last week’s SI Media Podcast, during the "Traina Thoughts" segment, I said this entire “sticky stuff” controversy is good for Major League Baseball because it has provided entertainment and gotten the sport a ton of coverage it never gets.
Is this the kind of attention Major League Baseball wants? Probably not. But for a fan who loves anarchy and controversy, “sticky stuff” is the gift that keeps on giving.
Case in point: Last night, Twins third baseman Josh Donaldson, who has had a lot to say about Yankees pitcher Gerritt Cole doctoring the baseball, homered off White Sox starter Lucas Giolito.
As Donaldson crossed home and headed to the dugout, he said, “Hand’s not sticky anymore.”
Following Chicago’s 7–6 win, Giolito laid into Donaldson during his postgame press conference.
“He’s a f---ing pest. That’s kind of a classless move. If you’re gonna talk sh--, talk sh-- to my face. You’re gonna go cross home plate and do all that? Just come to me. It’s just annoying. We won. The W’s next to my name. They’re in last place.”
DAYYYYYUM!!! Now that’s how you respond to a troll. Well done, Lucas.
And thank you, Spider Tack, for adding some spice to Major League Baseball.
2. Charles Barkley tore into Paul George last night after the Clippers forward complained about getting criticized throughout his career.
3. Mets pitcher Noah Syndergaard didn't waste any time taunting Trevor Bauer over the sexual assault accusations that came to light yesterday.
4. Here's is your Daily Ohtani. Last night, he belted two homers against the Yankees (who he'll face tonight as a starting pitcher).
5. This year's NHL playoffs are struggling when it comes to ratings.
6. The latest SI Media Podcast features two guests and a new segment.
First up is AEW play-by-play man and senior advisor Jim Ross. The man known as "Good Ole J.R." reveals that he thinks Vince McMahon would sell WWE and explains why McMahon would sell. Ross also discusses the biggest challenge facing AEW, why he loves working for Tony Khan, whether there's anything we don't know about the night The Undertaker threw Mick Foley off the top of the Hell in the Cell, his reaction to the WWE hiring and firing Adnan Virk and much more.
Following Ross, John Ourand from Sports Business Journal joins the podcast. Ourand shares insight into the NBA playoff ratings, the difficulties in trying to watch the U.S. Open, whether Vince McMahon would sell WWE and more.
The show finishes with our new Traina Thoughts segment.
You can listen to the podcast below or download it on Apple, Spotify and Stitcher.
You can also watch the SI Media Podcast on YouTube.
7. RANDOM VIDEO OF THE DAY: Ended up in a Sopranos YouTube rabbit hole yesterday after watching the newly released trailer for the prequel. I'll never understand how James Gandolfini and Edie Falco did this as well as they did.
2021 NFL Draft, organized team activities, and minicamps now complete, teams are preparing for the start of training camp. Unlike previous seasons, when camps opened on various dates, 29 of 32 teams will get back to work on July 27, 2021. Pittsburgh and Dallas play in the Hall of Fame Game, so their camps begin on July 21. Defending Super Bowl Champion Tampa Bay can report to camp starting on July 24.
While the NFL is in a short summer slumber, there are loads of preseason betting options at top-ranked U.S. sportsbooks like DraftKings. From Division champions and team win totals to Season Specials and Super Bowl LVI odds, the DraftKings NFL futures betting board is packed with choices. As part of the package, the “Team to win Most Games in the Regular Season” prop betting option is on our radar today.
We track our preseason picks and publish hedge betting advice during the regular season when warranted. SI premium subscribers receive betting plays, updates, and articles, as soon as they are published.
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Super Bowl Winners - Regular Season Records
This is an enticing wagering option from a few angles. Does anyone see a clear-cut Super Bowl LVI lock at this point?
DraftKings have Kansas City (+500) and Tampa Bay (+650) as their top two favorites. After that, there is a gap between Buffalo (+1100) and the Los Angeles Rams (+1300). Baltimore and San Francisco are tied as fifth favorites with a +1400 moneyline price.
When researching this prop option, bettors don’t need to worry too much about which team will win the outright NFL Championship. Dating back to the 2004 season, 26 teams have finished with the best regular-season record – including ties. Philadelphia (2017) and New England (2016 and 2014), plus Seattle in 2013, were the only teams that won the Super Bowl. A wager here may also set up a late-season hedge bet.
Betting Odds via DraftKings Sportsbook on 06/30/21
Most 2021-22 NFL Regular Season Wins - Favorites
Usual suspects, plus a 6–10 team from last season, occupy the favorite slots on the “Most Games Won” prop at DraftKings. As they are on the Super Bowl futures board, the Chiefs, Buccaneers, and Bills are the top three favorites. San Francisco, who finished NFL 2020 on a 2–7 slide, is a somewhat surprising fifth favorite. I bet the Kansas City win total OVER 12.5 (+100) and, while it’s chalky, I like them out of this group as well.
