The Big Ten is firmly in its golden era of college football.

Over the last three seasons, the conference has produced three straight national champions, with the Michigan Wolverines winning in 2023, the Ohio State Buckeyes on top in 2024 and the Indiana Hoosiers shocking the sport in 2025.

Now, the conference enters 2026 loaded once again with national title contenders and College Football Playoff hopefuls across the league.

The 2026 Big Ten Championship Game will take place on Dec. 5 at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis on FOX.

Getting to Indianapolis, however, will be anything but easy as several of the conference’s top contenders face brutal schedules throughout the season.

Have the tides fully shifted with Indiana now emerging as the team to beat in the Big Ten? Can Ohio State get its revenge from last year’s title game loss? Or can Oregon return to its Big Ten dominance from two seasons ago?

Let’s take a look at the 2026 Big Ten title odds at DraftKings Sportsbook as of Aug. 17.

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2026 Big Ten Conference Championship Game Winner

Ohio State: +180 (bet $10 to win $28 total)
Oregon: +240 (bet $10 to win $34 total)
Indiana: +260 (bet $10 to win $36 total)
USC: +1600 (bet $10 to win $170 total)
Michigan: +1700 (bet $10 to win $180 total)
Penn State: +2200 (bet $10 to win $230 total)
Washington: +2400 (bet $10 to win $250 total)
Iowa: +4200 (bet $10 to win $52 total)
Wisconsin: +13500 (bet $10 to win $1,360 total)
Nebraska: +15000 (bet $10 to win $1,510 total)
Illinois: +16000 (bet $10 to win $1,610 total)
UCLA: +17000 (bet $10 to win $1,710 total)
Minnesota: +20000 (bet $10 to win $2,010 total)
Northwestern: +50000 (bet $10 to win $5,010 total)
Maryland: +50000 (bet $10 to win $5,010 total)
Michigan State: +60000 (bet $10 to win $6,010 total)
Rutgers: +600000 (bet $10 to win $6,010 total)
Purdue: +100000 (bet $10 to win $10,010 total)

Here is what to know about the Big Ten title oddsboard: 

The Favorites: The two teams that met in the 2025 Big Ten Championship Game are currently two of the three teams atop the oddsboard, with Ohio State opening as the +180 favorite and the defending champion Hoosiers just behind at +260. Despite winning the national title in 2024, the last time Ohio State won the Big Ten title was in 2020. Even though the Buckeyes had four of the top 11 NFL draft picks, they return two of the best players in all college football in quarterback Julian Sayin and superstar wide receiver Jeremiah Smith. They also return four starting offensive linemen, as well as running back Bo Jackson. On the other hand, Indiana brought in former TCU quarterback Josh Hoover via the transfer portal to replace Fernando Mendoza. While losing the Heisman Trophy winner and No. 1 overall pick in the NFL Draft is a big blow, the Hoosiers are not going anywhere as long as Curt Cignetti remains at the helm.

Best Bet: With all the attention on Ohio State and Indiana, Oregon (+240) seems to be flying under the radar. The Ducks have lost just three games over the last two seasons, with all three losses coming against the eventual national champion — one against Ohio State in 2024 and two against Indiana in 2025. Oregon might have the most talented and deepest roster in the Big Ten, led by quarterback Dante Moore and one of the conference’s best groups of returning starters. That returning talent includes Dakorien Moore, Jeremiah McClellan, Jordon Davison, Jamari Johnson, Matayo Uiagalelei, A’mauri Washington, Bear Alexander, Teitum Tuioti and Brandon Finney Jr.

Longshot Pick: One team to potentially take a flyer on at a huge price is UCLA at +17000. The Bruins landed one of the hottest names in the coaching cycle when they hired Bob Chesney. Chesney led James Madison to the College Football Playoff last season after a 12-1 campaign before falling to Oregon. He also posted an impressive 21-6 record at JMU after taking over for Curt Cignetti in 2024. Nobody is saying Chesney will immediately replicate what Cignetti accomplished at Indiana by winning a national title in Year 2, but UCLA has the potential to take a major step forward in 2026, especially with Nico Iamaleava returning at quarterback and Derek Carr as a new special adviser. 

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Cal Raleigh’s 2025 was historic, on a number of levels. 

His 60 home runs were tied for the ninth-most in MLB history as well as the third-most for an American League player. He set new all-time single-season marks for home runs by a switch-hitter and by a catcher, easily outpacing Mickey Mantle’s prior mark of 54 and Salvador Perez’s 48. 

It was the most homers in a single season by a Mariners’ player, too, which is an achievement unto itself considering the organization had Hall of Famers Ken Griffey Jr. and Alex Rodriguez in it for a combined 19 seasons and 606 home runs — Griffey crushed 56 long balls twice while with the Mariners, even.

Cal Raleigh’s 2026 is also historic, but not in the way anyone wants to be remembered. 

The lows of this campaign are low enough as is, but once you add in the highs of ‘25, the whiplash takes on historic notoriety. Consider OPS+: this takes OPS and adjusts it for ballpark and level of competition, allowing players to be compared directly across eras. And when you look at the difference between Raleigh’s 2025 OPS+ of 168, and compare it to 2026’s mark of 65, you find the largest negative year-to-year change in the stat in MLB history, minimum 300 plate appearances.

Mariners catcher Cal Raleigh, whose 2026 struggles began with a hitless World Baseball Classic showing before an oblique strain further derailed his season. (Photo by Kenneth Richmond/Getty Images)

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What’s more is that none of the other players who saw a similar dip — or as similar as one can get to Raleigh’s rapid descent — perfectly fit the scenario he finds himself in. Many of them were much older players who had one last gasp of greatness before their bodies and time betrayed them. Raleigh? He’s 29 years old, which should mean he’s still in his prime, even as a catcher who is worked harder than other position players. 

The younger players who did crater like this were, oftentimes, significantly and obviously injured in a way that impacted their performance, sometimes before and after surgery, with effects lingering after a return. Raleigh went on the IL with an oblique strain earlier this year, but was playing horrifically before that, with his struggles even dating back to the World Baseball Classic, where, as a member of the United States, Raleigh drew four walks and had no hits in 14 plate appearances and was benched for the final two games.

So, the exact reason for Raleigh’s struggles are difficult to pinpoint, though there is certainly room for speculation. Is this the result of an undisclosed injury? Or Raleigh’s mechanics being wrecked somehow? Or is it even just horrific luck: Raleigh’s batting average on balls in play is a mere .198, which is so low that even if there were something awry with his mechanics, you would expect a higher figure than that. Discovering the reason isn’t the purpose here, though: it’s to identify just how rare this kind of collapse has been even in MLB’s lengthy history.

After winning MVP honors in 1930, Hall of Famer Hack Wilson experienced a historic .380-point fall in OPS the following season, marking one of the steepest single-year regressions in baseball history.

