Southern Draft
By: Kenneth Harrison
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
The 2025 NFL Draft starts April 24, 2025 at Lambeau Field in Green Bay. We are going to take a look around the AFC South and see what position each team should address in the first round.
Tennessee (3-14): The Titans are tied with Cleveland and the New York Giants for the worst record in the NFL. That earned them the first pick in the 2025 draft.
Quarterback Will Levis was drafted in the 2nd round, No. 33 by the team in 2023. He started the season opener and for a total of twelve games.
He passed for 2,091 yards, 13 touchdowns, 12 interceptions and he completed 63% of his passes. He showed that he takes risks and throws bad interceptions. I think Tennessee has to look at their QB of the future.
The most likely candidate to pick is Cam Ward (Miami). This year’s quarterback class is considered weak but Ward is the best in this class.
He transferred from Washington State and played great at Miami. He threw for 4,313 yards, 39 TD’s, 7 interceptions and completed 67% of his passes.
He also rushed for 204 yards and 4 scores. Ward won the Davey O’Brien Award (2024), Manning Award (2024), ACC Player of the Year (2024) and Consensus All-American (2024).
Jacksonville (4-13): The Jags need help on the defensive line or in the secondary. They have the fifth pick so I think they will draft a pass rusher.
The best pick is Abdul Carter (Penn State). He was an off-ball linebacker his first two years before he was moved to edge rusher for the 2024 season.
In 2024 he had 43 solo tackles, 24 tackles for loss and 12 sacks. Carter was a Unanimous All-American (2024), Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year (2024) and two-time first-team All-Big Ten (2023, 2024).
He’s 6’3 and 259 pounds so he has great size and speed. He’s a great athlete that could have an immediate impact like another Penn State pass rusher has recently, Micah Parsons.
Indianapolis (8-9): The Colts were only one game under .500 so they are close to becoming a playoff team. They have the No. 14 pick.
Quarterback Anthony Richardson was drafted 4th in the 2023 draft. In his two seasons he has only played in 15 games. They are really hoping he can stay healthy and make a drastic leap going into his third season.
Indy can go in a couple of different directions with this pick. They could select an offensive lineman or defensive back.
If they pick a lineman it could be inside offensive lineman Armand Membou (Mizzou). He was a tackle at Missouri but he’s 6’3 and 332 pounds so he’s not the ideal size for an NFL tackle. He will probably be moved inside to guard.
If they pick a DB safety Malaki Starks (Georgia) might be the pick. He’s very smart and athletic so he would be a great fit.
Houston (10-7): The Texans were very inconsistent but they still won the division and a playoff game. Second year QB CJ Stroud regressed and the offensive line did a bad job protecting him. They can address the offensive line, defensive line or add a weapon on offense. They are picking No. 25.
I think they might draft guard Grey Zabel (North Dakota State). He’s listed as 6’6, 305 lbs. and he’s a two-time FCS national champion. He was also named first-team FCS All-American (2024).
Useless?
By: Colin Lacy
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
Before the NFL crowns a champion in Super Bowl LIX between the Kansas City Chiefs and Philadelphia Eagles, the NFL world flocks to Orlando for the Pro Bowl (or what has turned into being called the Pro Bowl Games).
Instead of a full exhibition game, the NFL has made the change to a Flag Football game along with a collection of skills competitions and “field day” type events.
While there’s no question that the honor of being named to the Pro Bowl, does the actual event mean anything?
Before we dive into the current rendition of the pro football version of the All-Star Game, let’s look back at how we got here.
There have been many iterations of a “Pro Bowl,” and it began in January of 1939 as the NFL All-Star Game. The NFL All-Star Game saw that year’s league champion (starting with the 1938 New York Giants) against a team of all-stars from the other teams around the league. The first time that the phrase “Pro Bowl” was used came in the 1951 when the best from the American/Eastern Conference taking on the top of the National/Western Conference.