Pick:Kansas City Chiefs – Most Games Won (+400)
Sleeper Pick:Green Bay (+2000) If Aaron Rodgers stays with the Packers
Betting Odds via DraftKings Sportsbook on 06/30/21
Most 2021-22 NFL Regular Season Wins - Mid-Tier Teams
The water gets a little murkier when looking at the middle 10 chalk squads. Not due to wondering if any of the teams will post the most wins, but more so because a few squads could rack up the most wins. I have Minnesota winning the NFC North, plus Dallas winning the NFC East. Both teams could go on long winning runs this season. I also bet on the Los Angeles Chargers exceeding their 9.5 (+110) win total odds.
Pick:Minnesota Vikings – Most Games Won (+5000)
Betting Odds via DraftKings Sportsbook on 06/30/21
Most 2021-22 NFL Regular Season Wins - Dark Horse
This is where the water turns to mud, as it is difficult to see any of the bottom 12 underdogs posting the most wins during the 2021-22 NFL season. That said, if defense wins championships, the Washington Football Team could claim back-to-back titles. The NFC East will be fairly competitive so a concern is the WFT winning the division with a 9–8 record. An 8–9 season is a stretch for the other 11 pups listed below.
Pick:Washington Football Team – Most Games Won (+6000)
Betting Odds via DraftKings Sportsbook on 06/30/21
Reuters. "However, after careful consideration of the unique situation facing athletes with nursing children, we are pleased to confirm that, when necessary, nursing children will be able to accompany athletes to Japan."
U.S. marathoner Aliphine Tuliamuk petitioned Olympic organizers in an effort to bring her 4-month-old daughter, Zoe. USWNT star Alex Morgan hoped to bring her daughter, Charlie.
“I’m just still very hopeful that I’ll have my daughter with me,” Morgan told reporters in May. “It’s important to allow mothers the option to have their kids with them when they compete. If a child is under 1 or 2, they might still be breastfeeding, so that’s a huge piece of it.”
Athletes with babies present will stay in approved hotels outside the Olympic village during the Tokyo Games, per NBC. The IOC said Wednesday it is "very pleased to hear that the Tokyo 2020 Organizing Committee has found a special solution," for nursing mothers at the Olympic Games.
It didn't take much to see that Group F at Euro 2020 was unequivocally the competition's Group of Death. Yet none of the sides in it have reached the quarterfinals of the tournament, which might be taken as evidence that in football, as William Goldman said of show business, nobody knows anything.
Except we did know Hungary was game for a challenge despite its limitations. And we did wonder about the integration of this Portugal side, even if nobody expected the complete capitulation against Germany. And we’d seen Germany fall apart at the last World Cup and in some significant, subsequent losses; that Joachim Löw should not have been allowed to continue as coach after Russia 2018 had been increasingly apparent with each passing week. Both the 2016 European champion and the 2014 world champion had the potential to be less than the sum of their parts.
But France's failure was the real shock. This is an extravagantly gifted squad. It probably should have won the last Euros, losing in extra time in the final on home soil. It did rebound to win the World Cup. It has such strength in depth that there was no place in the squad for Man City defender Aymeric Laporte (who decided to declare for Spain instead) or new Bayern Munich center back Dayot Upamecano. Under manager Didier Deschamps it had developed an understated style of play that seemed obsessed with doing just enough to win. This, it seemed, was the formula for international football: a solid block plus an array of stars who could produce a moment of magic when it was needed.
The outcome was the oddest of things: a team that was frequently boring to watch (for neutrals, anyway) but that every now and again became involved in a high-scoring classic. But by and large it won. At least until Monday.
So what went wrong against Switzerland? How could this strongest of favorites go out to a team of journeymen, to a nation that hadn’t reached the quarterfinal of any major tournament since the 1954 World Cup that it hosted—to a nation that had never beaten France before outside of friendlies? And how, specifically, could it squander a two-goal lead with nine minutes to go?
The best answer, perhaps, was to be found in the stands, where Adrien Rabiot’s mother became involved in a heated row with the families of Paul Pogba and Kylian Mbappé. She reportedly raged about the way Pogba had given the ball away in the buildup to the Swiss equalizer and told Mbappé’s father that he should teach his son to be less arrogant.
This is not a happy camp—this is not a new phenomenon for France—and Paris Saint-Germain seems to lie at the heart of it. Rabiot, whose mother is also his agent, clearly still feels aggrieved by the manner of his departure from PSG for Juventus in 2019. Mbappé remains a brilliant footballer and is still only 22, but it feels as though his progress has stalled a little recently as the astronomical expectations for him soar. Playing for a club that, even if it somehow failed to win the league this season, is way richer and way stronger than any of its rivals, perhaps does not encourage a player to stretch himself.
Mbappé’s future remains unclear, with his contract set to expire next summer, and that may be playing on his mind, but he has shown only flickers of his extraordinary talent since the return from the COVID-19 hiatus, and he went scoreless in this competition. He perhaps wasn’t helped at this tournament by being asked to play from the left rather than the right—an indication, perhaps, of the struggle France had covering for the phasing out of Blaise Matuidi. Nobody should be scapegoated for missing a penalty, but Mbappé was notably more rushed in taking his than the four French players who had gone before him. Perhaps he felt the pressure.
