Can a running back win a QB award? Jonathan Taylor is trying his best Kendall Baker and Jeff TracyOctober 30, 2025 at 8:19 AM 0 Yahoo Sports AM is our daily newsletter that keeps you up to date on all things sports. Sign up here to get it every weekday morning. 🚨 Headlines 🏈 Hutchinson gets paid: The Lions signed edge rusher Aidan Hutchinson to a fouryear, $180 million extension, making him the secondhighest paid nonQB in league history behind Micah Parsons.
- - Can a running back win a QB award? Jonathan Taylor is trying his best
Kendall Baker and Jeff TracyOctober 30, 2025 at 8:19 AM
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🚨 Headlines
🏈 Hutchinson gets paid: The Lions signed edge rusher Aidan Hutchinson to a four-year, $180 million extension, making him the second-highest paid non-QB in league history behind Micah Parsons.
⚾️ Twins hire Shelton: The Twins are hiring Derek Shelton as their new manager, bringing back their former bench coach after he spent the last five years managing the Pirates.
🏀 NBA scandal update: Chauncey Billups and Terry Rozier will not be paid while on leave; Rozier reportedly faced an $8 million tax lien in 2023, the same year of his alleged involvement in the illegal betting scheme.
⚽️ Messi tops salary list: Miami's Lionel Messi is the highest-paid player in MLS this season ($20.45M), according to the MLSPA's biannual release, while LAFC's Son Heung-Min is the only other player making eight figures ($11.15M).
🥊 Mayweather-Pacquiao 2? More than a decade after their historic first bout, which set records for U.S. PPV buys (4.6 million), Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao are exploring a rematch that would likely air on Netflix in 2026.
🏈 Can a running back win a QB award?
(Andy Lyons/Getty Images)
Colts running back Jonathan Taylor is having such a remarkable season that it might, might, be enough to end quarterbacks' stranglehold on the NFL MVP award.
By the numbers: Taylor leads the league in carries (143), rushing yards (850) and rushing TDs (12) as he bids to win the first rushing Triple Crown since 2014 (DeMarco Murray). He's also added 25 catches for 206 yards and 2 TDs to power the Colts (7-1) to the league's best record.
His 14 scrimmage TDs are five more than anyone else has and put him on pace for 30, just shy of LaDainian Tomlinson's single-season record of 31 set in 2006.
He's the first player with 500 scrimmage yards and 10 TDs in a four game span since 2013 (Jamaal Charles), and the first with at least three scrimmage TDs in four different games since 2006 (Tomlinson).
Now, I know what you're thinking: If Saquon Barkley didn't win last year, why should Taylor have a chance to win this year? Well, as historic as Barkley's 2024 campaign was, Taylor has already scored nearly as many touchdowns (14) as Barkley did all of last year (15), and his yardage totals are on pace to be roughly the same. Still, he faces an uphill battle to say the least.
Fighting history: Just three non-QBs have won MVP in the last 20 years, and none since Adrian Peterson in 2012. That's right: The last 12 MVPs have all been signal-callers, representing the NFL's shift to a full-throttle passing league.
There are a few things working in Taylor's favor, though. For starters, Indy is on track to clinch a top-two seed, which has more or less become a prerequisite. Plus, his numbers compare well with the recent RB winners (Peterson in 2012, Tomlinson in 2006, Shaun Alexander in 2005).
The question is whether any QBs this year will have good enough seasons to beat out what's looking like an all-time great season from Taylor, as Josh Allen and Lamar Jackson both did last year when Barkley finished third.
The contenders: Taylor has the sixth-best MVP odds (+1400 at BetMGM), trailing Patrick Mahomes (+140), Allen (+350), Drake Maye (+550), Matthew Stafford (+1100) and Baker Mayfield (+1300). The other four guys notwithstanding, Mahomes could be tough to beat if he leads the league in TDs (as he currently does) and the Chiefs keep surging.
⚾️ In photos: Blue Jays take 3-2 lead
The man of the hour. (Luke Hales/Getty Images)
The Blue Jays beat the Dodgers, 6-1, on Wednesday night in Los Angeles to take a 3-2 lead in the World Series behind one of the most impressive pitching performances you'll ever see in the Fall Classic.
Trey might want to frame this one. (David J. Phillip/AP Photo)
Young phenom: 22-year-old righty Trey Yesavage pitched the game of his life, allowing just three hits across seven innings while striking out 12 — the most ever by a rookie in the World Series. In fact, he's the first pitcher ever with 12+ strikeouts and no walks in a World Series game.
Rapid rise: Yesavage, Toronto's first-round pick last year, started this season in Single-A and was still in the minors until September. He's made more big league starts in the playoffs (5) than the regular season (3), and is now the first rookie in postseason history with multiple 10-strikeout games.
Vladdy and Schneider after going back-to-back. (Frank Gunn/AP Photo)
Bash brothers: The Blue Jays scored five runs off Blake Snell for the second time this series, and they got the party started right away as Davis Schneider and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. hit the first back-to-back homers ever to lead off a World Series game. Please do yourself a favor and watch Schneider's dad's reaction to his son's home run.
Vladdy's unconscious: In 16 games this postseason, Guerrero has 8 home runs, 15 RBI, 12 walks and just five strikeouts. His 1.337 OPS is the second-best ever in a single postseason (min. 60 PA), trailing only Barry Bonds in 2002.