After the merger of the AFL & the NFL in 1970, the celebration of the game’s best turned into the AFC-NFC Pro Bowl. The league’s exhibition match-up largely looked the same until 2023 (aside from the league flirting with a nonconference format from 2014-2016).
2023 marked the first rendition of the Pro Bowl Games with flag football and other random events that have changed each of the last three years.
Most fans remember that for three decades (1980-2009) the Pro Bowl game was held in Aloha Stadium in Halawa, Hawaii. The game would be moved to Miami for the 2010 rendition of the game before returning to Hawaii in 2011 until 2014.
There have been a couple of mainstays in the skills competitions over the last three years with Flag Football and dodgeball, but each year brings new competitions with some being more…creative…than others.
I’ve been able to be at this year and last year’s Pro Bowl Games and to be on the field in Orlando around the game’s best.
While many fans and even media have written the game off as a waste of time, this game still truly means something to many of the players bestowed with the honor of being named to the Pro Bowl.
That being said, you do have players each year that “opt out” of the Pro Bowl.
In fact, this year has 16 players named to either the AFC or NFC squad that won’t be in Orlando participating for a litany of reasons which doesn’t include the eleven combined members of the two teams that are competing in the Super Bowl a week later.
Full transparency, I was skeptical of what the point of the event was going into my first experience with the game a year ago, but after talking to players and folks around the game, for the players it’s a wonderful experience.
Obviously it’s a tremendous honor to be named to the rosters, but you have some players that are experiencing it for the first time as a young player and get to be around the best of the best for a few days and pick the brains of those that they likely grew up idolizing.
Others use it as a chance to catch up with friends or former teammates that they may not have seen since the last Pro Bowl.
Whatever the individual rational, there was one overwhelming theme that came up time after time. That it was a fantastic way for their families to get away and decompress after a long and grueling season and be around families that are wrapping up the same grind and strengthen the community between the families.
So, does the event draw the TV numbers or revenue that even this game once did? Not even close, but it absolutely means a great deal to the guys that this game is intended to honor.
The GOAT
By: Michael Spiers
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
Legendary Camden County High School football coach Jeff Herron may have hung his whistle up for good at the end of the 2023 season, but those that know this man like I do understand that he has never been one to stand on life’s sideline.
Coach Herron is the living embodiment of “Team First”, but all of us that call Camden home are thrilled to see him get the individual honors that he so justly deserves.
This week the National High School Football Hall of Fame announced that it will induct Jeff Herron into its newest class.
Coach Herron roamed the sideline for 32 years as the head man at high schools in Georgia and South Carolina, compiling an overall record of 334 – 69. His record of 312 – 54 in Georgia alone, a winning percentage of 85.3%, is good enough for second best in the state’s history and 34th best in national high school football history.
Herron was named Region or Area Coach of the Year 25 times and the Georgia Coach of the Year 9 times in those 32 years. He was the Atlanta Falcons High School Coach of the Year in 2009. He has led 19 region champions, had 10 final four appearances and five state championships.
He is the only head football coach in Georgia High School Association (GHSA) history to win state titles at three different schools. He won his first state championship while at Oconee County in 1999, three at Camden County in 2003, 2008 and 2009, and his final at Grayson High School in 2016. That 2016 team at Grayson went 14-1, winning the GHSA 7A State Championship and the Public-School National Championship.
Coach Herron’s Camden County Wildcat teams also won 12 straight region championships, and hold the state record with a 58-game regular season winning streak, and a 28-game overall winning streak.
During his tenure, the Wildcats were ranked in the USA Today Top 25 six times and selected by ESPN as the program of the decade in Georgia for the 2000-2010 decade.
He also coached Walton (1989), Cedar Shoals (1990-93), Wheeler (1995-96) and Prince Avenue Christian (2013-15) in Georgia, and at T.L. Hanna (2017-18) in South Carolina.
In 2022, Jeff Herron was inducted into the Hall of Fame at Emory & Henry College in Virginia, where he was a starter and four-year letterman.
