The Abilene Christian Wildcats have dropped out of the FCS Top 25 rankings following their latest loss in Week 2 of the 2026 college football season.
The Wildcats — who fell in a 26-7 loss in their home opener to the Stephen F. Austin Lumberjacks on Saturday night — slid out of the rankings entirely from their previously held No. 23 spot in the latest edition of the Stats Perform FCS Top 25 poll.
It marks the end of a 30-week streak of consecutive appearances in the Stats Perform FCS Top 25 poll for Abilene Christian, which will head into its Week 3 contest unranked for the first time since September 2024.
ACU started the 2026 campaign ranked No. 15 in the Stats Perform Preseason FCS Top 25 rankings.
The Wildcats received 15 points in the others receiving votes portion of this week's Top 25 poll.

#abilene #loss

Oregon football news: Ducks ruthlessly clowned on social media after shocking loss to Oklahoma State appeared first on ClutchPoints. Add ClutchPoints as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
The No. 6 Oregon Ducks are sure to fall in the rankings after suffering a 39-31 Week 2 loss to the unranked Oklahoma State Cowboys. After being crowned the favorite to win the national championship throughout the offseason, the Ducks seem to be anything but.
After the tough loss, sports fans jumped on social media and made fun of the program. Many criticized Dan Lanning, while others implied that Oregon has managed to underperform at some point nearly every season. Others simply found the loss to Oklahoma State hilarious.
"Oregon really lost," one sports fan said with a laugh-crying emoji.
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#ducks #loss #oklahoma #others

A week after inching past a much-less talented Group of Six opponent in Boise Stat, the No. 6 Oregon football team fell in a shocking upset to Oklahoma State Sept. 12 at Boone Pickens Stadium in Stillwater, 39-31.
It's Dan Lanning's first loss to an unranked opponent as the Ducks' head coach and the first time in college football history a team on a 10-plus-game losing streak broke such a streak with a win over a top-10 team.
It's also a humiliating defeat for a Ducks team that received widespread acclaim and praise as a national championship contender during the offseason.
"The score was closer than it really was, because it wasn't close in a lot of ways," Lanning said. "We got our ****** kicked in a lot of areas."
But what went wrong for the Ducks in Stillwater? What problems arose in Week 2 that weren't issues in Week 1, and what are new causes of concern? What's going on with the Oregon run game, and why haven't the Ducks been able to consistently get stops against, on paper, significantly less talented teams?

#talented

Oklahoma State quarterback Drew Mestemaker officially introduced himself to the grander college football world as a budding superstar on Saturday in his team's upset home win over No. 6 Oregon.
Taking down the Ducks is no small feat, particularly for an unranked program like the Cowboys. However, Mestemaker's heroics and stellar stat line (317 passing yards, two touchdowns; 109 rushing yards, one touchdown) buffeted a Cowboys offense that scored 39 on Oregon's vaunted defense.
One touchdown saw Mestemaker quite literally take air and fly into the end zone, which feels like the defining moment of his college football career so far. It's a majestic play; no wonder the NFL may be keen on this guy.
This is the statement play every breakout game demands; what an afternoon in Stillwater for Mestemaker.
Drew Mestemaker FLEW on the touchdown 😱 pic.twitter.com/fBTRv0cq7X

#cowboys

What's wrong with Oregon? Ducks' shocking loss to Oklahoma State raises questions about new coordinators originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
It's too early to hit the panic **** on for any college football team. But of any FBS team, Oregon may have the most reasons to be worried.
After a Week 1 scare against Boise State, the Ducks fell to unranked Oklahoma State on Saturday, with Drew Mestemaker's three total touchdowns helping the Cowboys down the country's No. 6-ranked team in Stillwater.
There's a growing list of problems for Oregon, which now faces even more pressure for matchups like USC, Michigan and Ohio State later in 2026.
Here's a breakdown of what's been going wrong for the Ducks through two games.