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The good news for Raleigh is that some all-time players have suffered significant dropoffs at nearly the same level before. Just by raw OPS, Raleigh’s dip is, through Aug. 16, tied for the second-worst in MLB history, behind Hall of Famers Rogers Hornsby and Hack Wilson. Hornsby, in his age-30 season exactly a century ago, saw his OPS drop .394 points, while Wilson’s fell .380 points from 1930 to 1931. Both players won their leagues’ respective MVP in the prior season; Raleigh finished in second behind Aaron Judge in 2025. 

Here’s the key difference, though: while Hornsby (30) and Wilson (31) were close to Raleigh’s age when this happened, they didn’t become one of the league’s worst hitters, either. Hornsby’s OPS was still .851, and his OPS+ a well above-average 124 — for comparison, Brewers’ second baseman Brice Turang has a 124 OPS+ in 2026. Wilson’s was worse, at 112, but compared to Raleigh — whose OPS+ of 65 is built of the worst OPS in the majors minimum 300 plate appearances — it’s practically MVP-like.

Hornsby went on to recover, with 1926 being a one-off: he was back to a 175 OPS+ in 1927 to lead the NL, and would stick in the majors into his 40s with a collective 170 OPS+ from ‘27 through ‘37. Wilson had one last season as a highly productive batter, but his career tapered off and he retired after his age-34 campaign, but you can’t mention his professional slide — and early death, at the age of 48 — without bringing up his well-known alcoholism, either, as the Society For American Baseball Research does in his bio.

Max Carey’s career was never the same after his 1925, which shares similarities with Raleigh in terms of the drop: his OPS was .909 in 1925, then just .594 in 1926. However, Carey was also 36 a century ago when he fell apart, and while his bat recovered to a degree in the years that followed, he was never even an average hitter again before retiring following the 1929 season. Chances are good that Raleigh isn’t following this path, given the age difference.

After winning NL MVP in 2018 and finishing runner-up in 2019, Brewers slugger Christian Yelich endured a sharp performance dip in 2020 before ultimately regaining his form. (Photo by John Fisher/Getty Images)

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There is Christian Yelich to consider: the Brewers’ slugger won MVP and finished second in 2018 and 2019, respectively, and dipped during the shortened 2020 season. He’s since recovered and had a normal downward trajectory for his age/profile, however, and it’s difficult to say that he would not have recovered his numbers at some point in 2020, had it been its typical length. 

Along the same lines is Jeff Bagwell, who in 1994 produced one of the all-time great modern seasons, to still receiving MVP votes during an injury-shortened 1995 in which he just looked great instead of historically relevant. He continued to have a Hall of Fame career after this, and was even inducted despite injuries cutting his career short in terms of both production and years. 

Bryce Harper had a similar situation in 2015, when the 22-year-old posted one of the best seasons of this century with a 198 OPS+ and NL MVP. Harper was merely pretty good in the follow-up at 23, but has had a Hall of Fame trajectory since.

It’s difficult to pinpoint situations like Raleigh’s, which is both ongoing and involved a collapse of this size. 

Looking at OPS+ instead of raw OPS gets you a little closer contextually, though. George Scott’s OPS+ dropped from 139 to 40 from 1967 to 1968 at age 24, and it took him some time to recover before reaching those levels again — but he did. Yasmani Grandal’s bat completely collapsed from 2021 to 2022, but he was already nearing his mid-30s and was out of the league a couple years afterward — that he is so much older than Raleigh is now should give reason to assume a different outcome. 

Victor Martinez similarly collapsed, but did recover a bit, and was also 36 when it happened — a little less unexpected, especially since his 2014 was out of nowhere. Also with Martinez is that he was great for a long time, but his 2014 was well above anything he’d done before or since, too, so a slide wasn’t unexpected in that regard.

Maybe the closest comp out there is another catcher, Brooklyn Dodgers’ great Roy Campanella. After a strong 1953 in which the 31-year-old was worth 6.8 wins above replacement and posted a 154 OPS+, Campanella suffered from an early-season wrist injury and then numbness issues following surgery for the malady in 1954. Healthy again in ‘55, he was Roy Campanella once more.

After posting an elite 168 OPS+ in 2025, Mariners catcher Cal Raleigh plummeted to 65 in 2026, marking the steepest single-season decline the metric has ever recorded. (Photo by Elsa/Getty Images)

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Of course, that assumes something physical is wrong with Raleigh, but even if he is medically fine, something is off in his swing, much like with an injury. 

With an offseason to get right by fixing what is wrong with his swing and contact, he’s more likely to follow the Campanella path than anyone else here: he isn’t a player who was never any good before 2025, to the point that his homer outburst, while not expected to be repeated, made sense with him being a tremendous power-hitting catcher and threat from both sides of the plate. 

In his first three full seasons in the majors, Raleigh averaged 139 games and 30.3 homers with a 117 OPS+: coming down from a spike to 168 and 60 dingers was reasonable, but to 65 and just 13 homers in 91 games? No, not like that.

For now, the Mariners — and Raleigh — just have to hope more of the previous Big Dumper comes through. Even if it’s “only” the one that mashed for Seattle from 2022 through 2024, who was merely one of the best hitting catchers in the league instead of overall hitters. If history is any indication, though, we at least know everyone might have to wait until next year to see that happen.

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Finally, after six months of no football, nearly all 32 teams got their first taste of game action this weekend, and while several stars and starters didn’t play, many rookies made their unofficial NFL debuts.

Fernando Mendoza and Ty Simpson, who were the only quarterbacks taken in the first round of this year’s draft, showed glimpses of promise over the weekend. So did Drew Allar, who quarterbacked the Pittsburgh Steelers to a victory over the Green Bay Packers.

Those three quarterbacks were just a few of the rookies who made some headlines in Week 1 of the preseason. Now, with the first week of the preseason behind us, here are our takeaways. 

1. Ty Simpson Offers Solid, Promising Performance

Ty Simpson completed all but four of the 25 passes he threw in his NFL preseason debut. (Photo by William Purnell/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

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Eric D. Williams: Simpson got the call for the Los Angeles Rams after Stetson Bennett started the first quarter in Saturday’s game against the Kansas City Chiefs and didn’t disappoint in three quarters of action, playing the rest of the game against back end of the roster players. Simpson continued to show command and comfort with Sean McVay’s offensive system. I watched him earlier in the week against the Dallas Cowboys in a joint practice, and Simpson showed well in the limited reps he got. He built on that performance against the Chiefs.

Simpson finished 21 of 25 for 190 yards with two touchdown passes to running back Dean Conners and no interceptions. He also wasn’t sacked, posting a 125.0 passer rating. 

Offensive coordinator Nate Scheelhaase, calling the plays instead of McVay, did a nice job of tailoring them to accentuate Simpson’s movement skills and ability to throw on the run. Simpson completed a handful of throws on play-action passes and had a clean pocket most of the game. 

It’s a good start for Simpson, and we’ll see how he performs if he gets an opportunity to face ramped-up pressure against NFL starters as he competes with Bennett for the backup job behind Matthew Stafford.  

