The Week That Was (August 11-15, 2025)
A roundup of what I wrote, read, watched, etc. over the past week.
In this space on Saturdays, I do a weekly round-up of sorts: Sifting through what I wrote that you might have missed during the week, what I’ve been reading and watching myself, and some other fun things that have been going on.
What I did this week
Here are the things I wrote or podcasted about during the previous week, sorted in descending order by quality, popularity and/or current relevance.
🏈 The 70 Best Returning QBs in College Football for 2025 - With the 2025 season approaching, I ranked the 70 most valuable returning FBS quarterbacks based on schedule-adjusted Points Above Replacement, including LSU’s Garrett Nussmeier, Clemson’s Cade Klubnik and Oklahoma’s John Mateer — plus some rising talents like South Carolina’s LaNorris Sellers and Texas’ Arch Manning. In the process, I also ranked the biggest shoes to fill on campus this fall.
⚾ Is It Getting Tougher to Build a Bad, Expensive Baseball Team? - Payrolls and winning are getting more closely linked in MLB again, making truly bad, big-spending teams rarer. When were they at their peak — and why are they dying out? (Blame noncompetitive owners, smarter front offices and better player development alike.)
🏈 The Denver Broncos Are Schrödinger’s Team - The 2025 Broncos are a statistical paradox — unlucky enough last year to suggest further improvement is likely, but also primed for regression after dramatic gains on both sides of the ball (especially defense). Whether 2024’s rookie QB sensation Bo Nix can offset an expected drop-off on D will determine if they can challenge the Chiefs… or slide back toward mediocrity.
🏀 How the Fever are surviving without Caitlin Clark - Despite Caitlin Clark missing 60 percent of the season, the Fever have hung out around .500 without her — thanks to a softer schedule, improved defense and balanced scoring from some unsung sources. Still, their offense drops from elite to average without Clark, and a deep playoff run hinges on her full return.
⚾ Adam Wainwright Thinks These Cardinals Aren’t Done Yet, Probably Because His Cardinals Never Were - Wainwright tweeted his belief that the 2025 Cardinals can make a late playoff push — possibly shaped by his own experience on St. Louis teams that repeatedly defied the odds. From the 83-win 2006 champs to the miraculous 2011 comeback, the Cardinals’ history of improbable runs fuels the idea that anything is possible.
🏈 8 factors that predict potential underdog College Football Playoff contenders - At The Athletic, I identified eight key statistical factors — from past power ratings to turnover luck and coaching tenure — that often signal which unranked teams could crash the College Football Playoff race. For 2025, that means watch out for USC, Louisville, Auburn, and Virginia Tech (among others).
⚾ MLB’s Stretch Run Has Turned Into a Chaotic Free-For-All - Once a clear picture, MLB’s 2025 playoff landscape has erupted into chaos, with sudden hot streaks and collapses reshaping the odds. Early August has seen one of the sport’s most turbulent stretches in decades — and September could be even crazier.
🏁 Numbers say Chase Briscoe is peaking at the right time - Chase Briscoe has been NASCAR’s hottest driver for three months, leading the series in both Driver Rating and Adjusted Pts+ while racking up poles and top-five finishes in his first year with Joe Gibbs Racing. History suggests his late-season surge could carry into the playoffs — even if oddsmakers still see him as a long shot for the title.
🏁🎧 Cursed Connor and the Broken Collarbone - In this week’s episode of Podracing, Tyler and I broke down a chaotic weekend at Watkins Glen, where our guy Connor Zilisch wrecked himself in Victory Lane celebrating. That meant no rematch vs. SVG in the Cup race… and SVG cruised to his fourth straight road-course win. We ask: Is he too dominant? Then we spotlight Briscoe and preview Richmond — where tire wear reigns and strategy is make-or-break.
Some interesting things I read/watched this week
A collection of articles (with a heavy focus on my fellow Substackers), videos and other media that I enjoyed and/or found thought-provoking over the past week. I don’t always 100% agree with or endorse what’s linked here… but that’s also sort of the point.
🏈 Applying Sean Payton's Algorithm to Every College Football QB Season Since 2015 by Ray Carpenter
🏈 West Virginia wants you to remember some guys by Craig Meyer
🏈 How does a QB 'layer' throws? Let a Hall of Famer explain by Matthew Coller
🏈 Schedule similarity by Chris
🏈 Charlie Weis and the unforgivable sin of ineptitude (2007) by Michael Weinreb
🏈▶️ Cris Collinsworth w/ Peyton Manning on Arch Manning, ManningCast and how PFF has changed football by Pro Football Focus
⚾ Dodgers doldrums prove why MLB salary cap isn’t the answer by Colin Cerniglia
⚾ Say It Again, But Different: Sweepers, Splinkers, Slurves, and the Language That Keeps Baseball Current by Doug Glanville
⚾ Joe McEwing is the perpetual Almost A Met manager by Almost A Met
⚾▶️ Six Outs of Glory by LoopyDoopy
⚾▶️ Hideo Nomo's unprecedented no-hitter at Coors Field needs a deep rewind by Secret Base (Shameless plug: For more on Nomo, check out his entry in the Hall of Pretty Damn Good Players.)
🏀 Introducing Adjusted Plus-Minus for College Basketball by Jeremias Engelmann
🏀 One Weird Stat I’m Looking Into…That You Should Too– If You’re a Sicko by Above the Break
🏀 NBA Signature Moves Bracket And Why The Dream Shake Is The GOAT by Hardwood Paroxysm
🏀 Only the Young // Trae Young became the first member of an undesirable club last season by Justin Kubatko
🏀 How Many Points Is Glen Rice Averaging In Today’s Game? by Nam Tran
🏒 Scouting & Development: The New Heart of NHL Success by Mark Scheig
🏒 Revisiting the time Brent Burns played forward by Brendan Farrell
🏆 Ranking 10 ridiculous World Games sports by Rodger Sherman
🗽 America has only one real city by Noah Smith (Note: Provocative headline to me, an ex-Manhattanite who has zero interest in moving back… but he still makes some good points.)
🎓🎧 Is College Worth It? 1 In 4 Degrees Are Not by Galen Druke
📱 The Rise and Fall of Music Ringtones: A Statistical Analysis by Daniel Parris
Old YouTube Game of the Week
Fred Taylor TORCHES Steelers on SNF! (Jaguars vs. Steelers 2000, Week 12)
Music to Play Us Out
Los Lonely Boys - “Heaven”
Filed under: Weekly Round-up
Thanks for the shout out Neil! Lots of great stuff in here to read. 😁
Thanks for the shout out Neil! Working hard to get footing in a niche category is not for the
Faint of Heart! Appreciate it!