#state #oklahoma #wrong #week

#24 Oregon volleyball travels to Tempe for a weekend slate of matches where the competition will step up from the past two weeks.
DOWN GOES NO. 7 🚨🚨🚨

Aggies take down the Sun Devils in the first ranked win in program history!!!#GoAgs pic.twitter.com/OuVC8R3kFk
Tonight's match is against the weekend host, the #7 Arizona State Sun Devils, who are reeling after being upset yesterday against the unranked UC Davis Aggies. The Oregon/ASU match will be one that you won't want to miss – was last night's loss by ASU an outlier? Can the Ducks swoop in and tally an upset of their own? This is likely going to be a match where small mistakes will loom large, and we're certain to get a sense of where Oregon is at before the grind of Big Ten play in a couple of weeks.
Weekend trip to the desert😎

Snyder-Park Classic | Tempe, Ariz.
Friday at No. 7 Arizona State – 6 p.m. [ESPN+]
Saturday vs UC Davis – 1 p.m.
Sunday vs San Diego – 2 p.m.#GoDucks pic.twitter.com/bt1tAHKoQP
When: Today, 6:00 pm PT

#match #down

GREEN BAY, WI —This one wasn't nearly the laugher many predicted for Notre Dame football, but the fifth-ranked Irish eventually found their stride in a 41-13 win over unranked Wisconsin Sunday, Sept. 6.
Notre Dame (1-0) moved to 13-0 in Shamrock Series games, dating to their origin in 2009 against Washington State in San Antonio.
Successful homecoming: An emotional Green Bay homecoming ahead for Notre Dame's James Flanigan
Here is how we grade the Irish's performance against the Badgers.
As it turns out, losing a pair of first-round running backs to the NFL does impact a running game in the following season. At least it did in the first half, when Notre Dame's top trio of backs managed just 35 yards on 14 carries. Sullivan Asher replaced Styles Prescod at right guard to open the second half and made an impact as Aneyas Williams (two rushing touchdowns) got rolling after the break.

#notre #impact

BATON ROUGE, La. — Mother Nature wanted Lane Kiffin and LSU to sit for a little bit longer and think about what they've done. Kiffin and LSU responded by hanging a 51-10 score on Clemson. Litigation isn't all they're good at, as it turns out.
Yes, it's early September. Yes, LSU beat the orange off an overmatched Clemson squad that's unranked and yet still overrated. But after a Saturday night in Death Valley where LSU ran over Clemson on both sides of the ball, it's not too soon to declare that Kiffin's squad might just be for real, and a real problem for the rest of the SEC.
"Imagine if we had pro players," Kiffin told ESPN's Holly Rowe as he left the field at halftime, and how you view that statement — proudly defiant or infuriatingly smug — probably depends on whether you live in the state of Louisiana. Kiffin delivered the line after LSU put the finishing touches on a half in which they'd outscored Clemson by 28 points, rushing for 213 yards and 21 first downs while holding Clemson to a net minus-4 yards and a single first down.
Matters didn't get any better for Clemson in the second half even after a desperation quarterback change. LSU, meanwhile, grew more confident in real time. The patchwork collection of transfers and new staff answered the most serious question facing LSU by working as an actual team, leaving the 10 ½-point spread far behind.
Kiffin always manages to whip everything around him into a frenzy, and late on Saturday afternoon, that included the skies as well as the rest of college football. For a few minutes there around 6 p.m., it sure looked like the Almighty had a problem with the way that Louisiana State University has been handling business lately.

#saturday

After a rough start to the season, Texas volleyball (2-2) fell from its No. 2 spot in the preseason poll to No. 9 in Monday's American Volleyball Coaches ******* ociation rankings.
The Longhorns dropped their season opener last week to No. 7 Arizona State and suffered a sweep Sunday at the hands of No. 1 Nebraska. They beat unranked Marquette last week in five sets and swept No. 18 TCU. Texas also lost starting outside hitter Abby Vander Wal to a season-ending knee injury in Saturday's win over TCU, a loss that will alter head coach Jerritt Elliott's schematic plans for the entire season.
Texas makes its home debut Wednesday at Gregory Gymnasium against No. No. 15 USC.
Torrey Stafford of the Texas Longhorns reacts during the Players Era Volleyball Showcase at T-Mobile Arena on Aug. 29, 2026 in Las Vegas. (Zach Del Bello/Players Era/Getty Images)
Rank

#american

SOUTH BEND — So much for a cautious ramp-up regarding Notre Dame football center Ashton Craig.
Forty-seven weeks after suffering his second torn ACL in as many seasons, the senior from Lawrenceburg, Ind. is listed atop the depth chart for Sunday night's Sept. 6 opener against unranked Wisconsin at Lambeau Field.
"He has a lot of experience," Irish coach Marcus Freeman said Monday Aug. 31 at his weekly news conference. "There's a calmness that he brings because of his experience. He's a really, really good football player and he's really progressed throughout camp with his workload and has gotten himself to a place where he's ready to go."
Barring any setbacks during practice this week, Sunday's start would be the 13th of Craig's college career, dating to the last three games of 2023.
He was knocked out for the season in Week 3 at Purdue in 2024 (left ACL) but returned for the season-opening loss at Miami in 2025.