2. Drew Allar Gives Steelers Hope For A Post-Rodgers Future

Drew Allar had plenty of reasons to smile on Thursday, scoring three total touchdowns. (Photo by Joe Sargent/Getty Images)

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Ralph Vacchiano: Pittsburgh Steelers coach Mike McCarthy is absolutely convinced they stole a first-round talent when they drafted Penn State quarterback Drew Allar in the third round in April. And Allar backed up his coach’s big words last week with a stellar performance, completing 10 of 13 passes for 153 yards and two touchdowns to go with a rushing score in a win over the Green Bay Packers.

But Allar has done more than that to give Pittsburgh hope for its future, whenever the 42-year-old Aaron Rodgers really calls it quits. He has had an excellent camp, showing off a strong arm and excellent decision-making skills. And McCarthy told me that three weeks into camp, Allar basically has been given the entire playbook. There’s nothing he couldn’t be asked to do.

Now, no one in the Steelers’ organization is willing to guarantee that the 22-year-old is their quarterback of the future. He’s not even likely to be Rodgers’ backup, an honor that probably will go to veteran Mason Rudolph. And technically, he still has to beat out Will Howard, a sixth-round pick in 2025, for a spot in the quarterback room.

But Allar almost certainly will be a part of the team’s quarterback conversation moving forward, and he will spend the next year (at least) learning at the feet of Rodgers. Whether the Steelers roll with Allar in 2027 or dive into the star-studded quarterback class in the upcoming draft probably depends on how this season goes, and where they fall in the draft order. However, Allar’s quick growth and early returns may give them a future option they didn’t clearly have before.

3. How Much Playing Time Is Too Much? Cardinals Find Out With Jeremiyah Love

Jeremiyah Love had 72 yards on 14 touches against the Raiders, but now the Cardinals will have to worry if he’s available for the start of the regular season. (Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images)

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Greg Auman: No two NFL head coaches will answer the question the same way, but each team must decide how much — if at all — to play their best players in the preseason.

Too little, you risk rust and ineffective play in the first weeks of the regular season, but too much, you take on a greater risk of injury. The Arizona Cardinals’ offense, under new coach Mike LaFleur, had as good a first half as you could ask for against the Las Vegas Raiders on Thursday, with three drives all resulting in touchdowns.

Rookie running back Jeremiah Love, the third overall pick in the draft, was a big part of that, finishing the half with 11 carries for 58 yards and three catches for 14 yards. The 14 touches were more than most people expected him to get, including Love himself. But LaFleur liked the chance to get him comfortable and confident in adjusting to the speed of the NFL.

“I like where he was at with the touches,” LaFleur said after the game.

However, the excitement was tempered by news that Love would miss a week with a “sore” ankle sustained as he was brought down on his last touch.

Things have escalated, and Love has been diagnosed with a high ankle sprain that will sideline him from the remaining two preseason games. It puts his status for their season opener Sept. 13 at the Chargers in question as well.

Why the heavy usage a week after holding Love out of the Hall of Fame Game entirely? Another new back, Tyler Allgeier, played only six snaps compared to Love’s 24, and if any team should be wary of keeping their backs healthy, it’s Arizona. Last year, the Cardinals lost their top two backs — James Conner and Trey Benson — to season-ending injuries by Week 4, so their leading rusher (Michael Carter) had just 333 rushing yards, the lowest for any team’s leading rusher in six years.

Love might be healthy for the opener and could still have a monster rookie season. He never had so much as 200 carries in a season at Notre Dame, so he could easily exceed that in a healthy rookie season. 

4. Did Ravens Finally Hit On A Mid-Round WR? If They Did, It Could Change AFC Outlook

Ravens third-round pick Ja’Kobi Lane has been a standout in training camp and he backed that up with strong play on Saturday. (Photo by G Fiume/Getty Images)

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Henry McKenna: It’s not like Lamar Jackson has been entirely unsupported. The Baltimore Ravens offense boasts Derrick Henry, Zay Flowers, Mark Andrews and, before he defected in free agency, Isaiah Likely. But there have been times when — in the passing game — that has not quite seemed like enough.

The more I’ve watched this Baltimore offense over the years, the more I wondered what the Ravens could be with legit playmakers at WR2 and WR3.

Maybe — just maybe — that’s what the Ravens found in the 2026 NFL Draft. Baltimore selected USC receiver Ja’Kobi Lane and Indiana wideout Elijah Sarratt, and both players have put together impressive camps, according to reports on the scene. So my eyes were fixed on that Ravens offense in preseason, even if Jackson wasn’t on the field.

Because the rookies were.

And they were terrific. 

In this weekend’s game, Sarratt led Baltimore in catches (six) and receiving yards (66). Lane finished with three catches for 38 yards and a touchdown.

That preseason production might not mean a whole lot if the receivers weren’t already showing promising signs in training camp. But their body of work has been really solid. That’s all the Ravens need from the rookies: reliability. If they can take some of the pressure off Jackson (and Andrews and Flowers), the entire Ravens offense should be better off. Certainly, with coach Jesse Minter running the defense, the defense should be just fine.

There is no clearer candidate for a bounceback season than the Ravens.

They missed the playoffs last year. If these young receivers are for real, though, I can’t imagine Baltimore missing two years in a row.

5. De’Zhaun Stribling Makes Loss Of Ricky Pearsall A Little Less Painful For 49ers

De’Zhaun Stribling had seven catches for 63 yards in the 49ers’ loss to the Titans. (Photo by Matthew Huang/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

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Ben Arthur: Losing Ricky Pearsall before the season started marked a major blow for the 49ers, but they may be just fine production-wise out of the wide receiver thanks to rookie De’Zhaun Stribling. 

Stribling, who was taken by the 49ers with the first pick of the second round, shined in San Francisco’s preseason opener Thursday night against the Tennessee Titans with seven receptions on eight targets for a game-high 63 yards. The former Ole Miss standout gave the Titans’ starting secondary all kinds of fits, catching passes against each of Tennessee’s top three cornerbacks (Cor’Dale Flott, Alontae Taylor, Marcus Harris). 

Stribling’s most impressive play: a 32-yard, back-shoulder catch down the right sideline with Flott in tight coverage, setting up the Niners’ lone touchdown. 

With Pearsall (PCL) out for the year and Brandon Aiyuk (reserve/left squad) not part of the team’s plans, San Francisco will depend heavily on old receivers in 2026. Of the 12 receivers on its 90-man roster, seven are at least 29 years old, including Mike Evans (32), Deebo Samuel Sr. (30) and Christian Kirk (29). 

Stribling is much-needed young blood. And if the preseason opener is any indication, he’ll be a major contributor as a rookie. 

6. Odell Beckham’s Performance Not Big Enough To Match Cheers

Odell Beckham Jr.’s return to New York brought a lot of fanfare, but he didn’t do much in his first preseason game back with the Giants. (Photo by Mike Coppola/Getty Images)

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Vacchiano: The biggest cheer of the New York Giants’ preseason game against the Minnesota Vikings was the moment in the second quarter when Odell Beckham entered the game with the second team. It was a reminder of how popular he remains with the New York fans.

Too bad those were really the only big cheers he got.

