Happy 29th birthday to one-time Pro Bowler, seven-year NFL veteran and author of four-consecutive 1,000-rushing-yard seasons, Tony Pollard! The Dallas Cowboys selected Pollard in the fourth round of the 2019 NFL Draft out of Memphis, and he started his career as a gadget guy and change-of-pace back for Ezekiel Elliott. But by his age 25 season in 2022-23, he was clearly the best rusher in the Dallas backfield after recording his first 1,000-yard season and averaging 5.2 yards-per-attempts compared to Zeke’s 3.8. He’d play one more season with the Cowboys, racking up 1,005 yards and six touchdowns before signing with the Tennessee Titans ahead of the 2024-25 campaign. While things haven’t gone well on the whole for Tennessee in those years, the veteran back has continued to produce. He’s rushed for a combined 2,161 yards and 10 touchdowns in two seasons in Nashville, adding 444 yards on 74 receptions. Which brings us to today’s quiz. Pollard is one of 32 active running backs with at least 20 rushing touchdowns in their career. With that being said, how many of those backs can you name in five minutes? Good luck! Did you like this quiz? Are there any quizzes you’d like to see us make in the future? Let us know your thoughts at quizzes@yardbarker.com, and make sure to subscribe to our Quiz of the Day Newsletter for daily quizzes sent right to your email!
Goodbye, Cinderella. On Tuesday, ESPN college sports insider Pete Thamel and others reported that the NCAA is set to expand the men's and women's NCAA Tournaments to 76 teams for the upcoming 2026-27 season. "The expansion," Thamel writes, "which has been discussed for well over a year, is on track to be formalized in the upcoming weeks and would begin this coming season." The pending change is another step at marginalizing mid-majors, who will once again be forced to compete for a smaller portion of the pie. NCAA Tournament expansion will further divide sport from the haves and have-nots CBS Sports college basketball reporter Matt Norlander shared further details about the expansion, revealing 24 teams — instead of eight — will play on the first Tuesday and Wednesday of March Madness, turning the First Four into the First 12. Norlander notes the 24 teams will be a split of programs that earned automatic bids by winning their conferences and at-large representatives. "All 16-seeds and half the 15s will be slotted into the Tuesday/Wednesday of the opening round," Norlander wrote on social media, adding, "The other half will be a mix depending on team quality." With all 16s headed to a sudden-death play-in game to even make the field of 64, our chances of seeing one record an upset of a more rested No. 1 are greatly diminished. The move also means fewer mid-major champs will make the opening Thursday and Friday of March Madness as they battle each other for a lesser number of spots. The NIL and transfer portal era has already put those schools outside of power conferences at a disadvantage. We've seen it firsthand in recent years during the NCAA Tournament as major conferences have swallowed regional semifinal spots. The San Diego State Aztecs out of the Mountain West were the last mid-major to advance to the second weekend, doing so in 2024. Critics of mid-majors and Cinderellas will say those teams don't draw big ratings or that their stories almost always end with a blowout loss on a big stage. But they willingly choose to ignore that there often aren't enough deserving power conference teams for at-large berths. This past season, for example, the Auburn Tigers (16 losses), Oklahoma Sooners (15 losses) and Indiana Hoosiers (14 losses) were among the teams that finished as the first four outside of the 68-team field. In this updated era of the NCAA Tournament, all would have made the field. Instead of the March Madness rewarding the best, the expansion devalues the greatest tournament in sports, making earning a spot something akin to a participation trophy. Everyone gets a prize, as long as you come from a power conference. Otherwise, you're all out of luck.
