🚨 Can he turn things around? Bundesliga club unveil new manager!
After a truly disastrous season, VfL Wolfsburg has just presented a new coach: Paul Simonis has signed a contract in the Autostadt until 2027. Most recently, the Dutchman worked for Eredivisie club Go Ahead Eagles Deventer.
At the Wolves, Simonis succeeds Ralph Hasenhüttl, who was dismissed after the 32nd matchday of the past Bundesliga season due to continued lack of success.
Ultimately, VfL finished the season in a disappointing eleventh place, once again falling far short of their own ambitions. Will Simonis be able to turn things around?
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📸 VINCENT JANNINK
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Yahoo
27 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Fantasy Football Roundtable: Here's the player we're fading at every position going into drafts in 2025
In preparation for your fantasy football draft, you're going to want to compile a list of players you want to target and players to avoid. It always feels tough figuring out which players you want to fade because there's always a chance you make the wrong decision. [Join or create a Yahoo Fantasy Football league for the 2025 NFL season] Fortunately, the Yahoo fantasy football staff has you covered. We're joined by Scott Pianowski, Ray Garvin, Justin Boone and Matt Harmon, who will provide a player at each position that they think you should be fading in your fantasy football draft this season. Quarterback Scott: Baker Mayfield just had the season of his life, setting new personal marks in a slew of key categories. But the architect of that breakout, Liam Coen, has departed to Jacksonville. We try to be careful when a career season arrives late — Mayfield played his age-29 campaign last year — and he might not have Chris Godwin for a while. Given how deep the QB pool is this year, I'll nod to Mayfield in that second tier but leave him alone. Ray: Drake Maye has all the talent in the world and long term he's going to be really good. But for 2025, we need to pump the brakes. He's stepping into a new system with Josh McDaniels and Mike Vrabel, and everything about this offense suggests a run-first identity with Rhamondre Stevenson, second-rounder TreVeyon Henderson, and fresh investment in the offensive line. Maye averaged just 14 fantasy points per game as a rookie with only two top-10 weekly finishes. People pointing to 2020 Ryan Tannehill as the blueprint forget that was the best fantasy season any quarterback has had under Vrabel, finishing as QB9 at 22 points per game. Expecting Maye to make that kind of eight point per game leap in Year 2 feels ambitious. Justin: Jared Goff. Goff had a career year in 2024, throwing for 37 touchdowns and finishing as the eighth highest scoring fantasy quarterback on a per game basis. However, that was his best fantasy result in a long time. Over the previous four seasons, Goff was the QB15, QB16, QB25, QB22 and QB21. His lack of rushing production puts an increased emphasis on big yardage and TD totals, which will be harder to come by this season with offensive coordinator Ben Johnson leaving for Chicago and significant losses on the interior of the line (Frank Ragnow, Kevin Zeitler). The Lions QB also faces the fifth hardest fantasy schedule among passers this year and will have to play more games outside, where his numbers have taken a hit in the past. There are too many quarterbacks with higher ceilings to pay up for a guy like Goff. Matt: Patrick Mahomes. So, 99 times out of 100, if you're fading a player, it doesn't mean that you hate the player or even think that they're destined for a bad year. Usually, it's for structural or ADP-based reasons. That's the exact case with Mahomes, who is the best player at his position and could well be MVP and/or Super Bowl champ once again in 2025. My third tier of quarterbacks goes all the way from QB6 to QB17. It's super flat. Since Mahomes is the first name in that tier, there's just about no chance I click his name at his 50th overall ADP. I can buy that the Chiefs offense gets more high-flying this season but I just won't pay that opportunity cost to find out. Running back Justin: Joe Mixon. I'll take the low hanging fruit on this one and remind people to be very cautious about drafting Mixon, who remains on the non-football injury list. The Texans have been evasive when asked about Mixon's foot injury and there's been no update on his projected return from what's being called a 'complicated medical issue.' His status for Week 1 is definitely in doubt. Injury analyst Jeff Mueller said multiple sources have provided information that made him take Mixon off his draft board entirely. The other layer to consider is that even when Mixon returns, he'll have more competition with Woody Marks, Nick Chubb and Dameon Pierce all vying for touches. Count me among those who are staying away from Mixon this