Red Sox Star Roman Anthony Blows Away Boston Radio Hosts — and more

Red Sox Star Roman Anthony Blows Away Boston Radio Hosts originally appeared on NESN. Add NESN as a Preferred Source by clicking here.

Boston Red Sox star Roman Anthony is one of the most impressive young players in baseball, both on and off the field. He proved that last summer during his stellar rookie campaign, and he's proving it again during spring training.

WEEI's "The Greg Hill Show" visited Red Sox spring training in Fort Myers, Florida, last week and interviewed Anthony, who praised Boston sports fans and their passion for the team. He also spoke about how the Red Sox hold themselves to a high standard and expect to win the World Series this year.

On Monday morning, the radio hosts discussed how impressed they were with Anthony's poise, polish, modesty and maturity for a 21-year-old kid.

Happy March! Spring is close and that means Red Sox baseball!
Optimistic? Scheim is encouraged with this 2026 baseball team. Are you? If this Sox team stays healthy, what is its ceiling? #RedSox#MLB#Baseball#Bostonpic.twitter.com/wI5kYiTdVJ

— WEEI (@WEEI) March 2, 2026

"I'm so impressed with him. He may know what he's supposed to be or what everybody expects him to be, but he doesn't act like somebody who is reading his own headlines and is worried about anything other than the baseball team," Greg Hill said. "He's just unbelieveable, and he's only 21 years old, which is the amazing thing about it."

Hill's co-host and producer Chris Curtis agreed. "Honestly, it's insane," Curtis said. 

After trading Rafael Devers last season and moving on from Alex Bregman in free agency, the Red Sox have made Anthony the face of their franchise. They rewarded him with a historic eight-year, $130 million contract extension last August, locking him up for most of the next decade just two months into his MLB career.

Anthony lived up to the hype last year, but time will tell if he can get even better and develop into a perennial All-Star and MVP candidate over the next few seasons. Based on his skills and how he handles himself, nobody would be surprised if he does.

More MLB: Boston Radio Hosts Reveal Encouraging Takeaways From Red Sox Spring Training Visit

It’s safe to say not everyone was sold on Ryan Day’s hire of Matt Patricia as defensive coordinator when Jim Knowles took the Penn State job. Our own site listed the uncertainty of the choice as one of the Buckeyes’ biggest concerns last summer.

While things hadn’t gone so well for Patricia as an NFL head coach in Detroit — lack of success by no means being uncommon for Lions coaches from a historical standpoint — or in some of his positions since, his NFL experience is something Day covets.

Patricia got the job, and the reaction from Ohio State writers and fans was mixed, at best.

Those concerns were quickly put to rest. Despite having to completely rebuild a defense that lost a ton of departing talent to the NFL after the 2024 national championship season, Patricia’s unit was not only Ohio State’s best in 2025, but it was the top defense in college football.

The Buckeyes finished first in scoring defense, allowing fewer than double-digit points per game (9.3), and led the nation in total defense, allowing just an average of 219 yards per game. With an entirely new defensive line, Ohio State held opponents to less than 90 yards rushing per game, finishing seventh nationally in run defense, while leading the country in pass defense, giving up a stingy 129.7 yards per game through the air.

There is no room for criticism for the numbers in the above paragraph. It’s ludicrous to expect that kind of performance, let alone any improvement on it.

Leading the country in three of the four major defensive categories makes the 2025 defense historically good (and it’s even better when you consider the Buckeyes led the country in red zone defense and were No. 10 nationally in third-down defense), and the architect of that defense putting to rest any doubts about his return can be seen as nothing but a positive for Ohio State football in 2026.

A side effect of being one of the top programs in the country is that other schools are always coming for your coaches. At Ohio State, it isn’t just college programs coming for them; the NFL also comes calling. With the ridiculous season Patricia’s defense just had, there were no doubt suitors for his services from both college and NFL teams.

Although Patricia’s initial deal was through 2027, there was never any guarantee of his return after turning the OSU defense into a buzzsaw that improved a national championship-caliber defense.