He was the team captain for the 1981 season when he was named a 2nd Team All Old Dominion Athletic Conference (ODAC) player.
In September of 2024 it was announced that Coach Herron will also be inducted as part of the 2025 Georgia Athletic Coaches Association (GACA) Hall of Fame class, which will also include former Charlton County High School head football coach Rich McWhorter, former Dougherty County and Troupe County head coach Charles Flowers, and basketball coaches Anzy Hardman and Rufus McDuffie.
The GACA induction will be on May 31, 2025 in Dalton, Georgia.
Its going to be a busy summer for Coach Herron. Two weeks after the GACA ceremony, he will be inducted into the National High School Football Hall of Fame on June 14th in Canton, Ohio.
All of us in Georgia’s southeasternmost county are eternally grateful for everything Coach Herron has accomplished as a coach, but we are most indebted for his role as a teacher, and a leader of young people when we needed it most.
The best news of all…Jeff Herron goes into the National High School Football Hall of Fame, and into coaching eternity, as a Camden County Wildcat.
New Direction
By: Robert Craft
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
Liam Coen was recently formally introduced as the Jacksonville Jaguars newest head.
During the press conference, he addressed the whirlwind of speculation from last week; he was set to return to Tampa Bay as the Buc’s offensive coordinator — with a substantial raise to keep him put.
The next day, Coen attended a clandestine meeting with the Jaguars that ultimately led to him accepting the team’s head coach position.
“The opportunity to coach in Tampa was a phenomenal one to get my feet wet in the NFL as an offensive coordinator and I thank them so much for that opportunity,” Coen said.
“As you continue to do more research and gain more information as you go, it started to become more clear with every hour that this was an opportunity that you just can’t pass up for so many different reasons. Ultimately, you want to do what is best for you and your family. That is what this came down to.I will always love and remember those guys in Tampa — my players, those guys, love them to death — but this is an opportunity to also go do it with new guys and go reach and touch people because that’s what coaching and teaching is and that’s what this opportunity is all about. Head and eyes up and moving forward.”
From when Coen was set to return to Tampa Bay to when he accepted the Jaguars job, one major change occurred in Jacksonville. Jacksonville fired their General Manager. Coen said the Jag’s decision had nothing to do with his decision.
“This was completely about an opportunity to work for an owner and a group of people with a group of players that needed some help,” Coen said. “That is what coaching is. Coaching is all about going to help people and be around people. That (the GM dismissal) was not a factor.”
Owner Shad Khan said Coen stood out from the opening round of interviews and finding a guide for quarterback Trevor Lawrence was paramount.
“This wasn’t a moment of regret for the Jacksonville Jaguars,” Khan said of the coaching search. “This was a moment of progress, optimism and confidence that we will achieve the ultimate goal as long as we have the right man. And that man was Liam Coen. Why? Liam’s outstanding body of work speaks for itself. Quarterback development is the bedrock of modern NFL and Liam has delivered that wherever he’s coached.”
In Jacksonville, Coen inherits a team coming off a 4-13 season and is two seasons removed from winning the AFC South and reaching the divisional round of the playoffs. That playoff victory came in Doug Pederson’s first of three seasons as coach before his firing.
Coen has a roster that features QB Trevor Lawrence, wide receiver Brian Thomas Jr., and defensive ends Josh Hines-Allen and Travon Walker. The team also holds the Number 5 pick in this year’s Draft.
“This is not a four-win team,” Coen said. “Yes, that is the record (from last year) but this is not a four-win team. How do we go from winning games to not losing them? I think that is something we’ve got to address. That has to be in our veins, in our DNA and in our culture of winning. I’ve learned it from the Los Angeles Rams and a ton of other great organizations of how to go and win football games. That’s something we have to start as a team, as a group and show how we are going to do it.”
Coen confirmed Monday that he will call the plays as head coach.