#experience #bend #notre #ashton

FORT LAUDERDALE, FL — If you came into this weekend not knowing who A'mir Sears was on an unranked Columbus (FL) team that was supposed to lose to nationally-ranked No. 2 Bishop Gorman (NV), well, you do now.
Sears had his coming out party on national television, catching five passes for 67 yards with a pair of scores, along with three interceptions defense as the Explorers stunned the second-ranked Gaels, 33-28.
"It's not just a ***** le," Sears said. "I'm the No. 1 player in the country."
Sears made that case emphatically, even as Bishop Gorman quarterback Ace Amina tried to test him repeatedly.
And every time Amina (24-42, 334 yards, 3 TD, 3 INT) chose to throw in his direction, it was often either an interception or an incompletion, and that's when Sears missed much of the second half after the second interception due to cramping in both of his legs.

#yards #interception

It only took Reinier de Ridder one victory over an unranked fighter to debut in the Top 10 at 205 pounds.
The former middleweight contender jumped to the light heavyweight division at UFC Sacramento last weekend in California, where he summarily disposed of longtime veteran Roman Dolidze. The 35-year-old "Dutch Knight" (22-4) landed at No. 9 in the official Meta Rankings, sandwiched between Dominick Reyes (No. 8) and Azamat Murzakanov (No. 10).
That's not all.
Jamall Emmers made his debut in the featherweight rankings by hospitalizing red-hot 145-pound prospect Lerryan Douglas with a broken orbital. In addition, "Crispy" Carli Judice joined the women's flyweight Top 15 after stopping Jeisla Chaves in the opening frame. Victorious main card players Gregory Rodrigues and Vitor Petrino also made big moves in their respective divisions.
Check out the updated UFC Meta Rankings below (for an explanation on how they work click here).

#debut

One look at Trinity's (Louisville, KY) 2026 football schedule would make most coaches shrink away.
The Shamrocks kicked off the season on the road in the first of many games against nationally ranked opponents on the road at Anderson (OH), the No. 24 team in the preseason USA TODAY Sports Super 25 rankings.
After Friday night, Anderson's ranking and Trinity's status as an unranked team will be up for debate as Trinity rolled to a 59-13 victory.
The Shamrocks needed just six plays to find the end zone as 2027 Buffalo quarterback commit Zane Johnson connected with Jason Hagan on a 26-yard touchdown reception. It was the first of what would turn into a 45-point first-half performance for the Shamrocks.
Anderson trailed 21-0 before finally finding the end zone themselves late in the first quarter.

#louisville

The college football season is quickly approaching, and soon a new quest for the College Football Playoffs will begin. The defending champions, the Indiana Hoosiers, will look to defend their incredible **** le run.
Head coach Curt Cignetti's run with Indiana was one for the ages. However, a familiar face is already casting doubt on their **** le defense.
Paul Finebaum was on SportsCenter, and when the topic of Indiana's ranking came up, he didn't hold back. In fact, he painted the whole picture as clearly as it can be.
MORE: Clemson and 3 other unranked CFB teams that could finish in the top-10
"That's where they were picked last year in the Big 10 … So, they are moving on up after a perfect season. They're exactly where they should be for this reason. Everybody in front of them has a starting quarterback. And if Indiana had its starting quarterback, number one," Finebaum said.

#Football #quarterback #playoffs

The AP Top 25 poll came out on Monday and there were certainly teams that we viewed as both underrated and overrated heading into the 2026 college football season.
But what about the unranked teams? Typically, every single season, there is at least one unranked program that finishes high at the end of the season.
Here are four candidates for teams that start unranked but could finish in the AP Top 10.
MORE: This SEC top-10 contender will fall out of AP Top 25 by season's end
Nov 29, 2025; Manhattan, Kansas, USA; Kansas State Wildcats running back Joe Jackson (4) takes the handoff from quarterback Avery Johnson (2) during the fourth quarter at Bill Snyder Family Football Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Scott Sewell-Imagn Images Credit: IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect (Reuters)

#unranked #images

https://youtu.be/DqQuOXSAy...
Welcome back to class! Prep Period is back in session.
Ventura County Star sports reporters Joe Curley and Dominic Massimino return with the second season of their weekly all-sports podcast. In today's episode, the pair are talking football.
Joe runs down all the movement within the five local football leagues this offseason, then they break down the recently published preseason top-65 football player rankings. Second period includes a draft of unranked players for a watch list, then Pacifica High head coach Mike Moon joins the show in third period to discuss the Tritons' upcoming season. Finally, the pair discuss which local football programs might be most improved from last season.
We hope you enjoy the show! Please don't forget to leave a comment, a five-star review and subscribe to the show wherever you are listening.