Deschamps’s decision to recall Karim Benzema may still draw criticism given the history there, but he did score four goals—including the two vs. Switzerland that appeared to turn the tide in France's favor—and the suggestion is that he was a response to a pre-existing problem in the forward line rather than the cause of the problem.
Then there’s Pogba. Unconvincing in the first half vs. the Swiss, he was much improved as the shape changed to add an additional midfielder in the second, and he scored a sensational goal and played four exquisite forward passes. But then he also gave the ball away sloppily, giving Switzerland the possession from which it scored its goal to force extra time. Not only was that a basic error, especially for a deep-lying midfielder, but it cast his absurdly extended goal celebration in a poor light. Had he thought the game was done? Had he allowed his concentration to slip? Perhaps nothing is ever quite so simple, but when you celebrate like that and then make a mistake like that, it doesn't come off well.
Worse, the incident seemed to encapsulate a wider issue within the French squad of hubris. It was as though it had come to believe it would always manage to do just enough to get by, as though Deschamps’s functionality had mutated into complacency.
Questions must be asked of Deschamps, too, not only about the atmosphere in the squad, but about the ill-conceived switch to a back three for the last 16. It is true France was a bit hobbled, with Lucas Digne and Ousmane Dembélé both out injured and a hurt Lucas Hernandez unused on Monday, but then if any team was built to overcome some absences, it was this France. It's also true that France was a couple of inches away from skating by again on a brilliant moment, with Kingsley Coman's volley at the death of regular time, after Pogba picked him out, clanging off the crossbar.
Nevertheless, Deschamps had the best squad in the tournament, and he blew it. Being solid and having good players was enough at the World Cup, but it turns out management is about more than that. And whoever is the French's manager—whether Deschamps remains in the role, or whether the French federation makes a move for Zinedine Zidane or someone else—will always have to deal with the PSG issue.
New Orleans lost DE Trey Hendrickson, DT Sheldon Rankins, and LB Alex Anzalone to free agency.
Draft
DE Payton Turner
Turner gives the Saints another player with strength and range defending the run on the outside. His game isn’t where it needs to be when attacking the quarterback with power, but he’ll create havoc when flipping to the inside. Turner gets off the ball quickly while not fully developed.
LB Pete Werner
Werner brings an excellent fit to a team with strength on the defensive line. His vision grades well with a foundation to fill holes in a hurry against the run and attacking the quarterback position. He gets in trouble when facing big bodies in traffic. Werner needs to get stronger while adding more pop to his tackles.
CB Paulson Adebo
Adebo opted out of 2020, leaving him as a wild card in their year’s draft class. He projects as a lockdown press cover who gains value as the field shortens. His playmaking style can leave him at risk when playing off the ball and facing a speedy receiver with double moves. His technique in mirroring pass patterns needs work, but his feel for the ball creates an edge, especially against teams with a short passing window. Adebo has questions about his value in run support, which may be helped by patient decision-making.
QB Ian Book
His dual-threat ability falls in line with the recent success of Taysom Hill. He lacks an elite arm with questions with his size (6.0” and 210 Lbs.). Book offers a good feel for the pocket with a chain mover feel when asked to run on RPOs. His accuracy diminishes with the length of throws while needing improvement taking care of the ball under duress.
T Landon Young
Young gets off the ball well after the span while relying on his strength to create wins. His forward lean creates imbalance and missed timed blocks. He battles speed in the pass rush, and jumpers crossing his face can lead to pressure on the quarterback.
WR Kawaan Baker
Baker has the tools to reach a high ceiling once he shows he can win against NFL talent at cornerback. His early quickness and acceleration set the tone for wins with the wheels to turn a short pass into long touchdowns. Baker gets off the line well against press coverage. However, his success falls on the development of his hands.
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Offensive Line
The Saints climbed to 6th rushing yards (2,265). New Orleans scored 30 touchdowns while gaining (4.6 yards per rush with 14 runs over 20 yards. New Orleans averaged 30.9 rushes compared to 25.3 in 2019.
New Orleans slipped to 20th in the NFL in passing yards (3.945) with 28 touchdowns and eight touchdowns. They only had 44 completions over 20 yards while gaining yards per pass attempt (7.6). Their offensive line allowed 29 sacks.
LT Terron Armstead
Armstead was one of the best players at his position while playing at an elite level again last year in pass protection. His run blocking rebounded while also providing an edge over the league average. Armstead has never had over 1,000 snaps in a season in his career.
LG Andrus Peat
Peat improved to closer to the league average in the run game after two disappointing seasons. His pass protection has been a problem over the past three years despite getting drafted in the first round in 2015.
C Erik McCoy
Over two seasons after getting drafted in the second round, McCoy made 32 starts with success in both run and pass blocking. His game is built on power and strength, allowing McCoy to handle bull rushers. His range is limited, but he does protect his space quickly after the snap. His challenge will come when asked to defend a more significant piece of the field in pass protection.
RG Cesar Ruiz
The Saints expect Ruiz to upgrade their run game thanks to plus strength and the ability to win quickly after the snap. Ruiz uses his hands well, but his range may be limited. His challenge will come vs. power in the pass rush. New Orleans drafted him in the first round in 2020. He didn’t allow a sack last year, but defenders did apply plenty of pressure on the quarterback while showing weakness against the run.
