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Miami Herald
3 days ago
- Sport
- Miami Herald
Miami Hurricanes Defense Preview 2025: Reloaded With Even More Talent and Depth
X CFN, Fiu | CFN Facebook | Bluesky Fiu, CFN 2025 Miami Preview Miami Offense Breakdown Prediction, Top 10 Players, Win Total, Keys to Season- The defensive front has an NFL end to work around in Rueben Bain, and now he should be healthy. He was a 7.5 sack, 12.5 tackle for loss star as a freshman, but was banged up in 2024 and missed most of the first half of the Mesidor led the team with 5.5 sacks and nine tackles for loss as a tackle, but will likely bounce outside to end. Ahmad Moten is a 325-pound anchor inside, and Justin Scott and transfer David Blay (Louisiana Tech) are both big, NFL-sized linemen who can work inside or out. - Leading tackler Francisco Mauigoa will be spending his summer trying to make the New York Jets, but second-leading tackler Wesley Bissainthe is back after making 59 stops. Raul Aguirre will likely be a statistical machine in the middle, and Jaylin Alderman will go from being a key backup to playing wherever needed. - The Hurricanes picked up a playmaker in Wisconsin transfer Xavier Lucas to work on the other side of all-star OJ Frederique to form one of the ACC's better corner tandems. They'll need to be great around a brand new set of Poyser made 75 tackles with three picks and eight broken-up passes for Jacksonville State last year - he should be one of the stars in the secondary. Jakobe Thomas (Tennessee) should battle for time with Markeith Williams, and Charles Brantley (Michigan State) will get every shot for time somewhere in the mix. Prediction, Top 10 Players, Win Total, Keys to Season2025 Miami PreviewMiami Offense Breakdown © 2025 The Arena Group Holdings, Inc. All rights reserved.
USA Today
26-04-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
Browns: Harold Fannin Jr. college highlights and what he brings to NFL
Browns: Harold Fannin Jr. college highlights and what he brings to NFL The Browns stuck with offense with their fourth selection at No. 67 overall, as they took Bowling Green State tight end Harold Fannin Jr. Out of Canton, Ohio, Fannin exploded in his final season, where he led the FBS in catches and yards. He has great hands, after-the-catch traits, and the ability to win against defenses on deep or in-breaking routes. Fannin's catch radius is massive, and he has no issue playing through hits. He's just 20 years old and had eye-popping production in his final year at Bowling Green, setting almost every tight end receiving record for the school. Fannin caught 180 passes for 1,555 yards and had elite games against Penn State, where he went for 137 and 145 yards, respectively. On the downsides, Fannin is a bit undersized for a full-time, inline tight end who has to take on big NFL defenders. He occasionally struggled blocking in space, and he will likely struggle to consistently win against NFL-sized defensive ends. He did do well as a lead blocker in zone concepts, but he will need to add size to evolve into a full-time inline tight end. With the likelihood that the Browns increase their 12 personnel uptick in reverting to a more wide-zone centric offense, there was a clear hole at tight end next to David Njoku, Jerry Jeudy, Cedric Tillman, and now Quinshon Judkins. Fannin is an incredibly versatile pass-catcher who will be an intriguing weapon for Cleveland's offense.
Yahoo
21-04-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Jets 2025 NFL draft target: Full draft profile, scouting report for TE Terrance Ferguson
Oregon tight end Terrance Ferguson could be a name to watch for the New York Jets at the 2025 NFL draft. As things stand, the Jets hold eight total picks scattered around the board, including the seventh overall pick. Advertisement If things hold true, general manager Darren Mougey and the Jets' front office will have plenty of options to consider when turning in their selection cards. During the run up to the draft, which starts April 24, Jets Wire will compile information on prospects New York could have interest in. Specifically, what scouting reports and draft profiles say about their game. Ferguson is up next in our prospect previews. Here's a rundown of what experts are saying about his game: TE Terrance Ferguson | Oregon | Senior Feb 27, 2025; Indianapolis, IN, USA; Oregon tight end Terrance Ferguson (TE08) during the 2025 NFL Combine at Lucas Oil Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Tanner Pearson-Imagn Images Vitals Height: 6'5" Weight: 247 Pros NFL-sized frame Catch and run ability Athleticism Versatile Cons Blocking Catching in traffic Short-area quickness Stats 2024 stats (12 GP): 43 receptions, 591 receiving yards, three touchdowns, 49.3 receiving ypg Career stats (53 GP): Advertisement 134 receptions, 1.537 receiving yards, 16 touchdowns 2024 PFF grade: 73.9 Career PFF grade: 68.7 Consensus rank Draft stock: Day 2 selection Highlight reel For more, visit: This article originally appeared on Jets Wire: Jets 2025 NFL draft target: Full draft profile, scouting report for TE Terrance Ferguson
USA Today
21-04-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
Jets 2025 NFL draft target: Full draft profile, scouting report for TE Terrance Ferguson
Jets 2025 NFL draft target: Full draft profile, scouting report for TE Terrance Ferguson Oregon tight end Terrance Ferguson could be a name to watch for the New York Jets at the 2025 NFL draft. As things stand, the Jets hold eight total picks scattered around the board, including the seventh overall pick. If things hold true, general manager Darren Mougey and the Jets' front office will have plenty of options to consider when turning in their selection cards. During the run up to the draft, which starts April 24, Jets Wire will compile information on prospects New York could have interest in. Specifically, what scouting reports and draft profiles say about their game. Ferguson is up next in our prospect previews. Here's a rundown of what experts are saying about his game: TE Terrance Ferguson | Oregon | Senior Vitals Height: 6'5" Weight: 247 Pros NFL-sized frame Catch and run ability Athleticism Versatile Cons Blocking Catching in traffic Short-area quickness Stats 2024 stats (12 GP): 43 receptions, 591 receiving yards, three touchdowns, 49.3 receiving ypg Career stats (53 GP): 134 receptions, 1.537 receiving yards, 16 touchdowns 2024 PFF grade: 73.9 Career PFF grade: 68.7 Consensus rank Draft stock: Day 2 selection Highlight reel For more, visit:
