Month: April 2023

I read a lot of articles about sports, and I also like to watch videos about them on YouTube while I’m sitting down at my dining room table eating breakfast. If I’m doing something like chores around the house and I want to be distracted, I’ll turn on a podcast like The Ringer or a channel like Thinking Football and just listen while I work. Recently, I’ve been paying pretty close attention to the NFL Draft, at least much more than I have in years previous. With the event set to occur next Thursday, in this blog post I want to detail some of my favorite prospects in the 2023 draft class and why I like each of them. These players aren’t necessarily who I think are the best in the class, but more so players that I like and am rooting for once they get into the league.

 

Jordan Addison

Kicking it off with my favorite wide receiver in this year’s class, Addison is a receiver who will dice you up no matter where he is positioned on the field. With the expansive route tree that he possesses, the USC prospect is a dangerous threat on all three levels. The production that Addison had in college is everything that you could desire when assessing a WR prospect. He won the prestigious Biletnikoff Award in his 2021 season playing at Pitt, delivering multiple signature performances en route to it, like his 202-yard, 4 touchdown game against Virginia. After he transferred to USC this past season, Addison kept up the dominance as he quickly formed an almost telepathic connection with his new QB, future top-five pick in the 2024 NFL draft Caleb Williams. He has an unmatched swagger to his game, and he will step up to the plate when the lights are the brightest, as he showed by catching multiple go-ahead touchdowns late in games for the Trojans. Some will look at his lean 5’11” frame and average performance in the athletic tests at the combine and project his ceiling as only a slightly above average player at the next level. Don’t let those people fool you, though. Addison is going to be a problem in the NFL.

 

Devon Witherspoon

Am I biased in calling this guy the best corner in the draft just because he went to the University of Illinois? Maybe, but even so, there are multiple reasons why Witherspoon stands out even amongst this year’s historically loaded DB class. The Illini product was a blur in orange and blue on the field this past season, with an unnatural knack for making huge plays. His on-ball productivity in 2022 was exceptional, as he closed out the season with three interceptions and 14 pass breakups. When you look at those numbers combined with his prowess in coverage (he allowed only 22 catches for 206 yards on 63 targets last season, amounting to an absurd average of 3.3 yards per target), it becomes easy to see why many analysts have him near the top of their draft boards. He also hits super hard for a cornerback. Like viciously hard. Witherspoon will deliver blows to receivers that make you utter an audible “damn!” as they are knocked to the turf. Bottom line, he is an extremely entertaining player to watch, and I can’t wait to see what he does in the NFL.

 

Bryce Young

Everyone will be quick to point out Young’s lack of height as a fatal flaw, and dismiss him from ever becoming an elite quarterback at the next level. But I will tell you right now that his lack of size isn’t going to matter. Because Young is a gamer. If I were to compare him to an NBA player, it would be Stephen Curry, because he can do the football equivalent of going and getting you a bucket. Bryce Young showed during his tenure at Alabama that he can make magic out there on the field. His ability to create something out of nothing when his pocket collapses is second to none, and there is a gigantic gap between him and every other QB in his class at this present moment. Historically however, quarterbacks of Bryce’s stature have had little success at the next level, with the notable exception of Drew Brees, though even he was a bit taller. The only concern I have about his height and especially his weight is how he will handle taking hits from NFL pass rushers, and the injury risk that comes along with that. Other than his physical profile however, Young has every intangible quality that you could ask for in your franchise star. He has the poise, the competitiveness, the leadership, and the unteachable creativity to improvise when things go south. Young is a unicorn of a prospect because of his size, and I’m excited to see if he can become a future All-Pro quarterback in the league.

Playoff time is coming soon in the National Basketball Association. With the regular season winding down and each team having only a few games left to play, I think that now is the appropriate time to start looking towards the postseason. We have a solid understanding of what each team is at this point, though obviously anything can happen in the playoffs. Traditionally however, basketball is a sport that throughout its storied history has not had many true underdogs make runs to the title. Because there is still a lot of uncertainty with the Western Conference and what the standings will look like when all is said and done, in this blog post, I will be focusing specifically on the Eastern Conference, which is much more top-heavy. I will be looking at each of the three teams in the East that I think have the best realistic shot at winning the NBA championship and describing the strengths and weaknesses of each of them.

