With so much coverage of this year’s promising class of rookie quarterbacks, it’s easy to overlook the historical aspect of this past weekend. Five rookie starters — Chicago’s Caleb Williams, Washington’s Jayden Daniels, New England’s Drake Maye, Denver’s Bo Nix and New Orleans’ Spencer Rattler — combined for 12 touchdown passes.

That’s as many as they’d thrown in the first five weeks of this season combined, and it’s also the most touchdown passes ever thrown by rookie quarterbacks in one NFL weekend. The old record was 11, set in Week 16 of 2019 when Daniel Jones had five for the Giants, Dwayne Haskins had two for Washington, and four others — Arizona’s Kyler Murray, Detroit’s David Blough, Denver’s Drew Lock and Jacksonville’s Gardner Minshew — added one each.

This past weekend, Williams had four, Maye had three, Daniels and Nix threw two each and Rattler had one. It’s only the second time four rookies have thrown multiple touchdown passes in the same weekend. The other time came in 2011 when Carolina’s Cam Newton, Jacksonville’s Blaine Gabbert, Minnesota’s Christian Ponder and Houston’s T.J. Yates accomplished the feat.

The individual success of this year’s rookie QBs is magnified by their team success. Daniels’ Commanders are 4-2 and surprise leaders atop the NFC East, and Williams’ Bears have the same 4-2 mark to much the same shock. Nix’s Broncos are 3-3, and the rest of the class is still searching for consistent wins.

Will this be a historic class of rookie quarterbacks? They’re on course for 68 touchdown passes, which would be one fewer than last year’s rookies, led by Houston’s C.J. Stroud (23 TD passes). The record for one rookie class of quarterbacks is 101 touchdowns, set in 2012 by a group led by Seattle’s Russell Wilson, Indianapolis’ Andrew Luck and Washington’s Robert Griffin III. And success as rookies doesn’t mean they’ll end up legends: The 2019 class had 90 touchdowns as rookies, with Jones and Jacksonville’s Trevor Lawrence potentially as the only NFL starters left from that group by Sunday.

It used to be a generational class of quarterbacks might not show up much at all as rookies. The 2004 draft yielded three of the top 11 quarterbacks ever in career passing yardage in the Giants’ Eli Manning, the Chargers‘ Philip Rivers and the Steelers‘ Ben Roethlisberger, but that rookie class had only 36 touchdowns total. Manning had six as a rookie, Rivers only one.

Chargers rookies step up vs. Broncos

What NFL team had the most offensive/defensive snaps by rookies in Week 6? It was the Chargers, who got 283 from six rookies in their win over the Broncos. First-round tackle Joe Alt is a mainstay, second-round receiver Ladd McConkey is top-six in catches, receiving yards and touchdowns, and even third-round linebacker Junior Colson (who followed Jim Harbaugh from Michigan) has eight tackles in three games.

The surprise impact Sunday came from three late-round picks. Fifth-round corners Tarheeb Still and Cam Hart both started and played 105 of 110 defensive snaps, and sixth-round running back Kimani Vidal, making his NFL debut, caught a 38-yard touchdown pass from Justin Herbert.

Fourth-round backs shine as injury replacements

Last week, it was the Giants’ Tyrone Tracy Jr. and the Dolphins‘ Jaylen Wright who stepped in as injury replacements and helped their teams to victory. In Week 6, there were three more such spot-start rookie stars.

— Buffalo’s Ray Davis, a fourth-round pick from Kentucky, stepped in for the injured James Cook on Monday, rushed 20 times for 97 yards and caught three passes for 55 yards in a close win over the Jets. Davis had six carries for 48 yards on the opening drive and added a 42-yard catch to set up another touchdown.

— San Francisco’s Isaac Guerendo, a fourth-round pick from Louisville, shined with Christian McCaffrey still sidelined and fill-in Jordan Mason in and out during Thursday’s win against Seattle. Guerendo broke out for a 76-yard run — the second-longest run in the NFL this season — in the final two minutes after the Seahawks had rallied back within five points. He finished with 99 yards on 10 carries, missing the century mark when he lost a yard on his final carry of the night.

