Tim Heitman-USA TODAY Sports

Of course Dan Snyder has turned this into a mess.

Nothing about Daniel Snyder trying to sell the Commanders is normal. Of course, any situation that involved Snyder giving up control of his football team was going to be fraught with weirdness.

The most recent reports center on multi-billionaire Jeff Bezos, owner of Amazon and The Washington Post — and whether or not Snyder has blocked the world’s third-richest man from owning his pride and joy. On Saturday a report from The Athletic, citing sources close to the sale, saying that he was blocked from purchasing the team “months ago,” without a lot of concern from Bezos’ camp.

“It’s a free country, he can sell to whomever he wants,” the person briefed on the sale process said. Bezos, because he is barred from bidding, has not had access to the team’s finances.

This was countered by a report from Front Office Sports on Monday which said Bezos has not been blocked from purchasing the team. However, there is growing fear among NFL owners that Snyder is messin around and has no real intention of selling the Commanders.

“NFL owners have grown increasingly concerned over the pace of the Washington Commanders sale, fueled by reports that owner Dan Snyder won’t allow Amazon founder Jeff Bezos bid for the franchise.”

Toying around with Bezos is antithetical to actually selling the team. This should be a hand-meets-glove deal, which reliably ensures a sale goes through with a party that has zero funding concerns, would be immediately approved by NFL owners, and moves the team to a person with business connections in the D.C. area. Of course, Snyder is going to make a simple process as difficult as possible, but what is his end game here?

No. 1: Snyder is trying to drive up the price of the Commanders

This seems like the most likely scenario here. The original asking price for the Commanders was $6B, far above the $4.65B the Denver Broncos sold for in 2022. However, recently reports indicate that Snyder is waiting for a $7B offer to emerge. Granted, the team is more valuable than Denver was — but it’s still a vastly inflated price.

Each year Forbes ranks the value of NFL teams, and the Commanders actually lost ranking in this regard. To be fair, the team is still worth an extraordinary amount of money, evaluated at $5.6B, but it’s still off the $7B Snyder is looking for.

Considering the team value rose 80 percent from 2016-2021 there’s a chance Snyder is banking on more future growth — but even at an average growth rate of 16 percent year-over-year, the team will not be worth $7B until 2025 at the earliest. Snyder is asking for that money now, with no assumed risk for slower growth, or league contraction.

At the end of the day $7B is tantamount to chump change for Bezos. Hell, it’s seven-times less than Twitter cost Elon Musk, and a far better business investment. Faux exclusivity is an extremely hamfisted sales tactic, but it’s entirely likely Snyder believes that by blocking Bezos (assuming The Athletic’s sources are correct) it will lead to more interest, and thus a potential offer that ups the price.

No. 2: Snyder has no intention of selling the Commanders at all

This is the NFL’s fear, and it makes perfect sense. Obviously it’s in Snyder’s best interest to get as much money for his team as possible, and nobody is denying him the right to do that — but when it comes at the cost of turning away the best possible investor, it’s enough to raise eyebrows.

At best Snyder is a reluctant seller. Any move at this point is purely out of pressure from fellow owners and the NFL itself. The organization and Snyder himself has a laundry list of scandals and improprieties, some of which as still waiting to be heard in court, and there’s no boon to having him in the ownership group at this point.

If Snyder sets arbitrary, unrealistic goals, like getting $7B for his team and not accepting any less, then it would require an undisciplined investor who is prepared to pay over market value. It’s unclear who is left in that regard.

So far potential offers for the Commanders have come from Josh Harris, owner of the Philadelphia 76ers, who is reportedly offered $6.3B, and Tillman Fertita, owner of the Houston Rockets who is believed to have offered “slightly above $5.5B” for the team, but is seen as an outside chance.

It’s the Harris offer that’s confusing here. Originally it was said that Snyder wanting $6B, and here’s an offer that’s $300M over that — and still there’s been no movement on a sale. It’s entirely likely Snyder is just screwing around, hoping that initiating a sales process would lead to the NFL leaving him along, while planning on the back end never to sell the team.

No. 3: This is all driven by pettiness

Never, ever underestimate Snyder’s ability to be petty as hell. The elephant in the room when it comes to a potential sale to Jeff Bezos is the snowball that started this avalanche in the process.

