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The Indianapolis Colts were one of the feel-good stories in the first half of the NFL season. They were on a historic offensive pace from a points per drive standpoint and held the best record in the AFC at 7-2 in the first nine weeks of the season. The organization decided to go all-in on that version of the team and made a big swing to get cornerback Sauce Gardner at the NFL’s trade deadline heading into Week 10.

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Everything has gone horribly wrong for the Colts since that moment. After narrowly escaping their Germany meeting with the Falcons via an overtime win, the Colts returned from their Week 11 bye to drop two games to AFC contenders in the Chiefs and Texans before their nightmare finally came to a head on Sunday in Week 14.

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In the first quarter of their loss to Jacksonville, quarterback Daniel Jones went down with a non-contact injury on the opposite leg from the broken fibula he was playing through and slammed his helmet on the turf, signaling that he knew the worst outcome had been realized. The team quickly ruled him out with an Achilles injury on Sunday and announced on Monday that he was out for the season with a torn Achilles.

It’s a devastating injury all the way around. This is brutal for Jones, who has struggled with other injuries in the past and now has his career-rebirth season cut short by another setback. The Colts’ season, for all intents and purposes, ended on Sunday with their third-straight loss. The Athletic’s Playoff Simulator now gives the Colts a mere 30% chance to make the postseason with games against the Seahawks, 49ers, Jaguars and Texans — all of which are playoff teams if the season ended today — down the stretch. They’ll enter the offseason with questions about what to do with Jones, an impending free agent coming back from a major injury, without a first-round pick in either of the next two drafts.

Where do the Colts go from here?

The Colts will be set to play out the string, staring down familiar questions about who will be under center for them the rest of the season. You can’t even use this as a silver lining excuse to get a look at Anthony Richardson Sr. again because he’s on IR with a fractured orbital bone injury he suffered in pregame warmups weeks ago, and doesn’t sound close to getting back on the field.

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That seemed to leave sixth-round rookie Riley Leonard, the man who relieved Jones on Sunday, as the favorite to start at QB going forward, but even he is dealing with a knee injury that head coach Shane Steichen said puts his status for Week 15 unclear. Seventh-year journeyman Brett Rypien is on the practice squad but the team showed how desperate things are by reportedly signing 44-year-old Philip Rivers to the practice squad on Tuesday.

Rookie tight end Tyler Warren, who has taken three snaps as a quarterback this year and thrown one pass, is the emergency quarterback. I certainly feel like everything I’ve written in the last few paragraphs is outlining some level of an emergency state.

Let’s just, for the moment, assume it’s Leonard who starts on Sunday and holds the job the rest of the season. Maybe one of the other guys gets a look before Week 18 wraps up but based on the reporting around Richardson and now Rivers coming off the street, Leonard being the guy down the stretch outside of injuries sure seems like the most likely outcome.

I’d categorize Leonard’s debut in Week 14 as “well, it could have been much worse.” Leonard averaged -0.09 EPA per dropback on Sunday, which ranked 19th among 26 qualifying quarterbacks; not good, but not a disaster. He had a couple of moments as a scrambler, including a touchdown. We know, dating back to his college days, that he can take off and run.

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As a passer, the goal was to get the ball out and win in the quick game. He averaged just 5.9 air yards per attempt and a 2.65 time to throw. A whopping 92 of his 145 passing yards came on throws of 10 or fewer air yards. That’s likely the formula going forward for Leonard, who doesn’t have the arm talent of Jones to push the ball deep and outside the numbers as well as Jones did this year. However, it’s worth noting that Leonard did have one such throw on a back-shoulder touchdown to Michael Pittman Jr. that was called back due to a questionable OPI.

How Daniel Jones injury will impact Colts offense

Still, it’s safe to expect the quick game and RPOs to be the main diet of the passing game under Leonard. On those throws of 10 or fewer air yards, Pittman led the way by a wide margin with a 38.5% targets per route run and Josh Downs was second with 25%. Pittman caught eight of 10 targets for 55 yards. If anyone is going to survive this switch at quarterback, it’s likely Pittman on those quick in-breaking targets. That’s especially true heading into Seattle this week, as the Seahawks play two-high at the eighth-highest rate in the NFL, per Fantasy Points Data. Pittman has been the guy in the receiver room against those looks.

Alec Pierce may stand to lose the most in the receiver room. Pierce has evolved his game this year beyond just the deep shots but he still makes his plays on vertical routes outside the numbers. He has amassed 171 yards on just six catches with a whopping 21.5 air yards per target on targets outside the numbers. That’s just going to be difficult to maintain without Jones. He goes from a low-end WR2 with some volatility in fantasy football to an extremely boom/bust WR3, at best.

