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Ryan Day shuts up critics with Ohio State title. ‘What they gonna say now?’

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1 year ago

January 21, 2025

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Ryan Day shuts up critics with Ohio State title. ‘What they gonna say now?’

Ryan Day becomes third active college football coach to win a national championship.
Team meeting with Ryan Day after Michigan loss galvanizes Ohio State.
Buckeyes players take up for Ryan Day, who won his first national championship in Year 6, same as Kirby Smart.

ATLANTA – Ryan Day stood at the back of the stage behind a wall of his jubilant players, beaming like a kid while a confetti cannon blasted paper into the air.

Ohio State’s coach earned that grin. He deserved that joy, after a season that brought unrelenting pressure, unapologetic blowback and, finally, triumph. Day is a national champion, one just three active coaches with that distinction.

“What they gonna say now?” Ohio State senior safety Lathan Ransom said, before exalting his coach.

The critics can’t say squat now, after Ohio State’s 34-23 win against Notre Dame, and the trolls crawled back into their caves. Day shut them up after his Buckeyes laid waste to the field in this College Football Playoff.

“Seeing Coach Day hoist up that trophy after seeing all the flak he got, all the, excuse my language, (crap) he’s gotten, it’s just amazing as a player to see our coach in the position that we know he should be,” senior offensive lineman Donovan Jackson said.

And what of Ohio State’s “lunatic fringe,” as Kirk Herbstreit dubs them? Those Bucks nuts probably will pretend they never wanted Day’s head on a platter just two months ago and chanted for his ouster after he suffered his fourth straight loss to Michigan.

“It’s funny now, right?” Ransom said, when a reporter reminded him of those angry chants after the Michigan loss. “We never stopped believing in Coach Day. We always had Coach Day’s back, and he always had our back.”

Don’t confuse this as the story of a plucky eighth-seeded underdog getting off the mat. Nobody could match Ohio State’s talent. This is the story of an embattled coach and a two-loss team realizing their potential.

“We stuck together,” Day said. “We hung in there like a family does when things get hard.”

Ohio State plays to billing after team meeting with Ryan Day

The annals of history might indicate that Ohio State’s loss to Michigan became a turning point, but Buckeyes players point to a team meeting that occurred days after that result as the fork in the road.

Day joined his players for a meeting that became an open forum to clear the air, offer critiques and unify behind a common goal.

Ransom won’t detail the specifics of what was said within those four walls, but he’ll tell you this much: Day let himself be vulnerable in that meeting. The Buckeyes respected him that much more because of that.

“Anything that anyone wanted to say, they got a chance to say it,” Ransom said. “Coach Day took some critiques from the players. That shows how great of a leader he is. That’s why we go out there and we play so hard for him.”

Try to imagine Nick Saban or Kirby Smart, for that matter, opening himself up to player critiques throughout a meeting. Yeah, I’m not seeing it. There’s more than one avenue to becoming a championship coach, although the common thread between Saban, Smart and Day is that all are elite recruiters who magnetize talent.

“Coach Saban was a more stoic person. Coach Day has a different type of relationship with the players, and I respect him for that,” said Buckeyes safety Caleb Downs, an Alabama transfer who touts the virtues of both coaches. “You’ve got to run your organization as who you are.”

Outside the program, the pitchforks came out after that Michigan loss. The headlines got spicy, the hot boards filled with potential replacements for a job not open, and an athletic director, for perhaps the first time in the sport’s history, needed to offer a vote of confidence for a coach who’d lost just 10 games throughout six seasons.

Inside the Woody Hayes Athletic Facility, the confidence remained strong in Day.

“We trusted in him,” senior defensive end JT Tuimoloau said.

The Buckeyes trusted, too, that despite two regular-season losses, they possessed a national championship team.

“Getting an opportunity to get in the playoffs, that’s all we needed,” Jackson said. “We just needed our foot in the door.”

Ryan Day nears Kirby Smart territory

Day, 45, is a year younger than Smart when the Georgia coach won his first national championship. Day’s first national title arrived in Year 6, just as Smart’s did, but Smart never faced an onslaught of criticism like that directed at Day after Michigan stunned the Buckeyes in November.

