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USA Today
a day ago
- Sport
- USA Today
PFF reveals statistical data showing where Zay Flowers is nearly unstoppable
Zay Flowers has no equal in one area of the field according to PFF. There aren't many players in this game like Zay Flowers. We always knew he was special, but we weren't sure that he was this good. Boston College, in essence, handed the Baltimore Ravens a microwavable star. All Todd Monken had to do was set the timer and hit the 'on' switch. Few have been as good as the guy in the Number 4 jersey since then. With two NFL seasons in his rearview mirror, Flowers has already added a Pro Bowl nod to his resume. That came last season after a campaign in which he notched 74 receptions, 1,059 receiving yards, and four touchdowns. He has tallied 151 grabs, 1,917 yards receiving, and nine TDs in total. Year three is pivotal. Baltimore has added DeAndre Hopkins to the mix. They love veteran receivers around these parts, but they had better find a way to get the ball in Flowers' hands as often as possible. Based on a recent analysis by Pro Football Focus, we recommend utilizing a few screen passes and short dump-offs to best leverage his skill set. PFF reveals the most elite area of Zay Flowers' game PFF's Lauren Gray recently offered the Highest-graded wide receivers by target depth. She focuses on the best playmakers at various depths of the field to create some conversation about this one. Here's what we learned. There isn't a better receiver in the game when it comes to creating magic off receptions that are snagged behind the line of scrimmage. "Last season, Flowers caught 20 of 24 targets on plays designed behind the line of scrimmage, gaining 168 yards. He gained six first downs, forced seven missed tackles and averaged 11.6 yards after the catch per reception, all of which ranked top-10 at the position." Here's what that means. We don't have to overthink or prolong offensive theories about this one. Pound the ball with Derrick Henry. Use his backfield mates, Justice Hill and Keaton Mitchell, as the change-of-pace options. It's a wise theory. That keeps King Henry fresh. Flowers is who Lamar Jackson and company should use as a mismatch to put more stress on the defense. Lastly, it's essential not to forget about getting the ball downfield to Hopkins and Rashod Bateman. This smells like a top-ranked offensive unit in the making.
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Health
- Yahoo
Can your brain run out of memory?
When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. You can use up all the storage on your phone or max out your computer's drive, but can you use up all the memory space in your brain? Despite how you might feel before an exam or after a sleepless night before a work deadline, neuroscientists say that for a typical, healthy brain, memory capacity isn't fixed or easily used up. "There isn't a meaningful limit to how much information the brain can store," said Elizabeth Kensinger, a professor of psychology and neuroscience at Boston College. "Memories can be thought of as the data the brain uses to understand the current moment, to make predictions about the future, and to scaffold future learning." That's because the brain doesn't store memories as isolated files in one specific nerve cell. Instead, a single memory is distributed across many neurons called an engram — a group of brain cells connected and scattered across brain regions. Neuroscientists refer to this pattern, in which a memory is recorded across many neurons, as distributed representation. Each of those individual brain cells plays a role in many different memories. Consider a memory, such as your 12th birthday party. It is not being stored in a single mental folder. The color of the balloons, the taste of the cake, the sound of your friends singing, and the feeling of excitement all activate different sensory and emotional centers — your visual cortex, taste cortex, auditory system and emotion-processing regions. These areas fire together in a specific pattern, and that pattern of neural activity stores the memory. When you recall that party later, you reactivate the pattern. This method has significant advantages. Because neurons can participate in numerous combinations, the brain can encode huge numbers of memories. Kensinger suggests related memories share overlapping patterns, helping us to generalize and make predictions — something many neuroscientists believe is the reason for memory. And if a few neurons are damaged, the memory may still be recoverable because it's not stored in just one place. Paul Reber, a professor of neuroscience at Northwestern University, explained to Live Science that distributed representation is part of what gives the brain its enormous memory capacity. The potential combinations grow exponentially, since each neuron participates in many memories involving overlapping neurons. Sign up for our newsletter Sign up for our weekly Life's Little Mysteries newsletter to get the latest mysteries before they appear online. If the brain isn't limited by memory space, why don't we remember everything? This is because the brain's memory system runs much more slowly than life happens. While information constantly streams in, only a fraction can make it into long-term storage. Reber suggested thinking of memory like a video camera that only works at 10% of its capacity; we can only remember about a tenth of the specific events, experiences, and encounters we experience. The information that does get into our memory system is gradually laid down into durable memories that will be there for the long term. That process is called consolidation. "The storage process is the real bottleneck," Reber told Live Science, "not the total amount of space that you have." At any given moment, tremendous amounts of information come into our brains from all our senses, but we don't need to remember it all. Human memory did not evolve for perfect recall, Lila Davachi, a professor of psychology and neuroscience at Columbia University, noted. Our memory system evolved for survival, so we prioritize what is helpful so we can navigate the world. "The memory system is built to only encode what is adaptive and necessary," Davachi, told Live Science. "We just happened to get so good at it that we have this extra reserve that allows us to reminisce about things that happened when we were in college," Davachi said. "That's not adaptive. I'd argue we don't need it. Why is our memory system keeping that around? Well, it's possibly just an accident." RELATED MYSTERIES —How does the brain store memories? —Why do smells trigger strong memories? —Why do we forget things we were just thinking about? Kensinger explained that there are efficiencies in how the brain processes and remembers information. "When similar information is encountered over and over again," Kensinger said, "the brain tends to shift from storing the specific details to storing the more general content or schemas of the information. This is an efficient way to store information." Consider your drive to school or to work. You don't remember every trip, because most of them are similar. Rather than storing each drive as its own memory, you recall the general experience. "The brain will tend to store the details of specific drives only if they had something distinctive happen, Kensinger added," perhaps a road was flooded, or you narrowly avoided an accident." Far from running out of space, our brains constantly reshape what we know to help us adapt, predict and learn. So the next time you forget where you left your coffee cup, don't worry; you're not running out of space. It's likely your brain just had more important things to remember.