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Warren may indeed take some gadget work under center but the primary base of his value going forward will be on short targets and dumpoffs to the flat. He’s garnered plenty of looks in that area already, and leads all the main pass-catchers in yards after catch per reception this year at 7.0. He’s still a TE1 but there is much less juice here with the downgrade in the offense.

That bring us to Jonathan Taylor. There’s not actionable advice here; if you have Taylor you’re playing him and that’s an open and shut case. However, as much as the talk in NFL circles will be that they need to just get the ball in his hands as a runner as much as possible, he just can’t maintain what he did at the start of the season if the offense goes from a historic pace to below average, much less if it bottoms out. He’ll go from an unfair advantage in the first half to a mere mortal high-end fantasy back. It is what it is.

Finally, we need to circle back to the twist this story took late on Monday evening. With Jones officially out for the season, the Colts reached out to an old friend of the franchise and Steichen. After having Rivers in for a visit Tuesday, the team signed him to the practice squad shortly after.

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There are plenty of jokes available to make in the wake of this headline. Frankly, with this coming to pass, I’m not even sure what I can add other than if we’re expecting the offense to be quick-game focused with Leonard under center, that’s essentially what the Colts primarily did with Rivers under Frank Reich in his final season. Perhaps the once-star quarterback can provide a better version of that and get the ball to Pittman with heavy volume underneath; the two played together in the wideout’s rookie year. Then again, I don’t even feel like the same human being I was back in 2020, much less am I ready to proclaim Rivers can be anything close to that still-good-but-diminished version of himself back in that lone season with the Colts.

Punching down is never the right move. Win the battles you’re supposed to win, yes, but respect every opponent, no matter how small. Unless, that is, they’re poor and hail from a weak-ass conference. Then, hell with ‘em.

In the wake of the CFP bracket revelation that saw two Group of Five schools, Tulane and James Madison, make the field while blue bloods like Notre Dame and Texas missed the cut, there’s a whole lot of punching down going on … starting with the ESPN broadcast teams tasked with analyzing the bracket.

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“No one, no one in America aside from JMU or Tulane thinks that JMU or Tulane can win a championship this year,” ESPN’s Booger McFarland said Sunday shortly after the bracket announcement. “Like, that’s the matter of fact. But they’re in it because we had to include them based on the parameters we were given, and I think that’s going to rub a lot of people the wrong way.”

You know what’s going to rub a lot more people the wrong way? Excluding Group of Five schools because they don’t belong to the Cool Kids’ Clubs of the SEC and Big Ten, or don’t spend the GDPs of European nations on their roster, or didn’t have the good fortune to align with the right conference 70 years ago. (For the record, there are other nobody-believes-in-them stories in the playoff. No one in America outside Tuscaloosa thinks this Alabama team can win a championship this year, but that’s another story.)

And hey, speaking of Alabama … guess who else piled onto the two G5s in the playoff?

“You’re going to have two teams in the playoff, no disrespect to the Group of Five, that are nowhere near ranked as highly as some other teams that are much better than them,” former Alabama coach Nick Saban said. “We can learn something from this that will help us come up with a little better criteria of trying to make sure we get the best 12 teams in the playoff.”

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You know how you get the best 12 teams in the playoff? Make the field 16 teams, which is exactly what Saban’s “College GameDay” colleague Kirk Herbstreit is advocating.

“It’d be great if we had 16 teams,” Herbstreit told Pat McAfee earlier this week. “Maybe that’s the next answer, to get this thing up to 16 teams.”

Guess what the next answer is to that? Twenty teams! Or 24! Or 36! Hell, let’s just do a full 64-team bracket, run the football season all the way to Memorial Day! (Conveniently enough for Saban, Herbstreit and McFarland, take a wild guess which network will be broadcasting the CFP — and any expanded-field games — through the 2031-32 season.)

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All due respect to Saban and his seven national championships, and Herbstreit and McFarland’s indisputably successful careers … but these are analysts talking, not fans. Their view is from the club level, not the bleachers. Fans want to feel connected to the game they see on the field, and that only happens when the possibility exists that their team — provided they’re not a fan of one of the eight or so elites — has the opportunity to reach the big stage. It’s why the NCAA tournament is so popular; for one game, at least, the opportunity is equal.

The maddening aspect of ESPN’s line of criticism isn’t really that there are only 12 teams in the playoff … it’s that they’re the wrong 12 teams. “We’re trying to include [G5] teams to make them a part of this, when I think everyone knows that, yeah, they’re good, but can they play with the big boys on a year-in and year-out [basis]?” McFarland wondered. “I don’t know if that’s the case, and I think that’s what’s going to rub Notre Dame, Texas and Vanderbilt because they could absolutely get hot and win it this season.”

