Is Francisco Lindor the next best thing in the MLB?

       At the age of 22, in his first full season in the big leagues, Indians' shortstop Francisco Lindor was an all-star, played in the World Series, and was a Gold Glove Award winner.  Not a bad start to a career...

       Now 23, and just seven games through the 2017 campaign, Lindor has already hit a whopping FOUR home runs and has eight RBIs.  Do not be surprised if Lindor evolves into one of the greatest shortstops in the league (some may even already consider him to be).  I believe the 2017 season is where Francisco Lindor will take over the league with his enthusiasm he plays with and just his overall passion for the game of baseball.

Browns' Joe Thomas: Kaepernick would be viewed as a distraction

   
     Free Agent QB, Colin Kaepernick, has drawn nearly no interest from any NFL team during the 2017 off-season.  Kaepernick, who had a good touchdown-to-interception ratio last season, is probably being ignored by teams due to his political involvement.  As you all remember, Kaepernick took a knee when the national anthem was being played last season to protest for the B.L.M. movement.  Colin recently announced that he would be standing this upcoming season.

     Joe Thomas of the Cleveland Browns offered his take on the situation on his Twitter account yesterday.  Thomas basically stated that the reason teams are not giving him an offer is because teams want to accept ZERO distractions and especially for someone who would most likely be a backup QB.

Dirk Nowitzki joins exclusive 30,000-point club

Dallas Mavericks' legend Dirk Nowitzki has now joined NBA greats Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Karl Malone, Kobe Bryant, Michael Jordan and Wilt Chamberlain as part of the 30,000-point club.  Nowitzki entered the game 20 points shy of the mark so it was not guaranteed that he would reach the milestone that game.  But, he dominated early on, scoring 14 points and shooting 5-5 from the field half way through the first quarter.  Dirk hit 30,000 on a baseline jumper over Larry Nance Jr. with 10 minutes, 58 seconds remaining in the second quarter.  The crowd erupted and gave Dirk a rousing ovation.  He finished the game with 25 points and 11 rebounds: one of his best games of the season.

Does Josh Hamilton have a future playing in the big leagues?

The 2010 American League MVP, Josh Hamilton, has not played in more than 90 big league games in a single season since 2013.  On Monday, February 27th, he had yet another surgery on his left knee, ending any chance of him making the Texas Rangers' opening day roster.  The most recent knee procedure is the 11th in Hamilton's career, and the third since the slugger last played in the majors in 2015.  Hamilton still has a chance of playing this season as he will face six weeks of rehabilitation before he can start running again.  He has been working out at first base during the spring to reduce the wear and tear in the knee that playing outfield would have given him.  Hamilton is in the last year of an enormous contract he signed back in 2013, so he hopes to get back on the field, and stay on the field, at some point early this season.  Hopefully, we can see Hamilton on the field contributing this season, but we will see how his left knee treats him.

Has the pickup of Kyle Korver have the Cavs well positioned to repeat as NBA Champs?

     The 35-year-old Kyle Korver has been phenominal ever since the Cleveland Cavaliers received him in a trade about a month and a half ago.  In twenty-one games with the Cavaliers with no starts, he has put together outstanding numbers from long distance.  Korver has scored double-digits in points in over half of the games he has played with the Cavaliers.  The veteran sharpshooter has been red-hot with his shot, posting better than 60 percent success rates from both the field and three-point range, while draining multiple baskets from behind the arc in every February contest.  It will be interesting to see if March will treat Korver as well as February has.

     Korver did have a slight injury scare during the Cavs' loss on Saturday night against the Bulls.  He leaped to defend a layup and landed awkwardly on his leg.  There was an MRI the following day and turned out there was no ligament damage so he is only listed as day-to-day.

     Also, veterans Deron Williams recently signed with the Cavs agreeing to the veteran minimum.  Andrew Bogut is also most likely heading to Cleveland to help the defending champs in their stretch run for the playoffs.  These players could be very important pieces off the bench during the playoffs.

Tanner Widomski's First Round NFL Mock Draft

The 2017 NFL Scouting Combine takes place from February 28 through March 6, after this period, a mock draft could change dramatically.  The following is my mock NFL draft as of February 24th, 2017.

Formatting used for this Mock Draft can be found here:

http://www.nfl.com/draft/2017/mock-drafts

1

1

BROWNS

Jonathan Allen - DT, Alabama

2

2

49ERS

 Myles Garrett - DE, Texas A&M

3

3

BEARS

Mitch Trubisky - QB, North Carolina

4

4

JAGUARS

Solomon Thomas - DE, Stanford

5

5

TITANS

Marshon Lattimore - CB, Ohio State

6

6

JETS

Leonard Fournette - RB, LSU

7

7

CHARGERS

Mike Williams - WR, Clemson

8

8

PANTHERS

Jamal Adams - S, LSU

9

9

BENGALS

Reuben Foster - LB, Alabama

10

10

BILLS

Deshaun Watson - QB, Clemson

11

11

SAINTS

Sidney Jones - CB, Washington

12

12

BROWNS

Malik Hooker - S, Ohio State

13

13

CARDINALS

O.J. Howard - TE, Alabama

14

14

COLTS

Derek Barnett - DE, Tennessee

15

14

EAGLES

Dalvin Cook - RB, Florida State

16

16

RAVENS

Takkarist McKinley - OLB, UCLA

17

17

REDSKINS

Jabrill Peppers - S, Michigan

18

18

TITANS

Taco Charlton - OLB, Michigan

19

19

BUCCANEERS

Malik McDowell - DT, Michigan State

20

20

BRONCOS

Cam Robinson - OT, Alabama

21

21

LIONS

Marlon Humphrey - CB, Alabama

22

22

DOLPHINS

Haason Reddick - OLB, Temple

23

23

GIANTS

Ryan Ramczyk - OT, Wisconsin

24

24

RAIDERS

Tre'Davious White - CB, LSU

25

25

TEXANS

Garett Bolles - OT, Utah

26

26

SEAHAWKS

Caleb Brantley - DT, Florida

27

27

CHIEFS

Tim Williams, OLB, Alabama

28

28

COWBOYS

David Njoku - TE, Miami

29

29

PACKERS

Alvin Kamara - RB, Tennessee

30

30

STEELERS

Corey Davis - WR, Western Michigan

31

31

FALCONS

Marcus Williams - S, Utah

32

32

PATRIOTS

Forrest Lamp - OT, Western Kentucky

Introduction to 'Tanner Talks'

      Hello visitors, I am Tanner Widomski and I am the creator of this blog, 'Tanner Talks'.  I am a sophomore at Slippery Rock University of Pennsylvania.  I am in the major of Sport Management at SRU.  I am a die-hard Cleveland sports fan (Browns, Indians, and Cavaliers) and I would definitely be interested in working with either of the three teams in my future.  This blog will be about all three of these sports as a whole: Football, basketball, and baseball.  I know a lot about these three sports since I have followed them closely for the majority of my life.  If you are interested in the NFL, NBA, and/or MLB, then this is the blog for you!