Jackson, Love and Mayfield
Named 2017 Heisman Finalists

The 2017 Heisman Winner will be announced this Saturday on ESPN.
Heisman Trophy winners Desmond Howard (’91) and Charles Woodson (’97) this week that the finalists for the 83rd annual Heisman Memorial Trophy are Louisville quarterback Lamar Jackson, Stanford running back Bryce Love and Oklahoma quarterback Baker Mayfield. The announcement of the finalists was made on ESPN’s 6:00 PM EST telecast of its Monday Night Countdown show.

The three finalists will be invited to New York City for the Heisman Trophy announcement on Saturday, December 9, which will broadcast live on ESPN starting at 8:00 PM EST, presented by Nissan North America.

Photo – QB Lamar Jackson – Louisville

Jackson, a true junior, is the reigning Heisman winner and a two-time Heisman finalist. He aims to become the first two-time Heisman winner since Archie Griffin in 1974-75. He joins Ty Detmer, Jason White, Matt Leinart, Tim Tebow and Johnny Manziel as Heisman winners who made it back to New York as a finalist. The 6-3, 218-pound Jackson, who hails from Pompano Beach, Fla., guided the Cardinals to an 8-4 record while accumulating 4,932 yards of total offense and 42 total touchdowns. He threw for 3,489 yards and 25 touchdowns through the air and racked up 1,443 yards and 17 scores on the ground to become the first player to pass for over 3,000 yards and rush for over 1,000 yards in two seasons.

Love, a true junior, is Stanford’s sixth Heisman finalist and seeks to join Jim Plunkett (’70) as his school’s second Heisman winner. The lightning-quick 5-10, 195-pound true junior from Wake Forest, NC, rushed for 1,973 yards and 17 touchdowns this fall, averaging a stellar 8.32 yards per carry. Despite missing one game due to injury and being hobbled in other games, he was second in the nation in rushing and led the nation with 10 runs of 50 yards or more. The Cardinal finished 9-4 and earned a trip to the Alamo Bowl.

Mayfield, a redshirt senior, is a repeat finalist after finishing third in the vote in 2016. He has a chance to become the sixth Sooner Heisman winner and the first Heisman winner to begin his career as a “walk-on” athlete. He’s also one of seven players to finish in the top 5 of the Heisman vote three times, joining Heisman legends Glenn Davis and Doc Blanchard of Army, Doak Walker of SMU, Archie Griffin of Ohio State, Herschel Walker of Georgia and Tim Tebow of Florida. Mayfield is on pace to shatter his own NCAA record for passing efficiency with a mark of 203.76. The 6-1, 222-pounder from Austin, Texas, threw for 4,340 yards and 41 touchdowns, with another 310 yards and five scores on the ground while leading the Sooners to a 12-1 record, the Big 12 title and a berth in the College Football Playoff. He finished fourth in the 2015 Heisman balloting.

The Heisman Memorial Trophy electorate, which selects the finalists and the Heisman winner, is comprised of 929 voters, including 870 media members and 58 former Heisman winners. The public at large is granted one overall fan vote, thanks to Heisman’s Premier Partner, Nissan North America.

Go to http://www.heisman.com for extensive history and information on the Heisman Trophy

“It’s a pleasure to welcome these three outstanding players to New York for the Heisman Trophy ceremony,” said Rob Whalen, Executive Director of the Heisman Trophy Trust. “We look forward to recognizing their remarkable individual accomplishments and celebrating the winner of the Heisman Trophy on Saturday night.”

Tickets are still available for the 83rd Annual Heisman Memorial Trophy Dinner Gala on Sunday, December 10, at the New York Marriott Marquis in Times Square. The winner will be presented with his award at this event, where three former Heisman winners will also be recognized: Gary Beban (UCLA, 1967) on the 50th Anniversary of his award, Gino Torretta (Miami (Fla.), 1992) on the 25th Anniversary of his award and Tim Tebow (Florida, 2007) on the 10th anniversary of his award. The Trust will also recognize legendary pro golfer Ernie Els as the 2017 Heisman Humanitarian Award winner for his support of people with autism.

