Ohio State football loses staffer to SEC school
Pettito came to Ohio State as a key recruiting support staffer last season after working for eight years under Nick Saban at Alabama. Not only did he win a College Football Playoff national championship ring for the memorable title run last year for the Buckeyes, but he also won some hardware in 2017 and 2020 in Tuscaloosa.
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A Louisiana native, it's a chance to return home to work for head coach Brian Kelly. He had previous stops at Georgia, North Carolina, Grambling State, and Southeastern Louisiana.
For General Manager of Player Personnel Mark Pantoni, it is, unfortunately, a similar situation. He has had to replace the same post four straight years and must now try to keep the recruiting machine running by hiring another qualified candidate. As any news on that front becomes available, we'll be on top of it.
This article originally appeared on Buckeyes Wire: Ohio State football staffer leaving school for job at SEC school
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Forbes
23 minutes ago
- Forbes
The Most Important Packers: No. 10 — Tucker Kraft
Green Bay Packers tight end Tucker Kraft (85) was a Pro Bowl alternate last season. The Green Bay Packers went 11-6 last season, sweeping the NFC West and the AFC South along the way. Overall, though, no one in the building was happy. The Packers failed to build on their terrific finish to the 2023 campaign, settled for the No. 7 seed in the NFC playoffs, and lost a Wild Card game to eventual Super Bowl champion Philadelphia. Afterwards, general manager Brian Gutekunst turned up the heat on everybody in the building. 'We need to continue to ramp up our sense of urgency,' Gutekunst said. 'I think it's time we started competing for championships.' Those are fair expectations. The Packers return 20 of 22 starters, and appear to have upgraded the roster via free agency and the draft. With several third and fourth year players trending upward, Green Bay should be poised to make a move. 'I think they're ready,' Gutekunst said. Now, it's time for the Packers to prove their G.M. right. Green Bay's first training camp practice is July 23. Between now and then I will count down the '30 Most Important Packers' heading into the 2025 campaign. At No. 10 is tight end Tucker 10 Tucker Kraft, TE Last season Kraft was a Pro Bowl alternate after starting all 17 games and finishing second on the team in receptions (50) and yards (707). Kraft also led the Packers with seven receiving touchdowns. Kraft became just the fourth tight end since 2000 to have 80-plus catches, 1,000-plus receiving yards and average at least 13.0 yards per reception in his first two seasons. The others were New England Rob Gronkowski, San Diego's Hunter Henry and Baltimore's Mark Andrews. Kraft's 707 receiving yards last year were also the most by a Packer tight end since Jermichael Finley (767) in 2011. Kraft's average of 9.1 yards after the catch was also tops among all NFL tight ends and the second-best mark since 2000, trailing only San Francisco's George Kittle (9.9) in to date Kraft, a third round draft pick from South Dakota State in 2023, looked lost much of his rookie season. Kraft took off, though, after a kidney injury to Luke Musgrave in Week 11 of 2023 and finished the year with 355 receiving yards. That was the second-most in franchise history by a rookie tight end, trailing only Bubba Franks (363 in 2000). Kraft also finished with 31 catches in 2023, which was third in team history among rookie tight ends behind only Franks and Musgrave (both 34). Kraft didn't have his first reception of his rookie season until Week 4. In his last eight games of that year, though, Kraft had 29 catches for 321 yards and two touchdowns. 'A lot of it for him at the beginning was just assignment stuff, lining up in the right spot, getting off on the right snap count, blocking the right guy and then after that, like using good technique and all that stuff,' Packers offensive coordinator Adam Stenavich said of Kraft. 