You know when a good time for Notre Dame, Texas and Vanderbilt to get hot would’ve been? When they were losing their games to Miami, Florida or Alabama, just to pick three of their combined seven losses on the season.

Yes, in all likelihood, Tulane and James Madison will get blown out on Dec. 20. They opened as 16.5-point and 21.5-point underdogs to Ole Miss and Oregon, respectively. That seems bad!

However, consider this: In the opening round of the CFP last year, a team from the mighty SEC — Tennessee — lost by 25 points to Ohio State. That same day, the ACC championship runner-up — SMU — got absolutely skull-dragged by Penn State, losing by four full touchdowns. Blowouts happen across the sport at every level, regardless of the pedigree of the losing team.

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College football’s powers that be want to keep the club exclusive, but wild chaos-bringers keep crashing the party. Two years ago, if you’d suggested that Indiana and Vanderbilt were on the verge of becoming national powers, you’d have been laughed right off the internet. Four months ago, if you’d said that Penn State, Texas, Notre Dame and Clemson would all miss the playoff, you’d have been accused of clickbait hot takes. And yet … here we are. And the sport is better for it.

I know, I know, this is a plea for honoring the wide-open spirit of college football rather than kneeling at the exclusive-club altar of greed. In every single instance, when tradition meets profit motive, money wins by six touchdowns.

But college football was built on the promise of the impossible. From then-unknown Alabama winning the Rose Bowl in 1926, to Appalachian State knocking off Michigan in 2007, to Indiana becoming the No. 1 team in the country in 2025, this is a sport that burns brightest when it belly-flops into glorious chaos. If you want grim, exclusive professionalism, there’s always Sunday football waiting for you.

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The CFP has already choked the life out of so many of college football’s longstanding traditions. Regular-season losses are survivable, even irrelevant. The bowl system — love it or hate it — is effectively dead in the water. Saturday’s Big Ten championship was the least heralded No. 1 vs. No. 2 game in the game’s history. The sport’s kingmakers are doing all they can to orient the game around the playoff, protect the biggest brands and keep the scrappy underdogs in their place.

When the CFP kicks off next week, the vast majority of America will be rooting against Alabama for obvious reasons. But for the sport’s livelihood, you might want to save a couple cheers for Tulane and James Madison, too. They, and what they represent, are what’s keeping this most American of sports weird and unpredictable. The way it ought to be.

Following a second straight disappointing postseason, including a nightmare ending in Los Angeles against the eventual back-to-back World Series champion Dodgers in the NLDS, the Philadelphia Phillies decided to stick with manager Rob Thomson, who was under contract through the 2026 season.

Less than two months later, the Phillies have doubled down on Thomson, announcing Tuesday that they’ve extended him through the 2027 season. Their announcement came minutes after ESPN’s Jeff Passan reported that the team is re-signing free-agent designated hitter Kyle Schwarber to a five-year, $150 million deal.

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[Get more Phillies news: Philadelphia team feed]

Schwarber, 32, mashed 56 home runs this past season — the second-most in Phillies history and the most of any NL player in 2025 — and piled up 132 RBI while tying the highest OPS (.928) of his career.

Not only is the power-surged lefty one of the best sluggers in the game right now, as evidenced by the three-time All-Star’s four straight seasons with at least 38 home runs and his marked improvement against left-handed pitching, but he’s also an indelible clubhouse leader.

The Phillies ponied up to bring him back, and they could re-sign 34-year-old catcher J.T. Realmuto as well. That means Thomson is in position to retain the aging core of a team that won its second straight NL East title this year before again quickly bowing out of the postseason.

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Several of the players still on the roster were within reach of a World Series championship during the 2022 season, Thomson’s first at the helm after he took over for a fired Joe Girardi. The Phillies rallied to make the playoffs that year and caught fire in October, with 11 postseason victories before they fell in six games to the Houston Astros in the World Series.

In 2023, the Phillies returned to the playoffs as a wild-card team and looked like they were going to make another run to an NL pennant. Except that time, they blew a 2-0 NLCS lead to the Arizona Diamondbacks and lost in seven games.

In the two seasons since, Philadelphia has ended a 13-year drought without an NL East title and then delivered another first-place finish in the division. But the Phillies have regressed in the postseason, most recently with their top three hitters — Schwarber, two-time NL MVP Bryce Harper and three-time All-Star Trea Turner — going 2-for-21 with 11 strikeouts in the first two games of this year’s NLDS versus the Dodgers.

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The bats going cold when they’re supposed to be hot in the Phillies’ “Red October” has been an issue for Thomson, who hasn’t been absolved of the postseason blame, either.

Even so, he has remained in favor with the organization, and he has supported his players through their ups and downs. He has more talent on the way, too, with pitcher Andrew Painter, outfielder Justin Crawford and infielder Aidan Miller expected to debut soon.

