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Happy Wednesday! Carter Bahns here with your morning newsletter. It’s NFL season opener eve, which gives us some light at the end of the tunnel on this hump day. Depth charts are out across the league, some last-minute transactions are going through and our Week 1 NFL Power Rankings offer one final look at the preseason pecking order. The smell of football is finally in the air.
But that’s not all. Let’s get started with …
🌰 Five things to know Wednesday
- Ohio State is back on top in the Week 2 AP Top 25 poll. There was no shortage of movement in the AP Top 25. The Buckeyes leaped into the No. 1 spot with the vast majority of first-place votes after their defensive masterclass against Texas. LSU (No. 3) and Florida State (No. 14) were major climbers, too. On the other hand, Alabama is down to No. 21 — its lowest ranking in 17 years.
- Lourdes Gurriel Jr. was diagnosed with a torn ACL. The Diamondbacks outfielder sustained a knee injury in a bizarre play Monday night, and it was a serious one. Arizona placed him on the injured list Tuesday, and it is unlikely he returns to the field until at least the middle of the 2026 season. The injury carries contract implications, as it makes Gurriel a near lock to opt into his $13 million player option for next year.
- Luke Goedeke got paid. The Buccaneers signed their right tackle to a four-year, $90 million contract extension with $50 million guaranteed. Goedeke’s new annual salary is the third-richest among NFL right tackles and is a testament to Tampa Bay’s ability to develop prolific offensive linemen.
- Our first NFL Power Rankings of the season are in. And the Eagles are the team to beat. That is not stopping our Pete Prisco from siding with the Bills as his preseason Super Bowl pick, though.
- The NCAA faces another lawsuit, and it is a doozy. Two Vanderbilt football players are leading a class-action suit that argues the NCAA’s redshirt rule violates antitrust laws. If a judge sides with the players, it could change college sports forever. (Stop me if you’ve heard that before.) I explained why this could lead to athletes playing five years of college sports, rather than four.
🏈 Do not miss this: NFL depth charts are out, and there are some surprises
Travis Hunter’s role(s) on the Jaguars has been one of the greatest uncertainties of the NFL offseason, but with teams across the league unveiling their depth charts on Tuesday, Jacksonville offered some insight into where and how often the No. 2 overall pick will line up. All signs point to Hunter playing on both sides of the ball but primarily at wide receiver. He stands as a starting wideout and second-string cornerback on the Week 1 depth chart.
Speaking of Hunter, the rookie wide receiver known for torching him in college made a surprise appearance on the top line of the Titans’ depth chart. Fourth-rounder Elic Ayomanor is listed ahead of veteran pass-catcher Van Jefferson, which is curious given that he was not even the first receiver Tennessee took in this year’s draft. Ayomanor made his fame at Stanford with a 294-yard, three-touchdown effort in a 2023 win over Colorado.
In the Meadowlands, it appears the Giants will ride with Jaxson Dart as the primary backup to Russell Wilson. The rookie leaped over Jameis Winston on the depth chart, though coach Brian Daboll did not confirm whether Dart’s jump to the QB2 role is official.
Lastly, preseason darling Jacory Croskey-Merritt may not have locked up a key role with the Commanders after all. He opens the year as the fourth option in Washington’s running back room despite making waves in camp.
🎾 Novak Djokovic holds off Taylor Fritz to reach semis
There are no more American men left standing in the US Open. No. 4 seed Taylor Fritz put up a fight against No. 7 Novak Djokovic, but for the 11th time in as many matches, the Serbian legend got the last laugh. With the 6-3, 7-5, 3-6, 6-4 win, Djokovic is on to the semifinals, where he will meet No. 2 seed Carlos Alcaraz on Friday.
The takeaways from the match were twofold, and Zach Pereles — hat tip to the now-former CBS Sports morning newsletter author — said it best.
- Pereles: “It’s yet another loss that left Fritz shaking his head in disbelief and many viewers doing the same regarding his opponent: How does Djokovic, at 38 years old, keep doing it?”
Djokovic was in control early, but when Fritz got off the mat in the third set, his home crowd helped swing the momentum. Djokovic approached the chair umpire with a plea to calm the jeers from the Fritz-leaning fans, but it was instead his play — and some help from the American’s errant serves, including a decisive double fault on match point — that silenced the crowd in the end.
🏆 The best (and not-so-best) of the rest
- Benches cleared between the Giants and Rockies after Rafael Devers’ home run off Kyle Freeland.
- New details emerged in Dolphins outside linebackers coach Ryan Crow’s domestic violence case.
- Tom Brady stopped short of calling himself the greatest passer in NFL history. Instead, he gave that title to Aaron Rodgers.
- Nick Saban is disappointed with what he saw from Alabama in its Week 1 upset.
- Five NFL players will wear a special gold patch on their jerseys this season. Here’s why.
- Caitlin Clark is still not cleared for contact with less than two weeks left in the WNBA’s regular season, but the Fever remain hopeful that she will return.
- Deion Sanders doubled down on his questionable clock management in the loss to Georgia Tech.
- Mike Tomlin is “certainly expecting” Cam Heyward to play in the Steelers’ season opener amid his contract situation.
- Brian Kelly fired back at Dabo Swinney over his assessment of LSU’s performance.
- Jon Jones was cleared of criminal charges stemming from a February car accident.
- A University of Kentucky cheerleader was arrested after police found a dead infant in her closet.
- Oklahoma State coach Mike Gundy made sure everyone knows about Oregon’s hefty roster budget ahead of Saturday’s matchup. Dan Lanning gave a pointed response.
- Four-star freshman quarterback JuJu Lewis will see action in Colorado’s Week 2 matchup against Delaware.
- Former Bills wide receiver Gabe Davis is headed back to his old team.
- The Steelers granted Robert Woods’ request to be released from their practice squad.
- One UNLV defensive back gave a blunt assessment of UCLA’s Nico Iamaleava ahead of Saturday’s clash.
- Olympic champion Gabby Thomas will miss this month’s World Athletics Championships with an Achilles injury.
- John Calipari will make his first trip back to Memphis when Arkansas faces his former team in October.
📺 What we’re watching Wednesday
🎾 US Open, 11:30 a.m. on ESPN
⚾ Mets at Tigers, 1:10 p.m. on MLB Network
⚾ Yankees at Astros, 8:10 p.m. on MLB Network
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