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Better Bottom Lines And Increased Employee Motivation: Why Some Are Calling The 4-Day Work Week 'A Great Thing For Businesses To Try'
Transitioning to a four-day work week may be advantageous for employers as well as employees, a new study done in the UK by the 4 Day Week Foundation and Boston College finds. The foundation, which advocates for shorter working hours, just released the findings of its latest national pilot program. Seventeen companies and over 950 employees took part in the six-month program, which cut the work week from 40 hours down to just 32 hours. As you might have expected, the benefits of the change for employees were primarily positive. Almost half (47%) reported increased job satisfaction, while 62% said they experienced a reduction in burnout. Additionally, 45% of employees reported feeling more satisfied with life following the change, largely because they were experiencing better work-life balance. Don't Miss: Many are using retirement income calculators to check if they're on pace — Named a TIME Best Invention and Backed by 5,000+ Users, Kara's Air-to-Water Pod Cuts Plastic and Costs — What might shock you, however, is that several of the companies that participated in the program also reported that things improved for their businesses after they cut working hours. Several organizations reported a decrease in the number of resignations over the course of the trial, when compared with a similar six-month period. Others said that they experienced a 30% drop in the number of sick and personal days taken over the course of the trial, when compared to the same six months the year before. BrandPipe, a London-based software company, had some of the most significant results. The company dropped working hours for its employees from 35 to 28, and reported a 129.5% increase in revenue as well as a 100% reduction in the number of personal days taken by its employees. Trending: $100k+ in investable assets? – no cost, no obligation. "The trial's been an overwhelming success for BrandPipe because it has been the launchpad for us to consider what constitutes efficiency, progressive working practice, and the ability to focus on the things that really matter to our business and our customers," BrandPipe CEO Geoff Slaughter told researchers. Slaughter was so enthusiastic about the results of the trial and the positive effects it had on the company that he encouraged other tech leaders to be open-minded about reducing their office hours. "[It's] a great thing for businesses to try," he told researchers. "The learnings that come out of it are kind of adjacent to the fact that you've reduced working hours." Not everyone is as optimistic about the potential of four-day work weeks. King's College London public policy professor Michael Sanders told CNN that trials like the one run by the 4 Day Week Foundation are self-selected and therefore conducted in companies where the change "would be taken up enthusiastically." A shorter work week may work for them, but it "doesn't tell us much about what would happen if someone else tried it," he said. Read Next: This AI-Powered Trading Platform Has 5,000+ Users, 27 Pending Patents, and a $43.97M Valuation — Image: Shutterstock UNLOCKED: 5 NEW TRADES EVERY WEEK. Click now to get top trade ideas daily, plus unlimited access to cutting-edge tools and strategies to gain an edge in the markets. Get the latest stock analysis from Benzinga? APPLE (AAPL): Free Stock Analysis Report TESLA (TSLA): Free Stock Analysis Report This article Better Bottom Lines And Increased Employee Motivation: Why Some Are Calling The 4-Day Work Week 'A Great Thing For Businesses To Try' originally appeared on © 2025 Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved. Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
USA Today
4 days ago
- Sport
- USA Today
2025 Arizona Cardinals training camp roster preview: CB Elijah Jones
We will preview every player on the Cardinals roster leading up to training camp. This is about CB Elijah Jones. The Arizona Cardinals report to training camp on July 22 and begin the process of preparing for the regular season, forming the roster and determining starting jobs and roles on the team. Leading up to the start of camp, we will take a look at every player on the offseason roster, their background, their contract, their play in 2024, questions they face and their roster outlook. Next up is cornerback Elijah Jones. Elijah Jones background, 2024 season There were high hopes for Jones after he was selected from Boston College in the third round of the 2024 draft. However, an ankle injury resulted in a season-long stay on injured reserve. There was some limited practice time when he was designated for return on Dec. 5, but the 21-day window expired on Dec. 26 and that kept him on IR for the final week of the season. Elijah Jones 2025 contract details, cap hit His four-year rookie contract included a base salary of $1.053 million for the second year. However, spending all year on injured reserve without being on the active roster for at least three games means it doesn't count as a credited season. Thus, it is believed his salary reverts to the rookie minimum, which this year is $840,000. That would create a salary-cap charge of $1.078 million. 2025 questions, roster outlook With the addition of 2025 draft picks Will Johnson and Denzel Burke, in addition to the returning talent at the position, Jones faces stiff competition for a roster spot. Special teams could be the deciding factor for whoever is the fifth or potentially sixth cornerback. The practice squad might beckon if he is waived and not picked up by another team. Get more Cardinals and NFL coverage from Cards Wire's Jess Root and others by listening to the latest on the Rise Up, See Red podcast. Subscribe on Spotify, YouTube or Apple podcasts.
