Culture
Kentucky’s keys are in the hands of a coach unlike any other
LEXINGTON, Ky. — This began with a threat. Not a thinly veiled threat. No. This was about as direct as it gets.
Mark Pope, all 6 feet and 10 inches of him, stood tall, pushing his shoulders back. Considering his size, his shaved head, and his background — a decade spent banging around the paint as a journeyman NBA center back in the late ’90s and early 2000s, when freedom of movement was a foreign concept and survival required withstanding elbows in the chest — he should be an imposing figure. Except Pope has this way of being impossibly likable. He looks and sounds like a human exclamation point. He throws around adjectives like he’s writing the latest “Hardy Boys” volume. Everything he sees or hears is brilliant! Or incredible! Or the greatest thing ever! Mixed in with the overloaded enthusiasm is the reality that Pope is, even though he’ll never admit it, an intellectual. He can spend hours discussing philosophy or theology. In a past life, he was a Rhodes scholar candidate on his way to becoming a doctor. He is, as his former coach Rick Pitino says, “smarter than 99 percent of college basketball coaches.”
Add it all up and Pope, no matter how big, isn’t intimidating.
That’s why the threat wasn’t his.
“I’m fair game, but if you say anything about the girls,” Pope warned, shaking hands inside his office at the University of Kentucky, half-smiling, eyes moving cautiously, “Lee Anne will burn your house down.”
Welcome to the Pope Family. There’s your postcard.
Last spring, they were scattered. Each one in his or her own world. Lee Anne was in Texas, visiting a brother in the hospital. Ella, the oldest, was off embarking on early professional life. Avery, then a college junior, was heading into tennis practice at Brigham Young University. Layla, a BYU freshman, was in Salt Lake City, prepping for that night’s Utah Jazz-Houston Rockets game, her makeup half-done for a dance team performance. Shay, the youngest, was home in Provo, Utah, in the throes of high school volleyball practice.
And Dad? He was in a job interview with Kentucky athletic director Mitch Barnhart.
Soon their cell phones were buzzing. Text messages in the family group chat. Pope told his wife and four daughters he needed them on a call. He mentioned a Zoom. No, no, one of the girls replied. Just start a group Facetime. OK. Everyone scrambled to find a quiet spot to talk, a little privacy. But then — where’s Shay? Volleyball practice wasn’t over yet. As the youngest, she is, of course, the favorite. They couldn’t start without her. Finally picking up her phone, Shay found a screen flooded with alerts. “Oh, my gosh.”
The call could hardly handle their collective wavelength. Wide eyes stared at screens, stared at one another. There was smiling, some lip-biting. Finally, Dad asked, “How do we feel if I go to Kentucky?” The tears started rolling.
This wasn’t a done deal yet. Pope told his family, “Listen, if anyone isn’t OK with this, I will stay at BYU.” He meant it. And he needed to hear from everyone on the call. He went around one by one.
Each daughter looked at her dad and saw a man who, in the moment, had somehow lassoed his whole life history and pulled it all together. Mark Pope was born in Omaha, Neb., to a family that followed his dad’s career. Don Pope took a job with Union Pacific in New York in the 1970s, when Mark was a kid. Then he took a job with Burlington Resources in Seattle. Don and his wife, Linda, raised six kids in Bellevue, Wash. Mark grew tall, starring on the basketball court, and accepted a scholarship to the University of Washington in 1991. Two years later, his coach was let go, setting off a chain of events that, you will learn, somehow led to his life unfolding with a charmed bliss he could never have imagined; and, ultimately, shaping the direction of college basketball’s winningest program — the Kentucky Wildcats.
So, yes, it was a big question.
Lee Anne went first, telling her husband she loved him and was proud of him. Yes. Then each of the girls. Yes. Yes. Yes. Go Cats.
Shay went last, sort of hiding her face from the screen. As the baby, she’s the only Pope girl who didn’t previously move around a lot as a kid, instead growing up primarily in Utah, spending her whole life in a singular world. Everyone on the call knew a move would impact Shay the most. Changing high schools, new friends, living in a huge spotlight. Hard stuff for a 15-year-old.
Shay peeked at the screen so her family could see her. Yes.
“I knew what Kentucky was, because my dad has talked about it so much, but I didn’t really get it,” Shay says now. “I was sad, but … it’s just, I love my dad, and he’s … he’s my favorite person, you know? This is, like, his actual dream. And that’s bigger than me being mad or sad about having to leave my friends, right?”
Lee Anne and Mark Pope, center, with daughters, from left, Shay, Layla, Avery and Ella. (Chet White / UK Athletics)
Outside the family, there once existed a prevailing thought that maybe Pope wasn’t the man for arguably the biggest job in college basketball. It was April, to be exact. Back when all hell broke loose.
First, John Calipari, Kentucky’s second all-time winningest coach behind Adolph Rupp, pulled an all-time vanishing act, trading years of growing animosity for an out-of-nowhere move to Arkansas. The general feeling was shock, but understanding. Both sides — Cal and the Cats — probably needed a fresh start. If anything, those in Lexington were excited. It was assumed the program would land some big-time name. Scott Drew. Dan Hurley. Bruce Pearl. Or maybe even a demigod like Billy Donovan or Jay Wright.
But then Drew said no. And Hurley said no. Pearl and others were non-options, weighed by prohibitive contract buyouts. Donovan wasn’t willing to talk until after the NBA season. Wright was a pipe dream.
That led Barnhart to Pope. The fifth-year BYU head coach was a Kentucky legend; symbolically, maybe more so than athletically. He first arrived in Lexington in 1993, when Pitino brought him in as a transfer, hoping he’d be the glue guy for a team ready to win a national championship. Pope had started for two seasons at Washington, but would come off the bench for the dynamic, dynastic Kentucky teams of the mid-90s. A fire hydrant in the middle of a collection of Cadillacs — Tony Delk, Antoine Walker, Walter McCarty, Derek Anderson, Ron Mercer. He was co-captain of the 1996 national title team. He set screens like a door jamb, grabbed every loose ball and defended like a madman. All told, Kentucky went 62-7 in his two seasons. Pope earned a place in Wildcat lore and was drafted with the 52nd overall pick in the 1996 NBA Draft.
But, head coach? Of Kentucky? Pope had a nice four-year run at Utah Valley, and went 110-52 at BYU, but — c’mon. He never won a league championship. He never won an NCAA Tournament game. His 2023-24 team successfully navigated BYU’s difficult jump from the West Coast Conference to the Big 12, but flamed out in the first round of the big dance, losing to 11th-seeded Duquesne.
Kentucky fans are notoriously demanding and chronically online. The response to Pope’s emergence as head coach went as follows: He’s too unproven. He can’t recruit. The job is too big for him.
All of those things could very well be true.
Barnhart hired him anyway.
Now the keys to the kingdom are in the hands of a coach unlike any other in program history. He’s a coach who is, above all else, Lee Anne’s husband, and dad to Ella, Avery, Layla and Shay. He’s a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He’s the first UK graduate to serve as head coach since Basil Hayden — a 1922 grad who coached the Wildcats in 1926-27. (Joe B. Hall, who led Kentucky to the 1978 national championship, transferred to, and graduated from, Sewanee.)
