‘Every time I would go play, I doubted’: How Ronald Acuna Jr. regained his confidence — and his MVP form
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Alden Gonzalez, ESPN Staff Writer
MARIETTA, Ga. — The living room of Ronald Acuña Jr.‘s two-story, craftsman-style home looks more like a sports memorabilia store, replete with mementos from a career that blossomed earlier than most. All-MLB plaques and commemorative baseballs dot two sets of bookcases on each side of a white fireplace. A signed lineup card from last year’s All-Star Game in Los Angeles sits on one, a Team Venezuela batting helmet from this year’s World Baseball Classic rests on the other. In the middle, an oversized picture of a smiling, 20-year-old, tuxedoed Acuña posing with the 2018 National League Rookie of the Year Award overlooks it all.
Acuña, now 25, takes no credit for the arrangement.
“That was my mom,” he says in Spanish. “She’s the one who decorates.”
It’s an overcast, muggy afternoon May 18, a Thursday off-day that doesn’t quite feel like one because Acuña and his Atlanta Braves teammates didn’t touch down from Texas until 3 a.m. The last four games of that road trip saw Acuña unleash four home runs that averaged 440 feet. A little more than a quarter into the season, Acuña stands on pace to surpass 40 home runs, 60 stolen bases, 100 RBIs and 150 runs, a combination of numbers that have never been reached.
Acuña, wearing tight-fitting black pants with blue-and-white bands that resemble streaks of lightning and high-top sneakers that were clearly designed to match, smiles at the thought of what 2023 is becoming.
Acuña looks like the most exhilarating, dynamic baseball player in the world again, a sentiment that extends beyond his numbers (a .332/.419/.577 slash line, 11 homers, 22 steals and 2.6 FanGraphs wins above replacement, tops among position players). He’s wreaking havoc on the basepaths, crushing prodigious home runs with regularity and making highlight-reel defensive plays seem routine.
It all feels, well, normal, as if this is how it always goes. As if it hadn’t been three years — four if you count the COVID-19-shortened 2020 season — since this version of Acuña presented itself with regularity.
To Acuña, though, none of this feels like a given, not when those three years featured a devastating knee injury and a subpar return from it. Through it all, one of the most outwardly confident athletes of our time wondered if he’d ever be good again.
IT WAS JULY 2021, and Acuña couldn’t stop crying. An awkward landing on a leaping attempt in Miami had caused a torn anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee, an injury that typically comes with an eight- to 12-month recovery and leaves an uncertain future beyond it. Acuña, then only 23, had already secured a $100 million extension and was three days shy of his second All-Star Game start, in the middle of his best year yet. Now he had to wonder if he would ever be the same.
“He cried every day,” Acuña’s mother, Leonelis Blanco, said in Spanish. “It wasn’t just every day — it was the whole day. He was distraught, crying, crying, wondering about his leg.”
Acuña — with a father, Ronald Sr., who spent six years in the New York Mets‘ minor league system, and four cousins, most notably Kelvim and Alcides Escobar, who reached the majors — lived and breathed baseball since birth, Leonelis said. When he was 9, he was appreciably better than the other children his age in La Guaira, a port city in northern Venezuela. At 11, it was clear he would make a career out of the sport.
Leonelis had only known Acuña to be excellent and assertive. But in the two weeks that spanned his ACL tear and subsequent surgery, he was exceedingly vulnerable, refusing to watch baseball games and pondering the possibility of never playing again. Most of his days were spent lying in bed. Leonelis never left his side. She played music, cooked his favorite foods, brought up other topics of conversation and did her best to project positivity. When the subject of baseball inevitably returned, she clung to three phrases.
Paciencia, hijo. (Patience, son.)
Confía en ti. (Believe in yourself.)
Libera tu mente. (Free your mind.)
“Terrible,” Leonelis said of those conversations, every one of which she remembers. “It was really, really hard.”
As his knee improved, so too did Acuña’s state of mind. Simply ditching the wheelchair to walk on crutches noticeably lifted his spirits. Later that season, while the Braves excelled with a makeshift outfield constructed before the end of July, he found joy through his teammates’ success. When the World Series came, he asked to be cleared for travel. It allowed him to be in Houston on Nov. 2, when the Braves became one of the most improbable champions in recent memory. That night, Acuña’s body froze. He then felt a chill run through both of his arms. The tears flowed shortly thereafter.
“I cried out of joy,” Acuña said, “but also I cried because I couldn’t be there with my teammates. I couldn’t be there day to day; I couldn’t be there with them.”
Those feelings directly impacted the following season.
“He missed it so much in ’21, when we won a championship, that he was definitely going to be part of the team in ’22,” Braves first-base coach Eric Young said. “It didn’t matter. If he was well enough to go, he was going out [even if not fully healthy]. That was his mentality. And I don’t fault him for that.”