Couple of explanations for that that. Georgia does not define its self-worth based on the result of one game. Also, Smart wasn’t replacing Urban Meyer, and, even before his first national title, he lifted Georgia to heights Mark Richt never reached.

Day, in contrast, got shackled with the reputation that he started the job on third base, inheriting a blue blood in fine shape from Urban Meyer, and he couldn’t advance the remaining 90 feet to home.

Truth is, Day’s become a home-run hire, and if we conducted a draft of active college football coaches tomorrow, who would come off the board before Day, other than perhaps Smart? This list is short. It’s getting shorter.

Day built, developed and retained an unmatched level of talent. Yes, Ohio State’s NIL war chest helped, but the Buckeyes didn’t win this crown with an army of mercenary rent-a-players. The roster’s tentacles trace to Day stacking one elite recruiting class after another. Senior standouts found throughout Ohio State’s offensive and defensive starting units trace to Day’s 2020 and ’21 recruiting classes, before NIL came aboard.

The coordinator combo of Chip Kelly and Jim Knowles highlighted an elite coaching staff that schemed up a beautiful plan for this playoff romp, after Ohio State’s perplexing offensive approach against Michigan.

Day, in the offseason, completed the roster puzzle with portal prizes like Downs and quarterback Will Howard. As Howard peaked in the postseason, Day served a reminder of his deft hand developing quarterbacks.

Howard was a decent player at Kansas State, but he transcended into an ace throughout this playoff run, bringing his A game in four straight games while the Buckeyes averaged more than 36 points against four of the nation’s top defenses. That culminated with Howard completing his first 13 passes throughout a master class of quarterbacking against a Notre Dame team that failed to defend Ohio State’s vaunted assembly of wide receivers.

The Buckeyes buried Tennessee, routed Oregon, held firm against Texas and bent Notre Dame with a stretch of dominance that relegated the Michigan loss to a curious footnote in the story of a national champion.

“We’re resilient, man,” Jackson said. “At the beginning of this run, everyone had us dead. Everyone had us thrown aside.”

They’d thrown aside the coach, too, but what are they saying now?

Nothing left to say, except that Day persevered, and now he can smile the way champions do, while confetti blasts into the air.

Blake Toppmeyer is the USA TODAY Network’s national college football columnist. Email him at BToppmeyer@gannett.com and follow him on X @btoppmeyer. Subscribe to read all of his columns.

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Auto parts maker to lay off 1,200 in Ohio amid fraud charges. Here’s where

Published

4 hours ago

March 2, 2026

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Auto parts maker to lay off 1,200 in Ohio amid fraud charges. Here’s where

First Brands closing corporate office in Cleveland, three other Ohio facilities amid bankruptcy. Its CEO is facing federal fraud charges

Auto parts supplier First Brands is closing four Ohio facilities, including its Cleveland corporate office.
The closures will result in the permanent layoff of more than 1,200 workers by the end of April.
The company’s founder and former CEO and his brother are facing federal charges in an alleged multi-billion dollar fraud scheme.
First Brands, which supplies products like Fram oil filters, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in September 2025.

A major auto parts supplier is laying off more than a thousand workers and closing four facilities around Ohio, including its corporate offices in Cleveland.

First Brands, whose founder and former CEO is facing charges in multi-billion dollar fraud scheme, notified the state in late February of its intent to permanently close the facilities by April 30. The layoffs created by these closures are also permanent, according to the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act notices filed with Ohio Job and Family Services.

The company — which supplies Fram oil filters and Anco wiper blades, among others — filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in September 2025. In January, First Brands had started winding down some of its operations in North America while seeking a buyer, according to Reuters. However, several potential buyers “have suddenly and unexpectedly withdrawn or narrowed their bids” according to one of the recent WARN notices.

Which facilities are closing? And how many jobs are being lost? Here’s what to know.