The Guardian
19-02-2025
- Sport
- The Guardian
How USL can rival MLS: quirks, streaming and, yes, promotion and relegation
When the men's World Cup comes to the United States – alongside Canada and Mexico – in 2026, it will be played in NFL-sized stadiums in major metropolitan areas throughout the country. The final, played just a few miles from New York City, will no doubt leave a lasting impression. The United Soccer League saw an opportunity in this, but not where you might think. 'If we're truly going to be a soccer nation, we need to have top-tier soccer in more states and more cities throughout the country,' Paul McDonough, president of USL, told the Guardian last week. 'We're not going to build soccer in this country just in major cities.' McDonough was speaking ahead of last week's announcement that USL plans to launch a men's Division I league in 2027 which would see it operate a top-tier competition parallel to Major League Soccer. With plans to launch in 2027, the story of the new league could attract interest just as MLS did during the 1994 World Cup before its launch in 1996. If it is a success, it could change the face of the sport in the US. How can USL ensure its new league is a success? Setting itself apart from other American sports and aligning with successful soccer leagues from other countries may be a start, but this is not to say it should not be distinctly American or that it should directly copy competitions which are themselves riddled with problems. Retaining a certain American charm and quirkiness, including things like team nicknames, playoffs, unique stadiums, commentary, and match presentation should be a global selling point rather than something to erase. USL already differentiates itself from MLS by not being a single-entity league, which gives its franchises more independence. The league already boasts numerous notable teams with unique characters, and a successful first division league would retain this aspect as much as possible. 'What I like about our system is clubs have autonomy,' said McDonough. 'We want to give them kind of guardrails, but then they do it how they want.' The very existence of soccer leagues and teams in the United States is tied to the Professional League Standards (PLS). The way pro soccer is organized in the US, with closed leagues and new teams only able to arrive via expansion, means the United States Soccer Federation (USSF) sanctions league tiers based on requirements set out in the PLS. Sign up to Soccer with Jonathan Wilson Jonathan Wilson brings expert analysis on the biggest stories from European soccer after newsletter promotion The PLS are there for good reason but they can sometimes restrict organic growth. The USL, and US soccer generally, will need flexibility from the USSF if it is to grow in more soccer communities throughout the country and include things like community-owned and member-run clubs and teams in smaller cities – probably not something that's possible in a D-I league where an ownership must have a combined net worth of $70m, with at least one principal owner worth $40m or more. McDonough expects USL Division I clubs will 'try to go above and beyond' the current PLS and between now and 2027 will aim to do so. 'You need that proper runway to launch properly,' he said. 'We don't want to do this and not have it come off with a good look, so we need ample time to build proper clubs.' Then, of course, there is the long-mooted promotion and relegation. The USL has toyed with this in the past, and already has leagues at Division II (the USL Championship), Division III (League One), and regional semi-pro levels (League Two). The creation of a league at the top of this pyramid primes it to introduce the movement of teams between divisions. This could also raise the possibility of promotion and relegation playoffs in addition to championship playoffs which, again, would serve to differentiate it from MLS and make it more familiar to fans of soccer leagues elsewhere in the world. If such a system is introduced, the PLS would need to be even more adaptable to accommodate successful smaller teams rising through the divisions, helping them grow rather than stifling progress. On the other side of the coin, teams dropping down a division would need assurances they are not going to be forgotten and that the lower leagues league are sustainable. If USL does want to be bold, as McDonough says, in the context of US sports promotion and relegation is about the boldest move it could make. Any successful league also needs to make itself accessible to supporters and potential new fans, both locally at affordable price points to fill a stadium and nationally and internationally via media and TV deals. One of the PLS requirements is the broadcast of all league games via TV or streaming. Making these games available via channels fans already subscribe to for other sports and soccer leagues around the globe, and on similar channels internationally, would be useful, and a marked contrast to MLS's current deal with Apple that sees the vast majority of its games live behind a paywall for a broadcaster with few other live sports on offer. US club soccer can struggle for space in the mainstream media. Wider availability and accessibility can lead to additional coverage but the challenge is to break into the general sports landscape in new and old media alike. Turn the radio on, USL. Get the magazine out, USL. Soccer on TV in the bar? USL. Streaming is something the league already does reasonably well, with games available internationally via YouTube, while national TV deals with ESPN and CBS expire in 2026 and 2027 respectively – potentially good timing for renegotiating with the promise of 'major league' play in 2027. It's an exciting time for US club soccer. MLS is about to embark on its 30th season, two women's professional leagues operating side by side, and arguably the best men's and women's players of all time are seeing out their careers here. On top of all this, there is now a proposed new men's league making bold moves that, if successful, could transform the US soccer ecosystem and deepen the sport's footprint in communities across the country.