— Tampa Bay’s Bucky Irving, a fourth-round pick from Oregon, got his first NFL start with Rachaad White sidelined and was part of the Bucs’ 277-yard day, rushing 14 times for 81 yards and a touchdown in a 51-27 rout of the Saints. Irving also moved ahead of Washington’s Daniels to take over the NFL rookie rushing lead with 328 yards.

Cooper DeJean finally gets to make an impact

Eagles second-round corner Cooper DeJean logged only eight defensive snaps before making his first start Sunday, taking over as Philadelphia’s slot corner. He played well against the Browns, logging six tackles and even sharing in a sack of Deshaun Watson. DeJean made an impact on special teams as well, handling punt returns and getting 51 yards on his four returns.

Tykee Smith keys Bucs’ defense vs. Saints

Only two rookies have both an interception and a forced fumble this season, and Bucs’ third-round nickel Tykee Smith had both on Sunday in Tampa Bay’s win over the Saints. His forced fumble was scooped up by safety Antoine Winfield for a touchdown, and his interception was part of a dominant fourth quarter as the Bucs pulled away. Smith picked off Rattler for the second year in a row, having gotten an interception last year when he was at Georgia and Rattler was at South Carolina.

The other rookie with an interception and a forced fumble this season is Packers safety Evan Williams, a fourth-rounder from Oregon.

NFC North: Division of first-year kickers

The entire NFC North is off to a dominant start, all 4-2 or better, but the unsung common thread in the division: first-year kickers.

Minnesota’s rookie kicker, Will Reichard, a sixth-round pick from Alabama, is 25-for-25 this year, hitting all nine field goals and 16 extra points. Green Bay’s Brayden Narveson, undrafted out of NC State, already has 12 field goals, and Detroit has a first-year kicker in Jake Bates, who is 25-for-26 to open his NFL career. The NFC North has three first-year kickers, while the rest of the NFL has a total of two.

Greg Auman is an NFL Reporter for FOX Sports. He previously spent a decade covering the Buccaneers for the Tampa Bay Times and The Athletic. You can follow him on Twitter at @gregauman.

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Sudan have only featured once at the Afcon finals since 2013, and reaching the 2025 edition in Morocco would be all the more remarkable given the ongoing conflict in the country and the fact the side have been forced to hold their home qualifiers at neutral venues.

“It puts us on the brink of a historic qualification,” Sudanese journalist Abdul Musa told the BBC World Service.

“Everybody knows the situation back home, and it just shows that the togetherness, the chemistry within the team.”

Sudan will round off their Group F campaign with an away tie against Niger and a ‘home’ game against Angola next month.

Both matches are set to be at neutral venues as Niger do not have a stadium fit for international football.

“I think every African kid grew up watching the Africa Cup of Nations and wanting to be a part of it,” said former Bradford City and Grimsby Town man Eisa, who now plays in Thailand.

“Now that we’ve come so close to it, we still need to finish the business. But it’ll be a dream come true for me and for a lot of us.”

German football expert Raphael Honigstein joins BBC Sport to discuss the attributes of new England head coach Thomas Tuchel.

Honigstein was speaking on The Football News Show on Tuesday, before Tuchel’s appointment was confirmed by the Football Association on Wednesday.

Watch The Football News Show on iPlayer

Former England captain Alan Shearer says the Three Lions “need a manager who can deliver a trophy” after German Thomas Tuchel agreed to become the next boss.

Tuchel, 51, is set to become the third non-British permanent manager of the England men’s team, with a media conference expected on Wednesday at Wembley.

Tuchel, who won the Champions League with Chelsea in 2021, will be tasked with leading England to the 2026 World Cup, where they will hope to end a 60-year wait for a major trophy.

“We need a trophy – it’s as simple as that. We need a manager who can deliver that,” Shearer said on The Rest Is Football, external podcast.

“There’s no doubt [Tuchel] has an incredible CV, but this is going to be a very different test for him. It’s a bold move from the FA, there’s no doubt about it.

“You have to win the tournament, that’s what he’s been hired for. They [the FA] have seen the bunch of players are the best England have had for a long, long time.”

