Category: Sport

Trade speculation has surrounded Giannis Antetokounmpo and the Milwaukee Bucks for weeks now, ever since a report came out that the former MVP was talking to the team about his future with the franchise.

The situation hasn’t been helped by a lack of communication from the man himself. Not long after the report emerged, Antetokounmpo went down with a calf strain and didn’t speak to reporters again until Thursday.

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There was plenty to talk about with the Bucks sitting at 11-16, but the trade rumors were unavoidable. In response to one question about the reported conversations, Antetokounmpo denied any role in the talks and indicated his agent, Alex Saratsis, was handling them without his input:

“If my agent is talking to the Bucks about it, he is his own person. He can have any conversation he wants about it. At the end of the day, I don’t work for my agent, my agent works for me. There’s going to be conversations that are going to be made between him and the Bucks and him and his other players and him and other teams and other GMs, executives around the league.

“It’s something that you can’t control. But at the end of the day, I personally have not had the conversation with the Bucks.”

That’s an interesting way to describe a player-agent relationship, as an agent unilaterally approaching a team about his client’s future is not something you see every day. It is the basic definition of an agent to act on a player’s wishes, so Saratsis has to know at least something about what Antetokounmpo is seeking if he’s talking with the Bucks.

When pressed on the claim, Antetokounmpo further denied any control in the matters and complained about his wife’s obsession with Target in the process:

“I tell my wife all the time, I say, ‘Stop shopping at Target.’ Every day she wakes up, she’s like. ‘I’m going to Target.’ I’m like, ‘Babe, stop. You’re addicted to Target.’ Every day. Today, she went to Target. I can’t control — she’s a grown-ass woman. I can’t control what she does.

“So the same thing with my agent. I can’t control the conversations they’re going to have. I can’t control the people that approach them. At the same time, I can’t control teams that approach the Bucks.”

Antetokounmpo also summarized his communications with his agent as basically non-existent during the season, which, again, would make him a rarity among NBA players:

“A lot of people have great relationships with their agents. With me, I do have a good relationship with my agent, but they know once the season starts, you don’t call my phone. You don’t talk to me about endorsement deals. You don’t talk to me about basketball. You never played the game. Let me take care of my job, you take care of your job.”

Antetokounmpo hasn’t played since Dec. 3 and confirmed his injury was a soleus strain, which he also suffered in the 2023-24 season. He said the timeline for return remains 4-to-6 weeks, which would land his return sometime in January. However, he also added that he would play Thursday if it were a Game 7.

The Bucks have gone 1-3 without Antetokounmpo and Milwaukee has seven more games remaining in December alone. The team is already sitting at 11th in the Eastern Conference and needs him as much as ever in its post-Damian Lillard era.

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There has been confusion throughout all this. The Bucks have firmly denied any such conversations taking place, but Antetokounmpo just indicated his agent was talking to them about something. Antetokounmpo was reported last week to have spoken with his teammates about focusing on winning now, but two of his teammates said they heard no such talk.

The Bucks have become conspicuously scarce on Antetokounmpo’s social media, which he explained as an attempt to become more private:

“The other day, I was approached about, ‘Hey, man, you deleted all the Bucks stuff from your socials.’ I’m like, ‘Bro.’ The younger generation, they just pay attention so much to — what does that mean? What is me deleting the Bucks stuff from my social media platforms? What does that mean? I’m not going to show up to work? I don’t understand. I feel like people give so much attention to that.

“First of all, I did not delete the Bucks stuff. My Jimmy Paschke shirt, championship trophy is there. The NBA Cup trophy is there. All the moments that mean something to me is there, but I want to be more private moving forward, as much as I can. I want to be a little more private, that’s how I protect my family.”

If Antetokounmpo is indeed open to a trade, there will be no shortage of suitors. If not, the easiest way to end any such talk is for the Bucks to start performing like contenders.

It’s a jam-packed weekend of football at the professional and, well, also professional ranks! The NFL spreads its tentacles to Saturday and the College Football Playoff kicks off Friday night in Norman, Oklahoma.

As the NFL and college football seasons enter the home stretch, and we get ever closer to the 2026 NFL Draft in Pittsburgh, let’s take a look at the top prospects to watch during the first round of the playoff.

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(9) Alabama vs. (8) Oklahoma

My eyes are first going to go to one matchup in particular between an Oklahoma pass rusher and an Alabama tackle.

