuries at the receiver position last season, and some of their more talented pass catchers hit the transfer portal, including Nic Anderson. With new offensive coordinator Ben Arbuckle and his Air Raid offense coming to Norman, that means Oklahoma will utilize even more receivers. Kearney, a true sophomore, has a chance to make a big jump after playing as a backup in 11 games as a freshman. He has the size (6-1, 207 pounds) and speed (4.28 40-yard dash in high school) to be a staple in the Sooners’ passing game, especially with John Mateer stepping in at quarterback. — Low
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Kristen Shilton
The Vancouver Canucks have come to terms with forward Brock Boeser on a new seven-year contract, carrying a $7.25 million AAV.
Canucks GM Patrik Allvin announced the deal on Tuesday during the first hour of NHL free agency. Boeser, 28, was an unrestricted free agent on a previously expiring contract.
Drafted by Vancouver 23rd overall in the 2015 NHL draft, Boeser has collected 204 goals and 434 points in 554 games with the Canucks to date. A top-six scoring threat, Boeser has elite playmaking skills and the potential to produce big numbers offensively. He had his best year offensively in 2023-24, producing 40 goals and 73 points in 81 games.
Boeser didn’t hit those marks again last season — settling for 25 goals and 50 points in 75 games — but was still second amongst teammates in output. He also plays a prominent role on Vancouver’s power play and when he can generate opportunities at 5-on-5, he is a true difference-maker up front for the Canucks.
The extension is a happy ending for Vancouver and Boeser. When the regular season ended, Boeser admitted “it’s tough to say” whether he’d be back with the Canucks. Boeser reportedly turned down a previous five-year extension offer with the club and Allvin subsequently looked into deals for him at the March trade deadline, with no takers. Boeser looked — and sounded — poised to explore his options on the open market.
Ultimately, Boeser decided to stay put by committing the best years of his career to the Canucks.
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