
Broncos roster: LB Jordan Turner (No. 55) another UDFA gem?
Before the Broncos: Turner (6-1, 231 pounds) spent four years at Wisconsin before transferring to the Spartans. He totaled 201 tackles, eight sacks, five interceptions, four pass breakups and two forced fumbles in 29 college starts. Turner earned two honorable mention All-Big Ten selections (one at Wisconsin and another at Michigan State). At Wisconsin, Turner also earned the Guaranteed Rate Bowl defensive MVP in 2022.
Broncos tenure: After going unpicked in the 2025 NFL draft, Turner was brought in by the Denver Broncos as a tryout player to the team's rookie minicamp in May. Turner impressed coaches, earning his first pro contract later in the month. Turner will make his Bronco debut during preseason this summer.
Chances to make the 53-man roster: On the bubble. Turner did enough as a tryout player at rookie minicamp to turn the heads of Broncos coaches. The big question is, can Turner continue this momentum going into July's training camp? If so, Turner could aim to win a rotational role at linebacker and special teams. His most likely chance of sticking around in 2025 would probably be on the practice squad.
Related: These 25 celebrities are Broncos fans.

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USA Today
27 minutes ago
- USA Today
Sixers forward Paul George gives love to retiring star guard John Wall
The NBA world saw 5-time All-Star John Wall announce his retirement. The former star of the Washington Wizards played 11 years in the league--missing a season due to injury and another because he was too productive for the Houston Rockets in 2022--and averaged 18.7 points, 8.9 assists, and 4.2 rebounds in his career. Wall finished seventh in MVP voting in 2017 with the Wizards and played with Philadelphia 76ers star Paul George when the two of them were with the Los Angeles Clippers. When Wall was right, he was one of the best players in the league and was a player that elevated his teammates. George gave love to Wall via his podcast on Twitter as he acknowledged his former NBA draft and teammate with the Clippers. George will be looking to help the Sixers bounce back in the 2025-26 season. He played only 41 games in his first season in Philadelphia and will need to be healthy to help the Sixers get over the hump in the Eastern Conference.

NBC Sports
28 minutes ago
- NBC Sports
Dabo Swinney's faith in QB Cade Klubnik has paid off as No. 4 Clemson eyes national title run
CLEMSON, S.C. — Cade Klubnik read the comments on social media. He heard the chatter around him, about how he simply wasn't good enough to be the starting quarterback for the Clemson Tigers. He heard fans clamoring for coach Dabo Swinney to tap the transfer portal and find a quality replacement. It was all coming to a head after Klubnik's sophomore season in 2023, a year in which the Tigers struggled early but closed with five straight wins to finish 9-4. While that might be considered a good season for some schools, it was a down year for Clemson, snapping a streak of 12 straight double-digit win seasons and leaving the Tigers out of the College Football Playoff for the second straight year. There were questions about whether Clemson's run was over, and much of the blame fell on Klubnik's shoulders after throwing just 19 touchdown passes with nine interceptions that season. 'Everybody kind of told me I sucked, and wasn't very good,' Klubnik said. 'A lot of people wanted me out of Clemson.' About two weeks after the Tigers' 38-35 win over Kentucky in the Gator Bowl, Klubnik was still relatively uncertain about his status at Clemson and that's when Swinney called Klubnik into his office and put any speculation about his future to rest. As he sat across from Klubnik, Swinney told him directly: 'I believe in you.'. 'To have somebody that I look up to and believe in, tell me that he believes in me, it just filled me with confidence,' Klubnik said. 'He could have gone and done what a lot of other coaches would do (and find a transfer quarterback), but he didn't.'' Klubnik called it a moment in life he'll never forget. He left Swinney's office more confident than ever, and eager to reward his coach for the faith he showed in him. And he did just that. Klubnik piled up more than 4,000 yards from scrimmage and 42 touchdowns last season while leading Clemson to its eighth ACC championship in 10 years with an MVP performance that included four touchdowns in a dramatic 34-31 win over SMU in the title game. The victory assured the Tigers a return to the playoff, where they lost 38-24 to Texas in the first round. Now Klubnik enters his final season at Clemson as a likely Heisman Trophy candidate and the fourth-ranked Tigers are expected to compete for a national championship. 