Thomson has been on the Phillies’ staff since 2018. Before that, he was with the New York Yankees from 2008 to ’17, winning a ring in 2009 when the Yankees beat the Phillies in the World Series.

He’s the third Phillies manager to lead the team to consecutive division titles. His managerial winning percentage (.580) is first all time in the organization’s history.

The 2025-26 college football bowl schedule is set, including the matchups for the first round of the College Football Playoff. Indiana is the No. 1 seed in the CFP, while Notre Dame surprisingly missed out on the CFP altogether and won’t play in any bowl game as a result.

There are plenty of teams playing in bowls, though, and below are all of the matchups (and odds, courtesy of BetMGM), as bowl season spans over five weeks — starting Dec. 13 and ending on Jan. 19.

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All times are Eastern.

Saturday, Dec. 13

Bucked Up LA Bowl, 8 p.m., ABC

Tuesday, Dec. 16

IS4S Salute to Veterans Bowl, 9 p.m., ESPN

Wednesday, Dec. 17

StaffDNA Cure Bowl, 5 p.m., ESPN

68 Ventures Bowl, 8:30 p.m., ESPN

Thursday, Dec. 18

Xbox Bowl, 9 p.m., ESPN2

Friday, Dec. 19

Myrtle Beach Bowl, 11 a.m., ESPN

Union Home Mortgage Gasparilla Bowl, 2:30 p.m., ESPN

College Football Playoff first-round game, 8 p.m., ABC

Saturday, Dec. 20

College Football Playoff first-round game, Noon, ABC

College Football Playoff first-round game, 3:30 p.m., TNT

College Football Playoff first-round game, 7:30 p.m., TNT

Monday, Dec. 22

Famous Idaho Potato Bowl, 2 p.m., ESPN

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Tuesday, Dec. 23

Bush’s Boca Raton Bowl of Beans, 2 p.m. ESPN

New Orleans Bowl, 5:30 p.m., ESPN

Scooter’s Coffee Frisco Bowl, 9 p.m., ESPN

Wednesday, Dec. 24

Sheraton Hawaii Bowl, 8 p.m., ESPN

Friday, Dec. 26

GameAbove Sports Bowl, 1 p.m., ESPN

Rate Bowl, 4:30 p.m., ESPN

ServPro First Responder Bowl, 8 p.m., ESPN

Saturday, Dec. 27

Go Bowling Military Bowl, 11 a.m., ESPN

Bad Boy Mowers Pinstripe Bowl, Noon, ABC

Wasabi Fenway Bowl, 2:15 p.m., ESPN

Pop-Tarts Bowl, 3:30 p.m., ABC

Snoop Dogg Arizona Bowl, 4:30 p.m., CW

Isleta New Mexico Bowl, 5:45 p.m., ESPN

TaxSlayer Gator Bowl, 7:30 p.m., ABC

Kinder’s Texas Bowl, 9:15 p.m., ESPN

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Monday, Dec. 29

JLAB Birmingham Bowl, 2 p.m., ESPN

Tuesday, Dec. 30

Radiance Technologies Independence Bowl, 2 p.m., ESPN

Liberty Mutual Music City Bowl, 5:30 p.m., ESPN

Valero Alamo Bowl, 9 p.m., ESPN

Wednesday, Dec. 31

ReliaQuest Bowl, Noon, ESPN

Tony the Tiger Sun Bowl, 2 p.m., CBS

Cheez-It Citrus Bowl, 3 p.m., ABC

SRS Distribution Las Vegas Bowl, 3:30 p.m., ESPN

Goodyear Cotton Bowl (College Football Playoff quarterfinal), 7:30 p.m., ESPN

[Yahoo Sports TV is here! Watch live shows and highlights 24/7]

Thursday, Jan. 1

Capital One Orange Bowl (College Football Playoff quarterfinal), Noon, ESPN

Rose Bowl presented by Prudential (College Football Playoff quarterfinal), 4 p.m., ESPN

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Allstate Sugar Bowl (College Football Playoff quarterfinal), 8 p.m., ESPN

Friday, Jan. 2

Lockheed Martin Armed Forces Bowl, 1 p.m., ESPN

AutoZone Liberty Bowl, 4:30 p.m., ESPN

Duke’s Mayo Bowl, 8 p.m., ESPN

Holiday Bowl, 8 p.m., FOX

Thursday, Jan. 8

Vrbo Fiesta Bowl (College Football Playoff semifinal), 7:30 p.m., ESPN

Friday, Jan. 9

Chick-Fil-A Peach Bowl (College Football Playoff semifinal), 7:30 p.m., ESPN

Monday, Jan. 19

National Championship Game, 7:30 p.m., ESPN

The running back position wasn’t hit as hard by injuries last season, but we know how quickly things can change at one of the most physical positions in football. Fantasy football managers who stay prepared and know which backs are next in line for touches will always have an edge on the competition.