'So he was a little behind from that aspect, as far as the fundamental core issues that you have. Kraft ran the 40-yard dash in a respectable 4.73 coming out of SDSU. He also tied for the most bench press reps of 225 pounds (23) among the tight end group at the 2023 NFL Many expected Kraft and 2023 second round draft pick Luke Musgrave to split time last season. Instead, Kraft left Musgrave in the dust during training camp and established himself as Green Bay's No. 1 tight end. Kraft played 85.33% of the Packers' snaps, while the oft-injured Musgrave played just 13.38% of the snaps. Now, the question is how does Kraft move from good to great? Kraft is a tireless worker who wants to win as badly as anyone in the building. He's also developed into a leader rather quickly. Jermichael Finley holds the Packers' record for most receptions by a tight end in a single season (61) and Paul Coffman holds the mark for receiving yards in a season (814). Don't be surprised if Kraft surpasses both of those numbers this Said It … 'The great thing about Tuck is he'll do whatever you ask him and he's working his tail off to be a complete player, so you can get him the ball in different ways, whether that's route running, different types of routes, where you put him. Obviously that's our job to put him in those spots and he works his tail off to when he does get in those spots to do something with the ball.' — Packers tight ends coach John Dunn on Kraft'One thing we spent some time on this offseason is just kind of where we can get him to take the next step and I think just his route-running ability, getting him on more individual things like that, and just kind of growing him there. I think he did a really good job in the run game. That's one thing that hopefully he can keep improving there to be a dominant player up front. Just trying to find different ways to give him the ball, that's gonna be the big thing for us.' — Packers offensive coordinator Adam Stenavich on Kraft'One thing I feel like I could've done better is separate in man-to-man. Most of my game was check downs underneath and my yards after catch ability, so I'm looking to put it all together. I'm looking to have every resource I need based off the repetitions I've gotten over and over and over this offseason. Last offseason, I had a torn pec. I didn't get a chance to have an opportunity to do any of this, so really being able to apply my technique and stack reps, coverages and schemes and fronts, I just got a much better feel of the game this offseason.' — Kraft on improving this seasonTHE TOP 30 • No. 30 — RB MarShawn Lloyd • No. 29 — WR Dontayvion Wicks • No. 28 — S Javon Bullard • No. 27 — WR Savion Williams • No. 26 — LB Isaiah McDuffie • No. 25 — OL Jordan Morgan • No. 24 — WR Matthew Golden • No. 23 — CB Carrington Valentine • No. 22 — WR Romeo Doubs • No. 21 — QB Malik Willis • N0. 20 — DE Lukas Van Ness • No. 19 — RG Sean Rhyan • No. 18 — LT Rasheed Walker • No. 17 — DT Devonte Wyatt • No. 16 — S Evan Williams • No. 15 — CB Nate Hobbs • No. 14 — LB Quay Walker • No. 13 — OL Aaron Banks • No. 12 — CB Keisean Nixon • No. 11 — K Brandon McManus
Yahoo
32 minutes ago
- Yahoo
MLB mock draft 2025: Where are Ethan Holliday, Eli Willits projected to go?
Major League Baseball's draft finally arrives July 13 from Cobb County's Roxy Theater, and while it may not light up the Georgia skies like the Home Run Derby and All-Star Game to follow the next two nights, there's no shortage of intrigue. This much we know: Eight specific players are almost certain to go in the top 10 picks. Yet in what order and to which teams remains a game of dominos that will have to wait until the clock starts. Advertisement And 10 shortstops – from MLB legacies to high school stars to college All-Americas – will consume at least half of the top 20 picks, and while the game's premier position tends to be a draft premium, this class boasts dudes who will almost assuredly stick on that position – and play at a very high level. With that, USA TODAY Sports fires some darts one last time with a final mock draft before the pickin' party commences Sunday: REQUIRED READING: Ethan Holliday could be No. 1 in MLB Draft like his brother. Add it to their competition. 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Good luck splitting hairs between Anderson, Jamie Arnold and Liam Doyle, but we'll side with Anderson's K rate (NCAA-best 180 in 110 innings) and devastating pitch mix (think Max Fried, only firmer) with a rapid promotion in the offing in Anaheim. 3. Seattle Mariners: Aiva Arquette, SS, Oregon State Perhaps the most impactful pick in the top five, as plucking one of the top college arms or prep right-hander Seth Hernandez here would be a moderate disruption and likely introduce some exotic names into the overall top 10. But let's stay consistent with this one as the Mariners opt for the physical presence and lineup punch that Arquette would bring up the middle. Advertisement 4. Colorado Rockies: Eli Willits, SS, Fort Cobb-Broxton (Okla.) HS What do you get the franchise that needs everything? They drafted Chase Dollander and got him to Coors Field quickly, and doing the same with deluxe lefty and fellow Tennessee product Liam Doyle would be highly tempting. Yet