The 33-year-old Beckham had a quiet two catches for six yards in his first game action of any kind since December 2024. It’s not that more was expected — this game was mostly about Beckham seeing action and getting some of his timing back. It’s that more was needed if Beckham has any hope of making the team out of camp.

Beckham is in a difficult spot. He isn’t trying to just make the Giants as one of their six likely receivers. Since he doesn’t play special teams, he really needs to be in the top four to crack the roster. Assuming Malik Nabers is healthy, the top three spots are likely going to him, Darnell Mooney and rookie Malachi Fields. And Darius Slayton and Calvin Austin seem likely to be two more. That doesn’t give Beckham an obvious avenue. And he’s not going to force Giants coach John Harbaugh’s hand two preseason catches at a time.

Beckham did get open one other time in the game on a deep seam route, but the Vikings blitzed and quarterback Jameis Winston dumped the ball off underneath. It was a moment that would have electrified Giants fans in the stadium. Who knows if it would’ve done anything to increase Beckham’s chances of making the team.

But he’ll need moments like that, and bigger performances than he had, to have any shot of sticking on the roster. And he’s running out of time to do it. 

7. Cowboys Undrafted WR Camden Brown Makes Highlight Reel Plays

Cowboys rookie Camden Brown has been a standout wide receiver in training camp and made some noteworthy plays on Saturday. (Photo by Jack Compton/Getty Images)

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Williams: The top of the Cowboys’ receiver room is set, with CeeDee Lamb and George Pickens arguably forming the top wide receiver duo in the NFL. Ryan Flournoy is also listed as a projected starter, and talented return man KaVontae Turpin will take another spot. But Brown, an undrafted rookie out of Georgia Southern, could be making a claim for one of those spots on the back end of the roster. 

Brown finished with three catches for 62 yards and two touchdowns against the Seattle Seahawks on Saturday. Both scores were diving, acrobatic catches in the end zone, including a one-handed catch on a fade route. 

Brown made similar plays during the two training camp practices I watched the Cowboys in Oxnard and has been one of the most talked-about players in the team’s camp. If he can figure out a way to contribute on special teams, Brown could have a chance to find his way on the back of the roster, or at least land on the practice squad.

 

 

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The Georgia Bulldogs captured the SEC Championship last December by defeating perennial foe Alabama.

Can the Dawgs — who went 7-1 in the SEC in 2025 — find their way back to the title game and claim the conference two years in a row?

Here are the latest odds at FanDuel Sportsbook as of Aug. 17.

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SEC Conference Championship Game Winner 2026

Georgia: +260 (bet $10 to win $36 total)
Texas: +310 (bet $10 to win $41 total)
Alabama: +800 (bet $10 to win $90 total)
LSU: +900 (bet $10 to win $100 total)
Ole Miss: +1150 (bet $10 to win $125 total)
Oklahoma: +1100 (bet $10 to win $120 total)
Texas A&M: +800 (bet $10 to win $90 total)
Tennessee: +1700 (bet $10 to win $180 total)
Florida: +2600 (bet $10 to win $270 total)
Missouri: +3300 (bet $10 to win $340 total)
Auburn: +4300 (bet $10 to win $440 total)
South Carolina: +5200 (bet $530 total)
Vanderbilt: +9400 (bet $10 to win $940 total)
Kentucky: +15000 (bet $10 to win $1,500 total)
Mississippi State: +30000 (bet $10 to win $3,010 total)
Arkansas: +30000 (bet $10 to win $3,010 total)

Here’s what to know about the oddsboard:

The Favorites: The Dawgs and Longhorns top this board, and rightfully so. Georgia has won the last two SEC titles and has won three in the past four seasons. The Dawgs won their most recent SEC Championship in 2025, defeating Alabama 28-7. Meanwhile, Texas has a Heisman favorite in Arch Manning at quarterback. Having recently joined the conference in 2024, Texas has never won the SEC in football. However, under Steve Sarkisian, the Longhorns won the Big 12 title in 2023. Since joining the SEC, Texas has gone 13-4 in conference games, including a championship game loss to Georgia in 2024. 

Lane Kiffin’s Impact: Lane Kiffin has already had a profound impact on how the SEC will look in 2026. Kiffin left Ole Miss for LSU in November and now brings the nation’s No. 1-ranked transfer portal class to Baton Rouge. That class is headlined by former Arizona State quarterback Sam Leavitt, who threw for 2,885 yards and 24 touchdowns in 2024 while leading the Sun Devils to a Big 12 title and College Football Playoff appearance. Meanwhile, Ole Miss promoted defensive coordinator Pete Golding to replace Kiffin and retained two of the country’s top offensive players. Quarterback Trinidad Chambliss was granted another year of eligibility after a breakout 2025 campaign in which he threw for 3,937 yards, 22 touchdowns and just three interceptions. The Rebels also return running back Kewan Lacy, one of the nation’s most productive backs last season. Lane Kiffin will face his old team as LSU and Ole Miss are set to meet in a highly anticipated Week 3 showdown in Oxford.

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The Seidlers have official league approval to sell the San Diego Padres to billionaire José E. Feliciano and his business partner and wife, Kwanza Jones, as MLB’s owners unanimously approved the transaction on Monday, the league announced. The actual transaction still has to be finalized over the next few weeks, per the Associated Press.

MLB commissioner Rob Manfred said in a statement following the vote that, “José and Kwanza understand the unique place the Padres hold in San Diego and the powerful bond between the club and its fans. We look forward to their leadership of the Padres and to working with them to build on the club’s strong foundation in a market that is so important to Major League Baseball.”

The Padres were purchased by a group including Ron Fowler and Peter Seidler in Aug. 2012 for $800 million, and in 2020 Seidler took over as the control person for the club. When Peter Seidler died in Nov. 2023, his remaining siblings in the ownership group controlled the club, before exploring a potential sale late in 2025. Feliciano and Jones’ group emerged as the favorite, with a winning bid of $3.9 billion – an MLB record.

“We are a family first, and becoming owners of the San Diego Padres means joining an even larger one,” Feliciano and Jones said in their own statement following the approval. “We are grateful to the Seidler family, and especially to Peter, for raising the expectations of what this franchise can achieve. … Our ambition is clear: to bring a World Series championship to San Diego and build an enduring organization capable of competing for championships year after year. We intend to be engaged owners, bringing our energy, experience and perspective while working alongside the talented team already in place and investing ambitiously and thoughtfully in the Padres’ future. 

“We are all in and committed to winning.”

Feliciano and Jones take over a franchise that has markedly increased its spending since even before Seidler took over: in 2015, the Padres’ payroll jumped to $108 million, more than double what it was in the final season of the previous ownership group under Jeff Moorad. Then, Manny Machado was signed to a 10-year, $300 million free agent contract before the 2019 campaign, and the Padres ramped up their spending from there. Even after the payroll decreased following Seidler’s death, it was still among the league’s loftiest totals: San Diego has had a top-10 payroll in five of the last six seasons, and have paid the luxury tax penalty three times since 2022. 

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While the Padres have not reached the World Series during this stretch, the four postseason appearances in the last six seasons, high average win total and three-straight seasons of at least 3.271 million fans in attendance has marked this as the most successful lengthy stretch in franchise history. There are no plans, per MLB’s statement, to replace either general manager A.J. Preller nor CEO Erik Greupner.