One last baseball sky at Dodger Stadium. (Patrick Smith/Getty Images)
Looking ahead: The series heads back to Toronto tomorrow for Game 6, and history is on the Jays side: The winner of Game 5 in a World Series that was tied 2-2 has gone on to win the series 67% of the time, including six of the last seven.
Further reading: The Dodgers' ice-cold offense is running out of time to break through (Russell Dorsey, Yahoo Sports)
🎿 Vonn gears up for one last run
Vonn speaks to the media during Tuesday's Team USA Media Summit. (Dustin Satloff/Getty Images)
After a five-year retirement, Lindsey Vonn is back, confident she can compete for a medal in the 2026 Olympics.
From Yahoo Sports' Jay Busbee:
Every day on the slopes ends with one last run, one last look at the sun setting on the mountains, one last chance to take in the dying light. It's a time for reflection, a chance for gratitude, and a recognition that no one can bargain with the inevitable passage of time.
Unless you're Lindsey Vonn. For her, time is just another opponent to outrace.
"I've built a great life outside of skiing, but there will never be anything like skiing," Vonn, 41, said Tuesday at a Team USA summit celebrating 100 days to the 2026 Winter Olympics. "I fully understand that, and I'm comfortable with that. But I'm definitely going to enjoy this last bit of adrenaline, because I won't get it back."
Vonn has ended a five-year retirement with the goal of competing in her fifth Olympics next year in Italy. Already one of the most accomplished winter athletes of all time, she's hoping for one last run, Tom Brady-style, to close off a landmark career.
Vonn pictured skiing at Cortina last January. (Julian Finney/Getty Images)
The combination of two fortunate circumstances opened the way for Vonn to contemplate a return. First is the fact that the 2026 Olympics are being held at Cortina d'Ampezzo, a mountain where Vonn has been nothing short of dominant. She owns 12 World Cup wins at Cortina, and captured her first podium there.
"I don't think I would have tried this comeback if the Olympics weren't in Cortina," Vonn said. "If it had been anywhere else, I would probably say it's not worth it. But for me, there's something special about Cortina that always pulls me back, and it's pulled me back one last time."
More critically, however, Vonn underwent a partial knee replacement in the spring of 2024 that effectively gave her an opportunity to reconsider the contours, and in effect the conclusion, of her career.
"I remind myself every day how lucky I am to be here. I never expected to be here," she said. "There is that appreciation of the journey. But don't get it twisted. I'm a results-based, driven person. I'm looking to do well. I'm not just a participant."
Keep reading.
🏈 NFL power rankings
(Joseph Raines/Yahoo Sports)
The NFL season is nearly halfway over. Sitting atop our latest power rankings? The Chiefs (who were expected to be there), the Lions (also expected to be there) and the Colts (definitely not!).
Dive in.
📺 Watchlist: Thursday, Oct. 30
Lamar Jackson hasn't taken the field since Week 4. (David Eulitt/Getty Images)
🏈 Ravens at Dolphins | 8:15pm ET, Prime
Lamar Jackson is set to return for the Ravens after missing three games (hamstring). His presence should provide a huge boost for a 2-5 team trying to claw their way back into playoff contention.
Betting favorite: Despite their 2-5 start, the Ravens are still favored to win the AFC North (-125 at BetMGM) over the Steelers (+160), who are 4-3 but have lost two straight.
🏀 Warriors at Bucks | 8pm, NBA
Like you aren't going to tune in for a matchup between Steph Curry and Giannis Antetokounmpo? Steph looks as good as ever to open his age-37 season (27-4-5 on 42% 3PT), while Giannis has been flat-out ridiculous (36-14-7 on 69.5% FG).
More to watch:
🏒 NHL: Stars at Lightning (7pm, TNT) … Rematch of the 2020 Stanley Cup Final, won by Tampa Bay.
🏈 NCAAF: Marshall at Coastal Carolina (7:30pm, ESPN2); Tulane at UTSA (7:30pm, ESPN) … A win would likely catapult Tulane (6-1) into the AP Top 25.
🎾 Tennis: Paris Masters (6am, Tennis) … No. 5 Ben Shelton (9:30am) and No. 2 Jannik Sinner (2pm) both play Round of 16 matches today.
Today's full slate.
🥇 Olympics trivia
(Francesco Scaccianoce/Getty Images)
Wednesday marked 100 days until the 2026 Winter Olympics begin in Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy, which will be the fourth city to host two Winter Games (1956, 2026).
Question: Can you name the other three?
Hint: USA, Austria, Switzerland.
Answer at the bottom.
🏀 The rise of the full-court press
(Davis Long/Yahoo Sports)
The early NBA trend that's turning heads? The rise of the full-court press, writes Yahoo Sports' Kevin O'Connor.
By the numbers: Through the first week of the season, teams are pressing on 4.8% of possessions, nearly quintupling the 1% from a decade ago and nearly doubling the 2.5% from just two seasons ago.
Trivia answer: Lake Placid, USA (1932, 1980); Innsbruck, Austria (1964, 1976); St. Moritz, Switzerland (1928, 1948)
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Published: October 30, 2025 at 08:27AM on Source: COSMOPOLITE
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