Daily Archives: January 5, 2022

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The NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year is almost assuredly going to be Dallas Cowboys linebacker Micah Parsons.

The NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year very well may be Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver JaMarr Chase (unless New England Patriots quarterback Mac Jones wins it).

What do Parsons and Chase have in common, besides having brilliant first seasons?

Neither played college football in what should have been their junior seasons. Citing COVID-19, both Parsons and Chase sat out the 2020 college seasons at Penn State and LSU, respectively.

Instead they turned to individual training and took extra time to prepare for the NFL draft process and eventually their professional careers. NFL rules require players to be three years out of high school before becoming draft-eligible. They established themselves as bona fide prospects in their first two college seasons.

Chase went fifth overall to Cincinnati, where he has caught 79 passes for 1,429 yards and 13 touchdowns in helping the Bengals win the AFC North. Parsons went 12th overall and his 13 sacks and 84 tackles have helped the Cowboys win the NFC East.

These are two of the biggest stars in the NFL. Already. Parsons has even merited discussion as Defensive Player of the Year. While it is possible another season of traditional college football would have prepared them even more, there is no telling that. And, clearly, they arent any worse for wear.

In fact, missing a season of pounding and practice, it could be argued, helped them be fresher for this season. Or perhaps they actually benefited by stepping away from team-centric coaching and game preparation to focus on individual development.

Yes, thats a cold, bottom-line concept that ignores the joys of actually playing the game or competing as part of the team but this is a business.

All of which brings up an intriguing question that was discussed on this edition of the College Football Enquirer: Could star college players, secure in their draft status as sophomores, begin sitting out their junior seasons?

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No college fan wants to see that. No coaches or anyone else either. And since both Chase and Parsons stepped away from their teams during the COVID-impacted 2020 season, this doesnt seem like much more than a blip.

Still, some young player or perhaps his family, agents and others is going to notice that the NFLs two best rookies didnt need college football like everyone assumed great players needed college football.

It wasnt long ago, after all, that the idea of a player opting out of his teams bowl game was considered shocking and taboo and something NFL teams would hold against them. Now its commonplace for top talent to protect themselves from injury and get a jump on training for the combine and pro days.

Could, to use as an example, Ohio State wide receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba, who just lit up the Rose Bowl with 347 receiving yards and three touchdowns, look at Chase and decide he doesnt need his third year in Columbus to become a star? Would he thus just start training for the 2023 draft?

Could, to use as an example, Alabama linebacker Will Anderson, whose 17.5 sacks and 97 tackles has helped push the Crimson Tide to the national title game, look at Parsons and decide to follow that path, not the more traditional one?

There is no indication either one will. In fact, both are expected back for their junior seasons even though both have done more than enough to be selected in the top 10 whenever they turn pro.

But at some point, will someone do that? If history is an indication, probably.

There was a time when basketball players skipping their senior season of college was considered a shock. Eventually though the NBA was plucking future Hall of Famers (Kevin Garnett, Kobe Bryant, LeBron James) out of the prep ranks. The NBA now requires a player to be one year removed from high school.

Football is a different sport and the NFLs three-year rule has been good for both the game and the players, who generally need time to physically develop for the violence, demands and challenges ahead.

Still, sometimes guys are ready early. Or in this case, have shown enough that risking further injury, poor play, coaching malfeasance or anything else isn't in their best interest.

Parsons and Chase were two of those players. Heres guessing they wont be the last.

Also on this episode of the College Football Enquirer:

Kirk Herbstreit and Desmond Howard ignite an opt-out debate.

Nick Saban discusses an expanded playoff.

Kentucky and Arkansas cap big-time seasons in the SEC.

Left for dead in August, the Big 12 has a big season and a promising future.

Ohio State flexes in the Rose Bowl.

What to make of Marcus Freemans Notre Dame debut.

A private parts Peoples Court.

