Sign up for the daily newsletter, Jay’s Plays of the Day, to get sports betting recommendations for the top games of the night and the week ahead.
NFL power poll
It’s been a hot minute since we have visited the power poll, so let’s vault right to it. (Hmmm, Spy?)
Let’s roll out a post-NFL draft power poll, shall we?
This is the top three and bottom three draft hauls from the 32 teams from the weekend.
Like firemen when the bell rings, let’s get to the poll:
Powerful draft hauls
1 Arizona. I know, right? It’s crazy when teams that are traditionally puzzling in almost every decision-making way stick the landing. Walter Nolan has huge upside and rightly draws mid-first-round comps to Titans All-Pro Jeffery Simmons. Add in Michigan corner Will Johnson in round two, Jordan Burch, who had 10 sacks for Oregon last year, a pick-and-plug linebacker Cody Simon and corner Denzel Burke from THE Ohio State as well as guard Hayden Cooper from Texas who did not allow a snap on 617 pass-blocking plays last year, and the Cardinals crushed.
2 Cleveland. Same initial sentiment as the Cardinals because of the trouble last couple of decades for the franchise, but the Browns injected a ton of talent to a cap-strapped roster desperate for it. Forget the Shedeur Sanders noise as hard as it may be, but a successful reload, plus what could be a top-five pick in 2026 in the Jacksonville trade, looks better by the minute.
3 Philly. If you are hoping for the Eagles’ title window to close, don’t hold your breath. Draft grades in the immediate window of recency bias should be based on value, and the Eagles crushed in that sense. Jihaad Campbell is a dude and was a steal at 31. Texas safety Andrew Mukuba fills one of the team’s few position needs. Add in Georgia tackling machine Small Mondon — yes, it’s now an NFL rule that the Eagles have to draft a UGA player — as well QB Kyle McCord and tackles Myles Hinton and Cameron Williams, Philadelphia was smoking on day 3.
Puzzling draft hauls
30 Carolina. So, with big-time tight ends on the board as well as Texas speedster Matthew Golden available, the Panthers reached mightily for Tetairoa McMillian, the Arizona wideout. Teams can’t afford to squander top-10 picks, especially when you are a franchise in a spiral.
31 Pittsburgh. This is the bizarro world that is the 2025 draft. Arizona and the Browns ace it; a perennially top-flight franchise like the Steelers makes a slew of head-scratchers. Most notably was the decision to wait until pick 185 to take a QB when the QB room is Mason Rudolph and Skyler Thompson in a division paced by Lamar Jackson and Joe Burrow at that spot. The Steelers overloaded on D-linemen — you can’t have too many, I suppose — and the Iowa running back looks good in black and gold already, but man, at some point they need to get Mike Tomlin a true QB1. Welcome to a lot of 16-13 coin-flip games.
32 Tennessee. Look I hope Cam Ward is him. I truly do, because I want the Titans to be good. But know these things. He was projected as maybe the eighth-best QB in last year’s class before returning to school. Those are the guys he’s playing against. Plus, if the Jags broke the draft-capital bank to go to 2 last week, what kind of haul could Tennessee have had at 1. There’s also the “franchise in limbo” purgatory of a team with an embattled head coach taking a rookie QB who expands the window of unknown moving forward.
State of baseball
There are some simple truths in baseball, whether you quote Crash Davis or not.
“You gotta play ’em one day a time.”
Of course, it’s boring, that’s the point.
“Never (bleep) with a winning streak.”
There’s another one that’s even more basic in baseball.
It’s either fair or foul. And in the modern MLB, fair is growing smaller and smaller in terms of competitive balance.
Monday night, the Dodgers bested the Marlins by a single run in extra innings. By all reports, it was a competitive and enjoyable baseball game.
One of many, we can hope.
But it also was historic in terms of fairness or the lack thereof in a sport without salary caps.
The Dodgers’ payroll is an estimated $406.5 million greater than the Marlins’ payroll.
Read that again.
On contract average, Dodgers unicorn Shohei Ohtani — he got a 10-year, $700 million deal when he signed as a free agent with most of that money deferred — makes more annually than the entire Marlins 26-man roster, which makes $69 million. Combined.
Read that again as well.
And this is fair in the foul structure that is modern era baseball.
How much has it changed? When Billy Beane lamented the divide between the A’s and the Yankees in the classic film “Moneyball” based on Michael Lewis’ game-changing book of the same name, the gap between Oakland and New York was a smidge more than $80 million a year.
Now, 23 years later, it’s five times that.
And that is the hurdle before everyone in pursuit of the fat-palleted heavyweights in today’s MLB.
Too early to draft again?
Speaking of the NFL draft — I love the draft; you know this — The Athletic dropped a way too-early 2026 mock draft with Arch Manning at the top going to … New Orleans.
That would be cool, and I’m a Falcons fan. It’s a pay site. https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/6318415/2025/04/29/nfl-mock-draft-2026-arch-manning-qbs/?source=athletic_pulsenewsletter
Some other SEC names of note:
> South Carolina QB LaNorris Sellers is at 2;
> Auburn DT Keldric Faulk is ranked at 6;
> Tennessee CB Jermod McCoy is 11th;
> LSU QB Garrett Nussmeier lands at 16 to Pittsburgh. It’s interesting stuff for sure.
This and that
› From a keen social media redirect from JTC via Sean Martin on Twitter, “Andrew Novak made $30,111 in his first two years as a pro. This year? He’s earned more money than Scottie Scheffler ($5.6 million).” Holy bankroll.
› Man, the stress of in-game betting can wear on you. A buddy of mine asked for my thoughts on the Cavs-Heat blowout early in the third. I suggested the under because blowouts trend that way. The total in-game sat at 222.5. It was a 50-point runaway, but watching guys 10-thru-15 on each roster jack and drain 3s in an anything-but-meaningless fourth quarter for us. Then with the score at 138-83 (you do the math) each team dribbled out the final minute. That’s why every win is a good win, friends.
› Braves played Monday. Braves won.
› Wanna guess who sits among the top rookies from the draft in terms of jersey sales? Ashton Jeanty is fourth with his first-round Raiders gear. Travis Hunter’s No. 12 is No. 1 and Cam Ward’s No. 1 — he got permission to wear that number from Warren Moon — is second. And third is the 00 — he has not been assigned an actual number yet — of Shedeur Sanders.
› Wow, this is something. Rob Manfred says he has spoken to Donald Trump and will rule on Pete Rose’s reinstatement.
Today’s questions
True or false, it’s Tuesday. Morning, Ernie.
True or false, you can’t believe it’s almost May.
True or false, you felt sympathy for Shedeur Sanders over the weekend.
True or false, Cam Ward will have a 10-plus-year career with the Titans.
True or false, the Steelers should have drafted a QB before round six.
True or false, MLB should have a salary cap.
As for today, April 29, let’s review:
Man, some Hollywood heavy-hitters were born on this day.
Jerry Seinfeld (71), Daniel Day Lewis (68) and Uma Thurman (55) were born on this day. So was Michelle Pfeiffer.
What’s her Rushmore?