Through Sunday, the 2026 Padres are in second place in the NL West, at 67-58, and are tied with the Philadelphia Phillies for the second NL wild-card spot. San Diego is currently projected to pay the luxury tax once more, with an estimated $264 million competitive balance tax payroll figure that could have it paying both the consecutive-season additional 30% surcharge, as well as an additional 12% for being $20 million over the $244 million threshold.

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Los Angeles Dodgers co-owners Todd Boehly and Mark Walter have held talks about selling their stakes in London-based English Premier League club Chelsea F.C., according to a report from The Financial Times on Monday.

Boehly and Walter invested £2.5 billion ($2.89 million) in Chelsea alongside Clearlake Capital and Hansjörg Wyss in 2022 under the investment group BlueCo. Clearlake Capital holds the majority of the ownership stake at 61.54%, while Boehly, Walter and Wyss each own a 12.8% stake.

Walter’s reported interest in selling his Chelsea stake comes just four days after he sold his majority stake in the Los Angeles Lakers. Walter purchased the Buss family’s controlling stake in the Lakers in June 2025 for $10 billion and sold it to Bob Iger and Josh Kushner for $12.5 billion last week. Boehly was also part of Walter’s minority stake in the Lakers.

(Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)

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If Walter decides to offload his Chelsea ownership stake, he will still be the controlling owner of both the Dodgers and Los Angeles Sparks. Boehly, meanwhile, will still have a foot in European soccer as an investor in French Ligue 1 club RC Strasbourg, which just signed United States men’s national team midfielder Gio Reyna.

There have been no reports of Boehly and Walter entertaining offers for their stakes in the Los Angeles Dodgers ownership group. The Dodgers have won back-to-back World Series titles and are valued at $7.8 billion.

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Here’s what’s happening this week Inside The Garage:

• D.C. readies for INDYCAR takeover
• Noah Gragson secures future ride plans
• This driver is doing it “4 the Haters“

Markham, Ontario — Not all street courses are alike. And you might be hard-pressed to find two street courses as opposite as the ones INDYCAR drivers are taking on this month.

When drivers raced Sunday on the streets of Markham, they had a 2.1-mile mix of lefts and rights and gradual turns, sharp turns and a hairpin on streets newly repaved for the event.

When drivers race next Sunday on the streets of Washington, D.C., they will compete on a 1.7-mile circuit of mostly 90-degree left-hand turns with one right-hand turn.

They also will go 61 miles further, racing 250 miles as part of the “Freedom 250,” compared to 189 miles at Markham, a more normal road-course length.

“It will be interesting, man, to see how that plays out,” Andretti Global driver Will Power said during his news conference Sunday after finishing third at Markham. “It’s pretty crazy distance for a street course.”

David Malukas, Felix Rosenqvist and Alex Palou are set to take to the streets of D.C.

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So what will it be like doing 147 laps on a street course?

“You’re going to feel like you’re in a bit of washing machine in some ways, you just keep going around and around,” Team Penske driver Scott McLaughlin told me and other reporters. “That’s going to be a long hard race, bumpy and whatnot.”

At least the course might be a little more straight-forward than crazy (although crazy can be considered challenging and fun, too).

“Washington’s a lot different,” Andretti Global driver Kyle Kirkwood told me and other reporters Sunday after a crash at Markham. “It’s just pretty much 90-degree corners. Here [at Markham], there’s a lot more characteristics, a lot of increasing radius, which usually breeds passes and breeds crashes.

“But it really even hasn’t been that many passes, there’s been crashes. D.C. will be way different.”

One thing that will be similar is the schedule. While Markham had to delay the first practice from Friday to Saturday, a disappointing turn of events, it did get drivers ready for the schedule this weekend.

In hopes of having the least amount of disruption to life in the capital, INDYCAR agreed to a two-day show. That means both practices and qualifying are set for Saturday, just as they were in the adjusted Markham schedule after the Friday postponement. Photos of the track build in Washington indicate that there will be no questions as far as whether the track will be ready.

The streets of D.C. will be alive with race cars as INDYCAR takes center stage this upcoming weekend.

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One thing that won’t be new when it comes to competition? Alex Palou was the championship leader going into Markham and remains so going into Washington. In fact, there is a chance he could clinch the title.

Palou went from having a 110-point lead on Kirkwood to a 133-point lead thanks to the Kirkwood crash. David Malukas is 137 points behind Palou.

If Palou can leave Washington with a 162-point lead on the field, he would clinch the title with three races remaining. That would be a tall, but not impossible, order.

“That would be fun — that would be a great spot to win it,” Palou told me and other reporters.

It would be a little ironic for Palou, a Spaniard, to win a title (his fifth overall and fourth consecutive) in front of President Donald Trump, considering Trump was in attendance when Spain won the World Cup last month.

“I’ll work for it, absolutely,” Palou said.

Malukas told me that the battle isn’t for the title — it’s for second.

“The battle is for P2,” Malukas told me. “What would [Palou] have to do? Crash every race? It’s done. We just have to look on getting that P2 because that P2 race is a big battle.”

The Washington race also is the middle of a tough stretch of five consecutive weekends to close out the season. There are four races remaining — Washington, a two-race weekend at The Milwaukee Mile and then the season finale on the Laguna Seca (Monterey, Calif.) road course.

Alex Palou is closing in on his fourth consecutive INDYCAR title. 

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For two veteran drivers, they have key streaks they will try to snap.

McLaughlin hasn’t won in nearly two years as his winless streak is 32 races.

“It’s the longest of my career by a mile since I started racing,” McLaughlin told me and other reporters. “I really do hate it. I’m chomping at the bit for a win.

“We have been close, but just haven’t quite got there. I’m not frustrated, but I’m angst. You can’t force it. … I feel like I’m driving really well.”

And Scott Dixon has won every year in each of the previous 21 years. All those seasons came with Chip Ganassi Racing, where he is leaving at the end of the year for Arrow McLaren.

“The goal is always to get a win,” Dixon told me and other reporters. “It doesn’t matter whether it’s a streak or anything like that. The obvious goal is to win every weekend we go to.

“That’s really all I think about it. If that happens, it happens. If it doesn’t, so be it.”

In The News

–Noah Gragson signed a contract extension to remain at Front Row Motorsports. The contract includes options to keep him in a Cup car beyond 2027.

–NASCAR announced that it has set limits for drivers to have rookie status. It is a maximum of 12 previous starts in Cup to be a rookie, 10 starts for O’Reilly and eight starts for trucks.

–Trackside Enterprises, which had the contract to promote NASCAR races at Rockingham (N.C.) Speedway, announced the track will not have NASCAR national series dates in 2027. It had O’Reilly Series and truck series races the last couple of years.

Noah Gragson is staying put in 2027.

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Postseason Clinchers

At Richmond, several drivers clinched spots in the postseason for NASCAR.