 

Milwaukee Bucks

The team with the best overall record in the league, it is not shocking that the Bucks are the favorites to win the NBA title. This is the case largely because they have Giannis Antetokounmpo, who for my money is still probably the best player in the world due to his otherworldly impact on both the offensive and defensive side of the ball. Complimenting him is all-star guard Jrue Holiday, one of the toughest perimeter defenders in the association with the ability to put the clamps on other teams’ stars in the postseason. He has also taken a substantial jump with his scoring this year, shouldering a larger workload with regular secondary-scorer Khris Middleton being in and out of the lineup due to injury. Their 35 year old 7’1” center Brook Lopez has also had somewhat of a resurgence this season, recementing himself as an outstanding rim protector with his ability to hold down the paint and block shots. Because of these players, the Bucks unsurprisingly have had an elite defense all season, ranking top-5 in the league in defensive rating. The fact that they have had all of their success without Middleton for stretches of the season makes this team even scarier, and his health woes could be the only thing potentially holding them back. They have been on an absolute heater since the turn of the new year, with an absurd record of 30-9 since January 1st. With solid, dependable role players like Bobby Portis and Grayson Allen filling out the rest of the roster, the Milwaukee Bucks are the safest pick to hoist the Larry O’Brein trophy come June. 

 

Boston Celtics

Sitting at second place in the Eastern Conference standings, Boston is fresh off a Finals appearance last season where they lost to the Golden State Warriors in six games. They have two bonafide stars in forwards Jayson Tatum and Jalen Brown, the former of which was getting MVP buzz early in the season. The Celtics were rattling off wins to start the season off, and their roster is probably the deepest in the entire league. With last year’s DPOY winner Marcus Smart, the versatile Derrick White, and Malcolm Brogdon whom they acquired in the offseason, the C’s can boast about great depth at the guard spot. Savvy big man Al Horford is the glue guy for the team, and Rob Williams III anchors their defense down at center, although he has been injured for a portion of this season.For whatever weird reason though, things just sometimes don’t seem to click for the Celtics, often at crucial moments. Sometimes it is due to them resorting too much to isolation possessions with their star players and stopping their movement off-ball. Sometimes it is just them going on a cold streak shooting, which happens with every team. Most recently, their forward Grant Williams missed two free throws in the closing seconds of a game against the Cavs that would have sealed the victory, which were made more comical due to the fact that he told the other team before shooting them that he would make both. But the bottom line is that when the Celtics move the ball, shoot well, cut, and play cohesively, they are almost unstoppable. I just don’t know how much I trust them to put it all together.

 

Philadelphia 76ers

 

The Sixers are a team that feels like they are potentially poised for a breakthrough this postseason. After falling short of reaching the Eastern Conference Finals for the past few seasons, superstar big man Joel Embiid has jumped up to another level this season, and is currently the betting favorite to win the MVP award. He is flanked by the notorious James Harden, who has morphed himself from one of the league’s most prolific scorers to one of its best playmakers. Tyrese Maxey is the third best player on the roster, and he is an electric young guard who can both shoot and pass. After struggling a bit to begin the season, this team has found their groove as of late, and are currently sitting at third place in the East with some notable wins against other top teams under their belt. The main obstacle standing in the way of the 76ers is injuries. Embiid has a terrible track record when it comes to getting hurt, and both Maxey and Harden have missed time this season as well. Philadelphia’s defense is also a shade worse than both Boston’s and Milwaukee’s, and even the four-seeded Cleveland Cavaliers. If they can’t hold up defensively, this worries me for their ability to hold up throughout a long playoff run. Pieces they have added like De’Anthony Melton and P.J. Tucker can help them somewhat, but it will still be a tough road. The 76ers certainly have the talent though, and I wouldn’t be surprised at all if they found themselves in the NBA Finals.