KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — The Kansas City Chiefs have traded up to select Texas wide receiver Xavier Worthy with the No. 28 pick in the NFL draft. They decided to give Patrick Mahomes a speedy deep threat with legal uncertainty surrounding the future of Rashee Rice at the position. The Chiefs were supposed to pick last in the first round after winning their second consecutive Super Bowl, but they managed to make a trade with one of their biggest AFC rivals in Buffalo. The Chiefs sent the No. 32 pick, along with a fourth-rounder and seventh-rounder, to the Bills for No. 28, a fourth-rounder and a seventh-rounder. Rice is facing charges in Texas for a sports car crash that resulted in several injuries.
ENGLEWOOD, Colo. (AP) — The sixth quarterback selected in the 2024 NFL draft was No. 1 in the Denver Broncos’ eyes. The Broncos bypassed a bevy of blue-chip defenders to draft former Oregon quarterback Bo Nix with the 12th pick Thursday night. Denver has churned through 13 starting quarterbacks since Peyton Manning retired as a Super Bowl champion following the 2015 season. None of the signal-callers who have followed him has been able to lead Denver back to the playoffs. Their eight-year playoff drought is exacerbated by seven straight losing seasons and watching Patrick Mahomes lead division rival Kansas City to three Super Bowl parades in five years, including the past two.
DETROIT (AP) — Caleb Williams is heading to the Windy City, aiming to become the franchise quarterback Chicago has sought for decades. Five other teams selected quarterbacks among the top 12 picks, setting a record with five in the top 10 and tying a record for the most in the first round. The Bears selected Williams at No. 1 overall in the NFL draft on Thursday night after deciding weeks ago to bank on the 2022 Heisman Trophy winner from USC. The Washington Commanders followed up by taking 2023 Heisman Trophy winner Jayden Daniels from LSU and the New England Patriots took North Carolina’s Drake Maye at No. 3, making it the fourth draft with quarterbacks going with the first three picks.
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Salvador Perez hit a two-run homer in the first inning, Cole Ragans held Toronto in check long enough for the storms to arrive, and the Kansas City Royals beat the Blue Jays 2-1 in a game called after five innings due to rain. Cole Ragans gave up the lone Toronto run on three hits and three walks while striking out four to earn the win. José Berrios had his streak of 22 1/3 scoreless innings snapped when Perez, following Vinnie Pasquantino’s two-out walk, deposited the first pitch he saw into the left-field bullpen to give Kansas City a lead it would never surrender. The game was delayed 3 1/2 hours before it was called.
UNDATED (AP) — The Big 12 football newcomers struggled in their league debuts, even after all brought winning programs into the league. BYU, Cincinnati, Houston and UCF all had losing records and were in the bottom half of the Big 12 standings last season. They won only eight conference games combined, and half of those wins came in the games they played against each other. BYU, Cincinnati and UCF will have new starting quarterbacks next fall. Houston returns starting QB Donovan Smith, but is the only of the league’s returning schools with a new coach after Willie Fritz replaced the fired Dana Holgorsen.
UNDATED (AP) — There are always players poised in the spring for potential breakouts when the football season kicks off in the fall. Among those in the changing Big 12 Conference are transfer quarterbacks KJ Jefferson at UCF and Brendan Sorsby for Cincinnati. There are a few young running backs that could become standouts in the Big 12, as well as California transfer linebacker Kaleb Elarms-Orr at TCU. The Big 12 will have 16 teams in the fall after Oklahoma and Texas go to the SEC this summer, while Arizona, Arizona State, Colorado and Utah come in from the Pac-12.
UNDATED (AP) — Iowa State and Kansas State will play their 2025 season opener in Ireland at the fourth Aer Lingus College Football Classic. The Cyclones and Wildcats will close the 2024 regular season in Ames, Iowa, on Nov. 24 and meet again on Aug. 23, 2025, at Aviva Stadium in Dublin. The game marks the first time ISU and K-State have met in a season opener and third time they’ve squared off at a neutral site. Iowa State will be playing outside the United States for the first time. Kansas State played Nebraska in Tokyo in 1992.
LOS ANGELES (AP) — The Denver Nuggets moved to the brink of the second round with a 112-105 victory over the Los Angeles Lakers in Game 3 of the first-round series. Aaron Gordon had 29 points and 15 rebounds, Jamal Murray added 22 points and Nikola Jokic had 24 points, 15 rebounds and nine assists as the defending NBA champion Nuggets won their 11th consecutive meeting with the Lakers since 2022. Anthony Davis had 33 points and 15 rebounds, and LeBron James added 26 points and nine assists in the Lakers’ seventh consecutive postseason loss to Denver over the past two years.
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Joel Embiid scored 50 points, making all four 3-point attempts and scoring 18 in a potential series-shifting third quarter on Thursday night to lead the Philadelphia 76ers to a 125-114 win over the New York Knicks in Game 3 of their Eastern Conference first-round series. Embiid boldly stated “we’re going to win this series” after the 76ers dropped Game 2. With one of the finest postseason efforts of his career, Embiid became the third player to ever score 50 points against the Knicks in the postseason and kept the hope of a Philadelphia series comeback very much alive. The Knicks lead the series 2-1. Game 4 is Sunday in Philadelphia.
THURSDAY SCORES
MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL
INTERLEAGUE
Final Chicago Cubs 3 Houston 1
AMERICAN LEAGUE
Final Minnesota 6 Chicago White Sox 3
Final Kansas City 2 Toronto 1
Final Cleveland 6 Boston 4
Final Seattle 4 Texas 3
Final Oakland 3 N.Y. Yankees 1
NATIONAL LEAGUE
Final Milwaukee 7 Pittsburgh 5
Final Philadelphia 5 Cincinnati 0
Final Colorado 10 San Diego 9
Final L.A. Dodgers 2 Washington 1
NATIONAL BASKETBALL ASSOCIATION PLAYOFFS
Final Orlando 121 Cleveland 83
Final Philadelphia 125 New York 114
Final Denver 112 L.A. Lakers 105
NATIONAL HOCKEY LEAGUE PLAYOFFS
Final Florida 5 Tampa Bay 3