by Zak Drapeau Sportz Nation - 4/8/2026 Graphic by NFL For the first time in the 2026 Draft season I will be putting out a Mock Draft with trades. This exercise helps with 2 things, the first being it gives everyone an idea of the most likely candidates to move picks when it comes to the First Round on April 24 and also shakes up the normal routine of draft picks we see selected just about at the same selection just about every time. I will probably make a separate list just

by Zak Drapeau Sportz Nation 3/25/2026 Photo by Fayez Nureldine/ AFP via Getty Images Honorable Mentions: Paul Hughes ( PFL) Lightweight MMA 14-3 _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ Samet Agdeve (ONE) Heavyweight MMA 18-0 _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ Thad Jean (PFL) Welterweight MMA 11-0 _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ Anatoly Malykhin (ONE) Middleweight, Light Heavyweight and Heavyweight MMA 14-1 ________________________________ Top-

by Zak Drapeau Sportz Nation - 3/25/2026 Photo by Gerald Herbert/ Associated Press Red Sox Projected Starting Lineup 1. Roman Anthony LF 2. Trevor Story SS 3. Jarren Duran DH 4. Wilson Contreras 1B 5. Wilyer Abreu RF 6. Caleb Durbin 3B 7. Marcelo Mayer 2B 8. Carlos Narvaez C 9. Ceddane Rafaela CF Projected Platoon Masataka Yoshida OF Connor Wong C Isiah Kiner-Falefa SS Andruw Monasterio 2B New Additions The Sox added a few hitters and a few pitchers this offseason,

Photo graphic by Sporting News Selection Sunday consistently follows the same pattern for fans: the bracket is revealed, analysts begin highlighting potential upsets, and fans quickly start discussing which teams might make it all the way. However, for the players, March is about more than just the bracket; it's about the people alongside you in the locker room, teammates who motivated you during early morning workouts, coaches who supported you when the season became challen

by Zak Drapeau Sportz Nation - 3/18/26 Photo by Jeff Bottari/ Zuffa LLC 1. Islam Makhachev Lightweight Record: 16-1 Championship Record: 5-0 Best "Prime": 16-0 [2016-Pres.] The big debate will be between Islam and Khabib for the #1 spot of the division and while Khabib was the bigger star because of McGregor, I have Islam by a hair. Now that he's Welterweight Champion It's likely we've seen the last of Islam at Lightweight where his final records include a 15-fight win strea

by Zak Drapeau Sportz Nation - 3/17/2026 Photo by Kirby Lee/ Imagn Images 1. Makai Lemon 5'11" - 192 lbs USC Big Board Rank: 9 Pro Comparison: Emeka Egbuka Makai Lemon might be the most dangerous receiver after the catch I've seen in years. Always falling forward and having the agility of players like Barkley and Gibbs, Lemon will be a premier slot receiver from the first day he's drafted. His ceiling as a boundary, X-receiver may be limited which prevents him from being hig

by Zak Drapeau Sportz Nation - 3/17/26 Photo by Jarod C. Tilton/ Getty Images 16 UMBC vs 16 Howard to face 1 Michigan Tuesday at 6:40 pm One of the only 2 teams to ever win a March Madness game with a #16-ranking, UMBC faces off against Howard in the first First Four game. As a slight favorite vs Howard, UMBC is led by their back court pairing of Jah'Likai King and Ace Valentine who together average 27-7.5-5.5 on 44% shooting. Together with some great role playing from forwar

by Zak Drapeau Sportz Nation - 3/14/2026 On Friday, March 13th Matt Hylen and myself did our first Mock Draft together of the 2026 season. Follow us on X for in podcast form if you want to listen in live as we'll do several more of these before the actual draft. This Mock Draft was an exercise we wanted to do because of Free Agency. While the period only technically started 2 days ago, "legal tampering" started Monday and we've seen the majority of the bigger moves take place

by Zak Drapeau Sportz Nation - 3/11/2026 Photo by Josh Hedges/ Zuffa LLC via Getty Images 10. Jessica Andrade UFC Record - 17-13 Championship Record - 1-3 Holder of the most fights and wins of any Woman in UFC history, Andrade is one of the most underappreciated fighters in history. Her famous slam knockout of Rose Namajunas was her only title win in 4 tries but her 13-year career in the UFC when she was almost entirely within the Top-10 deserves a spot on this list. 9. Car

by Zak Drapeau Sportz Nation - 3/10/2026 Photo by Darron Cummings/ Associated Press 1. Fernando Mendoza 6'5" - 236 lbs. Indiana Big Board Rank - 7 Pro Comparison: Trevor Lawrence Mendoza's stock may have risen with his National Championship performance but I'm still not sold on him as a #1 prospect even though he'll go #1 overall. Mendoza is by far the best of a bad QB class and has a lot of what you're looking for in a Franchise QB. Mendoza has the size, the accuracy, a goo

