Sports
The tricky game of evaluating QBs out of the transfer portal: ‘So many things you don’t know’
David Yost has been coaching quarterbacks at college football’s highest level since 1996.
His method of evaluating the sport’s most important position has not changed much over the years.
The former offensive coordinator at FIU, Texas Tech, Utah State and Missouri has a checklist he uses to identify players he would like to coach.
Does the height and weight match what is listed? Does his athleticism match my team’s needs? Can I live with the way the ball gets released from his hand? Does he complete deep passes?
What’s changed over time for Yost is the importance he’s put on accuracy and the ability to make anticipatory throws into tight windows — something he learned while working for Mike Leach as the wide receivers coach at Washington State from 2013-15.
“Coach (Leach) wanted to know what the guy’s completion percentage was,” Yost said. “So what I want to see is the last 100 plays of whatever season you just completed. Of that, I’m hoping to get 75 throws to try to get what I refer to as a true completion percentage. Not screens. What’s your completion percentage when you’re throwing the ball down the field? If you hit the guy in the hands, but he dropped it, I call it a completion. If you throw it badly and he makes an incredible catch, it’s an incompletion. If you find a QB above 50, 55 percent, that’s a pretty accurate thrower at the high school level to me.
“The guys who hit that number or above, they usually end up becoming guys who complete everything when they get to college. The guys I didn’t take who didn’t hit that number, most don’t ever end up becoming accurate throwers.”
The problem for Yost and other longtime coaches is that high school recruiting and player development are no longer the primary methods employed by college football teams to fill their quarterback needs. That’s given way to the transfer portal.
Of the 141 FBS quarterbacks who started at least five games this season, more than half (76) were plucked out of the portal. And 30 of the top 50 quarterbacks in passing efficiency were on their second (at least) stop in college.
So, how do coaches identify the right guys, put them in the right system and avoid a big swing-and-miss that can sabotage a season and set a program back financially due to misappropriated NIL funds?
Yost typically prefers a quarterback who has played a lot of snaps.
“The guys who have played, no matter what level they’ve played at, they may not be a great quarterback, but they’re probably a pretty good player,” he said. “If you’re a pretty good player at D2, FCS or Group of 5, it’ll probably translate at the next stop up. It does translate. Like what Indiana did with (Kurtis) Rourke. He was a good player at Ohio. Guess what, he was a good player at Indiana. The risk is taking the guy who hasn’t played as much.”
There is ample evidence that supports Yost’s theory.
• Rourke started 34 games at Ohio and was named 2022 MAC Offensive Player of the Year before earning second-team All-Big Ten honors in his only season at Indiana.
• Cam Ward was a second-team FCS All-American at Incarnate Word before starring at Washington State and Miami.
• Dillon Gabriel threw for 7,223 yards in his two healthy seasons at UCF before moving on to Oklahoma and Oregon.
• Diego Pavia guided New Mexico State to 10 wins before leading Vanderbilt to a 6-6 record in 2024 — highlighted by a win over Alabama — and its first bowl game since 2018.
Diego Pavia was a second-team All-SEC pick by the AP in 2024. (Butch Dill / Imagn Images)
When coaches recruit a quarterback who has not played much at his previous stop, it’s important to talk to as many people as possible to find answers for the following questions:
Did he have a bad attitude? Did he practice hard? Did he continue to compete even after he failed to earn the starting role?
“It doesn’t matter if it’s college or the NFL, it’s hard,” said a Group of 5 offensive coordinator who was granted anonymity so he could speak candidly. “It’s hard to know exactly what you’re getting from a talent standpoint, from a mental make and all those types of things. It’s hard. You just never know what habits they form from a year at a program. There are so many things you don’t know.”
The coordinator said his program took two quarterbacks out of the portal last cycle, but they were players he was familiar with from camps and the high school recruiting trail.
He also made the point that the sport’s newfound reliance on transfers has affected the way some programs build an offense.
“One thing I think and it sucks because it hurts the long-term development of these quarterbacks — it forces you as coordinators and play callers, you’ve got to stay simple,” he said. “Very rarely are you going to be able to build a system and have multiple players, quarterback included, in it for two or three years. So you’ve got to simplify things. … Some of these people who run pro-style stuff, they’ve got to rethink or retool some of the stuff they do and believe in because if they don’t, you’re putting a lot on these guys. It’s basically asking a rookie quarterback to go play in the NFL while learning a difficult system. That’s not going to go well.”
To mitigate further risk, another ex-G5 coordinator said he usually targets more athletic quarterbacks in the portal.
