Sports
NFL QB stock report, Week 7: No need to argue about Brock Purdy anymore. He’s elite
This isn’t shaping up to be the year to need a quarterback in the NFL Draft, yet several teams already know where their priorities must lie this coming April.
The Las Vegas Raiders and New York Giants absolutely need to spend a high pick on a quarterback. The Tennessee Titans and Carolina Panthers almost certainly should, too, barring unexpected turnarounds from Will Levis and Bryce Young. The Cleveland Browns also need a change, although it’s fair to wonder whether ownership would support the use of a valuable draft resource on a player who could usurp Deshaun Watson, whose fully guaranteed contract runs through 2026. The Steelers may also be in limbo depending on how they feel about Justin Fields or Russell Wilson at season’s end.
Meanwhile, the Miami Dolphins need a much better plan with their backup quarterback, while the New York Jets, Los Angeles Rams, Seattle Seahawks and New Orleans Saints need to be thinking about the future. That group of teams can at least afford to pick their spots, which is better than forcing the issue. Then again, how often does a team turn a mid-round lottery pick into a franchise cornerstone?
The point is that we’re at the time of the year when teams need to be honest about their in-house evaluations. But just because teams determine they need a quarterback doesn’t necessarily mean they can acquire a quarterback.
Remember, the Giants tried last spring. When they couldn’t move up in the draft, they punted on the rest of the class rather than forcing themselves into taking someone they didn’t love. There’s something to be said for that, but that approach also increases the need to get it right the following year.
League evaluators are still trying to figure out where to rank the likes of Texas’ Quinn Ewers, Georgia’s Carson Beck, Colorado’s Shedeur Sanders, Alabama’s Jalen Milroe, Miami’s Cam Ward and Mississippi’s Jaxson Dart, among others. They’re intriguing players, but it wouldn’t be overly shocking if there’s a repeat of 2022 when there wasn’t a QB taken in the top 10.
To complicate the hunt, there aren’t any proven veterans who are set to hit the market in free agency. The best of that group may come down to Sam Darnold and Fields, along with veteran stopgap options such as Wilson and Joe Flacco.
The 2026 class will be far more exciting with the likelihood of Arch Manning’s declaration. More than likely, a team that fails to solve its QB void next year will be in the running for that prized No. 1 pick.
The Athletic’s Week 7 QB rankings
What’s the difference?
Joe Burrow entered the NFL as the No. 1 overall pick in 2020 after guiding LSU’s historic offense to an undefeated championship run that captured the nation’s attention. He was, essentially, the Cincinnati Bengals starter from the moment he arrived.
Brock Purdy entered the NFL as the last pick of the 2022 draft after an obscure career at Iowa State. He was buried behind Trey Lance and Jimmy Garoppolo on the San Francisco 49ers’ depth chart and only earned the starting job midway through his rookie season because of injuries.
Those labels are hard to shake, but it’s probably long overdue to consider Purdy among the game’s best quarterbacks.
Consider the pair’s regular-season stats since 2022.
We’re not so different, you and I
| Joe Burrow (2022-24) | Brock Purdy (2022-24) | |
|---|---|---|
|
Starts |
32 |
31 |
|
Record |
19-13 |
20-7 |
|
Completion % |
68.4 |
68.0 |
|
Passing yards |
8,362 (261.3/game) |
7,283 (234.9/game) |
|
Passing TDs |
62 |
53 |
|
INTs |
20 |
19 |
|
Passer rating |
99.4 |
108.9 |
|
Rushing yards |
439 (13.7/game) |
284 (9.2/game) |
|
Rushing TDs |
6 |
3 |
The numbers are remarkably similar. Burrow has a clear edge in passing yards, but that’s to be expected with Purdy operating Kyle Shanahan’s run-heavy system.
Burrow is also 5-2 in the playoffs, and he was outstanding in 2021 when the Bengals toppled the Chiefs in the AFC Championship Game. They were a defensive stop shy of beating the Rams in the Super Bowl.
But Purdy is 4-2 in the playoffs, where he’s been terrific while guiding the 49ers to the NFC Championship Game in 2022 and the Super Bowl in 2023. They were also a defensive stop short of dethroning the Chiefs in February.
Purdy hasn’t gotten the same shine because of the way he entered the league. He also doesn’t get as much credit for his performance because of the 49ers’ scheme.
It’s time for that perception to change. Purdy is undoubtedly among the game’s best.