Sitting in his office, the 52-year-old looks around like a puppy encountering snow for the first time, and says, can you believe this? Like he wants it to feel like a shared experience.
“This is so awesome,” he adds. “And yet, believe it or not, it feels totally natural to me.”
Lynn Archibald first became aware of Mark Pope sometime in the late 1980s. He began recruiting the 6-foot-9 center from Bellevue (Wash.) Newport High School as University of Utah head coach. Then, after being let go in 1988-89, continued the recruitment as an assistant on Bill Frieder’s staff at Arizona State.
It was a long line of suitors. Pope was among the best Class of ’91 high school players in the West. Maybe a notch below Jason Kidd and Cherokee Parks, but high on the list of top recruits nationally. In November 1990, he broke hearts by choosing hometown Washington over a list including California, Arizona, Syracuse, Utah and Kentucky. Arizona State wasn’t in the picture, but Archibald still thought highly of Pope. He typed up a letter congratulating him and welcoming him to the Pac-10 Conference.
That’s how Archibald did things. Old-school. He was self-made and appreciated those who were the same. His coaching career was the byproduct of a knockabout college playing career — some time at Utah State, a year at El Camino Junior College, a degree from Fresno State. He found some work coaching in the California prep ranks in the ’60s and threw himself into it. He dutifully attended camps conducted by Long Beach State head coach Jerry Tarkanian, who eventually hired him. Archibald spent two seasons at Long Beach State, then filled an opening at Cal Poly, then reunited with Tarkanian in 1974, joining his staff at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. Two years in the desert were followed by one season at USC, then five as Idaho State head coach.
This would be Archibald’s life’s work — chasing the profession. Along the way, he and his wife, Anne, had two sons, Beau and Damon, and a daughter, Lee Anne.
After being let go at Idaho State, Archibald spent 1982-83 as Jerry Pimm’s assistant at Utah. He was surprised when Pimm took a job at Cal Santa Barbara that April, and more surprised when Utah asked him to take over. At the time of Archibald’s promotion, Tarkanian told The Salt Lake Tribune, “He is the finest person I know and is a great coach. Everybody loves him.” There are reams of quotes like this about Archibald. He was handsome, funny and curious. As a Mormon with a worldly view, he was a pioneer in international recruiting — tapping Yugoslavia, Venezuela, Nigeria for players.
Archibald’s family was part of every team he coached. Lee Anne saw Utah players Mitch Smith, Manny Hendrix and Kelvin Upshaw as superheroes. She changed schools every few years and rarely complained. She was a coach’s kid.
There was one last move, this time in 1994. Archibald returned to his home state of Utah, filling an assistant spot at BYU — the perfect place to settle with a family in full bloom. The Archibald kids were off chasing their own dreams by now. Lee Anne was on her way to New York City for, get this, a job as David Letterman’s personal assistant. Damon landed a scholarship to play ball at Boise State. Beau was a talented high school player, on his way to a scholarship at Washington State. Life was good.
So you understand why Lynn Archibald didn’t tell them, why he made his wife promise to keep the secret. Prostate cancer wasn’t going to define his final years. He didn’t want the kids to make their life decisions based on him being sick. He didn’t want anyone feeling sorry for him. So he wouldn’t tell them until he absolutely had to.
Archibald died in May 1997. Only 52. Lee Anne and her brothers were there for the final weeks. Looking back, she says now that, had she known about her father’s diagnosis two years earlier, she likely wouldn’t have lived in New York, or started her career — exactly all the things her dad didn’t want her to give up. She wonders where life would’ve taken her.
Because Lynn Archibald gave his kids the freedom to keep on living in his final years, a perfect series of dominoes all fell in order. In 1998, Damon Archibald met Mark Pope at the Pete Newell Basketball Camp. Immediately, he was floored to come across what he would describe as, essentially, the male version of his sister. Damon, who had never previously set up his sister with anyone, let alone another basketball player, wrote down Lee Anne’s phone number and gave it to Mark.
Mark, a member of the Indiana Pacers, called Lee Anne during the 1998 NBA player lockout. The two did what people did back then — phone calls on landlines and email exchanges. Around that time, Letterman told Lee Anne he needed help setting up a charity. It would be based in his home state. To get it off the ground, she’d need to take regular trips to Indianapolis.
They met later in 1998; married in 1999. Then came the girls — Ella in winter 2001, when Pope was the starting center for the Milwaukee Bucks; then Avery, during Pope’s brief stint with the Knicks; then Layla, when he was with the Denver Nuggets, then Shay in 2009, when Pope was out of the league, in medical school.
As it turns out, in another life, Pope might have ended up as a 6-foot-10 emergency room physician. Except, one day, not long after Shay was born, while studying orthopedic surgery at Columbia, Mark came home one day to tell Lee Anne that the younger students around him felt about medicine the way he felt about basketball. Lee Anne, with blind certainty, responded that there was only one option.
“Burn the ships,” she says, 15 years later.
So at 37, with four kids, Pope dropped out of med school and took a job on Mark Fox’s coaching staff at the University of Georgia. Title: Assistant to the director of operations. Salary: $24,000 for the year.
Lee Anne understood the ride ahead. That her family was about to subscribe to wins and losses, and to sharing their dad’s time with waves upon waves of young men, and to job changes beyond their control — from Georgia, to Wake Forest, to an assistant gig at BYU in 2011, to Utah Valley in 2015, and back to BYU. She was now a coach’s wife. And she was more equipped to do that than anyone imaginable.
That joke? The one you might be thinking of? Something like, “Oh, you think coaching Kentucky is hard? Trying raising four girls.” Yeah, Pope has heard it before.
It usually plays out something like this. The family is packed in an elevator, or standing together in an airport, or waiting in line at a coffee shop, minding their own business, when the old trope comes up. Some guy sees Pope, sees the wife, sees the four daughters, and quips, “Sheesh, sorry, man,” or, “Man, got your hands full,” or whatever other empty-headed zinger seems like a good idea.
But Pope doesn’t do tropes. Instead, things get very uncomfortable, very quickly. Pope has, according to Lee Anne, never laughed, never played along. Not once. Not ever. Instead, he clenches his jaw, narrows his eyes and spits back. “Are you kidding me, man? This is the best. Do you know how lucky I am?”
It’s in that moment that old jokes go to die and the Pope girls are reminded who their father is. Understanding the coach requires understanding the father, and Pope is equipped with the emotional maturity that comes with balanced realities.
“All these years, he’d be with his boys all day, then home to his girls, who all adore him,” Lee Anne Pope says. “But the thing is, he’s the same guy in both settings. It’s not like he hangs it up at the door.”
They all have their stories. They usually come with tears. The Pope family isn’t one to hide emotions.