In 2020 the Bezos-owner Washington Post wrote a ranging, investigative report into workplace harassment, malpractice, and impropriety inside the Washington Commanders that laid out everything that happened in the organization under Snyder’s watch. This led to a congressional hearing on the team, which in turn put pressure on the NFL to answer why Snyder was still an owner, leading to the heat being turned up on Snyder to sell the team.

Obviously, the Post is an independent entity, and it’s not like Bezos had his paper write the story to interfere with Snyder, but if anyone can find an imaginary ax to grind in the NFL it’s Dan Snyder. There remains every possibility that he has a huge grudge against the Washington Post, and Bezos by extension, which would lead him to viewing a sale to Bezos as “losing,” even if it meant turning down the highest offer.

Outside of driving the price up, this is the only logical conclusion to why anyone would reject Bezos as a bidder. That there’s something beyond money motivating Snyder, and this would be an obvious point of conflict.

How does all this end?

Realistically, all signs are still pointing to Snyder selling this team. It’s always been a vanity project for him, albeit one that’s made him wealthier than his wildest dreams. He purchased the team for $750M in 1999, so he’s already on pace to make an 800 percent return on his investment — but beyond that Snyder has always loved viewing himself as a hero, even while being despised.

Over the last two years the narrative surrounding the Commanders has morphed. The team is no longer so bad that they’re booed, but rather the boos are directed right at Snyder. Try as he might to ignore them, deep down he can’t, and it’s eating him alive to see his team be loved, while he’s so reviled.

That ego is the most pressing reason Snyder would walk. To be clear, he still doesn’t want to — but it beats being torn apart by tens of thousands of people every week when you appear on a jumbotron.

Snyder might think he’s playing 4D chess by trying to drive up the value of his team, when in reality he’s playing checkers. In the end he will sell, and whoever buying the Commanders will be happy with what they’re paying.

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Photo by Huseyin Yavuz / dia images via Getty Images

Besiktas Istanbul supporters threw 1,000s of stuffed animals onto the pitch during a game on Sunday.

Fans of Turkish Süper Lig club Besiktas Istanbul interrupted Sunday’s match against Antalyaspor for a good cause. They threw thousands of stuffed toys onto the pitch in a show of support for children impacted by the recent earthquakes in Turkey and Syria.

The game was paused after 4 minutes and 17 seconds — a reference to the time the earthquake hit at 4:17 a.m. local time on Feb. 6. Players from both teams as well as officials teamed up to clear the field to eventually continue playing.

Besiktas later shared drone footage from the interruption on its social media channels:

“Our fans threw scarves, berets and plush toys on the ground of Vodafone Park to be given as a gift to the children in the earthquake region to cheer them up,” the club said in a statement.

One of the deadliest disasters this century, the 7.8-point magnitude Turkey-Syria earthquake killed more than 50,000 people earlier this month. It additionally left an estimated 1.5 million homeless.

In the aftermath of the tragedy, Turkey declared a three-month state of emergency in the provinces hit by the earthquake and its hundreds of aftershocks. The country’s highest tier of soccer, the Süper Lig, decided to temporarily suspend play as well, with two clubs in the region — Gaziantep and Hatayspor — withdrawing from competition altogether.

The league eventually resumed action this weekend, including the game between Besiktas and Antalyaspor that ended in a 0-0 draw. The result of that contest, however, was secondary to fans showing their support for those affected by the disaster.

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Thomas Shea-USA TODAY Sports

The Battlehawks put together another come-from-behind win.

We are in Week two of then XFL, with the league continuing to make new fans by the day. This week the XFL treated fans to another come from behind victory, as well as the rest of the pack of teams beginning to iron themselves out.

St. Louis Battlehawks 20, Seattle Sea Dragons 18

The Cardiac BattleHawks do it again, staging another comeback victory to get to 2-0, beating the Sea Dragons in Seattle. The Battlehawks seem to be built to win in any way possible, with players that perform at their best at the most important times. QB AJ McCarron once again was the star, throwing for 184 yards but also running for 41 yards and a touchdown in the victory. His connection with WR Austin Proehl is really cool to see.

For Seattle, this is their second loss that has come down to the final moments. Last week they couldn’t close out a victory over the DC Defenders, and this week the defense does them in. The offense should continue to be fine, as long as QB Ben DiNucci doesn’t turn the ball over. The defense relies heavily on blitzing, but when it doesn’t get there it leaves their DBs susceptible to big plays. Defensive coordinator Ron Zook has to find a way to temper those calls better.

