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Here’s a look at the key defensive numbers for the Seattle Seahawks in 2024, Mike Macdonald’s first season as the franchise’s head coach.
The club finished 14th in the league in fewest yards allowed, and were a mediocre 16th vs. the run. That latter number actually improved after the midseason acquisition of linebacker Ernest Jones IV. Seattle surrendered 37 offensive touchdowns, 26 through the air. Led by Pro Bowler Leonard Williams, Macdonald’s squad racked up a respectable 45 sacks. The Seahawks forced only 18 turnovers in 17 games, but returned four of those opponent miscues for touchdowns.
Now that the 2025 NFL draft is in the books, Matt Johnson of Sportsnaut took the time to ranks all 32 defensive units in the league. His pick for No. 1 is the Denver Broncos. At the No. 7 spot, he lists Mike Macdonald’s squad based partly on a key re-signing, as well as the addition of a talented prospect at safety.
“The Seattle Seahawks made re-signing linebacker Ernest Jones a priority this offseason and for good reason,” explained Johnson. “After acquiring Jones, the Seahawks defense ranked fifth in EPA per Play (-0.064) and held opponents to 205 passing yards per game with an 84.8 QB rating…”
“Seattle did spend the majority of its draft capital on the offense, but Mike Macdonald landed a new defensive toy in athletic marvel Nick Emmanwori. The Kyle Hamilton comparison is outlandish, but Macdonald will know how to utilize Emmanwori’s speed and length. The Seahawks also added DeMarcus Lawrence to solidify their defensive line and we’re expecting a second-year leap from Byron Murphy. Plus, the second year of Macdonald’s defensive scheme is historically when things click for the players.”
The Seahawks were the only team in the league in 2024 to win at least 10 games and not make the playoffs. What’s also interesting is while the Los Angeles Rams won the NFC West, Seattle allowed fewer points (368) than any team in the division.
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Browns' Shedeur Sanders could be losing valuable opportunity after injury update
Just when it seemed everything was going right for Shedeur Sanders, the Cleveland Browns' rookie quarterback caught an unlucky break on Wednesday. The 23-year-old QB was sidelined during Wednesday's joint practice with the Philadelphia Eagles after suffering an oblique injury. Per Kelsey Russo of the team website, the 2025 fifth-round pick won't practice Thursday and is considered day-to-day. He is deemed unlikely to play in Saturday's preseason game against Philadelphia, scheduled for 1 p.m. ET on NFL Network. Before Wednesday's practice, Browns head coach Kevin Stefanski confirmed rookie QB Dillon Gabriel will start against Philadelphia as long as he's healthy enough to play. The 2025 third-rounder missed Cleveland's preseason opener against the Carolina Panthers because of a hamstring issue. However, Stefanski previously said Sanders would get more reps this week after a solid preseason debut. The former Colorado Buffaloes star received the start in the 30-10 win over Carolina, going 14-of-23 passing for 138 yards and two touchdown passes. Not playing against Philadelphia could disrupt Sanders' momentum. More importantly, it may eliminate another opportunity for him to overtake Gabriel in Cleveland's four-way QB competition. Sanders is listed as the Browns QB4 behind Gabriel, Kenny Pickett and Joe Flacco on the team's unofficial depth chart. Despite questions about Gabriel's size (5-foot-11, 205 pounds), the coaching staff seems to favor him over Sanders. Earlier this offseason, Gabriel's processing speed reportedly impressed Browns coaches, giving him an edge over Sanders. The former Oregon Ducks star also received reps with the first-team offense during OTAs and mandatory minicamp, while his fellow rookie didn't. If Gabriel plays well against the Eagles, that would continue to affirm the coaching staff's confidence in the 24-year-old QB. Neither Sanders nor Gabriel is expected to be the Week 1 starter for the Browns. It's likely going to be Flacco, who helped Cleveland make the playoffs in 2023 when he went 4-1 during a late-season stretch. Still, another solid preseason showing could help Sanders position himself to replace 40-year-old Flacco in the future. With the setback, it may take more time to climb the depth chart.