This star continues to shine in Seattle. Watch Brock Purdy’s best plays from #TNFonPrime.
More 🎥 on https://t.co/vpdsX5r07D pic.twitter.com/NXCjGiaonF
— San Francisco 49ers (@49ers) October 12, 2024
Maye day
Drake Maye delivered a strong starting debut against the Houston Texans, going 20-of-33 for 243 yards, three touchdowns and two interceptions. He also led the New England Patriots with 38 rushing yards and lost a fumble.
Drake Maye DIME for his first career touchdown pass!
📺: #HOUvsNE on CBS/Paramount+
📱: https://t.co/waVpO909ge pic.twitter.com/psTLjZvOoK— NFL (@NFL) October 13, 2024
Maye registered the most passing yards against the Texans this season, which is impressive considering they’ve played Anthony Richardson, Caleb Williams, Sam Darnold, Trevor Lawrence and Josh Allen. It can be argued that his total deserves an asterisk considering the lopsided score, but let’s not dock Maye too much in his first career outing against a quality defense while the Patriots’ entire offensive operation around him has been in shambles.
Maye endured some issues, for sure. He sputtered with his accuracy, especially early, but he got into a groove with the hurry-up drive before the half. Maye delivered the exclamation point there with a majestic 40-yard touchdown to Kayshon Boutte, as the throw helped his second-year wideout gain late separation against cornerback Derek Stingley Jr. It was probably the best throw from a Patriots quarterback since Tom Brady wore the uniform.
GO DEEPER
Buckley: Drake Maye, Patriots gave fans what they craved — a glimpse of the future
Once Maye gets comfortable enough to readily make the more consistent throws, which he did more of in the second half, he’ll grow even more in that offense. He’ll also improve his confidence eventually, though that could take more time considering the state of New England’s offensive line.
Speaking of which, Maye’s performance should take some heat off Jerod Mayo. The first-year head coach has had some inconsistencies with his quarterback explanations over the last couple of months, and rival executives have taken notice. Then, people around the league wondered if Mayo rushed into the decision to start Maye last week, perhaps feeling some heat from the losing streak and breaking from the plan to ease Maye into action.
What’s more, the Patriots’ offensive line has been one of the worst units in the NFL, and those issues have only been compounded by injuries. Maye was under a lot of duress Sunday, particularly with two backup tackles playing the majority of the game.
However, he still delivered a better stat line than Jacoby Brissett in any of his five starts. Maye produced a Patriots season high in completions and passer rating (88.3), and he had more touchdowns in his debut than Brissett had all season (two).
This was an encouraging start. Now, Maye will take center stage Sunday morning in London when the Patriots meet the Jaguars, whose defense has given up the most passing yards in the NFL.
Maye debuted at No. 23 in the rankings because of his potential for a higher ceiling due to his draft stock. It’s also a fitting spot, as fellow rookies Caleb Williams (No. 19) and Jayden Daniels (No. 22) debuted slightly higher in Week 1.
Plead the fourth
Bo Nix is a battler. His competitiveness has kept the Denver Broncos in games that otherwise looked lost before the fourth quarter, again nearly erasing a 23-0 deficit with 16 final-quarter points Sunday against the Chargers.
The question, though, is whether the Broncos have been too conservative with Nix before the fourth quarter or if defenses are loosening their looks with some of these leads.
Breaking it down by quarters, Nix has been far more productive in the fourth, and it’s not even close. That’s where he’s got his most completions (41), yards (428), touchdowns (five, including passes and runs), first downs (28, including passing and running), highest completion percentage (69.5) and passer rating (93.0).
It’s not like the Broncos open the game in neutral. Nix has 97 passing attempts in the first half and 101 in the second half this season. But there’s something about the way he thrives in those “gotta-have-it” situations in the fourth quarter.
The @oregonfootball connection!
Bo Nix finds Troy Franklin for his first career TD catch!
📺: #LACvsDEN on CBS/Paramount+
📱: https://t.co/waVpO8ZBqG pic.twitter.com/FU4T8eKNT8— NFL (@NFL) October 13, 2024
Then again, the Broncos trailed the Seahawks (26-13), Steelers (13-0) and Chargers by double digits in the fourth quarter. Nix wouldn’t be the first quarterback to improve his statistical output in “garbage time.”