DC Defenders 18, Vegas Vipers 6

The DC Defenders have proven to be as deep and talented a team as anyone else in the league, dismantling the Vegas Vipers in a heavy downpour. The Defenders are very well coached on both sides of the ball, and if they do reach a point where they’re struggling (the passing game has yet to click), they have the ultimate ace in the hole: QB D’Eriq King and the run game.

DC might have a QB problem on their hands, because with King in the game the offense moves with much more fluidity and explosiveness, essentially becoming a college spread team in the process. DC ran for 229 yards on 43 carries, a tidy 5.5 yards an attempt. That’ll play. The defense, led by Gregg Williams, also is in play for the best in the league, and they shut down what should be a more dynamic Vipers offense (we’ll come back to that).

As for Vegas, they shouldn’t be 0-2 based on their team on paper but here we are. The offense has talent, but they can never seem to get out of their own way with playcalling, constantly putting themselves behind the sticks.

San Antonio Brahmas 30, Orlando Guardians 12

This game was tightly contested for maybe like 30 minutes. The Brahmas continued to wear down the Guardians defense over time, and QB Jack Coan made a couple of spectacular throws off play action to help the Brahmas cruise to an easy victory.

San Antonio is a tough team to gauge. They seem to want to attack downfield off play action and heavy run game, but their offensive line remains suspect. Jack Coan is good in the play action game, but sometimes has moments of inefficiency. It’ll be interesting to see how this team develops as they play opponents of higher caliber.

As for the Guardians, I think this clip sums it up:

They’re the worst team in the league, and I’m not sure it’s close.

Houston Roughnecks 23, Arlington Renegades 14

The Roughnecks continue to impress, beating to the Renegades to stay undefeated. QB Brandon Silvers was once again efficient, throwing two TDs, while QB Cole McDonald provided some spark in the short yardage run game. However, this is a Wade Phillips team, and this team plays DEFENSE. The Roughnecks sacked Renegades QB Drew Plitt five times and picked him off twice, and the Renegades two scoring opportunities were built on special teams blunders. Houston is going to be a problem in the XFL.

The Renegades might be on the next tier below the top teams, and it’s because of the turnovers. They’re 2nd in the league in interceptions thrown, and the untimely turnovers could be what keep them from being in that top tier. Despite that, the offense still has its’ spurts of being fun and the skill talent has played well, so they’ll always be in a game.

Week 2 Power Rankings

DC Defenders
Houston Roughnecks
St. Louis Battlehawks
Arlington Renegades
Seattle Sea Dragons
San Antonio Brahmas
Vegas Vipers
Orlando Guardians

The post Everything you missed in Week 2 of the XFL appeared first on Sport-TV.Live.

Forget Cocaine Bear when there’s FLORIDA PARROT.

It absolutely sucks when a game has to be delayed because some idiot runs on the field and tries to get attention, but when it comes to two parrots interrupting a college softball game, we’ll allow it.

On Friday a game between Bradley and Gardner-Webb in Orlando got delayed for several minutes when some beautiful parrots decided they wanted to watch the game too. The pair flew around the field, circling players — before one decided to land on the shoulder of the umpire, because why not?

The game was being played on UCF’s campus, and apparently the two birds are known to locals. They’re not trained, nor did they escape, but they’re generally harmless and hang out in the trees around UCF’s campus without causing a ruckus. Still, it was too much for Bradley’s Bailey Stample, who told the school’s website she thought they were out for blood.

“I did scream and run away because I’m pretty sure one of them had a vengeance. He was looking for me, and so I was just not having it. I was scared,” Sample said.

The two birds were removed from the field by UCF staff and continue to live happily. Meanwhile for us, we might finally get the sports-based crossover with The Birds we’ve been looking for.

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Joseph Cress/Iowa City Press-Citizen / USA TODAY NETWORK

There were so many buzzer-beaters this weekend at every level of basketball. Let’s rank ‘em.

Folks, March is right around the corner. For some this might mean spring cleaning, going outside more and overall better vibes. However, March means one true thing: the NCAA tournament is back! That means we get more insane plays as the games start to mean a bit more.

In the last week of February, we got a taste of March from some absolutely insane buzzer beaters. Which, of course, means we’re going to rank them!

5. Trae Young sinks the Nets

This one feels like it should be higher, yet it only comes in at 5. Young is incredibly skilled, and uses the shot fake to perfection to get his defender off the ground and get a free shot. However, it just feels like this shot didn’t mean as much in the grand scheme of things. Highly underrated skill to get the shot off, though. Deserves major props.

