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Good morning! RIP Sid Eudy.
Poll Season, Pt. 3: A thorny choice at QB?
One takeaway stuck with me the most from yesterday’sNFL QB Tiers file: Ravens signal caller Lamar Jackson, the reigning MVP, was voted a Tier 2 quarterback by league execs and coaches. What are we doing here?
Only two things that make any sort of sense to me:
- NFL evaluators bypass his two MVP seasons in favor of his injury history,which is extensive. It’s unfair to Jackson, who plays the most important position in a contact-heavy sport, butinjury-pronereads asunreliable to decision makers in this league.
- They focus too much on his playoff performances.Jackson is 2-4 in the postseason, including a home loss in the AFC title game last year to the Chiefs. Both MVP seasons ended with home playoff losses in which the Ravens scored 12 points or fewer. (A rebuttal: the words “both MVP seasons.”)
This sparked our next NFL preseason Pulse Poll: Who would you rather have at QB?
- Jacksonor
- Bills QB Josh Allen, a similar dual-threat QB who has neither of Jackson’s biggest accolades and who’s also never reached a Super Bowl — but landed a Tier 1 spot.
Make your voice heard here. We’ll have plenty more on this tomorrow.
Things You Need to See: It’s just unfair
Aaron Judge is one of the most gifted hitters we have seen in the modern era of baseball. Even though he began his MLB career later than most, he’s already in the record books and is on pace for plenty more pages.
But that’s all about his offense. How is a 6-foot-7, 280-pound man also allowed to do this?
✅ Rob a home run
✅ Turn a double playAaron Judge is pretty good at fielding too 🔥
🎥 @MLBpic.twitter.com/wUVca9jgFh
— The Athletic (@TheAthletic) August 27, 2024
See AlsoAaron Ramsdale transfer: Southampton sign England goalkeeper from Arsenal on permanent transferRamsdale completes move to Premier League club in deal which could reach £25mDanny Jansen’s MLB time travel, explained, plus Aaron Judge’s outfield magicYankees’ Aaron Judge hits home runs 50, 51 of season while on pace to eclipse 60 (again)
I have to imagine watching Judge rob a home run off your bat is demoralizing in the worst sense. A springy center fielder is supposed to be able to do that. But a lumbering home run machine stealingyourhome run? Sheesh.
He turned the double play after catching that, too, and the Yankees beat the Nats 5-2 in Juan Soto’s return to D.C.
Moving on:
News to Know
Lamb gets his deal
Cowboys wide receiver CeeDee Lamb agreed to a four-year, $138 million contract extension yesterday, ending his long holdout just days before the season begins. A record $36 million signing bonus is included, and the deal makes the 25-year-old the league’s second-highest-paid wideout behind Justin Jefferson.See the full contract details here.
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Playing for both teams in one game
Yesterday, Red Sox catcher Danny Jansen became the first player in MLB history to play for two teams in the same game, as he took the field for Boston in the Blue Jays’ 4-1 win, the resumption of a June 26 game interrupted by weather. (He played for the Blue Jays at that point, and had been traded to Boston shortly thereafter.) And it gets even better: He ended up playingboth sides of a single at-bat.
More news
- Browns running back Nick Chubb will miss at least the first four games of the season
- The Chiefs reunited with wide receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster, which is probably bad news for Kadarius Toney.
- Jordan Love has a new backup in Green Bay: former Titans QB Malik Willis.
- A high school football player in Alabama died after suffering a brain injury during the team’s season opener Friday.
- Duke freshman Cooper Flagg, likely next year’s No. 1 NBA Draft pick, signed a shoe deal with New Balance.
- Colorado coach Deion Sanders partnered with a bank to open accounts for his players who have children. Cool move.
Volleys: Coco Gauff’s inflection point
What a year it has been for Coco Gauff. She won the US Open last year at this time and suffered devastating losses at the Olympics and Wimbledon. Gauff is both tennis’ brightest star and the player most in need of a big performance on a major stage.
She’s the biggest draw of what should be a big weekend in Queens. A few things to watch:
- Let’s start with Gauff, who won her first-round match against Varvara Gracheva in straight sets yesterday. The women’s side has not seen a repeat winner since 2014.
- Both women’s No. 1 Iga Swiatek and men’s No. 1 Jannik Sinner play today. There may be no one under more pressure than Sinner, who was sanctioned last week for testing positive for a banned substance earlier this year. Sinner has since fired two members of his support staff. Expect nerves.
- Carlos Alcaraz, the No. 3 seed, also plays today, and can win his third major of 2024 here.
Read Lukas Weese’s story for more to watch today, including the comeback of Naomi Osaka, a two-time US Open champ. And keep up with our live blog throughout the day.
Watch This Game
📺 WNBA: Aces at Wings
8 p.m. ET on NBA TV
I want to see how A’ja Wilson plays now that her once-assured third MVP award is an open race thanks to Napheesa Collier’s surge. Las Vegas, currently fourth in the standings, could also use some playoff seeding help.
📺 MLB: Orioles at Dodgers
10:10 p.m. ET on ESPN+
Both of these teams are desperate to gain ground in their respective division races, and this is one of the best interleague matchups of the year. Easy call for the late-night slot.
Get tickets to games like these here.
🎧 Top podcast in The Athletic network: To stay on theme, Scoop City had Mike Sando on to talk about the making of the QB Tiers. The Lamar exclusion was discussed heavily. Listen here.
Pulse Picks
A college football item we haven’t talked about yet: the astronomical challenge underway for newMichigan Statecoach Jonathan Smith. Brian Hamilton visited East Lansing andfound a new culture taking root.
It’s Tiers Weekhere at the Pulse.Today bringscollege footballcoaching tiers. I’m already excited to see how these numbers change for next year. Last weekend, a certain Tier 2 coach lost already.
Stewart Mandel has an incisive review ofNetflix’snew documentary aboutConnor Stalions, the man at the center of Michigan’s sign-stealing scandal. Stewart’s takeaway: Stalions wants you to think he’s a victim.He’s not.
Remember Robinson Canó’s resurgence in Mexico? Well, as Rustin Dodd and Sam Blum write, Canó isn’t alone — the Mexican League is having its moment.
NBA beef is so potent. Read Mark Puleo’s explainer on what’s happening between Anthony Edwards and Magic Johnson, with cameos from Isiah Thomas.
Make some time for this: Matthew Futterman wrote about how Black American tennis players built U.S. stardom in the sport. Serena and Venus had massive impacts, but the history starts much earlier.
Tim Spiers and our UK staff watched every one of Cristiano Ronaldo’s videos on his new YouTube channel so you don’t have to.
Most-clicked in the newsletter yesterday: The QB Tiers list, by far.
Most-read on the website yesterday: ☝️
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(Top photo: Rich Barnes / USA Today)
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Chris Branch is a staff writer for The Athletic's daily newsletter. Before joining The Athletic, he covered the Phillies for The News-Journal and worked as a content strategist for various industries. He graduated from LSU, where he worked for The Daily Reveille. Follow Chris on Twitter @cbranch89