It’s also important to understand which backups have a chance to rise up the depth chart based on talent, which ones are poised for a leading role when injuries strike and those who would max out as part of a less-appealing replacement committee.

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Here’s how I’m ranking the top backup running backs heading into Week 15 — based on their fantasy potential for the remainder of 2025.

1. Kyle Monangai, Bears

Monangai moved to the top of the list thanks to his strong play and the Bears’ overall success on the ground. The rookie has now turned Chicago’s backfield into more of a 60-40 or 55-45 split with D’Andre Swift still in the lead. But Monangai is a valuable fantasy asset, who scored a touchdown in four straight games prior to Week 14. We also saw what he’s capable of back in Week 9 when he started for an injured Swift and poured in 198 scrimmage yards on 29 touches in a favorable matchup with the Bengals. Given how well Ben Johnson’s rushing attack has been performing, Monangai will continue to offer weekly fantasy RB3 results with the chance to be a top-12 option if Swift was forced to sit out at any point.

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2. David Montgomery, Lions

The Lions’ offense has gone away from Montgomery in recent weeks with Dan Campbell taking over as the playcaller. The veteran back has now seen 10 touches or less in four consecutive outings, which makes him just a TD-or-bust RB3 for fantasy. However, he can still be useful in that role since he’s found the end zone in each of the last two weeks. Plus, Montgomery’s potential ceiling remains unchanged as a fantasy RB1 if Jahmyr Gibbs were ever sidelined.

3. Zach Charbonnet, Seahawks

Kenneth Walker III has reestablished himself as the clear lead back in Seattle, outsnapping Charbonnet in six straight games since the Seahawks’ Week 8 bye. Even in a complementary role, Charbonnet continues to be fantasy relevant and remains a TD-or-bust fantasy RB3 who would be a top-12 back if Walker were ever forced to sit out.

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4. Blake Corum, Rams

Corum has capitalized on his increased opportunities over the last six weeks and now has at least 55 scrimmage yards in four of his last six outings, including 81 yards and a touchdown in Week 13 and 131 yards and two TDs last Sunday. Corum isn’t a threat to Kyren Williams’ job, but he has turned into a fantasy RB3 with enticing upside in favorable game scripts. The 25-year-old also carries more fantasy value thanks to being the No. 2 back in a Sean McVay system that tends to turn any starter into a quality fantasy option. Bottom line, Corum should be rostered in all fantasy leagues.

5. Chuba Hubbard, Panthers

After taking a backseat to Rico Dowdle following an early-season calf injury, Hubbard finally appears to be getting his legs back. Hubbard was treated as the hot-hand in Week 13, gaining 124 scrimmage yards and scoring a receiving touchdown in an upset of the Rams. Dowdle was less efficient, with just 79 yards on 20 touches. This presents a difficult situation for fantasy managers, since either back could take the lead in a given week depending on their in-game performance. For now, I’ll keep Dowdle in the RB2 range and Hubbard as an upside RB3, but don’t be surprised if Hubbard is the more valuable fantasy asset down the stretch. He definitely appeared to have more juice in that last outing.

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6. Brian Robinson Jr., 49ers

Unlike a lot of the other names on this list, Robinson doesn’t offer much in terms of flex value. However, he’s just one year removed from posting 1,101 scrimmage yards and nine total touchdowns, while finishing as the RB21 in fantasy points per game. Robinson would definitely produce as a top-20 fantasy RB in the Kyle Shanahan run game if Christian McCaffrey gets banged up.

7. Rhamondre Stevenson, Patriots

We could waste our time debating whether Stevenson is the starter or the backup in New England, but for the moment I’m still treating the veteran as the No. 2 option. That became more difficult to do after he outsnapped and out-touched TreVeyon Henderson in Stevenson’s second game back after recovering from a toe injury. I’d like to think the Patriots leaned on Stevenson in a favorable matchup, which they won easily, but it’s possible we see a more even split continue. In this role, Stevenson is an RB3 with RB2 upside when he finds the end zone.

8. Bhayshul Tuten, Jaguars

Tuten has been held to 30 yards or less in 10 of his past 11 games, but he’s found the end zone four times during that span. More importantly, the rookie looks the part of an impact player when he gets opportunities. If it weren’t for Travis Etienne Jr. playing as well as he has, Tuten would have a chance to earn more work. Instead, Tuten remains an RB3/flex option who is one injury away from being a fantasy league-winner.