4. Hunter Dickinson sends the Wolverines to overtime

This one also required a whole lot of skill. Michigan C Hunter Dickinson had to catch the ball off the inbound after being fronted by a Wisconsin defender, which made him have his back to the basket as he caught the ball. He then had to turn around and get into place from three point range as time was expiring, and it was pure.

3. Matthew Cleveland sinks the Hurricanes

It’s one thing to beat your rival school on a buzzer beater.

It’s an entirely other thing to do it like this, on the road, like Florida State’s Matthew Cleveland did to Miami over the weekend. The immediate rebuttal to a would-be game winning three by Miami being one-upped by a miracle shot warms this FSU fan’s heart, and the fact that it was the same guy who beat Virginia on almost the exact same shot is an added touch of clutch.

2. Arizona State’s halfcourt heave takes down Arizona

This one goes above FSU’s because of distance. Arizona State’s Desmond Cambridge Jr. let that shot go from beyond halfcourt, and drilled it to beat their rival school, a top ten team on the road. The best part is that you can hear the air come out of the stadium after Cambridge sinks the game winner. Just pure class.

1. Caitlin Clark’s finishing touch on a masterful performance

If you haven’t heard, Iowa guard Caitlin Clark is one of the best basketball players in college basketball, regardless of men or women. The junior guard had 34 points, nine rebounds and nine assists in their win over Indiana, but this three pointer were the most important of her 34 points. She comes off the screen and has to get set in position with 1.5 seconds left, and absolutely drills it. The celebration after is top tier as well.

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Sam Greene/The Enquirer / USA TODAY NETWORK

MLB’s rule changes are polarizing, but they aren’t hated by fans yet

Making any changes in the way a baseball game is played is certain to bring derision. For years, every rule in the MLB rulebook has been sacrosanct.

But with a boom, MLB has entered the 21st century, like it or not.

This year the league announced five major rule changes and the solidification of an already controversial rule. MLB hopes the changes will improve rate of play and the speed of the game. Now fans are going to find out just how different baseball will look.

In a possible surprise twist, MLB fans don’t necessarily hate the changes. Fans that spent decades debating if pitchers should hit or not – to the point where in one league there were two separate sets of rules – are split on the new rules, but have a slight level of favorability toward most.

To be fair, one of the most noticeable changes will actually make the game look more like it had for most of MLB history. This year teams won’t be allowed to move infielders back-and-forth across the infield, going in and out of shifts. Forcing teams to almost certainly play a standard defensive alignment with two fielders on either side of second base.

According to the latest SB Nation Reacts survey, a slight majority of fans are actually in favor of the rule change.

Similarly, another rule change may play to the favor of the hardline fan. The grumbling middle-aged fan who is always mad at a pitcher who doesn’t just get back on the mound or a hitter who takes too long to get ready will have to find something else to complain about. This season pitchers and hitters will have only 15 seconds between pitches.

Again, maybe as a result of strange bedfellows with fans looking for more action teaming up with fans who are tired of all the “extra” between pitches, nearly two-thirds of fans like the new rule.

The only other change that fans seem to be in majority support of is the newly sized bases. MLB will feature bigger bases this year, no longer allowing for 90-feet between each base, but hopefully opening up action on the base paths while simultaneously avoiding injuries. More than half of responding fans said they are in favor of the new bases.

Just on the other side of the voting ledger, fans aren’t as excited for the limits being put on pitchers checking runners on the bases. The league, again hoping to open up the running game while speeding up the game, will limit pitchers to stepping off the rubber only twice during each plate appearance.

In theory, this could open up situations where a pitcher isn’t allowed to step off the rubber for any reason in a crucial situation without risking penalty. Possibly with that in mind, fewer than half of fans said they support the rule change.

The one rule change that doesn’t appear to have anything to do with increasing action may also take away one of the game’s best moments for comic relief.

The always entertaining position-player-pitching will become a little more rare this season after the league felt teams were getting a little too free and easy with when they’d make the change. After a record-setting year of position players on the mound, MLB now has strict limits on when it can happen.

That change has support from just a hair over a third of fans.

The least surprising result came from the only rule that was already on the books. Despite reported support from both players and ownership, fans have been vocal over the hatred of the extra-inning “ghost runner” rule.

