🏈 Y! Sports AM: Welcome to the NFL

Analysis: Grading every pick

📸 THROUGH THE LENS

(Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images)

Atlanta — "After trailing for most of Thursday's Game 3, the Knicks had a chance to win it in the closing seconds, with the ball in the hands of Jalen Brunson — their captain, their closer, last season's Clutch Player of the Year. But it's not last year." — Dan Devine, Yahoo Sports

NBA scoreboard: Hawks 109, Knicks 108 (Atlanta leads 2-1); Raptors 126, Cavaliers 104 (Cleveland leads 2-1); Timberwolves 113, Nuggets 96 (Minnesota leads 2-1)

(Maddie Meyer/Getty Images)

Boston — All three road teams won on Thursday, with the Sabres taking a 2-1 series lead over the Bruins while the Hurricanes (3-0 over Senators) and Avalanche (3-0 over Kings) both inched closer to a sweep.

(Michael Reaves/Getty Images)

Chicago — The Cubs walked off the Phillies, 8-7, in extra innings on Thursday as Chicago (16-9) won its ninth straight game and Philadelphia (8-17) lost its ninth straight, both the longest active streaks in baseball.

(Sarah Stier/Getty Images)

Houston — A dog relaxes in a golf cart as grounds crew prepare the course ahead of Thursday's opening round of The Chevron Championship. Over $9 million is up for grabs in the first LPGA major of the year.

💯 BIG NUMBERS

⏱️ 4 minutes

The Knicks lost, the Mets blew a four-run lead and the Jets made a questionable draft pick during a wild 4-minute span for New York sports on Thursday night.

Tabloid fodder: The Mets went on to win, the Knicks could still win the series and Kenyon Sadiq could end up being a star tight end, "but let's just say the tabloids weren't hurting for material for today's issues," writes Yahoo Sports' Jack Baer.

⚾️ 73-50

The NL Central is on fire to open the season, with a combined record of 73-50 on the strength of all five teams being over .500. The NL West has the second-best record (69-57), followed by the AL East (60-63), AL West (59-69), NL East (58-69) and AL Central (58-69).

Consider this: The NL Central alone has nearly as many teams over .500 (five) as the entire American League (six), and its last place team (13-11 Brewers) would be in first place in both the AL Central and AL West.

(A.J. Mast/NBAE via Getty Images)

🏀 216 games

A record 216 WNBA games will be broadcast this season in the first year of the league's new 11-year, $2.2 billion media rights deal. Those games will air on ION (50), USA Network (48), Prime Video (31), ABC/ESPN (30), NBC/Peacock (22), CBS/Paramount+ (20) and NBA TV (15).

The main draws: Caitlin Clark's Fever lead the way with all 44 of their games being broadcast nationally. The Wings, led by Paige Bueckers and Azzi Fudd, are next on that list (36), followed by the Liberty (35) and defending champion Aces (33).

⚽️ $95.5 billion

That's the combined worth of the 50 most valuable soccer teams in the world, according to Sportico's latest ranking. Real Madrid are by far the richest club, at $7.7 billion, while MLS side St. Louis City FC and the Premier League's Sunderland are tied for the final slot at $675 million.

By league: The top 15 clubs are all in Europe, but MLS has the most teams in the top 50, with 18. The Premier League is a close second (16), followed by Italy's Serie A (5), Spain's LaLiga (3), Germany's Bundesliga (3), Mexico's Liga MX (2) and one each in France's Ligue 1, Portugal's Primeira Liga and the Netherlands' Eredivisie.

📺 WEEKEND WATCHLIST

LeBron James and the Lakers are up 2-0 on Kevin Durant and the Rockets. (Adam Pantozzi/NBAE via Getty Images)

🏀NBA Playoffs

All eight first-round series continue this weekend. Just one could be over by Sunday night as the Lakers are the only team that has yet to drop a game.

• Friday: Celtics (tied 1-1) at 76ers (7pm, Prime); Lakers (up 2-0) at Rockets (8pm, Prime); Spurs (tied 1-1) at Trail Blazers (10:30pm, Prime)
• Saturday: Pistons (tied 1-1) at Magic (1pm, NBC); Thunder (up 2-0) at Suns (3:30pm, NBC); Knicks (down 2-1) at Hawks (6pm, NBC); Nuggets (down 2-1) at Timberwolves (8:30pm, ABC)
• Sunday: Cavaliers (up 2-1) at Raptors (1pm, ESPN); Spurs at Trail Blazers (3:30pm, ESPN); Celtics at 76ers (7pm, NBC); Lakers at Rockets (9:30pm, NBC)

Injury watch: Leading neuroscientist weighs in on Victor Wembanyama's 'ugly concussion' and NBA protocols

🏒 NHL Playoffs

Likewise in the NHL, all eight series continue this weekend. Can the Hurricanes, Flyers and Avalanche complete the sweeps?

