After losing out on elite offensive lineman Leo Delaney, it looks like the Wolverines' run of bad luck is going to continue. Fellow 2026 offensive line talent, Carter Scruggs announced he will be committing today (June 5th) and all indications are that he will join Leo Delaney at Clemson. At one point, Michigan was favored in both of these recruiting battles and now it looks like they will end up on the outside looking in for both of them. Scruggs has a final five that consists of Michigan, Penn State, Clemson, Georgia and Oklahoma. As of this article On3 has Scruggs at a 90% lean towards Clemson.
I will be committing live today at 6:30 pm. You can watch it here ➡️ https://t.co/ECktv6zRsD pic.twitter.com/iHFzWPaExQ
— Carter Scruggs (@CarterScruggs_) June 5, 2025
Michigan has been making some inroads for their 2026 class, but it just seems like they are struggling to close the deal with many of their elite targets. They also have to worry about one of their top-rated commits, Brody Jennings, giving serious attention to other schools. Sherrone Moore and his staff have plenty of other line talent on their recruiting board and some of their other biggest targets, five-star running back Savion Hiter being one, are still in a positive position with Michigan. Swing and a miss and the recruiting train chugs forward, unless Scruggs shocks everyone tonight.
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Michigan is still working on its 2026 class, but the Wolverines are picking up steam in the 2027 cycle. Michigan now has two commitments for the '27 class after three-star lineman Tristan Dare pledged to the Wolverines on Monday. But will the Wolverines keep the momentum? It's quite possible, and Michigan could be finding its 2027 QB very soon. With Texas A M landing Jayce Johnson recently, the next domino to fall could be in the Wolverines' favor. In a recent article by Rivals' Steve Wiltfong, he pointed out two QBs that could go Michigan's way. The first QB Wiltfong is looking at is 6-foot-4 gunslinger Peter Bourque. The Marion (MA) product is ranked as the No. 75 player and No. 6 QB in the 2027 class, per the Composite. Penn State has been the team favored in Bourque's recruitment, but according to Wiltfong, Michigan appears to be the team leading in his recruitment heading into the fall. Bourque holds offers from Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Kentucky, North Carolina, and Oregon, among others. If things don't go well with Bourque, the Wolverines could be just fine with four-star Malachi Zeigler. Both SMU and Baylor are the main competition for the Wolverines, but Wiltfong likes Michigan's chances in his recruitment. The Benton (LA) product is ranked as the No. 156 prospect and No. 12 QB, per the Composite. Zeigler holds offers from Auburn, Florida State, Miami, Tennessee, and Texas Tech, among others. Michigan found its QB in the 2026 cycle with Brady Smigiel, who will likely sit behind Bryce Underwood for at least two years. But as the Wolverines found out last year, you have to have a stockpile of QBs.
The story is very familiar to Green Bay Packers fans: when the team decided to select Aaron Rodgers in the first round of the 2005 NFL Draft, their incumbent quarterback, Brett Favre, was not happy. And he let everyone know about it, including his successor. For his part, Rodgers kept his head down and picked up whatever he could from watching the eventual Hall of Famer play the quarterback position. Fast forward 15 years to 2020, and Rodgers found himself in the same position as Favre: feeling like he was on top of his game, but seeing Green Bay take his eventual successor in the NFL Draft. That, of course, was Jordan Love, the current Packers starting quarterback. Green Bay Packers Quarterback Jordan Love, Once Again, Describe How Well Aaron Rodgers Treated Him Over the past several years, there has been a narrative pushed by many members of the national media that Rodgers is a bad teammate. Some of these claims started to pop up during his final years with the Packers, but they gained steam and notoriety while he was with the New York Jets. The only problem with these claims is that they hardly ever came from players that actually were teammates with Rodgers. And, for his part, Love has always praised his predecessor for how welcoming he was despite the narrative surrounding them immediately following the 2020 NFL Draft. In his recent post on the Players Tribune, Love once again praised Rodgers for what he did for him as a mentor and teammate: “I don’t think it really set in for me until I started doing interviews, and every question was basically, ‘What about Aaron?’ “In my mind, I was like, ‘What do you mean? He’s one of the best to ever do it. I’m about to learn everything I can from this dude.’ “But before me and Aaron could even talk, the narrative was rolling. And it’s so crazy to me, because from the jump, Aaron was great with me. He laid out how he was in my same situation, and that he wanted to make sure there was no hostility. I told him I just wanted to learn and soak it all in. “I mean, I’d been a QB2 for a lot of my life. For me, it was nothing new. It was perfect, actually. Think about it: you’re coming into this league at 21 years old. It’s a different world. I’m not even talking about just football. You have to be able to command a room and know how to talk to different guys, how to motivate them — what to say, what not to say. I got to watch Aaron and how he handled those situations, and that was invaluable.” Love went on to describe how he learned from watching his legendary predecessor, how he picked up on when defenses were making substitutions too late, how he built chemistry with Davante, how he “manipulated” defenses instead of just “playing” against them. He also said that the biggest thing he learned from Rodgers was that the most important thing in the NFL, in games, in practices, in everything, is to be consistent. And when it came time for Love to take over as the Packers starting quarterback, he knew what was expected. So did his mother, he told him, “Big shoes to fill. You going to be alright? You gotta play good, or they’ll get another quarterback.” Fortunately, for Love and the Packers, he has been as good as they could have hoped and continues to get better. And Rodgers’ mentoring and welcoming demeanor played a big role in that.