#Football #second

Indiana football shocked the world and went undefeated with its first national championship in program history last season. Coach Curt Cignetti lost a long list of players to the NFL Draft, but has since reloaded the roster with impact transfer portal additions.
Across the Big Ten, Oregon and Ohio State are considered top national ***** le contenders in 2026, along with Indiana. All three schools have made impact additions via the portal.
UCLA also added an impressive portal class after hiring Bob Chesney from James Madison, which made the College Football Playoff in 2025. Michigan also added some pieces after hiring Kyle Whittingham from Utah.
From 1-11 to Playoff? 5 unranked teams who could surprise their way into 2026 CFP
Can't-miss games: Top 10 games this season include big dose of Arch Manning

#portal #Football #national #additions

Jeremiah Mark has had one of the fastest rises of anyone in the 2027 recruiting cycle out of the Southeast.
In a span of a couple of weeks, the 6-foot-5-inch, 270-pounder has gone from one FCS offer to holding four official offers from Alabama, Miami, Ole Miss, and now LSU.
The Florida Gators have yet to officially offer the unranked defensive lineman; however, his official visit date will be Sept. 26 when Ole Miss visits the Gators.
Mark's limited football experience makes his recruitment unique. When Mark comes to Gainesville, it could allow the program to evaluate his development and strengthen its relationship, as he finalizes his recruitment.
For Florida, the upcoming visit could potentially add the program to the mix of schools that have already offered him. If Mark impresses, he could quickly become a more prominent name on Florida's 2027 defensive line recruiting board.

#offer

Florida football enters the 2026 season unranked in the US LBM preseason Top 25 coaches poll.
That's news to first-year Florida Gators coach Jon Sumrall, who claims he doesn't pay attention to preseason polls.
Florida was the second-highest in the others receiving votes category, making the Gators 27th entering their season opener on Sept. 5 against Florida Atlantic.
Sumrall votes in the US LBM coaches poll and says he gets help from other staff members in selecting teams.
"I have somebody help me make sure that we know how to fill out the form the right way," Sumrall said. "But no, I look at it and talk through it with who helps me."

#preseason #poll

All eyes are on the Wisconsin Badgers' week one opponent, Notre Dame, and rightfully so, but there's a competitive conference trio they're stuck playing this season.
If the US LBM Preseason Coaches Poll revealed anything, it's that the Badgers could have a tougher schedule than they originally anticipated.
To no surprise, teams like Western Illinois, Eastern Michigan, and even a few Big Ten teams such as Michigan State, Purdue, and Minnesota, among others, were unranked.
That said, Notre Dame comes in at No. 5, and that's a huge test for Luke Fickell's squad to face right out of the gate.
When it comes to Big Ten play, the Badgers could have to play three ranked teams, including back-to-back ranked opponents from October 24-31.

#dame #michigan #comes #play

For the ninth straight season, the Louisville football team is unranked in the preseason coaches poll.
The Cards were the top vote-getter outside of the top 25, receiving just five fewer points than No. 25 Missouri. U of L is also three spots behind No. 23 Clemson, despite being picked to finish ahead of the Tigers in the preseason ACC media poll.
U of L has two scheduled games against teams in the preseason top 25, including a season-opener against No. 10 Ole Miss in Nashville.
Here's the first coaches poll of the 2026 season:
The preseason AP poll will be released on Monday, Aug. 17.

#poll #missouri

Forget who might be this year's Indiana. Who will be this year's 2025 Penn State?
Remember the Nittany Lions, perched third in this same US LBM Coaches Poll to open the last college football season? They merely had eight players selected in the most recent NFL Draft and another seven who signed undrafted free-agent deals.
They also fired their coach by the second weekend of October three games into what became a six-game losing streak.
College football Top 25 rankings: Ohio State leads US LBM Coaches Poll
Not far behind Penn State — in preseason rankings and in-season disappointment — was Clemson, which debuted at No. 6 and closed unranked, same 7-6 mark as the Nittany Lions and loser against Penn State in the Pinstripe Bowl.

