With the college football season just nine days away from commencing with Week 0, the anticipation surrounding the newly expanded 12-team College Football Playoff model continues to gear up. On Thursday, the College Football Playoff announced the six dates it will release its rankings during the upcoming college football season. The first one is set for Election Day on Tuesday, …

Safety Justin Simmons is reportedly joining the Falcons after spending his first eight NFL seasons with the Broncos. (Photo by Perry Knotts/Getty Images) The Atlanta Falcons added to their defense on Thursday after signing safety Justin Simmons to a reported one-year, $8 million deal, according to NFL Network. Simmons, 30, is guaranteed $7.5 million on his new contract. Adding the …

Vestavia Hills quarterback John Paul Head leaps through a hole in the Tuscaloosa County line as he runs the ball at Tuscaloosa County High School Friday, Oct. 27, 2023. The challenge of David going up against Goliath in high school football was rather poignantly summed up by one Alabama football coach this week. He said that his season-opening opponent is …

The Atlanta Falcons added to their defense on Thursday after signing safety Justin Simmons to a reported one-year, $8 million deal, according to NFL Network. Simmons, 30, is guaranteed $7.5 million on his new contract. Adding the two-time Pro Bowler and four-time Second-team NFL All-Pro comes a day after the Falcons acquired Matthew Judon from the New England Patriots for …

BATON ROUGE — LSU football opened preseason practice two weeks ago. Brian Kelly and his team has gone through 12 team sessions, including Thursday morning, in preparation for the 2024 college football season, which the Tigers kick off at 6:30 p.m. Sept. 1 in Las Vegas against the USC Trojans in a top-25 matchup in the Vegas Kickoff Classic ABC. …

There’s officially another bloodletting in Bristol. On the same day ESPN fired Robert Griffin III, the four-letter network also severed ties with Sam Ponder, the host of Sunday NFL Countdown. Andrew Marchand of TheAthletic.com reports that ESPN has fired Ponder. Ponder had been with ESPN since 2006, in various roles. It’s currently unclear who will take over as the host …

One day after coming to Florida State’s defense against a colleague, Robert Griffin III has reportedly been fired from ESPN. He’s not the only one with FSU ties to be let go from the “Worldwide Leader in Sports” on Thursday. Samantha Ponder, wife of former FSU quarterback Christian Ponder, also was fired in what The Athletic reported were budget cuts. …

Henry McKenna AFC East Reporter Jalen Hurts dealt with several setbacks in 2023.  There was a lingering knee bruise and then the finger injury in the regular-season finale. There was his statistical regression. And there was the Philadelphia Eagles’ 1-6 finish to the season. That certainly wasn’t what Hurts or the Eagles expected after the team signed him to a …

What Warner likes about rookie Puni’s training-camp performance originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area Rookie 49ers guard Dominick Puni’s strong training-camp performance isn’t going unnoticed by one of his All-Pro teammates. Superstar linebacker Fred Warner could be heard expressing admiration for Puni’s play during a discussion with defensive end Nick bosa that was captured on San Francisco’s “Brick By …

Ohio State Football Fall Camp COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Will Howard has won Ohio State’s quarterback battle against Devin Brown and will be the starter when the No. 2 Buckeyes open against Akron on Aug. 31, coach Ryan Day said Thursday. Howard transferred from Kansas State after starting 28 games over four seasons, and he graded out the highest through …

Richard Sherman flabbergasted by Jaylon Johnson’s breakdown of his Vikings’ interception originally appeared on NBC Sports Chicago Bears star cornerback Jaylon Johnson recently hopped on former NFL cornerback Richard Sherman’s podcast, “The Richard Sherman Podcast.” During the podcast, Sherman referenced Johnson’s interception against the Vikings during Week 12 of the 2023 regular season. When Johnson broke down the play for …

Ken Ruinard-USA TODAY Sports ESPN unveiled its Top 100 rankings of the best college football players heading into the 2024 season on Thursday, with two Clemson defensive standouts making the list. Senior linebacker Barrett Carter was ranked No. 15 overall, one spot below LSU linebacker Harold Perkins at No. 14 and one spot ahead of Oregon quarterback Dillon Gabriel at …

Patriots-Eagles preview: Outlining a potential Drake Maye gameplan originally appeared on NBC Sports Boston FOXBORO — The Patriots got about 70 plays under their belt on both the offensive and defensive sides of the ball in Tuesday’s joint practice with the Eagles. For the decision-makers at One Patriot Place, there was plenty to digest from that one day of work …

CLEMSON — Clemson football coach Dabo Swinney announced Thursday cornerback Shelton Lewis suffered a lower-body injury during the team’s first scrimmage on Saturday at Memorial Stadium. The sophomore defensive back was among the many players Swinney said got “banged-up” after the scrimmage, but the Tigers coach said he is day to day. Other players that fall into this category are cornerback Jeadyn …

Sometimes, the best picks of your fantasy football drafts are the ones you never make, and those are the ones we’re here to discuss today. There are a number of reasons you might fade a player, whether you don’t believe they’ll have a pathway to opportunity, projected inconsistencies or, perhaps, you just don’t feel a player will return enough value …