Since 2020, MLB extra innings have started with a runner on second base, theoretically to increase scoring and keep games from going deep into extras. The anecdotal results on that goal have been mixed, but the rule is now set in place for good.

But fewer than a third of fans said they like the rule.

Be on the lookout for next week’s survey to cast your vote and have your voice heard.

Check out DraftKings Sportsbook, the official sportsbook partner of SB Nation.

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Photo by Sam Forencich/NBAE via Getty Images

Plus: Lakers come back from down 27, Jokic posts 40-point triple double, and much more

After nights like this in the NBA, many are not-so-seriously considering giving players a week off each month to make way for awesome performances. A little defense wouldn’t hurt, but you really can’t complain much when you’re getting so much excitement from the league.

A 2021 Finals rematch went down to the wire, the Lakers came back from a 27-point deficit early on Sunday, but that all felt like ancient history when the clock struck Dame Time for 71 points and when a likely MVP three-peat posted a 40-point triple double.

Strap in, because the NBA won’t wait for you if you’re not.

Blazers beat Rockets 131-114 behind Dame’s 71

Nothing Dame Lillard does is surprising anymore, but it does continue to impress. Just over a week removed from his three-point contest victory at All-Star weekend, Lillard has the highest-scoring sub-40 minute output of all-time with his 71 points on 22-38 shooting (13-22 3P) in just 39 minutes.

Bucks beat Suns 104-101 in 2021 Finals rematch

Jrue Holiday taking over to put Phoenix to bed is a sight all-too-familiar to Suns fans. He scored 13 of his 33 points in the fourth while former Suns wing Jae Crowder added back-to-back late threes to seal the Milwaukee comeback just after Phoenix took an 8-point lead with 5:47 remaining.

The Bucks’ outrageous win streak continues climbing to now 14 games, just six shy of a longstanding franchise record. Suns, however, are 3-3 over their last six games as they continue waiting for Kevin Durant’s debut.

Devin Booker is at least partially to blame as he’s struggled to shoot from deep since returning from a groin injury, now 8-35 (22.9%) 3P over his last six games. He started 2-11 from the floor in this game and based on the sorts of shots he’s getting, he looks like someone who’s ready for Durant to join the lineup.

Trae Young, Hawks beat Nets 129-127 at the buzzer

After a 3-6 stretch that found Atlanta in some turmoil with Quin Snyder now asked to come in and right the ship, Snyder is set to begin his tenure with the Hawks riding a much better 4-2 stretch following Ice Trae’s late-game heroics.

Young finished with 34 points (12-26 FG) and eight assists while his backcourt counterpart Dejounte Murray added 28 (12-21) and four. In the loss for Brooklyn, all four exciting young perimeter players — Spencer Dinwiddie, Mikal Bridges, Cam Johnson, and Cam Thomas — scored 20-plus.

Bulls breeze by Wizards 102-82

Washington scored just 55 points over the final three quarters while DeMar DeRozan and Zach LaVine combined for 56 points (22-33 FG) over the game by themselves. Chicago is just half a game behind Washington for the final play-in spot in what could be a tight race down the stretch.

Lakers complete largest comeback of the season in 111-108 win over Mavs

It hasn’t taken long for the wheels to start to shake a little in Dallas in the Luka Doncic / Kyrie Irving era as they’re now 1-4 in clutch games since the trade. In the latest instance, the Lakers came back from down 27, the largest comeback of the season across the league so far.

Between complaining to refs and wacky inbounds attempts, Dallas players and coaches were left to air their dirty laundry in postgame pressers, for example:

While the win leaves the Lakers, on a 3-game win streak, still a game behind the play-in picture in the West, I’m sure the high-profile nature of it will leave national media fawning over the Lakers’ championship prospects.

Cavs back on track with 118-93 win over Raptors

Kings win third straight, 124-115 over Thunder

Light the beam once again! With more than 20 games remaining in their regular season, the Kings have their second-most wins in a season over the last 15 years and at 35-25 are likely to breeze past the 39 wins from 2018-19.

Behind 33 points (11-19 FG) and eight assists from De’Aaron Fox, the Kings have put first-year head coach Mike Brown in a great spot to contend for Coach of the Year; on DraftKings, Brown is a slight favorite for the award over Boston Celtics interim-turned-head coach Joe Mazzulla.

Klay Thompson, Warriors pull ahead of Wolves late

There was a point in the fourth quarter where the ESPN broadcast of the game showed Steve Kerr imploring his team to flip the script from a meeting earlier in Minnesota when the Warriors blew a late 10-point lead.