First Brands closing four Ohio locations, cutting more than 1,200 jobs

According to WARN notices, First Brands is closing the following facilities:

Corporate Office, 127 Public Square, Suite 5300, Cleveland. In the first round of layoffs here, 146 workers were cut on Feb. 23, according to a WARN notice sent that date. A second notice dated Feb. 27 for this address advises that the facility will close on April 30, and the remaining 110 workers will be laid off.
FRAM facility, 851 Jackson St., Greenville. According to a WARN notice sent Feb. 27, this facility will close April 30 and 302 jobs will be lost.
TMD facility, 1441 N. Maule Road, Tiffin. All 407 employees will be terminated when this facility is permanently closed on April 30, according to a Feb. 27 WARN notice.
TMD facility, 515 E. Gypsy Lane Road, Bowling Green. First Brands will also close this facility on April 30, laying off 302 workers, according to another Feb. 27 WARN notice.

In total, First Brands is laying off 1,267 workers in these four closures.

Indictment alleges Cleveland auto supplier CEO, VP defrauded lenders. Both plead not guilty

First Brands Group founder and former CEO Patrick James and his brother, Edward, a senior vice president, are accused of defrauding lenders out of billions of dollars before the auto parts supplier fell into bankruptcy according to an indictment made public Jan. 29 in Manhattan federal court.

The nine-count indictment includes charges of running a continuing financial crimes enterprise, bank fraud, wire fraud and money laundering conspiracy. Both pleaded not guilty on Feb. 4, Reuters reports. A trial is set in July. Both could face decades in prison if convicted.

Prosecutors said the defendants “perpetrated a series of fraudulent schemes” against First Brands’ lenders and financing partners, Reuters reported, including allegedly inflating invoices, double- and triple-pledging loan collateral, falsifying financial statements and concealing substantial liabilities.

“It is very much Mr. James’ intent to go into court and proclaim his innocence,” said Scott Hartman, a lawyer for Patrick James, according to Reuters.

Patrick James and Edward James are Malaysian-born U.S. citizens.

Seth DuCharme, a lawyer for Edward James, told Reuters that his client is not going to “run off to Southeast Asia where he allegedly has all this money.”

What is First Brands Group? Company filed for bankruptcy in September

First Brands, founded in 2013, was one of the world’s largest suppliers of auto parts such as brakes, filters and ‍lighting systems, according to Reuters. It had $5 billion in sales last year.

Prosecutors say First Brands borrowed billions to finance its growth. Those loans were secured by inventory and physical assets like plants and equipment. Reuters reports that this left First Brands vulnerable to cash flow issues and dependent on its access to the capital from those loans.

The company filed for bankruptcy in September 2025. Patrick James stepped down as CEO that October, according to Crain’s Detroit Business.

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2026 NFL mock draft 6.0: Ohio State defenders rise after stellar combines; edge rushers dominate first round

Published

16 hours ago

March 2, 2026

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2026 NFL mock draft 6.0: Ohio State defenders rise after stellar combines; edge rushers dominate first round

With the 2026 NFL scouting combine in the books, this year’s NFL Draft class is becoming clearer.

While the quarterbacks and wide receivers got the most attention at the combine, it was a group of defensive prospects that stood out this past week in Indianapolis. Specifically, Ohio State edge rusher Arvell Reese and linebacker Sonny Styles put together a fantastic series of workouts to move into the top three of our latest mock draft. But there were plenty of other defenders who stood out. This mock draft is littered with them in a deep overall class of defensive linemen and defensive backs.

In this mock draft, Yahoo Sports’ Nate Tice makes the odd-numbered picks, and Charles McDonald makes the even.

More 2026 NFL mock drafts: 5.0 | 4.0 | 3.0 | 2.0 | 1.0

1. Las Vegas Raiders — Fernando Mendoza, QB, Indiana

Don’t overthink it. Barring some unforeseen path the Raiders take this offseason, Mendoza looks like the signal-caller of the future in Las Vegas. Mendoza checks a lot of boxes at QB, especially his overall size as Mendoza not only stands 6-foot-5 but weighed in at a strong 236 pounds in Indianapolis. And his sense of timing, ability to throw on the move, and willingness to push the ball are a great match for Klint Kubiak’s offense that constantly asks quarterbacks to work inside and outside of the pocket and into tight spots over the middle of the field. The Raiders’ skill position talent already has strong, young playmakers (maybe one more outside receiver would be nice!) who can help ease Mendoza’s transition to the next level.

