Oregon Ducks wide receiver Tez Johnson was been among the best playmakers in the nation this year, and after a dynamic year with just under 900 receiving yards, Johnson has announced what he will be doing next year.
On his Instagram page Sunday afternoon, Johnson announced that he will be going into the NFL Draft in 2025, thanking fans in Eugene for an eventful two seasons with the Ducks. After starting his career at Troy, where Johnson caught 8 touchdowns, the adopted brother of Bo Nix exploded on the scene at Oregon, catching 20 TDs in 26 games.
Johnson was out of eligibility after this season, so he knew that his college career would be done after this year.
Johnson's story, and his stint with the Ducks was the stuff of fairytales. Growing up in Alabama, Tez's favorite team was Oregon, and after getting close with Nix and his family, Johnson was brought in able to live with the family throughout high school. Once Nix transferred to Oregon and had a great first year with the Ducks, he lobbied for Dan Lanning and his staff to bring in Johnson through the transfer portal.
The rest is history, as Johnson will now go down as one of the best receivers in Oregon history.
Throughout his entire career, Johnson had 28 touchdowns and 3,889 receiving yards. Though he lacks the ideal size for an NFL receiver — Tez is just 5-foot-10, 160 pounds — he is devastatingly quick and elusive with the ball in his hands, so there is undoubtedly a future for him at the next level.
We will see what his draft stock comes back as after the combine and pre-draft workouts, but early expectations are for Johnson to be a mid-to-late round draft pick at this point.
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Joel Wyatt is one of the top athlete recruits in the country. He's also one of the top football players from the state of Tennessee. As such, the four-star from Murfreesboro, Tennessee (Oakland High School) has been a top target for Josh Heupel and the Tennessee Volunteers for some time now. The Vols made him an offer way back in May 2024, and he's visited Rocky Top several times since then — including an official visit this past June. It all led up to a decision for Wyatt, and Tennessee was the natural choice for him because the Vols did the work on the recruiting trail to make sure he felt wanted. Wyatt committed to Tennessee on Monday over the likes of LSU, North Carolina, Oklahoma and Vanderbilt. “Tennessee made me feel like a top guy from the beginning,” Wyatt told Chad Simmons of Rivals. “Coach Heupel, Coach Chop (Levorn Harbin) and a lot of the coaches recruited me hard and showed me I was a top guy for them. That always meant a lot to me. They made me feel wanted and that never changed.” A little bit of attention on the recruiting trail can go a long way, and Heupel and his staff will now reap the rewards when it comes to Wyatt. Checking in at 6-foot-4, 195 pounds, Wyatt can play wide receiver or defensive back at the second level. That's why he's ranked as the No. 5 athlete in the 2026 class, according to the 247Sports Composite. With that said, Tennessee was initially recruiting Wyatt to be an outside linebacker, but now they seem to like him as a safety recruit, per Simmons. Either way, he's ranked as the No. 2 player from the state and a top-50 player nationally, according to the 247Sports Composite rankings. He's also seemingly all-in with the Volunteers. "It was always like being around family," he said of his visits to Rocky Top. "The little things at Tennessee that always stand out. The people, the culture, how they treat me and what it is like to be there make it different for me. The culture at Tennessee always made me comfortable.”
