Yardbarker
Yardbarker
x
Texas Longhorns DB Michael Taaffe Named Semifinalist for Burlsworth Trophy
Texas Longhorns defensive back Michael Taaffe (16) walks into the stadium ahead of the Longhorns' game against the Florida Gators, Nov. 9, 2024 at Darrell K. Royal Texas Memorial Stadium in Austin. Sara Diggins/American-Statesman / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

The Texas Longhorns defense has been fantastic in lots of different aspects this season and a lot can be credited to the leadership and hard work displayed by Michael Taaffe.

And on Monday, Taaffe was nationally recognized for contribution to the Longhorns squad. The junior defensive back was named one of ten semifinalists for the 2024 Burlsworth Trophy. The trophy is given to the most outstanding football player who began their career as a walk-on and has been given out annually since 2010.

Taaffe walked on to the team for the 2021 season. Now in 2024, Taaffe is a big starter for one of the best defenses in the nation. Through nine games, Taaffe is second on the Longhorns with five pass breakups and third in total tackles with 41. He also has gotten two and a half tackles for a loss, one sack, one interception and one forced fumble.

Taaffe has shown up in big moments for the team, against Georgia he recorded a career-high in tackles with nine (seven solo). The following week against Vanderbilt Taaffe recorded a forced fumble and an interception in the close victory. For his efforts against the Commodores, Taaffe was given SEC's Co-Defensive Player of the Week honors and named Burlsworth's Trophy National Player of the Week.

The top three finalists for the Burlsworth Trophy will be announced by their selection committee on Nov. 19th. The three finalist will be honored at the Burlsworth Trophy Award Show on Dec. 9th where the winner will be announced.

Taaffe and Texas will have played their next game by then. That game is against the Arkansas Razorbacks in Fayetteville on Saturday.

The game will kickoff at 11 a.m. CT on ABC.

This article first appeared on Texas Longhorns on SI and was syndicated with permission.

More must-reads:

TODAY'S BEST

Tennessee OC reveals what he's looking for in new starting QB
College Football

Tennessee OC reveals what he's looking for in new starting QB

The Tennessee Volunteers are heading into the 2025 season with a new starting quarterback. That wasn't the plan after the 2024 season ended with a College Football Playoff loss, but Nico Iamaleava's shocking transfer to UCLA put things in flux, and the Volunteers had to quickly adjust. The Vols haven't named a starting quarterback yet as they look to kick off camp, but there is an overwhelming favorite for the job. That would be former Appalachian State quarterback Joey Aguilar, who ironically transferred to UCLA before Iamaleava ended up in Southern California. Aguilar hit the transfer portal soon after Iamaleava joined the Bruins, and he found himself at Tennessee in what was essentially a quarterback swap. The issue for Tennessee is that Aguilar hasn't even taken an official snap yet for the Vols, so he's going to have to earn the job in camp. He also does have competition in redshirt freshman Jake Merklinger and true freshman George MacIntyre, a former four-star recruit. Technically, anybody could win the starting job in camp. Even though it is up in the air, offensive coordinator Joey Halzle revealed at Tennessee's media day what he's looking for in the Vols' next starter. The big thing is he doesn't want the competition in camp to hinder anyone's play on the field. “First and foremost, you’ve got to play this game in this offense with an aggressive nature. I think a lot of times, the mistake quarterbacks make in a competition is they try not to lose it. They try just not to make a mistake. We want out guy to walk the line between being extremely aggressive but not reckless at all,” Halzle said (h/t On3). “Reckless is just throwing a ball up for grabs. Aggressive is driving a ball into a tight window. So, we want our guy to be aggressive, we want him to be smart, and we want him to operate this offense.” The reason Aguilar is the favorite to win the starting job is because of his experience as well as his dual-threat abilities. Over the last two seasons at Appalachian State, he threw for 6,760 yards and 56 touchdowns. He also rushed for 456 yards and five touchdowns on the ground. He brings a ton to the table for Tennessee, but ultimately Aguilar is going to have to prove to Halzle and head coach Josh Heupel that not only does he have the talent, but he has command of the offense. That's what Halzle and the coaching staff will be looking for in camp. “It’s not just about who throws the ball the furthest or the hardest. It’s about who can operate this offense that when we take the field, he gives us a chance to win,” Halzle said. “Whether that’s them carrying the football, them getting to their check downs and then making big plays down the field. However it presents to that individual’s skill set, it’s them doing that at an extremely high level to where we say that’s the guy that gives us the best chance to be up plus-1 at the end of a ballgame.”