Khan said that the next priority is to build out Coen’s staff, giving every indication that he is not in a rush to hire a new general manager. He did, however, ensure the team would have one announced by Feb. 28. Assistant general manager Ethan Waugh is serving as the team’s interim general manager.
Coen will have a strong voice in the hiring of the next general manager. His main task on the field is maximizing Lawrence’s skills.
By today’s standards, Lawrence is a below average QB. Coen’s success will depend on if he make Lawrence a high performer, or at least a solid QB.
New Homes
By: Kenneth Harrison
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
The college football season recently ended. This was the first season with a 12-team playoff. I want to take a look at some of the top transfer portal recruiting classes around the Southeast.
LSU: The Tigers have the top portal class in the nation with 16 commits. Eight of them are 4-star players and seven are 3-star players.
This class is highlighted by edge rusher Patrick Payton (Florida State), CB Tamarcus Cooley (NC State), TE Donovan Green (Texas A&M), CB Mansoor Delane (Va Tech), IOL Braelin Moore (Va Tech), WR Nic Anderson (Oklahoma), WR Barion Brown (Kentucky), TE Bauer Sharp (Oklahoma) and CB Ja’Keem Jackson (Florida).
Ole Miss: The Rebels are the second ranked portal class with 22 commits. They have eight 4-star recruits and fourteen 3-star recruits.
Some of the big names are WR Harrison Wallace III (Penn State), RB Jordon Simmons (Akron), S Kapena Gushiken (Washington State), OT Percy Lewis (Auburn), WR Traylon Ray (West Virginia), QB Pierce Clarkson (Louisville), WR Caleb Odom (Alabama), RB Kewan Lacy (Mizzou) and TE Luke Hasz (Arkansas).
Auburn: The Tigers have the fourth ranked class that consists of 16 commits. Six of them are 4-star players and eight are 3-star players.
This class has S Taye Seymore (Georgia Tech), OT Mason Murphy (USC), OT Xavier Chaplin (Va Tech), CB Raion Strader (Miami OH), WR Eric Singleton Jr. (Georgia Tech), LB Xavier Atkins (LSU), QB Ashton Daniels (Stanford), DL Dallas Walker IV (Western Kentucky) and QB Jackson Arnold (Oklahoma).
Miami: The Hurricanes are the fifth rated class with 11 commits. It includes seven 4-star recruits and four 3-star recruits.
They have QB Carson Beck (Georgia), TE Alex Bauman (Tulane), IOL James Brockermeyer (TCU), CB Xavier Lucas (Wisconsin), CB Charles Brantley (Michigan State), S Zechariah Poyser (Jacksonville State), WR CJ Daniels (LSU), CB Emmanuel Karnley (Arizona) and DL David Blay (La Tech).
Kentucky: The Wildcats have the sixth rated portal class that has 19 commits. They have six 4-star players and thirteen 3-star players.
Some of the standouts are Edge Mi’Quise Grace (South Dakota), WR Kendrick Law (Alabama), Edge Sam Greene (USC), IOL Joshua Braun (Arkansas), WR Troy Stellato (Clemson), DL David Gusta (Washington State), RB Dante Dowdell (Nebraska), WR Tru Edwards (La Tech) and TE Henry Boyer (Illinois).
Florida State: The Seminoles have the seventh ranked class. Last season was a disaster that showed what can go wrong by building a roster with transfer players.
They are hoping for better results in 2025. They have 16 commits, consisting of five 4-star recruits and eleven 3-star recruits. Some of those players are LB Caleb LaVallee (North Carolina), WR Squirrel White (Tennessee), Edge Jayson Jenkins (Tennessee), IOL Luke Petitbon (Wake Forest), OT Micah Pettus (Ole Miss), WR Duce Robinson (USC), LB Elijah Herring (Memphis), TE Randy Pittman Jr. (UCF) and Edge James Williams (Nebraska).
Mississippi State: The Bulldogs have the twelfth ranked class with 24 commits. They have two 4-star players and twenty-two 3-star players.