Ella, for instance. Sitting on a couch in her dad’s office, arms wrapped around a pillow, she remembers a ride to school one day in grade school. She had created a video that was to air throughout the school that day. Opening her laptop, watching it one last time on the drive, she was hit with a wave of nerves. She closed the laptop, turning ghost-white. Pope, realizing what was happening, slowed down to a stop, pointed to Ella’s stomach, all twisted in knots, and said, “That’s it. That’s the feeling. That’s when you know you care and when you know you’ve worked at something. That’s the best.” She’s never forgotten it, never forgotten that passion is worth pursuing, worth manifesting, worth feeling. She remembered it when she was the only Pope girl to pursue basketball, earning a scholarship to Ohio University.
Avery thinks of her dad’s ability to be there, right where she could see him. Those tennis matches in the deep heat of California or Arizona, the sun rippling off the court. Other parents parked as close as possible and sat in air-conditioned cars. But Mr. Pope? He watched out in the sun because Avery was out in the sun. He didn’t sit because she didn’t sit. He wouldn’t yell or make a scene or even stand out. He would instead intently watch each point, Avery says, “living and dying for every moment.” He’s always had that way of appearing from out of nowhere. Earlier this year, soon after Pope was named Kentucky head coach, she was scheduled to give a farewell talk to her LDS Church ward in Provo in preparation for her upcoming two-year mission in El Salvador. She was scheduled to speak for, at most, 15 minutes.
“He had a million things going on, and it made no sense for him to fly across the country, but there he was,” she says. “I’ve always felt like, in my life, there have been so many different times where it would be OK if he wasn’t there. But then he’s there. And it just happens over and over and over again.”
Layla remembers coming home upset one day in the sixth grade, telling her parents a boy in school called her “the B-word.” The following morning, a surprise guest speaker was scheduled. The class door swung up at 1 p.m. and in came coach Mark Pope and six members of the Utah Valley State basketball team. “Today we’re going to talk about respecting women,” Pope said to a room of wide eyes and deep silence. They spoke to the class for nearly an hour. On the way out, Pope introduced himself to the boy who had insulted his daughter. He shook his hand, maybe offering an extra squeeze.
“I mean, we were in sixth grade!” Layla says now, laughing hard. “It was incredible. I was like, oh my goodness, this is the greatest day of my whole life. But that’s my dad. He’s, like, the most protective, loving person ever. And the only time you’ll ever really see him truly mad is if you did anything to hurt me or my sisters or my mom.”
Shay loves to tell the story of the cash advance. Back in Utah, she had the idea to order DoorDash to school, then upsell the food in the cafeteria. She called her old man. “Dad, I have this idea, but I don’t have any money.” Pope, without hesitation, responded. “Love it. You’re a genius. I’ll give you a hundred dollars to get started.” The money came via Venmo and Shay started moving product. Capitalism in action. “It worked perfectly,” she says. That is, until Lee Anne’s phone rang, with a school official saying her daughter was essentially operating a racketeering outfit in the caf.
“Apparently,” the official said to Lee Anne, “one of Shay’s parents was involved in funding this.”
“He’s just the best,” says Layla, now a 16-year-old sophomore.
The stories go on and on. The Pope women speak of their father like an amusement ride. He has a way of mastering moments, the few that he gets, to make the most of them. He’s an experience, one that blocks out all the other noise.
“Even if we have a million eyes on us,” Ella says, “my dad makes it feel like it’s just us.”
Kentucky coach Mark Pope is presented a plaque after winning his first game at Rupp Arena on Nov. 4. (Michael Hickey / Getty Images)
Over the summer, Pope met with local Lexington media for an offseason news conference. He leaned into the most relatable version of himself. The ex-NBA player who says he wasn’t much of a basketball player. The Rhodes scholar who says he isn’t very bright. In that news conference, he pressed play on the role he’s presented for as long as he can remember.
“A bit casual, maybe a little self-deprecating,” he now says. “That’s my armor.”
The media session wrapped up and, on the way out, Pope asked longtime Kentucky basketball media relations director Deb Moore for feedback. “How’d that go?” Moore told Pope that he was good, then paused, and added one passing thought. “But at some point, in this job, you’re going to have to take yourself a little more seriously,” she said.
The point — Kentucky, for as incredible and passionate and dedicated as it is, can also be ruthless. It’s a place where a vulnerable disposition is ripe to be weaponized. It’s a place where, once the wins and losses start coming, the coach with the clipboard is no longer seen as a person. He’s a target.
Pope was furious. “Deb, you don’t know me yet …” he popped back.
The two didn’t speak for the next three days. Pope continued to bake and Moore wondered if she’d gone a step too far. But then came Sunday, a trip to church, and some time for Pope to think.
“It had sat with me and sat with me and sat with me,” he says. “I finally came to realize, this matters to people in a different way. Like, this job is bigger than me. This job is more important than me. Really, there’s a little reverence to it. But that’s a new role for me. I’ve always eschewed that a little bit. Because I just want to be reachable and connect with people. Now I need to find a balance.”
In reality, Pope understands all this more than anyone Kentucky could’ve hired. The few times Big Blue lost during his time as a player, Pope retreated to the Cat Lodge, the team’s housing facility, and cried alone. It was the pressure of being captain. It was the pressure of answering to Pitino. It was the pressure of being 2,400 miles from home, in a place so hard-wired to every bounce, every play, and every breath of Kentucky basketball.
He gets it. And he welcomes it.
“I think he will handle it better than all of us,” Pitino says of himself and other former Kentucky coaches. “Because he’s so grounded and he’s such a spiritual person. I think he’s going to handle it beautifully. He knows it so well.”
The faithful are giving Pope a chance. His return to Lexington last spring was greeted with a raucous introduction that filled Rupp Arena — all 23,500 seats — to the brim. He is, after all, one of them.
But Lee Anne knows there are still doubts. And she knows the honeymoon will only last so long. And she knows her family is in a spotlight so big that not even an amusement ride can block it out. This, though, she says, is what they’re all built for. It’s why they all said yes on that family call. It’s why they believe in the coach.
“You know, somebody said to me, he’s goofy,” Lee Anne says, a little defense in her voice. “But no. He’s not goofy. He’s just — in a world where everyone is cool, he is not too cool. And there’s a big difference. He’s brilliant. He’s authentic. And he’s going to outwork everyone. I know it.”
The office door is closed and Pope makes one last thing clear. He didn’t make his family. His family made him. The biggest job in college basketball doesn’t change that. The heat that’s coming — playing Duke, traveling to his hometown to play Gonzaga in Seattle, battles in the SEC, the second-guessing, the fans swarming to social media, the exposure — will only be granted pieces of him. Never the whole.
“Being the coach at Kentucky,” he says, “if it’s everything you are, you won’t be any good at it.”
(Illustration: Meech Robinson / The Athletic; photos: Andy Lyons / Getty Images)
WASHINGTON HEIGHTS, NY — Once inside Peligro Sports, one thing above all else is clear: if you ever need a baseball cap, jersey or a T-shirt for one of the six teams in La Liga de Béisbol Profesional de la República Dominicana, the Dominican winter baseball league (or LIDOM, as it is known), this is the place to be.
And that’s rare.
When it comes to LIDOM gear, whether you’re a diehard fan born and raised in the Dominican Republic, part of the Dominican-American diaspora in the United States, married into a Dominican family or just a collector who can never have enough baseball caps, finding merchandise, especially the caps, is way harder than it should be.