Willits, still just 17, represents the high-end building block the franchise lacks. More: Eli Willits opted to reclassify in high school. Now, he could be a top MLB Draft pick. In this scenario, the Cardinals have their choice of remaining elite college lefties and opt for Doyle's greater swing-and-miss upside over Florida State's Jamie Arnold, though they may prove us wrong come draft night. Advertisement 6. Pittsburgh Pirates: Seth Hernandez, RHP, Corona (Calif.) HS Hernandez represents the draft's other great wild card and a test case for how high clubs would be willing to draft a prep right-hander. We'll stop just shy of calling Hernandez's repertoire 'generational,' but his high-90s fastball and pro-caliber changeup give him a significant springboard to move quicker than your average high school arm. 7. Miami Marlins: Billy Carlson, SS, Corona (Calif.) HS Make it back-to-back Panthers here, with Carlson the last of the elite-elite prep shortstops off the board. Imagine a larger version of Masyn Winn, with a similar hose at shortstop and, at 6-1, potentially greater offensive upside. Advertisement 8. Toronto Blue Jays: Jamie Arnold, LHP, Florida State A real coup here for Toronto, getting a mature college arm with a big league-ready fastball-slider mix. Paired with last year's No. 1, Trey Yesavage, the Blue Jays have the potential to quickly backfill a rotation that could lose Chris Bassitt and Kevin Gausman to free agency in consecutive years. 9. Cincinnati Reds: Kyson Witherspoon, RHP, Oklahoma The Reds may stray out of their comfort zone and go bat here, but Witherspoon could unlock an even higher level developing in their pitching program as he'll bring a high-90s fastball and low-90s slider into pro ball. Advertisement The White Sox quandary: Take the best of the next tier of prep shortstops or whichever advanced high-end college prospect almost mathematically certain to fall to them? In this case, it's Irish, who popped 18 home runs with a .469 OBP for Auburn, and will likely have a permanent home in the outfield. 11. Athletics: Tyler Bremner, RHP, UC Santa Barbara A nice value for the Athletics, getting a consensus top-five guy before Bremner got off to a slow start for UCSB. But he finished strong and could reach the majors quick enough to try out that much-maligned mound in the A's temporary Yolo County digs. Advertisement 12. Texas Rangers: JoJo Parker, SS, Purvis (Miss.) HS The math makes it highly likely Texas lands a prep shortstop and Parker is still around, high enough to keep him away from a Mississippi State commitment. That's two years in a row a Mississippi prep shortstop goes in the top dozen picks, joining Konnor Griffin (No. 9, Pittsburgh). 13. San Francisco Giants: Daniel Pierce, SS, Mill Creek (Ga.) HS Let the run continue. Pierce is already 19, which may make some clubs shy away, but still has significant offensive upside and fits in what will be the first pick under the Buster Posey regime. 14. Tampa Bay Rays: Steele Hall, SS, Hewitt-Trussville (Ala.) HS We'll stick with Hall here, possessing the power upside and versatility the Rays value as the prep shortstop pool thins a bit. Advertisement 15. Boston Red Sox: Gavin Kilen, INF, Tennessee A Red Sox draftee out of high school, Kilen will do much better than the 13th round this time, with a strong offensive profile that saw him strike out just 27 times in 245 plate appearances, most of those against SEC pitching. 16. Minnesota Twins: Marek Houston, SS, Wake Forest The question is whether Houston's very sturdy defense and developing but incomplete offensive profile slots him higher than the prep stars slated to go before him. It's hard to see him dropping any further than the Twins. 17. Chicago Cubs: Wehiwa Aloy, SS, Arkansas We'll stubbornly keep Aloy ticketed to the Cubs, even as a strong postseason that ended in Omaha further buttressed his profile. He might have smoother actions around the bag than Arquette, even if his offensive punch grades out a notch below the fellow Hawaiian collegiate star. Advertisement 18. Arizona Diamondbacks: Kayson Cunningham, SS, Johnson (Texas) HS His offensive profile fits the Diamondbacks' ethos very nicely: Contact-based and, at 5-10, 180, a compact frame that has the potential to grow into decent power. 