Oklahoma edge R Mason Thomas

Thomas is an undersized but powerful defender who can explode off the snap. He is like a sawed-off shotgun with the way he can use his surprising length and pop to get underneath and push back offensive tackles and tight ends. And he’ll see plenty of snaps against …

Alabama LT Kadyn Proctor

Proctor is massive, and his evaluation is all over the place, matching his up-and-down play this season. I have Proctor graded more as a back-half-of-the-first-round type player, and that is more because I am weighing his rare size (listed 6-foot-7, 366 pounds) and movement ability. Thomas’ size (or lack thereof) and quick-hitting style is a perfect type of opponent for talent evaluators to watch when grading Proctor. And same for Proctor’s massive size and strength for Thomas to battle against.

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Alabama QB Ty Simpson

Simpson was a big riser in this year’s underwhelming quarterback class, but his play tapered off in the second half of the season. His willingness to push the ball and create explosive plays made him a fun watch, but his average size (6-2, 208) and inaccuracies started to crop up too frequently as SEC play wore on. I think he ends up going back to school, but still worth watching because he is a true gunslinger working from the pocket.

Oklahoma QB John Mateer

Mateer is tough and will flash some cool trick shots as a passer, but he, like Simpson, got banged up this season and started to have too many inconsistencies.

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(10) Miami vs. (7) Texas A&M

Miami OL Francis Mauigoa

More focus on the trenches as we look to College Station. Mauigoa has perhaps been the most consistent offensive line prospect in this class, and he plays with a good base and hand usage. I see him more as a guard at the next level, perhaps the first one who gets drafted, but he is still a very good tackle in college and he will have a fun matchup going against the Aggies and …

Texas A&M edge Cashius Howell

Howell is undersized but is a fireball at the snap of the football. He can quickly give offensive tackles issues with his speed, and he’s been productive throughout his college career. Howell’s quickness against Mauigoa’s sturdiness will be an enjoyable “styles makes fights” battle.

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Miami QB Carson Beck

Texas A&M head coach Mike Elko’s defensive gameplanning will be a fun test for Beck and the Hurricanes’ offense. I see Beck as a Day 3 prospect, but when kept clean he can get on a roll as a thrower, and this will be a great matchup to watch and see how far Beck has come along as a processor and operator.

Miami edge Rueben Bain Jr.

The Hurricanes have a pair of talented edge prospects, too. Bain was the most dominant defender in the country over the first half of the season, but has tapered off slightly since then. He’s a powerful defender who can kick inside as a defensive tackle on snaps (some teams even view him as a defensive tackle first, which I don’t totally disagree with). Bain’s ability to push the pocket and hold down the point of attack in the run game make him a very useful player, but his lack of high-end twitch and length might have some teams questioning his overall upside.

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Miami edge Akheem Mesidor

Mesidor is an older prospect (he will turn 25 just before the draft), but he is a violent pass rusher whose twitch and bend pop off the screen. I see some similarities to Rams edge Byron Young in terms of background and ability with Mesidor.

Texas A&M WR KC Concepcion

Concepcion is dynamic with the ball in his hands. He could make an instant impact as a big-play receiver and returner at the next level. Concepcion is undersized (5-10, 190), but he has real ball skills as a receiver that helps him maximize his frame. He can be a nice secondary weapon in a passing attack that can help add an explosive element right away.

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(11) Tulane vs. (6) Ole Miss

Tulane has been such a well-coached team under Jon Sumrall (who took the job at Florida), but it plays to the max of its abilities and it isn’t a roster filled with high-end prospects. It’s kind of the same for Ole Miss, funnily enough.

Ole Miss QB Trinidad Chambliss

Chambliss is a hoot to watch, but will likely be staying in college football somewhere in 2026. Chambliss is worth tuning in for just from a sheer enjoyment of watching a fun college football player perspective.

(12) James Madison vs. (5) Oregon

Lots of ballplayers to watch on the home team in Eugene! On both units, too.

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Oregon TE Kenyon Sadiq

Sadiq is an explosive offensive weapon that’s willing to scrap as a blocker, too. He’s athletic enough to win from split out positions and is a valid weapon down the field and after the catch. Sadiq still needs to add more consistency and polish to his game, but his star moments shine as brightly as anyone in this class. His name will be called on the first night in April.

Oregon DT A’Mauri Washington

Washington is a mauler in the middle and has been a riser this season. Washington can blow up double-teams with his size (listed 330 pounds) and strength. Washington can be used as a run-down plugger, but can also fit on more attacking defenses that ask him to slant and twist after the snap.