season. Matt: Ashton Jeanty. Let's hunt a big fish on this one. Typically, the best running backs in fantasy football play for the best teams and great offenses. I think the Raiders will be competent under their new coaching staff and with Geno Smith at quarterback, but they still may struggle to rank in the top-15 in points per game as an offense. The line is middling and even if the scoring unit shows out, they don't have the secondary or overall defensive talent to keep the team in run-first situations. That's troubling when volume of carries is the primary variable in Jeanty's fantasy appeal, besides the fact that he's good at the game. I'm not predicting some mega-bust season for Jeanty but I have him ranked between 14th and 16th overall and his ADP is 11th or 12th. So, I'll just have to enjoy his rookie season without having him on many teams. Ray: Kenneth Walker is a dog! I mean that in a good way. He's explosive, he's violent, and when he's on the field he can flip a game with one run. But that's the problem he hasn't stayed on the field. He's yet to play a full 17 game season and was limited to just 11 contests in 2024, posting career lows in yardage and yards per carry. Meanwhile, Zach Charbonnet, a tank in his own right, has been the steady one, suiting up for 33 of 34 games across his first two years while flashing three-down ability. Seattle is going back to a run first identity under Mike Macdonald, but this looks like a committee, not a Walker feature show. At cost, Walker is being drafted like a high-end RB2, but you're paying for production he hasn't delivered. I'd rather wait and take Charbonnet later. He's the one who's always available and in fantasy that matters just as much as talent. Scott: When I say I'm fading Saquon Barkley, understand what that means — I still see him as a first-round pick, but I'm a bit nervous after the 482-touch workload last year. Barkley also needs to score his touchdowns from distance — he didn't have a single one-yard plunge last year, and his average spike came from 29.4 yards away. In other words, his touchdown count could easily regress, too. If I select a running back in the first pass, it will be an ascending, up-escaltor talent like Bijan Robinson or Jahmyr Gibbs. Wide receiver Matt: D.J. Moore. I think that Moore can have a bounce-back, real-life season under Ben Johnson. I'm excited to hear he's being used across the formation and even taking reps from the backfield. This is the exact style of deployment I've been wanting to see for him to get into space for years now and it's certainly quite the opposite from what we saw last year in a boundary X-heavy role. However, I think the odds that Rome Odunze emerges as the top target on this team are 50/50 as the new staff completely re-evaluates the old in-house options. Since Odunze goes 32 picks later overall and there's a whopping 15-player gap in their positional spots in consensus rankings, I'll just take Odunze, who I thought was a terrific prospect and played better than credited in isolation last year. Justin: Zay Flowers. Flowers is an exciting young receiver playing in one of the league's most potent offenses and yet his fantasy outlook doesn't paint a picture of someone who's going to propel you towards a title. Last year, Flowers went over 1,000 yards for the first time, but was held outside the top-30 fantasy receivers in 10 different weeks — with just three WR1 finishes and three WR2 results. If you're hoping for increased touchdown scoring to help Flowers break out, just know that Mark Andrews will enter the season healthy (unlike last year) and the Ravens signed veteran DeAndre Hopkins, whose biggest contribution will likely come around the red zone. Flowers is a solid wideout in real life, he's just not someone worth his fifth-round price tag as the WR25. Scott: Puka Nacua is a star receiver, but the Rams haven't figured out how to use him around the goal line. Last year, Nacua saw just three targets and one catch inside the 10, a big reason why he stalled at three touchdowns. The news out of Rams camp isn't very Nacua friendly — Davante Adams is around to soak up goal-line opportunities, Kyren Williams was signed to an extension (he's a red-zone monster, too), and Matthew Stafford is dealing with a cranky back on the eve of his age-37 season. Nacua also might bring on some injury risk himself, given his checkered health resume from college. I respect the player, but I haven't been close to drafting Nacua yet this season. Ray: Garrett Wilson has been one of the most heavily utilized receivers in football, averaging 156 targets, 93 catches, and over 1,080 yards per season across his first three years. Yet despite all that volume, his fantasy production has been capped just 13.3 points per game on average, with finishes of WR18, WR30, and WR32. Now the Jets pivot to Justin Fields, a quarterback whose legs are his best weapon, paired with a coaching staff that wants to lean on the run behind a rebuilt offensive line. That screams less passing volume, not more. People are expecting Wilson to ascend in 2025. I see the opposite. If he hasn't cracked the WR1 tier with 150-plus targets annually, what happens when that dips? I'd be looking to spend my third-round draft capital elsewhere. Tight end Ray: Let me be clear, my real answer to the biggest tight end fade is anyone after the big three. 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New York Times