19. Baltimore Orioles: OF Ethan Conrad, Wake Forest The Orioles control three of the next 13 picks and can get creative with their bonus pool, certainly. We stick with Conrad and the classic O's college hitter profile here. 20. Milwaukee Brewers: Andrew Fischer, INF, Tennessee Bat first, figure out the position later. Fischer slammed 25 homers with a 1.205 OPS in an exuberant platform season, and is versatile enough defensively to move around some if the power doesn't support a first base profile. Advertisement 21. Houston Astros: Jace Laviolette, OF, Texas A&M He's going to be a great value somewhere, probably, as Laviolette faded from top three talk after a season slowed by contact issues, slumps and health. Wouldn't be surprising if someone jumped on him sooner thanks to his elite raw power. 22. Atlanta Braves: Kruz Schoolcraft, LHP, Sunset (Ore.) HS Quite a talent to land here, as the 6-8 prep lefty with a fastball that reached 97 mph gives them a daunting 1-2 punch with Cam Caminiti, currently thriving in low A one year after going 24h overall. 23. Kansas City Royals: Gavin Fien, INF, Great Oak (Calif.) HS The prep version of Laviolette, in that someone may jump on him sooner based on equity already banked as opposed to an uneven platform year. Advertisement 24. Detroit Tigers: Xavier Neyens, INF, Mt. Vernon (Wash.) HS Big frame and potential big power in a nimble and athletic 6-4 package. In terms of offense, one of the top prep lefty bats available. 25. San Diego Padres: Sean Gamble, INF/OF, IMG (Fla.) Academy Versatile and projectable, Gamble – at 6-foot-1, 190 – leveled up from Iowa to IMG Academy and is a potential impact player in the middle of the diamond. 26. Philadelphia Phillies: Slater de Brun, OF, Summit (Ore.) HS The run of late-round high school players takes a few Philly targets off the board but they can still fulfill their prep preference with de Brun, a potential center fielder of the future whose speed will likely always trump his power. Advertisement 27. Cleveland Guardians: Caden Bodine, C, Coastal Carolina The Guardians opt for Contact King, as Bodine finished the season with an absurd 24 strikeouts in 313 plate appearances while churning out a .915 OPS. As the Chanticleers reeled off 26 consecutive wins to reach the College World Series finals, Bodine's stock rose along with it. 28. Kansas City Royals*: Luke Stevenson, C, North Carolina Paired with Fien, this should be a bonus pool-friendly pick as the Royals opt for the steady Stevenson, two years after making prep catcher Blake Mitchell the eighth overall pick. 29. Arizona Diamondbacks**: Brendan Summerhill, OF, Arizona Would be a coup getting Summerhill this late, as he can man all three outfield positions and put up a .343/.459/.556 line to lead Arizona to the College World Series. Advertisement 30. Baltimore Orioles**: Alex Lodise, SS, Florida State The Dick Howser Trophy winner and ACC player of the year, Lodise is a solid defender who hit 19 home runs and should develop above-average pro power and likely stick at shortstop. *- Prospect promotion incentive pick**- Free agent compensation pick Note: The Mets, Yankees and Dodgers each received a 10-pick penalty on their first picks for exceeding the second surcharge threshold of the competitive balance tax and their first picks will be 38th, 39th and 40th overall, respectively. The USA TODAY app gets you to the heart of the news — fast. Download for award-winning coverage, crosswords, audio storytelling, the eNewspaper and more. This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: MLB mock draft 2025: Projections for Ethan Holliday, Eli Willits
New York Times
32 minutes ago
- New York Times
Baseball's most disappointing team is forced to host
The Pulse Newsletter 📣 | This is The Athletic's daily sports newsletter. Sign up here to receive The Pulse directly in your inbox. Good morning! Win at least one game today. Most of Major League Baseball is scrunched together for the break, as the Home Run Derby arrives tomorrow. Only five teams are double-digit games out of a playoff spot. Not everyone's doing well, but most teams can feel decent, and a few have separated from the field. The outlook: In the National League The sixth playoff team in the Senior Circuit could be anyone outside the Rockies, Pirates and the three other East clubs. (More on one of the latter in a moment.) In the American League Barring someone collapsing, who rounds out the AL postseason? The Rays and Mariners? Could the Twins wake up? Maybe the Red Sox, despite trading Rafael Devers and implicitly giving up just a little on 2025? Missing from that big list of teams involved in a pennant race? The Braves, who host the All-Star Game on Tuesday. 