Following a surge in positive buzz surrounding Pitt Panthers safety Cruce Brookins, he took the podium to address the media on Monday. While he praised former teammate Donovan McMillon as an example of how a starting safety needs to operate, Brookins also pointed out an early-entry freshman: Joshua Guerrier.
“I feel like I've grown a lot through these past three years, just knowing a lot more, helping even the younger guys like Josh (Guerrier),” Brookins said. “He's going to be a great player as well, just thinking about him.”
On Friday, March 28, tight ends coach and special team coordinator Jacob Bronowski posted on social media to announce the Pack Player of the Day in Thursday’s spring practice.
The X post read: “Practice 7 wrapped up. Urgency and Technique is what (Joshua Guerrier) brings everyday, always can’t wait to turn on the tape and see him!! #Pack player of the day #RideTheBull.”
Per 247Sports rankings, Guerrier was the No. 1-ranked member of the Pittsburgh Panthers 2025 recruiting class. He was the lone member of the class that ranked four stars, and he was also the highest-ranked member of the class per Composite rankings, an industry average.
Practice 7 wrapped up‼️ Urgency and Technique is what @xertifiedjosh brings everyday, always can’t wait to turn on the tape and see him!! #Pack player of the day #RideTheBull pic.twitter.com/XSBXp6PDCw
— Jacob Bronowski (@coachjbronowski) March 27, 2025
In our five-part series highlighting five early-entry freshmen who could impact Pitt in Year One, the Oconee High School (Fla.) product was among those handful of 2025 signees.
“From a football standpoint, the kid can make plays,” Coach Cory Sanders said during December’s Signing Day presser. “You see him at the beginning of the season against Apopka, he’s playing middle linebacker, different games he’s going out to play corner, he’s playing safety.
“So, just the knowledge and the IQ it takes to do all that, we look forward to getting him here…Look forward to getting him. Great kid. Great family.”
In his junior and senior seasons combined, he recorded 1,043 receiving yards with six touchdowns, 748 rushing yards with two scores, and 3,624 all-purpose yards.
Over his final three varsity seasons on defense, Guerrier tallied 157 total tackles (115 solo), 15 tackles for loss, five sacks, 11 interceptions (two returned for touchdowns), 10 pass breakups, and a blocked punt.
Also competing in track, Guerrier proved 10.8 speed.
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The Michigan Wolverines tore it up on the recruiting trail in 2024-25 and have regained their momentum for the Class of 2026 heading into the 2025 season. Recently one of the Class of 2026's top players, running back Savion Hiter of Mineral, Virginia, made a Michigan-themed announcement, listing the Wolverines among his final four schools alongside Georgia, Ohio State and Tennessee. Hiter named his announcement date, causing Michigan freshman QB Bryce Underwood to notice a strange, unexpected coincidence. Hiter announced August 19 of this year as his announcement date which caught Underwood's eye. "lol, that's my birthday," the Michigan QB wrote on Instagram following the news. Hiter is a high priority recruiting target for the Wolverines and is ranked as the nation's number one running back according to several scouting services including 247Sports.com. Underwood's August 19 birthday is 11 days before he is scheduled to take the field as a college player for the first time, likely as Michigan's starting quarterback, against the New Mexico Lobos at Michigan Stadium in Ann Arbor. An Underwood/Hiter duo in 2026 would likely be the highest ranked quarterback/running back duo in the country based on high school rankings, should it come to fruition in Ann Arbor. Hiter is also ranked as the number one player in the state of Virginia and the number nine ranked player nationally according to 247Sports.
