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The nation's top-ranked recruiting class just added one more recruit. And this one brings "NFL upside to him" over to USC.
Four-star offensive lineman Vlad Dyakonov of Folsom is the newest addition to the Trojans. The towering 6-foot-7, 275-pounder took to his social media accounts to announce his USC decision Wednesday.
"Very thankful for all of the opportunities that I was offered thank you to the coaches who recruited me," Dyakonov said. "I'm staying home."
Dyakonov added the peace sign emoji as a way to say "Fight On." He adds one more stellar piece to USC's No. 1 class for 2026. Only this one got labeled a potential NFL caliber prospect by national recruiting analyst Greg Biggins of 247Sports.
"When you look at his size, growth potential, toughness and mobility, Dyakonov definitely has an NFL upside to him and is a really nice pickup for the Trojans," Biggins wrote, while also adding Dyakonov comes with a high-ceiling.
Dyakonov is still learning the game of football, Biggins included. But has put on 15 pounds of muscle without losing his mobility and coordination. He's now the fourth OL commit for USC.
Esun Tafa of Corner Canyon in Draper, Ut., and John Fifita of St. Francis in Mountain View, Ca., are two OL commits from March. Chase Deniz of Cathedral Catholic in San Diego emerged as a late March addition to the USC trenches.
The Trojans also continued a strong pipeline with the Sacramento region powerhouse Folsom High. Nela Tupou and Walker Lyons are past Folsom Bulldogs greats on the USC roster.
USC and head coach Lincoln Riley now have 22 total verbal commits for the '26 class -- which leads the nation. Dyakonov landed nearly 30 scholarship offers including from Arizona State, Ole Miss and UCLA.
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Ryan Grubb's offense could be a recipe for disaster at Alabama
The first year under the new Kalen DeBoer era didn’t conclude with the championship hopes that the Alabama Crimson Tide were expecting. The Tide finished the season with a 9-4 record and a tough loss to the Michigan Wolverines in the ReliaQuest Bowl. Among the biggest faults for the Tide last season was the inconsistency of the offense. DeBoer expects the offense to click under new offensive coordinator and longtime Fresno State and Washington assistant Ryan Grubb. On July 31, Grubb discussed the offense that the Tide will be using this upcoming season. Grubb said in the Tide’s second fall practice that Alabama will be running a pro-style offense with a dynamic passing attack. This type of offense would be great for past experienced quarterbacks like Bryce Young or Tua Tagovailoa. There are, however, some concerns with this offensive style, especially Grubb's lackluster performance last season in the same role with the Seattle Seahawks. Last season, the Seahawks ranked eighth in passing yards per game (236.5) behind the great play of quarterback Geno Smith and wide receivers Jaxon Smith-Njigba and DK Metcalf. They were also 18th in the league in points per game (22.1) as they were often inefficient in the red zone and third-down conversions. One of the reasons was the offense’s lack of usage of the run game. Seattle had 383 running plays, which was the fifth fewest in the league. As a result, the Seahawks ranked 28th in rushing yards per game (95.7) and 29th in first downs by runs (88). While a bad offensive line was competent, Grubb relied on the passing offense, which made them predictable. One of the reasons the Tide’s offense struggled late in the season despite a Heisman-like performance from quarterback Jalen Milroe was that they were too predictable in the passing game. While Grubb will look to make the Tide more dynamic in the passing game, they’ve already shown they won’t rely on a run game early and often. The Tide will have a new starting quarterback this fall, likely redshirt junior Ty Simpson. While Simpson has shown progress this offseason, there is going to be a lot of pressure on him to carry the offense if they choose to run a pass-heavy pro-style offense. This form of offense under a second-year head coach, with DeBoer still trying to prove himself, could be a recipe for disaster and make the offense stagnant and underachieving. Time will tell if Milroe’s last season collapse was due to the offense being a product of the laziness in play-calling. This could be a similar situation that might have DeBoer and Grubb in trouble, this time in their stint together at Alabama.
Padres already demoting one of their trade-deadline acquisitions
The Padres announced they’ve optioned JP Sears to Triple-A El Paso. They recalled reliever Sean Reynolds and will go with a nine-man bullpen in the short term. Sears will spend at least 15 days in the minors unless he’s brought up to replace a player going on the injured list. San Diego acquired Sears alongside Mason Miller in last week’s massive deadline deal. The 29-year-old southpaw made his team debut Monday night. He allowed five runs in as many innings on 10 hits and a walk against the Diamondbacks. Sears took the loss in a 6-2 defeat. He’d carried a 4.95 earned run average over 22 starts with the A’s. Monday's performance pushed his ERA to 5.12 across 116 innings. It’s a bottom-10 mark among pitchers to log at least 100 frames. Sears had the highest home run rate among that group, offsetting his nearly league-average 20.3% strikeout rate and solid 6% walk percentage. This is the first time in two-and-a-half years that Sears heads to the minors. He broke camp with the A’s in 2023 and has been in the majors since then. Sears has also avoided the injured list for that entire time. As a result, he’s tied for fifth in MLB with 87 starts since the beginning of the ’23 season. The durability is the big selling point, as his production (4.62 ERA/4.56 SIERA) over that stretch is that of a fifth or sixth starter. The demotion shouldn’t have any impact on Sears’ service trajectory. He has already surpassed the three-year mark and will qualify for arbitration next winter. He’s under team control for three seasons beyond this one. While he’ll probably be back up at some point this year, it may require an injury elsewhere in the rotation. San Diego optioned Randy Vásquez over the weekend. They have a four-man rotation of Dylan Cease, Nick Pivetta, Yu Darvish and deadline acquisition Nestor Cortes. Darvish and Cortes will get the ball for the next two outings. San Diego is off Thursday and could turn back to Pivetta and Cease on extra rest for their first two games of the weekend series against the Red Sox. That’d point to the series finale on Aug. 10 as Michael King’s return date. King threw 61 pitches in what is expected to be his final rehab start on Sunday, via the MLB.com injury tracker. He’d be on six days' rest for his first MLB appearance since he went on the injured list in late May with a nerve problem in his throwing shoulder.