Cup: Chase Briscoe, Chase Elliott and Christopher Bell clinched to make it seven drivers having clinched with two races remaining. Denny Hamlin, Tyler Reddick, Ty Gibbs and Ryan Blaney had previously clinched.

Trucks: Christian Eckes, Gio Ruggiero and Ty Majeski clinched to join Layne Riggs, Kaden Honeycutt and Chandler Smith in the Chase. There are four spots left to be determined in the regular-season finale this weekend at New Hampshire.

Social Spotlight

They Said It

“Do I have a little chip on my shoulder? Yes. That’s a clear yes. So much that our little team slogan in our hauler, our scoreboard, is ‘4 the Haters.’ That’s where we’re at.” — NASCAR driver Joey Logano, who is in his quest for a fourth championship.

In Inside The Garage,Bob Pockrass takes us behind the scenes of the motorsports world the way only he can.

WHAT YOU SHOULD READ NEXT

Marcus Ericsson captured his first victory since March 2023 as he snapped a 63-race winless streak by claiming the inaugural win on the perilous streets of Markham.

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Joshua Baez had a day for the ages in the Cardinals’ Saturday showdown against the Cubs. 

In his MLB debut, Baez launched three home runs in his first three at-bats, the first player to ever do so. And one bettor came along for the ride — or at least most of it — to turn a $10 bill into a nice little four-figure win. 

It was nowhere near the biggest haul of the past week, but it was arguably the most interesting.

More on that winning ticket, along with a seven-figure soccer payday and two six-figure UFC bangers, as we recap the week that was in sports betting.

This page may contain affiliate links to legal sports betting partners. If you sign up or place a wager, FOX Sports may be compensated. Read more about Sports Betting on FOX Sports.

Home Run Derby

On Saturday in Chicago, there were modest expectations of Baez hitting just one home run. At multiple sportsbooks, the rookie outfielder was in the +500 range to go yard against the Cubs.

Baez took care of that in short order with a 449-foot, two-run bomb in the first inning, putting St. Louis up 3-0.

Still, oddsmakers didn’t think that was the precursor to a historic day. After the first homer, Fanatics Sportsbook posted a live in-game market on Baez hitting three or more homers.

The odds were a hefty +15000 (150/1). And one customer with a $10 bill burning a hole in his pocket decided to get on board.

Then Baez went deep and belted a solo shot in the fourth inning, giving the Cards a 4-3 lead. The youngster followed with another two-run blast in the sixth inning, as St. Louis took a 6-3 lead on the way to an 8-4 victory.

So that modest 10 bucks turned into $1,510, in about 90 minutes. That’s the kind of ROI we can all appreciate.

Soccer Show-Stopper

With the English Premier League’s 2026-27 season starting at the end of this week, the annual Community Shield contest provided a high-profile matchup to get people in the mood: Arsenal vs. Manchester City.

The match pits the previous season’s Premier League champions against the previous winner of the FA Cup, England’s massive national tournament. Arsenal took the EPL title last season, while Manchester City won the FA Cup.

At Polymarket, a whale of a customer put $1,873,916.76 on three or more goals scored in Sunday’s match. It was essentially a coin flip, priced at 54%, which equates to odds of -117.

The trader got no help from Man City, but Arsenal delivered all that was necessary in a 3-0 victory. So the customer profited $1,592,448.24 (total payout $3,466,365).

Similarly, the Super Cup was held on Wednesday, with reigning Champions League winner Paris Saint-Germain facing Europa League winner Aston Villa.

A Polymarket customer put $319,501.82 on PSG to win the match, which it did 2-1. At a price of 58% (-138), the trader cleared $234,900.18 profit (total payout $554,402).

Big Money On Makhachev

Saturday night’s UFC 330 card in Philadelphia also drew big action on prediction markets. Specifically on welterweight champion Islam Makhachev in the main event vs. Ian Machado Garry.

There were two massive plays on the heavy favorite at Polymarket:

The match went all five rounds, but Makhachev earned a unanimous decision to retain his title. And both customers cashed in.

The bigger trade netted $86,801.41, while the smaller trade profited $62,275.01.

On the flip side, at Kalshi, a trader put $43,100 on Garry to pull the upset. That’s a five-figure loser.

The Anti-Scottie Bet

Only one golfer can win a PGA Tour event. So it’s not necessarily a bad idea to go against World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler winning on any given weekend.

Just not this past weekend.

At Prophet X, a customer put $108,000 on Scheffler to not win the FedEx St. Jude Championship. No was a heavy favorite at -540, in part due to the fact that Scheffler hasn’t won since January.

Scheffler then went out and shot four rounds in the 60s, including a sizzling 9-under 61 in Friday’s second round. He finished with a 66 Sunday for a 17-under 263 total, eight shots clear of second-place Si Woo Kim.

That’s six figures lit on fire. Which is a reminder that these high-roller/high-net-worth bettors and traders can afford to absorb such losses.

You and me, not so much. 

So keep your wagers and your expectations reasonable, especially as football season approaches. Never bet more than you can afford to lose.

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Tommy John, who won 288 games during a 26-year big league career and became the first pitcher to successfully return following groundbreaking elbow surgery that later was named after him, has died. He was 83.

He died at his home in Bradenton, Florida, on Saturday night, agent Mike Maguire said Sunday. He had been in hospice care.

On Aug. 8, the New York Yankees released a social media post in which John wrote that he wanted to say goodbye to everyone, including friends and fans who followed him throughout his career, saying, “I will never forget you.”

The Yankees called John “a bedrock of our rotation during his time in pinstripes and a longtime favorite of Yankees fans.”

John was a four-time All-Star with a record of 288-231 and a 3.34 ERA during a career that stretched from 1963 to 1989. He pitched for Cleveland, the Chicago White Sox, the Los Angeles Dodgers, the Yankees, the California Angels and the Oakland Athletics.

“Tommy was an exceptional pitcher throughout his career in Major League Baseball, and his courageous role in becoming the first to have surgery that would go on to bear his name can’t be overstated,” Stan Kasten, Dodgers president and CEO, said in a statement. “His impact both on and off the field has been felt by ballplayers of all ages and will be for generations to come.”

The left-hander was 31 years old when he tore the ulnar collateral ligament in his pitching elbow in 1974, a death knell for pitchers’ careers to that point.

John allowed Dr. Frank Jobe, the Dodgers’ team physician, to replace the ligament with a tendon from his right forearm. Jobe gave the surgery 100-to-1 odds of being successful.

John Was A Great Pitcher, But His Elbow Surgery Made Him A Baseball Legend

The procedure had been done on others before, although it was usually performed on wrists and hands. John was the first pitcher to have it done on his elbow.

More than 2,600 big leaguers and thousands more amateurs have since had UCL reconstructions, better known as Tommy John surgery. It’s been a godsend for many of baseball’s greatest stars, including two-way sensation Shohei Ohtani, three-time Cy Young Award winner Justin Verlander and even Philadelphia Phillies slugger Bryce Harper.

“If you put it in dollars and cents, I think there’s no question that Tommy John is the most valuable reconstructive procedure there is,” Dodgers team physician Dr. Neal ElAttrache told The Associated Press in 2024.

