Aaron Judge tallies historic 300th HR; Falcons acquire Matthew Judon; CBS Sports Preseason All-America team

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🏈 Good morning to everyone but especially ...

AARON JUDGE AND THE NEW YORK YANKEES

There are 162 players in MLB history who have 300 home runs. None of them have reached that mark in fewer games than Aaron Judge.

The Yankees superstar blasted his 300th career homer Wednesday night in a win over the White Sox. Judge reached 300 big flies ...

In 955 games, fewest ever (surpassing Ralph Kiner at 1,087)
In 3,431 at-bats, fewest ever (surpassing Babe Ruth at 3,831)
Before recording his 1,000th career hit, joining Mark McGwire as the only players to achieve that mark

Judge and Juan Soto -- our Good Morning recipient Tuesday -- joined Ruth and Lou Gehrig as the only duos in Yankees history to each have 30 home runs and 100 walks in the same season. (And New York still has 40 games remaining.)

😌 Honorable mentions

The USMNT hired Mauricio Pochettino as its new coach, per reports.
Jim Harbaugh offered Colin Kaepernick a coaching position.
The Lions are honoring a fan who saved a woman from drowning.
Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah got a three-year, $39 million extension from the Browns.
One game, one goal, one trophy. Kylian Mbappe is off to a flying start at Real Madrid, which beat Atalanta 2-0 to win the UEFA Super Cup.
These under-the-radar prospects will have big impacts on MLB playoff races.
The Diamondbacks are on an absolute heater.
Wisconsin named Tyler Van Dyke its starting quarterback.
The Jazz signed Patty Mills.
Here's the 2025 PGA Tour schedule.

🏈 And not such a good morning for ...

J.J. McCARTHY AND THE MINNESOTA VIKINGS

The worst-case scenario came true: J.J. McCarthy is out for the season after undergoing a full repair of his meniscus. Vikings coach Kevin O'Connell said he was "crushed" by the news but added, "Our fanbase and everyone should just be excited about the fact that we've got our young franchise quarterback."

The more major surgical option is actually better for the long-term health of the knee, which makes it a smart choice given McCarthy's likely developmental path.

Sam Darnold is now the presumptive starter for the entire season, and there's reason to believe he can put together his best campaign as a pro (not an especially high bar) given O'Connell's scheme and play-calling chops. He'll also have a strong supporting cast led by Justin Jefferson and Jordan Addison, who is believed to have avoided serious injury after being carted off at practice.

McCarthy, who didn't throw a ton at Michigan, will miss a valuable year of growth and reps, and Minnesota's depth at quarterback just took a major hit. As for the second part, Cody Benjamin has three options for the Vikings if they choose to add another backup.

McCarthy is the eighth first-round quarterback in the common draft era (since 1967) to miss his entire rookie season and the first to miss it all due to injury.

😔 Not-so-honorable mentions

With another running back suffering a season-ending injury, Texas' title hopes hit took a hit.
Mark Andrews was in a car accident but did not sustain apparent injuries. Ravens offensive line coach Joe D'Alessandris was hospitalized with an acute illness.
Edwin Díaz did not like Austin Adams' celebration.
Brewers owner Mark Attanasio is being accused of stealing sand. What?
MGK's ceremonial first pitch was ... uh ... something.
NASCAR penalized Austin Dillon for his driving at Richmond.

🏈 Falcons acquire Matthew Judon from Patriots

They took a circuitous route to get there, but the Falcons finally have their pass rusher. Atlanta acquired Matthew Judon from the Patriots in exchange for a third-round pick.

Judon, 32, was holding in at Patriots training camp as he sought a new contract.
Judon does not have a new contract from Atlanta yet, but don't mistake this for the Haason Reddick/Jets conundrum. Judon and the Falcons are expected to get a deal done very soon, according to CBS Sports lead NFL insider Jonathan Jones.
The Falcons had been looking for pass rush help for a while, which is part of what made the Michael Penix Jr. pick puzzling. They tried and failed to get Montez Sweat at last year's trade deadline before trying and failing to get back into the first round of the 2024 NFL Draft to get Laiatu Latu. Furthermore, third-round rookie Bralen Trice is out for the season with a knee injury.
Atlanta ranked 25th in the NFL in quarterback pressure rate (32.7%) and tied for 21st in sacks (42) last season.