“You’re always a little bit safer to take an athletic kid,” he said. “Even if he can’t throw it that great, he can do something for you at that position. You can have a package for him to run. That’s the safer thing. That’s why so many people are looking for dual-threats now, whereas the pure pocket passer that doesn’t work out is sort of stuck in the mud. There’s still a lot of kids that can throw the ball and work in your system, but you’re less likely to make a mistake in terms of value by taking the more athletic guy.”
Yost’s last quarterback, FIU’s Keyone Jenkins, ranked 21st nationally in passing efficiency in 2024. Jenkins entered the portal after coach Mike MacIntyre was fired along with Yost but decided this week to return to school.
Yost didn’t have a lot of time to develop Jenkins. He was FIU’s starting quarterback by his second game as a true freshman. Jenkins beat out veteran Grayson James, who transferred to Boston College and took over as the Eagles’ starter late in the 2024 season. James forced Thomas Castellanos out. Castellanos is now at Florida State, which is hoping to bounce back after a disastrous season that went off the rails due in large part to a poor evaluation (DJ Uiagalelei) out of the portal.
Will Castellanos be the answer? Who knows.
But one thing is clear: The game of quarterback musical chairs is not slowing down.
Coaches will continue to search for answers. And many will continue to swing-and-miss.
“Fit and system matters,” a Big 12 offensive coordinator said. “But to me, not everyone is going to bat 100 percent. Regardless of how you do it, at times you are going to (misevaluate) that position.”
(Top photo of Kurtis Rourke: Jason Mowry / Getty Images)
Sports
Trump support drove wedge between former Mets star teammates, says sports radio star Mike Francesa
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New York sports radio icon Mike Francesa claims differing views on President Donald Trump created a divide within the Mets clubhouse.
Francesa said on his podcast Tuesday that a feud between shortstop Francisco Lindor and outfielder Brandon Nimmo, who was recently traded to the Texas Rangers, was ignited by politics. Francesa did not disclose which player supported Trump and which didn’t.
“The Nimmo-Lindor thing, my understanding, was political, had to do with Trump,” Francesa said. “One side liked Trump, one side didn’t like Trump.”
New York Mets’ Francisco Lindor (12) gestures to teammates after hitting an RBI single during the fourth inning of a baseball game against the Los Angeles Angels Wednesday, July 23, 2025, in New York City. (Frank Franklin II/AP Photo)
Francesa added, “So, Trump splitting up between Nimmo and Lindor. That’s my understanding. It started over Trump… As crazy as that sounds, crazier things have happened.”
Fox News Digital has reached out to the Mets for a response.
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New York Mets’ Francisco Lindor (12) and Brandon Nimmo (9) celebrate after a baseball game against the Milwaukee Brewers on June 27, 2023, in New York City. The Mets won 7-2. (Frank Franklin II/AP Photo)
Nimmo was traded to the Rangers on Nov. 23 after waiving the no-trade clause in his 8-year, $162 million contract earlier that month.
The trade of Nimmo has been just one domino in a turbulent offseason for the Mets, which has also seen the departure of two other fan-favorites, first baseman Pete Alonso and closer Edwin Diaz.
All three players had been staples in the Mets’ last two playoff teams in 2022 and 2024, playing together as the team’s core dating back to 2020.
Brandon Nimmo #9 of the New York Mets celebrates an RBI single against the Philadelphia Phillies during the eighth inning in Game One of the Division Series at Citizens Bank Park on Oct. 5, 2024, in Philadelphia. (Heather Barry/Getty Images)
In return for Nimmo, the Rangers sent second baseman Marcus Semien to the Mets. Nimmo is 32 years old and is coming off a year that saw him hit a career-high in home runs with 25, while Semien is 35 and hit just 15 homers in 2025.
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Many of the MLB’s high-profile free agents have already signed this offseason. The remaining players available include Kyle Tucker, Cody Bellinger, Bo Bichette and Framber Valdez.
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Sports
FIFA responds to fan outrage, establishes new World Cup ticket tier with $60 prices
FIFA announced an affordable admission pricing tier for every nation that’s qualified for the 2026 World Cup co-hosted by the U.S., Canada and Mexico. The supporter entry tier will make tickets available at a fixed price of $60 for every match, including the final, for each nation’s participating members associations.
The new tier comes after supporters’ groups from Europe called out FIFA on the dynamic pricing of tickets, which changes the value based on the popularity of the teams playing in each match.
“In total, 50% of each PMA allocation will fall within the most affordable range, namely supporter value tier (40%) and the supporter entry tier (10%),” FIFA said in a statement on Tuesday. “The remaining allocation is split evenly between the supporter standard tier and the supporter premier tier.”
FIFA will also waive the administrative fees for fans who secure participating member association tickets. But if their teams do not advance, they can seek refunds.
