J.T. Olsen – Bucs Report – Special to Sports Talk Florida
We are in the heart of the NFL draft season. The NFL combine is over and we are now looking at free agency. But before teams make educated decisions on where to spend their money, it’s important to know where the strengths of this NFL Draft class are.
While there is still much work to be done with evaluating this draft class, there are clear trends in the first round and into the second as to where the talent is. And while future prospects may crack this list in the future, he’s where my evaluations are at as of today. Here is my NFL draft post combine top 50 big board.
1. Travis Hunter, CB/WR, Colorado 2. Mason Graham, DT, Michigan 3. Ashton Jeanty, RB, Boise State 4. Abdul Carter, EDGE, Penn State 5. Josh Simmons, OT, Ohio State 6. Will Johnson, CB, Michigan 7. Will Campbell, OL, LSU 8. Jahdae Barron, DB, Texas
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Barron is fantastic at everything he does. He’s got experience at safety and nickel and he looked great at outside corner last year. I’ve seen comparisons to Brian Branch as a safety, but I also compare him to Tre’davious White as an outside cornerback.
9. Tyler Booker, IOL, Alabama 10. Donovan Jackson, IOL, Ohio State 11. Tetairoa McMillian, WR, Arizona 12. Tyler Warren, TE, Penn State 13. Aireontae Ersery, OT, Minnesota
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There is a little projection with this one, but I really like the tools that Ersery brings to the table. Guys who are this big and strong don’t usually move as gracefully as he does. He needs some polishing with his hand placement usage as well as staying low and driving his man, but the ceiling here is very high.
14. Armand Membou, OL, Missouri 15. Colston Loveland, TE, Michigan 16. James Pearce, EDGE, Tennessee 17. Mike Green, EDGE, Marshall 18. Malaki Starks, FS, Georgia 19. Emeka Egbuka, WR, Ohio State 20. Walter Nolan, DT, Ole Miss 21. Donovan Ezeiruaku, EDGE, Boston College
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This is who I project will be the Buccaneers top choice at pick 19. A true student of the game who has the deepest arsenal of pass rush moves in the draft. On top of that, he has the flexibility to bend around the edge as well as anyone in the NFL.
Alexander looked like a man among boys while playing in the Mid American Conference. He has the pass rush moves to get to the quarterback, as well as the physical gifts to just out athlete offensive linemen. I wish he weren’t turning 25 years old as a rookie, but some team is going to love him for the next 4 or 5 years.
28. Grey Zabel, OL, North Dakota State 29. Omarion Hampton, RB, North Carolina 30. Jalon Walker, EDGE/LB, Georgia 31. Shedeur Sanders, QB, Colorado
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Sanders isn’t my top rated quarterback in this draft, but he’s the most NFL ready. He’s accurate and does a nice job facilitating the offense and hitting his man in time. I don’t love the overall upside because his tools aren’t great, but he can be a starting quarterback in this league if you don’t ask him to do too much.
32. Shemar Stewart, EDGE, Texas A&M 33. Xavier Watts, FS, Notre Dame 34. Benjamin Morrison, CB, Notre Dame 35. Josh Conley, OT, Oregon 36. Azareye’h Thomas, CB, Florida State 37. Marcus Mbow, OL, Purdue 38. Nick Emmanwori, S, South Carolina 39. Matthew Golden, WR, Texas 40. Kelvin Banks, OL, Texas
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I struggle with what to do with Banks. I really enjoyed watching him, but I’m not sure I’ve ever seen a high end offensive tackle prospect with slower feet. His future might be best at guard, but that makes him a little more of a project.
41. Tyliek Williams, DT, Ohio State 42. Shavon Revel, CB, East Carolina 43. Josiah Stewart, EDGE, Michigan 44. Andrew Mukuba, FS, Texas 45. Darien Porter, CB, Iowa State
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Corners who are 6’4 and move the way that Porter does don’t come around very often. He’s only played the position for 3 of his 6 years in college, but he’s a more well rounded player than you’d expect. Another player who will turn 25 as a rookie, but for the next few years he can be a good starter on the outside.