With 7:31 remaining in this meeting, Warriors trailed by nine before Klay Thompson scored five of Golden State’s next seven points, finishing with 32 points (12-23 FG) to lead both teams. With 61 seconds remaining, the Warriors saw an eight-point lead become a three-point lead for a late scare, but it was too little, too late.

Minnesota big Naz Reid had a career night in the loss, finishing with career-highs in both points (30 on 12-22 FG) and steals (five) but was unable to find more than 12 points from any one other teammate; Anthony Edwards struggled for his 12 on 5-19 FG.

Nuggets come out on top in overtime 134-124 over Clippers

Nikola Jokic posted his third 40-point (14-21 FG) triple double of the season which included three steals. While the Joker’s production overall has been consistent, the high-end scoring hasn’t been there so much lately with this being his first game scoring more than 30 in over a month; he still never shot worse than 50% over that stretch.

After playing 46 minutes in the double-overtime thriller against the Kings, Kawhi Leonard played another 39 minutes in this one, which comes out to a two-game workload that the Klaw hasn’t seen since the 2020 bubble. It was the third overtime period — and second loss — for the Clippers over the last two games.

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Whoops!

Drake should just stop trying to pick sports at this point. The rapper loves nothing more than throwing his support behind a team or fighter, but this weekend it all backfired when he threw his money down on Jake Paul.

On the surface you might not think that this is terrible. Let’s just say that Paul’s fights have been a little questionable up to this point — leading anyone to have healthy skepticism about whether his opponents are giving it their all.

Just one problem with applying this logic to Tommy Fury: He’s Tommy-freaking-Fury. Even though the 23-year-old isn’t close to his half-brother Tyson, he’s still a professional boxer who has won real, actual boxing fights before. Compare to Paul, on the other hand, who has fought:

A YouTuber (AnEnsonGib)
A retired NBA player (Nate Robinson)
A 38-year-old retired MMA fighter with no boxing experience (Ben Askren)
A 40-year-old retired MMA fighter with no boxing experience (Tyron Woodley)
A 40-year-old retired MMA fighter with no boxing experience, again (Tyron Woodley)
A 47-year-old retired MMA fighter (Anderson Silva)

Then you have Fury, a young, promising fighter who carried an 8-0 record into the weekend with four knockouts under his belt. It’s one thing to think “Paul might eek this one out,” and another entirely to bet $400,000 on the idea Paul might actually knock out a real boxer.

Maybe losing that much money was just God’s Plan?

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Photo by James Gilbert/Getty Images

From Will Levis to Bryce Young, here is what matters at the Combine for the top passers

Welcome to Combine week.

The world’s longest — and strangest — job interview is upon us. Over the next week, over 300 NFL draft hopefuls will descend upon Indianapolis, hoping to prove to NFL teams that they could be the difference between an early playoff exit, and a Super Bowl.

Typically, the quarterbacks draw the most attention during the Combine, and this season is no different. With a number of teams looking to find their next QB, and the Chicago Bears reportedly entertaining offers for the first-overall selection, the passers in Indianapolis have a chance to make themselves a lot of money over the next several days.

As we look ahead to the Combine, the NFL would has coalesced around four quarterbacks at the top of the board: Will Levis, Anthony Richardson, C.J. Stroud, and Bryce Young, in some order. While there might be outliers, and we will certainly spend the next few months yelling over what order they should be ranked, those four QBs seem like the top of the group.

How can they best boost their stock this week? Here is the most important place in Indianapolis for each of these quarterbacks.

Will Levis – Lucas Oil Stadium

Matt Stone/Louisville Courier Journal / USA TODAY NETWORK

The name most often associated with Levis is that of Josh Allen. Comparisons between the two have been flying around the NFL world since last summer, and show no signs of slowing down. And while Allen’s name will likely be brought up any time there is a draft quarterback with a big arm, who can move around in the pocket, and needs some refinement to develop, there are some parallels between Levis, and where Allen was as a prospect.

Parallels such as the easy arm talent, and the athleticism, on the positive side of the ledger. Then there is the tendency to lock on his first read, to fail to use his eyes the best he can, and inconsistent ball placement.