'When you sign up to do this, whether you're a coach at this level or certainly play the quarterback position, there's a lot of criticism,' Swinney said. 'I just knew there was going to be a lot of noise. He's a young person and I just felt like it was important that I let him know that that I fully believed in him. I didn't want him worrying about me going out and getting another guy. I wanted him to know, hey, you're my guy.' Added Swinney, 'I told him if it don't work out, then I'm going down with you.' Swinney has been around college football for more than three decades and has won two national titles at Clemson, so he knows a thing or two about player development. He said one of the most difficult parts of coaching college football in today's world is having the patience to develop a quarterback while remaining competitive. Swinney saw enough in Klubnik after his sophomore season to believe he had plenty of potential. 'You know, this is a developmental game,' Swinney said. 'We forget that because now we're in this world where if you're not great as a freshman it's, oh well, you stink. And then you move on to the next guy.' Tigers wide receiver Antonio Williams, who figures to be Klubnik's primary target in the passing game, said off the field his quarterback is 'kind of laid back and goofy.' But Williams said Klubnik was all business last season. 'He's definitely growing up a lot,' Williams said. 'When it comes to leadership, he's definitely been more vocal and he has the respect of all the guys in the locker room. So when he speaks, everybody listens. That respect has gone a long way for him.' Swinney called Klubnik an 'amazing human being' and he continues to believe in him, perhaps on a run to the Tigers' first national title since 2018. 'He's got a lot of great days ahead,' Swinney said. 'And you need a little luck, you know. I know everybody wants to make all these predictions and things like that, but you predict your way in anything. You gotta go do it. I know this if if that guy stays healthy, we will have a chance. He's gonna always give you a chance.'

NBC Sports
28 minutes ago
- NBC Sports
Fantasy Baseball Waiver Wire: Nolan McLean, Ryan Bergert, and Samuel Basallo
We are officially in the fantasy baseball championship push. Whether you're trying to hold onto a top spot, pushing the leader, desperately trying to play catch up, or positioning yourself for playoff matchups, reinforcements and upside are vital this time of year. Most waiver wires have been picked over though and it's difficult to find impact players readily available in most leagues at this point in the season. Fear not, because there are still a handful of available players that have the chance to be difference makers that help push us towards glory. And luckily, we recently got a handful of minor league promotions that could genuinely swing leagues. David Shovein, If you want a larger list, Eric Samulski wrote his extended waiver wire piece on Sunday. Nolan McLean, SP Mets The Mets called McLean up over the weekend to replace the struggling Frankie Montas in their rotation and he was ready for the task. Coincidentally, this weekend was also the first time teams could call up minor leaguers and not exhaust their rookie eligibility ahead for next year. So, if that player were to win Rookie of the Year or place in the top-three in MVP or Cy Young voting before arbitration, their team gets a draft pick. Funny timing on these promotions. Nevertheless, McLean instantly proved he belonged with 5 2/3 innings of shutout ball and eight strikeouts against a solid Mariners lineup. He made their hitters look foolish over and over again mostly with his sweeper and curveball. McLean's sweeper has always been his bread and butter. In terms of spin rate, total movement, and velocity, Dustin May has the only one that can compare to it. Just look at this frisbee. Nolan McLean, Filth. 😷 However, the key to his success in this debut was his curveball. He featured it against left-handed batters and it was downright disgusting. Nolan McLean, 3379 RPM Buzzsaw Curveball. 🌪️ With an average of 3,279 RPM, McLean's curveball has the highest spin rate of any in the league. Also very cool (and to nerd out on pitching for a moment), it has a nearly identical spin direction as his sweeper and practically the same amount of horizontal movement. So, it's very difficult for batters to decide which is coming. Knowing this, they were his two most thrown pitches against left-handed batters combining for a 64% usage rate. Alone, these pitches are incredible. Together, they're already one of the best breaking ball parings in the league. Oddly enough, the curve has somewhat come out of nowhere. He threw 19 in his debut start, the exact same amount as his last three starts in Triple-A combined. Before his promotion, he'd only thrown it 