Another one…

👋 Good morning! Some nice, fundamental baseball from Jazz last night in Atlanta. Nothing wrong with moving the runner over.

Little bit of a slower sports day. Here is how I have the rest of the week planned out, our last week without the Eagles until mid-February:

  • Wednesday: Flyers offseason review

  • Thursday: Sixers offseason review

  • Friday: Phillies trade deadline preview

And as a reminder, our “What If?” week rolls on tonight with our Sixers show. I truly think this specific episode could be as long as Ken Burns’ The Civil War.

As always, you can reach me at [email protected]

Jalen Hurts: I know everyone was talking about the QB rankings yesterday. And I know that said QB rankings came from the exact same ESPN series that I promoted in this very newsletter yesterday.

But I have a rule, or at least I made a rule right now: One day all offseason to talk about QB Rankings, and that is it. With that in mind, I am going to wait for Mike Sando’s QB Tiers to come out later this summer to complain about where Jalen is ranked. I feel like Sando’s list is the gold standard when it comes to ranking quarterbacks.

Players report to training camp a week from today, by the way.

The Phantoms’ new head coach: John Snowden, who was previously an assistant coach under Ian Laperriere in Lehigh Valley. Nick Schultz joins the staff, so the young guys will still have one former Flyer around.

Mich-igan: I have no idea where Matvei Michkov is playing (Russia, duh), but man, he really loves doing this move. Somewhere, John Tortorella is throwing his computer out of the window.

The draft continues: Three interesting things that the Phils did on Day 2 (Rounds 4 through 20) of the MLB Draft…

  • Six straight college pitchers to start: Took three of ‘em on Sunday night, then followed up by taking three of ‘em on Monday afternoon. Philadelphia, say hello to Sean Youngerman (Oklahoma State), Gabe Craig (Baylor) and James Tallon (Baylor). I know nothing about any of them. Nice to see that the all four of the Power Four football conferences are repped among the top-six picks, though.

  • Matthew Fisher: So, this is where the MLB Draft gets a little weird. The Phillies took six college pitchers, and outside of our guy Gage “The Animal” Wood, none of them are too exciting. Second-round pick Cade Obermueller maybe, but they were saving up for something big. Instead, the Phillies took their actual second-round pick in the seventh round with Indiana high school right-handed pitcher Matthew Fisher. This was a guy routinely ranked as one of the top-50 prospects in the entire draft, and was second-best available player on Day 2 according to ESPN. High school QB, was committed to Indiana, but we assume the Phillies are going wayyyy over-slot to draft Fisher… who only lasted that long because his signing bonus was more than everyone else was willing to pay. Teams have a pool of money that they can pay draft picks from, it is confusing, no need to get too caught up in the details. The Phils saved some money with picks 2 through 6, and used that money to nab Fisher later. At least I think, they do actually have to sign him first.

  • Matt Vierling’s cousin: The Phils selected Will Vierling, a catcher from Murray State, in the 11th round. May he make the majors and have a few memorable local commercials, just like his cousin.

Paul George, hurt again: Sick.

As Kyle pointed out during the reaction pod, is Dr. Jonathan Glashow able to buy a house in the Hamptons solely from Sixers surgeries? OK, maybe not a house, but definitely an addition on whatever house he already has. You guys know how afraid I am of the name “Neal ElAttrache.” Well, Glashow is following in ElAttrache and James Andrews’ footsteps.

The biggest takeaway here is that Paul George will be re-evaluated at the start of training camp. That is not a timetable whatsoever.

My first reaction to the news? Being bummed for Paul George and Sixers fans. But, after a minute or so, I have to admit that I laughed a little bit. Not at George, but at the hopeless situation as a whole. Some dark comedy, if you are into that type of thing. I guess this franchise has turned me into The Joker. Of course something like this would happen during a summer workout. This is me following this franchise’s never-ending trials and tribulations.

Prior to this unfortunate update, and it was admittedly hard to feel much positivity towards George after he likened podcasting to “giving back to the people,” I was optimistic that PG would have a better season this year. Not necessarily returning to all-star level, as I do think that the lack of rim pressure and free-throw attempts from last season were real signs of an aging player. But a more competent season than 2024-25 in 25-26, with a bounce-back effort from beyond the arc. If that happened, George would be a rock-solid starting small forward. Not what you paid $212 million for, but better than last year.

Last year, it always felt like George was chasing that first injury. You know, the one where he twerked while hyperextending his knee in Atlanta during the preseason. It just felt like George was running uphill the rest of the season. Welp, he might be running uphill again this season. And who knows, maybe George is actually ready to go by the regular season? It is possible, but I am not really in the mood to be optimistic.

You know who else is running uphill? Daryl Morey. At the exact moment that the NBA went younger, deeper and more athletic, Morey’s big move made the Sixers older, shallower and more injury-prone. I think Morey has put together a pretty responsible offseason so far, but man, this is a tough one to overcome.

We have the MLB All-Star Game (8:00 p.m., FOX) and we have the Summer Sixers back in action (8:30 p.m., NBA TV) against Washington. That Sixers game could be Tre Johnson head-to-head against VJ Edgecombe…. if VJ’s thumb or wrist or whatever stops hurting him.

Your tentative Tuesday schedule at ​PHLY​:

  • 🎙️ Philly Philly with Jon Marks: 8:00 a.m.

  • 🎙️ The Anthony Gargano Show: 9:00 a.m.

  • 🏒 Flyers: 12:00 p.m.

  • 🦅 Eagles: 2:00 p.m.

  • 🏀 Sixers “What If?” show: 7:00 p.m.

Let's make it a good one.

Rich Hofmann
Daily Newsletter Editor
PHLY SPORTS

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