• Friday: Lightning (tied 1-1) at Canadiens (7pm, TNT); Golden Knights (tied 1-1) at Mammoth (9:30pm, TBS); Oilers (tied 1-1) at Ducks (10pm, TNT)
• Saturday: Hurricanes (up 3-0) at Senators (3pm, TBS); Stars (up 2-1) at Wild (5:30pm, TBS); Penguins (down 3-0) at Flyers (8pm, TBS)
• Sunday: Sabres (up 2-1) at Bruins (2pm, TNT); Avalanche (3-0) at Kings (4:30pm, TNT); Lightning at Canadiens (7pm, ESPN); Oilers at Ducks (9:30pm, ESPN)

Slow start for Connor: "Worst five periods of playoff hockey I've ever seen McDavid play," wrote Sportsnet's Mark Spector regarding the curiously lackluster play thus far of Edmonton's three-time MVP.

⛳️ Chevron Championship

The first LPGA major of the season continues at Houston's Memorial Park Golf Course (Fri-Sun, Golf/NBC/Peacock).

Leaderboard: Nelly Korda shot a 7-under 65 to take a two-stroke lead into today's round. The world No. 2 has played in the final group in each of her first four starts this season. If she keeps this up, she'll make it a perfect five-for-five on Sunday.

⚾️ Mexico City Series

MLB's only international series of the year is this weekend at Mexico City's Estadio Alfredo Harp Helú, where the Diamondbacks will "host" the Padres in games on Saturday (6pm ET, MLB) and Sunday (4pm, MLB.TV).

Expect a slugfest: The ball should fly this weekend considering the altitude in Mexico City (7,350 feet) is more than 2,000 feet higher than even Coors Field. Indeed, 22 homers were hit across the first four MLB games played here in 2023 and 2024.

More to watch:

• 🏈 NFL Draft: Rounds 2-3 (Fri. 7pm, ABC/ESPN/NFL); Rounds 4-7 (Sat. 12pm, ABC/ESPN/NFL)
• ⚽️ FA Cup: Manchester City vs. Southampton (Sat. 12:15pm, ESPN+); Chelsea vs. Leeds United (Sun. 10am, ESPN2) … Semifinals.
• ⛳️ PGA: Zurich Classic (Fri-Sun, Golf/CBS) … Alex Smalley and Hayden Springer (-14) are the leaders at the team event in Louisiana.
• 🏁 NASCAR: Talladega (Sun. 3pm, Fox) … The Alabama circuit is NASCAR's biggest and fastest track.
• 👟 Track & Field: Penn Relays (Fri-Sat, FloTrack) … The 130th running of the nation's oldest track and field event.
• 🎾 Tennis: Madrid Open (Fri-Sun, Tennis) … Action continues over the weekend through the Round of 32.
• 🚴 Cycling: Liège-Bastogne-Liège (Sun. 6:20am, Peacock) … The season's penultimate Monument.

Got plans this weekend? Gametime is the best place to score last-minute tickets to the events in your city. Get tickets now!

📚 GOOD READS

Patriots head coach Mike Vrabel speaks to the media on Thursday. (Kyle Hightower/AP Photo)

🏈 Charles Robinson: Private matter or not, the Mike Vrabel saga now raises football questions for the Patriots

A large part of this entire saga is clearly private and will be dealt with behind doors that we shouldn't feel anyone is obligated to open. But at least a small part of this isn't just personal anymore. And that's where this gets complicated for the Patriots.

Vrabel will be missing on the third day of the Patriots' draft, not to mention potentially other parts of the offseason. This isn't a nothing reality. Not if you believe coaches and front offices that have told us for years how critical this process is when it comes to putting a franchise's best foot forward.

Yordan Alvarez leads all MLB hitters in batting average (.347), HR (11) and RBI (26). (Leslie Plaza Johnson/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

⚾️ Jordan Shusterman: How Yordan Alvarez, already one of the most feared hitters in MLB, has elevated his game in 2026

Off to a blistering start in his eighth major-league season with the Astros, Alvarez has spent his entire career defying the notion that facing left-handed hurlers should be something of a struggle.

It's not just that the lefty-swinging Alvarez has fared better against southpaws than he has against right-handed pitchers. It's also that by some measures, he has performed better in those matchups than any left-handed hitter in MLB history.

Big Ten commissioner Tony Petitti (L) and SEC commissioner Greg Sankey hold the keys to any future CFP format changes. (Kirby Lee/USA Today Sports via Reuters)

🏈 Ross Dellenger: With push for 24-team CFP field ramping up, Greg Sankey and SEC holding fast against it

The CFP's annual two-day spring meetings paved the way for a more intense holistic examination and financial evaluation of a 24-team postseason — support for which emerged last week during a presidential committee call that involved several high-profile CFP decision-makers.

However, there is one person who continues to support a 16-team field: SEC commissioner Greg Sankey, who re-emphasized his past comments about expansion and outlined potential issues with any 24-team format.

🏈 NFL DRAFT TRIVIA

(Gene J. Puskar/AP Photo)

Fernando Mendoza is the eighth QB to be selected No. 1 overall in the past nine NFL drafts.

Question: Can you name the other seven?

Hint: Five won the Heisman.

🏀 NBA MOCK DRAFT 3.0

(Henry Russell/Yahoo Sports)

This week is all about the NFL Draft, but the NBA Draft is just around the corner.

Looking ahead: Here's our latest mock, courtesy of Kevin O'Connor.

Trivia answer: Baker Mayfield (2018), Kyler Murray (2019), Joe Burrow (2020), Trevor Lawrence (2021), Bryce Young (2023), Caleb Williams (2024), Cam Ward (2025)

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