This rule is an extension of the kickoff rule changes made in 2012, moving the actual kickoff from the kicking team’s 30 yard-line to their 35 yard-line and allowing the offense of the receiving team to begin their drive on their 25 yard-line after a touchback as opposed to the 20 yard-line.

This new rule, along with the rule changes in 2012, are for the purpose of increasing touchbacks on kickoffs to reduce the number of returns in an effort to increase safety. The sport of football has introduced a multitude of rule changes within the past few years in an effort to increase safety-special teams plays, like kickoffs and punts, have been a huge target of these rule changes. It’s not difficult to see why these plays are targeted. These are often the plays that involve the most high-speed collisions as players have a majority of the field to build up speed for tackles or blocks as opposed to a small 10-15-yard window.  

While rule changes made in order to increase player safety often face criticism, like the recent NFL rule addition that prohibits offensive players and ball carriers from lowering their head preemptively to an oncoming tackler. However, this new kickoff rule seems to have struck some empathetic cord with most. The national championship runner-up University of Georgia Head Coach Kirby Smart lamented that while it could diminish the value of a good kicker, it doesn’t change his preparation and ultimately his team has aimed for touchbacks to be the result of their kicks anyways, as this is the safest option for all players involved. Kansas State University Head Coach and William Jewell College alumni Bill Snyder said that he was all in favor of any rule that increased player safety and prevented injuries.

Perhaps it was the rule changes of 2012 that were the precursor to this generally sweeping change against kickoffs, or perhaps the culture of football is simply becoming more aware of the issue of player safety and long-term health. In this instance, it seems as though many are willing to sacrifice a relatively large change in the sport to facilitate an improvement in safety. Whether this attitude will continue or if we will see the same backlash over future safety regulations is yet to be seen.

Photo courtesy of Sports Illustrated

Teams are composed of players that were selected in the NBA 2K League draft April 4. Players were declared eligible for both the 2K League draft and the pre-draft 2K League combine, an event in which these players were allowed to showcase their “NBA 2K” skills to professional teams, if they were able to win 50 games with their personally created NBA avatar player. These 50 games could be won in one versus one games against other players or team versus team games.

Seventeen NBA franchises have partnered with the 2K League in creating teams based around their cities. The 17 teams in the inaugural 2K League season are the Dallas Mavs Gaming; Boston Celtics Crossover Gaming; Utah Jazz Gaming; Sacramento Kings Guard Gaming; Detroit Pistons GT; Portland Blazer5 Gaming; Miami Heat Check Gaming; Orlando Magic Gaming; New York Knicks Gaming; Milwaukee Bucks Gaming; Toronto Raptors Uprising GC; Washington, D.C. Wizards District Gaming; Indiana Pacers Gaming; Philadelphia 76ers GC; Memphis Grizz Gaming; Cleveland Cavs Legion GC; and the Golden State Warriors Gaming Squad.

The inaugural season will begin in May. Regular season games will be Fridays and Saturdays with teams facing off head-to-head each week. Teams will participate in 14 regular season matchups with three tournaments spaced throughout the season for teams to win prize money and increase their playoff seeding.

The playoff matchups will begin August 17, with the top seven win-loss records in the league and the final tournament winner guaranteed playoff spots. The quarterfinal round will be single-game eliminations, and the semifinals and finals will be best-of-three series with the winning team taking home over $500 thousand in winnings.

Photo courtesy of miastogier.pl

Storylines to Follow

The Three Quarterbacks

Photo courtesy of The Buffalo News

Quarterbacks are always a point of intrigue during the draft as they are considered the most important position in football, so teams lacking one often do poorly and look to find their signal caller of the future early in the draft. This year there are three quarterbacks many consider to be the best in the draft class, and will likely be taken very early, potentially the first three picks. Sam Darnold, a redshirt sophomore from the University of Southern California, Josh Allen, a junior from the University of Wyoming, and Josh Rosen, a junior from the University of California Los Angeles, are these three. Each has their own individual strengths and weaknesses.

Many consider Darnold to be the most accurate passer in the draft, but he had problems turning the ball over too often in his final season at USC. Josh Allen brings the strongest arm of the three to the table, but the trade-off is that he seems to be the most inaccurate. Finally, Josh Rosen seems to be the most balanced of the three skill-wise, but he has expressed his disinterest in playing for the Cleveland Browns, who have the first pick. After Cleveland, the New York Giants and New York Jets pick. All three of these teams are looking for a quarterback for the future of their franchise.

New Management in Cleveland

Photo courtesy of the Weirton Daily News

The Cleveland Browns’ new general manager, John Dorsey, formerly with the Kansas City Chiefs, has already shaken things up in Cleveland early on in his tenure with the Browns. He has traded for Pro Bowl quarterback Tyrod Taylor, Pro Bowl receiver Jarvis Landry, and former first-round NFL draft pick Damarious Randall, all in the same day. This seems to have invigorated the fans of the franchise and given the Browns a future to be optimistic about after a winless season in 2017.

Clearly John Dorsey is not afraid to make moves to shape the team the way he wants, and trades happening on NFL draft day are as unavoidable as death and taxes. With the first and fourth overall pick, as well as many picks in the early rounds of the draft, the Browns seem to have all the cards, and John Dorsey may want to play them to make a deal.