Blue Jays demolish MLB records with eye-popping Coors Field performance
DENVER — There's nothing like coming to Coors Field to fix what ails you. Just ask the Toronto Blue Jays. Losers of six of eight games prior to arriving in Denver, the Blue Jays posted an MLB-record 63 hits in a three-game series while easily sweeping a road series from the Colorado Rockies. By totaling 25 hits on Monday night, 14 on Tuesday and 24 in Wednesday's matinee, the Blue Jays set a new MLB standard for offensive prowess. Toronto passed the MLB record of 62 hits in a three-game series, set by the Boston Red Sox in a June 7-9, 1950 matchup against the St. Louis Browns. As part of the hit parade, Toronto smashed 13 home runs, the most ever surrendered by the Rockies in a three-game set. Included in that barrage were three hits by Bo Bichette, including a three-run shot on Wednesday afternoon that got the Blue Jays rolling in the third inning. Kyle Freeland, Wednesday's starter for Colorado, allowed seven hits in his 4.2 innings of work. That was the fewest amount of hits given up by a Rockies starter against Toronto as Rockies starter Tanner Gordon allowed 11 in 2.2 frames on Monday while Anthony Molina surrendered nine in 5.0 innings on Tuesday. "We need to pitch with confidence as starting pitchers. We need to command the baseball better in general," said Rockies interim manager Warren Schaeffer as his team slipped to 30-84 on the season. "We have to put hitters away when we have that opportunity." That was something Colorado couldn't do against the Blue Jays on Wednesday as their first six runs of a 20-1 blowout win came with two outs in the frame. Wednesday's offensive explosion helped Toronto outscore the Rockies, 45-6, in the series. That run differential was the second-most in MLB's modern era and the most runs scored by an MLB team in a three-game series since the 2019 Chicago Cubs scored 47 runs against the Pittsburgh Pirates from Sept. 13-15, 2019. In all, the 45 runs, 63 hits and 13 home runs allowed in the series were each the most allowed by Colorado pitchers in a three-game set in franchise history. How bad did it get for Colorado at the end of the series? Down 12-1 entering the ninth inning on Wednesday, the Rockies put catcher Austin Nola on the mound for his first-ever pitching appearance. He was nothing like his younger brother, Philadelphia Phillies ace Aaron Nola, as he promptly gave up four consecutive doubles, including RBI shots from Bichette and Vladimir Guerrero Jr., as part of eight hits and eight runs posted by the Blue Jays against him. "It hurts when you get beat that bad for three games," Nola said. "We can compete with anybody. I know we can. We're all Major League players, so it definitely hurts. We're going to have to flush this one and get back out there on Friday in Arizona and have a new competitive attitude." All quotations obtained firsthand unless otherwise noted.
Oilers' new signing ranked among NHL's worst contracts
Despite boasting a core of elite contracts that include Connor McDavid, Leon Draisaitl and Zach Hyman, the Edmonton Oilers saw their overall contract value rankings take a hit in a recent article by The Athletic. Dom Luszczyszyn looks at every team and its contract situations each season. The Oilers ranked 8th overall, but that dropped them down the standings, largely due to the new eight-year, $3.9 million AAV deal handed to forward Trent Frederic. In a recent analysis evaluating NHL contract efficiency, Frederic’s deal earned a D-grade — one of the lowest marks handed out — alongside the much-maligned Darnell Nurse contract. He was signed to the new deal this offseason after arriving to the Oilers via a trade at the deadline. Injured, but in the lineup for the playoffs, he wasn’t exactly the most effective forward. The Oilers believe he has a lot more to give and GM Stan Bowman bet on the forward. Frederic’s extension, which carries a modest annual cap hit but stretches through 2033, is projected to offer just a +20.1% positive value while delivering a -$15.2 million total surplus over its duration. Frederic’s ranking is particularly glaring when placed next to the six A-grade contracts on the Oilers’ books. No other forward has a grade lower than a C. The team also has four different A-grades, an A for McDavid and an A+ for Draisaitl. Combined with team-friendly deals for stars like McDavid and Draisaitl, Edmonton remains one of the league’s most efficient teams in terms of contract value. Will the Oilers shed either of these bad contracts? According to this ranking, Frederic and Nurse deals are two glaring liabilities. Don’t expect the Oilers to move off either contract anytime soon. Bowman said of the Frederic deal: “…he’s a very unique player with the skillset that he has. He’s a big guy, he’s a physical player, he’s not afraid. He’s got that intimidation factor where he’ll go to the other team’s bench and challenge anybody, like stop messing around with our group. That’s something that I find, you either have that or you don’t. … And he’s scored, you know, he scored what, 18 goals twice in a row at a fairly young, younger age. So I think he’s got the game in him. And I think when you add all that up, it comes down to he’s a very unique player. It’s not like if we passed on Frederic, we’ll just go get so-and-so, who’s maybe a little different, but the same type of player. Not a lot of guys like that out there. They just aren’t anymore.” As for Nurse, there was talk that the Oilers approached him and others about their no-move clauses, and Nurse declined to waive his. The hope is that he elevates his game, and with the rising salary cap, his deal doesn’t look like such an albatross. With several key contracts set to expire soon — including McDavid’s — and questions lingering around term for others, the Oilers need to be cautious with long-term commitments. As it stands, the Frederic deal is a warning sign that not every extension is created equal, even on a Cup-contending roster.
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