Options for merchandise are limited. You can go to a live game and check the stadium stores or try your luck at a Dominican mall. You can visit the official LIDOM website, but it often sells out. Or, just slightly less fun than a trip to the Dominican Republic, you can go to Peligro Sports, a baseball merchandise mecca centered around LIDOM, MLB, the World Baseball Classic and Latino pride. (Can’t make it to Washington Heights? Peligro is also on Amazon and eBay).
LIDOM hits full swing in the late fall and winter, nestled between the final out of the World Series and pitchers and catchers reporting for MLB spring training. The league’s six teams — Tigres del Licey, Estrellas Orientales, Leones del Escogido, Toros del Este, Gigantes de Cibao and Águilas Cibaeñas — jockey for the top four positions in the standings to qualify for the round robin tournament that determines a champion each season. That champion then represents the Dominican Republic in the Caribbean World Series. Multiple generations of Dominican baseball players have played in LIDOM over the years at the beginning and ends of their pro baseball careers from Miguel Tejada (Águilas) to Elly De La Cruz (Licey).
Before opening Peligro’s doors, a display window greets customers with two mannequins decked out in the full uniforms of Dominican baseball titans Águilas and Licey, the island nation’s two most popular teams and LIDOM’s most intense rivalry. It’s Santo Domingo vs. Santiago. A clash of blue and gold with a wealth of titles between the two. Think New York Yankees vs. Boston Red Sox or San Francisco Giants vs. Los Angeles Dodgers, and then sprinkle a lot of sazón on it. Licey is the current LIDOM champion, having won back-to-back titles in 2023 and 2024 and has (for now) surpassed Águilas for most in LIDOM history with 24 to Águilas’s 22.
The mannequins speak without saying a word. At Peligro Sports, se habla LIDOM.
Jose Mateo, the owner of the shop, arrived in Washington Heights from his hometown of La Vega, Dominican Republic in 1989, bringing with him his love of Dominican winter baseball. He started his first business in 1991, a semi-prelude to Peligro Sports called Peligro Sandwiches. The top draw was the “chimi,” a toasted Dominican specialty, but there were also arcade games to be played and baseball cards to be bought and traded. A local high school baseball star and fellow Dominican named Manny Ramirez was a regular customer and now a long-time friend of Mateo’s (a signed and framed Ramirez jersey hangs in his office). When the record shop next to Mateo’ sandwich business went up for sale, he bought it with the intent of turning it into a sporting goods store.
Between 2009 and 2010, after years of renovation and investment, Peligro Sports was born, offering a mix of LIDOM caps, jerseys and other memorabilia, baseball bats and gloves, shoes, and WBC merchandise. That fire, sky blue Mexico fitted from the WBC? Peligro’s got it.
Mateo remembers the pre-internet days of the early ‘90s when Dominicans in New York had to go to extremes for LIDOM game recaps and box scores. Some would wait for days after a game until Dominican newspapers were delivered to New York. Others, who couldn’t wait that long, would purchase phone cards to make long-distance calls to relatives in the Dominican Republic who could give them live updates of games over the phone.
Passion for LIDOM baseball in New York was undeniable both then and now, giving Peligro an ongoing purpose in Washington Heights’ vibrant Dominican community.
“(Peligro Sports) happened with a little bit of business vision,” Mateo said in Spanish. “I saw (Dominican fans in New York) had needs for (LIDOM) products because no one else had them anywhere, and the Dominican community (in Washington Heights) was growing. People would ask where they could get this (hat) and that (T-shirt). More than just me being a fan of Dominican baseball, I realized as much as I like (LIDOM merchandise) other people can like it too.”
Mateo is a LIDOM encyclopedia for anyone who enters Peligro Sports with questions on the league’s merchandise. And not just because LIDOM is also a family affair for him. His cousin, Wellington Cepeda, is the manager of Gigantes de Cibao, the last team to win a LIDOM title before Licey’s current reign.
Mateo points out that LIDOM’s baseball cap situation is unique. If you want to wear the same caps that the players wear on the field (a common desire for any baseball fan), you’ve got to pay attention. New Era, the official maker of every MLB team’s caps, is the current manufacturer for four of LIDOM’s six teams: Gigantes, Toros, Estrellas and Águilas.
San Diego Padres star Fernando Tatis Jr. could be seen in previous LIDOM seasons wearing an Estrellas uniform alongside his father, former St. Louis Cardinal Fernando Tatis Sr., who manages the team. Another former Cardinal and Puerto Rico World Baseball Classic team manager Yadier Molina (recently named LIDOM manager of the year by the Santo Domingo Sportswriters Association), now wears the black and yellow cap of Águilas. That star power combined with New Era’s brand recognition as the official cap of the grandes ligas is a powerful combination for fans when considering a purchase.
“What people like most are the New Era caps,” Mateo said. “They’ve got más flow.”
Licey and Escogido have their hats manufactured by a Dominican company called 4Fans, and with Licey winning consecutive championships and Escogido managed by Albert Pujols that local brand is getting a boost.
“It could be 4Fans, it could be another company, (LIDOM) fans are still going to get it,” Mateo said. “There was a time when every team (in LIDOM) used New Era for their caps. But just like here in the United States, sometimes sports teams (in the Dominican Republic) change the companies that make their uniforms. Escogido and Licey haven’t used New Era for years, but I feel they’ll return to New Era soon.”
Keeping up with the business logistics of LIDOM’s cap manufacturing can be a complicated dance at times. Sometimes Mateo has ordered directly from LIDOM. Other times New Era. 4Fans being in the mix means he’ll always have to make more than one call if he wants every LIDOM cap in stock at Peligro Sports.
Ordering LIDOM jerseys is similarly complex, according to Mateo. Mexican company Arrieta makes the jerseys for Estrellas, Águilas and Gigantes. Escogido’s jerseys are manufactured by Wilson. Licey has jerseys manufactured by Wilson and Arrieta. Mateo hasn’t bothered trying to sell Toros jerseys because the team doesn’t have much of a following in New York, but you can get Toros caps at Peligro.
The most popular LIDOM jerseys at Peligro Sports? Águilas. Which Mateo attributes to the team’s history of success and many of Washington Heights’ Dominican residents hailing from El Cibao, where Águilas fandom is commonplace.
One jersey that could soon be a best seller for Peligro is that of Juan Soto — but not just his New York Mets jersey. Soto has reportedly asked the Mets if he could play for Licey in the future. If that happens, Mateo could see many of the Soto fans who bought Yankee caps at Peligro Sports when Soto was traded to the Bronx returning for Soto Licey jerseys, given his popularity in New York’s Dominican community. Mateo said many of the Soto fans who bought Yankee caps have already returned to purchase Mets caps.
Peligro Sports allows its customers to personalize purchased jerseys with names and numbers on the back, although Mateo points out that no LIDOM team puts player last names on the back of its jerseys (that’s prime real estate for advertising). If a customer wanted a Licey jersey with “Soto” on the back they could request it for as simple a reason as their own last name being Soto. But Mateo is holding off on proactively making any Juan Soto merchandise for now.