Bruins' top prospect makes decision on college that will shake up the scene
Boston Bruins top prospect James Hagens has announced he will return to Boston College for his sophomore season. In a brief interview with Scott McLaughlin of Boston’s WEEI 93.7, Hagens shared that he’s in no rush to advance to the next step, acknowledging that development is a, “marathon, not a sprint.” Hagens revealed the news while participating at the Bruins’ 14th annual back-to-school celebration, alongside current Bruins Mason Lohrei and John Beecher. Few announcements will shake the college scene as much as the news of Hagens’ return. He was among the best freshmen in college last season, tracking to 37 points in 37 games. That scoring earned him a unanimous selection to Hockey East’s All-Rookie team — an accolade he shared with teammate Teddy Stiga and Boston University rival Cole Hutson. Hagens reached those heights while filling an interesting role with the Eagles, stepping in between wingers Gabe Perreault and Ryan Leonard after the two spent their last three years centered by San Jose Sharks prospect Will Smith. Each of Perreault, Leonard and Hagens scored fewer points than the Eagles’ top-line managed in 2023-24, but it seemed that was more the cause of a low-scoring year across Hockey East. The top unit recorded points on 36 percent of BC’s goals this season, an ever-so-slight improvement over the 34 percent contributed by Smith, Leonard and Perreault in 2024. But while Hagens faced questions of his scoring upside relative to other top draft-eligible talents in the NCAA, it was hard not to be impressed by his on-ice results. He’s long been a dynamo among his age group, with an innate ability to predict movement and put himself in position to make a play. Hagens is strong on the puck — with an ability to use finesse moves and bulky shoulders to force his way into the dangerous areas of the ice. More than that, he showed clear signs of improvement as the year went on — developing his physical presence and ability to make a difference even when he wasn’t the first man in on a play. Those signs of growth give Boston a prospect to be excited over. Hagens was lauded as the clear first overall talent in the 2025 draft class, prior to the beginning of the 2024-25 season. Much of that claim came from his command of the U.S. NTDP over the 2022-23 and 2023-24 seasons, where he served as the team’s top-line center and snappy playmaker next to electric goal-scorer Cole Eiserman. With Eiserman’s help, Hagens was able to become the fifth-highest scoring player in NTDP history, with 187 points in 118 games. He also set the scoring record at the World U17 Hockey Challenge in 2023, with 21 points in seven games, and the World U18 Championship in 2024, with 22 points in seven games. Hagens will be returning to a fresh-faced Boston College lineup next season. Both Leonard and Perreault signed their NHL entry-level contracts at the end of last season, leaving the Eagles with vacancies on both wings on their top-line. One of those spots will be occupied by Stiga, who has shown years of chemistry playing next to Hagens. The other spot will be closely contested, but could land in the hands of transfer forward Ryan Conmy or fellow Bruins draft pick William Moore. Hagens and Moore will be two of six Bruins prospects on next year’s Eagles squad, providing local fans with plenty of reasons to walk to Conte Forum when the puck drops.
Chicago Cubs’ Craig Counsell responds to Brewers’ surge
The Chicago Cubs‘ lead in the NL Central evaporated quickly after the All-Star break, and the team is drowning in the Milwaukee Brewers’ surge. The Brewers entered Wednesday’s matchup against the Pittsburgh Pirates with a 7.5-game lead on the Cubs on the back of an 11-game winning streak. On Tuesday night, Chicago’s offense sputtered, scoring one run on four hits in a 5-1 loss to the Toronto Blue Jays. The Chicago Cubs believe their best days are ahead On Wednesday, Cubs manager Craig Counsell didn’t seem worried about his former team’s hot streak during an appearance on 670 The Score’s “Spiegel Holmes.” Counsell believes the best part of the season is yet to come for the Cubs. “Telling people how to feel is not a good idea,” Counsell said. “I think you should feel how you want to feel. Nothing bad has happened. We’ve put ourselves in a good position, and the best part is yet to come. That’s how you have to treat every day.” Counsell tried to stay positive on Tuesday night after the loss. He believes the offense will get going again, as they were one of the best units in baseball early in the season. But how the Cubs started the season doesn’t matter. Playoff sports and World Series trophies aren’t handed out in July. Losing out to the Brewers in the NL Central would be a disappointment for the team. And a slide out of the wild card race would be unforgivable.
Is Thomas Muller Playing Tonight For Vancouver Whitecaps Vs Forge In the Canadian Championship?
Bears O-line coach calls one player's preseason performance 'not acceptable'
Several members of the Chicago Bears had a banner day on Sunday against the Miami Dolphins, improving their stock after Chicago's preseason tie with Miami. Most notably, Austin Booker and Noah Sewell combined to lead Chicago's defense to rule the day. Other players did not fare quite so well, including one fourth-year veteran, left tackle Braxton Jones. Jones is locked in a position battle for the starting left tackle spot with rookie Ozzy Trapilo and second-year player Kiran Amegadjie. As the incumbent starter he had the upper hand at the start of training camp. Now, his grip on the Bears' starting left tackle job may have slackened after a terrible performance on Sunday, which included one particularly bad rep. Luckily, quarterback Tyson Bagent threw a gorgeous touchdown pass on this play, but Jones getting beaten so quickly could have been disastrous. This was a 4th down play. Giving up a sack on 4th-and-goal in a close game is a good way to ensure a loss, and that's exactly what would have happened if Bagent had not thrown Maurice Alexander a toe-tapping touchdown in the back of the end zone. Now, Chicago's offensive line coach, Dan Roushar, has weighed in on Jones' performance, and he gave a blunt answer, calling it 'not acceptable'. You can hear his full remarks below. The honesty on display from Roushar is refreshing and serves two purposes. One, all the fans and analysts watched Jones play poorly on Sunday, so hearing his coach try to hem and haw his way around the truth would be seen as misleading. There was no sugarcoating the truth, and so Roushar answered honestly. Second, if you can trust a coach to be honest about the bad things, then you can trust that he's being honest when he sings his players' praises. For years, Bears fans have heard about this or that player having a great practice only to never see it on gameday. Clearly, someone was exaggerating or covering. But if Roushar is willing to call out a player's day as not acceptable, then you can trust that when he highlights a good day, such as Jones' performance in the joint practice, that he's giving his honest assessment. It's not all bad news for Jones, as Roushar makes clear. He first built Jones up by saying that he looked really good in last Friday's joint practice, saying that Jones looked like a guy 'that we can win with'. So the potential to be a good starting left tackle is still there. Jones just needs to make sure it shows up consistently on game day.
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