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9. Tyler Allgeier, Falcons

Allgeier is a mainstay on this list as the unquestioned backup to superstar Bijan Robinson. Even in a supporting role, Allgeier has found a way to be productive for fantasy with seven touchdowns this season. The former 1,000-yard rusher continues to be a premier backup who offers flex value and would crush as a top-20 fantasy RB if Robinson wasn’t able to play for any reason.

10. Kenneth Gainwell, Steelers

Gainwell has seen at least 15 touches in three games this season and delivered every single time. He posted 134 yards and two TDs in the first, 105 yards in the second and 122 yards in the third. Overall, he has six touchdowns on the year while mostly playing a complementary role behind Jaylen Warren. That makes Gainwell an RB3/flex option in most matchups, but he would become a fantasy RB2 with RB1 upside if Warren got hurt.

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Just missed the top 10

Backups turned temporary starters with RB2/RB3 value

Backups with RB3/Flex potential

Backups with Flex potential

• Rachaad White, Buccaneers

• Ollie Gordon II, Dolphins

• Michael Carter, Cardinals

• Jeremy McNichols, Commanders

Backups to stash

• Jacory Croskey-Merritt, Commanders

• Jaleel McLaughlin, Broncos

Backups with injuries

• Emari Demercado, Cardinals

Backups to stash in deep leagues

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The annual baseball Winter Meetings were quiet — until suddenly they weren’t. Within a span of minutes, news broke that the Philadelphia Phillies had re-signed Kyle Schwarber, bringing him back to the City of Brotherly Love. While the move wasn’t entirely surprising, it was the news that followed that left the baseball world shaking.

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On this episode of Baseball Bar-B-Cast, Jake Mintz and Jordan Shusterman discuss the Los Angeles Dodgers signing Edwin Díaz away from the New York Mets to a three-year, $69 million contract, taking the trumpets out west. The move fills a much-needed void in the Dodgers’ bullpen and has people wondering if it could be key to a potential three-peat.

Later, Jake and Jordan talk about the Phillies bringing Schwarber back and why it made sense for them to commit five years and $150 million. They also discuss Philadelphia giving manager Rob Thomson a contract extension and speculate about the possibility of Don Mattingly joining as a bench coach to support the veteran skipper.

1:25 – Dodgers sign Edwin Díaz

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9:42 – How this affects the Mets

19:00 – Phillies re-sign Kyle Schwarber

31:00 – Rob Thomson gets an extension

🖥️ Watch this full episode on YouTube

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

The fantasy football playoffs are upon us (for most leagues) as we head into Week 15 of the 2025 NFL season. Each year, when we look back and reflect on our teams, there are always 1-2 players who helped you get to the postseason. Most of those players pop up pretty frequently on playoff rosters, your Jonathan Taylor’s and Jaxon Smith-Njigba’s of the world.

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Below we’re going over the top-10 players who are most commonly appearing on playoff rosters in Yahoo fantasy football leagues.

Top-10 players most commonly on playoff rosters

1. Jonathan Taylor, RB, Colts (60.0% of Yahoo Fantasy playoff rosters)

Taylor was key in getting managers to the postseason but now you have to question if the Colts RB can get you a championship. From Weeks 2-10, Taylor had one of the best stretches of performances by a RB in fantasy football history, recording five games with at least three touchdowns. He topped out in Week 10 against the Falcons with over 48 fantasy points, going for nearly 300 total yards and three scores. Now, Indy is without QB Daniel Jones and Taylor’s value going into the playoffs has diminished significantly. Hopefully he can shake things off and be the RB1 we saw from earlier in the season.

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2. Christian McCaffrey, RB, 49ers (58.6%)

Many managers were worried about drafting CMC so high given his injury concerns going into 2025. Those who took that risk and took the Niners’ top back have been rewarded handsomely. McCaffrey has had a vintage season, entering Week 15 second in RB fantasy scoring at 286 points in half-PPR. In 13 games, he failed to reach double-digit fantasy points just once, one of the safest floor plays in the game.

3. Jaxon Smith-Njigba, WR, Seahawks (57.0%)

If we had to choose a fantasy MVP at the end of the regular season, many would vote for JSN given where he was drafted. Smith-Njigba ranks first in fantasy scoring among WRs and is fifth overall among flex options with 242.9 fantasy points entering Week 15. He went from a Pro Bowler in 2024 to arguably the best WR in the world in 2025. JSN has also made Seattle history, setting the record for most receiving yards in a season at 1,428 (with plenty of games left to add to that total).

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4. Jahmyr Gibbs, RB, Lions (55.0%)

Talk about volatility. Gibbs has produced a wide range of outcomes for fantasy managers this season. Fortunately, some of those ceiling games are 35.3, 36.7, 49.9 and 33.5 fantasy point totals. The 49.9-point game against the Giants in which Gibbs had 219 rushing yards, 11 catches and 45 receiving yards with three total TDs is the highest scoring game by anyone in the 2025 season. Gibbs was drafted as a top-five fantasy asset and he’s come through for managers.

