Trojans coach Lincoln Riley has plenty of work to do this spring with nearly a dozen starters to replace on offense and defense. (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times) After a disappointing 8-5 season salvaged only by a morale-boosting bowl win, USC opens spring practice Tuesday surrounded by more skepticism than optimism. The Trojans have to replace 12 starters on …

The Dolphins have re-signed defensive tackle Da’Shawn Hand, the team announced. Hand appeared in 16 games for Miami last season, totaling 17 tackles, a sack and two passes defensed. He saw action on 198 defensive snaps and 45 on special teams. Hand, a fourth-round pick of the Lions in 2018, he has appeared in 47 career games with 11 starts. …

2025 three-star defensive tackle recruit Xavier Ukponu got offered by USC earlier this year. Things are heating up between the Texas native and the Trojans’ staff. Denton (Texas) Guyer High School prospect Xavier Ukponu holds offers from USC, Texas, Texas A&M, Arizona, Arizona State, Colorado, Florida, LSU, Oregon, Baylor, Oklahoma State, Cal and Kansas. The 6-foot-3, 290-pound lineman is the …

Free agency started eight days ago. Already, most of the best available players are spoken for. Our list of the 100 (plus a few) top free agents, as compiled by Charean Williams, has most of the players already signed with new teams, or tagged. By my count (which could be off because it’s early and I’m dumb), only 18 of …

The Georgia Bulldogs are continuing to heavily pursue five-star quarterback Julian Lewis, who is currently committed to the USC Trojans. Lewis recently attended a Georgia spring practice recently and has upcoming visits with Colorado (March 22) and USC (March 30). Lewis’ next trip to Georgia is set on May 31 and will be an official visit. The five-star prospect recently reclassified …

Defensive lineman Byron Cowart didn’t see any regular season action in 2023, but he’ll give it another shot in Chicago this year. The Bears announced that they’ve signed Cowart to their offseason roster. It is a one-year contract for Cowart. Cowart spent time with the Chiefs and Texans during last year’s offseason and then signed to the Dolphins practice squad …

Tim Kavanagh, ESPN.comMar 19, 2024, 07:00 AM ET CloseTim Kavanagh is a senior editor for ESPN digital editorial. He’s a native of upstate New York. Twenty-six of the NHL’s 32 teams will be in action tonight, including seven of eight in the Atlantic Division. The Florida Panthers are off until Thursday, but the results for everyone else will help the …

Greedy conference commissioners, television deals and college football’s moneymaking clout sparked such persistent realignment that we need a cheat sheet to identify what teams are in which conference. Rutgers and Southern Cal soon will be conference brethren, because, you know, Los Angeles and Piscataway, New Jersey, share a lot in common. The Big 12 spans from Orlando to Provo, Utah, …

The NFL announced before the Super Bowl that the Eagles will be the home team for the league’s Week One game in Brazil. One Browns player says the Browns will be the visiting team. Browns defensive tackle Maurice Hurst made the statement while appearing on the team’s Cleveland Browns Daily Show. “We’re playing in Brazil this year,” Hurst said. That …

LAWRENCE — Lance Leipold had an idea Scott Fuchs might leave college for the NFL one day. In February, Leipold recalled the conversation from when the two first met. Fuchs didn’t want to be a coordinator or a head coach, just the best offensive line coach he could be, hopefully in the NFL. So when Fuchs had the chance to …

Gibson explains what made Patriots a good fit for him in NFL free agency originally appeared on NBC Sports Boston The New England Patriots didn’t make a huge splash during the first few days of NFL free agency, but one signing that could pay plenty of dividends next season is the addition of Antonio Gibson. The 25-year-old running back signed …

The Ravens are still in the crux of a potential Super Bowl window. Still, they’ll look drastically different on both sides of the football after undergoing massive changes to player personnel and the coaching staff. Eric DeCosta started the off-season with urgency, signing Justin Madubuike, one of the league’s best defensive linemen, to an extension. After inking Madubuike to a …

Chase Young had a sack in last season’s Super Bowl with the 49ers. (Photo by Ryan Kang/Getty Images) Chase Young is still just 24 years old. It seems like he has been around longer than that, mostly because his NFL career has had so many turns. He was an immediate star with the Washington Commanders after being the second overall …

BLOOMINGTON — Indiana football defensive tackle Philip Blidi announced he was entering his name into the transfer portal on Monday night. The former Texas Tech defender spent one season with the Hoosiers. “It has been a great journey this past year,” Blidi wrote on X. “Indiana is a place full of welcoming and friendly people. My family and I are blessed …

Steve Tensi, who threw the first touchdown pass in the Broncos’ first NFL game in 1970, died Friday in his hometown of Boone, North Carolina, the team announced. He was 81 years old. Tensi joined the Broncos in 1967 in a trade from the Chargers, and he started 32 games in four years for Denver before injuries forced him to …