2. New York Jets — Arvell Reese, LB/EDGE, Ohio State

Some players who split time between two positions are “tweeners” who don’t really excel at either spot. A very small number of players who play two spots put up elite performances at both. Reese fits into the latter. He’s a true front-seven weapon who should excel wherever his future team puts him. He can cover, play the run and rush the passer, making him a rare and versatile linebacker prospect at the top of the draft. The Jets’ defense was so bad that someone who can plug multiple spots depending on the situation is exactly what they need.

3. Arizona Cardinals — Sonny Styles, LB, Ohio State

Styles’ strong season had him already moving up draft boards, and an even stronger showing in Indianapolis only added rocket fuel to his rise. Styles’ range and smarts as an off-ball linebacker allow him to impact the run and pass, but he also has the length and strength to hold up as an edge rusher for snaps as well. The redbirds could look at offensive line here, too, but Styles’ ability to be a steadying force and impact player, with versatility thrown in, makes sense for any type of defense and franchise. But the Cardinals need stuff to build around. Plus there’s a nice bonus of it being an interesting fit for coordinator Nick Rallis’ knuckleball defense.

4. Tennessee Titans — Rueben Bain Jr., Edge, Miami

Tennessee started rebuilding its defense in Robert Saleh’s image by swapping T’Vondre Sweat for the Jets’ Jermaine Johnson. Now Saleh can continue to build what his best Jets defenses had: premier defensive line depth. Adding Bain, who would be a perfect fit in Saleh’s defense, would give the Titans a heavy-handed player on the edge who has high-end athleticism to negate any arm-length issues his frame should bring up. Jeffery Simmons and Bain would be … a pain.

5. New York Giants — Francis Mauigoa, OL, Miami

While there are other offensive tackles who are (spoilers for the next pick!) shooting up draft boards, the Giants go for Mauigoa. He could be the short-term and long-term answer for the Giants at right tackle or right guard. Mauigoa is a clean prospect with good hand usage and a strong build who can help the Giants’ offensive line from dipping after an underrated strong performance in 2025 (especially when Andrew Thomas was on the field). Perhaps he doesn’t have overwhelming athleticism. Still, he’s a player who allows the Giants to always have their best five offensive linemen on the field.

6. Cleveland Browns — Monroe Freeling, OT, Georgia

This is a big-time jump for Freeling, but he has all the traits NFL teams drool over for offensive tackle prospects in terms of size and athleticism. The Browns, who are facing the potential losses of the vast majority of their offensive line to free agency, will need to completely rebuild that unit — which is a bit overdue, but not to this severity. Freeling gives Cleveland a dart throw to have strong left tackle play if he continues his trend of rapid improvement over the past year.

Texas Tech edge rusher David Bailey helped his draft stock with a strong performance at the combine. (Photo by Lauren Leigh Bacho/Getty Images)

(Lauren Leigh Bacho via Getty Images)

7. Washington Commanders — David Bailey, EDGE, Texas Tech

As tempting as it will be to add an offensive player of some kind here, with tasty options at offensive line, wide receiver, tight end and running back, the Commanders instead add firepower to a defense that has to get faster, younger and just straight up better. Bailey is an explosive pass rusher who is constantly attacking offensive tackles. He will never be a strong run defender, but he has long arms (measured at 33 ¾ inches at the combine) and has improved in that area. Bailey is the exact type of talent injection this defense needs.

8. New Orleans Saints — Carnell Tate, WR, Ohio State

Tyler Shough will be getting a chance to show he can be the long-term quarterback this year, so shoring up the wide receiver room should be a priority. New Orleans is a bit thin in terms of premier skill talent after a few years of erosion, but Shough’s emergence gives them the ability to burn this pick on Tate, who should immediately step in as a legitimate starting option alongside former Buckeye Chris Olave.