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Junior-year opt-outs: Will Ja'Marr Chase and Micah Parsons be trendsetters? - Yahoo Sports

Cryptocurrency investors should keep track of various costs associated with Bitcoin mining, Tyler Page, CEO of Bitcoin mining company Cipher Mining (CIFR), said in a Wednesday interview with Yahoo Finance Live.

2022 for the entire industry of Bitcoin mining, I think is going to really be about execution, said Page.

Cipher Mining, which says it's dedicated to providing and securing the vital infrastructure necessary for the Bitcoin network to flourish into the future, made crypto news headlines this past October after purchasing several dozens of thousands of next-generation bitcoin mining hardware from Bitfury, a Bitcoin Blockchain infrastructure provider. The group is also backed by larger investors like Fidelity Management and Research and Counterpoint Group.

Opportunities are boundless this year, but costs also will present a significant challenge to mining operations looking to capitalize, Page said.

The big differentiator, and I think what the investing world needs to start to appreciate to differentiate among these miners, is what kind of cost discipline do they have on the main inputs?, he said. [The main inputs including] cost of power, which is the biggest OpEx cost input, and the cost that you pay for compute power or for mining rigs themselves, which is the biggest CapEX expenditure.

Mining operations attempt to generate Bitcoin at a rate lower than market prices. Its crucial, Page said, to account for costs generally overlooked by investors to calculate a more accurate picture.

The story of a miner is that you're effectively manufacturing Bitcoin for a much lower price than the market price like any commodities E&P type business, he noted. So in addition to the variable costs, both the operating cost for operating your facilities and paying for power or paying for hosting you also need to think about depreciation and amortization of the capital expenditure you've had.

Bitcoin miners had an eventful year, to say the least, in 2021. China enacted a series of crackdowns on mining operations throughout the year, criminalizing it throughout the country by the years end. Even with the government restrictions, experts estimate that as much as 20% of the worlds mining is done in China (down from peaks of 65%) through underground mining.

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A general view shows the Berlin geothermal plant of La Geo Electrical Company, where the Salvadoran government installed a Bitcoin mining facility for the use of bitcoin as legal tender, in Alegria, El Salvador November 13, 2021. Picture taken with a drone. REUTERS/Jose Cabezas

Mining in the U.S. has increased significantly over the past few years. In October, the U.S. overtook China as the country with the highest amount of crypto miners in the world. Research suggests that approximately one-third of bitcoins hashrate is in the U.S., representing a 400% increase from last year.

Ihsaan Fanusie is a writer at Yahoo Finance. Follow him on Twitter @IFanusie.

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Bitcoin mining has risks that are difficult to price, Cipher Mining CEO says - Yahoo Finance

The game was over. The Cleveland Browns were out of timeouts. The Pittsburgh Steelers had won.

With only 51 seconds remaining, the Steelers up 19-14 and facing third down, all running back Najee Harris had to do was gain two yards to end the game. He ended up gaining much more than that, breaking outside for a 37-yard touchdown to provide a garbage-time exclamation point for Ben Roethlisberger's likely final game at Heinz Field.

It was actually in the Steelers' interest for Harris to fall down as soon as he gained the first down, as they only had to kneel out the clock from there. Scoring gave the ball back back to the Browns with a chance to score, convert an onside kick and score again, though that obviously wasn't happening with how Baker Mayfield was playing.

Harris' touchdown was completely meaningless ... for the Steelers. For some people watching at home, however, it was reason to lose their minds, for good reasons and bad.

When you're a widely owned player like Harris playing in Monday Night Football, you're going to swing some matchups. When you're a widely owned player scoring a garbage-time touchdown in Monday Night Football in the week of most fantasy football championship games, you're going to swing some championships.

In many leagues, Harris' touchdown provided a sudden 9.7 points for anyone who started him, more than enough to change a game. It was the final run of a massive games for the Steelers rookie, with 188 rushing yards and a touchdown on 28 carries plus three receptions for 18 yards.

For some, that touchdown was a thrilling victory:

And for others, well, it doesn't get much worse than that:

It doesn't get much more fantasy football than this.

