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Good morning! Wear a fashion-statement suit today.
Merry Picksmas: We’re on the clock
Tonight, your team’s near future is decided. The entire football universe will issue takes and grades on every first-round pick in the NFL Draft, rendering judgment on football players before they even step on a pro field.
It is not fair, but it is fun. Two storylines I’m following:
- Do we have any trade fireworks? Dianna Russini’s report yesterday suggested multiple teams are interested in trading up. The truth (for now) is that this draft class doesn’t have a ton of top-line talent, so it’ll be telling to see how teams are valuing the top prospects. Some team will trade up for what we think is a huge reach (please don’t be New Orleans).
- Where does Shedeur Sanders go? This is a dead horse already, but Sanders remains the most divisive — and, in effect, interesting — prospect in the draft. He could go in the top five tonight, or not at all. Analyzing his fit wherever he lands will be fascinating. For what it’s worth, Dane Brugler has Sanders falling out of Round 1 in his final mock draft.
Sanders will not be at the draft tonight, which shines a light on how prospects decide whether to attend the event, as Jayna Bardahl detailed this morning. Sanders won’t be there, but Jalen Milroe, likely a Day 2 pick, will be. Hm.
- I also asked Robert Mays for a fun, realistic prediction about what could be a surprise tonight: “I think TreVeyon Henderson is the second running back drafted. His explosiveness, the pass-catching and his pass protection just give him a very specific use case in an offense.” For reference, Dane has Henderson as the third RB off the board in his full mock.
That’s all for now … because we’ll have more draft resources for you in your inbox this afternoon. Keep an eye out. Let’s keep going:
‘Tis the Postseason: Two sports, one outline
This is such a unique part of the sporting calendar, as the NBA and NHL playoffs essentially operate on the same timetable. Both are in their respective first rounds, and last night, both sports had similar macro results.
Let’s start with hockey:
- The eyebrow-raiser came late in Denver, where the Stars prevailed over the Avalanche 2-1 in overtime to take a 2-1 series lead. The last two games of this series have gone to OT. Very fun.
- Elsewhere, it was chalk — both the Capitals and Kings won, taking 2-0 series leads against the Canadiens and Oilers, respectively. These are entering It’s So Over territory.
In basketball … the same, sort of:
- Our intrigue happened in Houston, where the Warriors lost an injured Jimmy Butler and later the game, 109-94. It’s hard to imagine a worse result for Golden State outside of Steph Curry getting hurt. The Rockets have a ton of confidence, and if Butler misses time, the 1-1 series tilts dramatically.
- Lastly, we probably have two series sewn up. Cleveland and Boston, the East’s top two seeds, took 2-0 leads over the Heat and Magic with solid wins. This is cruise control for now. We’ll let you know if anything changes.
See a roundup of the NBA action here. We’re drafting news next:
News to Know
Soccer beef!
Former USMNT coach Bruce Arena, considered the best pro soccer coach in American history, wondered yesterday if hiring new USMNT head man Mauricio Pochettino was a mistake. “If you look at every national team in the world, the coach is usually a domestic coach,” Arena said of the Argentina-born Pochettino, before complimenting the current coach’s ability — but qualifying that “international football is completely different than club football.” Arena isn’t wrong about timing: The USMNT has a year until the World Cup and looks awful. Read his full comments here.
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Cousins trade looming?
Falcons general manager Terry Fontenot confirmed yesterday the team is fielding trade calls about Kirk Cousins this week, as the quarterback they paid $100 million to last offseason needs a new place to land. Dianna Russini reports that Cousins’ top suitors will be Cleveland, Minnesota (!) and Pittsburgh. See our full report, and listen to Dianna discuss on the “Scoop City” podcast.
More news
- Rory McIlroy is as calm as you’d expect heading into his first tournament after the Masters, which tees off here in New Orleans today.
- Bears legend Steve McMichael died yesterday at 67. Dan Pompei wrote a fantastic obituary.
- Former NFL kicker Jay Feely is running for Congress in Arizona. More details here.
- Steve Angeli, the former Notre Dame quarterback, is heading to Syracuse. A great pickup.
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What to Watch
📺 NFL: Round 1 of the 2025 draft
8 p.m. ET on ABC, ESPN and NFL Network
See above. Have it on. Craft a hot take about how your franchise is saved or ruined.
📺 NBA: Knicks at Pistons
7 p.m. ET on TNT
Watch this for a while before the draft starts, as it’s a 1-1 series that shifts back to Detroit, where the Pistons have a real chance at making playoff noise for the first time in nearly 20 years.
Get tickets to games like these here.
Pulse Picks
OK, I lied, one more NFL mock draft before tonight: Austin Mock’s version, which is, let’s say, an alternate version. Mock used his projection model plus the consensus big board to make picks. See it here.
A fun NFL Draft story here, too: Meet Joaquin Davis, the horseback rider who wants to become the next Jerry Rice.
Should the Hawks trade Trae Young? Keep building? John Hollinger turns his gaze to Atlanta.
A truly befuddling story from Anaheim: Sam Blum examines why the Angels make it so hard on their players via travel day schedules. I’m exhausted just reading about it.
Ken Rosenthal has an interesting piece examining how the Yankees continue to produce homegrown talent — and it’s not just money.
Earlier this week, Adam Crafton traveled down a stunning rabbit hole at Dagenham, a fifth-tier English soccer club, and its short-lived bid to become “the most famous club for Arabs.”
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Most-clicked in the newsletter yesterday: The NBA Anonymous Player Poll.
Most-read on the website yesterday: Our latest beat writer NFL mock draft. What a shock.
Ticketing links in this article are provided by partners of The Athletic. Restrictions may apply. The Athletic maintains full editorial independence. Partners have no control over or input into the reporting or editing process and do not review stories before publication.
(Top photo: Andrew Wevers / Getty Images)
This news was originally published on this post .
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