Yankees’ Max Fried Makes Feelings Clear Before Trade Deadline
MLB

Yankees’ Max Fried Makes Feelings Clear Before Trade Deadline

The New York Yankees acquired several talented veterans after superstar outfielder Juan Soto walked in free agency this past offseason, with southpaw pitcher Max Fried (12-4, 2.62 ERA) chief among them. They signed the latter player to an eight-year, $218 million contract, and he's given them their money's worth thus far. Fried leads New York's pitching staff in wins and ERA. The 31-year-old is also tied for third in baseball in wins, is 11th in ERA, and is 11th with a 1.03 WHIP. Still, the Yankees could use pitching help, given that ace Gerrit Cole is out for the year after getting Tommy John surgery, and 2024 AL Rookie of the Year Luis Gil will make his first start of the season on Sunday. Fried was asked after Tuesday's bout with the Tampa Bay Rays if he's anxious to see what New York does ahead of Thursday's Trade Deadline, via SNY. "You've just got to take care of business every day," he said. "That's not something that we can control...We have baseball games to win." The Yankees did just that on Tuesday, beating the Rays 7-5 in a comeback effort. Fried earned his 12th win after allowing four runs (two earned) in 6.2 innings to go with nine strikeouts and two walks. The veteran also tossed a career-high 111 pitches. Over the last few days, the Yankees acquired third baseman Ryan McMahon from the Colorado Rockies and fellow third baseman Amed Rosario from the Washington Nationals. They also traded pitcher Carlos Carrasco to the Atlanta Braves for a player to be named later or cash. New York will face Tampa Bay again on Wednesday and Thursday.

Commanders reportedly hesitant about one issue with Terry McLaurin deal
NFL

Commanders reportedly hesitant about one issue with Terry McLaurin deal

The 2024 offseason expanded the $30M-per-year wide receiver club to six members. D.K. Metcalf, Ja’Marr Chase and Garrett Wilson have taken it to nine this year. Terry McLaurin is undoubtedly pushing to bump that number to 10, after seeing 2019 Day 2 classmates Metcalf and A.J. Brown land among that contingent. McLaurin reported to training camp Sunday and landed on the active/PUP list. As our Rory Parks explained, skepticism exists about how injured the Commanders’ top wide receiver really is. An ankle injury has keyed the PUP stay, but it can be safely assumed McLaurin would be ready to practice if an extension comes to pass. Nevertheless, the Commanders have been surprised by the difficulty of these talks. Using an injury to avoid practicing while negotiating — developments the Jonathan Taylor and Micah Parsons sagas brought — represents a third tactic, joining the holdout and the increasingly utilized hold-in amid extension talks. McLaurin shifted from a holdout to the injury route; no matter how he is accomplishing not practicing, the seventh-year veteran is aiming to land a lucrative third contract. His age provides a complication for Washington. McLaurin is going into an age-30 season, separating him from Brown and Metcalf. Both Ole Miss products were drafted just before McLaurin, a 2019 third-round pick, but they are each two years younger. This strengthened their cases for big-ticket third contracts. McLaurin went first to ignite the second-tier boom on the receiver market in 2022, agreeing to a three-year, $69.6M extension. That shaped the Metcalf and Deebo Samuel extensions, both of which coming in higher than McLaurin’s despite the latter’s consistency with suboptimal quarterback situations. McLaurin’s AAV has dropped to 17th at wide receiver. The Commanders are prepared to extend their top wideout, but Sportskeeda.com’s Tony Pauline indicates the "holdup" is regarding the $30M-AAV number. Some around the league point to the team not wanting to go into that neighborhood for McLaurin, despite his five 1,000-yard seasons. Courtland Sutton and McLaurin are nearly the same age, and the Broncos’ top target signed a four-year, $92M extension. That matches where the Titans went for Calvin Ridley (now 30) in 2024. McLaurin, though, has a better resume than both and should be aiming higher. The Commanders have a Jayden Daniels rookie contract to structure another McLaurin extension around as well. Adam Peters was around for the 49ers’ 2022 Samuel extension but not Brandon Aiyuk‘s $30M-per-year deal. (The Samuel extension also did not work out for the 49ers, who proceeded with a salary dump of sorts by trading him to the Commanders.) The second-year GM taking a hardline stance with McLaurin would be an interesting route given the WR’s importance to a sudden contender. Peters confirmed talks are ongoing, with that comment coming after McLaurin expressed frustration about the negotiations. A potential gap between the pack of 20-somethings (and Tyreek Hill) north of $30M AAV and the Tee Higgins–Jaylen Waddle–D.J. Moore tier could be relevant here, and it will be interesting to see if McLaurin settles for something just south of that $30MM benchmark. Guarantees and contract structure, of course, will be important to determining the value as well. A short-term extension should be reached soon, per Pauline, but if the Commanders hold the line at or around $30M, the McLaurin matter could drag on for a while longer.

