The word of the day for Jayden Daniels is “quick”. He gets the ball out quick, moves in the pocket quick, takes off quick; everything is bang bang when he plays. Daniels played so fast he was giving me point guard vibes. He’s running the offense, he knows where his receivers are going to be, and if they’re not there Daniels knows he can take off and make a play on his own.

-By Jake Cowden

Relying on rookies to contribute in their first year is a dangerous game, and I know I just spent two paragraphs talking about the Ram’s rookies that contributed in their first year. With ten draft picks as of this writing they’re not going to need them like they needed last season’s rookie class. They have plenty of flexibility to upgrade the roster without chasing needs. They made the playoffs last year with virtually no one expecting them to, and I’d be surprised if they weren’t back in the playoffs next season.

-By Jake Cowden

Illinois; Juice Williams, Quarterback 2006-2009: Before we even get to the football stuff, there’s no cooler name in college football history than Juice Williams (LOTS of good ones, none better imo). Juice led Illinois to the Rose Bowl including a win over #1 Ohio State in Columbus. At least in 2007 Juice made Illinois the coolest team in the country.

-By Jake Cowden

Lot of folks are giving the Bears an offensive lineman in their mocks, but they at least have options on the offensive line. There’s not anyone on their defensive line who I would count as a plus starter. The nice thing about Lukas Van Ness is he can play anywhere on the defensive line. The Bears can play him as an edge and then on obvious passing downs bump him inside as a three technique pass rusher (three technique refers to putting the defensive tackle on the outside shoulder of the guard). Also one of the requirements of graduating from Iowa is moving to Chicago, so the Bears and Van Ness would be a perfect fit.

-By Jake Cowden

Like Georgia, Tennessee has three no-brainer games they have to play each and every year. Alabama and Tennessee used to be the game in the SEC, and historically that’s the most intense rivalry in the conference. I still don’t think Volunteer fans are over the fact that Peyton Manning never beat my mans Steve Spurrier and the Florida Gators. Until Kirby Smart came along Tennessee was second only to Alabama in terms of SEC Championships. Now the Vols and Bulldogs are tied at thirteen, and with Georgia not showing any signs of slowing down the best thing Tennessee could do is keep them out of the conference championship game. 

-By Jake Cowden

The Gators fanbase is an absolutely wild one. They never sat down, never stopped cheering, never seemed to take their eyes off the game. The only permitted distraction was between the 3rd and 4th quarters when “Won’t Back Down” by Tom Petty came on the stadium speakers. The vibe instantly changed from an SEC football game to an outdoor music festival.

-By Jake Cowden

Had Mu continued to focus on the 800m, it is very likely she could be the greatest 800m runner of all time. But she knows she has a chance to do something really special, something that maybe only she has a chance to do. Winning the 400m and the 800m, especially in the same Olympics, would make her one of the greatest athletes in just in the history of track and field, but the history of the Olympics. She would be in the same category as Jesse Owens, Michael Phelps, and Serena Williams. But unfortunately, we don't remember silver medals, even if they inspire us in the moment.

-By Matt Cowden

On December 15th, 1941, one week after the attack on Pearl Harbor, United States Army officers met with Bowl Officials and decided to move the game out of Pasadena and the west coast and to have Duke host the Rose Bowl game in Durham, North Carolina. Oregon State won the game, spoiling the only Rose Bowl that Duke is likely to host.

-By Jake Cowden

Oklahoma has no natural advantage and yet they’ve been able to grind out championships and Heismans as well as any school in the country. They muscled their way into college football royalty, and might be the most impressive team on the list.

-By Jake Cowden

The only tangible, on-field difference between Alabama and Georgia the last few years has simply been quarterback play, meaning which quarterbacks were actually on the field playing. Kirby Smart has recruited quarterbacks as talented as Tua and Bryce Young, he just hasn’t allowed them to see the field.

-By Jake Cowden

I’ve never been a Notre Dame fan, but my whole life they’ve been one of those larger than life type programs. Brady Quinn was one of the first college football players who I made sure to watch every single week growing up; I even have some old VHS recordings my mom made for me of old Notre Dame games so I could watch him. The movie “Rudy” is like the ultimate crossroads of college football movies and Cinderella stories. With seven Heisman winners and eleven National Championships, Notre Dame is the most storied program in the country. The opportunity to experience the place where so much of college football history had been written was something I knew couldn’t pass up.

-By Jake Cowden

I’m in my head thinking this has been one of the craziest pregame atmospheres I’ve ever been at, and how glad I was that we decided to come down to the game. That’s the moment that people started JUMPING OUT OF AIRPLANES.

-By Jake Cowden

No other program in the country has (had) a geographical pipeline like USC, they had Southern California on lockdown. Matt Leinart, Mark Sanchez, Matt Barkley, Cody Kessler, and Sam Darnold all played high school football in the Trojan’s backyard; and that’s just the quarterbacks. For basically the entire 21st century USC got to hand pick which California kids got to live out their dreams of suiting up at the Coliseum.

-By Jake Cowden

On a night where he was in pain throwing just ten yards down the field he threw for 385. He has a motor and a level of mental toughness that just cannot be faked. He literally checks every box. There might be guys who do some things better than him, but Fields does absolutely everything well. His teammates and coaches rave about him as a leader, he’s driven in every aspect of his life, as competitive as any player in the draft class, and he’s also just a really good football player.

-By Jake Cowden

Schwartz played football and ran track at Auburn, and could be a professional in either sport. He actually set the youth world record for the 100m dash in high school (10.15 seconds). Heaven knows the Packers won’t draft a receiver in the first round, but they need to get more weapons for Aaron Rodgers. Schwartz is dangerous with the ball, and Auburn made getting him the ball in space a focus of their offense. He can stretch defenses both horizontally and vertically, and can help the Packers add another dimension to their offense next season.

-By Jake Cowden

What’s weird about the Seahawks is they actually haven’t been that good at drafting in the first round. They’ve crushed the middle rounds, and that's how they’ve been able to build and sustain a roster so successfully for so long, but they miss a ton in the first round. I’d love them to go cornerback, like a Trevon Diggs from Alabama type guy but they’re basically never drafted a corner in the first round. They’ve shown no affinity whatsoever for putting any resources into their offensive line, so that’s most likely off the table. They’re likely to go edge defender or running back, and Taylor is the type of running back who the Seahawks could fall in love with.

-By Jake Cowden

For a team with Jalen Hurts, Cede Lamb, and seemingly five highlight type running backs, Kenneth Murray popped off the screen more than any other Sooner last season. The guy was literally everywhere for Oklahoma’s defense. He’s explosive enough to blow up blockers and fast enough to cover sideline to sideline. At times he’s a bit too explosive for his own good and will overrun the ball carrier at times. He plays linebacker like a puppy in all the best ways, his energy and passion jump off the screen every time he plays. Murray in the late first round would be an immediate upgrade for one of the few positions that isn’t a strength for New Orleans.

-By Jake Cowden

Then there’s the stadium, and my goodness what a stadium it is. I’d watched countless Washington games on tv and the one thing I’d always wondered about was why the lighting always makes night games at Washington look like they’re playing in a dome. Well, it took me about three seconds in the stadium to realize that the lighting is like that because the sideline seating is more vertical than the Space Needle. The fans are basically on top of the field and all that noise gets funnelled down to the field, making the lighting unique and the field loud as hell.

-By Jake Cowden

Unlike New England, who could dictate their game plan because of their timeouts, Seattle’s game plan was dictated by their lack of timeouts. On 2nd and goal with twenty six seconds left Seattle is planning on three shots at the end zone in under thirty seconds. 

-By Jake Cowden