ACUÑA RETURNED TO the Braves on April 28, 2022, and played in 119 of the team’s remaining 143 regular-season games, plus four more in the playoffs — but he was never truly himself.
Young, Acuña’s coach through his entire major league career, noticed it in how slowly he cut off base hits in the gap. Austin Riley, Acuña’s teammate dating back to rookie ball, noticed it in the batting cage, where the ball didn’t quite jump off his bat like it used to. Braves third-base coach Ron Washington, going on his sixth decade in the major leagues, noticed it in how infrequently his typical burst would arrive on the bases. Brian Snitker, his manager, noticed it in the deluge of reports from the training staff that detailed Acuña’s constant need for treatment.
Acuña felt it everywhere — when he didn’t rotate his hips quickly enough to reach fastballs, when he didn’t explode well enough to track down distant fly balls, when he didn’t come out of his stride fast enough to steal bases.
“I put a lot of pressure on myself, like, ‘I have to get back to being who I was before,’ and I think that influenced a lot,” Acuña said. “Things didn’t turn out the way I wanted them to. The knee — there were days when it wouldn’t hurt, I’d go out and play a hundred percent and I’d tell myself, ‘I’m back,’ but then the next day the pain would return. It just kept going like that.”
Acuña was selected by fans as the starting right fielder in the All-Star Game, but he finished with a .764 OPS that fell 161 points below his career mark heading into 2022. He stole 29 bases but was thrown out an NL-leading 11 times. Defensively, he was credited with negative-seven outs above average, placing him among the worst at his position.
On the outside, Acuña continued to flaunt jewelry and smear eye black and celebrate boisterously.
Inside, doubt consumed him.
“I would tell my mom, ‘Mom, I don’t know if I’ll ever run the same again.’ Or my dad, ‘You think I’ll go back to playing the same?'” Acuña said. “The pain was not easy. The operation also was not easy. So I doubted many times. I would tell my friends, ‘I don’t know if I’ll be able to play that way again.’ Every time I would go play, I doubted.”
IN 2018, Young’s first season coaching Braves outfielders coincided with Acuña’s rookie year. The two have been inseparable since. If anybody can reach Acuña, it’s Young. And when the 2022 season ended, Young felt the need.
A week after the 101-win Braves were eliminated by the resurgent Philadelphia Phillies in mid-October, Young called Acuña to chat. He wanted to help set the tone for what would become the most important offseason of Acuña’s career.
“You talk about the best players in the game — Ronald Acuña’s name’s gotta be mentioned,” Young recalled saying. “And I told him, ‘It’s not gonna be mentioned because you’ve got these skills and you’re talented. You have to do it in between the lines each and every single day to gain respect from your peers. Your peers are the ones telling you who’s the best player in the game. If you go out there and you do the things that you’re capable of, there’s no other person out there that can do it like you.'”
Young’s words helped to reaffirm a mindset Acuña was already carrying with him. He waited another week or so for his knee to become fully healthy — it finally did at the start of November, convenient yet cruel timing — then set out to test it like never before.
“I told myself, ‘I have to work and I have to get back to being 100 percent,'” Acuña said. “‘It’s either gonna be 100 percent the good way or 100 percent the bad way.'”
Acuña wanted to play as much baseball as possible as quickly as possible. He planned to take part in the Venezuelan Winter League in December, then represent his country in the 2023 World Baseball Classic. Before that, though, he would take a detour to the Dominican Republic to hit with Fernando Tatis Sr., the former major league third baseman and father of one of his closest friends.
Acuña and Fernando Tatis Jr., the San Diego Padres‘ superstar shortstop-turned-outfielder, met near the end of April 2019, when Tatis paid his first visit to Atlanta early in his rookie season.
“You feel the chemistry from the moment you say hello,” Acuña said. “You say, ‘That’s going to be my brother.’ It’s just a good vibe. Since then, we’ve been brothers.”
Three and a half years later, from Nov. 10 until around Thanksgiving, Acuña and Tatis met on a field in Tatis’ hometown of San Pedro de Marcoris and tried to rediscover their respective selves. Tatis, on the heels of a season lost both to a motorcycle accident and a steroid suspension, wore a cast on a surgically repaired left wrist that limited him to conditioning work. Acuña, meanwhile, hit almost daily under the watchful eye of a man famous for once belting two grand slams in a single inning.
Early on, Tatis Sr. suggested a minor tweak that turned into a major adjustment. He asked Acuña to lower his hands ever so slightly during his setup, down near the bottom part of his chest, making his bat parallel to his upper body in order to get its barrel through the strike zone more quickly.
“I was open to everything,” Acuña said. “It’s why I went down there.”