When the San Antonio Spurs traded for De'Aaron Fox midway through last season, their guard rotation appeared to be wide open. Stephon Castle was the only other long-term ball-handling prospect on the roster and, despite a strong year, was still a rookie. However, the NBA Draft has seen the addition of Dylan Harper, another young guard with All-Star potential, and the ability to one day lead the Spurs franchise next to Victor Wembanyama. Harper's addition and Castle's emergence as the 2025 Rookie of the Year raised questions about Fox's fit and long-term future in Texas. The problem was that Fox was eligible for an extension this summer. On Monday the Spurs inked Fox to a four-year $229M deal, with no player option for the final year. The new contract, which will see Fox earn approximately $57.25M per year, will kick in next summer. Suddenly, San Antonio has a young guard rotation of Harper, Castle and Fox, all of whom struggle to score on the perimeter, and have shown issues when letting shots fly off the dribble. "The Spurs already had two point guards who struggled from distance in Stephon Castle, whom they spent the No. 4 overall pick on in 2024, and De'Aaron Fox, whom they acquired in a deal with the Sacramento Kings ahead of the February trade deadline," Bryan Toporek wrote for Forbes on Saturday. "Castle shot 28.5% from deep on 4.1 attempts per game as a rookie, while Fox is a career 33.0% three-point shooter who has shot 32.5% or worse from downtown in five of his seven NBA seasons." Fox's new salary will ensure teams will think twice about trading for him. He is, after all, a high-level talent, but not one capable of spearheading a roster. In truth, San Antonio may have repeated the Chicago Bulls' error from when they paid Zach LaVine $215M over five years back in 2022. We saw how difficult it was for Chicago to move on from LaVine. Fox is a tertiary star on a contending roster. And now, he's being paid like one of the top talents in the NBA. The Spurs would have been wiser to cut their losses with Fox and build around Castle and Harper as their guard rotation. Still, the decision has been made, and Fox is now cemented as the lead guard for the next half a decade (once you include the upcoming season), giving Castle and Harper room to grow as two guards who can complement Fox's play style and add some grit or explosiveness to the rotation. San Antonio is a franchise that rarely puts a foot wrong. However, the decision to pay Fox may come back to haunt it as a costly misstep. In the modern NBA, you can't have three non-shooting guards in the same rotation. Yet, somehow, head coach Mitch Johnson must figure out how to make it work. Not the greatest task for a young coach heading into his first full season with the franchise.
Starting pitcher Nestor Cortes was the centerpiece of the Milwaukee Brewers‘ return haul from trading co-closer Devin Williams to the Yankees last December. Eight months later, Cortes is a member of the Padres, logging all of two starts in Milwaukee before injuries sapped his season. Over in New York, Williams lost his closer’s job, got it back, and has had one good month en route to a 5.04 ERA. Without the other part of Milwaukee’s incoming package, then minor-league third baseman Caleb Durbin, the trade would look at this juncture like a lose-lose scenario. Thanks to Durbin, it’s been anything but for the Brewers. Caleb Durbin is Milwaukee Brewers’ diamond in the rough Durbin didn’t make the spring training cut. Instead, the Brewers went with fellow rookie Oliver Dunn as the team’s starting third baseman. Durbin went down to Triple-A Nashville. Dunn didn’t last. After he struggled through the first three weeks of the season, he and Durbin switched places and the latter hasn’t squandered his shot. Following a slow start, he’s turned up the heat at the dish while playing outstanding defense. He’s had an OPS around .800 for over two months now and has his season slashline up to .263/.344/.372. His 2.2 WAR in 86 games played is tied for 10th among all third basemen, making him one of the position’s more valuable players. The Brewers saw plenty of promise in Durbin when they traded for him, coming off a strong season with New York’s Triple-A affiliate. Even though he didn’t, he was a decent candidate to make the team out of spring. The team likely didn’t see a legitimate Rookie of the Year candidate, which he is. By WAR, he and Braves catcher Drake Baldwin have contributed the same value to their teams, more than any other NL rookies. Cortes, on the other hand, was supposed to be a consistent cog in the rotation. Last year for the Yankees, he made 30 starts and recorded a 3.77 ERA. Instead, he’s still making his way back from injury ahead of start number three this season. In San Diego. Of course, Milwaukee did turn him into outfielder Brandon Lockridge, who will provide depth while Jackson Chourio is hurt. To dump Cortes’ salary, however, they had to attach a prospect, infielder Jorge Quintana. Neither Cortes nor Williams has been what the receiving team hoped. Both will be free agents this offseason. Only the Yankees, however, are at risk of walking away empty-handed. With years of team control remaining, the Brewers have in Durbin what looks to be their third baseman of both the present and future. The trade didn’t deliver according to expectations, but it’s hard to be too upset with the results.
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