The big names are RB Fluff Bothwell (South Alabama), QB Luke Kromenhoek (Florida State), WR Brenen Thompson (Oklahoma), DL Darron Reed Jr. (Auburn), WR Anthony Evans III (Georgia), WR Ayden Williams (Ole Miss), IOL Koby Keenum (Kentucky), LB Jalen Smith (Tennessee) and Edge Malick Sylla (Texas A&M).
Profar Potential?
By: Colin Lacy
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
Finally…Finally we have a newsworthy headline coming out of Truist Park. The Atlanta Braves and Jurickson Profar have agreed to a three-year deal to bring the 2024 All-Star to Braves Country.
After an offseason that seemingly only had departures from “the A,” the Braves fill a void in the outfield that virtually everyone around the Braves organization had in the top 2 of needs going into the 2025 season.
Profar had by far his best season of his 11-year MLB Career with the Padres in 2024 and knocked out many career firsts. The Curacao native notched his first career All-Star Game appearance, first career Silver Slugger and finished in the top 15 in the voting for the NL MVP Award.
Career bests were aplenty in 2024 for Profar. The 31-year-old knocked an eleven year best .280 average while driving home a career high 85 RBIs and a career most 24 homeruns.
While last season for Profar was spectacular, was it an anomaly? Profar is a career .245 hitter with only three 20-homer seasons including 2024 (the others coming in back-to-back years in 2018 & 2019). Is Profar able to replicate the successes of 2024 while donning the Braves uniform in 2025? Only time will tell.
Should this alleviate the frustrations of Braves fans that were caused by the quiet off-season? To me, that answer is… partially.
This could be a good piece for Atlanta. Besides coming off the career year for Profar, he is also a versatile veteran that has appeared at seven different positions in his big-league career (has only not appeared as a pitcher and catcher).
While Profar has settled into a leftfielder (148 of the 158 appearances coming in LF), he has seen significant time in a year at shortstop, second base, and first base. This is unquestioned an attempt to fill the outfield void, but I’m just playing devil’s advocate that there are other plus sides to this move that may not shine through until a worst-case scenario comes to fruition.
The flip side of the stance that this move partially curbs the frustration of Braves Country is that this move can’t be THE move of the offseason.
Earlier it was mentioned that filling the void in the outfield was probably in the top two needs moving forward for the Bravos, the other would-be starting pitching.
The Braves have already seen Max Fried sign with the Yankees and Charlie Morton sign with the Orioles pairing that with the fact that Spencer Strider won’t be fully healthy when the team breaks camp to begin the 2025 campaign, it means the Braves have to bring in a solid at worst starter.
Before the Profar signing, Braves beat writer Mark Bowman reported that sources inside the Braves organization had said the club would be sitting right around the $33 million range for added salary going into 2025. Now that Profar is earning $12 million of his 3-year $42 million deal in 2025, assuming that number stays similar, it gives the Braves about $20 million to work with to find rotation help.
Atlanta had talks with Nathan Eovaldi for figures around that $20 million mark before Eovaldi signed a three-year deal with the Rangers worth a total of $75 million.
So, who is still on the market for starting pitching? There have been a couple free-of free-agents that have been picked around and still available in guys like Jack Flaherty, but the free-agent market is starting to become bare. I believe a trade is the more likely target for General Manager Alex Anthopolous.
All of that said, I’m not saying that Jurickson Profar is a wasted move. It’s a good piece added to the Braves lineup and at least partially answers the outfield question, but it can’t be the biggest move of the offseason if the Braves want to be reloaded and ready to roll into 2025.
Cats QB Ones
By: Jason Bishop
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
Let me start by saying there is no quarterback controversy. I repeat there is no QB controversy whatsoever.
Now that we have addressed that what we can say is that the Camden County Wildcats will have great QB play for at least the next three years.
Currently, the Wildcats will have Parks Riendeau returning for his senior season as the signal caller for Camden.