#state #coaches #poll #Football

Penn State football owns a Top 20 ranking, after all, to start its hopeful recovery season under new head coach Matt Campbell.
The Nittany Lions are No. 17 in the preseason US LBM Coaches Poll, the first of the upcoming 2026 season, which was released on Tuesday, Aug 4.
It's quite the contrast to last August when former coach James Franklin's highly-publicized team started No. 3 − the program's highest preseason standing in the poll in 28 years. Of course, Franklin was fired in the middle of a stunning six-game losing streak that turned Penn State into college football's most disappointing team.
The Lions finished the season unranked, despite a late turnaround under interim leader Terry Smith. Campbell and his new staff now open their first preseason camp on Wednesday, Aug. 5, and will make their debut in a bigger-than-ever Beaver Stadium a month later against Marshall.
This new Top 25 is expectedly led by three Big Teams in No. 1 Ohio State, No. 2 Oregon and No. 6 and defending national champion Indiana − none of which the Lions play during the regular season. Other Big Ten teams in the poll: USC (14th), Michigan (16th), Washington (19th) and Iowa (22nd).

#state #lions #penn

The Wisconsin Badgers recently received an expert prediction to land class of 2028 offensive lineman Brock Barrows.
Barrows stands 6-foor-2, 277 pounds, and is an unranked recruit, according to 247Sports.
Back on July 21, Badger247's Nick Osen logged an expert prediction that the Missouri native will commit to Wisconsin.
"I think it really solidified them as my top school even more than they already were. I just loved being able to get coached by Coach Mateos, Coach Rabach, and just everybody," Barrows told Osen (subscription required).
The Badgers made a big splash by securing a huge commitment from 2028 linebacker Cale Britt out of Florida. Britt marked the team's first class of 2028 commitment back on July 15.

#osen

Those hoping hoping to see the Sox splash the cash on some hard-to-sign candidates on day 2 of the MLB Draft were immediately disappointed, as the Red Sox spent their fifth round pick on Lucas Davenport, a pitcher out of Baylor University who was unranked by both Baseball America and MLB Pipeline heading into the draft.
Davenport is a beastly 6-6, 230 lbs. and his pick launched a mini-run on those big college pitchers Craig Breslow likes so much: sixth rounder Brett Lanman, a 6-5, 23o lbs. lefty out of Abilene Christian, eighth rounder Josh Volmerding, a 6-4, 210 lbs. lefty out of California Polytech, thirteenth rounder Mason Lei, a 6-4, 215 lbs. righty out of the University of Illinois-Chicago, and fifteenth rounder Chase Frey, a 6-6 225 lbs. lefty out of Grand Canyon University.
The highlights of Day 2 are the two higher-ranked high schoolers the Sox nabbed back-to-back in the ninth and tenth rounds. Ninth rounder Martin Shelar, an outfielder, comes out of the baseball powerhouse that is the Marist School in Georgia. He has massive power potential, is committed to Mississippi State, and was ranked as the 65th-best prospect overall by FanGraphs, 125th by Baseball America, and 175th by MLB Pipeline.
Tenth rounder Kaleb LaFavor out of Bishop Heelan Catholic High School in Sioux City, Iowa is a towering 6-7 righty with a ton of extension who can already hit 95 MPH on the gun. He was ranked the 171st-best prospect by ESPN evaluator Kiley McDaniel, 465th by Baseball America, and is committed to the University of Iowa. Craig Breslow's got bonus pool money burning a hole in his pocket, and it's going to go to these guys in hopes of enticing them away from college (speaking as someone who spent a fair bit of time partying in Iowa City as a 22-year-old, good luck in LeFavor's case).
Here's the full slate of day 2 picks:

Several young up-and-comers may eventually challenge him for the ***** le, but for now the best lineman on the Atlanta Falcons remains right guard Chris Lindstrom.
The rare guard who actually gets the kind of recognition he deserves, Lindstrom has been performing at a high level for Atlanta since he entered the league as a first-round pick in the 2019 NFL Draft.
The latest accolade for Lindstrom comes courtesy of ESPN, where he's been voted one of the league's 10-best interior offensive linemen by an anonymous poll of NFL executives. Lindstrom came in at No. 6 on their list after going unranked in 2025.
"The rep on Lindstrom used to be 'great in the run game, average in the passing game.' He has overcome that billing. And some around the league believe he can handle more than what's required of him in Atlanta. "Athleticism and explosiveness -- his size makes him somewhat of a specific scheme fit, but there really isn't anyone who does a lot of the things that he can do," an NFL coordinator said. 'They never ask him to pull, but he would open some eyes if he did.'"
Lindstrom is the beating heart of a Falcons front line that is one of the team's greatest roster strengths. So far he's made four Pro Bowl teams and has made two appearances on the NFL Top 100 list. At 29 years old, Lindstrom has already appeared in 105 career games at this level.