“Supposedly, Soto might play five or 10 games (for Licey),” Mateo said. “Out of respect I won’t make a Soto jersey until a deal is done. Not all money is welcome money. But from the moment I can (legally), I will. I don’t want to break the good relationships I’ve built with LIDOM. (A Soto Licey jersey) would be a great impact for the league and for me as a businessman. Soto is in his moment right now. Many (superstar) Dominican players play in LIDOM when their careers are coming to an end. It would be incredible if it could happen.”
¡Una familia de GANADORES… Una familia de CAMPEONES! @JuanSoto25_ 💙 #LiceyFamily 👑 pic.twitter.com/dNBOq8fOKK
— Tigres del Licey (@TigresdelLicey) January 8, 2025
Mateo has been in Washington Heights for over three decades and selling LIDOM merchandise more than half of that time. From the titans to the contenders and pretenders, he says LIDOM continues to be good business for him because of the passion he believes the Dominican Republic will always have for baseball and the pride those baseball fans share in their nation.
“It’s a way to identify where you’re from,” Mateo said. “Latinos, even more so the youth, love to say ‘I’m Dominican,’ ‘I’m Puerto Rican.’ Each person wants to represent their country. The Dominican league is so strong in popularity, the people feel it in their soul. People want to show where they’re from and where their allegiances are.”
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(All photos: David Betancourt)
At last month’s Winter Meetings in Dallas, agent Joel Wolfe held court in front of a large group of reporters and caused a stir when discussing his client, Japanese right-hander Roki Sasaki, who is expected to sign with a major-league team after the international signing period begins on Jan. 15.
Speculation about where Sasaki would ultimately land in MLB has simmered since his Nippon Professional Baseball debut in 2021, stoked by his stellar performance in the 2023 World Baseball Classic. The Dodgers are currently seen as a favorite, but it’s clear they’re not the only team in the hunt.
At the Winter Meetings, Wolfe said that Sasaki was looking for a team that has had success on the field and a history of developing pitchers. He also mentioned access to direct flights from his new city to Japan as a consideration. But perhaps most interestingly, he said that because of Sasaki’s personal experiences growing up in the spotlight in Japan, a small market team outside of the media glare might have a greater chance than some might think.
“I think that there’s an argument to be made that a smaller, mid-market team might be more beneficial for him as a soft landing coming from Japan, given what he’s been through and not having an enjoyable experience with the media,” Wolfe said. “It might be — I’m not saying it will be — I don’t know how he’s going to view it, but it might be beneficial for him to be in a smaller market.”
Teams took note, with some altering their presentations to account for the perceived preferences.
Sasaki, 23, was officially posted last month by Japan’s Chiba Lotte Marines. He can pick his team, but because he is not a free agent, he will be bound by international signing bonus limits.
Just before the new year, Wolfe held a teleconference and said 20 teams submitted pitches for Sasaki.
But where will he go? And could it really be a team outside of the big coastal juggernauts? Would it be possible to break down which teams might be good fits for Sasaki, using only the criteria Wolfe laid out? (While of course understanding that there are many, many factors at play beyond these.)
For this exercise, we looked at all 30 teams and graded them on four factors (history of success, small media market, pitching development and access to Japan), ranking each team from one through 30 based on a specific metric. The best earned 30 points and the worst earned one point in each category.
We don’t know who will ultimately win the Sasaki Sweepstakes, but perhaps some teams have a better chance than we previously thought.
History of success
What Wolfe said: “The best I can say is, he has paid attention to how teams have done, as far as overall success, both this year and years past. He does watch a lot of Major League Baseball.”
Methodology: This is pretty straightforward. Does the team win? For this, we’ll look at the winning percentage of MLB teams over the last four full seasons.
Limitations: Using just the regular-season win totals from the last four seasons doesn’t include postseason success. This formula also weighs each season equally, and the 2021 Orioles (52 wins) and the 2021 White Sox (93 wins) are in much different situations than their 2025 counterparts.
Team winning percentage, 2021-24
| Team | 2024 | 23 | 22 | 21 | Total | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
98 |
100 |
111 |
106 |
415 |
30 |
|
|
89 |
104 |
101 |
88 |
382 |
29 |
|
|
88 |
90 |
106 |
95 |
379 |
28 |
|
|
94 |
82 |
99 |
92 |
367 |
27 |
|
|
93 |
92 |
86 |
95 |
366 |
26 |
|
|
80 |
99 |
86 |
100 |
365 |
25 |
|
|
95 |
90 |
87 |
82 |
354 |
24 |
|
|
85 |
88 |
90 |
90 |
353 |
23 |
|
|
80 |
79 |
81 |
107 |
347 |
22 |
|
|
74 |
89 |
92 |
91 |
346 |
21 |
|
|
93 |
82 |
89 |
79 |
343 |
20 |
|
|
89 |
75 |
101 |
77 |
342 |
19 |
|
|
92 |
76 |
92 |
80 |
340 |
18 |
|
|
83 |
71 |
93 |
90 |
337 |
17 |
|
|
81 |
78 |
78 |
92 |
329 |
16 |
|
|
91 |
101 |
83 |
52 |
327 |
15 |
|
|
82 |
87 |
78 |
73 |
320 |
14 |
|
|
83 |
83 |
74 |
71 |
311 |
13 |
|
|
86 |
78 |
66 |
77 |
307 |
12 |
|
|
77 |
82 |
62 |
83 |
304 |
11 |
|
|
89 |
84 |
74 |
52 |
299 |
10 |
|
|
78 |
90 |
68 |
60 |
296 |
9 |
|
|
63 |
73 |
73 |
77 |
286 |
8 |
|
|
62 |
84 |
69 |
67 |
282 |
7 |
|
|
86 |
56 |
65 |
74 |
281 |
6 |
|
|
41 |
61 |
81 |
93 |
276 |
5 |
|
|
76 |
76 |
62 |
61 |
275 |
4 |
|
|
69 |
50 |
60 |
86 |
265 |
3 |
|
|
71 |
71 |
55 |
65 |
262 |
2 |
|
|
61 |
59 |
68 |
74 |
262 |
2 |
Conclusion: The Dodgers are good. We knew that. Only once in the last four years has the team failed to win 100 games — and in that season, they won the World Series. With no repeat World Series winners over that period, it is clear that if winning is all that matters, joining the Dodgers is the way to go.
But don’t count out the Braves. Atlanta has the second-most regular-season victories over the last four seasons and a recent World Series title of their own. The Astros, who won the World Series in 2022, have the third-most victories over that time. The Rangers won a World Series in 2023, but only eight teams have fewer regular-season victories over the last four years.
If there’s a sleeper in this group, it’s the Milwaukee Brewers. Milwaukee’s won the fifth-most regular-season games (366) and only the New York Yankees have won more regular-season games (367) without a World Series title in that timeframe.
Small media markets
What Wolfe said: “I think that there’s an argument to be made that a smaller, mid-market team might be more beneficial for him as a soft landing coming from Japan.”
