10 Things That Got Our Attention, Holiday Edition: All Things CW

From the latest draft talk, to what's being said about Arch Manning's reasons for choose Texas,

The All Things CW notes column by Christopher Walsh will appear in five parts this week, one (nearly) each day. This is ...

Take 5

Sports Illustrated NFL writer Albert Breer was asked this week if the Houston Texans end up with the first-overall selection in the 2023 NFL Draft as expected if they would be better off taking a quarterback like Bryce Young or a defensive standout like Will Anderson Jr. or Georgia's Jalen Carter.

His answer wasn't surprising. From a philosophical standpoint he likes the defensive players for the Texans, as "both are physically superior players at important positions that you can plug in and hope for a decade’s worth of Pro Bowls."

What got our attention was the comp he got from an AFC executive, who started by saying that physically, Anderson is built like Von Miller, while he plays a little like a smaller version of another star edge guy.

“Will Anderson is a less athletic Myles Garrett—not as long or quick, but just as powerful,” he said. “Heavy-handed, more consistent motor than Myles coming out. … And Jalen is a unicorn. Probably the closest thing to [Ndamukong] Suh since Suh, just a total, freakish blend of size, power and athletic ability.”

Also getting our attention this holiday week:

2) We have to say that we're a little confused by the line oddsmakers have had on the Sugar Bowl. The game opened Alabama -6 and the over-under total at 55½. It dropped down to -3, even after reports indicated that the Crimson Tide wouldn't have any players opt out, including Young and Anderson. SI Sportsbook has the line back at Alabama -6.5, with an over-under of 56 points.

3) Speaking of oddsmakers, Nick Saban's ad buddy Deion Sanders is the new coach at Colorado, and BetOnline has put the over/under for wins next season at 5½. It's also laying odds at whether he'll still be the head coach for Week 1 of the 2004 regular season (yes -200 or 1/2; no +150 or 3/2).

4) According to Fanatics, sales of officially licensed Colorado products are up 700 percent since Sanders was hired on Dec. 3.

5) Remember the recent comment here that the NCAA made its top priority known by hiring a former politician to be its next president? The Sports Buisiness Journal reported that three of the final four candidates had notable backgrounds in politics “either as a governor or senator,” plus one traditional profile “who previously was an AD.”

The NCAA is going all-in on getting help from Congress.

6) In an interview with Sports Illustrated‘s Ross Dellenger, Archie Manning explained his grandson’s decision to play at Texas over Alabama and Georgia. Apparently it came down to Arch and Steve Sarkisian hit it off the moment they first met.

“You could say that Sark was his first love,” Archie said. “He started talking to Sark on Zoom calls when Sark was at Alabama. Kirby [Smart] and coach [Nick] Saban recruited him hard. They checked every box in Arch’s mind.”

Schools started recruiting Arch when he was in middle school, but Arch really first started looking at schools in 2020, when Sarkisian was still the offensive coordinator at Alabama. Once he took the job at Texas, Sarkisian used the relationship he had with Arch to bring him over to Austin.

Archie said that Arch also considered Alabama and Georgia, and “it was hard for him to say no” to those two schools. In total, Arch made 20 college visits, 12 of which were to those three schools.

As a footnote, remember that Tua Tagovailoa was initially the same way about Sarkisian, both at USC and then Alabama.

7) If we had the 12-team playoff this year, Alabama's first-round opponent would have ben USC, for a showdown between last year's Heisman Trophy winner Young and this year's Caleb Williams. The winning team would have faced Michigan.

8) Former Alabama quarterback Paul Tyson is on the move again, and this time to Clemson. Granted, the Tigers have lost DJ Uiagalelei and Billy Wiles to transfers, still have Cade Klubnik and just signed Christopher Vizzina. Just thinking out loud here, but If Tyson left for playing time, and never got into a game at Arizona State, why did opt to spend his last year of eligibility at Clemson? Sometimes that kind of move can signal an interest in coaching.

9) Speaking of Clemson, we're still trying to wrap our brains around Dabo Swinney's early-signing comment comment that “we built this program on NIL. We really did. … We built this program in God’s name, image and likeness.” Incidentally, Clemson finished 11th in Sports Illustrated's team rankings for the Class of 2023.

10) D1.ticker compiled a database with links to every DI football program’s social media approach for the Early Signing Period. Among our favorites was East Carolina played up Jimi Hendrix and the Purple Haze Experience.

Looking scary off the edge 🏴‍☠️ #PurpleHa23@_KieranDavis @ECUCoachHouston pic.twitter.com/GlCQuU6qUG

— ECU Football (@ECUPiratesFB) December 21, 2022

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!

See Also:

Take 1: 15 Thoughts Following an Unbelievable Weekend in Sports

Take 2: College Football Won't Be the Same Without Its Pirate King

Take 3: Suspense, Drama, Excitement? They've Become Scarce on Signing Day

Take 4: It Wasn't Just Another Top Recruiting Class by Nick Saban, But an Answer

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