RT Ryan Ramczyk
Ramczyk played well in all four seasons in the NFL after the Saints drafted him in the first round in 2017. Ramczyk is very skilled in the techniques needed to have success at his position while adding athletic ability. He has been an asset in all years in run and pass blocking.
OL Snapshot
New Orleans has a top offensive line, but a change at the quarterback position changes the game flow and passing window. The Saints will run the ball well again while having the same coaching staff who wants to put the ball in the air.
Offense
The Saints ran the ball 48.6 percent of the time in 2020, helped by Taysom Hill (87/457/8) making four starts. Their passing attempts (32.6) fell below the league average for the fourth season.
Quarterbacks
Taysom Hill
In his four starts in 2020, Hill passed for 834 yards and four touchdowns while adding a high floor on the ground (39/209/4). His success led to 102.7 fantasy points (25.68 per game) in four-point passing touchdown leagues, which would have ranked seventh if Hill repeated his success over another 12 contests.
He finished with a high completion rate (72.7) while gaining 7.7 yards per pass attempt. In addition, Hill was active in the run game (87/457/8) even when not playing quarterback.
Fantasy Outlook: New Orleans will rotate two quarterbacks in 2021. Hill played well with Drew Brees out last year, giving him a window to prove he belongs as their number one quarterback. His game management skills added to his value in the run game should play well with the lead, but the Saints should hook him when a game gets out of hand, and New Orleans has to throw. His cloudiness ranks Hill as the 31st quarterback drafted in 12-team leagues in late June. For a fantasy owner looking to play matchups, Hill is a value as a QB3.
Jameis Winston
Over 70 career starts, Winston went 28-42, with his only winning record coming in 2016 (9-7). In 2019, Winston led the NFL in passing yards (5,109) with plenty of touchdowns (33) and attempts (626), but his incredibly high number of interceptions (30 – seventh-highest all-time) keeps his opponents in games too often.
His career completion rate (61.3) is well below the top quarterbacks in the game, but his stats in this area aren’t padded by an active receiver in the passing game at running back.
Fantasy Outlook: In his first season with the Saints, Winston went 7-for-11 with 75 yards and no touchdowns. Winston would be on a path for 5,000 combined yards with over 30 touchdowns if given the keys to run New Orleans' offense for an entire season. On the downside, he could hold a clipboard for a significant portion of the year. Possible wise guy target for a fantasy owner wanting to cheat the quarterback position, and the training camp news slants toward him starting in Week 1.
Ian Book
Book gained 10,466 combined yards over four seasons at Notre Dame with 89 combined touchdowns and 20 interceptions. His best success came in 2019 (3,580 combined yards with 38 touchdowns and six interceptions. Book has a winning resume, but he does need time to develop as a passer.
Other Option: Trevor Siemian
Running Backs
Alvin Kamara and Latavius Murray combined for 2,520 yards with 20 touchdowns and 106 catches. The running back position gained 25 percent of the Saints’ passing yards while catching over 30 percent of their completions.
Alvin Kamara
Over his four seasons with the Saints, Kamara delivered a high floor in each year (81/826/5, 81/709/4, 81/533/1, and 83/756/5) in the passing game. He’s still looking for his first season over 1,000 yards rushing (career-high in 2020 – 932 yards). Kamara has 43 rushing touchdowns over 60 games. He led the league in running back scoring (378.00) in 2020 in PPR leagues.
Last year, Kamara rushed for over 100 yards in one matchup (22/155) while scoring an incredible six touchdowns. His best success catching the ball came in Week 3 (13/139/2). He scored over 30.00 fantasy points in four contests (38.40, 44.70, 34.80, and 56.20). The Saints gave him 18 touches per game.
Fantasy Outlook: Other than 2019 (six touchdowns), Kamara has consistently delivered yards, touchdowns, and catches. He continues to compete with Latavius Murray for touches, and Taysom Hill could be more of a problem if he wins the starting quarterback job. On the flip side, Kamara has the tools to push even higher if given 325-plus touches, which would require an injury to Murray. He ranks third in the early draft season while offering a 300-point fantasy floor.
Latavius Murray
The Saints gave Murray 349 touches over the past two seasons, which works out to 11.25 per game. He finished 28th and 34th in running back scoring in PPR leagues in 2019 (157.20 fantasy points) and 2020 (136.80 fantasy points). Last year, a healthier Alvin Kamara led to Murray receiving 17 fewer targets and a step back in opportunity in the passing game (23/176/1). He missed Week 17 and most of the postseason with a quad injury.
Murray offered the best fantasy value in Week 4 (83 combined yards with two touchdowns and one catch) and Week 12 (19/124/2 with one catch for two yards). He scored under 10.00 fantasy points 10 times in PPR leagues, making him tough to time in the fantasy market.
Fantasy Outlook: Murray starts the year at age 31 with the resume to receive 150-plus touches off the bench for the Saints. He works as a bridge filler or bye week cover while also owning top 12 running back upside if given a full-time starting job. Murray looks to be easier to handcuff with Kamara based on his late June ADP (144). I won’t fight for him on draft day unless I’m trying to roster both New Orleans’ running backs.