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Oregon edge Matayo Uiagalelei

Uiagalelei could fit as a defensive end in three- or four-down fronts. He hasn’t had a big year, but still has length and his role in the run game translates to the next level.

Oregon G Emmanuel Pregnon

Oregon has several talented offensive linemen on the other side of the trenches, too. In a class full of more good than great, Pregnon has risen to first-round consideration. He’s light on his feet and has improved his technique and ability to recover and anchor this season.

Oregon LT Isaiah World

World has high-end tools with real length and power in his game, but has still been an inconsistent performer this year after transferring from Nevada. He fell out of my midseason top 30 big board, but his flashes and athleticism will keep him as a prospect to watch this cycle. Somebody will take a chance.

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Oregon S Dillon Thienenman

Thienenman, another transfer (this time from Purdue), is a player who can do a little bit of everything role-wise. He’s quick to trigger downhill and just ends up around the football. I like him best in teams that base out of two-high or like to funk up their looks after the snap. I have him graded as an early Day 2 selection right now but could easily see him having some fans on the playoff teams that make up the back end of the first round.

Oregon QB Dante Moore

That’s it, right? Onto the Dukes prospects … oh wait, Dante Moore! Moore is the NFL Draft’s biggest mystery man. Not in terms of if he will go in the first round, because he will, but on whether he declares. I maintain that he should, regardless of how Oregon fares in this game or the next few weeks. I have had Fernando Mendoza (we’ll see the Heisman winner in the quarterfinals) graded so far as my QB1 this process, but it’s far from a consensus opinion on how the league and other evaluators judge these two, and really this entire class.

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Moore gets asked to do a lot in Oregon’s offense, not in terms of running but more in terms of operation and as a passer from the pocket. He is a clean thrower who can really pepper throws around when in rhythm and is comfortable with the plays, but he can be a bit safe and inconsistent on certain concepts that he doesn’t have as much time on (which makes sense, given that this is his first full year starting). His development this year has been a lot of fun to watch, and teams with a need for quarterback should be watching every Oregon game from here on out.

Joe Buck will be part of ESPN’s first game lineup to call Los Angeles Dodgers vs. New York Mets on April 15, he announced on SI Media with Jimmy Traina. This marks Buck’s second consecutive year being part of ESPN’s first broadcast of the MLB season.

Despite ESPN and Major League Baseball reaching a deal to air 30 regular-season games, Buck is scheduled to call only the Dodgers-Mets game. Last season marked the first time since 2021 that Buck called a nationally broadcasted baseball game after leaving Fox for ESPN.

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In 2022, Buck and Troy Aikman signed a multiyear deal with ESPN to become the voices of Monday Night Football. Despite shifting his focus to the NFL, Buck returned for an MLB game alongside Chip Caray in the St. Louis Cardinals’ booth in 2024.

Buck and Caray both have fathers who were sports broadcasters. Joe Buck worked alongside his father, Jack, as a Cardinals radio and television broadcaster from 1991 to 2007. He also called the PGA Tournament and hosted an alternate broadcast in 2022. The 56-year-old broadcaster said he prefers calling baseball games earlier in the season because he feels more prepared.

“For someone who hasn’t been involved in the game for four years, and I did Opening Day last year, I think it’s easier to launch off the beginning of the season because it’s not looking back,” Buck told Traina.

Buck also believes that calling a game featuring the back-to-back World Series champions will make his job easier.

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“It’s a Dodger game, I think it’s Dodger-Mets, so there’s a lot to talk about,” he said. “I mean, I could probably do it right now. The Dodgers, half their lineup’s going to end up in the Hall of Fame. They’re easy names.”

While Buck didn’t rule out calling a game later in the season or during the playoffs, he acknowledged that it would be much more challenging.

“I’m not prepared to do that without putting myself in solitary confinement for a month and trying to catch up with everything that’s gone on,” Buck said.

Before Buck’s four-year absence from baseball, he was one of the most recognizable voices in the sport. He served as Fox’s lead play-by-play announcer from 1996 to 2021. During that time, Buck called 23 World Series and 21 All-Star Games, the most by any play-by-play announcer on network television.

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Buck will receive the 2026 Ford C. Frick Award, which is presented annually to a broadcaster for major contributions to baseball. Buck and his father will become the first father-son duo to both receive the award.

Heather McPhee, associate general counsel for the NFL Players Association since 2009, filed a federal lawsuit Thursday, alleging that former executive director Lloyd Howell Jr. and two current top union executives conspired to prevent her from cooperating with a criminal investigation into union finances, ESPN’s Don Van Natta Jr. reported.