5. De’Von Achane, RB, Dolphins (53.1%)

If CMC and Achane have shown us anything it’s that injury concerns in preseason need to be taken with a grain of salt. Like McCaffrey, managers were worried about drafting Achane in the late-first, early-second round back in August. Instead of hurting those rosters, Achane elevated them, mostly to the postseason. He ranks foruth in FLEX scoring in fantasy at 244.4 fantasy points entering Week 15 and has been arguably the most consistent player this season. Let’s hope this rib injury Achane sustained in Week 14 against the Jets doesn’t hold him back.

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6. George Pickens, WR, Cowboys (52.2%)

Pickens was brought in by Dallas via trade from Pittsburgh to complement CeeDee Lamb in the passing game. Nobody thought Pickens would surpass Lamb. The speedy wideout has been a top-3 fantasy asset at receiver this season, entering Week 15 third in receiving yards at 1,179 on the season. Injury absences by Lamb have helped Pickens elevate his game to true WR1 territory. He’s arguably the most valuable draft pick relative to ADP this season.

7. Puka Nacua, WR, Rams (51.4%)

A preseason back issue for QB Matthew Stafford suppressed Nacua’s ADP to the late-first, early-second range, which was a mistake. He should have been a lock for the first round. Stafford has turned back the clock and Nacua ranks second behind JSN in fantasy scoring (212.4) at the wide receiver position entering Week 15. All of that despite losing TD equity to teammate Davante Adams (14 TDs this season).

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8. Josh Allen, QB, Bills (51.3%)

It’s surprising to see Allen on this list because it feels like he’s had a down season by his standards. That “down season” still has the Bills signal-caller as far-and-away the QB1 in fantasy this season with 320 points. There have been plenty of low points but Allen has three games of 37+ fantasy points this season, and he’s been buoyed most weeks by his rushing TD upside. His near-40-point game in Week 14 likely helped a lot of you clinch playoff berths as well.

9. Michael Wilson, WR, Cardinals (50.4%)

One of these players is not like the others. Wilson is the only outlier on this list, a waiver-wire pickup late in the season who has paid major dividends for managers. With Marvin Harrison Jr. undergoing an emergency appendectomy before Week 11, Wilson was thrust into the spotlight as the top wideout for Arizona. Over the past four games, Wilson is the WR1 overall in fantasy scoring with 79.6 points in half-PPR. It’s unclear if Wilson can maintain his value through the fantasy postseason but he helped plenty managers get there.

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10. Bijan Robinson, RB, Falcons (50.1%)

We close out this list with the player we all thought would be at the top of it. Sure, Robinson hasn’t had a bad season but he also hasn’t lived up to the hype as the top-ranked back in preseason. Despite the highs and lows — many of which were out of his control — Robinson still ranks among the top five in RB scoring at 236.3 fantasy points going into Week 15. Unfortunately, the Falcons have nothing left to play for and injuries have stunted the offense a bit. But that’s just made Robinson even more important.

Expectations were high for Vaughn Grissom when the Boston Red Sox made him the centerpiece of the Chris Sale trade. But injuries wrecked Grissom’s time in Boston, leading to the team trading the shortstop to the Los Angeles Angels on Tuesday, according to ESPN’s Jeff Passan.

Grissom, 24, will now look to reestablish himself in the majors with his third professional team.

The Red Sox will receive outfielder Isaiah Jackson in exchange for Grissom.

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As a member of the Atlanta Braves, Grissom flashed as a potential star in his first taste of the big leagues. Injuries pushed him to the majors as a 21-year-old, and he more than held his own with the bat. As a rookie, Grissom slashed .291/.353/.440 over 156 plate appearances.

Grissom was expected to open the 2023 MLB season as the Braves’ shortstop after Dansby Swanson left in free agency. But he failed to win the job in spring training and then spent the majority of the season in the minors. He received just 80 plate appearances in the majors that year, hitting .280/.313/.347.

While it was a disappointing performance, the Red Sox still saw something in Grissom’s bat. That December, Boston traded Sale to the Braves in exchange for Grissom and cash. The move was essentially a salary dump by Boston, which no longer wanted to pay Sale’s lengthy contract. Although Grissom was coming off a rough season, he was still young, and the memory of his rookie season hadn’t faded just yet.

But injuries wrecked Grissom’s first year in Boston. Multiple issues limited the infielder to 114 plate appearances, and he hit just .190 in 2024. Sale, meanwhile, won his first career Cy Young award in his first year with the Braves.