Matt LaFleur is earning the ire of several of his Green Bay Packers players early in training camp. On Tuesday, LaFleur punished offensive tackle Rasheed Walker for his altercation with defensive end Kingsley Enagbare. However, the most interesting interaction of the day came between LaFleur and tight end Tucker Kraft. Per Matt Schneidman of The Athletic, LaFleur called out Kraft for two questionable fumbles during the first week of practice. Both "fumbles" came after the play was over or when the ball fell out of bounds. "Certainly, we all know what kind of player Tucker Kraft is and can be," LaFleur said. "He can’t allow Evan Williams to reach around and punch a ball out, so it is challenging everybody and hopefully that makes us that much better.” The third-year tight end took issue with LaFleur calling him out in front of the media and blamed the coaching staff for implementing practice rules that made it easy for offensive players to fumble. "I’d say a lot of the times — there’s certain rules you play with in practice, like just letting the defense punch repeatedly," Kraft said. "You’re not allowed to stiff-arm. I guess all I have are excuses. Yes, I am working on not fumbling the ball in practice." Schneidman said Kraft answered the question with a tone of sarcasm. Kraft was frustrated that he couldn't defend the ball by stiff-arming a defender trying to poke the ball from his undefended arm. Kraft acknowledged that during practice, he has to "play by the rules" LaFleur makes and is trying to work on having a "yes sir, no sir" attitude with his head coach. He then made a vague reference about a "bus fine" and accused LaFleur of throwing him under the bus in front of the media. Schneidman believes the tight end might actually be calling for Green Bay to fine LaFleur after his discouraging quote Tuesday morning. "So yes, the Packers’ third-year tight end might be calling for his head coach to be fined — not by the league, of course, but by the team — for what he perceived as throwing him under the bus," Schneidman wrote. "Is Kraft being serious about fining LaFleur? "Probably not. Is he peeved LaFleur called him out? It sure seems like it." LaFleur might do better to have a conversation with Kraft before dragging his name into news conferences with reporters. It's clear Tucker doesn't see eye-to-eye with LaFleur about fumbles. This is a good reminder to those getting overly excited or nervous reading practice reports that what happens at practice should be taken with a grain of salt. Most likely, Tucker is going to be fine.
Denmark's Thorbjorn Olesen and PGA Tour rookie Cristobal Del Solar of Chile each posted a 9-under-par 61 to share the first-round lead at the RBC Canadian Open on Thursday in Caledon, Ontario. Olesen and Del Solar took full advantage of TPC Toronto at Osprey Valley in the venue's PGA Tour debut. They own a one-shot lead over Cameron Champ; Jake Knapp is alone in fourth at 7-under 63. Shane Lowry of Ireland went out in 5-under 30 on his way to a round of 64. He is tied for fifth with Rasmus Hojgaard of Denmark and Trey Mullinax. The low Canadian for the day was Taylor Pendrith (65), who set the clubhouse lead in the morning wave before several players passed him by. Defending champion Robert MacIntyre of Scotland is among the several golfers knotted with him in eighth place at 5 under. Del Solar birdied 10 of his first 16 holes to pass Olesen for the outright lead and threaten a score of 59. However, he failed to get up and down from the bunker at the par-4 17th hole and took his only bogey of the day. He missed a 15-foot putt for birdie for the outright lead at No. 18. Del Solar's claim to fame is a round of 57 he shot on the Korn Ferry Tour in February 2024. It was the lowest round ever recorded in a PGA Tour-sanctioned tournament. Olesen, meanwhile, has eight wins on the DP World Tour but is seeking his first title in the United States. Two-time Canadian champion Rory McIlroy is in danger of missing the cut after shooting a 1-over 71, which he ended with consecutive bogeys at Nos. 8 and 9. The Northern Irishman is playing for the first time since a T47 finish at the PGA Championship.
Left-handed starting pitcher Blake Snell is in his 10th major-league season after making his debut with the Tampa Bay Rays in 2016. Snell spent time with the San Diego Padres, then signed a deal with the San Francisco Giants after the 2023 season, which he later opted out of to enter free agency in 2024. The 32-year-old veteran signed a five-year, $182M contract this offseason with the Los Angeles Dodgers after an exceptional 2024 campaign. Snell earned such a lucrative contract thanks to his outstanding career to date, which includes two Cy Young Awards and an All-Star appearance. Over 213 career starts, he owns a 77–58 record, a 3.18 ERA and 1,372 strikeouts. Snell was placed on the injured list on April 6 (retroactive to April 3) with left shoulder inflammation after experiencing discomfort during a bullpen session; he had made only two starts for the Dodgers before the injury. After four minor-league rehab outings, manager Dave Roberts announced on Sunday that Snell is expected to rejoin the rotation next week. With his return looming, the Dodgers have decided to shift to a six-man rotation but now face a decision on right-hander Dustin May’s roster status. May returned to a full-time starting role for the first time in two seasons and has struggled. On Sunday against the Boston Red Sox, May allowed four runs in five innings of work, and he entered the start with an ERA of 4.73. May’s name has surfaced in trade rumors, and he is a candidate to potentially be moved to the bullpen. He is an unrestricted free agent at the end of this season.
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