Methodology: Not all media markets are created equal. Boston is the seventh-largest TV market in the country, but playing in Boston is traditionally considered a particularly intense media experience. Boston, New York and Philadelphia have reputations as among the toughest media markets, while large markets like Los Angeles, Dallas and Atlanta don’t have the same reputation. For this exercise, we’ve used the 2024 Baseball Writers Association of America rolls and ranked each chapter by the number of members listed in that chapter as a reflection of the media attention.
Limitations: Using the BBWAA chapters just tells total numbers, it does not include just how many writers are at the ballpark every day. Also, there are five chapters — New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, Baltimore-Washington and San Francisco-Oakland — with two teams. Both teams share the same score, even if the media surrounding the Dodgers or Cubs is greater than the Angels or White Sox. The New York chapter is by far the largest because many national writers also live in New York. Of the one-team chapters, only Boston had more members in 2024 than Miami, although many of Miami’s members cover players from Spanish-speaking countries as much or more than the Marlins. Also, this metric does not include TV or radio coverage. It also doesn’t factor in the Japanese media, which travels to cover the country’s best players, regardless of where they are playing. In 2020, at least two Japanese media members were in Cincinnati for much of the season just for Shogo Akiyama, who spent that season mostly as a platoon player.
Media market size
| Team | Chapter | Members | Points |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Milwaukee |
8 |
30 |
|
|
Tampa Bay |
10 |
29 |
|
|
Cincinnati |
11 |
28 |
|
|
Colorado |
13 |
27 |
|
|
San Diego |
13 |
27 |
|
|
Cleveland |
14 |
25 |
|
|
Kansas City |
15 |
24 |
|
|
Arizona |
16 |
23 |
|
|
Houston |
17 |
22 |
|
|
Dallas-Fort Worth |
18 |
21 |
|
|
St. Louis |
18 |
21 |
|
|
Pittsburgh |
19 |
19 |
|
|
Atlanta |
20 |
18 |
|
|
Minnesota |
20 |
18 |
|
|
Seattle |
21 |
16 |
|
|
Detroit |
23 |
15 |
|
|
Philadelphia |
28 |
14 |
|
|
San Francisco-Oakland |
30 |
13 |
|
|
San Francisco-Oakland |
30 |
13 |
|
|
Toronto |
32 |
11 |
|
|
Chicago |
33 |
10 |
|
|
Chicago |
33 |
10 |
|
|
Miami |
34 |
8 |
|
|
Baltimore-Washington |
37 |
7 |
|
|
Baltimore-Washington |
37 |
7 |
|
|
Boston |
39 |
5 |
|
|
Los Angeles |
60 |
4 |
|
|
Los Angeles |
60 |
4 |
|
|
New York |
132 |
2 |
|
|
New York |
132 |
2 |
Conclusion: The Brewers, Rays, Reds and Rockies could really bear down on Wolfe’s comments about small markets and media attention in their pitch.
Developing pitching
What Wolfe said: “He’s talked to a lot of players, foreign players, that have been on his team with Chiba Lotte. He asked questions about weather, comfortability, pitching development.”
Methodology: For this exercise, we’ll use Cy Young Award voting from the past four years. This, of course, benefits teams with established pitchers and teams like the Yankees who sign big-name free agents, but using the cumulative voting totals hopefully gives credit to teams whose pitchers consistently garner votes. For pitchers who were traded during the season in which they earned points, we’ve used the team that pitchers started the season with because the bulk of the innings and the preparation were from the first team.
Limitations: This is less quantifiable than simple W-L records. Some teams are known for developing their pitchers at the minor-league level and some, like the Astros and Rays, are known for taking talented pitchers and improving them.
Using just the Cy Young voting limits the pool to mostly starters, which is OK since Sasaki is going to be signed and used as a starter. But this method only measures the very best performances, and how much of that is on the pitcher and how much of that is on the team? It also discounts previous advancements, such as giving the Yankees credit on Gerrit Cole, who became an ace while with the Astros and was drafted by the Pirates. It also gives more weight to the voting results, with unanimous selections earning a much higher point total than close decisions.
Cy Young votes, 2021-24
| Team | 2024 | 23 | 22 | 21 | Total | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
0 |
86 |
88 |
207 |
381 |
30 |
|
|
133 |
28 |
48 |
141 |
350 |
29 |
|
|
199 |
64 |
75 |
0 |
338 |
28 |
|
|
0 |
210 |
4 |
123 |
337 |
27 |
|
|
59 |
204 |
7 |
0 |
270 |
26 |
|
|
18 |
6 |
224 |
14 |
262 |
25 |
|
|
0 |
0 |
210 |
0 |
210 |
24 |
|
|
210 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
210 |
24 |
|
|
0 |
13 |
20 |
172 |
205 |
22 |
|
|
0 |
0 |
97 |
93 |
190 |
21 |
|
|
18 |
86 |
32 |
7 |
143 |
20 |
|
|
141 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
141 |
19 |
|
|
0 |
0 |
66 |
73 |
139 |
18 |
|
|
0 |
115 |
0 |
8 |
123 |
17 |
|
|
0 |
68 |
45 |
0 |
113 |
16 |
|
|
0 |
0 |
0 |
113 |
113 |
16 |
|
|
47 |
42 |
0 |
0 |
89 |
14 |
|
|
0 |
0 |
82 |
1 |
83 |
13 |
|
|
67 |
0 |
5 |
0 |
72 |
12 |
|
|
38 |
31 |
0 |
69 |
11 |
||
|
25 |
31 |
0 |
0 |
56 |
10 |
|
|
53 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
53 |
9 |
|
|
0 |
1 |
0 |
41 |
42 |
8 |
|
|
0 |
19 |
10 |
0 |
29 |
7 |
|
|
1 |
16 |
6 |
1 |
24 |
6 |
|
|
0 |
0 |
0 |
23 |
23 |
5 |
|
|
4 |
0 |
1 |
3 |
8 |
4 |
|
|
5 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
5 |
3 |
|
|
2 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
2 |
2 |
|
|
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
Conclusion: The Blue Jays, surprisingly, top the list. Much of that comes from Robbie Ray’s 2021 Cy Young campaign, but the team also had third-place finishers in 2022 (Alek Manoah) and 2023 (Kevin Gausman). Manoah is the only one of those three to come up through the Blue Jays’ system (and we’ll ignore what’s happened since then), while Ray won the award in his first full season. Gausman’s third-place finish came in his first year with the team after signing as a free agent.
The Phillies finished second, followed by the Braves. The Brewers finished ninth by this metric, but that would seem low considering the pitching the Brewers have gotten over the last four years. The Astros, a team credited with turning around several pitching careers, finished sixth.
Direct flights to and from Japan
What Wolfe said: “When we supply information to our Japanese players, long before they come over here, one of the things that we provide for them is direct flights from Japan and the amount of time it takes for family to come and visit you. I think about five or 10 years ago that was something that maybe they weighed a little bit more, but now you can fly direct from Japan to most of the major cities in the U.S.”
Methodology: There are direct flights to Japan from 15 different airports in the continental United States. Toronto also has direct flights to Japan. For this exercise, we will use the distance from the team’s home ballpark to the nearest airport with a direct flight to Japan.
