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Joe Flacco reacts to Browns likely drafting Colorado's Travis Hunter
As recently as for an article published on Thursday morning, Jordan Raanan of ESPN noted that it "is becoming increasingly likely" that the Cleveland Browns will select Colorado cornerback/wide receiver Travis Hunter with the second pick of the 2025 NFL Draft assuming the Tennessee Titans make Miami quarterback Cam Ward the draft's first choice.
Veteran Joe Flacco is preparing to compete with Kenny Pickett and a to-be-drafted rookie for Cleveland's starting quarterback job later this summer. During a Wednesday appearance on ESPN Cleveland's "The Really Big Show," Flacco spoke about possibly having Hunter as a weapon this coming September.
"I don't pay too much attention to college football anymore, but it was hard not to notice him," Flacco said about Hunter, as shared by Tony Grossi of The Land on Demand. "You've got to give him credit. I mean, obviously he's super explosive and is a game changer. Whether he's actually going to play both ways at the next level, whatever, you like the fact that he has the ability to do that."
While some teams reportedly view Hunter as more of a cornerback than a receiver as it pertains to at least his rookie campaign, Cleveland is expected to use and need him on both sides of the ball. In his mailbag published on Wednesday, NFL insider Albert Breer of Sports Illustrated mentioned that the Browns will probably have "Hunter put most of his early practice and meeting time into defense...while building out packages for him to contribute offensively."
In his final prospect rankings posted on Thursday, ESPN's Field Yates listed Hunter as the top player in this year's draft class.
"Hunter has rare versatility and a legitimate path to a Pro Bowl career as either a wide receiver or a cornerback," Yates said. "While my personal belief is that Hunter's ceiling is highest at wideout, I'm not agonizing much over where he will eventually end up -- he will be great on either side of the ball. His ball skills and instincts are outstanding. Hunter finished the 2024 season with 36 tackles, 4 interceptions and 10 pass breakups on defense, along with 96 catches for 1,258 yards and 15 scores on offense."
Understandably, Flacco seems excited about the possibility of sharing a locker room with Hunter later this year.
"He's more than just athletic," Flacco added about Hunter. "He’s more than just a guy that can run fast and jump high. He actually has a feel for how to play the game, and he has the capability of doing multiple things. It just leads you to believe that he can probably pick things up pretty quickly, and he can be somebody that you can rely on to kind of have a really good feel for the game."
As of Thursday morning, DraftKings Sportsbook listed Hunter as the betting favorite at -350 odds to be the draft's second pick. Barring a shocking development, Cleveland will be the team making that selection on April 24.
More must-reads:
- Browns' Joe Flacco seems to respond to Kenny Pickett ahead of competition for starting job
- Insider names team that could give Travis Hunter exactly what he wants
- The 'AP College Football Player of the Year' quiz
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'They really really like him': Packers insider identifies the UDFA team may love the most
The Green Bay Packers surprised a great many people with their 2025 NFL Draft selections. Not only did they select a wide receiver (Matthew Golden) in the first round for the first time since 2002, but they took offensive lineman Anthony Belton in the second round and another wide receiver, Savion Williams, in the third round. It was not until the fourth round that the Packers took a defensive player, defensive end Barryn Sorrell, and not until the seventh round that they drafted a player that many felt was their greatest position of need: cornerback (Micah Robinson). Why did so many people expect the Packers to draft a cornerback early? Of course, the easy answer to this question is that the Packers still need to figure out if two-time Pro Bowl cornerback Jaire Alexander will be on the team this year. Their very public falling out led many to believe that Green Bay would try to trade him leading up to or during the 2025 NFL Draft. And they did try. However, they did not get a deal they felt was good enough, and the one that they did like was nixed by Alexander refusing to rework his contract. But while Green Bay and Alexander work through their differences with a return certainly a possibility, the fact of the matter is that the Packers lost a great deal of cornerback depth this offseason. Eric Stokes, Corey Ballentine, and Robert Rochelle all left in free agency, and the only cornerback Green Bay added was Nate Hobbs. Even if Alexander returns, depth at the position will be a concern. Packers must 'really really like” Johnathan Baldwin As mentioned, the Packers took just one cornerback in the 2025 NFL Draft, Micah Robinson from Tulane in the seventh round. However, they also signed UNLV’s Johnathan Baldwin as an undrafted free agent, and, based on what they are paying him, must really like him. ESPN’s Rob Demovsky recently posted on X: As one can see from Demovsky’s post, the Packers have agreed to a $115,000 contract with Baldwin for the 2025 season. Giving this much money to an undrafted free agent is not something the Packers usually do, though last year they gave undrafted offensive lineman Donovan Jennings $100,000 (he spent the 2024 season on their practice squad). While Baldwin has a long way to go before he makes the team, the fact that they are paying him this much would indicate that they believe he could have a bright future. Defense Fumbles Table Provided by CFB at Sports Reference: View Original Table
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Pat Murphy Sends 3-Word Message After Brewers Latest Blowout
The Milwaukee Brewers are down several starting pitchers. Brandon Woodruff is still recovering, plus losses of DL Hall, Aaron Ashby, Aaron Civale, and Nestor Cortes have put the rotation in a perilous spot. That perilous spot is what led the Brewers to give up a massive haul to acquire Quinn Priester from the Boston Red Sox in early April. Yophery Rodriguez plus a Comp A pick in this year's Draft and a PTBNL is a steep price to pay, but the Brewers have believed in Priester. In Priester's latest outing on Friday night against the Cubs, things got out of hand quickly as Priester allowed seven runs in the 2nd inning and put the team in a massive hole, leading to a second straight blowout with a final score of 10-0. When asked about the mood of the team after such a deflating 10-0 loss to a division rival, Pat Murphy had a simple three word message. "It's not good" Murphy said. Murphy went on to add, "No one's giving up hope on May 3rd. We've had this happen to us before , when you have that many starting pitchers down, what would other teams do?... When you have Civale, Cortes, Woodruff, Ashby, DL Hall, you have all those guys down, you're going to run into some games, it happened to be tonight, where you've gotta kind of pitch guys that aren't quite ready for that situation." It's hardly a ringing endorsement of the Brewers current situation. The injuries have decimated the rotation, it's true. It's the sixth blowout loss the Brewers have suffered in just 33 games so far this year. This has led to the Brewers relying on guys like Priester, Tyler Alexander, Elvin Rodriguez, and others to patchwork the rotation and they just haven't been able to find the kind of success the manager is looking for. While Murphy added that there are signs that Priester is showing that he can be very good, he's still not there quite yet. The tough part for the Brewers is they can't let him develop in Triple-A right now, they need him to fill out their rotation. The Brewers are 0-11 this season when their opponent scores first. They're the only team left in MLB that hasn't won a game after allowing their opponent to get the first run across. After an 8-0 loss on Thursday to the lowly White Sox and a 10-0 drubbing at home to the rival Cubs, the mood is not good and rightfully so. They'll need to right the ship on Saturday and they'll have Jose Quintana on the mound to help do it.