What likely helps Levis the most in Indianapolis is throwing during the workouts. Remind scouts and evaluators of that easy arm talent, and how every concept in the playbook — and even those the offensive coordinator has only dreamed of in the past — is available now with him under center. A strong throwing session in Indianapolis will go a long way towards convincing an NFL team, or NFL teams, that in the right setting he could become Allen 2.0.

Anthony Richardson – The whiteboard

Combine week began with the news that Richardson, the Florida quarterback, would be participating in both testing drills and the throwing portion of the workouts.

At first blush, one might think that the testing drills would be the most important place in Indianapolis for Richardson, who is an incredibly gifted athlete. After all, Richardson was named to The Athletic’s yearly college football “freaks list,” and here is what Bruce Feldman had to say about the Florida passer:

We never have many quarterbacks on this list, but this is a rare athlete. Richardson is a chiseled 6-4, 238 pounds with just 10 percent body fat and says he has run a 4.4 40 and can throw a football 75 yards. Football insiders eye-balling college quarterbacks at this summer’s Manning Passing Academy were wowed by Richardson’s physical tools, saying he and Kentucky’s Will Levis were well above and beyond every other quarterback there. Richardson cleans 325 pounds and squatted 500 this offseason.

“Anthony is physically built like an outside linebacker — tall, long, and chiseled out of stone,” said Florida strength coach Mark Hocke. “Has the athleticism (speed and agility) and bounce (plays above the rim) of a running back/wide receiver combined with a Jugs machine for an arm.”

However, we know Richardson is an athlete. The questions that linger focus on answering this: Is he an athlete playing quarterback, or is he a quarterback with athleticism?

From where I sit, he is a quarterback with athleticism. There is a narrative that Richardson is “raw,” and “needs two years” before he is ready to play at the next level. Studying him, however, I think he is much, much closer to being ready than he is given credit for. His eyes are usually right where they need to be, and he does a good job of using his eyes to move defenders in the secondary. To the latter point, watch this angle of his touchdown pass to Ricky Pearsall against Florida State:

Richardson is not raw, he just needs more experience, more practice tying his eyes to his feet, and fixing some lower-body mechanical issues.

So when Richardson meets with teams, gets on the whiteboard, and walks them through reads, progressions, and how he uses his eyes on plays like this, teams are going to love what they hear.

And when he follows that up with a 4.4 40-yard dash?

C.J. Stroud – Lucas Oil Stadium

Photo by Todd Kirkland/Getty Images

Perhaps it is just my perspective, but there is a strange vibe around these four quarterbacks as we look ahead to the Combine. Levis, Richardson, and Young are dominating the discussion, while Stroud is sort of lurking in the background. Not that the Ohio State quarterback is an afterthought, but perhaps the biggest question he was facing, was one that he answered in his final college football game.

Against Georgia, Stroud showed the ability to move around in the pocket, deliver high-level throws in the face of pressure, and create off of structure. Those types of plays were what was missing from a near-complete collegiate resume. Having that kind of performance, with those types of plays, against the Georgia defense was perhaps the ideal closing argument for Stroud.

How can he build on that? By highlighting more of that athleticism, and ability to throw well on the move, during his workout in Indianapolis.

Bryce Young – The scale

For Young, the Alabama quarterback and former Heisman Trophy winner, the most important place in Indianapolis is clear.

The scale.

The question for Young boils down to this: Is he an outlier, or the outlier?

If Young comes into Indianapolis and measures in around 5’11” and 200 pounds, then he is an outlier, still somewhat undersized at the position but in the realm of recent first-overall selections such as Kyler Murray and Baker Mayfield. Murray came in just over 5’10” and at 207 pounds, while Mayfield came in just over 6’, and weighing 215 pounds.

For reference, Murray’s height placed him in the 1st percentile among prospects at the quarterback position.

Young is likely to measure in at a level which would still make him an outlier at the position. But measurements in line with Mayfield, for example, would keep him in line with what we have seen from recent quarterbacks, and make it more likely a general manager would be willing to put their job on the line to trade up for the Alabama QB. And yes, there will be a different between Young’s Combine weight and his playing weight, but still, sometimes NFL teams are looking to check boxes during the pre-draft process, and Young’s size is a big box people are waiting to check.

But if Young comes in below expectations, and is instead the outlier? He might still go first overall in that scenario, but GMs might look at other options as “safer” moves.

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The New Orleans Pelicans’ second-year forward is more than a promising young player. He’s a pioneer to the future of ‘3-and-D’ role players.