It’s early in Nix’s career, so it’s important to find the bright spots in a rookie’s performance and accentuate them. It’d be fun to see if Nix could take another step in his development with the Broncos implementing some of those fourth-quarter successes earlier in their games.
Rankings notes
Dropped out: Derek Carr, oblique injury (last week, No. 21); Gardner Minshew, benched (last week, No. 27); Jacoby Brissett, benched (last week, No. 30).
Just a quick point of clarification: Carr was removed from the rankings because he is expected to miss at least one more game. Anthony Richardson remains in the rankings (rather than Joe Flacco) because his recovery timeline has been more uncertain. If the Colts had placed a more definitive timetable on Richardson’s injury, thereby vaulting Flacco definitively into the starting role, that would have led to an adjustment in the rankings.
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(Photo: Steph Chambers / Getty Images)
Sports
Law firm fighting for women’s sports in SCOTUS battle comments on ruling possibly impacting SJSU trans lawsuit
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A law firm leading the charge in the ongoing Supreme Court case over trans athletes in women’s sports has responded after a federal judge suggested the case’s ruling could impact a separate case involving a similar issue.
Colorado District Judge Kato Crews deferred ruling in motions to dismiss former San Jose State volleyball co-captain Brooke Slusser’s lawsuit against the California State University (CSU) system until after a ruling in the B.P.J. v. West Virginia Supreme Court case, which is expected to come in June.
Slusser filed the lawsuit against representatives of her school and the Mountain West Conference in fall 2024 after she allegedly was made to share bedrooms and changing spaces with trans teammate Blaire Fleming for a whole season without being informed that Fleming is a biological male.
Meanwhile, the B.P.J. case went to the Supreme Court after a trans teen sued West Virginia to block the state’s law that prevents males from competing in girls’ high school sports.
The Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) is the primary law firm defending West Virginia in that case at the Supreme Court, and has now responded to news that Slusser’s lawsuit could be affected by the SCOTUS ruling.
“We hope the ruling from the Supreme Court will affirm that Title IX was designed to guarantee equal opportunity for women, not to let male athletes displace women and girl in competition. It is crucial that sports be separated by sex for not only the equal opportunity of women but for safety and privacy. Title IX should protect women’s right to compete in their own sports. Allowing men to compete in the female category reverses 50 years of advancement for women,” ADF Vice President of Litigation Strategies Jonathan Scruggs said.
Slusser’s attorney, Bill Bock of the Independent Council on Women’s Sports, expects a Supreme Court ruling in favor of the legal defense representing West Virginia, thus helping his case.
(Left) Brooke Slusser (10) of the San Jose State Spartans serves the ball during the first set against the Air Force Falcons at Falcon Court at East Gym in Colorado Springs, Colorado, on Oct. 19, 2024. (Right) Blaire Fleming #3 of the San Jose State Spartans looks on during the third set against the Air Force Falcons at Falcon Court at East Gym on October 19, 2024 in Colorado Springs, Colorado. ( Andrew Wevers/Getty Images; Andrew Wevers/Getty Images)
“We’re looking forward to the case going forward,” Bock told Fox News Digital.
“I believe that the court is going to find that Title IX operates on the basis of biological sex, without regard to an assumed or professed gender, and so just like the congress and the members of congress that passed Title IX in 1972, allowed this specifically provided for in the regulations that there had to be separate men’s and women’s teams based on biological sex, I think the court is going to see that is the original meaning of the statute and apply it in that way, and I think it’s going to be a big win in women’s sports.”
The Supreme Court’s conservative majority appeared prepared to rule in favor of West Virginia after oral arguments on Jan. 13.
Slusser spoke on the steps of the Supreme Court on Jan. 13 while oral arguments took place inside, sharing her experience with a divided crowd of opposing protesters.
With Fleming on its roster, SJSU reached the 2024 conference final by virtue of a forfeit by Boise State in the semifinal round. SJSU lost in the final to Colorado State.
Slusser went on to develop an eating disorder due to the anxiety and trauma from the scandal and dropped out of her classes the following semester. The eating disorder became so severe, that Slusser said she lost her menstrual cycle for nine months. Her decision to drop her classes resulted in the loss of her scholarship, and her parents said they had to foot the bill out of pocket for an unfinished final semester of college.
President Donald Trump’s Department of Education determined in January that SJSU violated Title IX in its handling of the situation involving Fleming, and has given the university an ultimatum to agree to a series of resolutions or face a referral to the Department of Justice.