The Georgia Bulldogs have ended the season ranked in the AP Poll in 21 of the 26 seasons since 2000. The Bulldogs have twice won the national championship (2021 and 2022) and ended the season No. 1 twice in the AP Poll since 2000.
Entering the 2026 season, Georgia has finished in the top-10 of the AP Poll in nine consecutive seasons under head coach Kirby Smart, who took over in 2016. The Bulldogs have only once finished the year unranked during the Smart era.
Before Kirby Smart, Mark Richt served as Georgia's head coach from 2001 to 2015. Richt helped Georgia finish the year ranked in his first eight seasons at the helm. However, Georgia finished the year unranked in four of his final seven seasons, which led to Georgia parting ways with Richt despite him never missing a bowl game.
Prior to Richt, Jim Donnan was Georgia's coach from 1996-2000. He coached UGA the last time the Bulldogs missed a bowl game in 1996.
2000: No. 20 (Record: 8-4, Bowl Game: Oahu Classic)

The Florida State Seminoles are still building their linebacker board in the 2028 recruiting cycle, but it has already taken a hit.
They extended a scholarship offer to Ryquan Butler in June after he impressed at their Seminole Showcase Camp. At the time, he was an uncommitted prospect, but that has changed with him committing to the Alabama Crimson Tide on Tuesday.
Butler is from Notasulga, Alabama, and is currently unranked, but that will likely be changing. In addition to FSU and Alabama, the Tennessee Volunteers, Ole Miss Rebels, and Auburn Tigers have also offered the 6-foot-3, 205-pounder.
While it will likely be tough to pull him away from the in-state program, the Seminoles have plenty of time to try and pull off the flip, something they have had success doing under Mike Norvell. Butler is the only one of the 15 linebackers that FSU has offered in the 2028 recruiting cycle to commit, giving Ernie Sims plenty of time to make a move with their remaining targets.
Butler had a breakout sophomore season at Loachapoka High School, helping them go 8-4 and playing all over the field. On defense, he recorded 54 tackles, 6.0 tackles for loss, one interception, and two fumble recoveries, one of which he returned for a touchdown. He also caught seven passes for 126 yards and four touchdowns and returned a punt for a touchdown.

Browns' Denzel Ward receives strong praise from NFL amid top-10 ESPN CB rankings originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
The Cleveland Browns might not have a realistic chance at a playoff run this season, but that doesn't mean they don't have some high-quality individuals littered throughout the roster.
One of the more notable players still on the roster following the stunning Myles Garrett trade is cornerback Denzel Ward. He's still a Brown, at least for now, but as a 29-year-old veteran who's not played a full season, his trade value might not be high.
That is, if it weren't for the strong praise he received from around the NFL. Ward placed inside the top-10 of Jeremy Fowler of ESPN's cornerback rankings based on a poll of executives, scouts, and coaches around the NFL.
"7. Denzel Ward, Cleveland Browns. Highest ranking: 2. | Lowest ranking: Unranked," Fowler writes. "Ward falls to No. 7 but easily could have been No. 4."

Rams trade pickup Trent McDuffie ranked as top-5 CB in NFL in ESPN poll originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
The Los Angeles Rams made two massive moves this offseason, trading multiple first-round picks and a whole lot more in exchange for two players.
While Myles Garrett has completely stolen the spotlight, the Rams' addition of Trent McDuffie was a very important one. It resolved a huge cornerback issue for the Rams and helped kick off their all-in offseason.
But, cornerbacks are a little tricky to gauge how good they are sometimes. So, how good is McDuffie, actually? Well, an ESPN poll from Jeremy Fowler revealed NFL scouts, executives, and coaches ranked McDuffie as a top-5 CB in the league.
"5. Trent McDuffie, Los Angeles Rams. Highest ranking: 3 | Lowest ranking: Unranked," Fowler shares from the ESPN poll. "McDuffie is a top-five cornerback for the second consecutive year."