9. Kansas City Chiefs — Jeremiyah Love, RB, Notre Dame

WHHHEEEEE! The Chiefs have a few needs they could address here, but I think an offensive skill player of some sort is the way to go. And why not go with Love, one of the best overall players in this draft and a walking, talking explosive play who could boost a run game that has been hyper-efficient the past few seasons, but has had the same explosiveness as a wet firecracker. Love behind a Chiefs offensive line that could end up being one of the league’s better units and in an Andy Reid screen game has me salivating.

10. Cincinnati Bengals — Caleb Downs, S, Ohio State

Cincinnati needs defense. Downs is arguably the best player in the draft. Whoever is the top defensive player available here, the Bengals should take him without thinking much about it. Downs’ position is the only reason he’s available here as safeties tend to slide down the board relative to their consensus rankings.

11. Miami Dolphins — Mansoor Delane, CB, LSU

Zone cornerback, meet zone coverage-calling head coach. Delane gets how to play the cornerback position. He’s smart and has a great feel for playing high-low concepts, with the quickness and burst to make plays on the football. He doesn’t have ideal length or top-end athleticism, but he gives the Dolphins and new head coach Jeff Hafley a young CB with pedigree to build around.

12. Dallas Cowboys — Jermod McCoy, CB, Tennessee

Dallas needs to keep plugging away at the holes in its secondary and can get a high-upside prospect in McCoy here to get a corner who can take advantage of Dallas’ defensive line talent. McCoy has excellent ball skills and can be a more steady player than the boom-bust talents that occupied this secondary in the past.

[Watch Yahoo Sports Network]

13. Los Angeles Rams (via Falcons) — Kenyon Sadiq, TE, Oregon

After dipping their toes in the Oregon tight end waters last draft with Terrance Ferguson in the second round and supercharging their multi-tight end looks, the Rams take the plunge with Sadiq. Yes, the Rams could add to their defensive backfield here, among other positions, but Sadiq would further weaponize a Rams offense that asks its skill players to do a bit of everything around the formation. Sadiq would give Sean McVay another field stretcher and yards-after-catch option while still deploying heavy bodies, with some grit as a blocker as a nice bonus. Sadiq would not only help the Rams for 2026, but he also shores up the position long-term for the Rams as they have several pending tight end free agents in 2027.

14. Baltimore Ravens — Vega Ioane, G, Penn State

Baltimore needs to add more high-end offensive line talent and Ioane may wind up being the only first-round caliber player on the interior this year. He perfectly fits the power running that Lamar Jackson and Derrick Henry have thrived with and is athletic enough to have versatility for new coordinator Declan Doyle as he begins to install his offense in Baltimore.

15. Tampa Bay Buccaneers — Keldric Faulk, DL/Edge, Auburn

Faulk has an ideal build for a classic defensive end and fits the type of defensive ends that Todd Bowles has deployed in the past (Logan Hall, William Gholston). Faulk is young and still developing as a pass rusher, but he can be a needle-moving run defender right out of the gate as he polishes the rest of his game. Faulk’s versatility to move across the defensive line helps him fit in any type of scheme, but is a clean fit in Bowles’ defense. A strong option to help out for 2026, but a swing at something more for the Bucs while picking in the middle of the first.

16. New York Jets (via Colts) — Avieon Terrell, CB, Clemson

Another player for the broken Jets’ defense. Like his older brother A.J., a Pro Bowl cornerback for the Falcons, Avieon didn’t have the most explosive day at the combine (his 34-inch vertical ranked among the bottom third of CBs and his 10-feet, 3-inch broad jump was also in the lower tier in this group) but he still has the profile of a starting outside cornerback in the NFL, which is still an incredibly valuable thing to find. That works here for the Jets.

17. Detroit Lions — Caleb Lomu, OT, Utah

While Giovanni Manu is still interesting to me, Lomu gives the Lions their Taylor Decker succession plan (and insurance for the 2026 season). Lomu has to continue to get stronger, but he has light feet, clean hand usage and the overall athleticism to stay on the left side and be a plus-blindside protector. Lomu has just turned 21, so a redshirt year under offensive line coach/run game coordinator Hank Fraley while continuing to add to his frame could make this a perfect player-team fit for a franchise that seems like it’s about to start transitioning to phase 2 of the Dan Campbell tenure.