Limitations: There are a ton, but we’ll start with the fact that when traveling, the most relevant unit of measurement is time, not distance. However, variables including frequency of flights, schedules, traffic and overall distance come into play — a flight with a stop from the West Coast will likely take less time than a nonstop flight from the East Coast to Japan. And, yes, O’Hare airport may only be 14 miles from Wrigley Field, but there are times of day that it can be a long drive.
Direct flights to Japan
| Team | Nearest non-stop | Miles from park | Points |
|---|---|---|---|
|
SAN |
4 |
30 |
|
|
BOS |
6 |
29 |
|
|
JFK |
9 |
28 |
|
|
DFW |
10 |
27 |
|
|
MSP |
12 |
26 |
|
|
SFO |
12 |
26 |
|
|
SEA |
12 |
26 |
|
|
ORD |
14 |
23 |
|
|
IAH |
17 |
22 |
|
|
JFK/EWR |
17 |
22 |
|
|
LAX |
19 |
20 |
|
|
ORD |
20 |
19 |
|
|
DTW |
20 |
19 |
|
|
DEN |
22 |
17 |
|
|
ATL |
23 |
16 |
|
|
YYZ |
25 |
15 |
|
|
IAD |
28 |
14 |
|
|
LAX |
39 |
13 |
|
|
IAD |
61 |
12 |
|
|
ORD |
80 |
11 |
|
|
EWR |
85 |
10 |
|
|
SFO |
96 |
9 |
|
|
DTW |
157 |
8 |
|
|
IAD |
238 |
7 |
|
|
DTW |
251 |
6 |
|
|
ORD |
298 |
5 |
|
|
SAN |
360 |
4 |
|
|
MSP |
435 |
3 |
|
|
ATL |
450 |
2 |
|
|
ATL |
655 |
1 |
Conclusion: San Diego is the clear winner here. San Diego International Airport doesn’t have the volume of flights available at LAX, but it does have the bonus of not being LAX or having LAX traffic, which can add hours to travel time. The Twins are a sneaky good spot with direct flights.
Of note: Though it isn’t reflected in our calculation, Seattle offers the shortest flight time (10 hours, 10 minutes) to Tokyo.
Final conclusion
Final totals
| Team | Total | Wins | Development | Flights | Media |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
103 |
20 |
26 |
30 |
27 |
|
|
97 |
28 |
25 |
22 |
22 |
|
|
91 |
29 |
28 |
16 |
18 |
|
|
89 |
26 |
22 |
11 |
30 |
|
|
81 |
22 |
20 |
26 |
13 |
|
|
78 |
27 |
27 |
22 |
2 |
|
|
77 |
21 |
30 |
15 |
11 |
|
|
77 |
24 |
29 |
10 |
14 |
|
|
75 |
23 |
10 |
26 |
16 |
|
|
75 |
14 |
17 |
26 |
18 |
|
|
72 |
30 |
18 |
20 |
4 |
|
|
70 |
12 |
24 |
19 |
15 |
|
|
63 |
18 |
12 |
8 |
25 |
|
|
63 |
25 |
7 |
2 |
29 |
|
|
59 |
9 |
2 |
27 |
21 |
|
|
58 |
16 |
8 |
29 |
5 |
|
|
57 |
13 |
11 |
23 |
10 |
|
|
55 |
19 |
6 |
28 |
2 |
|
|
55 |
5 |
21 |
19 |
10 |
|
|
53 |
10 |
16 |
4 |
23 |
|
|
52 |
6 |
19 |
3 |
24 |
|
|
48 |
15 |
14 |
12 |
7 |
|
|
48 |
11 |
3 |
6 |
28 |
|
|
47 |
17 |
4 |
5 |
21 |
|
|
47 |
2 |
1 |
17 |
27 |
|
|
40 |
7 |
24 |
1 |
8 |
|
|
39 |
2 |
16 |
14 |
7 |
|
|
39 |
4 |
9 |
7 |
19 |
|
|
38 |
8 |
13 |
13 |
4 |
|
|
30 |
3 |
5 |
9 |
13 |
Why are the good teams good? Well, those good teams win games, develop players and have money. Those three are actually tied to the categories given — with market size in part determining both direct flights to Japan and media attention, both of which impact revenue. That’s why it’s no surprise that the top three teams in our exercise are the Padres, Braves and Astros.
It is only when we get to fourth place that we have one of those small-market teams in the Brewers. The Brewers tick all those boxes, with an out-of-the-box pick in O’Hare International. (It may be in a different state, but O’Hare is just over an hour and a $114 Uber ride from Milwaukee.)
Will the Brewers be the pick? It seems unlikely, but Matt Arnold’s team can make some interesting points in its sales pitch.
The Padres had already been a team seen as having a shot at Sasaki’s services, and not just because of the team’s recent history of handing out major contracts and making big splashes. The Padres tick all the boxes that Wolfe laid out, both in general terms and in our exercise. While the top 10 is littered with big-market bullies, the Mariners, who have as much history with Japanese players as any team, finished 10th, followed by the Twins. Both teams are ahead of the Dodgers on this list, but somehow, it seems Los Angeles still has a pretty good chance of landing another Japanese superstar.
(Photo of Roki Sasaki: Eric Espada / Getty Images)
Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen closed out the best season of his career with six consecutive weeks at No. 1 in The Athletic’s QB stock report, maintaining his lead over Baltimore Ravens QB Lamar Jackson after his own six-week run up top.
As we entered the season with a maiden voyage in this quarterback project, the most daunting question was obvious while the answer remained wildly unclear: How was anyone going to leapfrog Patrick Mahomes?
Every week, these rankings focused on a confluence of primary factors — current performance, career résumé, future potential and the situations around the QBs. So with Mahomes winning three of the last four Super Bowls, it was going to take something extraordinary for his demotion.
Of course, some extraordinary things happened. Mahomes and the Chiefs kept winning despite their uncharacteristic struggles, while Allen and Jackson duked it out in the MVP race for the final three months of the season. And while Joe Burrow played at a higher level than Mahomes, the Bengals missed the playoffs, thereby invoking the situational parameter within his ranking.
On the flip side, Aaron Rodgers is a Super Bowl champion and four-time MVP. Mahomes is the only active QB with a superior résumé, but Rodgers finished in the bottom-10 of the rankings and has been in the 20’s since Week 11. His individual performances, with a few exceptions, were to blame along with the Jets’ circumstances and a cap on the 41-year-old’s potential.
The Athletic’s Final 2024-25 QB rankings
Along the way, we dove deeper into certain quarterbacks, tapping into valued insight from a host of coaches and executives around the league. Their viewpoints also carried weight in the rankings. Among the topics hit this season: We examined Allen’s MVP surge, Rodgers’ downfall with the Jets, Bryce Young’s midseason revival, Jordan Love’s contract validation, Caleb Williams’ resurfacing flaws and C.J. Stroud’s regression.
We hope you enjoyed the first season of rankings as much as we enjoyed putting them together. Let’s close it out by recognizing some of the biggest trends of the year.
