On his University of Washington recruiting visit, they took Jeron Jones to midfield for some promotional photos, seating him on a throne with a miniature Space Needle in the backdrop and Husky coaches all around him.
They should have set him up in the end zone -- the 4-star cornerback from Mission Viejo, California, feels real comfortable there.
On Wednesday, the 6-foot, 175-pound Jones committed to Jedd Fisch's UW staff and will bring a most unique ability to Montlake.
He's a defensive back who plays offense.
With his senior year at Mission Viejo High School still left to play, he's piled up a hefty 11 career interceptions -- and returned five of them for touchdowns.
He's the pick of the litter when it comes to pick-6s.
BREAKING: Class of 2026 CB Jeron Jones has Committed to Washington, he tells me for @on3recruits
— Hayes Fawcett (@Hayesfawcett3) June 18, 2025
The 6’0 175 CB from Mission Viejo, CA chose the Huskies over Texas A&M, Cal, & Arizona State
“This is home, Go Dawgs.”https://t.co/n0qtbaWIaH pic.twitter.com/iomIGbp4nq
Jones went 73 yards with a pass theft to score against Santa Margarita this past December.
In 2023, he scored from 30 yards out with a stolen pass against Oaks Christian. That same year, he went 45 yards to the end zone against Granite Falls.
And so it goes.
With 21 offers, he chose the Huskies over Texas A&M, Tennessee, USC, Oregon, Alabama and others.
For his 10-1 Diablos, Jones finished his junior season with 58 tackles, 3 interceptions and 8 pass break-ups.
He becomes the 15th commit for the UW for the Class of 2026, and five of them can play cornerback if needed in Elijah Durr from Tacoma, CJ Lavender and Kasni Jiles from California, and Dre Pollard from Nevada.
Jones is the fifth Husky commit with a 4-star rating or better, joining offensive tackle Kodi Greene, edge rusher Derek Colman-Brusa, safety Gavin Day and wide receiver Mason James. Greene is a 5-star designee.
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NASCAR appears ready to transfer ownership of one of the charters held by 23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports, who lost their charters following their antitrust lawsuit against NASCAR. As part of ongoing litigation requirements, NASCAR's Sanctioning Body filed a legal notice that it plans to issue a charter to a new entity, the identity of which was redacted, if a district court judge does not rule against the proposed agreement. A district court judge had previously ruled that NASCAR could not move the charters until a decision has been rendered from a hearing scheduled for Thursday in Charlotte, N.C., and that NASCAR must notify all involved parties should they reach an agreement to transfer either of the disputed charters. 23XI Racing -- whose owners include Michael Jordan and NASCAR driver Denny Hamlin -- and Front Row Motorsports refused to sign a take-it-or-leave-it charter agreement NASCAR presented last September, while the other 13 organizations in the Cup Series proceeded to sign. The two holdouts filed an antitrust lawsuit against NASCAR the following month and have been going back and forth in court since.
Kyle Schwarber made sure his Philadelphia Phillies bounced back after being swept by the New York Mets earlier this week. Schwarber went 4-for-6 with four home runs and nine RBI in Philadelphia's 19-4 win over the Atlanta Braves on Thursday. His first home run of the night came in the first inning, a solo shot for his 46th of the season. In the fourth inning, the three-time All-Star blasted his second home run of the night (47), this time a two-run knock. Schwarber’s third long ball came in the following frame, with his 48th being a three-run homer. Finally, in the seventh inning, Schwarber hit his fourth home run (49) of the night to right field to come within one dinger of 50 for the season. The 32-year-old made all kinds of history on Thursday against the Phillies’ division rival. He already surpassed his previous career high for home runs in a single season, but also became just the fourth player in franchise history to have four homers in a game and the first since Hall of Famer Mike Schmidt did so in 1976. Additionally, Schwarber is only the 21st player in MLB history to achieve this feat, and the fifth player all-time with at least four homers and nine RBI in a game. Plus, Schwarber joined the Athletics’ Nick Kurtz and Seattle Mariners’ Eugenio Suarez as the only players to have a four-homer game this season — the first time this has occurred. Clearly, Schwarber and the Phillies were anxious to get out of Queens and return to Philadelphia. The Phillies’ offense scored just eight runs across the three-game set against the Mets. They scored 19 runs off the Braves’ pitching at Citizens Bank Park. Schwarber received “MVP” chants from Phillies fans on Thursday, and rightfully so. He’s on his way to breaking Ryan Howard’s previous franchise record of 58 home runs in a season, which earned him the 2006 National League MVP.