The Cats have also had a talented young QB transfer in. William Jackson is now on campus in Kingsland, GA. Jackson is a four-star recruit that stands at 6’4 196 pounds, has a cannon for an arm, and is a killer in the rushing game.
Jackson transferred into Camden County High School from Winter Park High School in the Orlando area at the beginning of this current Spring Semester.
The great thing for Camden fans is Jackson is only a sophomore. Jackson has offers from Virginia Tech, South Carolina, Arkansas and Marshall to name a few. He has also taken visits to Ohio State, Florida, USF, Auburn, Miami and Florida State. The offer list will only grow over the next few years.
Jackson played in four games as a freshman for Winter Park. He went 18-27 for 145 yards with no touchdowns or interceptions. He also rushed seven times for 68 yards and a touchdown on the ground.
Jackson should thrive when it is his turn in Coach Roland’s Spread offense as Riendeau did as a junior.
Riendeau threw for over 1800 yards and 21 touchdowns. He only threw 5 interceptions all season. At one point, Riendeau led all of 6A in passing yards.
He also led Camden to the GHSA 7A Final Four in 2023 under then Head Coach, Jeff Herron running the Wing-T offense.
Riendeau has been on the varsity roster since he was a freshman.
The Camden County Coaching Staff has told SSE the plan is to have Riendeau lead the Wildcats in 2025 and then have Jackson take over for 2026 and 2027.
Region 1-6A is the region Camden plays in and it is the best region in the state top to bottom. Region 1-6A consists of Camden, Colquitt, Lowndes, Valdosta, Richmond Hill and Tift County.
The future is bright in Kingsland, GA for the Camden County Wildcats.
Big 10 Is Big Dog?
By: Michael Spiers
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
For years, the SEC was the king of college football.
Teams like Alabama, Georgia, LSU, Florida, and Auburn dominated the sport, racking up 13 national championships between 2006 and 2022.
The SEC was the standard everyone else chased. But the past two seasons have certainly shaken things up. Michigan claimed the title at the end of the 2023 season, and Ohio State followed up this year with a 34-23 win over Notre Dame.
It has been decades since there was a two year stretch without an SEC team appearing in the championship game.
So, is the Big Ten the new top dog in college football? I know some college football people that are starting to look at it that way.
Big Ten teams didn’t just win the last two titles—they also went 5-1 against the SEC in 2024, showing they’ve got the upper hand right now, with a heavy emphasis on right now.
A big part of this success is how the Big Ten has embraced the changes in college football, especially with name, image, and likeness (NIL).
Schools like Ohio State, Michigan, and Oregon are spending big money to keep their rosters stacked. Ohio State reportedly spent over $20 million on its 2024 squad, while Michigan has been splurging to reload after its 2023 title run. With massive alumni bases pouring money into these programs, the Big Ten is thriving in this new era.
Take Michigan’s 2023 title, for example. They didn’t rely on having a roster full of five-star recruits. Instead, they focused on scouting and developing NFL-level talent, with 13 players from that team drafted last year.
On the flip side, Ohio State has leaned heavily on NIL to keep stars like Emeka Egbuka and J.T. Tuimoloau around and bring in game-changing transfers. These strategies are helping the Big Ten keep up with—if not outpace—the SEC.
Still, the SEC isn’t going anywhere. The South is a recruiting goldmine, especially when it comes to big, athletic linemen, and that’s not changing.
Alabama, Georgia, and other SEC teams continue to crush it in recruiting rankings. In 2024, six of the top nine teams in the 247Sports Talent Composite were from the SEC, and the conference landed eight of the top 15 recruiting classes.
The SEC’s depth and talent pool ensure it’ll always be a contender, even if the past two seasons haven’t gone their way.