Photo: BreakingT

$32 at BreakingT

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Najee Harris' meaningless TD was a fantasy football championship winner, and loser, for some - Yahoo Sports

The New York Giants lost their fifth straight game by double digits on Sunday, and this was the ugliest of them all.

Facing the 5-10 Chicago Bears, a team widely expected to fire their head coach after this season, the Giants weren't just bad on offense, they were historically putrid. With starting quarterback Daniel Jones shut down for the season, back-up Mike Glennon finished the day 4-of-11 for 24 passing yards, two interceptions and four fumbles (two lost).

Of Glennon's four completed passes, two gained yards. Throw in the four sacks allowed by the Giants offensive line for a total loss of 34 yards, and the Giants passing game gained a grand total of -10 yards.

That is the fewest passing yards gained in a single NFL game since the then-San Diego Chargers "gained" -19 yards in 1998 (Ryan Leaf was involved), according to Stathead. It's also the first time since 2009 that a team finished in the red.

The Giants ended up losing 29-3. They went into the game with a clear handicap, but teams have lost their starting quarterbacks before and, you know, gained positive yards. Between that performance through the air, an embarrassing gaffe on a kickoff return and some other odd decisions, Giants head coach Joe Judge had plenty to answer for after the game.

Then he took things in an even weirder direction.

When asked by a reporter why fans should have faith that he is the person who can right the ship for 4-12 Giants, Judge reportedly launched into a 10-minute rant in which he claimed, among other things, that he frequently receives calls from players who were on the Giants last year and are now making more money playing elsewhere.

The apparent consensus among these players is they really wish they were back in New York. You can read the full transcript here, including this claim:

"I can tell you were got more players here who are going to be free agents next year, all right, theyre coming in my office every day begging me to come back. I know that. I know that. I know players that we coached last year still calling me twice a week telling me how much they wish they were still here even though theyre getting paid more somewhere else. Ok? So I know weve got the right foundational pieces right there. "

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Now, we're not ones to openly doubt an NFL head coach clearly going through some things, but "NFL players openly saying they want less money" is the kind of claim that can't just be passed along without any scrutiny.

ESPN's Bill Barnwell was one person who sat down and questioned if what Judge was saying was true, and the results were ... interesting.

Basically, of the 34 players who appeared on the Giants active roster last year and are no longer part of the team this year, the only player who could fit Judge's description of having signed elsewhere for more money is defensive tackle Dalvin Tomlinson, who left the Giants this offseason on a two-year, $22 million contract with the Minnesota Vikings.

So unless Judge fudged his criteria a bit or Tomlinson is the kind of person to make multiple calls to an ex-head coach in the middle of the season, Judge's claims seem to be along the lines of a girlfriend from Canada or a dad who works at Nintendo.

Making the Giants' free fall all the more interesting is the report that Judge (and Jones) will be steering the Giants in the 2022 season as well. That was reported two weeks ago, before two more embarrassing losses for the Giants.

There is a very good chance Judge's job security is tied to general manager Dave Gettleman's job security, and both keep looking worse as New York looks overwhelmed on a weekly basis with little hope for the future. Even Scott Simonson, who played for Gettleman when he was the GM of the Carolina Panthers and then joined him with the Giants, is publicly teeing off on his old boss.

This could very well be an offseason of change for the Giants. If it is, the calls Judge gets could suddenly become very real.

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Joe Judge goes on bizarre, dubious rant after Giants post worst passing performance of the century - Yahoo Sports

Entering Week 17, there wasn't much talk about who would win offensive rookie of the year. Mac Jones was a -500 favorite to win the award and it seemed all but locked up. It would have taken something magical to pry the award out of the hands of Jones.

The Cincinnati Bengals had a massive come-from-behind win to knock off the Kansas City Chiefs. As a result of the win, the Bengals clinched the AFC North. The main reason for the win? Ja'Marr Chase posting a ridiculous stat-line that featured 11 receptions on 12 targets, 266 receiving yards and three touchdowns. Following the performance, Chase is now a -200 favorite to win offensive rookie of the year.