Frank Coyle is a long-time scout with nationwide ties with coaches, scouts and player agents. He is a long-time member of the FWAA and voter in College player awards – Heisman, Outland, Nagurski, Lombardi, Thorpe, Biletnikoff etc for the past 20 years. He writes College Football Mondays weekly during the season. He is a longtime scouting consultant for the Senior Bowl, the nation’s premier postseason All-star game. He does sports radio shows for ESPN, Fox Sports and Sporting News on a year-round basis related to College Football especially during the postseason team and All-star Bowl time. He has worked for CBS Sports, NBC Sports, Yahoo and Rivals sports publications and web sites

College Football Playoff schedule
Final Regular Season Top 25 Teams

Here is the 2017-18 college playoff lineup and College football playoff rankings

Jan. 1 – Semi-final Matchups

College Football Playoff at the Rose Bowl Game
#3 Georgia vs. #2 Oklahoma
5 p.m., ESPN
Rose Bowl – Pasadena, California

College Football Playoff at the Sugar Bowl
#4 Alabama vs. #1 Clemson
8:45 p.m., ESPN
Mercedes-Benz Superdome – New Orleans

Photo – QB J.T. Barrett – Ohio St

Jan. 8
College Football Playoff National Championship Presented By AT&T
Semi Final Winners
8 p.m. ESPN – Mercedes-Benz Stadium – Atlanta

College Football Playoff Rankings
Rank / Team / Record
1 Clemson 12-1
2 Oklahoma 12-1
3 Georgia 12-1
4 Alabama 11-1
5 Ohio State 11-2
6 Wisconsin 12-1
7 Auburn 10-3
8 USC 11-2
9 Penn State 10-2
10 Miami 10-2
11 Washington 10-2
12 UCF 12-0
13 Stanford 9-4
14 Notre Dame 9-3
15 TCU 10-3
16 Michigan State 9-3
17 LSU 9-3
18 Washington State 9-3
19 Oklahoma State 9-3
20 Memphis 10-2
21 Northwestern 9-3
22 Virginia Tech 9-3
23 Mississippi State 8-4
24 NC State 8-4
25 Boise State 10-3

Dropped from rankings: Fresno State 25

Frank Coyle is a long-time scout with nationwide ties with coaches, scouts and player agents. He is a long-time member of the FWAA and voter in College player awards – Heisman, Outland, Nagurski, Lombardi, Thorpe, Biletnikoff etc for the past 20 years. He writes College Football Mondays weekly during the season. He is a longtime scouting consultant for the Senior Bowl, the nation’s premier postseason All-star game. He does sports radio shows for ESPN, Fox Sports and Sporting News on a year-round basis related to College Football especially during the postseason team and All-star Bowl time. He has worked for CBS Sports, NBC Sports, Yahoo and Rivals sports publications and web sites

NFL Draft 2018 – The Browns are ‘On the Clock’!
Cleveland Holds Two #1 Choices in the Top Four Overall Selections

Once again, the Cleveland Browns are On the Clock with the first overall selection for the NFL Draft 2018. On Sunday they tied the Detroit Lions (2008) as the only teams to go 0-16 during the regular season with a loss to the Steelers. It marks the second consecutive year the Browns earned the top overall draft choice. The last team to accomplish this was the… Cleveland Browns in 1999 and 2000 during their early expansion years. Not much as changed in almost 20 years. The Browns are just the 5th team to earn this back to back year accomplishment. They have been one of the worst teams in recent memory in all major sports with ongoing poor results despite or because of a constant turnover in their front office and coaching staffs. Their draft decisions have been atrocious with several trades out of the top early selections, especially passing on a chance of either QBs, Carson Wentz or Jared Goff just two years ago. Head coach Hue Jackson completed his second season this weekend after going 1-15 last season. His 1-31 two-year record stands by itself as one of the worst in NFL history. Browns owner Jimmy Haslam has stated Jackson will return for 2018 season. “I don’t think Hue has lost his magic.”