Other Options: Dwayne Washington, Ty Montgomery, Tony Jones, Stevie Scott
Wide Receivers
Much of the wide receiver production for the Saints, with Drew Brees throwing the ball, came close to the line of scrimmage, leading to a higher catch rate (65.4) over the previous three seasons. Their downside comes from regression in their yards per catch (11.35). Injuries to Drew Brees and Michael Thomas led to a sharp decline in wide receiver touchdowns (13 – 20 in 2019) and fade in catches (195 – 219 in 2019) and receiving yards (2,213 – 2,617 in 2019).
Michael Thomas
In 2019, Thomas set the NFL record in catches (149) while scoring almost 100 more fantasy points (375.5) than the 2nd ranked wide receiver (Chris Godwin – 276.1) in PPR leagues.
At the end of Week 1, he suffered a doomed high ankle sprain with minimal time left in the game. His injury led to six missed weeks and two empty starts (5/51 and 2/27 on 13 combined targets). From Week 11 to Week 14, Thomas has posted three playable games (9/104, 9/105, and 8/84) before suffering a hamstring injury.
In the first week of the playoffs, he scored his only touchdown (5/73/1), followed by a zero on four targets against Tampa.
In mid-January, Thomas had shoulder and ankle surgeries.
When at his best from 2017 to 2019, Thomas caught 378 passes for 4,375 yards and 23 touchdowns on 481 targets. His catch rate (78.6) over this span was elite while gaining 11.6 yards per catch. He averaged 7.9 catches for 91 yards and 0.48 touchdowns per game or 20.03 fantasy points per game in PPR leagues.
Fantasy Outlook: The questions on who starts at quarterback for the Saints and a down season by Thomas led to him sliding to the third round in PPR leagues in most early drafts in the 12-team high-stakes market. His ADP (31) has a breakaway layup feel. In 2018 and 2019, only six running backs outscored him within each year while ranking second behind Christian McCaffrey in combined fantasy points (857.20 to 693.00).
Thomas had 30 catches for 343 yards on 37 targets over his four starts with Taysom Hill behind center in 2020., Over this stretch, New Orleans passed for 834 yards with 82 completions. Thomas finished with 36.6 percent of the team’s team completions and 41.1 percent of their passing yards in these four games.
At a minimum, the Saints will attempt 34 passes per game, leading to an average of 22.2 completions. Thomas should have a floor of seven catches per game for 80 yards and a score every other week. My easy math comes to 18.00 fantasy points per game in PPR leagues. If New Orleans starts Jameis Winston for 17 games, Thomas gets a 10 to 20 percent bump in value.
Tre’Quan Smith
The ceiling of Smith remains a mystery. He has 80 catches for 1,109 yards and 14 touches over 40 career games. Last year, he set a career-high in catches (34), receiving yards (448), and targets (50) while missing three games (including the playoffs) with an ankle injury. Smith averaged under three targets in his three years in the league. His best value came in Week 2 (5/86), Week 13 (3/42/1), and Week 19 (3/85/3).
Fantasy Outlook: Smith has the stats to support much more upside if he can find a way to stay healthy and push his targets to six per game. The fluid dynamics at the quarterback position push him into the deep sleeper category with an ADP of 220. At the very least, Smith has the potential to be a fourth-year breakout with a 60/900/6 type season. His higher ceiling/opportunity comes with Jameis Winston starting.
Kawaan Baker
Over his final three seasons at South Alabama, Baker caught 119 passes for 1,727 yards and 15 touchdowns. He flashed big-play ability in 2018 and 2019 (15.0 and 16.4 yards per catch) while transitioning to a possession guy last season (51/659/8 – 12.9 yards per catch). Baker also has some experience running the ball (92/376/11), highlighted by his success in 2018 (59/251/9).
Fantasy Outlook: I'm intrigued by his scouting report while also understanding Baker needs time to develop. If Drew Brees started in 2021, he might have moved quickly up the Saints’ depth chart. But, for now, only a player to follow over the summer. In my head, my thought is a poor man’s Jarvis Landry with a flavor of Golden Tate with the ball in his hands. New Orleans should try to get him the ball on jet sweeps similarly as the Rams do with Robert Woods.
Marquez Callaway
In his rookie season over 11 games, Callaway caught 21 of his 27 passes for 213 yards with one contest of value (8/75). New Orleans signed him as an undrafted free agent last April. Callaway battled knee and ankle injuries over the second half of 2020.
From 2017 to 2019 at Tennessee, he caught 91 of his 164 targets for 1,633 yards and 13 touchdowns while working as a deep threat (17.9 yards per catch).
Other Options: Deonte Harris, Juwan Johnson, Lil’Jordan Humphrey, Jake Lampman
Tight Ends
The tight end catch opportunity in the Saints’ passing game has been about the same over the past three seasons. They receive about 16.5 percent of the team’s completions and close to 20 percent of their passing yards. New Orleans does look for the tight end position in the red zone (20 touchdowns in 2019 and 2020).