What’s changed is how teams build and manage their rosters. The NIL era and transfer portal have made things more competitive, and the SEC’s old formula of stockpiling talent is harder to pull off. Programs like Alabama and Georgia are adjusting, but Big Ten schools have been quicker to adapt. That’s why the Big Ten is on top right now
But don’t count the SEC out. They’re still loaded with talent, and schools like Alabama and Georgia aren’t going to sit back quietly.
While the Big Ten basks in back-to-back championships and a strong 2024 showing, the SEC is too competitive to stay down for long.
With their recruiting edge and relentless drive to win, it’s only a matter of time before they’re back in the title conversation.
For now, the Big Ten has the bragging rights. But college football is unpredictable, and with the SEC and Big Ten both packed with powerhouse programs, the battle for dominance is far from over. This rivalry is setting the stage for an exciting new chapter in the sport.
QB-0
By: Colin Lacy
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
Just a month ago we were talking about if it should be four or five teams from the Southeastern Conference in the first edition of the 12-team College Football Playoff.
This was also when the SEC was flocking to Atlanta for the SEC Championship game that has turned into a celebration of SEC Football in the heart of the peach state at Mercedez Benz Stadium.
Now the college football world returns to the Benz, but one thing is missing…the SEC.
Monday night will be the culmination of the 2024 college football season with the College Football Playoff National Championship Game between Ohio State and Notre Dame.
While the SEC did makeup a quarter of the inaugural twelve team field with Georgia (#2 seed), Texas (#5 seed), and Tennessee (#9 seed), the premier conference in college football combined for 2 wins in the bracket (both coming from Texas).
So, what have the two teams that will battle for the top spot in college football done to overpower the SEC?
Now most may say that that is an outlandish statement, but when you look at the bracket, Notre Dame and Ohio State combined to eliminate every SEC team in this field.
There is something about both of these two teams that stands out that was a glaring issue in the Southeastern Conference all season long. High-level quarterback play.
Both the Buckeyes and Irish have used the transfer portal in a big way, but especially at the signal-caller position.
After Sam Hartman made his way as an un-drafted free agent with the Commanders, Notre Dame went out and got a graduate transfer that had burst on the scene the last few years while piloting the Duke Blue Devils in Riley Leonard.
The Fairhope, Alabama native had last season cut short because of injury with the Blue Devils (coincidentally he was injured against Notre Dame) and has grown into Irish OC Mike Denbrock’s offense as the season has gone.
The Irish began the year with an impressive 23-13 victory in College Station against Texas A&M (again as coincidence would have it, against Leonard’s former Blue Devil Head Coach Mike Elko).
The following week would prove to be the low point in the season by falling to Northern Illinois 16-14. Since then, Leonard and the Irish have rattled off 13 straight wins including CFP wins over Georgia and Penn State. Leonard has thrown for over 2,600 yards and 19 passing touchdowns and adding 16 more scores on the ground.
On the flipside of the card, Ohio State has been steady (aside from the rivalry loss to Michigan at the end of November) with a 13-2 record this year behind another graduate transfer quarterback.
Much like Notre Dame, the Buckeyes have found success with Will Howard after transferring from Kansas State. Howard isn’t as mobile as Leonard but has dazzled the Big 10 Conference to the tune of just shy of 3,800 yards through the air and 33 touchdowns to only 10 interceptions.
Through the season names of Cam Ward, Jaxson Dart, and Carson Beck have dominated the “best quarterback in college football” conversation, but you’d be hard pressed to find a quarterback that has played better than either one of these field generals in Leonard and Howard, and I truly believe that is the reason the SEC isn’t represented in the biggest game on the college football schedule (and many are disappointed in the SEC showing in the CFP).
Quarterback play hasn’t been at the level that is has in the past. Many thought that Carson Beck for the Georgia Bulldogs was going to be a first-round pick entering the season.
As the weeks would play out, he would be good at times and show flashes, but never took the game to the next level which culminates in his transfer to Miami after he had declared for the NFL draft for a week.