29 minutes ago
- New York Times
Why Manchester United's Mason Mount is valued by his managers
The footballers adored by supporters are not always the footballers appreciated by the managers they play for. When Mason Mount was at his best — and we're going back half a decade now — he was essentially considered the opposite of Jack Grealish in the build-up to Euro 2020. Whereas Grealish was an entertainer, a wildcard, a playmaker capable of the unexpected, Mount was cast as the teacher's pet. At times, people questioned precisely what he offered. Advertisement If Grealish was an individualist, Mount was a system player. First and foremost, he carried out the manager's instructions. On top of that, he offered tactical intelligence, always understanding the system, how to find space, and how to bring the best from his team-mates. In Manchester United's 1-0 defeat to Arsenal at Old Trafford on Sunday, a game where United dominated and created the better chances, Mount, 26, offered a reminder of why managers value him. It was something of a surprise that Mount started the match. 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And while some of this seems simple on paper, United's struggles down the right showed the importance of understanding between players. Mbeumo started brightly when dribbling in behind but in addition to the aforementioned delayed pass which caught Dalot offside, here he didn't understand what type of pass Amad wanted, and played a ball in behind just as Amad was holding his run. It is now six years since Mount's Premier League debut, which came when he was impressive in terms of positioning and link play on the opening weekend of a season at Old Trafford, even as his Chelsea side lost 4-0. Those who question what he offers will note that this weekend's display was another 'good performance' in which he didn't score or create a goal. Advertisement United have brought in three excellent individual attackers this summer, but they have signed great individuals before. What they have generally lacked is cohesion, and Mount is a system player who makes those around him better. That's why his managers tend to like him. Spot the pattern. Connect the terms Find the hidden link between sports terms Play today's puzzle
Associated Press
29 minutes ago
- Associated Press
Sports betting roundup: Football bettors gear up, Scottie Scheffler wins again
Football bettors can rejoice: college football is back. Saturday marks Week 0, with a handful of notable games on deck. The NFL preseason has also given bettors a chance to get back in the game. In addition, the FedEx Cup playoffs on the PGA Tour continued, and it was another exciting weekend of MLB action. Lastly, there were tons of good fights Saturday at UFC 319. Trends of the Week While the second week of the preseason wasn't at the same pace as the first week, underdogs and overs continue to be the trend in the NFL preseason at the BetMGM online sportsbook. As of Monday, underdogs are 19-12 against the spread, while overs are 22-9. The Bears blew out the Bills 38-0 Sunday night as 3-point favorites. Despite going against one of the best teams in the AFC, Chicago drew 58% of the money against the spread betting and 60% of the money on the moneyline (-150). Khamzat Chimaev (-275) won the main event at UFC 319 against Dricus Du Plessis. Chimaev took in 24% of the bets and 55% of the money. Scottie Scheffler won for the fifth time this season at the BMW Championship, the second event of the FedEx Cup playoffs. Scheffler had the best odds to win going into the tournament at +240 and took in 11.5% of the bets and 17.4% of the money in pre-tournament outright winner bets. The underdogs and overs dominated the first week of the NFL preseason. Through 16 preseason games, underdogs have gone 12-4 against the spread, while overs are 14-2. Upsets of the Week The Brewers entered Sunday on a 14-game win streak and were +105 against the Reds. Milwaukee was the most bet team in terms of number of bets and money, but in the end fell to Cincinnati 3-2 in 10 innings. The Brewers scored two runs in the top of the ninth to take a 2-1 lead before the Reds tied it in the bottom half. Coming Up With the college football season officially getting underway this weekend, here's how the national championship odds look as of Monday: ___ This column was provided to The Associated Press by BetMGM online sportsbook. ___ AP sports:
