Jumbo Package: John Metchie diagnosed with leukemia

Happy Monday, everyone. John Metchie got some tough news over the weekend.

There are reasons for optimism with John being young and healthy. With proper treatment, the prognosis for this type of leukemia seems to be favorable. Nick Saban released a statement of support.

I hate that he is going to miss his rookie season, but obviously his long term health is the top priority. We wish him the best in his battle.

Dennis Dodd notes that the transfer portal is about to get even more crazy as the NCAA is set to allow players to transfer as many times as they wish.

The legislation was both expected and a surprise. Administrators who had seen the NCAA’s grip on amateurism slip were not shocked. We are experiencing in real time the NCAA’s slow, inexorable move toward a pro model. The latest example: On Friday, CBS Sports reported the Big Ten had received a demand that players receive a share of media rights revenue.

“People have to realize that, yeah, there could be a person that plays for four teams, four different years,” said Ohio professor and players rights advocate David Ridpath. “At the end of the day, that’s their right until the NCAA wants to sit down and collectively bargain restrictions with the athlete. There’s just no other path forward now.”

The net effect of this will be that agents are going to make a killing, as usual.

College Football News examines which programs have garnered the most preseason hype through the years.

AP: Preseason College Football Top 25 Rankings 1950 to 2021

CFN devised a scoring system giving every AP-ranked preseason No. 1 team from 1950 to 2021 25 points, the No. 2 team 24, No. 3 23, and so on down to the bottom of the top 20 in the early years, and then it became the top 25 later on.

1 Oklahoma 1227

2 Ohio State 1195

3 Alabama 1030

4 USC 979

5 Notre Dame 975

No surprise to see Oklahoma atop the list.

NFL draft analyst Daniel Jeremiah has a profile on Bryce Young for you.

Where he needs to improve: Size is the obvious negative when you evaluate Young. He’s probably going to check in a little under 6 feet tall and he lacks the desired bulk for the position. While there’s nothing he can do about his height, he can add some bulk to help deal with the wear and tear of playing quarterback. There isn’t much else to critique. There are some occasions where he doesn’t set his feet, despite operating in a clean pocket. That’s not a great habit, but he’s such a natural thrower and it hasn’t impacted his accuracy.

Biggest takeaway: While taking notes on Young, a few words repeatedly came to mind: urgency, twitch and sudden. Young does everything with quickness, but he always seems to be under control. There’s a confidence he possesses that allows him to play fast. He understands his system and shows a good feel for what defenses are trying to do against him.

Nick Alvarez over at Al.com examines the impact of Mario Cristobal’s hiring on Alabama’s South Florida pipeline.

Alabama football signed seven recruits from Florida in 2021. It added five more last year. Of the 14 recruits in the 2023 class so far, however, zero hail from the Sunshine state. When the state’s two powerhouse programs made two splash hires in two-former Alabama assistants — Billy Napier to Florida and Mario Cristobal to Miami — some theorized if new regimes may influence a few recruits.

“The novelty (of Cristobal’s hire) may (impact) a couple of kids at first,” Larry Blustein, a staple of Florida recruiting told AL.com in December, “But if Alabama wants a kid, they’ll get him.”

Last, guess who the Texas fan site picks as a dark horse contender?

Texas enters the 2022 season with a revamped roster, ready to make some noise. Steve Sarkisian was the offensive weapons to compete with anyone in the country. The Big 12 looks wide open this season, improvements on the offensive line and defense could have Texas right in the mix at the end of the year.

Everything is bigger in Texas, especially the delusion.

That’s about it for today. Have a great week.

Roll Tide.