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Del Olaleye: The week in college football

Del Olaleye: The week in college football
Nick Saban is never short on opinions. Even bad ones. Mike Zarrilli/Getty Images

The week in college football:

The Kyler Question

What does Kyler Murray do? The Oklahoma signal-caller was drafted ninth overall by the Oakland A’s on Monday. Murray has waited a long-time to be the full-time starter on the college level after being one of the most decorated high school QBs of all time. That wait includes a transfer from College Station to Norman after spot duty at Texas A&M. His newly-minted status as a millionaire complicates his situation. Does the pull of playing college ball mean more to Murray than starting his professional career in baseball? Currently the prohibitive favorite to succeed Baker Mayfield, the Allen High School product says he will remain at Oklahoma and play football this season despite being a top 10 selection. Oklahoma opens the season against Lane Kiffin’s Florida Atlantic Owls on September 1st.

Pac-12 will require their teams to win 6 games to be bowl eligible

In 2015 the NCAA instituted a rule that allowed teams with a 5-7 record to make bowl games. I’m sure they have some long and drawn out reason for allowing under .500 teams to make bowl games but it really is pretty simple. Too many bowl games and the fear of not having enough teams to fill all the bowl slots led to the change in standards. The Pac-12 decided on Monday to require their teams to win six games to be bowl eligible. The conference is the first to create a rule that asks their member schools to exceed the NCAA requirement to play in a bowl game. As you might imagine, a coach or two isn’t thrilled. Mike Leach has been the most vocal on the matter, "If we had a 5-7 team lucky enough to make a bowl, they could probably use the practice and the players would probably appreciate the chance to play another game," Leach said. "Why should we limit opportunities when other conferences aren't?

Nick Saban on SEC transfer rules

The coach of the Crimson Tide was a bit on the defensive after being questioned about why he didn’t allow one of his former players to transfer to the school of his choice. The player in question is Brandon Kennedy. He’s a graduate transfer with two years of eligibility remaining who would like to stay in the SEC. Saban wants no part of that and has blocked SEC schools as potential landing spots along with future opponents on the Tide’s schedule. Saban cites an SEC rule as the reason behind his restrictions.  

"I don't think it should be on me," Saban said of the criticism. "If we agree in the SEC at these meetings that we're going to have free agency in our league and everybody can go wherever they want to go when they graduate, that's what we should do."

Saban wants no part of that type of player freedom and judging by his own words wouldn’t be a proponent of more flexible transfer rules.

"When we make a rule that guys can transfer whenever they want to transfer, how are we supposed to get people to do what they should do?" Saban asked. The coach known for telling players to move on to make room for new ones is worried that players may grab some control back. Delightful.


 

 


 

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The Texans are the class of the division. Photo by Tim Warner/Getty Images.

The Houston Texans received a lot of praise for their moves in free agency across various outlets. And for good reason, most people believe the team got significantly better with the additions of Danielle Hunter, Azeez Al-Shaair, and Denico Autry among others.

But there's another factor to consider this offseason. How much have the other teams in the AFC South improved?

When looking at the PFF grades in free agency, the Colts received a B-minus. Most of the Colts moves this offseason involved spending a lot of money re-signing their own players. Which is great in theory, but it's hard to improve the overall quality of your roster when you're bringing back players that were already there to begin with. A lot will be riding on player development for the Colts to see a big jump this season. A healthy quarterback wouldn't hurt either.

The Jaguars have made some big additions financially this offseason by signing receiver Gabe Davis and defensive tackle Arik Armstead. They also lost the top receiver on the market, Calvin Ridley, to the Titans. Gabe Davis wasn't able to establish himself as a reliable No. 2 receiver with Josh Allen throwing him the ball in Buffalo. So it's hard to believe he'll take the next step in Jacksonville. Their best move of the offseason might have been retaining edge rusher Josh Allen by using the franchise tag on him. So what did PFF think of Jacksonville's offseason? They received a B-minus, just like the Colts.

The Titans have a lot of turnover heading into the 2024 season, and not just on the roster. They have a new head coach in Brian Callahan, who's looking to revamp Tennessee's offense. Early in free agency, they agreed to terms with former Cowboys running back Tony Pollard, signing him to a 3-year deal at $8 million per season. Which is more money than the Ravens are paying for Derrick Henry, who left the Titans in free agency. Calvin Ridley was the most notable addition to the squad, he received a 4-year, $92 million deal. And while this could be viewed as an overpay, at least he gives the Titans' offense some upside. Their receiving corps looks a lot more dangerous with Ridley added to DeAndre Hopkins and Treylon Burks.

They also spent big at the center position, adding Lloyd Cushenberry on a 4-year, $50 million contract.

Because the Titans spent a lot of money on some highly coveted players, PFF gave them a B.

Now that brings us to the Texans. The Texans re-signed some of their own players like Dalton Schultz and Noah Brown. But they also made some big splashes with Hunter, Autry, Al-Shaair, and Joe Mixon. But the Texans spent their money in a more conservative way by not handing out many contracts over two years in length.

The Texans managed to add the best pass rusher in free agency with Hunter, but it's only a two-year deal. The overall talent level is going up on this roster, and GM Nick Caserio isn't having to sign players to long contracts that could come back and haunt him.

That's why we're seeing post-free agency power rankings coming out with Houston in the Top 10. And that's also why PFF gave the Texans an A for their moves in free agency.

Be sure to check out the video above as Craig from Sports Talk Extra takes an in-depth look at PFF's grades for the AFC South, and much more!

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