There are only two players still on the board at BetMGM for offensive rookie of the year. As mentioned above, Chase is the new favorite. As a result, Mac Jones is now a +170 underdog to win the award. If you hold betting tickets on guys like Trevor Lawrence, Najee Harris, Devonta Smith or Justin Fields, you might as well set fire to them.

As the favorite, Chase is certainly deserving. With his video game-esque performance Sunday, Chase set a new record for rookie receiving yards in a season. His 1,429 receiving yards broke the record set by former college teammate Justin Jefferson just last season.

It's been an up and down season for Chase, which should be expected from a rookie. He took the league by storm, compiling 754 receiving yards and 6 touchdowns in his first seven games. He then hit a bit of a rough patch as teams figured him out, posting just 204 yards and 2 touchdowns over his next five games. Chase has regrouped over his last four games, posting 471 yards and 5 touchdowns.

Ja'Marr Chase of the Bengals is the new favorite to win offensive rookie of the year. (Dylan Buell/Getty Images)

For Mac Jones, it's been a bit of a different story. He's certainly been very solid in his freshman campaign, leading his Patriots back to the playoffs after they missed the postseason last year.

Despite being the betting favorite for most of the season, it always felt like Jones was in that role due to a process of elimination. Trevor Lawrence has been a disappointment of epic proportions. Zach Wilson waited until the last few weeks to show flashes of his ability. Justin Fields is amongst the worst statistical quarterbacks in the league, though he's had very little support around him. Trey Lance has spent the majority of the season on the bench. The second best rookie quarterback might be Davis Mills, a third-round pick with a 2-8 record as a starter.

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Jones' numbers are solid, but nothing to write home about. He doesn't compare favorably statistically to recent rookie quarterbacks such as Justin Herbert and Kyler Murray's rookie seasons. Even Baker Mayfield had a better rookie season statistically a few seasons ago despite starting just 13 games.

It felt like Jones was the favorite because there was no other legitimate choice. If someone did something spectacular, he was always prone to being usurped. Chase finally did something amazing in Week 17.

When analyzing the MVP prospects of players like Jonathan Taylor or Cooper Kupp, we often warn that it's very unlikely that a non-quarterback wins the award. Thankfully, that's not really the case with offensive rookie of the year.

Sure, the last two winners have been quarterbacks. Justin Herbert won the award last year over Justin Jefferson, but Herbert's season was statistically much superior to the season Mac Jones is having this year.

Since 2013, the offensive rookie of the year has been won by three quarterbacks, four running backs and one wide receiver. Ja'Marr Chase looks to become the first wide receiver to win the award since Odell Beckham Jr. in 2014.

There's recent precedent of a skill position player winning the award over a quarterback. In 2018, Baker Mayfield broke the rookie touchdown passing record at the time in just 13 starts. However, that wasn't enough for him to win the award over Saquon Barkley.

I probably would not bet on Chase to win the award at his current -200 odds. If you're weary of a potential quarterback bias, Jones is not a terrible bet at +170.

It's also worth noting that one week remains in the regular season. There's a good chance the Bengals have nothing to play for in Week 18, so benching Joe Burrow for all or parts of the game is not out of the question. This would obviously impact Chase should he be catching passes from Brandon Allen.

If Jones has another solid game in a win over the Dolphins and Chase posts a dud in Week 18, does that change the outlook for this award? It very well might.

Remember, two days ago, Jones was -500 to win this award and Chase was +350. After a performance where Jones completed 73% of his passes and threw three touchdowns in a game where his team posted 50 points, Jones is now an underdog. This league.

Read the original here:

NFL betting: Ja'Marr Chase becomes new favorite to win offensive rookie of the year - Yahoo Sports

Bella Thorne is sharing her affirmations for the new year with her 25 million Instagram followers. (Photo by Shy McGrath/WireImage)

Bella Thorne is all about getting things done.