The Dallas Cowboys got one step closer to regular season form by wearing pads for the first time in training camp. Below are some of the main takeaways from Sunday's practice in Oxnard, California, starting off with a couple of notes on rookies. Jaydon Blue's skills translate with pads on Blue was turning heads early in camp but it's always hard to tell the difference between a tackle or a big play when defenders are essentially playing tag instead of hitting players. Well, Blue looked promising even in pads, with the play below being the highlight of the day as he jukes Markquese Bell to break free for the extra yardage. The fifth-round rookie also showed off his speed as a receiver more than once. Javonte Williams and Miles Sanders are seeing the most playing time with the starters but Blue is off to a great start. Tyler Booker stacks highlights vs. Osa Odighizuwa It was a good day for the Cowboys' first-round rookie and projected starting right guard Tyler Booker. The play that stood out the most was a reach block on Osa Odighizuwa that sent the defensive lineman to the ground, opening a hole for Javonte Williams. ln a play-action play, Booker joined forces with center Cooper Beebe to take Odighizuwa out of the play. After a double block sent the defender to the ground, Booker blocked Odighizuwa with fully-extended arms to keep him away from Dak Prescott. Cowboys HC Brian Schottenheimer said ahead of practice that Booker had hit a bit of a wall leading to him working with the second-team the day before. He sure bounced back. Cowboys showing off a jumbo package Schottenheimer and offensive coordinator Klayton Adams have said the Cowboys will run a physical offense. In short yardage situations, that might mean running six offensive lineman onto the field. Asim Richards and Saahdiq Charles have both been used as a sixth OL/TE at practice. Below is a play where Charles even motions from one side to the OL to the other. The personnel grouping below includes fullback Hunter Luepke leading the way for the running back. Terence Steele participates in pads Earlier in training camp, right tackle Terence Steele suffered an ankle sprain that knocked him out of practice, raising concern for his availability moving forward. That concern is turning out to be short-lived. Steele was back Sunday, a major development for the first practice in pads. However, he didn't participate in team drills. Even so, the Cowboys appear to have dodged a major bullet as the injury was a high ankle sprain, which can be a headache for players. Steele wore tape on his ankle Sunday.
The most intriguing baseball player not currently in the major leagues might be New York Yankees prospect Spencer Jones. That's not only because of the impressive numbers he has put up in Triple-A, but also because of his perceived value in trade talks ahead of Thursday's MLB trade deadline. That trade speculation, and the Yankees' reported expectations for what that trade value is, might be doing him more harm than good when it comes to his future in the big leagues. With the Yankees in need of significant help to make another World Series run, Jones is one of the prospects that has been speculated as a potential trade chip. But according to baseball insider Jon Heyman, the Yankees are only willing to trade him for one type of player: a Paul Skenes type. Since Skenes is not likely to move, and since the handful of players on that level are also unlikely to move, it probably means that Jones is going to remain with the Yankees organization. It's a long-winded way of saying he is almost untouchable in trade talks. That, frankly, seems to be an absurd position for the Yankees to take, assuming it is their position. Not because Jones isn't a good prospect, but because they might be setting an unrealistic expectation for the type of player he is or can become. He is far from a sure thing or a can't-miss prospect. His power is prodigious, and in 19 games since his promotion to Triple-A, he has already hit 13 home runs with a 1.407 OPS. Those numbers jump off the page at you and make him the type of player a team and front office (and fans) can dream on. It's exciting, and it's encouraging in an era where power and home runs are one of the first things teams look for with hitters. But there is something else in Jones' game that also jumps off the page, and it is far less encouraging. It is the strikeouts. As in, he strikes out ... a lot. A concerning amount. For his career (entering play on Sunday), he had already struck out 469 times in 1,310 minor league at-bats. That is a strikeout rate over 35%. His Double-A strikeout rate was an even more concerning 40.22% over the past two-and-a-half seasons. It reached as high as 42% during the 2024 season. While that number has come down a bit since his promotion to Triple-A, it's such a small sample size of games and at-bats that it's hard to know if it's a real improvement or just a random hot streak. While strikeouts have become far more accepted in the major leagues in this era, especially for power hitters, there still has to be some concern and tempered expectations for a guy who misses the ball that much in the minors. The opposing arms and the quality of pitches he sees are only going to get tougher as he takes the next step into the major leagues. There is also the fact he is 24 years old and has only played 19 games above Double-A ball. Not to mention the fact the Yankees — the team that would know him better than anybody — do not seem to be in a rush to promote him to the big league club. If the Yankees really thought that highly of him and really believed in him being a difference-maker, he might already be an option for them. There are red flags here. This is not to say that Jones won't be good. It is also not suggesting that the Yankees should trade him for just anybody. It is simply saying he shouldn't be an almost untouchable trade asset for a team trying to win a World Series right now. He's an intriguing prospect with big flaws that could ultimately hold him back.
There may be more to Christian Wilkins’ recent surprise release from the Las Vegas Raiders. NFL reporter Josina Anderson reported Saturday that "some sources believe an incident involving a teammate may have factored in-part into the Raiders' fatigue and release" of Wilkins. The nature of the incident is not clear. However, many believe the Raiders had a very good reason to move on from Wilkins considering the money they had invested in him. It also suggests the Raiders saw no alternative if they went straight to a release. Wilkins was dumped by the Raiders just one year into a four-year, $110 million deal. The Raiders suggested Wilkins failed to take rehab seriously as he tries to work his way back from a foot injury. Other teams do not appear to have the same concerns about Wilkins as the Raiders did, and he should find a new landing spot fairly easily. That is one of the reasons some suspect there is more to the Raiders’ decision than they are publicly saying.
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