Miami Herald
4 days ago
- Sport
- Miami Herald
Boston College Football Preview 2025: Eagles Season Prediction, Win Total Projection, Top Players
Boston College Eagles Key to the Season Stop being totally miserable in the red Eagles were among the worst teams in America when getting inside the 20-yard line. Not only did they come up with just three field goals on the season - two in the win over North Carolina - but the offense scored touchdowns just 65% of the was a problem throughout the year and was a killer in the bowl loss to Nebraska, scoring just twice in five trips. Boston College Eagles Key Player Jude Bowry, OT line was okay for the ground game, and it wasn't a huge problem overall, but it struggled in pass protection, and that was with All-ACC stars Ozzy Trapilo and Drew and guard Logan Taylor on the left side are the veterans the offense has to work around, and then hope everything works out with … - Boston College Team Preview Boston College Eagles Top Transfer, Biggest Transfer Loss Top Transfer In: Amir Johnson, OG interior of the Eagle line needed pieces. Johnson isn't huge, but the Merrimack transfer can move, and he fits exactly what the line needs at left guard. Combine him with Princeton transfer Tommy Matheson, and BC might have fixed the Transfer Out: Thomas Castellanos, QB College is fine at quarterback, and the coaches are good at getting them rolling, but Castellanos was a fun playmaker. He didn't run last year like he did in his 1,113-yard, 13-touchdown 2023, but he'll be on the move this year at Florida State. Boston College Eagles Key Game at Pitt, Oct. 4If the Eagles are any good, they get by Stanford in Palo Alto and Cal at home to go 2-0 in the ACC. The problem is what comes next in conference play after the trip to Pitt - Clemson, at Louisville, Notre Dame, SMU.- 2025 Boston College Schedule Breakdown Boston College Eagles Top 10 Players 1. KP Price, S Jr.2. Lewis Bond, WR Sr.3. Daveon Crouch, LB Sr.4. Logan Taylor, OG Sr.5. Carter Davis, S Soph.6. Grayson James, QB Sr.7. Quintayvious Hutchins, DE Sr.8. Reed Harris, WR Soph.9. Jeremiah Franklin, TE Sr.10. Amari Jackson, CB Sr. Boston College Eagles 2024 Fun Stats - BC Scoring: First Quarter 51, Second Quarter 140- Field Goals: Opponents 21-of-25, Boston College 3-of-5- Penalties: 83 for 725 yards, Boston College 58 for 560 yards Boston College 2025 Season Prediction, Win Total, What Will Happen There's a bit too much to do to improve on both sides of the ball to be better than the 7-5 regular season of last 2024 team was all over the place with one of the least consistent teams in the ACC, but at least the schedule should be a strange quirk, there's just a trip to Louisville between October 11 and the season finale at Syracuse. Clemson, Notre Dame, and SMU are all difficult, but all three games are in Chestnut Hill. There aren't enough sure-thing wins to feel comfortable, but again, it's Boston College. It'll either finish with six or seven The Boston College Eagles Win Total At … 6Likely Wins: Fordham50/50 Games: Cal, Georgia Tech, at Louisville, at Michigan State, at Pitt, SMU, at Stanford, at SyracuseLikely Losses: Clemson, Notre Dame- Boston College Team Preview © 2025 The Arena Group Holdings, Inc. All rights reserved.