Some previously accused Cleveland Browns head coach Kevin Stefanski of sabotaging the development of rookie quarterback Shedeur Sanders as Stefanski kept Sanders buried on the depth chart throughout the summer. A day after it was learned that Cleveland had agreed to trade Kenny Pickett to the Las Vegas Raiders for a 2026 fifth-round draft pick, Stefanski confirmed that Sanders will enter the Week 1 matchup against the Cincinnati Bengals on Sept. 7 as the Browns' QB3 behind starter Joe Flacco and fellow first-year pro Dillon Gabriel. During a recent chat with Jason Reid of Andscape, former NFL quarterback Akili Smith explained that the tape shows Sanders is behind as it pertains to playing the sport's most important position at the highest level. "If you take some time and break down the tape, and you understand what concepts they’re running, you see that Dillon Gabriel is ahead of Shedeur," Smith said. "No one who looks at the tape of those two and understands what they’re looking at could see it any other way. Gabriel is ahead of him, and a big thing is pocket presence. Shedeur took a sack in [the last preseason] game…it was ridiculous. You had all these people [on social media] blaming the line. He’s dropping back [too far]. He had to step up in the pocket or throw the ball away. It’s one or the other." Sanders took five sacks and completed just 3-of-6 passes for 14 yards in Cleveland's preseason finale versus the Los Angeles Rams on Aug. 23. Meanwhile, Gabriel connected on 12-of-19 passes for 129 yards and a touchdown in that contest. Smith is among those who believe Gabriel’s tape from August "is just better" than what Sanders produced. Sanders took an FBS-high 94 sacks over his final two college seasons before he fell to the fifth round of the 2025 NFL Draft. In the eyes of some, his play against the Rams showed that it will take time for him to unlearn certain bad habits he picked up over the years. "Anyone who’s got such a long way to go has to keep his nose clean, not turn on the organization and keep working," Smith added. "He has to put everything he has into continuing to get better each day. And that way, even if it doesn’t happen in Cleveland, you’re still giving yourself a chance. You’d show other teams that you want this. You’d show how much it means to you. Then maybe it happens somewhere else." The Browns trading Pickett indicates they're dedicated to continuing their development of Sanders through at least the 2025 season. That said, the potential return of Deshaun Watson is looming over Sanders' status as Flacco prepares to start against Cincinnati.
While Kyle Schwarber stole the show on Thursday with his four home runs, Aaron Nola made some franchise history of his own. The longtime Philadelphia Phillies right-hander surpassed 2008 NLCS and World Series MVP Cole Hamels (1,844) for third on the team’s all-time strikeout list with 1,845 punchouts. Nola’s historic strikeout came against Ronald Acuna Jr. in the sixth inning on a 79 mph curveball. Overall, he struck out four across six innings, allowing four runs on four hits and three walks. It wasn't the cleanest final line, but the Phillies’ offense supplied plenty of run support in a 19-4 win over the Atlanta Braves. Philadelphia's longest-tenured player recently returned from a rare three-month stint on the injured list. He has a 6.47 ERA in 12 starts this season, with 66 Ks in 64 innings. So, being able to accomplish this career milestone must feel good. Nola achieved the feat across 280 career starts — all with Philadelphia, who drafted him in the first round of the 2014 MLB Draft out of LSU. The 32-year-old made his big league debut in 2015. The one-time All-Star has compiled a solid 11-year career thus far as one of the most durable pitchers in the league. He owns a 107-86 record alongside a 3.81 ERA, six complete games and four shutouts. Nola is now just 26 strikeouts away from overtaking Robin Roberts (1,871) for second place on the Phillies’ all-time list. Steve Carlton has the most Ks in franchise history by a wide margin with 3,031.
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