The Washington Commanders didn't have a great need at the wide receiver spot entering the 2025 NFL Draft. That didn't stop Adam Peters from selecting Jaylin Lane when the opportunity arose at No. 128 overall.
Some new information from a respected draft analyst indicates the Commanders might have a potential steal on their hands.
Lane is a tremendous athlete with the ability to impact proceedings all over the field. He's another explosive threat for quarterback sensation Jayden Daniels to depend upon. If the former Virginia Tech standout imposes himself immediately, there is an opportunity to carve out a role for himself right out of the gate.
Ryan Fowler from The Draft Network believes it's possible. The analyst confirmed that Lane had an early Day 2 grade heading into his final season with the Hokies. His stock slid after he wasn't utilized effectively, which worked in Washington's favor when push came to shove.
Some context here, WR Jaylin Lane had early day 2 grades from teams back in the spring. Versatile playmaker that wasn’t done any favors with the offensive architecture of Virginia Tech this fall where he was really put in a box. Dynamic with the ball in his hands and can flat-out fly. Ran 4.34 in Indy. Kliff Kingsbury will allow him to be an athlete & expand the playbook.Ryan Fowler
The Commanders have a masterful play-caller leading the offensive charge. Kliff Kingsbury will know exactly how to maximize Lane's skill set. Whether that's stretching the field or getting the football into his hands quickly, the rookie will be put in much more profitable positions moving forward.
Adding some extra play strength is crucial for Lane. Bolstering his route tree and working on manipulation at the top of his route stems will also serve him well. However, his pure athleticism and elusiveness in open space can help immediately while polishing potential problem areas of his game.
Lane has tremendous potential. Expecting miracles right away would be unrealistic, but there's nothing to suggest he cannot accumulate his fair share of targets as the campaign progresses. Based on special teams coordinator Larry Izzo's reaction to the pick, a starting spot in the return game is also likely in Year 1 of his professional career.
Peters was all about finding the right value regardless of need. Lane represents exactly that in the fourth round if he lives up to his initial projections before the 2024 campaign.
If he exceeds expectations, this could be one of the draft's best steals when it's all said and done.
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Many Texas A M baseball fans are stull trying to erase the disgusting taste that the 2025 season left in their mouths after such an incredible and memorable 2024. In the first season after being one game away from a national championship and going through one of the most controversial head coach departures in recent memory, things did not go exactly how the team or the 12th Man were probably hoping. But now, a new season is awaiting, a clean slate for everyone (well, most of everyone) and a time to look towards the future. The Aggies Will Host TCU In An Exhibition Matchup in October Per TexAgs' Ryan Brauninger, the Texas A M baseball squad will host the TCU Horned Frogs in an exhibition matchup between two well-known Lone Star universities at Blue Bell Park in College Station on October 10th. As this game is an exhibition and won't count towards any regular season standings, the Aggies will likely be utilizing the game to give the newcomers a few at-bats and put some fresher names on the pitching rubber, much like they did with their two exhibitions they played in October of last year. The TCU Horned Frogs had an above-average season in 2025, much more than A M could say, as the team went 39-20 with a 19-11 conference record, only to be bounced out of the Corvallis regional by USC and Oregon State in back-to-back games, ending their NCAA Tournament hopes sooner than expected. And, of course, we all know how the Aggies' 2025 season turned out to be. After winning five of their first six games on the season, the team got some awful news at the start of the year: star infielder Gavin Grahovac required surgery on his shoulder and would be out for the remainder of the 2025 season. Following that news, the Maroon and White went on a horrible losing skid, suffering defeat in their next four games and by the time conference play kicked off in the middle of March, the preseason No. 1 Aggies weren't even in the Top 25 anymore. After a strong resurgence in April that saw promising series wins against Tennessee, Arkansas, LSU, and South Carolina, those wins were quickly leveled out with losses to Missouri and Georgia, and when the field of 64 was announced for the NCAA Tournament, the Aggies were nowhere to be seen on the board, capping off a frustrating and disappointing season that they will surely be looking to avoid repeating in 2026.
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.
