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Roy Halladay and his former Philadelphia Phillies teammate Cole Hamels were both in the news this week; Halladay for signing a one-day contract with the Blue Jays, so he could officially retire where it all began for him and Hamels, along with fellow Phillies southpaw Cliff Lee, were both mentioned in possible trade talks, which were later refuted by the Phillies special advisor Pat Gillick on TSN Drive with Dave Naylor. Kristaps Porzingis Jersey . That led me to go back and look at the years Halladay and Hamels were drafted. Oddly enough, they were both chosen 17th overall in the June draft; Halladay in 1995 and Hamels in 2002. The player drafted immediately ahead of Halladay was pitcher Joe Fontenot by the San Francisco Giants. He was later one of three prospects traded to the Marlins for closer Robb Nen, who went on to save 206 games over the next five years before calling it a career with 314 total saves. Meanwhile, Fontenot debuted with the Marlins in 1998 with an 0-7 record and an ERA over 6. He blew out his arm and never pitched in the Majors again. So what made the Giants pick Fontenot ahead of Halladay? Darin Erstad went first overall in 1995 and had a solid career with the Angels. Jose Cruz Jr., who also had a decent career, went third to Seattle and was later traded to the Blue Jays. Kerry Wood was the fourth pick by the Chicago Cubs and had a good career that was cut short by injuries. The best player to come out of the first round in 1995 was Todd Helton, who was picked eighth by the Colorado Rockies and should get into the Hall of Fame someday. After Halladay, no other player in the first round had any kind of significant impact in the Majors. Cole Hamels was selected 17th overall in 2002. Righthander Bryan Bullington went first overall that year and was essentially a bust. He actually pitched four games with the Blue Jays in 2009 and another 13 with the Kansas City Royals the following year before disappearing from the Majors. In that same draft, Zack Greinke went sixth to the Royals and Prince Fielder seventh to the Milwaukee Brewers. The Blue Jays had the 14th pick and chose second baseman Russ Adams, who never really panned out. Hamels went three picks later at 17 but the really remarkable one is that Giants star righthander Matt Cain went 25th overall. Near Misses A couple of more near misses for the Jays cam in 2009 and 2010. In 2009, the St. Louis Cardinals chose righthander Shelby Miller, who had a breakout season for them last year. Right after that, the Blue Jays chose Chad Jenkins with the 20th pick. To be fair, Jenkins did a pretty good job in long relief last season, but hasnt progressed as far as Miller just yet. Then in 2010, the Blue Jays chose righthander Deck McGuire 11th overall. Two picks later, the Chicago White Sox grabbed lefty Chris Sale, who has already blossomed into a star. Just think, if the Blue Jays had Miller, Hamels and Sale, we wouldnt be sitting here today saying they still need to add two starting pitchers to their rotation. But Im sure a lot of other teams are saying the same thing. Thats what makes the draft, for the most part, such an unpredictable crapshoot. Taj Gibson Jersey . Wheeler scored at 4:58 of overtime, with Scheifele getting an assist, and the Jets beat the slumping Colorado Avalanche 2-1 on Sunday night. Art Heyman Jersey . The agreement comes a little more than one week after the video game manufacturer agreed to a $40 million settlement in a similar but separate case, bringing the total payout planned for athletes to $60 million, said Steve Berman, an attorney for the plaintiffs, and the NCAA. https://www.cheapknicks.com/ .Brady threw a 69-yard touchdown pass to Julian Edelman midway through the fourth quarter, and New England beat the San Diego Chargers 23-14 for its eighth win in nine games.HOUSTON - The top spot in the AFC South will be on the line when Houston native Andrew Luck and the Indianapolis Colts shoot for their fourth straight win when they take on the Texans at NRG Stadium. The defending division champion Colts have rebounded from a slow 0-2 start with three consecutive wins, including last weekends 20-13 triumph over Baltimore. Indianapolis has also generally dominated the Texans over the years, winning three consecutive games in the rivalry and compiling a gaudy 20-4 overall record against Houston. Meanwhile, the Colts have also excelled on short weeks, winning nine straight games when playing on Thursday despite the lack of preparation time. Its annoying for players, Texans star running back Arian Foster said this week when asked about playing on Thursday. I dont know one player that likes it. I really dont know a fan that likes it, either. I think its just the leagues way of trying to generate more revenue. Nobody is ready to play physically after a Sunday game. But youve got to go out there and do it. No team has figured out how to do it better than the Colts, who are 11-1-1 in Thursday games. The only thing trending in Houstons direction is the fact that the home team has won four of the first five Thursday matchups in 2014. Last weekend Luck passed for a touchdown and ran for another score against the Ravens, connecting on 32-of-49 passes for 312 yards, his fourth 300-yard passing performance in five tries this season. The