Adam Trautman
As the TE2 for the Saints last season, Trautman caught 15 of his 16 targets for 171 yards and one touchdown. His only playable game came in Week 9 (3/39/1).
Over four seasons in Dayton, Trautman caught 178 passes for 2,295 yards and 31 touchdowns. His play improved in 2018 (41/604/9) and 2019 (70/916/14).
Trautman comes to the NFL with a pass-catching skill set. He does some things well in his route running while also having questions with his release and blocking.
Fantasy Outlook: Based on ADP (169), not many fantasy owners fight for Trautman on draft day. He projects as a backend TE2 in PPR leagues with the talent to become a 50/50/5 player in his second year in the league. For someone looking to cheat the tight end position, Trautman is a must-follow this summer as he could very well emerge as the Saints’ third option in the passing game.
Other Options: Nick Vannett, Ethan Wolf, Dylan Soehner
Kicker
Wil Lutz
Over his five seasons with the Saints, Lutz made 86.6 percent of his 164 field goals. His kicks started to fade over the past two years from 50 yards or more (4-for-9), lowering his career percentage to 56.5 percent (13-for-23). Lutz has seven missed extra points in his 260 chances.
In 2020, New Orleans had a five-year high in extra points (58) at the expense of their field-goal tries (28 – averaged 34 from 2016 to 2019). The Saints run the ball well in close, which hurts their scoring in the kicking game.
Fantasy Outlook: Lutz ranked 8th, 4th, 2nd, and 13th in kicker scoring over the last four years. I expect a bounce-back this year. He ranks 12th at the kicker position in the early draft positions, pointing to a value.
Defense
New Orleans remains fourth in rushing yards allowed (1,502) with 11 touchdowns and eight runs over 20 yards. They gave up 3.9 yards per rush, with opponents attempting 24.4 rushers per game.
The Saints jumped to fifth in passing yards allowed (3,472) with 28 touchdowns and 18 interceptions. Quarterbacks gained 6.7 yards per pass attempt with 49 completions over 20 yards and nine catches over 40 yards. Their defense finished with 45 sacks.
DT David Onyemata
In his fifth season in New Orleans, Onyemata posted career-highs in tackles (44) and sacks (6.5) while adding an interception and two defended passes. Most of his playing time comes on early downs against the run, where his game tends to shine. However, he does need to improve his tackling.
DE Payton Turner
New Orleans protected their pass rush on the outside by adding Turner in the first round of this year’s draft. His game hasn’t reached its ceiling, so playing behind Cameron Jordan should help his development.
The second defensive tackle position for the Saints is an area of weakness. As a result, they signed multiple undrafted players to add to their already below-bar options.
DE Marcus Davenport
Davenport picked 53 tackles and 11.5 sacks over his first two years in the NFL with success defending the run while playing in 26 games. In 2020, he missed the first four games with an elbow injury, leading to a step back in his stats (21 tackles and 1.5 sacks). Nevertheless, Davenport remains a top player at his position.
DE Cameron Jordan
Jordan has been a top player at his position for five straight seasons. His value vs. the run remains high, but he finished with a fade in his sack production (7.5 – 40 over his previous 48 starts). The Saints drafted Jordan in the first round in 2011.
LB Demario Davis
Davis has over 100 tackles in six of his nine years in the NFL while never missing a game in his career. Over the previous three seasons, he had played at an elite level vs. the run while delivering 13 combined sacks. However, quarterbacks did pick on him in the red zone, leading to too many touchdowns allowed.
LB Pete Werner
The Saints expect Werner to move into the starting lineup after getting drafted in the second round in 2021. His style of play should excel on the right side of New Orleans defense.
The strongside linebacker position for the Saints needs an upgrade via a late signing. All current options have minimal resumes while lacking top-tier draft pedigree.
CB Marshon Lattimore
The theory of Lattimore being a top coverage cornerback left the building in his rookie season. He held receivers to a reasonable catch rate over the past two years, but Lattimore allowed too many big plays, and touchdowns were a problem in 2020.
CB Chauncey Gardner-Johnson
New Orleans shifted Gardner-Johnson to slot cornerback in 2020 after seeing action at safety in his rookie season. He held receivers to short yards per catch with neutral value in his catch rate.
S Marcus Williams
Over four seasons, Williams has 246 tackles, 30 defended passes, and 13 defended passes. He’s a beast in run support, but Williams did give up multiple long plays in coverage last year.
S Malcolm Jenkins
In his first year back with New Orleans, Jenkins played well against the run, which was the case over his six seasons in Philadelphia. He likes to keep receivers in front of him, leading to low yards per catch. Jenkins is a league-average player.
Fantasy Defense Snapshot
New Orleans has three glaring issues on defense – defensive tackle, outside linebacker, and left cornerback. They might get away with the defensive lineman, but the other two positions will get exposed by good teams. The Saints put pressure on the quarterback and slow down the run. Both Payton Turner and Pete Werner add playmaking to the defense. New Orleans needs Marshon Lattimore to play much better in coverage this year. In fantasy land, this defense should rank as a low-end DST1.