McPhee was placed on paid administrative leave on Aug. 14 after she was the subject of multiple employee complaints, per Van Natta and ESPN’s Jeff Passan, that reportedly included accusations of failing to follow supervisors’ directions, bullying colleagues and disrupting the union’s work environment.

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In the lawsuit, McPhee says she was placed on leave to stop her from testifying before a federal grand jury investigating the NFLPA and the Major League Baseball Players Association, according to ESPN’s report.

Months before she was placed on leave, McPhee made allegations that sparked an FBI investigation into the NFLPA, MLBPA and OneTeam Partners, their $2 billion licensing company.

McPhee is reportedly seeking at least $10 million in damages, according to the lawsuit, in which she accuses Howell of illegal misconduct, sex discrimination, breach of fiduciary duty and retaliation, per ESPN.

Howell, who became the NFLPA’s executive director in 2022, resigned July 17. He stepped down after a tumultuous month of criticism that stemmed from Pablo Torre and Mike Florio reporting that the NFL and NFLPA covered up a ruling on a collusion grievance. An arbitrator, Christopher Droney, found that in the wake of quarterback Deshaun Watson signing a fully guaranteed $230 million contract with the Cleveland Browns ahead of the 2022 season, league executives encouraged team owners to reduce the amount of guaranteed money players received in subsequent contracts.

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Droney concluded that he couldn’t prove by a “clear preponderance” that NFL teams followed suit. Still, the details revealed from that 2022 annual owners’ meeting were indelible, and so was the fact that the NFLPA reportedly agreed with the NFL to keep the collusion grievance findings under wraps. That left a stain on Howell’s reputation, as did other matters, chief among them his reported spending of union funds for visits to strip clubs.

After McPhee initially flagged concerns within the NFLPA in November 2024, regarding senior executives potentially violating labor laws governing conflicts of interest and the fulfillment of fiduciary duties, as reported by ESPN, she alleges that union leaders targeted her “in order to conceal and deflect their own misconduct and failures.”

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McPhee questioned the legality of a senior executive incentive plan proposed by OneTeam Partners that would have paid millions of dollars in bonuses to Howell, MLBPA executive director Tony Clark and others, per ESPN, which also reported that McPhee states in the suit that she opposed Howell’s decision to keep the collusion grievance findings secret.

The suit says, according to ESPN, that the union leaders signing a confidentiality agreement with the NFL “raised concerns about a potential violation of the NFLPA’s duty of fair representation to players.”

When union leaders discovered McPhee was in line to testify as a grand jury witness about what she deemed to be criminal misconduct by Howell and others, she alleges she was removed from meetings and cut off from the board and players.

McPhee was then placed on leave due to her “workplace behavior,” according to the ESPN report. McPhee believes that was a tactic to prevent her from cooperating with the DOJ.

Jakobi Meyers was initially a trade-deadline rental for the Jacksonville Jaguars. Now it looks like he’s going to be staying around for a while.

Meyers and the Jaguars agreed to a three-year, $60 million contract extension on Thursday, according to NFL Network. The deal reportedly contains $40 million in guaranteed money.

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The Jaguars announced the deal soon after.

The 29-year-old was originally slated to hit free agency after this season, which he began as a member of the Las Vegas Raiders. He had asked for a trade from the team during the offseason and finally got one to Jacksonville at the trade deadline.

The Jaguars gave up fourth- and sixth-round picks for Meyers and got a reliable receiver. Meyers posted his first career 1,000-receiving yard season last year in Vegas and has followed it up with 707 yards this season, 355 of them in six games with the Jaguars. His tenure in Jacksonville has also coincided with a 5-1 run for the team, which leads the AFC South with a 10-4 record.

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A $20 million average annual value places Meyers 25th among current wide receiver contracts via OverTheCap, right behind Tampa Bay Buccaneers star Mike Evans.

James Madison was the fourth president of the United States, a statesman and a scholar renowned for his role in the creation of the U.S. Constitution. James Madison is currently a 20.5-point underdog to Oregon in the College Football Playoff, which seems surprisingly close given that Madison has been dead for nearly 200 years.

Ah, wait … I see, we should be discussing James Madison University, not James Madison the president. OK, that makes a lot more sense. JMU, located in the lovely Shenandoah Valley college town of Harrisonburg, Virginia, makes its first appearance in the College Football Playoff this weekend. Its presence in the bracket is a reminder of what makes college football great, even if the Dukes snuck in through a door that’s likely to be boarded shut after this season.