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Following yet another down year, Grissom started the 2025 MLB season in the minors. Oft-injured Red Sox shortstop Trevor Story managed a comeback season, picking up 654 plate appearances. Because of that, the Red Sox had no incentive to call up Grissom last season. He spent the entire year in the minors, hitting .270/.342/.441.

With Story healthy and Ceddanne Rafaela slated to start at second base, Grissom was expendable in Boston. He should have an easier time finding playing time with the Angels, who are unsettled at both second and third base. Grissom, whose defense at short was always suspect, played every single infield position — except catcher — in the minors last year.

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Jackson, 21, is unlikely to play a major role for the Red Sox this season. After being an eighth-round draft pick by the Angels last season, Jackson struggled in High-A, hitting just .219 in 37 plate appearances. The Red Sox will work to develop him after a disappointing debut, albeit in an extremely small sample.

ORLANDO, Fla. — On Tuesday morning, Kyle Schwarber walked into a deli in Philadelphia and ordered an egg sandwich with sausage and bacon.

Recognized immediately, the affable slugger posed for pictures and chatted with staff. Eventually, somebody brought up the elephant in the City of Brotherly Love.

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“You’re sticking around, right?”

Schwarber laughed and nodded, informing the small gaggle of employees that yes, he is indeed sticking around. Three hours later, the news broke beyond the Middle Child sandwich shop on South 11th Street, with ESPN’s Jeff Passan reporting that Schwarber and the Phillies had agreed to a five-year, $150 million contract.

While interest in the three-time All-Star was significant, with the Orioles, Red Sox, Pirates, Mets and Reds making real pushes, a reunion in Philadelphia always felt like the likeliest outcome. There was interest on Schwarber’s part in a return to the Cubs or a journey home to Cincinnati, but neither club was willing to make the necessary financial investment. And so, with deep-pocketed owner John Middleton leading the way, the Phillies simply went above and beyond to retain one of their most important players, who will now be in Philadelphia through his age-37 season.

[Get more Philadelphia news: Phillies team feed] 

The stocky slugger, drafted fourth overall in 2014, burst onto the scene for the 2015 Cubs, becoming a main character of the franchise’s first World Series victory in more than a century. But Schwarber never unlocked his full potential on the North Side, and the Cubs non-tendered him after the shortened 2020 season. He rebuilt his value the following year after latching on with the Nationals, who traded him to Boston at the deadline.

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That bounce-back campaign earned Schwarber a four-year, $79 million deal with the Phillies ahead of 2022, a contract that turned out to be a huge bargain for the club. Only Aaron Judge hit more long balls than Schwarber over that span as the Phillies reached October in four consecutive seasons. More importantly, Schwarber progressively upgraded his offensive game year over year, revamping his approach against left-handed pitchers to solidify himself as one of the sport’s most fearsome hitters. It all culminated in an offensive season for the ages in 2025: 56 homers, a .928 OPS and a runner-up NL MVP finish.

Along the way, Schwarber established himself as a legitimate game-changing clubhouse presence. To call him integral to the operation in Philly would be an understatement. Schwarber is the team’s cultural glue, its guiding light and one of the few players in baseball whose interpersonal skills make a needle-moving impact on clubhouse chemistry. In a room full of well-paid stars, he’s the big dog.

Those off-field attributes certainly helped Schwarber on the open market. From a purely empirical, quantitative perspective, this new contract is a massive overpay. No team’s analytical model — not even the Phillies’ — would green-light a $150 million deal for a 33-year-old designated hitter. But clubs were clearly willing to push mountains of cash Schwarber’s way regardless.

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That’s a testament to just how imposing of a slugger he has become, his influence on a clubhouse and the belief that, as he ages, Schwarber will continue to get the most out of his skills. This is not a man eager to rest on his laurels. Nobody understands that reality more thoroughly than the Phillies.

This move checks off the biggest box on president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski’s to-do list, but the Phillies’ offseason is far from complete. Longtime backstop J.T. Realmuto remains a free agent. Ace Zack Wheeler won’t be ready on Opening Day, creating a temporary opening in the starting rotation. The bullpen could use another arm or two. Outfielder Nick Castellanos will either be traded via salary dump or released; as such, the outfield alignment remains uncertain.

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But the largest uncertainty of Philly’s winter is officially settled. It is yet another sign that this team is pot-committed to much of the current roster. While the Mets have chosen to offload stalwarts (Brandon Nimmo) or let them leave in free agency (Edwin Díaz), the Phillies are staying the course, going down with the ship. Whether this era of Phillies baseball ends with a parade will hinge on a very familiar cast of characters: Bryce Harper, Trea Turner, Zack Wheeler, Aaron Nola and, of course, Schwarber.

Considering how important Schwarber has become to the entire operation, it was always going to end this way.