The accident happened during the first of the race’s 21 stages, in the municipality of Saint-Cadou. Martin's fall and the subsequent fall of dozens of other riders held up the race for several minutes.
Over the weekend, Tour de France deputy director Pierre-Yves Thouault told the AFP news agency they plan to sue the woman "so that the tiny minority of people who do this don't spoil the show for everyone. "
The Tour also took to Twitter to say: "We're glad to have the public on the side of the road on the #TDF2021. But for the Tour to be a success, respect the safety of the riders! Don't risk everything for a photo or to get on television!"
Wednesday marks the fifth stage in the 21-stage, 23-day event.
Brady has already shot a Subway ad, which is expected to debut in about a month, Lefton reports, but it won’t feature him holding a sandwich.
Bringing the notoriously health-conscious Brady on board makes sense for Subway as it tries to rebuild its image as a healthier alternative to other fast food. The chain is dealing with a couple of unsavory controversies over the content of its food. A New York Times analysis earlier this month found that Subway’s tuna contains “no amplifiable tuna DNA” and Ireland’s Supreme Court ruled last year that its loaves contain too much sugar to be legally considered bread.
Brady obviously isn’t going into Subway and ordering a footlong maybe-not-tuna on toasted not-legally-bread. Lefton even cited a source as claiming that Brady “has never been inside a Subway.”
It would be one thing for Brady to appear in an ad for a fast food joint he’s never even been to, but Brady’s actual history with Subway makes this situation even funnier. Brady used to love Subway, but now he can’t even stomach the thought of it.
Brady appeared on actor Dax Shepard’s podcast Armchair Expert in September to promote his TB12 Method and talked about how, in college, he would go to Subway and “eat like 18 inches of sandwich, of meatball.”
“And at the time, if I went healthy, I was going only one slice of cheese all the way across instead of two slices,” he said.
Later in the episode, Brady walked through his dietary evolution and how he came to embrace his current diet.
“Over time, what I’ve noticed is that my taste buds change,” Brady said. “I went from, I loved Subway and Burger King and all those types of things, to now, it’s like, the thought of that is like no way! No way!”
Somehow I doubt that the tagline of Brady’s commercial will be “Subway: No way!”
Welcometo The Opener, where every weekday morning you’ll get a fresh, topical column to start your day from one ofSI.com’s MLB writers.
When Germán Márquez allowed a ninth-inning lead-off hit Tuesday—a solidly hit single to right field—he lost his bid for a no-hitter. It came with all the typical notes of such a moment: A crowd that had risen to its feet in anticipation shifted to one giving a standing ovation. They applauded to show their appreciation for a job well done, and they applauded to show that it was clearly, unambiguously over. It did not particularly matter that the game was ongoing. It mattered only that its central story line had wrapped up.
Which is something of a shame. Because Márquez went on to do something that is arguably more intriguing than a no-hitter: He made quick work of the next few batters to throw a Maddux, a shutout on fewer than 100 pitches.
There is no culture of achievement around a Maddux; unlike a no-hitter, it has no mythology around the concept of a jinx, and it carries no historic tradition. It does not prompt a crowd to stand for the ninth inning in anticipation. It does not prompt a crowd to do anything, because most people in a crowd won’t know that it’s happening, or that it has a name at all. (The term was coined by writer Jason Lukehart in 2012, and the career leader for the stat is still, you guessed it, Greg Maddux.) It is a bit of baseball trivia that was born a creature of the internet and largely remains so today.
But right now, it’s rarer than a no-hitter, and perhaps a more intriguing feat to pull off.
Márquez was trying for the seventh individual no-hitter of 2021. But his Maddux was the first of the season—the first since Yusei Kikuchi’s on Aug. 18, 2019, since which there have been nine no-hitters. (Plus one kind-of-but-technically-not contribution from Madison Bumgarner.) If you’ll recall the discourse of this May, when there were four no-hitters in two weeks, this season has already been home to plentyofconsternation over whether the achievement still means what it once did and how many of them might be too many. A Maddux, meanwhile, had not been done in almost two years before Márquez pulled it off on Tuesday.
That’s the statistical case for the current importance of the Maddux: If the accomplishment was once roughly as common as the no-hitter, it’s now far less so, with the natural increase in interest that can accompany a decrease in frequency. But the aesthetic case for the feat might be even more compelling. Because a Maddux comes with something that a no-hitter does not—a delightfully strong sense of self.
Rockies righthander Germán Márquez smiles after completing a Maddux against the Pirates on Tuesday night at Coors Field.
A no-hitter is defined in one dimension. Its condition is stated in its name; the requirements here are plainly straightforward with no loopholes or tricks. This is both a no-hitter’s best trait and its worst—it makes the feat easy to define but almost impossible to describe. A no-hitter is a game where a pitcher does not allow a hit, but it might be a game that was a fraction of an inch from perfection, or a game that was a bit of a splotchy mess, or anything in between. It can be wonderful. But it doesn’t need to be. Which is why it was possible for baseball to have the conversation that it did earlier this year: “Do no-hitters still matter?” is not a question you could so easily ask if the accomplishment came with some inherent flair. It is special because it has traditionally been special—because it is generally rare and because it is historically resonant. So if it’s not as rare, in an offensive environment where it’s easier to achieve, when the ball is put in play less often across the board? It’s only natural that it might begin to feel less special.