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Since this is likely the first time much of the country has seen, or even heard of, the JMU Dukes, let’s answer two questions: 1. How in the world did James Madison get into a tournament alongside behemoths like Ohio State and Georgia, and 2. Do the Dukes have any hope against the Ducks?

The first question is easy, though there’s a bit of backstory. James Madison has spent most of the century as a member of the FCS, and generally kicking the hell out of most of its opposition. The Dukes won FCS national titles in both 2004 and 2016, and later decided to make the leap to the FBS level.

JMU joined the FBS’s Sun Belt Conference in 2022 and immediately continued whomping on nearly everyone in sight, even earning a brief-but-still-impressive top-25 ranking at one point that debut season. Those Dukes were coached by a gentleman named Curt Cignetti. (These two sentences are very much connected.)

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Since joining the Sun Belt, JMU has posted seasons of 8, 11, 9 and 12-and-counting victories. That’s not bad! This year’s team is in the playoffs through a combination of talent and timing, winning the Sun Belt in the exact year that the ACC tied itself in knots and somehow let a five-loss Duke team win the conference title. That allowed JMU, through a quirk of rules that surely will never be permitted again, to be the second Group of Five team in the field, after Tulane.

So they started from the FCS, now they’re here. Does JMU have anything approaching a chance against the mighty Oregon Ducks? Only if that chance runs through the defense.

James Madison ranked second to Ohio State nationally in team defense, allowing 247.6 yards per game. The Dukes also rank fifth in third-down defense, allowing conversions at just a 28.7 percent rate. That’s good! What’s not so good: James Madison stacked those numbers against Sun Belt competition, and Oregon is most assuredly not Sun Belt-level competition.

As our Nick Bromberg notes, the Dukes will be playing in Autzen Stadium, which boasts a capacity approaching three times the size of JMU’s home field. The Dukes will also face a preseason Heisman favorite and potential NFL early first-rounder in quarterback Dante Moore, who’s thrown for 2,733 yards and 24 touchdowns against six interceptions this season. His JMU counterpart, Alonza Barrett III, has totaled 2,533 yards, 21 touchdowns and eight interceptions so far this year.

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The Dukes initially prepared for Oregon while the rest of the campus was taking finals, which necessitated a bit of moderation at the stadium. “We had a couple of speakers out there and that was it, but now we’ll be able to go live in the stadium and make sure it’s loud as it can be,” head coach Bob Chesney said earlier this week. “We want to try and make it to where we can’t even hear each other on both sides of the ball, knowing that it will affect the offense and the special teams more than it will the defense, but that is definitively what we’re jumping into. We have all their songs, all the things they do, their band, everything we could gather is what we’re putting on display out there for our guys, so that’s something that they’ve heard before.”

What’s fascinating about James Madison is there are, in a way, two Dukes teams in this playoff. When Cignetti left JMU for Indiana in 2023, he took with him a huge chunk of the JMU roster, including wide receiver Elijah Cooper, who leads Indiana with 12 touchdowns, and Kaelon Black, Indiana’s second-leading rusher on the year. It’s a testament to the work of Chesney that the Dukes didn’t miss a beat.

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And soon they’ll have to do it all again; Chesney has accepted a job with UCLA and, unlike some people we could name, he will coach the Dukes for the entirety of their playoff run. James Madison will replace him with former Florida coach Billy Napier.

The Dukes have a long way to go to be competing week-in, week-out with titans like Oregon. But they’ve remained competitive despite losing both players and coaches to larger programs. And that still counts for something in the eyes of college football fans, if not the myopically playoff-obsessed.

“The style in which we play is something that is probably hard to tell from film,” Chesney said. “Our guys play a confident, inspired, attacking style of football, period, in all phases. That is a thing that has to be at a premium as you walk into this arena. That’s really it. I want the world to know how tough these guys are, how competitive these guys are, how much they play for and with each other.”

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Can Jordan Love and the Green Bay Packers stake their claim over the NFC North this weekend? Yahoo Sports’ Andrew Siciliano and Charles Robinson break down that matchup along with other key battles across the league, including the Jacksonville Jaguars taking on the formidable Denver Broncos defense. Later in the show, Andrew sits down with The Athletic’s NFL insider Dianna Russini to discuss the latest news in the league and what to expect ahead of Christmas Day games. Who could clinch a playoff spot and who could be eliminated? Find out on our Week 16 preview show!

