The following, a weekly feature of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, allows our reporters to open their notebooks and provide even more information from our local teams that we cover daily. We think you’ll find it informative, insightful and fun.
Bill Polian: Chargers should take Brock Bowers fifth overall
Bill Polian, the six-time winner of the NFL’s executive-of-the-year award and a Pro Football Hall of Fame enshrinee, is a big proponent of former Georgia tight end Brock Bowers, or as he puts it “Dallas Clark 2.0.”
Polian drafted Clark with the 24th overall pick in the 2003 NFL draft with the Colts. He went on to play 11 seasons and was named to the Pro Bowl and once was All-Pro.
Most are projecting that Bowers, who had a private workout for pro scouts on Wednesday after not working out at the combine or his Pro Day, will go to the Jets with the 10th overall pick in the draft, which is set for April 25-27 in Detroit.
“If you just simply do what every (general manager) is doing this weekend, you put three quarterbacks in the top,” Polian said on SiriusXM NFL Radio on Wednesday. “I don’t think you can put the fourth one in there just yet. But three in the top (of the draft), then add two offensive tackles, that’s five. Now add three wide receivers, that’s eight. Now, you have to start thinking about (Bowers). That’s why people have him down around 9, 10 or 11. Would the Chargers go back, but I would pull the trigger at five. I wouldn’t wait.”
Polian believes that Bowers can have a major impact on an NFL offense much like tight end Sam LaPorta did with the Lions last season. LaPorta was taken with the 34th overall pick and went on to catch 86 passes for 889 yards and 10 touchdowns to help the Lions reach the NFC Championship game. (For the record, Falcons tight end Kyle Pitts, who was taken fourth overall in 2021 had 68 catches for 1,026 yards and one touchdown on a 7-10 team.)
“If you saw what LaPorta this past year did,” Polian said. “LaPorta changed the entire Detroit offense with his ability to catch the ball and get open.”
The knock on Bowers is that he’s not a powerful blocking tight end.
“(LaPorta) was not King Kong as a blocker either despite the fact that he came from Iowa, which is the most pro-ready college program,” Polian said. “He wasn’t a killer as a blocker.”
LaPorta blocked good enough for Polian.
“He was willing and able,” Polian said. “They got him at the top of the second round, that was the steal of the draft. I’d pull the trigger on this young man (Bowers). If the offense is what we used in Indianapolis, a pass-centric offense where you can feature this guy in 11 personnel (one back one tight end), take him and don’t look back.”
Tech’s Mallorie Black honored nationally
On Tuesday, Georgia Tech senior Mallorie Black was named the national player of the week by Division I softball after hitting five home runs and driving in 11 runs over four games. Black, who was awarded ACC player of the week honors as well, went 9-for-18 with five home runs, a double, 11 RBIs and seven runs scored.
Black becomes the first Yellow Jacket to be named national player of the week since Jen Yee in 2010. Black’s five home runs and 11 RBIs were the most in Division I last week.
Black’s week began April 3 against Troy when she launched a home run to left field on the very first pitch she saw. She connected for yet another first inning home run in a game against Auburn on April 5, a solo shot that fueled a three-run first inning for the Jackets.
Her bat stayed hot for a doubleheader April 6 beginning with a career high two home run, seven-RBI game against Louisiana Tech. Black launched a three-run homer in the sixth inning before coming back in the seventh with a grand slam, her second of the season.
Black followed that performance by hitting her fifth long ball of the week in the Jackets’ 10-9 victory over Auburn in the final game of the weekend April 6. Black has hit 16 home runs for the season, the fourth most in DI. Her 52 RBIs are the most by a Jacket since 2013 and her 16 home runs rank eighth most in program history with 12 regular-season games remaining on the schedule.
Taking to the excavators
After Monday’s symbolic ground-breaking for the Arthur M. Blank National Training Center in Fayette County, a few of the dignitaries did a bit more than put a pristine shovel in a pile of mulch and lift.
After the ceremony and interviews, a couple of United States Soccer Federation executives climbed into one of the two excavators and began digging up some red Georgia clay.
The groundbreaking ceremony was another step in USSF President’s Cindy Parlow Cone’s dream of constructing a first-ever national training center for the USSF’s 27 teams.
Blank pledged $50 million toward the $200 million projected cost.
New York still ‘loves’ Trae
Despite sitting nearly 800 miles away, Hawks guard Trae Young still managed to draw the ire of New York fans.
At the top of the seventh inning of Wednesday’s baseball game between the Marlins and the Yankees, some familiar chants broke out at Yankee Stadium. With second baseman Luis Arraez at bat, fans began chanting “(expletive) Trae Young” much like they did during the Hawks’ Eastern Conference finals run three years ago that eliminated the Knicks.
Georgia basketball loses five to transfer portal
Georgia men’s basketball has been very active in the transfer portal. So far, though, the movement all has been in one direction.