Don’t get me wrong, there were good quarterbacks in the league. Jaxson Dart with Ole Miss had a good season in Oxford, Brady Cook at Missouri may have proven to be one of the most important players in the SEC to their team in the Mizzou performances when he was injured, and Nico Iamaleava (Tennessee) Jalen Milroe (Alabama) and Quinn Ewers (Texas) were all good, but nobody had the breakout season that “wow’ d” everyone.
Strangely the most impressive quarterback performance of the season may have come from Gainesville and DJ Lagway coming in as a true freshman, and after an injury to incumbent starter Graham Mertz, Lagway took the reins.
Granted there were some growing pains with Lagway, but by the end of the season, may have been the most impressive quarterback in the SEC.
All of that said, as strange as it feels to not have a SEC team playing for a championship on Monday IN ATLANTA, the finale of the CFP will showcase two pretty impressive offensive commanders for the Irish and Buckeyes.
Beck’s Big Move
By: Kenneth Harrison
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
Carson Beck shocked the college football world by transferring from Georgia to Miami.
Georgia is an elite program and they won back-to-back national championships in 2021 and 2022. Stetson Bennett was the quarterback of those teams but Beck took over as the starter in 2023.
Beck led the Bulldogs to a 13-1 record. The only loss was in the SEC Championship game to #8 Alabama, 27-24. I think they would have won the national championship if they were in the four team College Football Playoff.
In 2023 Beck passed for 3,941 yards, 24 touchdowns, 6 interceptions and he completed 72.4% of his passes. In 2024 he threw for 3,485 yards, 28 TD’s, 12 interceptions and his completion rate was 64.7%.
He did get hurt on the last play of the first half in the SEC Championship game against Texas. He injured his ulnar collateral ligament in his right elbow. He had surgery on it in December and he is expected to make a full recovery.
I can’t put all of the blame for Beck’s regression in 2024 on him. Offensive coordinator Mike Bobo took over for Todd Monken in 2023 after he left to coach the Baltimore Ravens. Bobo played quarterback at UGA and he was a college teammate of Kirby Smart. He has struggled this season with play calling though.
The 2023 team had two skill players that were drafted early in 2024; tight end Brock Bowers and wide receiver Ladd McConkey. The 2024 team did not do a good job of replacing the talent they lost.
UGA’s receivers led all Power 4 programs with 31 drops. They also had injuries on their offensive line, allowing 1.79 sacks per game (58th among FBS programs).
Cam Ward transferred to Miami from Washington State last season and he was a Heisman Trophy finalist. He passed for 4,313 yards, 39 touchdowns, 7 interceptions and completed 67.2% of his passes. Watching Ward have that success probably played a role in the decision to transfer to the Hurricanes.
Beck is also reportedly going to make $4 million from Miami’s NIL collective. It is believed the number is closer to a little over $3 million.
Ward earned $1.6 million through Miami’s collective, which is not including additional deals with Bose, Adidas and others.
I’m sure the main reason for the transfer is his girlfriend, Hanna Cavinder, who plays basketball at Miami with her twin sister, Haley.
“Nice to finally meet you in person,” Hurricanes offensive coordinator Shannon Dawson told the 6-4, 220-pound gunslinger.
“So, when are you going to start throwing?”
Like Ward, Beck is motivated to increase his draft stock in his final season.
“Watching his success and what he was able to do and the position he’s in now (with the NFL Draft) made (Miami) very attractive to me,” Beck said Saturday when he emerged from Miami’s football offices about five hours after arriving on campus.
This move should also get more talented receivers to transfer to the U. They have already added LSU transfer CJ Daniels, who started 30 games in his career.
Initially I was shocked when I heard Beck was transferring from Georgia. There are only 3 or 4 other programs on par with the Bulldogs. I do think this move makes sense for him to showcase his talent and improve his draft stock.
This reminds me of Kyle McCord when he transferred from Ohio State to Syracuse last season. I thought he was crazy for leaving the Buckeyes but he played better at Syracuse. This could be a similar situation.