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(5:08) – Packers @ Bears

(13:58) – Jaguars @ Broncos

(20:21) – Buccaneers @ Panthers

(28:14) – Patriots @ Ravens

(37:43) – Steelers @ Lions

(44:21) – Dianna Russini joins the show!

(1:07:03) – One More Thing

🖥️ Watch this full episode on YouTube

Check out the rest of the Yahoo Sports podcast family at https://apple.co/3zEuTQj or at Yahoo Sports Podcasts

A.J. McCarron’s political career appears to have officially lasted two months. Now begins his spring football coaching career.

The former Alabama quarterback announced Wednesday that he is ending his campaign to become lieutenant governor of Alabama, mentioning that “football is calling my name once again.” His new job was revealed Thursday, when McCarron was announced as the new head coach of the United Football League’s Birmingham Stallions.

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It will be the first coaching job he has ever had.

McCarron announced his campaign for lieutenant governor in October, creating the possibility of a former Auburn head coach — current U.S. Sen. Tommy Tuberville — as governor and a former Crimson Tide quarterback as lieutenant governor.

McCarron specifically cited the assassination of Charlie Kirk as his reason for running for political office and reportedly registered to vote for the first time three days before unveiling his campaign.

Around the time of his announcement, a poll found McCarron to be sitting in second place with 14% of the vote in the Republican primary, behind current secretary of state Wes Allen (26%). It was a significantly fractured race (by comparison, Tuberville led the governor primary race with 63% of the vote) in which McCarron’s name recognition should have been a boon.

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He was also hosting an Alabama football podcast throughout all of this.

Now, with much of his political activity wiped from his social media feeds, McCarron is embarking on a coaching career. He helped lead Alabama to back-to-back BCS national championships in 2011 and 2012 and spent seven years in the NFL, mostly as a backup. He posted 1,192 passing yards, 6 touchdowns and 3 interceptions in 19 career appearances (4 starts).

More recently, he spent two seasons as the starting quarterback of the UFL’s St. Louis Battlehawks, reaching the conference title game. We’ll see if any of that experience helps him navigate the professional coaching ranks.

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McCarron will be taking over a Stallions team that won three straight championships in the USFL and UFL from 2022 to 2024 but fell short of a four-peat with a loss to the Michigan Panthers in the playoffs. Head coach Skip Holtz announced he was leaving the team earlier this week, opening the spot for McCarron.

The nation’s sixth-leading passer this season will enter the transfer portal. Three-year TCU starter Josh Hoover is the latest quarterback to turn the page to the next chapter of his college football career.

“First, I want to thank God for the opportunities that he has blessed me with to play this game,” Hoover said in a statement on Thursday. “I’m so thankful to have had the opportunity to represent TCU for an incredible four years. It has been a dream to be able to play and graduate from this university, and I will forever be grateful for that.”

Hoover later added: “I want to thank my teammates for all of the memories that we’ve shared together. This place has allowed me to meet some of my best friends, and I will always be grateful for that.”

Hoover’s announcement follows news that Missouri’s Beau Pribula, Nebraska’s Dylan Raiola, Florida’s DJ Lagway and North Texas’ Drew Mestemaker are also set to play elsewhere in 2026.

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Hoover battled turnover issues during his time in Fort Worth, including 13 interceptions in 12 games this season. But he combined for 71 passing touchdowns in three seasons as the Horned Frogs’ QB1.

Each of the past two seasons, Hoover accounted for 30-plus total touchdowns. He piled up 31 scores (27 passing, four rushing) in 2024 and 31 more (29 passing, two rushing) in 2025.

Last season, he flirted with 4,000 passing yards, finishing with a program-record 3,949 yards after throwing for 252 with four touchdowns in a 34-3 win over Louisiana in the Isleta New Mexico Bowl. That victory gave TCU a 9-4 record last season.

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This time around, the Horned Frogs finished the regular season 8-4.

Hoover has one season of eligibility remaining. He won’t play for TCU in the Alamo Bowl against No. 16 USC, according to ESPN’s Pete Thamel.

For the past four seasons, no team has been stuck in the mud of mediocrity more than the San Francisco Giants. Their unremarkable win totals over those years — 81, 79, 80, 81 — stand in stark contrast to the astonishing highs of 2021, when San Francisco surged to 107 wins and an unlikely NL West title, not to mention the three World Series championships collected at the beginning of the previous decade. Now, the face of those title teams, Buster Posey, has embraced the challenge of returning this franchise to its previously lofty heights, this time as president of baseball operations.