Would the New York Yankees still be a heavyweight contender without Aaron Judge? Most fans would doubt it. What comes as a shock is that Yankees general manager, Brian Cashman, appears to agree. According to MLB insider Andy Martino of SNY, Cashman had explored the option of selling ahead of Thursday’s trade deadline (6 p.m. EST) if Judge’s flexor strain had turned out to be something worse. Martino wrote this: “[On Saturday], we relayed that the Yankees were floating some of their free-agent-to-be relievers in preliminary trade talks. We have since learned through league sources that last week the Yanks brought up Cody Bellinger and Paul Goldschmidt in talks with at least one other club.” It would be strange to see a team with a record well above .500 shop core hitters at the deadline. Both Bellinger and Goldschmidt — hitting .281/.333/.507 with 19 home runs and .283/.341/.419 with eight home runs respectively entering Tuesday — have been valuable producers for the Yankees this year. Goldschmidt signed a one-year deal with the Bronx Bombers over the offseason while Bellinger was acquired via trade with the Cubs. He is signed through 2026 but has a player option at the end of the year. Either player would bring a nice haul back to the Yankees. Of course, the reigning AL MVP’s injury doesn’t seem to be a season-altering, ‘abandon ship’ type of event. Optimistically, Judge should be back soon. But this does serve to illustrate how the team’s success is dependent on one player. Beyond Judge, the Yankees’ batting order doesn’t feature a star-caliber player, or at least a player the lineup can be built around. While this isn’t necessarily a bad thing, New York lacks enough solid hitters to be considered a worthy contender without Judge. The Yankees’ three bottom-of-the-order hitters — Austin Wells (.214), Anthony Volpe (.213) and newest acquisition Ryan McMahon (.223) — all own batting averages below .230 entering Tuesday. And this doesn’t include J.C. Escarra (.205), Oswald Peraza (.152) or even Ben Rice (.229). If Judge was lost for the season, selling wouldn’t have been a bad idea. He is insoluble glue holding the battered Yankees’ roster together, especially with Gerrit Cole and Clarke Schmidt gone for the year. No one on the trade market could replace him, but with Judge coming back, the Yankees might have enough firepower to at least limp to the finish line.
While the Philadelphia Eagles, Detroit Lions and Washington Commanders have garnered a lot of attention lately, there is one NFC team that has quietly been flying under the radar. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers lost a one-score game to the Lions in the divisional round in 2023 and followed that up with another one-score loss to QB Jayden Daniels and the Commanders last season, proving how close they have been to the ultimate prize in the two seasons with Baker Mayfield under center. In an appearance on ESPN's "Get Up" Tuesday morning, analyst and former player Ryan Clark offered high praise for Mayfield and what the Buccaneers are capable of. "Baker Mayfield is a top-10 quarterback in this league," Clark said. "Baker Mayfield is a football player. And when I say that, I know people at home are gonna be like, 'Duh, he gets paid to play football.' No, not all quarterbacks are seen as football players. Not all quarterbacks are embraced in the locker room as one of us." Clark sees the Buccaneers as a team the rest of the league should be paying attention to because of who they have returning and the close calls in the playoffs the last two seasons. "This is a team that's been on the cusp the last two years," Clark said. "Now you think about some of the pieces they've added, the confidence in their quarterback and the way that he plays, and Todd Bowles with another year to understand winning at a high level at the head coach position. This is a team you better be extremely scared of because they're stacked and they're confident." Mayfield has been sensational during his time with the Buccaneers. Although he did throw 16 interceptions, Mayfield accounted for the third-most passing yards (4,500) in the league last season and has thrown the most TD passes (69) in the last two seasons, per StatMuse. To add even more incentive for Mayfield, the team restructured his contract, which is set to expire after the 2026 season, to include $30M in guaranteed salary for that season. The Buccaneers return a lot of production on both sides of the ball, in addition to bringing in first-round draft pick Emeka Egbuka, who topped 1,000 receiving yards twice at Ohio State and accounted for 26 total TDs. While Tampa Bay allowed the 17th-most points per game (22.7) last season, it returns the majority of its defensive production. On top of that, the offseason acquisition of veteran LB and two-time Pro-Bowler Haason Reddick, who agreed to terms on a one-year deal, should be a welcomed addition for a franchise that had some question marks on defense last season. The Buccaneers are projected to have the sixth-easiest schedule in the NFL this season and have the best chance to win the NFC South for the fifth consecutive season, according to ESPN Analytics. If Mayfield can cut back on his turnovers and the defense can create more pressure on opposing QBs, the Buccaneers could be a threat in the NFC once again as they look to put their recent nail-biting losses in the postseason behind them.
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