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What we could see them do is trade one or more from the group of DH Marcell Ozuna (though his struggles this season have likely reduced his value) and relievers Pierce Johnson and Raisel Iglesias, each in the final year of his contract. If they could get a controllable reliever, an innings-eating starter to help get through this season or a middle infield prospect back in a deal, they'd likely do it. Brutal year, and there's not that much to do but run it back. Flagg drops 31 in Summer League I'm starting to think this Cooper Flagg kid might be legit. After a somewhat underwhelming showing in his first Summer League game, Flagg dropped 31 points on 10-of-21 shooting last night. Perhaps most impressively, the 18-year-old handled the poise of being the constant center of attention masterfully. The only blemish on his performance? 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Make it five straight multi-goal games for Inter Miami's Lionel Messi. The 38-year-old continues to reset the MLS record books. Ndamukong Suh — former standout NFL defensive tackle and current host of The Athletic's 'No Free Lunch' podcast— formally announced his retirement from the NFL yesterday with a heartfelt note to his late father. Amanda Anisimova announced her arrival with a stunning Wimbledon upset over world No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka on Thursday. It was the biggest win of the 23-year-old's career. But the American's dream quickly became a nightmare yesterday. Iga Świątek utterly outclassed Anisimova in the Wimbledon final in a 6-0, 6-0 match that lasted less than an hour. It was just the second time that scoreline has happened in a Grand Slam final in the Open Era, and the first since 1988. It was hard to watch. There's really not much else to say about this match. We can only hope today's men's final provides a little more competitive tennis. Lucky for us, this one should not disappoint: 📺 Wimbledon: Men's Singles Final 11 a.m. ET on ESPN Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner, again. How lucky are we? Their last Grand Slam final was one of the greatest matches the sport has ever seen. 📺 Scottish Open: Final Round 12 p.m. ET on CBS With earlier coverage on CNBC and Golf Channel. This is a terrific tournament just about every year, a part of the run-up to the Open Championship that very much stands on its own. Moreover, Rory McIlroy ended Saturday tied for the lead at 11-under. 📺 CWC: PSG vs. Chelsea 3 p.m. ET on TNT, truTV or DAZN To anyone out there who turned on the TV looking for this after seeing it listed in yesterday's Pulse, apologies for the production error. Anyway, to repeat: The final of the first edition of this international club football extravaganza features two of Europe's biggest brands. The Club World Cup is not the Champions League, but winning both in one spring and summer would be sweet for PSG. They're the best in the world right now. Get tickets to games like these here. The MLB All-Star break is almost here, and Jayson Stark has midseason awards across the board. Lots of fun debate surrounding the MVP race in both leagues. I was dragging while working late Thursday night and the new Clipse album, 'Let God Sort Em Out,' was the perfect antidote. As a 35-year-old massive hip-hop fan, this is pretty much perfect music. Also, a 13-song album in 2025? Thank you. — Chris Branch Advertisement Been listening to Joe Abercrombie's First Law trilogy audiobooks lately. The writing is good, but the guy who does the audiobook (Steven Pacey) is phenomenal, with one exception: he pronounces 'grimacing' as gri-MAYCE-ing'. If you can get past that, two thumbs up. — Levi Weaver Carlos Alcaraz, Steph Curry and numerous other elite athletes use juggling as a warmup to enhance cognitive function … and, well, have fun. Rustin Dodd tried it himself. Google 'Directive draw' or use Art Hub for your kid as summer drags. Good screen time ✅ — Chris Sprow Lena Dunham's new show on Netflix, 'Too Much.' If you were a fan of 'Girls' or Megan Stalter in 'Hacks,' or you just generally love a smart, hilarious, moving rom-com, get thee to this show! — Hannah Vanbiber Shout out once again to the cover-songs marching band in College Football 26's menus. 'Blinding Lights' might be the winner. — Jason Kirk Ahead of today's MLB Draft (bookmark this page for updates throughout), Cody Stavenhagen penned an awesome story on potential No. 1 pick Ethan Holliday and a baseball family generations in the making. Most-clicked in the newsletter yesterday: How sports bettors are feeling threatened by Donald Trump's 'Big Beautiful Bill.' Most-read on the website yesterday: Stark's midseason MLB awards. Ticketing links in this article are provided by partners of The Athletic. Restrictions may apply. The Athletic maintains full editorial independence. Partners have no control over or input into the reporting or editing process and do not review stories before publication.