Born Thomas Edward John Jr. on May 22, 1943, in Terre Haute, Indiana, he was a top baseball and basketball player at the city’s Gerstmeyer High. He graduated in 1961 as valedictorian but did not give the commencement speech because of a stutter. Despite being recruited by the University of Kentucky to play basketball, John chose baseball and signed with Cleveland.

“The day I left for my first job as a pitcher, my father looked at me & said, ‘Good luck, Tommy. Just remember one thing: whether you make it big in the big leagues or you don’t, you’ll always just be Tommy John from Terre Haute, Indiana.’ I’ve never forgotten those words,” John wrote in his Aug. 8 post.

John recorded 2,245 strikeouts but never led either league in wins or strikeouts. He had the second-most wins of any pitcher since 1900 not to be elected to the Hall of Fame. From 1995 through 2009, John was on the Hall of Fame ballot, but he never received more than 31.7% of the votes, falling well short of the 75% required for election.

“Tommy was a wonderful person who competed to the utmost and did what no player had ever done to save his career, in conjunction with the esteemed Dr. Frank Jobe,” former Dodgers general manager Ned Colletti posted on X. “The HOF is missing Tommy John.”

John Won More Games After His Eponymous Surgery

Known for his longevity, John was the opening day starter for both the 1966 Chicago White Sox and the 1989 New York Yankees. He won 124 games before his UCL repair and 164 after. His final appearance came days after his 46th birthday.

“While his incredible longevity and post-surgery achievements changed the fortunes and trajectory of countless athletes around the world, it also overshadowed his excellence as a pitcher,” the Yankees said in a statement. “We pause to remember the totality of his legacy — his competitiveness and skill, his penchant for conversation, his kind and gracious nature, and his stature as an athletic and medical pioneer.”

John made his major league debut on Sept. 6, 1963, pitching one inning in relief for Cleveland.

He was traded to the White Sox in 1965 and worked his way into the starting rotation. The following year, he tied for the American League lead with five shutouts and in 1967, his six shutouts led the AL.

In 1971, he was traded to the Dodgers.

In 1974, John had a 13-3 record and led the National League in victories going into the All-Star break. He was pitching against the Montreal Expos when he permanently damaged the UCL in his left arm. After a month, the injury had not improved.

During the four-hour surgery on Sept. 25, 1974, Jobe made holes in the humerus and ulna bones of John’s left arm and used anchors to insert the tendon in a figure-eight pattern.

At first, John’s left hand was shriveled and he lacked feeling in several of his fingers because of damage to the ulnar nerve. Jobe performed a second procedure to reroute the nerve that was necessary to John’s full recovery.

John’s arm was in a cast for four months. He had recovered the full range of motion in his left arm by spring training of 1975 and spent that season resting, healing and rebuilding strength in his arm. John worked with fellow Dodgers pitcher Mike Marshall, who had a doctorate in kinesiology, on learning a different grip.

That September he made five appearances during an offseason instructional league, working his way up to seven innings by his final game.

John resumed pitching for the Dodgers in 1976 as the fourth starter in their rotation. He allowed three runs in five innings and took the loss in his first start against Atlanta, the first time any pitcher had started a game following UCL reconstructive surgery.

John donated the original cast from his surgery to the Smithsonian Institution in June 2022. His teammates on the 1974 Dodgers signed it, as well as Jobe and the team’s Hall of Fame announcer Vin Scully.

The procedure has become so widely known that in 2019, Merriam-Webster added the term to its dictionary.

John made 31 starts for the Dodgers in 1976, posting a 10-10 record, a 3.09 ERA, 91 strikeouts, 61 walks and 207 hits allowed in 207 innings.

In 1977, he won 20 games for the first time in his career, finishing with a 20-7 record. He finished second behind Philadelphia’s Steve Carlton in voting for the NL Cy Young Award.

John And His Family Had Mixed Feelings About The Legacy Of His Operation

Over 50 years later, Tommy John surgery is as much a part of baseball as peanuts and hot dogs. Advanced training methods are helping pitchers of all ages throw harder than ever. They take comfort knowing a torn UCL won’t necessarily end their careers.

“I am sick my name is attached to a surgery happening in kids more than pros,” John tweeted in July 2018.

John’s oldest son, Tommy III, became a chiropractor who wrote a book suggesting ways to prevent young athletes from having to undergo major sports-related surgery similar to what his father endured.

After his pitching career ended, John worked as a broadcaster for the Minnesota Twins and Yankees in the 1990s. He managed the Bridgeport (Connecticut) Bluefish from 2007-09.

John was hospitalized in December 2020 because of COVID-19 and later had Guillain-Barré syndrome, in which a person’s immune system attacks their nerves. John told the New York Post in May 2022 that he was paralyzed in his lower extremities for several months.

John and his wife Sally Simmons had four children: Tamara, Tommy III, Travis and Taylor, who died of a prescription drug overdose at 28 in 2010. The couple divorced in 2013.

Besides his children, he is survived by his second wife, Cheryl, and son-in-law Patrick Mannelly, a retired NFL long snapper who played 16 years for the Chicago Bears.

Reporting by the Associated Press.

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LATROBE, Pa. — Aaron Rodgers learned last season that he can’t outrun the clock. He’s slower in his 40s than he used to be. His arm strength isn’t there as consistently as it once was, either.

It’s his mind, though, that really keeps him going at age 42, in his 22nd — and, as he vowed, his last — NFL season. It’s why his new (and old) coach, Mike McCarthy, is convinced they can make one more run at Super Bowl glory together. And it’s the quirky Rodgers’ best chance to out-maneuver the passage of time.

“His mind’s incredibly sharp,” McCarthy, the Steelers coach, told me before practice on Sunday at St. Vincent College. “But I’ll be honest with you, his ball play in this camp has been top-notch. Obviously, I’ve coached a lot of football with him, but his ability to place the football … I’m not saying he lost any velocity on the ball, but if he has, it’s definitely made up for with his anticipation. 

“So he’s getting the ball where it needs to be, on time. He’s having a hell of a camp.”

McCarthy would know. This may be his first season coaching his hometown Steelers, but he spent 13 wildly successful seasons as Rodgers’ head coach in Green Bay. They went to the playoffs eight times, won a Super Bowl together, and he helped Rodgers develop into one of the greatest quarterbacks ever to play the game.

The late-career reunion between the 62-year-old coach and his former protégé has been “super cool,” McCarthy told me. But it’s a lot more than just a trip down memory lane.

He still sees Rodgers as a quarterback who can help him win.

“It’s super cool, just to be able to be part of his final chapter. It’s awesome,” McCarthy told me. “But I think he definitely fits the culture here. So yes, I think it’s a great story. 

“But I think we just want to win. Let’s go win and do the things that we need to do to win. And he’s such a competitor. I love the time, once we cross the white lines, when we get to just go out there and compete. And he is one of the greatest to ever play the game.”