Among the department’s findings, it determined that a female athlete discovered that the trans student allegedly conspired to have a member of an opposing team spike her in the face during a match. ED claims that “SJSU did not investigate the conspiracy, but later subjected the female athlete to a Title IX complaint for ‘misgendering’ the male athlete in online videos and interviews.”
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SJSU trans player Blaire Fleming and teammate Brooke Slusser went to a magic show and had Thanksgiving together in Las Vegas despite an ongoing lawsuit over Fleming being transgender. (Thien-An Truong/San Jose State Athletics)
SJSU Athletic Director Jeff Konya told Fox News Digital in a July interview that he was satisfied with how the university handled the situation involving Fleming.
“I think everybody acted in the best possible way they could, given the circumstances,” Konya said.
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Sports
Myles Garrett cited for speeding a ninth time, an elite pass rusher seemingly always in a rush
Myles Garrett is in a hurry to become the greatest pass rusher in NFL history. The Cleveland Browns All-Pro defensive end set the single-season sack record in 2025 and has cracked the top 20 career leaders after only nine seasons.
“I’m going to take that down, and I prefer I take it down in the next five years,” Garrett told Casino Guru News last month.
Off the field, however, his urgency to get from point A to B is a problem. He’s accumulating speeding tickets at an alarming rate.
On Feb. 21, Garrett was handed his ninth speeding ticket since his NFL career began in 2017. He was cited for driving 94 mph in a 70-mph zone on Interstate 71 between Cleveland and Columbus, Ohio.
The citation from the Wayne County Sheriff’s Office says Garrett was driving his green 2024 Porsche at 1:35 a.m., returning home after attending a Miami of Ohio basketball game in Oxford.
Body cam footage shows the officer telling Garrett that she kept the charge under 100 mph so that a court appearance wouldn’t be mandatory. Garrett reportedly still holds a Texas driver’s license — he attended Texas A&M — and told the officer that he did not have an Ohio license.
Cleveland Browns’ Myles Garrett wears a jacket displaying his girlfriend Chloe Kim before the women’s snowboarding halfpipe finals at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Livigno, Italy.
(Lindsey Wasson / AP)
The officer wrote that the famously affable Garrett was “kind and cooperative,” and that drugs and alcohol were not a factor.
Garrett’s need for speed flies in the face of his persona. He has written poetry since high school, peppers social media with inspirational sayings and donates time and money to several charities.
His girlfriend is two-time gold-medal-winning U.S. Olympic snowboarder Chloe Kim, for whom he wrote a poem he shared on social media: “You enrapture fools to kings, and exist without a peer, put on this Earth for many things, but our love is why you’re here.”
Verse hasn’t slowed his roll. On Aug. 9 he was cited for ticket No. 8, clocked at 100 mph in a 60-mph zone in a Cleveland suburb a day after the Browns returned home from a preseason game at Carolina.
Garrett’s seventh ticket followed a frightening crash in 2022. He flipped his gray 2021 Porsche 911 Turbo S off State Road in Sharon Township and he and a female passenger were injured. He was cited for failing to control his vehicle due to unsafe speeds on what had been a slick roadway.
A witness told a responding police officer that Garrett’s vehicle went airborne, took out a fire hydrant and rolled three times. Garrett sustained shoulder and biceps sprains and was sidelined for the Browns’ game that week against the Atlanta Falcons. His companion was not seriously injured.
Cleveland television station WKYC reported that in September 2021 Garrett was stopped twice in a 24-hour period — for driving 120 and 105 mph. The infractions occurred on Interstate 71 in Medina County, where the speed limit is 70 mph, and he paid fines of $267 and $287.
A year earlier, Garrett was cited for driving 100 mph in a 65-mph zone of Interstate 77 — again while driving a Porsche — and paid a $308 fine. He accumulated his first batch of speeding tickets in 2017 and 2018, and the police reports recite similar circumstances: Garrett driving well over the speed limit, cited without incident, paid a nominal fine.
The piddly fines certainly aren’t a deterrent. Garrett, 30, and the Browns agreed to a four-year contract extension in March 2025 that made him the highest-paid non-quarterback in NFL history at the time. The deal pays the seven-time All-Pro more than $40 million a season and includes more than $123 million in guaranteed money.
