Happy Tuesday, all! Hope you’re well.
Let’s get right to it.
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Good morning to everyone but especially to…
The quarterback carousel has taken us on a wild ride this offseason. Yesterday it sent a former MVP to a new home: Matt Ryan is heading to the Colts, with a third-round pick headed back to Atlanta.
Ryan, who will be 37 this coming season, had spent all 14 of his professional seasons with the Falcons, and he’s the franchise’s all-time leader in every significant statistical passing category by a wide margin. He won MVP in 2016, the same season he led the Falcons to the Super Bowl (where they infamously blew a 28-3 lead to the Patriots and lost in overtime).
Ryan has continued to play well, even in the aftermath of that career-best 2016 campaign. Over the last five seasons, he ranks:
- Second in passing yards
- Seventh in passing touchdowns
- 13th in expected points added per dropback (ahead of players such as Josh Allen, Russell Wilson and Joe Burrow)
The trade comes a week-and-a-half after Indianapolis dealt 2021 starter Carson Wentz to the Commanders, and it means the Colts will have their sixth different opening-game starting quarterback in as many seasons:
- 2017: Scott Tolzien
- 2018: Andrew Luck
- 2019: Jacoby Brissett
- 2020: Philip Rivers
- 2021: Carson Wentz
- 2022: Matt Ryan (projected)
Ryan may be another short-term fix, but considering that the Colts had to work their way out of a tough situation after Wentz didn’t pan out, he’s more than good enough, writes NFL expert Cody Benjamin in his trade grades:
- Benjamin: “Ryan figures to at least give the Colts production in the same ballpark as 2021 Wentz… Ryan may not be elite or even upper-tier anymore, but he’s firmly in the ‘serviceable’ category, and also a historically more reliable game manager than Wentz. This isn’t quite Matthew Stafford to the Rams, but you can easily envision a scenario where Ryan rebounds in a more comfortable setup, returning the Colts to the playoffs. His arrival, meanwhile, underscores the shortsighted but still-admirable turn of events at QB here: a year after trading first- and third-round picks for Wentz, Indy essentially flipped Wentz for two thirds, and has now replaced him with Ryan for one of those picks.“
Speaking of returning to the playoffs, SportsLine likes the Colts’ chance to do so following the Ryan acquisition. The move also had a domino effect on the QB market elsewhere elsewhere:
- Marcus Mariota will likely get another shot as a starter after signing a two-year deal with Atlanta.
- Jameis Winston is returning to the Saints on a two-year deal.
As for how every team has done this offseason, Benjamin ranked every team 1-32 as free agency begins to slow down.
Honorable mentions
- LeBron James had a huge game — highlighted by a massive dunk on Kevin Love — in the Lakers‘ win at the Cavaliers.
- Reigning AL MVP Shohei Ohtani looked sharp in his spring training pitching debut.
- The Nationals announced they’ll retire Ryan Zimmerman’s number 11 this summer.
- There were two more big hires in men’s college basketball: Kevin Willard is headed to Maryland and Matt McMahon is headed to LSU. You can keep up with all the latest news and rumors here.
And not such a good morning for…
PHIL MICKELSON
Augusta National will be without one of its most recognizable faces this year: Phil Mickelson will not play in the Masters. It’s the first time he’s missed the event since 1994.
Mickelson’s last few months have gone a bit off the rails, but this is still a surprise, writes our golf reporter Kyle Porter:
- Porter: “Mickelson has come under fire over the last few months for his intimate involvement with and comments surrounding the Saudi Arabian-backed Super Golf League. … Lefty lost many of his sponsorships and issued a lengthy statement in which he said he was going to step away from golf for a while. … Many presumed that Mickelson would return at Augusta National as it is not run by the PGA Tour, which seemed to be the organization with which Mickelson’s had the most grievances. Now, the wait for his return begins.”
Mickelson is one of eight players to have won the tournament at least three times, claiming victories in 2004, 2006 and 2010. He finished tied for 21st last year and was top-20 as recently as 2018. Overall, he’s won six majors, with the most recent being the 2021 PGA Championship, when he became the oldest golfer to win a major.
Mickelson has not played a PGA Tour event since the Farmers Insurance Open in late January. He shot 76-71 to miss the cut.
Not so honorable mentions
- The injury bug continues to hamper the USMNT: Brenden Aaronson is out for the rest of World Cup Qualifying with a knee injury.
- The latest update on Ben Simmons is not a good one. Same with Lonzo Ball.
- We already knew Urban Meyer‘s time as the Jaguars‘ head coach was a disaster, but the latest details show just how awful it was.
- A letter from 2017 regarding the Yankees‘ sign-stealing is set to be unsealed.
Re-seeding the Sweet 16 teams in the men’s NCAA Tournament 🏀
Whew. The first week of the men’s NCAA Tournament has come and gone, and we’ve finally had a chance to catch our breath after four wild days. We went from 64 teams to 16 teams seemingly in the blink of an eye. Now, how do those 16 stack up against each other?
Our Chip Patterson ranked the remaining teams vying for a championship, with a familiar face at No. 1:
- Patterson: “1. Gonzaga — Gonzaga fans have to be thrilled with the way the team responded to a stellar challenge from Memphis in the second round, and the four-point win over the upset-minded Tigers produced two great signs for the team’s Final Four hopes. First, Drew Timme going into takeover mode against a high-level front line and imposing his will down low to the tune of 25 points and 14 rebounds as Chet Holmgren dealt with foul trouble. … The other observation was Gonzaga getting really solid play out of Andrew Nembhard and a backcourt that’s often taken a back seat to the Zags’ headlining bigs.”
You can check out the entire rankings here. As for everything else you need to know about the Sweet 16…
- Schedule and TV information for the next two rounds
- Scouting reports every team remaining
- Gonzaga is still the betting favorite
- Best players from the Round of 64 and Round of 32
We’re also down to the Sweet 16 in the women’s NCAA Tournament 🏀
The women’s NCAA Tournament has delivered more than its fair share of upsets this year, and, like the men’s tournament, is down to 16 teams. We’ve been following all the drama right here if you need a refresher on just how great this tournament has been.
Anyway, here’s who’s left:
FRIDAY
- (1) South Carolina vs (5) North Carolina
- (3) Iowa State vs (10) Creighton
- (1) Stanford vs (4) Maryland
- (6) Ohio State vs (2) Texas
SATURDAY
- (1) Louisville vs (4) Tennessee
- (3) Michigan vs (10) South Dakota
- (1) NC State vs (5) Notre Dame
- (3) Indiana vs (2) UConn
Here’s how you can watch all the action unfold.
NHL’s trade deadline highlighted by star goalie headed to Minnesota 🏒
The NHL Trade Deadline was yesterday, and the numbers are pretty staggering:
- 33 trades
- 54 players moved in total
Arguably the biggest trade of the day was the Blackhawks sending Marc-Andre Fleury to the Wild for a conditional 2022 second-round pick. The Wild are right in the thick of things for a playoff berth with the postseason just over a month away, and that is where Fleury has shined: He’s won the Stanley Cup three times — all with the Penguins — and his 90 career playoff wins are fourth all-time.
You can check out all the moves here.
What we’re watching Tuesday 📺
🏀 Hawks at Knicks, 7:30 p.m. on TNT
🏀 Clippers at Denver, 10 p.m. on TNT