After taking over at the conclusion of the 2024 season, Posey didn’t wait around to make his mark in his new role, making a sizable splash last winter with the signing of shortstop Willy Adames to a seven-year, $182 million deal and adding another high-profile name to the rotation in Justin Verlander. With the Giants off to a solid start — San Francisco was tied with the Dodgers for first place on June 13 — Posey then executed one of the more shocking trades in recent memory, acquiring slugger Rafael Devers from the Boston Red Sox. But things went south from there, and by the end of Posey’s first year at the helm, San Francisco had arrived at a frustratingly familiar destination: right at .500 and nowhere near the postseason.

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Posey’s second offseason in charge began with another stunning move, this time involving a new manager following the dismissal of Bob Melvin after two unsuccessful seasons. The Giants hired Tony Vitello, a college baseball lifer with zero professional baseball experience but an impressive résumé building the University of Tennessee’s program into an unfettered powerhouse, including a national championship in 2024. In an offseason filled with managerial turnover league-wide, no hire raised more eyebrows — for better or worse — than Posey’s bold choice of Vitello.

But since Vitello’s hire and the restructuring of the coaching staff around him, the Giants have been relatively quiet on the transaction front, despite several clear holes on the roster. So far, the team’s spending has amounted to a fraction of what was already committed to Adames by this time last year: $22 million over two years for right-hander Adrian Houser, plus one-year deals for relievers Jason Foley ($2 million) and Sam Hentges ($1.4 million). San Francisco’s only trade has been to acquire Daniel Susac, whom the Twins selected in the Rule 5 Draft, to presumably compete to be the backup catcher. Vitello aside, Posey and Co. haven’t exactly been grabbing headlines, but there’s plenty of offseason left for the Giants to change that.

Here are the five biggest questions still facing San Francisco this winter:

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1. Is there appetite for another Adames-level signing?

Although their high-profile pursuits haven’t always succeeded, the Giants have shown a willingness to hand out sizable contracts in recent years, whether it be in free agency with guys such as Jung Hoo Lee and Adames, extending players such as Logan Webb and Matt Chapman, or trading for an established star on an enormous contract in Devers. FanGraphs currently projects San Francisco’s luxury-tax payroll for 2026 at a shade over $200 million, which ranks roughly 10th in MLB but is a far cry from the first competitive balance tax line of $244 million.

By that measure, there would seem to be room for another major addition before San Francisco would have to worry about luxury tax penalties, but based on their messaging and activity so far, it’s not clear the Giants are preparing to make such a splash. This despite several of the top available free agents fitting their roster brilliantly, whether that’s Kyle Tucker or Cody Bellinger filling one of their unclaimed corner outfield spots, Bo Bichette addressing the clear hole at second base, or a top-tier starter such as Framber Valdez or Tatsuya Imai reinforcing a rotation featuring uncertainty beyond Webb and Robbie Ray, who is scheduled to hit free agency after next season.

Perhaps San Francisco is staying patient and waiting for the right deal to line up rather than jumping the market like, say, Toronto did with Dylan Cease. But there are glaring deficiencies on a roster that already wasn’t good enough, and the Giants might be better served by acting with urgency to ensure they don’t finish this offseason without any impact additions.

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2. Do they have the prospects to make a major trade?

If San Francisco is less inclined to spend big in free agency, perhaps Posey and Co. are more comfortable dealing prospects for proven major-league talent on more affordable salaries. In other words, rather than committing nine figures to someone such as Valdez or Bichette, the Giants could make a trade for someone such as Brendan Donovan or MacKenzie Gore.

A farm system that was widely regarded as one of MLB’s weakest at this time a year ago took some notable strides in 2025 and is now considered closer to the middle of the pack. But it remains to be seen if the Giants have assembled the requisite depth to put together a package that beats those offered by clubs with deeper collections of top-100-type talent. Besides top prospect Bryce Eldridge, who is assumed to be virtually untouchable in trade discussions, most of San Francisco’s enticing talent is years away from the majors, such as teenage shortstops Josuar Gonzalez and Jhonny Level, or infielder Gavin Kilen, drafted 13th overall earlier this year.

Even among rebuilding clubs, it has become increasingly rare to see lower-level prospects headline major trades, with most teams preferring to target talent closer to making an impact in the majors, and that San Francisco currently lacks. Left-hander Carson Whisenhunt, who made his debut in 2025, is an example of the kind of prospect who could appeal to clubs in trade talks, but he might factor into San Francisco’s rotation plans in the short term, so the team would have to weigh that when contemplating trading him to address another need on the roster.