On Wednesday, freshman Mari Jordan became the fifth player from the enter his name the NCAA’s transfer queue. The 6-foot-6 guard from Norcross redshirted this past season after sitting out all 36 games because of injuries.
Jordan joined seniors Jabri Abdur-Rahim, Justin Hill, Matthew-Alexander Moncrieffe and junior forward Jalen DeLoach in departing the program. Also gone are Noah Thomasson, RJ Sunahara and Russel Tchewa, graduate transfers last year who no longer are eligible to play in college.
So far, the only addition for the 2024-25 team is 6-9 forward Asa Newell, a 5-star incoming freshman from IMG Academy in Florida. That leaves coach Mike White with seven spots to fill between now and next season.
Departing
G Noah Thomasson (Eligibility)
C Russel Tchewa (Eligibility)
G RJ Sunahara (Eligibility)
F Jalen DeLoach (Transfer)
G Justin Hill (Transfer)
G Jabri Abdur-Rahim (Transfer)
F Matthew-Alexander Moncrieffe (Transfer)
G Mari Jordan (Transfer)
Incoming
F Asa Newell (HS)
Returning
C Frank Anselem-Ibe (Senior)
F Dylan James (Freshman)
G RJ Melendez (Junior)
G Silas Demary (Freshman)
G Blue Cain (Freshman)
* - Seven spots now available
More memories of Hank Aaron
During the Braves’ tribute to Hank Aaron on April 8 – the 50th anniversary of him breaking Babe Ruth’s record with home run No. 715 – his old friend Dusty Baker provided a great line: “Babe was a bad dude, but Hank was badder.”
Several members of the 1974 team attended the ceremony, including Ron Reed, who was the winning starting pitcher that day. He watched Aaron growing up, and as a Cubs fan in Indiana, he feared whenever Aaron would face his team.
Reed cherished becoming Aaron’s teammate and seeing how he handled himself every day regardless of what happened around him.
“I could admire how he hit the ball hard the whole time against the Cubs growing up,” Reed told the AJC. “Now I’m part of the team and I get to watch him on a daily basis? And we got to be friends. Baseball players stick together in the clubhouse, then after the games we go our separate ways to our families. But at the park, we spent a lot of time together. He was just a perfect teammate. The professional way he went about the game, I think that rubbed off on a lot of guys, especially the young guys like Dusty and Ralph (Garr) who came up. That was the perfect person for them to watch on a daily basis to learn how to play the game, how it’s supposed to be played.”
Starks talks about Bulldogs safeties
It’s almost hard to believe this is Year Three for Georgia safety Malaki Starks. Feels like yesterday that he made that acrobatic interception off Oregon quarterback Bo Nix in his debut. Now, he’s an All-American who’s expected to be drafted in the first round in April 2025.
Here’s Starks talking about the team’s safeties: “There’s a bunch of depth in that (group). That (group) is very competitive. Just to go out there and watch them compete to try and beat the guy in front of him but in a healthy way. Healthy competition is what we talk about a lot in that (meeting) room from every guy, from the oldest guy to the youngest guy in there. They’re all going out there and trying to get better every day so it’s a good thing to see.”
High or low, Georgia high school football is good
Georgia receiver Cole Speer was asked which is better: North Georgia or South Georgia high school football? The Calhoun native gave an expected answer but endorsed football around the state.
“I’d say North Georgia is better, coming from a North Georgia boy,” he said. “But I think football around the whole state of Georgia is very, very talented and very good compared to across the country and many other states. It’s one of the best. If you’re a big school looking for a really, really solid player, Georgia would probably be the place to go.”
Eating well
While Atlanta United’s professional soccer players were training for Sunday’s match against Philadelphia, another set of pros were working close by preparing Tuesday’s lunch.
The players pitched in to host what is becoming a weekly asado.
There were several chefs on hand using four different types of grills that included a traditional gas grill, a round Weber charcoal grill, and two flat tops, one of which was dedicated by manager Gonzalo Pineda and another of which was used to produce hot coals, as they prepared and cooked 60 pounds of different types of meat for the players to consume after training.
Edwin Mosquera said his go-to would be steak. Noah Cobb said he was going to get one of everything. The meats included chicken breasts, top sirloins and sausages.
Count John Lynch as Antonio Gates supporter
San Francisco 49ers general manager John Lynch was discussing the tight ends for the coming NFL draft and then went on a flashback to his playing days.
“I played against for a long time, someone asked me today, were there any omissions in the Hall of Fame?” Lynch said. “A real personal one for me was (former San Diego/Los Angeles Chargers TE) Antonio Gates. That guy was a tremendous player.”
Gates, who played basketball at Kent State, played from 2003-18 and was not selected to the Hall of Fame in his first year of eligibility last year.
-Staff writers Chad Bishop, D. Orlando Ledbetter, Lauren Williams, Doug Roberson, Chip Towers and Gabriel Burns contributed to this report.