18. Cleveland Browns (via Vikings) — Spencer Fano, OT, Utah

The Browns jump up here in the draft to grab the falling Fano, giving them two offensive tackles in the first round of this draft. Freeling and Fano could grow into a formidable OT duo for the Browns and when a team has so few offensive linemen under contract with a restrictive salary cap situation, the draft is the best way to go.

19. Carolina Panthers — CJ Allen, LB, Georgia

The Panthers could look to help out their trenches on both sides of the ball here, but they sorely need impact defensive players. Allen can be that solidifying force in the front seven who could help this defense finally step out of the doldrums. Allen’s intelligence, quickness, and overall two-way ability would help the Panthers shore up against the run and pass, while also having some blitzing juice to fit into coordinator Ejiro Evero’s defensive funkiness.

20. Dallas Cowboys (via Packers) — Cashius Howell, Edge, Texas A&M

Another dip on defense, this time the Cowboys add to their defensive end rotation with the speedy Howell. He’s similar to some of the players they already have on the roster, but this is a decent enough range and he would benefit from a strong room of defensive tackles.

21. Pittsburgh Steelers — Makai Lemon, WR, USC

I go back and forth with what kind of second wide receiver I would want to see in Pittsburgh in Mike McCarthy’s offense and across from DK Metcalf. While I’m personally higher on Denzel Boston than Lemon, I think Lemon’s quickness and route-running ability from the slot is actually a good fit for what I think McCarthy is going to want in his offense that has typically featured a steady heaping of quick-hitting passing plays. Lemon would also give Pittsburgh more yards-after-catch ability and a different flavor than Metcalf and the Steelers’ jumbo-size tight end room.

22. Los Angeles Chargers — Peter Woods, DL, Clemson

The Chargers go pure value here and take Woods, who was slotted as a top pick prior to the season. Woods has all the upside in the world to be an impact player on the interior and still flashed strong skills in a down year for the entire Clemson program. Woods would be a great young talent for the Chargers to add with the emerging Tuli Tuipulotu on the edge.

23. Philadelphia Eagles — Max Iheanachor, OT, Arizona State

When picking for the Eagles under general manager Howie Roseman, defaulting to a pick in the trenches isn’t the worst bet. And something I agree with! Especially with long-time right-side stalwart Lane Johnson contemplating retirement seemingly on a weekly basis and other question marks potentially emerging along the rest of the Eagles’ line. I’m high on Iheanachor, who is a great athlete in a large frame, and I think he has more polish to his game than the “project” label he gets despite being a latecomer to football. And this might end up as his floor when April comes.

24. Minnesota Vikings (via Browns) — Caleb Banks, DT, Florida

After flipping down with the Browns, the Vikings take a big swing at defensive tackle with Banks. He isn’t a finished product, but he’s a lot more polished than most designated projects and was incredibly disruptive in the three games he played this season. His movement skills and footwork are incredibly rare at 6-foot-6, 330, but he struggles to finish plays off the penetration he creates. Brian Flores would be a great coach to land with in regards to fixing that and the Vikings would have the chance for the elite interior talent this defense has been missing.

25. Chicago Bears — Kayden McDonald, DT, Ohio State

Left tackle is very live here for Chicago, but the Bears must look to add beef to their defensive interior. And what better person to add beef than someone with the last name McDonald. McDonald has good bulk and is a strong run defender who actually racks up tackles rather than just plodding in the middle with his quick feet and ability to consistently shed his block. He is just an average pass rusher, but can help shore up a run defense that was prone to leaks in 2025.

26. Buffalo Bills — Denzel Boston, WR, Washington

The Bills clearly have a big need at wide receiver and can take another swing on a wide receiver early in the draft. Boston had 1,600 yards and 20 touchdowns over the past two seasons and profiles as someone who has a chance to be a big-bodied wide receiver who has a bit more skills than players the Bills currently have.

