Each year after the NFL draft is complete, more than 20 men and women, including fantasy writers and editors, NFL writers, researchers and other members of the football operation here at ESPN, spend two full days talking about the game and what to expect in the season ahead. Many topics are discussed from various angles, including the utilization of metrics, film study, fantasy strategy, intel gathered from team sources and much more.
When all is said and done, we emerge with a set of rankings from the group in the room. These are those rankings, and they are for PPR (point-per-reception) scoring formats.
To be clear, they are not to be confused with our ESPN Fantasy staff rankings — a composite of our five season-long PPR analysts, Matthew Berry, Mike Clay, Tristan H. Cockcroft, Eric Karabell and Field Yates — which are also available on ESPN.com and updated all the way up to kickoff of the opener in September.
Sir Alex Ferguson, the former Manchester United boss, underwent emergency surgery Saturday after suffering a brain hemorrhage, United said in a statement, courtesy of Simon Stone of the BBC.
“Sir Alex Ferguson has undergone emergency surgery today for a brain hemorrhage. The procedure has gone very well but he needs a period of intensive care to optimise his recovery,” the statement reads.
League One side Doncaster, where Ferguson’s son Darren serves as manager, announced the 46-year-old was not with the third-tier side for Saturday’s match against Wigan Athletic for family reasons.
United midfielder Michael Carrick, who played a number of years under Ferguson, quickly took to social media after hearing the news to wish the best for his former manager.
Absolutely devastated to hear about Sir Alex being unwell in hospital. All my thoughts and prayers are with him and his family. ???????? Be strong Boss xx
— Michael Carrick (@carras16) May 5, 2018
Ferguson managed United for over two decades from 1986-2013 after stints with St. Mirren, Aberdeen, and the Scottish national team. He led the Red Devils to 13 Premier League titles, five FA Cups, and two Champions League trophies.
Detroit Lions owner Martha Ford, team president Rod Wood and general manager Bob Quinn released a joint statement late Wednesday expressing support for head coach Matt Patricia after a sexual assault charge against him from 22 years ago resurfaced in a Detroit News story.
Patricia, in an accompanying statement, denied the accusation, made by a woman while Patricia was a student at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute on spring break in South Padre Island, Texas, in 1996.
“As someone who was falsely accused of this very serious charge over 22 years ago, and never given the opportunity to defend myself and clear my name, I find it incredibly unfair, disappointing, and frustrating that this story would resurface now with the only purpose being to damage my character and reputation,” Patricia said in the statement. “I firmly maintain my innocence, as I have always done. I would never condone any of the behavior that was alleged and will always respect and protect the rights of anyone who has been harassed or is the victim of violence.
“My priorities remain the same — to move forward and strive to be the best coach, teacher, and man that I can possibly be.”
The joint statement from the team’s leadership read, in part, that the charge against Patricia “was dismissed by the prosecutor at the request of the complaining individual prior to trial. As a result, Coach Patricia never had the opportunity to present his case or clear his name publicly in a court of law. He has denied that there was any factual basis for the charge. There was no settlement agreement with the complaining individual, no money exchanged hands and there was no confidentiality agreement. In discussions today with Lions management, the reporter involved acknowledged that the allegations have not been substantiated.
“As an organization, the Detroit Lions take allegations regarding sexual assault or harassment seriously. Coach Patricia was the subject of a standard pre-employment background check which did not disclose this issue. We have spoken to Coach Patricia about this at length as well as the attorney who represented him at the time. Based upon everything we have learned, we believe and have accepted Coach Patricia’s explanation and we will continue to support him. We will continue to work with our players and the NFL to further awareness of and protections for those individuals who are the victims of sexual assault or violence.”
Charges were filed in the case, and Patricia and his friend, Greg Dietrich, were indicted by a grand jury of one count of aggravated sexual assault, but they were never tried in the case.
Wood told the Detroit News that he and Quinn were not aware of the allegation in Patricia’s past when they hired him. Wood later told the newspaper that he was “comfortable” with Patricia on staff.
“I am very comfortable with the process of interviewing and employing Matt,” Wood told the News. “I will tell you with 1,000 percent certainty that everything I’ve learned confirmed what I already knew about the man and would have no way changed our decision to make him our head coach.”
The News reported that APG Security, a private investigation firm with corporate headquarters in South Amboy, New Jersey, and offices in 21 states including Texas, requested the court files for Patricia’s case in January. It is not clear whether the Lions contracted the firm to run a background check on Patricia or someone else did.
The News reported that the case against Patricia and Dietrich fell apart when the alleged victim did not respond to attempts to contact her in the weeks following the incident and decided she would not testify.
As of Wednesday night, Patricia, 43, was scheduled to talk with the media Thursday before the Lions open their rookie minicamp this weekend.
Madrid – Zinedine Zidane believes Cristiano Ronaldo will be fit to play for Real Madrid in the Champions League final.
Zidane also said on Tuesday that Mohamed Salah deserves great credit for Liverpool’s surprise run in Europe but insisted the match in Kiev will not be a contest of the Egyptian against Ronaldo.
Ronaldo was forced off at half-time of Sunday’s Clasico between Real and Barcelona, which ended 2-2 at the Camp Nou, and Zidane has confirmed the Portuguese sprained his ankle.
There were fears the injury could affect Ronaldo’s chances of facing Liverpool on May 26 but Zidane is confident his star player will recover, along with fellow absentees Isco and Dani Carvajal.
“I think they will all be fine for the final – Cristiano, Isco, Carvajal,” Zidane said.
“The one more injured is Cristiano because it has just happened but it is going well, he is walking normally and he will be fine.”
Ronaldo was hurt during a collision with Gerard Pique just as he bundled in Real’s equaliser against Barcelona.
He played on for 31 minutes until the interval but did not emerge for the second half.
“It is a sprain, but there is no particular damage on the fibula, it is a small sprain and his ankle is stable,” Zidane said.
“Ronaldo, in terms of his injury, is incredible, that’s what he has this guy, he is already on the ground, walking, and feeling positive 48 hours later.
“Even if we do not know when he will resume with the team, the fact that he is already there 48 hours after shows his commitment, his desire to always want to play.”
Real visit Sevilla in La Liga on Wednesday but with the title race settled and their place in the top four safe, the key now is to avoid any further injury scares.
Liverpool, still battling for Champions League qualification in the Premier League, will not have the luxury of resting star players like Salah, who is considered key to them beating Real.
“Salah had a great season and I think he deserves a lot of credit for Liverpool being in the final, that’s for sure,” Zidane said.
“But in the end, I don’t like to call this a match of Cristiano against Salah. It will be Madrid against Liverpool, as always, that is the most important thing.”