Biggest preseason riser
Sam Darnold, on his fourth team in five years, opened training camp as the likely backup to rookie J.J. McCarthy, so expectations ranged from nonexistent to minimal.
Sure, Darnold’s pedigree as the No. 3 pick out of USC couldn’t be ignored, nor could coach Kevin O’Connell’s QB-friendly system. But no one could’ve predicted this.
Darnold finished fifth in the league in both passing yards (4,319) and touchdowns (35) and finished sixth among qualified QBs with a 102.5 passer rating.
Darnold opened the season as the 28th-ranked quarterback, and he rose 19 spots. He’s been a mostly steadying presence for the team that was tied for the third-most wins in the NFL. Star receivers Justin Jefferson and Jordan Addison never missed a beat.
Despite the meteoric rise, Darnold did dip for a bit, going No. 11 in Week 10 to No. 18 in Week 12. He still finished the season with his only three weeks in the top 10. Darnold will enter the offseason with the potential to become the crown jewel of the free agent market.
Biggest preseason faller
Aaron Rodgers was still viewed by many around the league as one of the NFL’s premier quarterbacks at the start of the season, even coming off the torn Achilles, so the New York Jets QB debuted at No. 5.
He remained in the top six for the first five weeks of the season before the evidence became too great to ignore, and he plummeted to No. 15 in Week 6. Rodgers fell to No. 20 in Week 11 and never improved his standing. He finished the season ranked ahead of only two quarterbacks who were expected to open the season as their team’s starter.
Rodgers’ 63.0 completion percentage was his lowest since 2019, but he actually finished with more yards (3,897) and touchdowns (28) and fewer interceptions (11) than in his final season with the Packers.
Rodgers’ future is very much up in the air. Whether he wants to continue playing and if the Jets would want him back remain open questions. He may still be an asset for a veteran team that believes it’s a QB shy of the playoffs, but Rodgers will have to play much better than he did amid the Jets’ chaos.
Biggest midseason riser
Carolina Panthers QB Bryce Young’s turnaround was one of the most spectacularly unexpected stories of the season.
The 2023 No. 1 pick was benched after coach Dave Canales’ second game. And although Young’s performance justified the demotion, it raised significant questions about Young’s future with an organization that has made more than its recent share of impulse decisions.
It’s not like the Panthers benched Young with a definitive timeline for his return to the field, either. Young only got his job back after Andy Dalton injured his hand in a car accident.
And yet, Young played well down the stretch with 15 touchdown passes, five touchdown runs and six interceptions over his final 10 starts. They were also 4-6 during that stretch, which is no small feat for a team that had lost 22 of its previous 25 games.
Canales has had a nice history with his quarterbacks, so it was surprising to see it start so poorly. But now that Young is entering the offseason playing his best football, the Panthers will be an intriguing team entering 2025.
GO DEEPER
‘We got our guy’: Bryce Young and the Panthers go into the offseason on high note
Biggest midseason faller
It was supposed to be C.J. Stroud’s year. It never played out that way.
The Houston Texans QB debuted at No. 7 and soared to No. 3 just a week later. That’s where he remained for most of the first half, including as late as Week 9, but Stroud steadily fell the rest of the way. His ranking worsened in eight of the final 10 weeks, all the way down to No. 15.
Stroud’s numbers were down across the board. He completed 63.2 percent of his passes for 3,727 yards, 20 touchdowns, 12 interceptions and an 87.0 passer rating. His rookie numbers were superior in every category, which is even more noteworthy considering he played two fewer games in 2023.
The Texans need to build a better offensive line because the pressure was the main deterrent to Stroud’s success. The injuries didn’t help, either.
And yet, Stroud and the Texans are back in the playoffs. There are plenty of reasons to remain bullish on Stroud.
Best rookie
This wasn’t difficult.
Jayden Daniels opened the season at No. 22, jumped to No. 13 by Week 6 and into the top 10 in Week 9. The Washington Commanders QB closed the season with three consecutive weeks at No. 8.
Daniels completed 69 percent of his passes for 3,568 yards, 25 touchdowns, nine interceptions and a 100.1 passer rating; he added 891 rushing yards and six touchdowns.
He was so composed in tense moments, highlighted by four game-winning drives. Daniels’ Hail Mary against the Bears was an all-time moment, but the late drives against the Eagles and Falcons were more meaningful and should provide optimism the rookie is capable of repeating the feat in the playoffs.
Caleb Williams had a rocky season, but the Chicago Bears QB still put up some numbers for a team that went through a ton of adversity. Bo Nix wasn’t asked to carry the Denver Broncos, but he carried his weight to end their playoff drought. Drake Maye was often lost in the chaos in New England, but the young Patriots QB showed evidence of being a special player. Finally, Atlanta Falcons QB Michael Penix Jr. created momentum for next season with his solid play in three starts.
It’s shaping up to be a great draft class.
Incomplete …
And then there was one.
J.J. McCarthy missed his rookie season with a torn meniscus, leading to teams around the league wondering what the Vikings plan to do at quarterback. Conventional thinking suggests they’ll let Darnold hit free agency and turn toward their first-round pick in 2025. It’s just practical asset management.
But what if Darnold leads the Vikings to the Super Bowl or even the NFC Championship Game? The Vikings will have $75 million in cap space, according to Over The Cap, so they can pay Darnold to keep everything intact.
There’s an even bigger factor at play, though. McCarthy would rank as the No. 1 quarterback if he were in the 2025 draft class, according to several executives and coaches who have evaluated Miami’s Cam Ward and Colorado’s Shedeur Sanders. The Vikings would certainly have a market if they decided to move McCarthy.
Who’s next?
On a related note, there was a major shakeup in the draft order over the final two weeks, and that should have a significant impact on the quarterback class.
For so long, the QB draft discussion focused on the Giants and Raiders. After all, they were viewed as the two most quarterback-desperate teams in the league, and they built what seemed to be an indestructible residence atop the draft order.
So much for that. The Giants will pick third after a Week 17 victory against the Colts, while the Raiders’ late wins against the Jaguars and Saints dropped them to No. 6.
Even until Sunday, when the Patriots had a temporary hold of No. 1 until they beat the Bills, QB-needy teams knew the pick was likely up for auction. Anyone willing to pay could get their guy.
Then the Titans and Browns entered the chat.
The Titans, who hold the top pick, aren’t going to build around Will Levis if this season was any indication. And the Browns know they have to get younger to find Deshaun Watson’s successor, whether that’s in Week 1 of 2025 or sometime thereafter. Watson’s setback from his Achilles injury could accelerate his to-be-determined successor’s timeline.
The Titans are in a great spot if they love Ward or Sanders — or McCarthy, which could open up a new range of options. As for the Browns, they’ve made moves in the past to ensure Watson would have an unobstructed path to the starting job, so they’re slightly more of a wild card. Maybe the star attraction of Colorado’s Travis Hunter shifts their focus to a QB in a later round.
Any way you look at it, the draft just got a lot more interesting.
Dropped out: Mason Rudolph (No. 31 last week), Dorian Thompson-Robinson (No. 32 last week).
(Photo of Josh Allen: Steph Chambers / Getty Images)
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