Last night I watched Artemi Panarin hit the equivalent of an Allen Iverson ankle-breaking crossover on some poor soul and deliver a perfect game-winning assists in the last minute of overtime.
Columbus with a big goal late in overtime. Panarin is a magician, here.#PHIvsCBJ pic.twitter.com/Kd5sNcoWid
— Right Wing, Shoots Left (@HILITINGHOCKEY) March 1, 2019
It is now my official #take that he should do Columbus again next year. And more years after that. Please.
ICYMI
- NFL combine results tracker.
- Ohio State's NFL Combine participants will be fast and elite.
- The Buckeyes' 2019 draft class will try to replicate the instant-impact the 2016 class had.
- Ohio State has an abundance of talent at the cornerback position.
Word of the Day: Imprecate.
MIKE LIKES TO SHARE. Mike Weber and J.K. Dobbins shared the backfield for the past two seasons, and as a result, neither of them put up the numbers they would have if they were the lone ball carriers.
Weber has come to terms with that, and is even glad about it.
Dave Birkett of the Detroit Free Press:
Weber, who finished with 2,676 yards rushing and 24 touchdowns, said he initially wasn’t a fan of having to share the backfield but has come to see it as “a plus.”
“At the time you don’t like it, at the time you want the ball,” Weber said. “At the time you want to be able to show the world what you can do with the opportunities you get. But I feel like a lot of these teams now, they’re looking at some guys who have some tread on their tire. I feel like I didn’t – I think I got the ball (455) times in my career, which is not a lot. A lot of guys get 300 a year, and I feel like that was a plus on my end. That’s something I can elaborate with teams.”
I'm sure it sucks to see another guy break runs you know you could have been breaking and eat yards that could have been yours. But it extremely doesn't suck when you reach the end of your college career and you've taken half the hits you should have.
You can only take so many hits before your body starts to break down, and Weber's heading to the next level as fresh as it gets while still showing teams plenty of what he can do with the ball.
Maybe he won't get drafted as high as he would have if he was Ohio State's bell cow running back for three-straight seasons, but I have a hunch he'll be healthy and available a hell of a lot longer this way.
JETS TRADING DOWN? It's looking like there's a very realistic chance Dwayne Haskins is the No. 3 overall pick in the NFL Draft.
That pick is currently owned by the New York Jets, but they are more than willing to part with it if a team wants to move up to snag a quarterback.
Rich Cimini of ESPN:
General manager Mike Maccagnan, speaking to reporters Wednesday at the NFL scouting combine, put a "For Sale" sign on the Jets' pick, third overall.
"Right now, we feel good at No. 3, but I'd definitely say if there's an opportunity to trade down, we would absolutely look at it," he said.
...
"If we end up picking a player at three, we'll feel really good," he said. "If there's an opportunity for us to move back and acquire more picks, that's something we'd definitely be potentially interested in. It would have to be the right kind of deal, but I definitely wouldn't rule anything out at this point in time."
Unfortunately for the Jets, there aren't as many quarterback-needy teams and top quarterback prospects as a year ago, so the market might not be robust. Dwayne Haskins and Kyler Murray are considered the only potential top-10 picks at the position. Still, Maccagnan is hopeful.
"If there are teams out there looking to go chase a quarterback," he said, "I think we're in a pretty good position to be in. I don't necessarily like how we got the third pick, but it's a good pick to have."
The most likely team to move into that spot would seem to be the Giants, who nearly every mock draft expects to select Haskins at No. 6. If the Jets put that No. 3 pick up for sale, the Giants would likely have to go after it, or risk another team swooping it up and snagging Haskins out from under them.
If that happens, it will likely be the first time one school saw two players selected in the first three picks since Oklahoma had Sam Bradford and Gerald McCoy selected at No. 1 and No. 3 in the 2010 draft.
Basically, this draft could turn into a gigantic Ohio State infomercial really quickly.
AAF TO COLUMBUS? Because Columbus can't get enough football...
RUMOR UPDATE:
— AAF Fan Network (@AAFfanNetwork) February 28, 2019
Short list of cities being considered for @TheAAF expansion teams:
Albuquerque, NM
Columbus, OH
Dayton, OH
Des Moines, IA
Louisville, KY
Oklahoma City, OK
Omaha, NE
Portland, OR
Full disclosure, I can't vouch for the veracity of this Twitter account at all. For all I know, this could be the work of Twitter teens tossing totally unsubstantiated rumors out there for the masses. But even if it's not true, it's a fun hypothetical that we're going to talk about anyway because it's the offseason.
This would be awesome, especially if they managed to make the team Buckeye/Big Ten-heavy like they've seemed to do with teams in other regions. But my main concern is, where are they going to play?
I know the obvious answer is the 'Shoe, and they could also play in the new Columbus Crew stadium for a more intimate environment, but I'm looking outside at the piles of freezing white fluff right now and neither of those options sound too great.
All of the AAF teams that exist right now are in at least relatively warm climates, and some even play inside. Columbus is by no means warm in February and playing inside isn't really an option. So unless they move the starting date back by at least a month until warm starts to happen, I can't really see this happening.
Then again, they do desperately need a Midwestern team in this league. Perhaps Indianapolis is a more realistic option?
BACK AT IT. I'm pleased to report that Drue Chrisman is combining his impressive talents and is now flipping water bottles via punt.
Why flip it when you can kick it? pic.twitter.com/mtkSoG0Xot
— Drue Chrisman (@DChrisman91) March 1, 2019
I'll never be able to top his bottle flipping, but I'm pretty sure I can rock the hell out of the monster pajamas he had on in the last clip.
CONLEY CARES. I was pretty stoked when Mike Conley got to stay in Memphis after the trade deadline.
It certainly wasn't for basketball reasons, because he absolutely deserves to go somewhere where he could compete for titles and have a chance to be an All-Star and that ain't happening in Memphis. I was just happy that he would get to stay in the community he's come to love and worked so hard in the past decade.
Memphis Grizzlies guard Mike Conley (@mconley11) wins January #NBACares Community Assist Award presented by @kpshare, in recognition of his continued work to improve the lives of Memphis youth through mentorship and community outreach.
— NBA Cares (@nbacares) February 27, 2019
More: https://t.co/8wapaxl534 pic.twitter.com/VWRS1tqnqf
After all the trade rumors died down, it was reported that Conley had no desire to leave Memphis, and I honestly believe things like this are why. It's not just a place where he plays basketball, it's his community that he loves to serve.
LINK LOCKER. How a missing comma cost a company $5 million... China pours more concrete every two years than the United States did in the entire 20th century... The wild conspiracy theory that the Titanic never sank... America’s cities are running on software from the ’80s...