27. San Francisco 49ers — Blake Miller, OT, Clemson

The 49ers’ run game lost some venom last season despite a Herculean effort from Christian McCaffrey. Perhaps this is the season that Kyle Shanahan and John Lynch add some pedigree to their offensive line. The 49ers paid Colton McKivitz and he’s under contract for a couple of more seasons, but Miller projects to be a tier or two better than McKivitz at right tackle. Miller’s agility makes him a good fit for a Shanahan offense. He played only the right side in college, but he has the athleticism and length to give the left side a shot in case the 49ers need a Trent Williams insurance/succession plan, too.

28. Houston Texans — Kadyn Proctor, OT, Alabama

Offensive line help arrives for the Texans, who take one of the biggest players in the draft who has a wide range of potential outcomes. Proctor is talented, but his play was a bit inconsistent this season and he’s a bit of an outlier in weight, at 370 pounds in-season for the Crimson Tide. Still, he’s an immense talent and is worth the swing at this point.

29. Los Angeles Rams — Brandon Cisse, CB, South Carolina

NOW is when the Rams add to their defensive backfield, this time with Cisse, who my friend Derrik Klassen from The Athletic described as “a safety playing the cornerback position.” I think Cisse needs to improve in his game recognition, but he has the feistiness and explosiveness to help out somewhere, whether it’s on the outside or with a move into the slot (the Rams loved their dime personnel packages under d-coordinator Chris Shula). His scrappiness and tackling ability will give him fans.

30. Denver Broncos — Akheem Mesidor, Edge, Miami

Another pass rusher for the Broncos because that’s what we do with teams at the bottom of a mock draft. Mesidor showed he can put heat on the quarterback on the edge and the interior of Miami’s defensive line, registering 12.5 sacks in the Hurricanes’ run to the national championship game. Pro Football Focus gave him a 92.5 pass rush grade, which is third among edge rushers. His PFF run defense score was 88.3, which ranked in the 91st percentile.

31. New England Patriots — KC Concepcion, WR, Texas A&M

The Patriots could go offensive line, but they need to add explosiveness to their pass catcher corps. Hello, KC Concepcion! While DeMario Douglas has been able to contribute big plays from the slot, Concepcion could provide the type of yards after catch and downfield ability that would give Drake Maye an explosive option to work with (along with the improved Kayshon Boutte and explosive, but raw, Kyle Williams).

32. Seattle Seahawks — Colton Hood, CB, Tennessee

Seattle may have a bit of a shakeup in its cornerback room this offseason, so adding another cost-controlled, long-term deal in the room might make sense. Hood had a great workout in Indianapolis — Next Gen Stats ranked his athletic score fourth among cornerbacks at the combine — and was a productive player on the ball for the Vols’ pass defense.

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9 people injured, 1 critical, after Cincinnati mass shooting

Published

1 day ago

March 1, 2026

Press Room

9 people injured, 1 critical, after Cincinnati mass shooting

Nine people were injured after a shooting broke out at Riverfront Live on Cincinnati’s East Side early Sunday.

The shooting was reported about 1 a.m. March 1 at the Kellogg Avenue music venue on the border of East End and Linwood, according to Cincinnati Interim Police Chief Adam Hennie.

Dozens flooded out from inside the venue in a panic as gunshots rang out, according to a neighboring business’ surveillance camera footage obtained by Enquirer media partner Fox 19.

Eight of the people shot were taken to University of Cincinnati Medical Center and one person was brought to Good Samaritan Hospital, Hennie said.

One person at UC Medical Center is in critical condition, according to hospital spokeswoman Heather Chura-Smith. Five people are in stable condition and two have been treated and released, she said.

The status of the person at Good Samaritan Hospital is unknown. Hospital staff declined to provide an update on the person’s status.

An event was in progress at the venue, Hennie said, but he did not say what it was. A description on the venue’s website lists it as a “nightlife concert venue.”

Mayor Aftab Pureval called the shooting “unconscionable” in a statement.

This story will be updated.

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