by Zak Drapeau Sportz Nation - 6/7/26 90. Cedric Gray Titans Linebacker Last Year's Rank: Not Ranked Gray is one of the most underrated players coming into the season and likely one of the least known. His reputation has definitely been hindered by being in Tennessee but the work speaks for itself. After a shoulder injury caused him to miss the first 10 games of his 2024 rookie season, he was never 100% until the offseason. When he came back healthy for 2025, he instantly be

by Zak Drapeau Sportz Nation - 6/5/2026 Graphic Credits to UFC via mmajunkie.usatoday.com In our FN Allen vs Costa Predictions, which you can find here: Zak went 4-1 (1NC) in picks with 1 method for 5 points. Matt went 3-2 (1 NC) in picks with 2 methods right for 3 points. Points To Date: Zak: 94 (65-39) Matt: 97 (64-40) All odds courtesy of Caesar's Sportsbook on 6/4 _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ 5Belal Muhammad vs 11Gabriel Bonfim (Muhammad -120) Zak Drapeau - In

by Zak Drapeau Sportz Nation - 6/4/2026 Photo Credits to Til Buergy/ Keystone via Associated Press World Cup 2026's New Format The new format to the World Cup will be the knockout stages moving to 32 teams instead of 16 in years' past, and now 48 nations being part of the World Cup's group stage. The Group stage will see 12 Groups of 4 nations all compete against each other so each nation has 3 matches. In Group Play, a win is worth 3 points, a draw is 1 point and a loss is 0

by Zak Drapeau Sportz Nation - 6/3/2026 Photo Credits to Adam Hunger via Getty Images Manager Mauricio Pochettino Goalies Matt Freese (Starting GK) Matt Turner -GK Chris Brady - GK Defense Chris Richards (Starting CB) Sergino Dest (Starting RB) Mark McKenzie (Starting CB) Tim Ream - CB Antonee Robinson (Starting LB) Alex Freeman - RB Miles Robinson - CB Auston Trusty - CB Joe Scally - RB Midfield Christian Pulisic (Starting LW) Weston McKennie (Starting CDM) Tyler Adams (Star

by Zak Drapeau Sportz Nation - 6/1/2026 Photo Credits to Jeff Bottari via Zuffa LLC Song Yadong vs WINNER of Sandhagen/Bautista Zak Drapeau - With this win over Figueiredo, Yadong is back in the title picture, even if he's probably the last man in the rotation. With the top of this division so clogged regarding each fighter's upcoming fight, Yadong is probably left to fight either the winner of the Sandhagen/Bautista fight or the loser of the recently announced Nurmagomedov/M

by Zak Drapeau and Joel Piton Photo Credits to Nathaniel Butler via Getty Images Knicks The Knicks haven’t been to the NBA Finals since 1999, so they want to maximize this opportunity. They showed some weakness against the Hawks in the first round, but since then, New York has been on a historic tear, looking like one of the strongest Eastern Conference squads we’ve seen in recent memory while riding an 11-0 win streak and sweeping through two straight rounds. The Spurs may e

by Zak Drapeau Sportz Nation - 6/2/2026 Photo Credits to Mark Konezny via Imagn Images It's FINALLY happened Patriots fans, A.J. Brown is now the new Patriots, no. 1 receiver. After the June 1st distinction of the new season, the Eagles have traded their 28-year old receiver for a 2027, 5th-round pick and 2028, 1st-round pick. After 4 seasons in Philadelphia including a win at Super Bowl LIX, Brown and his team had mutually decided to part ways after Brown became cryptic on s

by Zak Drapeau Sportz Nation - 5/24/2026 Photo Credits to Kevin Richardson via Baltimore Sun/Tribune News Services via Getty Images 100. Olaivavega Ioane Ravens Guard Last Year's Rank: Unranked And we start the Top 100 Players of 2026 with an immediate hot take as I have rookie Guard Vega Ioane with the #100 spot. As the clear #1 Guard in the 2026 NFL Draft and being drafted by one of the best running offenses in the league, I'm confident that Vega belongs on this list and I

by Zak Drapeau and Matt Hylen Sportz Nation - 5/22/2026 Graphic by UFC via galaxymacau.com In our FN Allen vs Costa Predictions which you can find here, Zak went 3-3 in picks with 1 method for 4 points. Matt went 3-3 in picks with 2 methods right for 5 points. Points To Date: Zak: 89 (61-38) Matt: 94 (61-38) *All odds courtesy of Caesar's Sportsbook on 5/27 _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ 5Song Yadong vs 7Deiveson Figueiredo (Yadong -600) Zak Drapeau - Figueiredo had a ru

by Zak Drapeau Sportz Nation - 5/28/2026 Photo Credits to Bill Streicher via Imagn Images Who is A.J. Brown? A.J. Brown is a supremely talented Wide Receiver who has proven he can be a #1 option on a Super Bowl winning team. 6 seasons over 1,000 yards in 7 years and at his peak 3 years ago, was around 100 catches, 1,500 yards and 10 TDs. He started his career on the Tennessee Titans from 2019 to 2021. In his tenure as a Titan his per season averages were 14 games, 62 catches,