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Overall, we’re still in the early stages of understanding how Posey values his players and how aggressive he’s willing to be to make a deal happen — especially if spending in free agency isn’t the preferred route. And with the trade market yet to really heat up across the league, there’s plenty of time to find out more about Posey in this regard.

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3. Will Bryce Eldridge be in the Opening Day lineup?

Even if we assume Eldridge isn’t going anywhere in a trade anytime soon, the 21-year-old first baseman occupies a very interesting position on the Giants’ roster, and his outlook could impact the club’s priorities for the rest of this offseason. There’s no sense in putting too much stock in the hulking slugger’s struggles in his ultra-brief cameo in September (.476 OPS across 37 plate appearances), but it’s worth wondering if San Francisco is counting on him being part of the Opening Day lineup or if more seasoning in Triple-A is needed. Eldridge raced through the minors in impressive fashion, but that speedrun left him with a relative lack of reps — just 43 games in Double-A and 74 in Triple-A — that could make the jump to the majors harsher than normal.

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As things stand, Eldridge projects to get the bulk of the at-bats at DH in San Francisco, with a likely rotation with Devers at first base to continue his development as a defender. Even if the left-handed-hitting Eldridge is protected against tough southpaws by a right-handed platoon partner such as Jerar Encarnacion or someone of that ilk, this is a lot to ask of Eldridge considering his lack of experience. Perhaps he adjusts quickly and is able to deliver meaningful production in the middle portion of San Francisco’s lineup immediately — he is a top prospect, after all — but if not, an offense that currently projects to be thin beyond the top four hitters could prove to be even weaker than expected. If anything, the amount of pressure put on Eldridge to contribute right away will likely depend on how much proven offense the Giants are able to add this winter — something they haven’t done in any form to this point.

4. How much more pitching is needed?

While the starting pitching market has yet to unfreeze, and several impact bats remain unsigned, the free-agent relief market has been moving fast and furious, leaving very few obvious high-leverage arms available. That’s a troubling trend for San Francisco, a team currently projected by FanGraphs to have the second-worst bullpen in MLB by fWAR, ahead of only the Rockies. Foley and Hentges represent intriguing buy-low options as two pitchers who displayed back-end stuff a few years ago before injuries derailed their careers, but if the Giants are interested in adding any proven late-inning commodities, they are rapidly running out of options.

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Pete Fairbanks and Seranthony Dominguez are the biggest names left, and based on the recent activity, it’s a safe bet that those two arms will find new homes in the near future. Will the Giants emerge as the highest bidders for one of them? Given their actions so far, it’s hard to believe that’ll happen, so it’ll be interesting to see how many more arms (if any) are added to this undermanned unit headlined by Ryan Walker and rookie flamethrower Joel Peguero.

As for the rotation, Houser was a curious first add for San Francisco. The soon-to-be 33-year-old right-hander seemingly offers far less upside than some of the other starters on the market, profiling more as a back-end innings-eater who can provide value in the regular season but isn’t much of a needle-mover in a postseason context. That said, there’s a huge difference between having Houser as your No. 3 starter, as currently projected behind Webb and Ray, and having him as No. 4 or 5, so now it’s on the Giants to go out and add a superior starter (or two) to slot in ahead of Houser and make the rotation more formidable. That’s easier said than done, of course, but unlike with the relief market, several worthwhile rotation options are still available, so it’d be unfair to close the book on San Francisco’s quest to upgrade the starting staff just yet.

5. What’s the plan at second base?

The bullpen isn’t the only position that FanGraphs has projected as the second-weakest in MLB, as the keystone is another area of concern for San Francisco. Casey Schmitt, Christian Koss and Tyler Fitzgerald handled the bulk of reps at the position in 2025, and all remain in the organization. Schmitt showed some promise offensively in spurts, but in general, these are glove-first players whose ideal roles on a championship-caliber club would be in a bench capacity rather than regular at-bats.

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If San Francisco is seeking an upgrade at second base, a trade would seem to be most likely. That’s because if Bichette is an unrealistic option based on the price, there are essentially no other second basemen available in free agency that make sense for the Giants to target. The trade market, however, offers a bounty of possibilities, including the aforementioned Donovan, Ketel Marte, Brett Baty, Brandon Lowe and Nico Hoerner, whom San Francisco was linked to earlier this week. As noted, landing any of those players will require Posey to outbid other potential suitors, but if improving at second base is indeed a goal, a trade is the most logical path forward.