Tickets sales were rolled out by FIFA in phases, with a third of the tournament’s inventory claimed during the first two phases. The third phase started on Dec. 11 and will go through to Jan. 13. During this period, fans have the opportunity to allocate tickets for a match based on a random selection draw.
Before the new tier was introduced, the cheapest ticket for the World Cup final in MetLife Stadium in New Jersey would cost fans more than $4,000. The high prices raised concerns among European supporters.
“The prices set for the 2026 World Cup are scandalous, a step too far for many supporters who passionately and loyally follow their national sides at home and abroad,” the FSA, an organization of supporters for England and Wales, said in a statement posted on its website on Dec. 12. “Everything we feared about the direction in which FIFA wants to take the game was confirmed — Gianni Infantino only sees supporter loyalty as something to be exploited for profit.”
FIFA previously stated it adopted the variable pricing because it was common practice for major North America sporting events.
“What FIFA is doing is adapting to the domestic market,” a FIFA official said in the conference call. “It’s a reality in the U.S. and Canada that events are being priced as per the demand that is coming in for that event.”
A FIFA official told reporters before the first tickets went on sale that world soccer’s governing body expects to make more than $3 billion from hospitality and tickets sales and is confident the tournament will break the all-time World Cup attendance record set in 1994, the last time the men’s competition was held in the U.S.
That 1994 World Cup featured just 24 teams and 52 matches. The 2026 tournament will be twice as large, with 48 teams and 104 games.
FIFA said it received 20 million requests during the random selection draw sales.
SoFi Stadium will host eight matches, beginning with the U.S. opener against Paraguay on June 12. The Americans will finish group play in Inglewood on June 25, playing the winner of a March playoff involving Slovakia, Kosovo, Turkey and Romania. Two Group G matches — Iran versus New Zealand on June 15 and Iran-Belgium on June 21 — also will be played in SoFi, sandwiched around a Group B match between Switzerland and the winner of another European playoff, this one featuring Wales, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Italy and Northern Ireland.
The teams for the three knockout-stage games to be played at SoFi Stadium — round-of-32 games on June 28 and July 2 and a quarterfinal on July 10 — haven’t been determined, but the possibilities include Mexico, South Korea, Canada, Spain, Austria and Algeria.
Staff writer Kevin Baxter contributed to this report.
Sports
Titans star Jeffery Simmons calls burglars ‘f—ing cowards’ after home break-in during game vs 49ers
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Tennessee Titans star defensive tackle Jeffery Simmons ripped into those who burglarized his home while he played against the San Francisco 49ers on Sunday.
There were “at least six suspects” who burglarized Simmons’ Nashville home, which came shortly after 7 p.m., the Metro Nashville Police Department told ESPN.
That was the exact time frame the Titans were facing the 49ers in the Bay Area.
Jeffery Simmons of the Tennessee Titans looks on during halftime against the Jacksonville Jaguars at Nissan Stadium on Nov. 30, 2025 in Nashville, Tennessee. (Jeff Dean/Getty Images)
“What if any of my family members was in my house??” Simmons wrote on social media while showing security camera footage of the burglars trying to enter his home. “All that materialistic s—- you can have but this is crazy!”
Simmons also called the burglars “f—ing cowards,” though he was complimentary of the Metro Nashville PD.
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“I want to extend my sincere appreciation to the Metro Nashville Police Department and the Titans’ security team for their professionalism and swift response,” Simmons said in a statement. “Their dedication to ensuring the safety of our entire Nashville community does not go unnoticed. I remain thankful for God’s protection and grace.”
The suspects were said to have gained entry to Simmons’ home “after smashing out window glass,” while “multiple items were taken” in the process.
It’s unclear exactly what was taken from Simmons’ home.
Tennessee Titans defensive tackle Jeffery Simmons (98) reacts after sacking Cleveland Browns quarterback Shedeur Sanders (not pictured) during the fourth quarter at Huntington Bank Field on Dec. 7, 2025. (Scott Galvin/Imagn Images)
Meanwhile, Simmons was able to find the end zone despite the loss to the 49ers, so a good personal performance came to a screeching halt once he found out the news.
But unfortunately, Simmons isn’t the only NFL star who has been burglarized while playing a game.
Kansas City Chiefs stars Patrick Mahomes and Travis Kelce had it happen last season, as did Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow. All of those burglaries were in connection with a South American theft group that was specifically targeting NFL and NBA players.
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Cleveland Browns rookie Shedeur Sanders also saw $200,000 worth of property taken from his residence while they were playing the Baltimore Ravens earlier this season.
The Titans’ security team said it is “actively working” with local police to recover the stolen items.
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