Acuña struggled mightily to hit fastballs last season, slugging only .416 against four-seamers, 56 points below the major league average. This year, it’s up to .773. His strikeout rate has been cut nearly in half, all the way down to 14.1%. He is a better, more complete hitter than he ever has been, a product, he believes, of the changes he made in the D.R.
Acuña, a deep admirer of legendary countryman Miguel Cabrera, hopes to someday win a batting title. At this rate, at least, he’ll secure his third Silver Slugger Award in five months.
“If I do,” Acuña said, “I’ll give it to Fernando.”
YOUNG HAD BEEN keeping close tabs on Acuña’s offseason work, and by the onset of spring training, he saw a new, more mature version up close. Acuña used to lag through the various stations of workouts, but suddenly he was displaying what Young described as “more focus, more intent” during outfield drills that often seemed to bore him.
The attention to detail, Braves coaches said, has spilled into the regular season, where Young said he is “not running away from any type of challenge in preparing for the game.”
Acuña believes being a father — he has two boys, a 2-year-old and a 7-month-old — has brought a new level of maturity. Suffering the ACL tear in 2021, Young believes, humbled him like never before. But simply being ordinary for perhaps the first time in his life might have played just as big a role in his transformation.
“I think he found out what he is, what he looks like, when he’s not healthy,” Washington said, “and that’s the player he doesn’t wanna be.”
Acuña, Washington added, is no longer solely relying on his eye-popping physical talent. He works diligently on his baserunning technique and studies pitcher tendencies for the first time. That focus, combined with new rules that have created the most favorable stolen-base environment in decades, have led Acuña to a 91.7% success rate. He’s reading balls off the bat during pregame batting practice on a near-daily basis, as opposed to once a week. He’s more diligent with his physical therapy and plyometric exercises. Lapses still occur, but they’re far more infrequent.
“He used to hit ground balls, and if it wasn’t a base hit he didn’t run ’em out,” Washington said. “Now, he’s making those son of a b—-es make plays out there. He’s running everything out.”
Last year, Braves trainers talked to NFL trainers to pick their brains about how running backs recovered from ACL tears like Acuña’s. They were told that most players needed a full season and offseason to get back to their previous standards. It’s a message the team continued to impart on Acuña, but one he didn’t fully believe until experiencing it first-hand.
And by the time he felt completely healthy, that doubt had become fuel.
“I would hear people saying, ‘He’s not gonna run the same anymore, he’s not gonna be the same baseball player because people don’t come back well from this surgery,'” Acuña said. “It was frustrating to hear people talk like that. But also, it motivated me. I practiced, I trained hard, I fought and now they’re mistaken.”
RILEY HAS FOUND himself on a dugout’s top step for every one of Acuña’s plate appearances this season.
“Just waiting for something to happen,” Riley said. “It’s pretty special.”
Acuña hasn’t disappointed. Through the season’s first eight weeks, he ranks within the top 3% in exit velocity and hard-hit rate, within the top 17% in sprint speed and within the top 1% — better yet, second among 187 qualified players — in arm strength. Defensive metrics, prone to faultiness in small sample sizes, still grade him as a below-average right fielder. But Acuña has already accumulated six outfield assists and turned in a handful of sensational plays, including two leaping catches up against the outfield fence of his home ballpark.
Meanwhile, his already prodigious home runs have been legendary.
“It looks effortless,” Braves second baseman Ozzie Albies said. “He just hits the ball and the ball keeps going.”
Acuña unleashed a 461-foot home run to straightaway center field May 3 and followed with a 470-foot moonshot to left May 10. Five days later, he swung at a curveball only 1.3 feet off the ground and lined it 454 feet to left-center. Acuña has already totaled a major league-leading nine home runs that have traveled at least 420 feet, three more than the second-place Aaron Judge, who outweighs him by 80 pounds. In May alone, he has hit four home runs at least 450 feet. Every other player in the sport has combined for 18 of those this month.
“He’s on his legs now, and you’re seeing what he can do,” Snitker said. “And he’s maturing. He’s growing up — physically, mentally, the whole thing. The kid’s starting to come into his own. It’s kinda scary what he’s capable of, honestly.”
Acuña has acted as a crucial tone-setter for a Braves team that is already 12 games above .500 and 5½ games up on first place, slashing .500/.540/.804 while leading off games. He’s only three points shy of a 1.000 OPS, a mark reached by only six leadoff hitters since 1900, and is on pace to finish as the third player in major league history to combine 30-plus home runs with 50-plus stolen bases, not to mention the first to 30 and 60.
He’s all the way back, but he’s also better than ever.
Those who know him well are bullish.
“Acuña wants to be the best,” Young said. “And if Acuña wants to be the best, his best is the MVP, in my mind. He’s gonna be the MVP this year. It’s a prediction. I’m confident in that prediction.”
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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