by Zak Drapeau Sportz Nation - 5/27/2026 Photo Credits to Robert Alam/ISI Photos via Getty images 10. Christian Pulisic - United States The host countries for the 2026 World Cup are the United States, Mexico and Canada and of the 78 players on those rosters, none have the star power of AC Milan's and United States' Forward Christian Pulisic. Pulisic will be competing in his 2nd World Cup as a member of the United States team that was bounced out in the Round of 16 in 2022. Pu

by Zak Drapeau Sportz Nation - 5/26/2026 Photo Credits to Sue Ogrocki via Associated Press Playoff Run After 27 long years for New York basketball fans, the Knicks are in the NBA Finals again. After last night's Game 4 in the Eastern Conference Championship finished off their sweep of the Cavaliers, the Knicks are not only heading to the Finals but look poised to win it too. With a date set against either the Thunder or Spurs, who are in the midst of a generational series, th

by Zak Drapeau Sportz Nation - 5/25/2026 Photo by Jeff Dean via Getty Images Buyers or Sellers? As of writing this article on May 25th, the Red Sox are 22-30 with 60 games left until the Trade Deadline on August 3rd. They sit in the basement of the AL East but only 2.5 games behind the 3rd place Blue Jays. Even after the notorious start that the Red Sox have gotten off to this season, there is still hope for a Playoff finish thanks to the lackadaisical American League this se

by Zak Drapeau Sportz Nation - 5/21/2026 *All odds courtesy of FanDuel Sportsbook TM as of 5/21 Most Valueable Player Photo by Michael Owens via Getty Images Joe Burrow (+950) 2026 is Burrow's year I can feel it. The Bengals' investments on defense seem to have paid off with one of the better rosters on paper heading into the season. We've seen what Joe Burrow can do with an average roster but this may be the first time we get to see what he can do surrounded by a pretty good

by Zak Drapeau Sportz Nation - 5/18/2026 Photo by NFL via draftcountdown.com Quarterback Joe Burrow - CIN Let's get the big one out of the way first; IF JOE BURROW CAN STAY HEALTHY, I believe he can have the best season of any QB in the league. Flanked by Ja'Marr Chase, Tee Higgins, Chase Brown and a much improve offensive line, Burrow could easily throw for 5,000 yards and 40 TDs. Burrow has been a Top-3 thrower in the league for years now but hampered by injuries and bad O-

by Zak Drapeau and Matt Hylen Sportz Nation - 5/18/2026 Photo by Ed Mulholland via Zuffa LLC 7Arnold Allen vs 10Kevin Vallejos Matt Hylen - Sure, it might be weird to see Arnold Allen not getting a fight up the rankings, but with the top so clogged, a win against one of the best prospects in the entire UFC might do just as much for him. Allen looked fantastic on Saturday. He completely shut down Costa's striking and controlled him on the ground for most of the fight. So, whil

by Zak Drapeau Sportz Nation - 5/19/2026 Photo by Ken Blaze via Imagn Images Overview Different from the Western Conference Finals, the final Series out of the East won't feature either of it's Top 2 seeds. The Knicks come into the series as the 3-seed and winners of their last 7 games in a row. Meanwhile, the Cavaliers are entering their first ECF without Lebron since 1992 and have already been through 2 grueling, 7-game series this postseason. The series will start tonight

by Zak Drapeau Sportz Nation - 5/18/2026 Photo by Daniel Dunn via Imagn Images 1Thunder vs 2Spurs (Thunder -250) Overview Before the NBA Playoffs even started, we all looked at this hypothetical matchup as the "Real Finals Series" and it's not hypothetical anymore. Ready to start tonight at 8:30 ET, this series will pit the bet two regular season teams and players this season. Shai may have won his 2nd MVP award this season but Wembanyama was arguably just as worthy and led h

by Zak Drapeau and Matt Hylen Sportz Nation - 5/15/2026 Graphic by UFC via UFC.com In our UFC 328 Predictions which you can find here, Zak went 3-3 in picks with 2 method for 5 points. Matt went 2-4 in picks with 0 methods for 2 points. Points To Date: Zak: 85 (58-35) Matt: 89 (58-35) *All odds courtesy of Caesar's Sportsbook on 5/11 _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ 8Arnold Allen vs 12Melquizael Costa (Allen -140) Zak Drapeau - Costa is taller, younger, has a bigg

by Zak Drapeau Sportz Nation - 5/15/2026 Quarterback Fernando Mendoza - LV This one's easy, Mendoza may not get the start until a few weeks into the season but either way he'll easily be the #1 Quarterback in the class' first year and possibly the only one that sees actual playing time HM: Carson Beck - ARI Running Backs Jeremiyah Love - ARI Jadarian Price - SEA Photo by Mark J. Rebilas via Imagn Images Another group that was easy for me, Love is the only Day 1 starter I see