He set the NFL single-season sack record with 23.0 last season, surpassing the 22.5 accumulated by T.J. Watt and Michael Strahan. Garrett has 125.5 career sacks, averaging 14 a season, a pace that would enable him to break Bruce Smith’s career record of 200 in five years.
“That is definitely on my mind to go out there and get,” Garrett said. “That’s a goal I’ve had for years now since college.”
Garrett has declined to discuss his driving habits.
“I’d honestly prefer to talk about football and this team than anything I’m doing off the field other than the back-to-school event that I did the other day,” he told reporters after ticket No. 8 in August, referring to a charity appearance.
“I try to keep my personal life personal. And I’d rather focus on this team when I can.”
Sports
Keith Olbermann under fire for calling Lou Holtz a ‘scumbag’ after legendary coach’s death
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Former ESPN broadcaster Keith Olbermann once again incited backlash on social media Wednesday after he called late legendary college football coach Lou Holtz a “legendary scumbag” in an X post on the day Holtz was announced dead.
“Legendary scumbag, yes,” Olbermann wrote in response to a clip of Holtz criticizing former President Joe Biden in 2020 for supporting abortion rights.
Olbermann received scathing criticism in response to his post on X.
“You’re a scumbag that needs mental help,” one X user wrote to Olbermann.
One user echoed that sentiment, writing to Olbermann, “You’re the real scumbag here. Lou Holtz had more class, integrity, and genuine decency in his pinky finger than you’ll ever show in your lifetime.”
Another user wrote, “You’re a grumpy, lonely, Godless man. All the things Lou Holtz was not.”
Keith Olbermann speaks onstage during the Olbermann panel at the ESPN portion of the 2013 Summer Television Critics Association tour at the Beverly Hilton Hotel July 24, 2013, in Beverly Hills, Calif. (Frederick M. Brown/Getty Images)
Olbermann has made it a pattern of sharing politically charged far-left statements that are often combative and ridiculed on social media, typically resulting in immense backlash.
After the U.S. men’s hockey team’s gold medal win, Olbermann heavily criticized the team for accepting an invitation from President Trump to the State of the Union address. Olbermann wrote on X that any members of the men’s team who attended the event were “declaring their indelible stupidity and misogyny,” while praising the women’s team for declining the invitation.
In January, Olbermann attacked former University of Kentucky women’s swimmer Kaitlynn Wheeler for celebrating a women’s rights rally outside the U.S. Supreme Court during oral arguments for two cases focused on the legality of biological male trans athletes in women’s sports.
Former Notre Dame football coach Lou Holtz listens before being presented with the Presidential Medal of Freedom at the White House in Washington, D.C., Dec, 3, 2020. (Doug Mills/The New York Times/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
“It’s still about you trying to find an excuse for a lifetime wasted trying to succeed in sports without talent,” Olbermann wrote in response to Wheeler’s post.
In 2025, Olbermann faced significant backlash after posting (and later deleting) a message on X aimed at CNN contributor Scott Jennings, that said, “You’re next motherf—–,” shortly after the assassination of conservative influencer Charlie Kirk.
Holtz was a stern supporter of President Donald Trump, even saying in February 2024 that Trump needed to “coach America back to greatness!”
Near the end of Trump’s first term, shortly after former President Joe Biden defeated him in the 2020 election, Trump awarded Holtz with the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest civilian award of the United States.
After Holtz’s death was announced Wednesday, several top GOP figures paid tribute to the coach on social media.
Those GOP lawmakers included senators Tommy Tuberville, R-Ala.; Todd Young, R-Ind.; Tom Cotton, R-Ark.; and Lindsey Graham, R-S.C.; representatives Greg Murphy, R-N.C.; David Rouzer, R-N.C.; Erin Houchin, R-Ind.; and Steve Womack, R-Ark.; and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis; Indiana Gov. Mike Braun; U.S. Education Secretary Linda McMahon; and Rudy Giuliani.
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Lou Holtz, former Notre Dame football coach, addresses the America First Policy Institute’s America First Agenda Summit at the Marriott Marquis July 26, 2022. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc)
At the time of publication, prominent Democrat leaders have appeared silent on Holtz’s passing, including prominent Democrats with a football background.
Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, who worked as an assistant high school football coach; Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J., who was a recruiting target for Holtz in 1986 as a college prospect; Rep. Colin Allred, D-Texas, who played in the NFL; and Rep. Kam Buckner, D-Ill., who played football for the University of Illinois, have not posted acknowledging Holtz’s death.
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