On Tuesday, the 24-year-old actress and singer shared several photos of herself rocking a lavender pant set paired with a black faux fur hat. The post also featured a few selfies where her fiery red hair framed her face. Thorne used the caption to encourage her 25 million Instagram followers to strive for more in the new year.

"Stop saying 'I wanna.' Start saying 'I will,'" she began. "I will be healthier this year I will take more care of my body. I will drink more water. I will pay more attention to my negative mental habits. I will work to change those. I will stop judging myself so harshly. I will be happy. I will work to understand what pushes my artist creativity further into the abyss. I will take more time off I will take more time for myself, to enjoy myself, to enjoy the person I am today, I will not just think about tomorrow or the next day or the next 5 years. I will do things that push my limits. I will challenge myself. I will not let my yearning for more do my soul injustice."

Fans flooded the comments to not only praise the star's look but also her inspiring message.

"Love this mindset!" A fan said.

"You are beautiful," one commenter added.

"You're a good soul Bella," a user continued.

In an interview with British Vogue in April, Thorne opened up about the importance of self-care, especially in the age of social media, which can make many feel "less than."

"We wonder, 'Why aren't I there? Why don't I have this?' So I have a board with photos of what I want my year to look like goals, things that I think I can do and things I've no idea if I can but it all goes on. At the end of the year, when you get to check off things, you feel so liberated because you realize, 'Yes, I work hard, yes, I bust my a** every day, yes I am in a good place,'" she explained.

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Bella Thorne shares intention to say 'I will' in the new year: 'I will stop judging myself so harshly, I will be happy' - Yahoo Life

Pac-12 commissioner George Kliavkoff would like the teams in his conference to play one fewer conference game. That's not as easy of a change as you may think.

Teams in the Pac-12 play nine conference games per season like the Big Ten and the Big 12. Teams in the ACC and the SEC play eight games. The extra non-conference game in the SEC and ACC is an opportunity for those teams to potentially schedule a lucrative neutral site game or a home game against a weaker opponent to get a win toward bowl eligibility.

Kliavkoff recognizes that and would love for his teams to have a chance to play another non-conference game. But the way college football teams create their schedules years and even decades in advance makes that change hard to implement. If the Pac-12 announced that it were going to an eight-game conference schedule for its teams in 2023 or even 2024, those teams would have a difficult time finding opponents with most teams' schedules locked in for the near future.

Were not ready to announce anything, but Ive been public about the fact were ready to go from nine conference games to eight immediately," Kliavkoff told the Los Angeles Times. "The issue is everybody else is booked. We would not be able to fill those games in if we decided to do that. The fastest path to get there is if the Big Ten decided to do the same thing, and then we could just schedule 12 games against the Big Ten, and wed be happy to do that for next season. The Big Ten is not ready to make that move yet, and its not my place to put them on a timeline to do that. Theyre in the middle of their media rights negotiations. The minute the Big Ten is ready to play 12 games against us every year, were ready."

Kliavkoff made his comments about the eight-game schedule to the Times as part of a wide-ranging interview following his first football season as commissioner. The Pac-12 had one of its worst seasons in years and failed to win a bowl game in 2021. The 0-5 bowl season was capped off by Ohio State's second-half comeback in a 48-45 win over Utah.

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The Big Ten's television contracts currently expire in 2024 and the conference could be in line for more money from television networks as live sports rights continue to be some of the most valuable properties in television. Nine conference games could be a key to getting as much money as possible too. Networks like Fox and ESPN find games like Ohio State against Purdue more attractive than Ohio State against a smaller school with less appeal and alumni base.

A scheduling deal with the Pac-12 could help make eight games far more palatable, however. The Big Ten and Pac-12 historically play each other in multiple bowl games per season and have a longstanding rivalry with each other. Games like USC vs. Michigan and Oregon vs. Penn State would be extremely appealing to TV networks. We're on board if the Big Ten and Pac-12 want to make this happen sometime soon.

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Pac-12 commish ready to go to 8 conference games and start annual football series with Big Ten - Yahoo Sports