46. Carson Schwesinger, LB, UCLA 47. Jonah Savaiinaea, OL, Arizona 48. Jayden Higgins, WR, Iowa State 49. Princely Umanmielen, EDGE, Ole Miss 50. Tate Ratledge, IOL, Georgia
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José Valdivielso, a Cuban-born infielder who later worked as a Spanish-language radio analyst in broadcast booths of the New York Yankees and Mets, died Tuesday. He was 90.RIP. A phenomenal human being. Last time we connected was at a charity function in 2019. In 1977, Martín Dihigo was inducted posthumously into the Baseball HOF. José was present and accepted the plaque on behalf of this Cuban, baseball legend.
During his five major league seasons (1955-61) with the Washington Senators and Minnesota Twins, Valdivielso became a favorite of longtime Yankee Stadium public address announcer Bob Sheppard.
After his playing career ended, Valdivielso would settle down in New York and become a familiar voice to Yankees fans himself.
After working as an analyst on the Yankees’ Spanish-language radio broadcasts with play-by-play man Buck Canel on WADO, he joined the Mets’ Spanish-language radio broadcast team in 1974.
Valdivielso was so prominent among the Cuban baseball fraternity that he accepted a plaque on behalf of famed Negro Leaguer Martin Dihigo, when the Cuban two-way star induction to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1977.
Valdivielso joined the MLB Players Alumni Association’s Board of Directors in 1999 and served on the Board for decades. He was granted the lifetime title of MLBPAA Board Member Emeritus status in Jan. 2020.
Never much of a hitter, Valdivielso finished his major league career with a .219 average, but he managed to collect a single MVP vote as a rookie thanks to his strong glovework at shortstop.
Valdivielso was famous for being part of the only triple play in MLB history featuring entirely Cuban-born players, on July 23, 1960, along with Senators teammates Julio Becquer and Pedro Ramos.
New York Yankees’ Giancarlo Stanton gestures after his grand slam against the Pittsburgh Pirates during the ninth inning of a baseball game Tuesday, Sept. 20, 2022, in New York. (AP Photo/Jessie Alcheh)
TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — Giancarlo Stanton will return to New York for a third round of platelet-rich plasma injections in his ailing elbows on Monday, manager Aaron Boone told reporters.
Stanton was back at the Yankees’ spring training complex on Friday. Boone was quoted as saying the five-time All-Star is not likely to play in any exhibition games.
Stanton said on Feb. 17 after reporting to camp that he had not swung a bat in three or four weeks because of pain in both elbows. The Yankees said he had been in New York, where he received two rounds of PRP injections.
Stanton hit .233 with 27 homers and 72 RBIs while playing 114 games last year, his season interrupted by a strained left hamstring that sidelined him between June 22 and July 29. Stanton batted .273 with seven homers and 16 RBIs in the postseason.
He signed a then-record $325 million, 13-year contract with the Marlins ahead of the 2015 season and had 59 homers and 132 RBIs in 2017, winning the NL MVP award. He was acquired by the Yankees that December and hit 38 homers with 100 RBIs in his first season with New York.
He missed 266 of 708 games over the next five seasons because of a series of injuries that included strains of right biceps, right knee, left hamstring (twice) and left quadriceps along with right ankle inflammation and left Achilles tendinitis.
The NBA’s Spurs ownership lease to use the San Antonio lease ends in 2032.
For a sports owner to gain leverage in either the stadium and/or the arena game, that owner needs someone else to make the if you don’t come up with public dollars to either upgrade an existing arena or build an entirely new arena, I will move the franchise argument. The National Basketball Association’s San Antonio Spurs ownership got that person or entity to make the point. It has the local newspaper, the San Antonio Express-News, making the point. On the editorial page there was this opinion. “A new arena is key to keeping the Spurs in San Antonio. Without it, other markets will come calling for the team.” In other words, you better do this or the Spurs ownership may go to Austin, Texas full-time. The Spurs ownership has been using an Austin arena for a handful of games over the past two years and there are people in San Antonio who are convinced that people in Austin will swoop in and take the franchise after the Spurs ownership and the local government’s arena deal ends in 2032.
The quest to build an arena for Spurs ownership group has begun. The name of the plan is Project Marvel, which sounds as if it was lifted from a comic book. Project Marvel includes the construction of a San Antonio arena along with renovations to the 31-year-old Alamodome. The price tag of Project Marvel is estimated to be around $4 billion. The public will provide a share of the tab by not getting any of the taxes collected within the arena-district zone. The developers of Project Marvel will keep the 6% hotel tax and 6% sales tax so they can pay down the costs of the project. But those tax dollars are certainly not enough to fund the $4 billion expenditure. The haggling has started in the San Antonio arena game.