The NFC East had a 20-year streak without a repeat champion from 2005 through 2024. It has always been the most unpredictable division in football. But after the 2026 NFL Draft, a clear leader has stepped forward, and for once, it does not feel like a coin flip heading into the season. 1. Philadelphia Eagles: Designed to stay on top The Philadelphia Eagles did not need a miracle draft. They needed to remain in balance, adding talent and staying ahead of potential future issues. That is what they did by drafting Makai Lemon with the expected departure of A.J. Brown. The Eagles are the only team in the division that feels like they have no major hole in their game. We know who the Eagles are and we know they can win big. Are they perfect? No, but they are the closest thing to stability in this division. 2. Dallas Cowboys: Same ceiling, same worries Dak Prescott is good enough to make the Cowboys competitive offensively, and they do still have enough talent to win over 10 games if things bounce their way. He and the offense have never been the core issue, however. It has been their defense. Dallas addressed defense heavily in the NFL Draft, filling the Micah Parsons void. Caleb Downs adds range and physicality on the back end, Malachi Lawrence brings needed juice off the edge and Jaishawn Barham gives them speed at linebacker. These three picks should bolster their defense considerably. 3. Washington Commanders: Trending up, but not finished Washington added a lot in free agency and had solid draft. Adding a player like Sonny Styles gives the defense something to build around. There is a direction now, which is something that has been missing. You can start to see the outline of what they want this team to be. But the offense still needs to catch up. The Commanders still need a solid WR2 alongside Terry McLaurin and it is possible their second-round pick in Antonio Williams can be that guy. They also added depth to the RB position in Kaytron Allen. The question is how soon these rookies can step up and help Jayden Daniels. 4. New York Giants: Harbaugh has his work cut out The Giants are in the initial stages of a huge rebuild. The problem is that nothing feels settled, especially at quarterback. Until Jaxson Dart can prove he is the guy, new head coach John Harbaugh will have his work cut out for him. Picking up Arvell Reese was a huge addition to their defense. Adding cornerback Colton Hood in the second round will provide good hands and speed in the backfield which they desperately need. If the Giants win the division, nobody will see it coming because there are entirely too many new pieces to the puzzle to tell what they are going to do. Final Prediction Eagles Cowboys Commanders Giants NFC East: Always unpredictable For years, the NFC East has thrived on unpredictability. Every year it is a crap shoot, but this year seems easy to bet on. Philadelphia looks like a team built to stay on top. Dallas is right behind but the run defense is still in question. Washington is building toward something, while the Giants are still trying to figure out their identity under their new head coach. That does not guarantee anything once the season starts. It never does in this division. But for now, there is a clear leader, and everyone else is chasing.
The Tennessee Titans surprised many members of the football community when they made Ohio State wide receiver Carnell Tate the fourth overall pick of the 2026 NFL Draft. That decision gifted the New York Giants with the opportunity to select Ohio State pass-rusher Arvell Reese at pick No. 5. Per Jim Wyatt of the Titans' website, Tennessee assistant general manager Dave Ziegler insisted on Tuesday that Tate "was a clear guy for us to take" with the draft's fourth choice. For a piece published on Wednesday, NFL insider Jason La Canfora of SportsBoom US spoke with multiple league executives who believe that Titans head coach and known defensive guru Robert Saleh should've pushed his employer to grab Reese over Tate. Will Titans ultimately regret Carnell Tate, Arvell Reese draft decision? "He’s going to regret passing on Reese," a longtime NFL personnel executive said about Saleh. "The guy who took him (Giants coach John Harbaugh) will know how to use him, watch. That’s a big, powerful dude. He’s going to be a handful on the edge in that defense. You have to be willing to move him around and think outside the box, but that size and power, that’s a top-five pick, my man. Not the wide receiver." Before the draft got underway, Dane Brugler of The Athletic ranked Reese as the top overall prospect in this year's class. For a mailbag posted on Wednesday, NFL reporter Connor Hughes of SNY shared that "almost every source" he spoke with said that the Titans "over-drafted" Tate. Why one general manager thinks Titans drafted Carnell Tate "too high" Per Elizabeth Merrill of ESPN, eyebrows were raised when Tate posted a 40-yard dash time of 4.53 seconds at the NFL scouting combine in February. "It’s hard to find a lot of true No. 1 receivers with that 40 time," one general manager said about Tate while speaking with La Canfora. "It doesn’t really happen. Taking a receiver without the speed to take the top off a defense there, that’s too high to me." Meanwhile, a different general manager added that he thought the Titans "would have jumped on Reese." If these executives are proven right, Harbaugh may want to send Saleh a thank-you gift at some point down the road.