England have been without a permanent manager since Gareth Southgate resigned after eight years in charge following the Euro 2024 final defeat by Spain, with Lee Carsley appointed on an interim basis.

Sven-Goran Eriksson and Fabio Capello are the only previous non-British permanent England men’s managers, but unlike his predecessors Tuchel is familiar with English football – having managed Chelsea between January 2021 and September 2022.

“Tuchel will have looked at this squad and thought there is so much talent in there, this is an unbelievable opportunity of winning the greatest trophy of all,” former England striker Gary Lineker said.

“I would have given the job to Carsley. I have seen enough to suggest the players really trust him, that he’s imaginative enough to produce something that is a joy to watch – entertaining front-footed football.”

Former England defender Micah Richards said: “The point is we don’t have an English candidate strong enough to take that job, that’s one of the most interesting things.

“I was of the opinion that we don’t need an English manager, just go out and get the best person for the job. I think Tuchel is an outstanding manager, a proven winner.”

Aaron Judge hit a two-run drive into Monument Park for his first home run of this postseason, and the New York Yankees beat the Cleveland Guardians 6-3 on Tuesday night to take a 2-0 AL Championship Series lead.

Judge, who entered with just one RBI in the playoffs, hit a sacrifice fly in a two-run second that put the Yankees ahead 3-0. With New York leading 4-2 in the seventh, the likely AL MVP drove a fastball at the letters from Hunter Gaddis 414 feet to center for his 14th career postseason home run.

Yankees’ Aaron Judge hits his first homer of the postseason, solidifying the win over the Guardians

In a matchup of aces who had off nights, Cleveland’s Tanner Bibee got just four outs in the shortest start of his professional career and an erratic Gerrit Cole was chased after four walks in 4 1/3 innings.

Winner Clay Holmes, Tim Hill and Tommy Kahnle combined for 3 2/3 scoreless innings. José Ramírez hit a ninth-inning home run off Luke Weaver, just the second earned run New York’s bullpen has allowed over 23 1/3 innings in six postseason games.

After a day off, Game 3 is Thursday in Cleveland. The Yankees lead the ALCS 2-0 for the first time since 2009 against the Los Angeles Angels.

New York’s Gleyber Torres reached base leading off for the fifth time in the playoffs and had three hits. Anthony Rizzo had two hits and is 3-for-7 in two games since returning from a pair of fractured fingers that caused him to miss the Division Series.

Rookie shortstop Brayan Rocchio and right fielder Will Brennan committed run-scoring errors for the Guardians.

Rocchio dropped Judge’s first-inning popup, allowing Torres to score. After Cleveland closed to 3-2, Brennan bobbled the ball when he tried for a barehand pickup of Rizzo’s sixth-inning double that caromed off the low wall down the right-field line. Anthony Volpe, who had been on first, sprinted home.

Steven Kwan extended his Cleveland-record postseason hitting streak to 12 games.

Alex Verdugo had an opposite-field RBI double in the two-run second that glanced off a shoulder of left field umpire Vic Carapazza and went down the line.

Cleveland closed to 3-2 in the fifth when Josh Naylor hit a sacrifice fly and, after Holmes relieved with the bases loaded, Will Brennan grounded into a run-scoring forceout.

Cleveland went 0-for-7 with runners in scoring position and stranded 11 runners.

Cole escaped two-on, one-out trouble in the third and then a bases-loaded, one-out jam in the fourth when pinch-hitter David Fry fouled out and Rocchio took a knuckle curve at the top of the strike zone for a called third strike in a nine-pitch at-bat.

Holmes struck out Austin Hedges on a low sinker to leave the bases loaded in the fifth.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Guardians: RHP Alex Cobb was removed from the roster with a lower back strain sustained in the opener and replaced by RHP Ben Lively.

UP NEXT

Yankees RHP Clarke Schmidt starts Thursday at Cleveland. He allowed two runs and four hits over 4 2/3 innings in Division Series Game 3, wasting a 2-0 lead before New York won 3-2. He faced the Guardians once this year, pitching five scoreless innings before allowing a pair of runs — one unearned — in the sixth inning of a 3-2 victory.

Reporting by The Associated Press.

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