Judon is good. Really good. He made four straight Pro Bowls from 2019-22 with a career-high 15.5 sacks in 2022 before missing much of last season with a torn bicep. From 2021-22, Judon had 28 sacks, tied for third in the NFL, and he is a good run defender as well. With Kirk Cousins now age 35, Atlanta is in win-now mode, and this is a win-now move.

Both teams earned solid marks in Garrett Podell's trade grades.

🏈 CBS Sports Preseason All-America team, awards

Single digits! Single digits! Now just nine days away from college football season, we have selected the 2024 CBS Sports / 247Sports Preseason All-America team as well as our preseason award picks.

Georgia's Carson Beck is the first-team quarterback and the Preseason Player of the Year, and Shehan Jeyarajah explains why.

Jeyarajah: "Despite rating as one of the top quarterback prospects in the Class of 2020, Beck sat and waited for three full seasons before even his first career start. All Beck has done since then is develop into perhaps the best quarterback in college football. ... As a junior, Beck completed a ridiculous 72.4% of his passes for 3,941 yards, 24 touchdowns and six interceptions. He ranked top 10 in passing yards, completion percentage, yards per attempt and passing grade. Beck is one of the top pocket passers in college football, quickly making decisions and getting the ball out."

Meanwhile, the coach already with the most pressure on him just got a little more: Ohio State's Ryan Day is our pick for Preseason Coach of the Year.

The Buckeyes have two first-team selections (OL Donovan Jackson and DB Caleb Downs), three second-team selections (RB Quinshon Judkins, WR Emeka Egbuka and CB Denzel Burke) and Preseason Freshman of the Year WR Jeremiah Smith.

🏈 NFL breakout players for every team

This time last year, Kyren Williams was a relative unknown in a muddled backfield, Puka Nacua was an intriguing but injury-prone fifth-round rookie, Justin Madubuike was a steady but unspectacular defensive tackle and DaRon Bland was considered the third-best cornerback on his own team.

Fast forward to today and all four are coming off All-Pro seasons. These are what we call "breakouts," and Jared Dubin has a breakout candidate for all 32 NFL teams entering this season. One of my favorite picks:

Dubin: "Colts: Anthony Richardson -- Richardson showcased his outrageous skill set during the few opportunities he got on the field last season. Colts coach Shane Steichen has shown a consistent ability to milk every ounce of talent out of his quarterbacks, and Richardson may be the most physically talented quarterback he's ever had."

I wrote about Richardson a few weeks ago and believe he has a tremendously high ceiling. Will he hit it? Jared's piece is terrific and will make you look really smart once the season starts.

🏀 WNBA storylines as games resume tonight

Welcome back, WNBA! League action returns from its All-Star/Olympic break tonight with three games, so let's give you a bit of a reset on where things stand. Here's the top of the standings:

Liberty: 21-4
Sun: 18-6 (2.5 GB)
Lynx: 17-8 (4 GB)
Storm: 17-8 (4 GB)
Aces: 16-8 (4.5 GB)

Those five have separated themselves from the rest of the pack. Further down the standings, Caitlin Clark's Fever and Angel Reese's Sky are trying to hold on to playoff positions. Fittingly, Clark and Reese's historic production is among five key storylines down the stretch, Jack Maloney writes ...

Maloney: "Clark, the No. 1 overall pick, is the Rookie of the Year favorite. She's averaging 17.1 points, 5.8 rebounds and a league-best 8.2 assists per game, became the first rookie in league history to record a triple-double and set the single-game assist record with 19. ... Reese, meanwhile, fell to No. 7 in the draft and was not expected to be this impactful this soon. She's putting up 13.5 points and 11.9 rebounds per game, leads the league in offensive rebounding and recorded 15 double-doubles in a row to set the longest streak in league history."

📺 What we're watching Thursday

⚾ Athletics at Mets OR Mariners at Tigers, 1:10 p.m. on MLB Network
🏈 Eagles at Patriots, 7 p.m. on NFL Network
⚾ Twins at Rangers, 8:10 p.m. on FS1
🏀 Liberty at Sparks, 9 p.m. on ESPN