Photo – RB Saquon Barkley – Penn St

The Browns are in position to make major strides this April. In addition to the top overall pick, they also hold the Houston Texans #1 choice, the 4th overall selection. Rarely does a club hold two #1 picks let alone two in the top four overall choices. The Browns also hold three #2 picks, one #3 and two #4 selections, a boatload of top 100 draft choices to address several major need areas. New GM John Dorsey came aboard midseason 2017 and has had a few months to evaluate the current roster, in addition to their salary cap. He is in position to bolster a decent roster that has some young players in place, though needs players in key positions and leadership roles on both sides of the ball. The Browns upcoming decisions in both veteran Free Agency and the NFL Draft 2018 will dictate the movement of many players this offseason especially among the premier selections. The top 5-10 draft selections have been highly coveted with premier players especially QBs available and this year is as strong as any in recent memory. Clubs at the top will entertain a few huge offers to move up with the top three QBs, Josh Rosen, Sam Darnold and Josh Allen, all considered franchise caliber NFL starters.

Playoffs – Conference & Super Bowl games determine final 12 positions
x – division winner y – playoff berth

# Team / W-L / Opp W-L %
1 Cleveland – 0-16 .520
2 NY Giants – 3-13 .531
3 Indianapolis – 4-12 .480
4 Cleveland (Houston) – 4-12 .516
5 Denver – 5-11 .492
6 NY Jets – 5-11 .520
7 Tampa Bay – 5-11 .555
8 Chicago – 5-11 .559
9 San Francisco – 6-10 .512
10 Oakland – 6-10 .512
11 Miami – 6-10 .543
12 Cincinnati – 7-9 .465
13 Washington – 7-9 .539
14 Green Bay – 7-9 .539
15 Arizona – 8-8 .488
16 Baltimore – 9-7 .441
17 LA Chargers – 9-7 .457
18 Seattle – 9-7 .492
19 Dallas – 9-7 .496
20 Detroit – 9-7 .496
21 y Tennessee – 9-7 .434
22 y Buffalo – 9-7 .492
23 x Jacksonville – 10-6 .434
24 Buffalo (x Kansas City) – 10-6 .492
25 y Atlanta – 10-6 .543
26 x LA Rams – 11-5 .504
27 x New Orleans – 11-5 .535
28 y Carolina – 11-5 .539
29 x Pittsburgh – 13-3 .453
30 x Philadelphia – 13-3 .461
31 x New England – 13-3 .484
32 x Minnesota – 13-3 .492

Team tie-breaking procedure for the NFL Draft
If two or more clubs are tied in the selection order, the strength-of-schedule tie breaker is applied, subject to the following exceptions for playoff clubs: The Super Bowl winner is last and the Super Bowl loser next-to-last. Any non-Super Bowl playoff club involved in a tie shall be assigned priority within its segment below that of non-playoff clubs and in the order that the playoff clubs exited from the playoffs. Within a tied segment a playoff club that loses in the Wild-Card game will have priority over a playoff club that loses in the Divisional playoff game that in turn will have priority over a club that loses in the Conference Championship game. If two tied clubs exited the playoffs in the same round, the tie is broken by strength of schedule. If any ties cannot be broken by strength of schedule, the divisional or conference tie breakers, when applicable, are applied. Any ties that still exist are broken by a coin flip.

CBS Radio Show – Frank Coyle with host Andy Gresh
Radio Broadcast with NFL scout Frank Coyle and CBS host Andy Gresh
NFL Draft 2017 discussed. NFL Prospects – Mock Draft

CBS NFL Draft Radio Show below Pro Prospects for the Upcoming NFL Draft

Go to DraftInsiders.com for NFL Draft Info –
Draft Insiders’ 2017 Yearbook – over 300 in-depth Scouting Reports
Available Now – Order Online or call 1-880 -776-1949

NFL Draft – Update Report 2017 – available Wednesday April 26th
Complete 7 Round Mock Draft – Final Top 300 Value Board – Top Small College Prospects

Frank Coyle is a long-time scout with nationwide ties with coaches, scouts and player agents. He is a long-time member of the FWAA and voter in College player awards – Heisman, Biletnikoff, Thorpe, Outland, Nagurski, Lombardi etc for the past 25 years. He writes College Football Mondays weekly during the season. He is a longtime scouting consultant for the Senior Bowl, the nation’s premier postseason All-star game. He does sports radio shows for ESPN, Fox Sports and Sporting News on a year-round basis related to College Football especially during the postseason team and All-star Bowl time. He has worked for CBS Sports, NBC Sports, Yahoo and Rivals sports publications and web sites