Basketball is, in its essence, a team game. Therefore, your star player is only as effective as the role players you put around him. What good does it do that Michael Jordan can draw multiple defenders to his airspace if he doesn’t have a Steve Kerr to kick it out to on the perimeter?

That’s why, throughout modern NBA history, teams (the successful ones, at least) have tried to surround their superstars with as much defense and play-finishing as possible. That’s why, in recent years, the “three-and-D” player (an individual who can both hit threes and defend at an above-average level) has become such a popular player archetype.

But along with being a game about teamwork, basketball is also a game of evolution. And like all its other aspects, this player paradigm is experiencing an advancement of its own.

That’s what makes the New Orleans Pelicans’ second-year forward, Trey Murphy III, so important moving forward.

At 6’9, with a 7-foot wingspan, and a college career three-point percentage of 40.1%, Murphy was projected in last season’s draft as the perfect “three-and-d” role player for the Pelicans to slot next to their superstars Zion Williamson and Brandon Ingram (hence them using the first-round pick they received from the Memphis Grizzlies to select him).

So far, he’s lived up to that billing. This season, he’s in the 85th percentile among players with at least 25 games played in Cerebro Sports’ 3-Point Efficiency metric (a shooting metric that combines 3PT volume and efficiency to show the most lethal shooters).

What the metric doesn’t fully disclose is that he’s also an advocate for the deep three-pointer. He makes sure he’s usually more than a couple of steps behind the line on all his attempts. This tendency serves two purposes. First, it ensures he never accidentally takes the dreaded long spot-up two-pointer. And more importantly, it makes the closeout an even longer voyage for his defender, putting an even greater strain on the defense at large.

He’s also in the 84th percentile in the website’s Defensive Statistical Impact statistic [an events-creation metric that captures and combines possession-winning actions (steals, offensive, rebounds) with defensive efficiency (blocks, fouls) to act as a proxy for defensive athleticism and feel].

If your defender isn’t going to provide an abundance of rim protection, you’re going to want them to provide disruption in other ways (via steals, blocks, charges, etc.). And Murphy is able to contribute that thanks to his combination of length and quickness.

On paper and in practice, Murphy is the “three-and-d” performer teams have spent the last decade scrambling to acquire. But look a little closer, and you’ll see there is a whole lot more to this kid than meets the eye.

For starters, we mentioned the longer closeouts. Well, because of his reputable shooting ability, defenses have sent out a league-wide memorandum to run him off the three-point line at all costs. If Murphy’s offensive game were solely dependent on spot-ups, such an order would serve as the basketball equivalent of a death sentence.

However, Murphy’s offensive game isn’t solely dependent on spot-ups like his three-and-d ancestors of the past. And when those hard closeouts come, he’s able to put the ball on the deck and make the defense pay for their over-aggression.

Murphy also defies the tropes typically associated with his player genre. If you were told that Murphy finished as the runner-up in one of the events on All-Star Saturday, you’d likely assume that he was competing in the 2023 Starry 3-Point Contest. You’d never believe that he came within one point of being the 2023 AT&T Slam Dunk Champion.

He’s both a sniper and an acrobat. It’s like if they gave Dick Grayson a gun or if they taught Floyd Lawton how to use a trapeze. His 64 dunks on the year place him in the 94th percentile in the league. And he doesn’t just reserve the pogo stick hops for when he’s driving closeouts. He’s also an eager runner, often leaking out in transition to capitalize fastbreak possessions.

According to NBA.com playtype data, Murphy is in the 88th percentile in transition efficiency and the 84th percentile in frequency.

His aviation acumen makes him that much more versatile as an off-ball role player. Along with his closeout attacking and transition finishing, he’s also a worthy candidate for punctuating lobs or cleaning up mistakes around the rim via putbacks (98th percentile efficiency).

NBA teams are getting smarter and smarter every day. They now know that if you have one dominant ball handler surrounded by four spot-up shooters, all they need to do is force the ball out of said player’s hand and dare those shooters to put the ball on the floor and beat you.

Murphy can and will beat you. His dynamic skillset gives him a leg-up on his three-and-d peers. But soon enough, the whole archetype will have to catch up to him. The players who can only defend and shoot spot-up threes, which everyone once exhausted countless resources to obtain, will no longer be able to stay on the floor. Soon, all five players will need more offensive utility than just spot-up shooting.

This makes Murphy a pioneer in his field, a trailblazer that helped pave the path for the newest evolution of the NBA role player.

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