Names to Know

Lamar Jackson

Photo courtesy of SB Nation

Lamar Jackson, the 2016 Heisman trophy winning quarterback has been a scoring machine throughout his three-year career at the University of Louisville. Jackson is the only player of the FBS era to pass for over 3,000 yards and rush for over 1,000 in back-to-back seasons and has 119 total touchdowns in his career.

Jackson has faced criticism and controversy for some of his pre-draft decisions. He chose to stay and play exclusively as a quarterback in the NFL when some teams would have preferred to switch him to wide receiver to better use his speed and explosiveness. He has also faced criticism for hiring his mother as his agent. Regardless of the legitimate or illegitimate knocks on Jackson, he is expected to be drafted mid-to-late first round or early second round as a quarterback. His level of success at quarterback at the professional level will be something many are eager to see.

Shaquem Griffin

Photo courtesy of the Orlando Sentinel

Shaquem Griffin has been one of the more popular and inspiring of stories of the 2018 draft. The senior linebacker from the University of Central Florida was named American Athletic Conference (AAC) defensive player of the year in 2016 and was a second-team All-American in 2017 but was not invited to the NFL Combine, an event in which athletes are tested in drills in front of prospective pro teams prior to the draft. This was likely due to Griffin’s amputated hand.

Griffin was born with amniotic band syndrome and had his left hand amputated at age four. He eventually did get invited to the Combine and made the most of his opportunity by running the fastest 40-yard dash of any linebacker in the draft and getting 20 225 lb. bench press reps with only one hand. This impressive showing has skyrocketed the linebacker up draft boards, and many think he will be drafted in the middle-to-late rounds of the draft.

Odell Beckham Jr.

Photo courtesy of USA Today

Odell Beckham Jr. is one of the most talented players in the NFL. The 25-year-old wide receiver for the New York Giants has put up historic numbers in the dawn of his career but has consistently been criticized for his behavior and attitude. Beckham most recently faced a wave of criticism for a video released by a French model of a shirtless Beckham smoking an unknown substance out of a cigarillo wrapper and holding a straw while there is a white powdery substance on the bed next to him.

Because of this incident the Giants seem to have put Beckham on the trade block, with an asking price of two first-round picks for him. Currently, the New England Patriots, Cleveland Browns and Buffalo Bills are the only ones with multiple picks. It is unclear whether a trade for the All-Pro player will happen on draft day, but most expect the New York Giants to be making calls.

Sleepers

Nick Chubb

Photo courtesy of Sports Illustrated

Coming into the 2015 college football season, two names were at the top of the list of top running backs in the country: South Eastern Conference (SEC) freshman of the year and first-team All-SEC back sophomore Nick Chubb, and College Football National Champion Ezekiel Elliott. Some even thought that Chubb, being younger would be better than Elliott. Elliott would go on that year to win the Big 10 Conference offensive player of the year, be a second-team All-American and be drafted number four overall by the Dallas Cowboys while a knee injury in October 2015 sidelined Chubb for the season. Chubb would never return with the same gusto as his freshman season. This could be because he doesn’t have the same speed or strength since the injury, or it could be due to the different, more balanced offense that Georgia has run under head coach Kirby Smart. If Chubb has the same ability as his spectacular first season and a team finds him in the mid-to-late rounds, it could be the steal of the 2018 draft.

Malik Jefferson

Photo courtesy of Phillyinfluencer.com

Malik Jefferson was another freshman standout from the University of Texas. While the junior linebacker’s production hasn’t dropped in his three years at Texas, the team’s disappointing lack of success and multiple coaching changes have caused Jefferson to fly under the radar since his freshman year. Jefferson has a very high potential as he may be the most athletic linebacker in the draft and could be a Pro Bowl player that may fall late in the first or even somewhere in the second round.

Cover photo courtesy of Blitz Weekly

DeMarcus Cousins has been arguably the best center in the NBA the past few seasons, but last season he was traded from the Sacramento Kings, the team he had played for his entire career, to the New Orleans Pelicans. Cousins was likely traded due to his “attitude and immaturity” issues, as he has led the league in technical fouls two of the last three seasons and seemed to have a habit of being unfriendly to officials and unnecessarily physical with opposing players.

While his short fuse and aggressive nature have drawn many critics of Cousins, none can deny his talent on the basketball court. He has the strength to drive through any opponent and take the ball to the rim, while still having the skill and versatility to score anywhere on the floor. Cousins’ vision and passing ability as a big man is highly underrated and quietly ends most games with impressive rebounding numbers.

This season was on track to be his best as in his first full season in New Orleans. He had been voted as an All-Star starter for the first time in his career and he was on pace to make the playoffs for the first time in his career. His great season unfortunately came to an end January 26 when he tore his Achilles at the end of a victory against the Houston Rockets.

The Sacramento Bee reported a few days after the death of Stephon Clark that former Sacramento Kings players DeMarcus Cousins and Matt Barnes had reached out to Clark’s family and offered to pay for the funeral expenses. The two NBA players were not the only ones interested in helping out the family, as the GoFundMe page set up for the funeral expenses has raised over $83,000 of their $50,000 goal. Clark’s funeral was held March 29 in Sacramento, where Reverend Al Sharpton delivered the eulogy.

This is unfortunately a familiar gesture for DeMarcus Cousins. In 2015, Cousins paid for the funeral expenses for Jaulon Clavo, a high school football player in Sacramento who was fatally shot while driving to get food before their home game November 13.

Photo courtesy of Basketinside.com