A Maddux has a different guiding force. It’s a game with clear aesthetic principles—every instance of the achievement must fit in the same neat, efficient box, with its shutout lines and its double-digit pitch count. It requires a decent pace and a certain economy of movement; 100-pitch limits don’t allow for anything else. Therein lies the brilliance of an achievement defined not just by its outcome but by what it takes to get there. Of course, it lacks the straightforwardness of a no-hitter, to say nothing of the history. But it has something else: a sense of style.
To lose a no-hitter is to lose a shot at history. But Márquez walked off the mound with something that just might have been more interesting in the present.
Many may ho-hum this pick for choosing the favorite and highest-priced player in the field, but sometimes the top play is just the right play.
DeChambeau specifically at the Detroit Golf Club is that guy! His first time here in 2020, he never shot above a 67 en route to his victory over Matthew Wolff.
He hasn't missed a cut since the Genesis Open in mid-February, and is top-four in SG: total and number one in SG: off-the-tee over the last 24 rounds.
I admit, it's never fun to back the favorite in a golf tournament, but I'll put temptation aside and grab the player whose game is designed to dominate here especially while trending upward.
Additional Plays to Consider
Webb Simpson ($10,600 | +1800) - Look for his approach and putter to shine through, despite some injuries and inconsistencies.
Jason Kokrak - ($9,500 | +2800) - Kokrak has so many similarities to DeChambeau's game that it would be foolish to not include him in the mix. He too has the ability to potentially drive some Par 5's in two, and ranks 5th in SG: putting over his last 24 rounds.
If we're spending up for DeChambeau, we'll have to find savings elsewhere in our lineups and on our betting card. Enter Tringale, who enters the Rocket Mortgage Classic with the top spot in SG: short game in the field, as well as top-five in SG: around-the-green and top-six in putting.
While his last five events include three missed cuts, this course is forgiving for his lack of distance off-the-tee, and he can hang with the best of them with his terrific short game.
Additional Plays to Consider
Emiliano Grillo ($8,200 | +4000) - Grillo had a rough start to the week last Thursday, but was brilliant on Friday which could indicate a change in direction heading into Detroit Golf Club. Ranks second in SG: total and No. 1 in SG: approach over last 24 rounds.
For a play right around the $7K range, Lebioda has been remarkably consistent since the beginning of May including a T5 finish at last week's Travelers Championship. In this price range, you're looking for someone to make the cut and Lebioda has been a reliable option over the last few months.
Furthermore, Lebioda is 13th in SG: total over his last 24 rounds, and T27 in SG: tee-to-green. He also ranks top 30 in putting, putting a well-rounded game to the test this week.
Additional Plays to Consider
Cameron Davis ($7,200 | +10000) - Davis is an absolute bomber who ranks T30 in SG: putting. He can afford to have some misses off the tee at Detroit Golf Club, and can scramble out without hesitation.
Reed was one of my favorite plays for both The Memorial and the U.S. Open as he tends to show up for big events on Tour. This isn't to say the Rocket Mortgage Classic isn't a worthwhile event, but he's starting to trend in the wrong direction; losing total strokes gained (SG) over three consecutive weeks.
As much as I'd love to fade DeChambeau for a third consecutive week in this article series, he's the defending champion here and I can't avoid him even at price point that feels insanely expensive. Instead, I'll fade Reed who comes in 60th in SG: off-the-tee in the field over his last 24 rounds, as well as 43rd in SG: putting.
In Pittsburgh, KDKA picked up the fight. The Pirates had a home game that afternoon, and six men with megaphones relayed the action to 25,000 fans in the park. The Pittsburgh Daily Post noted that “a great yell of joy went up when it was announced that the Frenchman had the best of round three but when it was flashed that he had been knocked out in the fourth the stands almost rocked with the vibration from the throats of thousands.”
The signal was even picked up at sea. The Nieuw Amsterdam, a Holland-America liner carrying several fans to see the fight, showed up in Hoboken on July 3, the day after the fight, because of, in the words of the A.P., “poor coal.” The fans who missed the bout were at least treated to the broadcast on the ship.
One man who wasn’t upset to see the fight end was Smith. Being positioned so close to the glowing radio tubes, he was temporarily blinded for days. In the final round, one overheating tube exploded. Smith grabbed the base and pulled it out of its socket—searing his hands— before inserting a new one. As the fight ended, the transmitter was smoking and, according to an account in the 1930 book This Thing Called Broadcasting, had “resolved itself into a molten mass.”
But perhaps it had been worth it, because the book continued: “Two hundred thousand persons heard the fight.” The next month, KDKA made history with the first broadcast of a baseball game. It aired the World Series that October, as did WJZ, a Newark station that began broadcasting just four days before the Fall Classic began.
Radio had arrived as a viable medium for conveying news, and a century later, it still is—louder, clearer and, luckily for the people calling the action, safer.