NHL and Gary Bettman Called Out for Controversial Playoff Scheduling Decision
The NHL and Commissioner Gary Bettman are being called out for a strong postseason scheduling decision involving the Colorado Avalanche and their Game 7. The Colorado Avalanche refused to allow their year to end against the Dallas Stars on Thursday night, scoring 4 goals in the 3rd period in Game 6 of the series on home ice to force a decisive Game 7 on Saturday night back in Dallas. However, fans on the Denver sports scene are going to have to have multiple viewing systems set up. As it happens, not only are the Avalanche battling Game 7 against the Stars on Saturday night, but the NBA's Denver Nuggets are also playing a Game 7 of their own against the Los Angeles Clippers. This was noticed by Denver sports analyst Will Petersen, who wrote the following on X: There is ONE NBA Game 7 on Saturday. There is ONE NHL Game 7 on Saturday. Both involve teams from Denver in huge leagues. And they start 30 minutes apart. How remarkably dumb. Game 7 presents a fantastic opportunity for ex-Avalanche forward Mikko Rantanen, now with the Stars, to eliminate his old club. For Stars goalie Jake Oettinger, who battled against Rantanen many times, he's happy that the sides have switched. We knew what we were getting [in Rantanen]. We played him a ton. So just one of the best players in the world. The fact that he's in green and white now is great and expect nothing less from him. He's a [heck] of a player. I'm just happy he's wearing our logo now.
Steelers' Will Howard Has Already Been Taught His First Lesson By Pittsburgh's Coaching Staff
The Pittsburgh Steelers have one of the worst quarterback situations in the NFL, and it was clear that that was the case ever since Justin Fields decided to sign with the New York Jets in free agency. Pittsburgh wanted no part of Russell Wilson, and players like Sam Darnold and Matthew Stafford had no interest in coming to Pittsburgh. Ever since that first week of free agency the organization has been in communication with veteran quarterback Aaron Rodgers as he continues to make a decision on his future, while Mason Rudolph is penciled in to be the starter in 2025. It still seems like Rodgers will be signing in Pittsburgh at some point in the near future, but that didn't stop the organization from drafting a developmental prospect at quarterback. The franchise selected Will Howard in the sixth round of the NFL Draft, but he was expected to go a bit earlier than that. During the pre-draft process it was reported that the team loved Howard, and that is clear now that he is going to be wearing the black and gold to begin his professional career. If Rodgers does not sign, Howard is probably in one of the better situations that a sixth round quarterback could be in. An unreliable starter in front of him, and an organization that is desperate for hope at quarterback. He has already shown his desire to be great as Pittsburgh's quarterbacks coach Tom Arth had to tell him to take a break right after being drafted, according to an article in The Philadelphia Inquirer written by Devin Jackson. "On Sunday, Howard reached out to Steelers quarterbacks coach Tom Arth for plays, according to his mother, much to the delight of the Steelers coaching staff." Arth wrote Will back and said, 'Hey, we were going to give you the weekend off, but this is why we drafted you, because it's the kind of worker you are.'" It is a good sign to see a quarterback already itching to get his hands on the playbook. He wants to get to work right away, which is something he was praised for coming out of Ohio State. He was always a hard worker that elevated the players around him, which is something the organization wants to see him bring to Pittsburgh. Howard already has some connections within the Steelers organization. Arth recruited Howard out of high school when he was the head coach at Akron. The quarterback wound up choosing to go to Kansas State, but that was a connection that lasted and now the two get to work together again. The ideal developmental quarterback prospect is Howard. His pedigree is off the charts as he led the Buckeyes to a victory in the National Championship, and he also has plenty of experience as a starter at the college level. He has some mobility, but he doesn't rely on it too much. He should be able to come in a learn quickly, and he could become one of the more reliable backups in the NFL. Steelers' Will Howard Should Be Hoping Aaron Rodgers Decides Not To Sign Howard is going to need reps with Pittsburgh in order to get better, and maybe even become the starter one day. If Rodgers does not sign and Rudolph is the starter, there is a very good chance that Howard will be on the field at some point. More importantly, as the backup he will actually get to take some snaps at practice. If Rodgers were to sign, Howard would be the third quarterback on the depth chart. The third quarterback barely sees the field at practice, which would make it nearly impossible for Howard to develop throughout his rookie year.
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