only negative aspect of the ledger for Luck was two interceptions. Ahmad Bradshaw added 68 yards on the ground but his fumble inside two minutes left nearly cost the game for the Colts. Its huge to survive our mistakes in a sense, said Luck. Its the epitome of a team football game, of a defense lifting us up in a sense. We made our plays enough to get a win obviously. The Texans, meanwhile, are coming off a tough loss in Dallas, losing a Lone Star State matchup with the Cowboys in overtime. Dan Bailey kicked the game-winning 49-yard field goal in the extra frame to lift Dallas. The Texans had scored the last 10 points of regulation to force OT, but punted on the opening possession of the extra session. The Cowboys DeMarco Murray picked up 11 yards on a 3rd-and-1, and on an ensuing 3rd-and-8, Tony Romo lofted a rainbow along the left sideline for Dez Bryant. Texans cornerback Johnathan Joseph had tight coverage on Bryant, who ran a stop-and-go route, but Bryant was able to reach over top of his helmet to make a spectacular grab. It was the play of the game, Cowboys head coach Jason Garrett said. I dont know if theres a better guy in the league that can make those kind of contested catches than Dez Bryant. Bailey, who missed a 53-yard field goal on the final play of regulation to snap his streak of 30 consecutive field goals, was able to split the uprights this time from the left hash with 7:45 on the clock. Foster carried the ball 23 times for 157 yards and two scores for the Texans (3-2), who have dropped two of three since beginning the year 2-0. Our defense did a good job of holding us in there, Texans head coach Bill OBrien said. We just didnt do enough offensively. Ryan Fitzpatrick was 16-of-25 for 154 yards with an interception, DeAndre Hopkins caught six passes for 63 yards and Andre Johnson hauled in five balls for 58 yards in defeat. No loss feels good, but, like I said, we have a quick turnarouund, OBrien continued. Langston Galloway Jersey. Weve got to get better, and weve got to get better fast because we havent played a division game yet and we have a very big division game coming up on Thursday night in front of our home fans. WHAT TO WATCH FOR Luck and the Colts have gotten fat over the past three weeks thanks to a fortuitous turn in their schedule with two lightly-regarded opponents -- Jacksonville and Tennessee -- followed by a home game against Baltimore. That said you can only play who is put in front of you and Indianapolis has handled its business, outscoring those three opponents by a combined 105-47 margin or by an average of 35-16. The Colts defense, which allowed 409.5 yards per game in the first two games of the season, has settled down and surrendered only 297.3 per game since. The unit mustered just one sack and one turnover in the first two and had generated 11 sacks and nine takeaways during its three-game run with outside linebacker Bjoern Werner registering a career-high two sacks last weekend. The good thing about the Colts is that were very familiar with them, Texans tackle Duane Brown said. Of course you have a different game plan than weve had in years past, but as far as the personnel and things like that we kind of know what to expect. Of course, the real strength of the Colts lies in their QB, Luck, who pilots an offense that is second overall in the NFL with 439.6 YPG and tops in passing offense (321.8 YPG). Luck himself leads the NFL with 1,617 passing yards and 14 touchdowns but the free thrower is also tops in interceptions with six. With seven catches for 77 yards against the Ravens, veteran Indy wide receiver Reggie Wayne (13,950) surpassed Hall of Famer Cris Carter for the ninth-most receiving yards of all-time. Wayne needs 55 yards against the Texans to surpass another Hall of Famer, James Lofton, for eighth place. Wayne will also look to extend his streak of impressive performances against AFC South opponents. Since divisional realignment in 2002, Wayne leads all active players in receptions (376) and receiving yards (5,077) against his own division. The impressive Houston defense is led by All-Pro defensive lineman J.J. Watt, who has two sacks, three batdowns, an interception return for a TD, and an NFL- high 16 QB hits through five outings, and leads the NFL with 12 takeaways. Safeties Kendrick Lewis and D.J. Swearinger both have three forced fumbles, tied for the most in the NFL, and inside linebacker Brian Cushing leads the unit with 45 tackles. Offensively the Texans will continue to rely on their own veteran receiver, Johnson, who needs just 19 receiving yards to become the 15th player in NFL history to reach 13,000, as well as Foster, who leads the AFC since 2010 with 5,210 rushing yards and 45 touchdowns, including 752 yards (125.3 per game) and six touchdowns in six career matchups against Indianapolis. OVERALL ANALYSIS History says the Colts are usually the better prepared team on a short week and there is little reason to expect that to change this time around. Indianapolis has never lost on NFL Networks Thursday Night Football, posting a 7-0 record dating back to 2007 with six of those seven wins coming on the road. You realize once the game starts, its football, said Luck. Theres no use complaining or whining about anything. Its what you do. Sports Network predicted outcome: Colts 24, Texans 17 ' ' '