First Call: Another cornerback Steelers may consider in draft; bad night for Penguins in playoff race; Pirates bets
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With the draft about a month away, we keep surfing through potential cornerback picks for the Pittsburgh Steelers. The Penguins had a tough night when it came to their playoff chances. A former Pitt basketball rival now seems to have interest in transferring to the Panthers.
And we look at some gambling odds as the Pirates prepare to start the regular season.
It’s all in Thursday’s “First Call.”
Looking toward Louisville
A gradually improving cornerback prospect may have caught the eye of the Steelers in advance of the NFL Draft.
Tony Pauline of Pro Football Network says that Louisville’s Kei’Trel Clark is gaining momentum as the draft process winds along. He lists the Steelers as one of many teams tracking Clark’s progress.
Here’s what Pauline wrote on Wednesday: “The senior was outstanding during three days of Shrine Bowl practice and then was listed as one of my Combine winners from Saturday’s workout. Clark sat on his numbers from Indianapolis and looked terrific in position drills, which many consider the strength of his game.
Clark is a natural slot corner, and while I have him graded as a fourth-round prospect, there’s a feeling he may sneak into the back end of Round 3. The 49ers, Bengals, Steelers, and Cardinals are showing a lot of interest in Clark.”
Many think the Steelers may take a cornerback in the first two rounds. But if they don’t, maybe that’s when Clark comes into play. Clark had five career interceptions in three years at Louisville after transferring from Liberty following his freshman year.
Betting on the Bucs
As the Pirates prepare for Thursday’s opening day in Cincinnati, their over-under win total is 67½, according to BetRivers. After taking on some heavy optimistic action during the offseason, the number has settled in at that total the past few weeks.
Personally, I’m going over. I have the Pirates at 72 wins.
As far as some other totals, the Buccos are at +8000 (bet $100 to win $8000) to win the National League Central. They are +1600 to make the playoffs, minus-10000 to miss (bet $10,000 to win $100).
To win the National League, the Pirates are a +15000 long shot. To win the World Series, they stand at +30000. Only the Washington Nationals and Oakland A’s have longer odds at +50000 each.
Here’s one bet you can definitely make. You can bet on me lighting $100 on fire before I’d ever bet it on the Pirates winning the World Series.
Unpleasant viewing
If the Penguins were scoreboard watching Wednesday night, they didn’t like what they saw.
The Florida Panthers won 3-2 in overtime over the Toronto Maple Leafs. Brandon Montour won it in overtime.
LET'S GO HOME BABY pic.twitter.com/Y05hxDxNqR
— Florida Panthers (@FlaPanthers) March 30, 2023
The two points for the Panthers give them 81 now. That’s just one point behind the Penguins (82 points) for the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference.
The Penguins have eight games left. They next play the Nashville Predators (82 points) on Thursday night at PPG Paints Arena. The Panthers have seven games left and visit the Montreal Canadiens (66 points) on Thursday.
More sports
• Entering 4th season as manager, Derek Shelton expects that Pirates ‘have a team that’s better’
• Calijah Kancey, Izzy Abanikanda open NFL eyes at Pitt’s Pro Day
• Mark Madden: GM Ron Hextall deserves blame for Penguins’ goaltending disaster
It gets no better
The Penguins also got no help from the Washington Capitals. That’s because the Caps were playing the team the Penguins are chasing for the first wild-card spot, the New York Islanders. And the Islanders won 2-1 in a shootout.
Ilya Sorokin stopped 25 of 26 shots for the win. Bo Horvat and Kyle Palmieri scored shootout goals for the Islanders.
Shootout goals brought to you by Horvat and Palmieri ???????? pic.twitter.com/Kl8L09XKeb
— New York Islanders (@NYIslanders) March 30, 2023
That means the Islanders have 87 points, atop the Eastern Conference wild-card standings, five more than the Penguins. However, New York has a very difficult upcoming schedule. The Islanders play the Tampa Bay Lightning on the road Saturday, then they visit the Metropolitan Division-leading Carolina Hurricanes on Sunday, followed by a return game in New York against the Lightning on April 6.
Familiar feel
The Pitt Panthers are courting a frequent rival in the transfer portal. According to Adam Zagoria of New York Times Sports, Syracuse transfer guard Joe Girard is hosting Pitt head coach Jeff Capel today for an in-home visit.
Other schools meeting with him in that capacity are Washington, Stanford, LSU and Butler.
Syracuse transfer Joe Girard @JG3_____ has
completed home visit with Butler, Stanford and LSU.Today Coach Jeff Capel from Pitt is coming and so is Coach Mike Hopkins from Washington. https://t.co/HbUIWlxr2G
— Adam Zagoria (@AdamZagoria) March 29, 2023
Girard played four years with Syracuse, starting 123 games. He finished with 297 three-pointers.
The guard has already declared he will test the NBA waters before deciding if he goes pro or comes back to college basketball for a fifth year of eligibility.