Ben Roethlisberger Sends Serious Warning About Steelers' Broderick Jones
NFL

Ben Roethlisberger Sends Serious Warning About Steelers' Broderick Jones

The 2025 season will be a crucial one for the Pittsburgh Steelers and all of the decision-makers that completely revamped the roster during the offseason. The depth chart looks much different than it did back in 2024, so there will be several adjustments that need to be made. One positional group that looks relatively similar, but has been affected by some reshuffling, is the offensive line. Troy Fautanu is back after an injury-plagued rookie campaign, and Broderick Jones will finally get to play left tackle on a consistent basis for the first time in his professional career. Jones is, without a doubt, one of the most important players in the entire projected starting lineup. Keeping Aaron Rodgers upright will be crucial, and the third-year lineman has not necessarily proven that he can be trusted. He suffered an injury to begin training camp, but is reportedly going to be just fine and return to the field sooner rather than later. No one knows how important it is to have a strong offensive line more than future Hall of Fame quarterback, Ben Roethlisberger. The Steelers' legendary signal-caller never got to play with Jones, but he keeps tabs on the team and shares his thoughts often on his podcast, Footbahlin with Ben Roethlisberger. On the most recent episode, he highlighted how critical it is so have a good group up front blocking, and he mentioned Jones by name. "I would probably start, as I do a lot of times, about the importance of the offensive line," Roethlisberger began. "I'd say that's the biggest question, and it should be because to me, the line is always the MVP. The way the line plays, run game, pass game, everything revolves around that. More specifically, Broderick Jones, moving now back to left tackle." Training camp hasn't gotten off to a great start for Jones with the injury, but some may be happy that he lost some weight during the 2025 offseason. Roethlisberger said he understands why, but is still concerned. "I've heard he's thinned down, which is good to a certain extent, right," Roethlisberger said. "They want to work on getting tackles out and running the outside zones and stretch plays. So, you got to be a little, you know, more agile, but you know, you also don't want to be too small when you're supposed to be a tackle. So, that's always going to be a concern of mine, is him and the line in general staying healthy." There are some massive edge rushers in the NFL, and Roethlisberger is right in saying that being too small as a tackle can be problematic. Jones will have to go up against Myles Garrett twice in 2025, and the offseason weight loss won't look like a good thing if he is manhandled throughout those matchups. The Steelers' offensive line might be the unit that makes or breaks the team's season. Staying healthy will be the number one priority, but it is almost imperative that the group actually is successful. If edge rushers are constantly bulldozing through Jones, it could be serious cause for concern. It seems as if that it what Roethlisberger has some reservations about. If Jones doesn't perform at a high level in 2025, the 2023 NFL Draft day trade-up in the first round will be looked at as a failure. The organization has to make a decision on Jones' fifth-year option during the 2026 offseason, so the left tackle better hope that some of the weight he had shed ends up helping him significantly, instead of the other way around. Steelers Will Need Entire Offensive Line To Be Elite In 2025 While Jones is going to be the number one scapegoat if things go south, the big men up front will be a huge part of Pittsburgh's offensive failures or successes as the season progresses. Roethlisberger's comments regarding the starting left tackle's offseason will certainly cause a little bit of worry, but the unit as a whole has to prove consistency when the games matter.

Customize Your Newsletter

Yardbarker +

Get the latest news and rumors, customized to your favorite sports and teams. Emailed daily. Always free!