9% of the time. Without throwing it, he struggled a good bit against lefties relative to righties. Whatever happened to make him more comfortable with that pitch, he better keep it up because that with his sweeper and a good blend of fastballs and sinkers that sat around 95 mph can make him a stud instantly. Be mindful of a possible innings limit though. He's already at a career-high 119 and it's only his first season as a full-time pitcher after being a two-way player. So, expect the Mets to limit him on a per start basis and he may not get the opportunity for many quality starts. His WHIP could run high too with such a breaking ball heavy profile. Ryan Bergert, SP Royals Bergert is on a bit of a heater since being traded from the Padres to the Royals at the deadline. Through three starts, he's allowed five earned runs in 16 2/3 innings (2.79 ERA) with 17 strikeouts and five walks. That's a nice little run of success and one that should put him on our radars. Stuff wise, he doesn't seem that special at first glance. His fastball sits 93 mph and has solid carry, but he throws from a very high slot. So, the batter 'expects' some of that rise on it. Otherwise, he has a distinct sweeper and slider plus a sinker for righties and changeup for lefties. The Stuff+ model doesn't rate any of these pitches above a 92 where 100 is considered average. Yet, there's something interesting going on. First off, he's been locating his fastball higher in the zone since the trade. That's a sensible adjustment for him given the good vertical action that pitch gets. He's been more willing to throw his sweeper in the zone to steal strikes against lefties too. His repertoire is reasonably wide and he has great command, so it's nice to see him mixing everything up more. Also, his arsenal is unique in nature. Michael Rosen wrote a great piece for FanGraphs recently describing how uncommon it was for a pitcher like Bergert to have great vertical action and spin efficiency on a fastball and also a sweeper without losing much velocity on it. Read the article, it's amazing and Michael is a fantastic pitching mind. While possibly special pitch traits may not make Bergert an impact pitcher alone, his upcoming schedule might. He's set to face the Tigers, White Sox, Angels, and Guardians in his next four starts. If anything switches by a day, he could even get the Twins in the middle of there. Schedules are very important this time of year and with Bergert's being so favorable plus him having some fun pitch traits make him an enticing waiver wire option. Samuel Basallo, C/1B Orioles Sometimes in fantasy baseball, opportunities come along that are so great, we have to act without thinking and let the pieces fall into place afterwards. Basallo's promotion to the Orioles is one of those opportunities. He is already 3-for-10 with a double, two runs scored, and four RBI two games into his big league career. Half of the balls he put in play were hit harder than 95 mph and his 78.1 mph bat speed is in the 99th percentile of all big league hitters. He is a stud. In terms of an offensive profile, there wasn't a more impressive hitter in the minor leagues. He just turned 21 years old last week and had 23 homers in 76 games at Triple-A. His batted ball data may have been more impressive than the homers though. He had a 115.9 mph max exit velocity, 21% barrel rate, 57.4% hard-hit rate, and graded out exceptionally well among other key metrics. Shoutout Prospect Savant for the great work they've done with these minor league, Statcast adjacent player pages. The one flaw he seems to possibly have is with pitch selection and chasing balls outside the strike zone. Yet, his pitch recognition seems solid because of his high walk rate. In actuality, Basallo is a spectacular bad-ball hitter. He knows there are pitches that other hitters should not be swinging at that he can do damage on. Like this two-run single from his second career game. Samuel Basallo is such a good bad ball hitter it's crazy. Roughly 17 homers on pitches outside of the zone since the start of the 2022 season and a lotttt of hard hit baseballs like this. That was a 97 mph fastball at shoulder-height from Jordan Hicks and Basallo turned it around with ease for a rope at 108 mph exit velocity. Aram's claim about Basallo being a prolific bad ball hitter holds true too. He saw 496 pitches in the shadow of the zone at Triple-A this season and put 83 of them in play. Of those 83, he had a 59% hard-hit rate, .561 SLG, .409 xwOBA, 19.8% barrel rate, and hit 10 home runs. Those are jaw-dropping results against what we consider pitchers' pitches. This is all just to say pick-up up Basallo right now and figure out the rest later. We're dealing with a special hitter that can do what Nick Kurtz or Roman Anthony have done to this point.