Now that Patricia has committed to being in Columbus for another year, he has the unenviable task of replacing several key parts of his own elite defense.

The good news is there is plenty of talent returning and several new arrivals via the transfer portal that will help. The bad news is that it is a big ask to replace Kayden McDonald’s explosive play on the defensive line and “unicorn” players like Caleb Downs and Arvell Reese, along with an elite linebacker talent in Sonny Styles and top cornerback Davison Igbinosun.

Despite the losses of Downs, Reese, and Styles in particular, the job of rebuilding the defense seems less daunting now than it did a year ago.

Ohio State’s returning starters and depth players have been in Patricia’s system for a year. They should be better pepared in their second year, even if some of them will become first-time starters. New arrivals will help mitigate some of the losses.

Again, it’s ludicrous to expect a repeat of what Patricia’s defense did in 2025 in the season ahead, especially with a tougher schedule to play, but Ohio State’s second-year defensive coordinator has done enough to at least silence last year’s critics and build trust that the Silver Bullets will be back in 2026.

Uefa fine Tottenham Hotspur and give them a suspended ban from selling away tickets after three supporters made Nazi salutes towards Eintracht Frankfurt fans.

It is not likely that the Chicago Bears take receiver Makai Lemon with their first round pick. The Bears' last season set their fans' hearts on fire by taking tight end Colston Loveland with their first-round pick instead of addressing other critical needs. That move panned out to be one of the best picks of last year's draft. Colston Loveland looks like a top five tight end already after his rookie season. Ben Johnson was right, and Loveland fits the offense perfectly. Could Ben Johnson and Ryan Poles take another swing for Caleb Williams?

There have been talks that the Bears are going to move on from D.J. Moore, with his current contract not matching his production, and the Bears being in a bit of a pickle with their current cap. If they move on from Moore, there is a bit of a question which receiver would step up to being that alpha male. The Bears do have loads of talent at that position, just still no clear #1. Rome Odunze was supposed to be that guy, but injuries have set that back from happening, and he has a recurring issue with drops. Luther Burden is an insane playmaker, but it might be too early to expect him to be that #1 guy.

Makai Lemon, a former Trojan teammate of Caleb Williams, listed Caleb as one of his picks for quarterbacks he would want to play with. In 2023, there was not much success between these two together, but there is a great relationship still there. With the player that Lemon is now, he would be dangerous in a Ben Johnson offense and with Caleb Williams.

If the Bears were to trade up and draft Makai Lemon, it would be another move that would be hated, but a move that pays off big dividends. Makai Lemon, as a rookie, I think, would be the best receiver on this team, and he would fit in perfectly. He is a smaller receiver who can dominate in the slot, while Luther Burden and Rome Odunze can dominate on the outside. He is elite at things other than his counterparts, making for a truly special offense.

Now, this would be a fantasy situation, but if it were to actually happen, Colston Loveland, Makai Lemon, Luther Burden, and Rome Odunze would maybe be the best receiving combination in the NFL. All of them are young, too, which would be scary for the rest of the NFL. Allowing Ben Johnson and Caleb Williams to work with that seems like it would be illegal.

As I mentioned, it may be a far-stretched concept, but boy, would it be fun to watch. The Chicago Bears would have the best offense in the NFL, and they could bring back the idea of the greatest show on turf. While it is a very unlikely landing spot for Makai Lemon, I do not think there is a better case scenario for him other than landing in Chicago.

This article originally appeared on Trojans Wire: Makai Lemon and Caleb Williams would light it up together in Chicago

During her 11-year WNBA career, Chelsea Gray has collected an impressive cabinet of championships and awards. She added yet another accomplishment to her collection Monday, as Gray was named the MVP of Unrivaled's 2026 season.

Gray, 33, turned in a fantastic season with Rose BC, averaging 24.2 points, 6.1 assists and 5.6 rebounds in 14 games played. 

This story will be updated.