Trevor Lawrence will begin the 2021 NFL season as the starting quarterback for the Jacksonville Jaguars, coach Urban Meyer has confirmed.
The number one overall pick had been widely expected to come straight into the team since he was selected, and that decision was made official on Wednesday.
Lawrence can now prepare for Week 1 and the Houston Texans, who are expected to be one of the worst teams in the league this year.
That September 12 meeting should therefore give Lawrence the opportunity to display his outstanding talent.
The Jaguars will hope the transition is as seamless as it was for Lawrence at college, where he threw for 3,280 yards, 30 touchdowns and just four interceptions in his freshman year at Clemson.
He tossed for 90 scores across 40 games in his three-year college career and was well established as the leading prospect in a strong QB class.
Lawrence led all Power 5 passers in well-thrown percentage in 2020, delivering a well-thrown, accurate ball on 84.31 per cent of his passes. The average was 75.37 per cent.
The 21-year-old, under first-time NFL coach Meyer, will hope to lead improvement in Jacksonville after a miserable 1-15 record last time out, the Jags' third consecutive year without playoff football.
They and Lawrence have been dealt a blow this week, however, as his Clemson team-mate and fellow first-round pick Travis Etienne suffered a season-ending Lisfranc injury.
Across four college seasons, including three with Lawrence, the dual-threat running back racked up 1,115 receiving yards, ranking third in the FBS.
NFL wide receiver Collins agrees to $72M extension with Texans
Wide receiver Nico Collins took a major step forward last season with C.J. Stroud.
The Houston Texans rewarded him for his production.
The Texans and Collins agreed to a three-year extension worth $72.5million on Tuesday.
The deal, which was reported by NFL Network Insiders Ian Rapoport and Tom Pelissero, includes $52million guaranteed, and holds a maximum value of $75million.
Collins, who was entering the fourth and final year of his rookie contract, is coming off his best season in the NFL, leading the Texans with 80 receptions for 1,297 yards with eight touchdowns.
In three pro seasons, he has 150 catches for 2,224 yards and 11 TDs.
Teamed with the rookie Stroud at quarterback in 2023, the Texans emerged as having one of the top passing offences in the NFL.
Houston surprisingly won the AFC South and reached the divisional round - the franchise's first trip to the play-offs since 2019.
The Texans will enter this season with lofty expectations after adding another star wide receiver in Stefon Diggs to a roster that already includes Tank Dell.
Medvedev battles into French Open second round after Koepfer triumph
Daniil Medvedev staved off a Dominik Koepfer fightback to record a battling victory in the French Open first round on Monday.
The world number five raced out the blocks on Court Simonne-Mathieu and eventually triumphed 6-3 6-4 5-7 6-3 in Paris.
Medvedev, a five-time major runner-up and 2021 US Open champion, broke Koepfer's first service game in the French capital with that a seeming sign of things to come.
Though the 28-year-old dropped his serve in the first set, Medvedev had little trouble in responding with the score finely poised at 3-2 to claim first blood at Roland-Garros.
The fifth seed has only ever gone as far as the quarter-finals, three years ago, at the French Open but showed his clinical best to snatch the second set after holding all six service games for a narrow triumph.
World number 65 Koepfer battled back in the third but the resilient Medvedev responded by breaking his German opponent early in the fourth set, finally securing victory in just over three hours.
Data Debrief: Medvedev gets better of Koepfer again
Medvedev has won all four of his meetings with Koepfer, with his most recent such victory seeing him reach the second round at Roland-Garros for the third time in eight attempts.
Since the start of the 2021 season, Medvedev is 27-1 against players ranked outside the top 50 at major events, with his only loss in that run coming against Seyboth Wild in the French Open first round last year.
Koepfer, meanwhile, extends to 1-17 against top-10 players in his career, earning his only such victory against over Gael Monfils – then ranked ninth in the world – at the 2020 ATP Masters 1000 event in Rome.
Al-Nassr 4-2 Al-Ittihad: Ronaldo breaks Saudi Pro League scoring record in final-day win
Cristiano Ronaldo claimed a piece of Saudi Pro League history after scoring twice in Al-Nassr's 4-2 final-day victory over 10-man Al-Ittihad on Monday.
The five-time Ballon d'Or winner was on target in either half at Al Awal Park, moving to 35 goals across the 2023-24 league campaign in Saudi Arabia.
Ronaldo opened the scoring on the stroke of half-time after receiving a long ball from Mohammed Al-Fatil, before doubling his tally – and Al-Nassr's lead – with a header from Marcelo Brozovic's corner.
That second finish after Suwailem Al Manhali was dismissed for the visitors saw Ronaldo eclipse Abderrazak Hamdallah's 34-goal tally – in the 2018-19 season – for the most strikes in a single campaign.
Abdulrahman Ghareeb then added another from the penalty spot before Meshari Al Nemer made sure of three points after late goals from Farhah Al Shamrani and Fabinho had pulled Al-Ittihad back into contention.
Having already been unable to stop Al-Hilal secure the title, Al-Nassr finish second in the table – ending on 82 points after 26 wins from the 34-match campaign.
Data Debrief: Al-Nassr dominance pays off
Much will be made of the record-breaking Ronaldo, who has scored 50 goals in as many games across all competitions this season.
Yet Al-Nassr were dominant from the off in this one, mustering nine shots on target to Al-Ittihad's three, while accumulating 2.73 expected goals (xG) – far superior to the visitors' 1.43 xG.
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