Photo: Kaylin Cartell/Getty Headlined by AJ Dybantsa, the 2026 NBA Draft is projected to have a handful of wings fall somewhere within the first two rounds. As we know, March Madness will continue to be the biggest proving ground for college basketball’s brightest stars, and this year’s group of small forwards is loaded with talent looking to seize the spotlight. With size and athleticism, these versatile players are the modern blueprint for NBA teams: long, skilled, and capa

Photo graphic by Cameron Cc: via youtube.com Formula One is entering a new era with so much unknown. One may think they have an idea of the pecking order, the favorites, or even who will fall short, yet it won't be until the drivers go racing that things will start to clear. So, what better time to make some predictions that could end horribly wrong than during the first race week of the season? This was one of the hardest prediction articles I have ever published. With the t

by Zak Drapeau Sportz Nation - 2/25/2026 Photo Courtesy of @khabib_nurmagomedov/ Instagram First thing's first, this is a list about how much we wanted to see the fight, NOT about how great the fight would've been. So much get's put into the sport of MMA that we forget that the UFC is foremost a spectator sport. While we appreciate the purity of the #1 contender facing the long-anointed champion, we also want to see the fights we want to see. There's something different about

by Zak Drapeau Sportz Nation - 2/18/2026 10. Justin Gaethje vs Michael Chandler Photo by Cooper Neill/ Zuffa LLC All Out War. Some of the fights on this list had incredible builds, some had titles on the line and some had crazy finishes. This fight had none of the above but did have 2 of the most competitive rounds I've ever seen. For the first two rounds, this fight in 2021 had slams, knockdowns and the crowd going wild from start to finish. Chandler proved he is one of th

by Zak Drapeau Sportz Nation - 2/14/2026 I feel like I need to say this before we get into the list: Brock Lesnar is one of the most famous Heavyweight in UFC history and a former champion but he was 4-3 (1NC) in the UFC which is no where near enough to make this list. 10. Tim Sylvia Alright youngens, for those of you who got into the sport around COVID, a name you probably don't know and need to look up is Tim Sylvia. From 2002 to 2007, Sylvia not only held gold in the UFC

by Zak Drapeau Sportz Nation - 2/11/2026 So with full disclosure I am not a Patriots fan and while this article's topic may seem absurd to some of you, It's worth exploring after his abysmal performance in not only Super Bowl LX but the entire 2026 Playoffs. Photo by Adam Hunger/ Associated Press Content Services for the NFL When asking if Maye is Overrated, one needs to first conclude how he is "rated" at the moment by most pundits and media alike. In short, Maye is closely

by Zak Drapeau 1/6/2026 Sportz Nation Graphic by NFL 1. Fernando Mendoza QB Las Vegas Raiders Mendoza is a good Quarterback but maybe not to the level of #1 Quarterbacks in the past. Still this is the pick, with the Raiders needing a Quarterback and this class being the worst for QBs since 2022, this is a no-doubter. 2. Arvell Reese LB New York Jets Reese isn't my #1 prospect this year but he does have the best potential in his class. A freak athlete with all of the physical

by Zak Drapeau Sportz Nation - 2/7/2026 Photo by Greg M. Cooper/ Associated Press Ranking QBs ( Right Now ) 1. Josh Allen 2. Matthew Stafford 3. Joe Burrow 4. Lamar Jackson 5. Jared Goff 6. Patrick Mahomes 7. Drake Maye 8. Jalen Hurts 9. Baker Mayfield 10. Dak Prescott If I had to pick a Quarterback today, to play in a single game and win it for me I'm taking Josh Allen. The other guys on this list are elite, dependable and have proven that they can do it over a long period o

by Zak Drapeau Sportz Nation - 2/4/3036 Photo by Doug Pensinger/ Getty Images 10. 2015 Denver Broncos 12-4 (#1 in AFC) 19th Offense 4th Defense The craziest part of this list is that this team may have the best defense of the bunch. Even still, the 2015 Broncos take the wooden spoon and DEFINITELY have the worst offense. This Broncos' team was part-Peyton Manning and part-Brock Osweiler and somehow, Osweiler was much better. Manning was 39 and in the final year of his career,

by Zak Drapeau Sportz Nation - 1/29/2026 Team Leaders Passing Sam Darnold 67.7% completion 4,048 pass yards 25 pass TDs 14 INTs Rushing Kenneth Walker 221 carries 1,027 rush yards 4.6 yards per carry 10, 20+ yard rushes 5 rush TDs Receiving Jaxon Smith Njigba 119 receptions 163 targets 1,793 rec yards 4.4 yards after catch average 10 rec TDs Tackling Ernest Jones IV 126 combined tackles 4 tackles for loss 5 interceptions 7 pass deflections 1 Touchdown S