Notice, he didn’t say “was” — a purposeful choice of words. Rodgers, by his own standards, was just OK last season, completing 65.7% of his passes for 3,322 yards, 24 touchdowns and seven interceptions. His age was showing, even as he dragged the Steelers to 10 wins and the AFC North title. He looked like a good quarterback overall, but not one capable of doing any of the magical things he used to do.

But his mind, his processing skills and ability to see what others can’t in a defense, give him and the Steelers an enormous advantage. And that’s where the magic really happens, McCarthy said.

“His mind is off the charts,” McCarthy told me. “His anticipation and ability to throw people open, his instincts … and he also matches it with his release, the way he’s able to get the ball out of his hands so quickly and throw through the open window where (defenders) are running through. That’s the way you have to play and win in this league, because people are always covered. It’s the job of the quarterback to throw them open.”

Mike McCarthy won 12 games in three consecutive seasons with the Cowboys. But he hasn’t led a team to a conference title game since the 2016 season — with the Packers and Aaron Rodgers. (Photo by Joe Sargent/Getty Images)

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Even in practice, it’s clear that Rodgers still does that better than anyone. He has the patience to let a play develop, the wisdom to see what is about to happen, and the skills to put the ball in the only place it can go. And after almost every rep on Sunday, he was talking to his coaches, receivers and linemen, explaining to them exactly what he saw.

Whether it all translates into wins, a playoff berth, or even one last run at a Super Bowl, probably depends on Rodgers’ 42-year-old body, and whether he can keep it from breaking down. But don’t bet against that, even at his age, since he’s played near-full seasons in seven of the past eight years.

And if he can do it one more time, then maybe — just maybe — his mind is what will matter most, and he and McCarthy have enough left for one more magical run.

A Few Other Observations

• McCarthy may be known as an offensive-minded coach, but if you’re waiting for him to unveil the scheme that was so successful in Green Bay and Dallas, don’t. The offense being run by him and offensive coordinator Brian Angelichio in Pittsburgh may be more like what last year’s Steelers ran. “It’s not like just (Rodgers) and I got back together and dusted off the old playbook,” McCarthy told me. “There’s a lot of language that’s changed. And we kept some of the things that were here last year just to try and keep the guys in sync.” Obviously, McCarthy will put his stamp on it and incorporate some of his old plays. But in taking over a 10-win team with a 42-year-old quarterback, continuity was more important to him.
• When you’ve got an aging quarterback, you’ve got to find ways to support him, and a strong running game could really help. The Steelers didn’t have one last year (103.3 yards per game, 26th in the league). But McCarthy thinks the signing of RB Rico Dowdle could change that. Remember, McCarthy helped turn him into a 1,000-yard back in Dallas two years ago (1,079 yards, 2 TDs), and he continued to prove he’s capable in Carolina last season (1,076-6). Dowdle should end up as the workhorse in the Steelers’ backfield. And if he plays well, he and Jaylen Warren (958 yards last season) could be a potent tandem.
• Once the Steelers invested these two years in Rodgers, it seemed obvious they needed to start searching for their quarterback of the future. And maybe now they’ve found him in former Penn State QB Drew Allar, their third-round pick. He was a dazzling 10 of 13 for 153 yards and three touchdowns in his preseason debut against the Packers this past Thursday. And while preseason performances can be deceiving, McCarthy thinks it showed how good Allar really is. He told me, “I don’t know what you’re looking at if you don’t see a first-round talent in Drew.”

The Steelers’ defense was middling last season (17th in scoring), but they did have a surprisingly potent pass rush. It was “surprising” because they got 48 sacks (sixth in the NFL) despite a down year from T.J. Watt, their longtime star. He had only seven sacks — just his third season not reaching double-digits (and his worst total in a full season).

It’s safe to say Pittsburgh expected more when it signed him to a three-year, $123 million extension last July. So he really needs to show that his two-year statistical decline isn’t irreversible even though he’ll be 32 in October. Last season, his sack total was still the third-highest on the team. Imagine how potent the pass rush could be if Watt — who had 19 sacks in 2023 and 11.5 in 2024 — gets anywhere near his old form.

The Steelers need that from the eight-time Pro Bowler. They know their quarterback will need as much support as he can get. Backing him with an aggressive, disruptive defense, preferably led by Watt, might be the best thing they could do to help Rodgers out.

T.J. Watt is a future Hall of Famer. But he’s also coming off the quietest season of his career. (Photo by Perry Knotts/Getty Images)

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Quote Of The Day

“I wouldn’t do this if I didn’t think I could win a Super Bowl. Once you lift that trophy up, there’s nothing else in this business.”

— Steelers coach Mike McCarthy told me 

Long-term view

Everything Is Riding On Aaron Rodgers’ 42-Year-Old Arm

There’s a lot to like about this team that McCarthy inherited from Mike Tomlin. It’s the core of a team that won 10 games last season, after all. And they should get a boost from McCarthy. Nothing against Tomlin. He had a phenomenal record in Pittsburgh over the past 19 years. But it’s possible that what he was preaching probably got a little stale.

To get that new-coach boost, McCarthy will need T.J. Watt to bounce back, so the defense can be a little bit more like it’s used to being in the Steel City. And the addition of Dowdle, who McCarthy developed into an RB1 in Dallas, could give Pittsburgh the running game it was missing last year.

But winning all comes down to the same thing it came down to last year. The Steelers have an old quarterback, who’s not quite what he used to be. And they need a lot from Rodgers at age 42. He’s still good and smart and capable of some big plays. But he’s not the one-man show that he was a decade ago, or the error-free maestro he was five years ago when he won back-to-back MVPs. He’s no longer even a top 10 quarterback in the NFL.

Last year, he was good enough to lead this team to the playoffs. But this year, the division could be much tougher if Lamar Jackson stays healthy in Baltimore and Joe Burrow is around for a whole season in Cincinnati. Getting to 10 wins again could be quite the challenge for Pittsburgh. Eight seems like a more realistic goal. And finishing better than third in the division could be pretty tough, too.

My Next Stop: Browns Camp

First of all, Cleveland rocks. I don’t care what people say about it, it’s always been an underrated city. OK, not always, but it certainly has become one. And I’m sure Berea, Ohio — home of the Browns — rocks, too. 

If only it had a football team to match.

I’m sure new Browns coach Todd Monken thinks there’s something positive about the team he’s assembling on the shores of Lake Erie, and I’ll travel three hours through the hills of Western Pennsylvania and the Ohio valley to find out — apparently through a horrendous rain storm that is about to hit.

(By the time I get there, by the way, I’ll have driven almost 1,400 miles on this trip. I think I’ve passed 1,400 Sheetz gas stations along the way, too. Not nearly as many Flying J’s, though, so it’s probably good that Browns owner Jimmy Haslam sold all those.)

Anyway, back to Haslam’s Browns: Myles Garrett is gone. There’s still no viable quarterback in place. It’s hard to have faith in either Shedeur Sanders or what’s left of Deshaun Watson. But people have underestimated and overlooked Cleveland the city, so maybe we’re all doing it to the Browns, too?

I doubt it. But I’m certainly on the lookout for positives. I’m just not expecting to see many at practice on Monday afternoon.

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