Corner Charles Demmings — he prefers to be called Chuck — is impressing onlookers at TCO Performance Center. The Vikings rookie keeps proving that he may have been a steal in the 5th Round of the 2026 NFL Draft.

Consider, for instance, what Thor Nystrom had to say on social media: “Chuck Demmings is gonna force his way onto the field at some point this fall. Extremely aggressive/energetic presence on D — your eyes gravitate to him. Had a slick breakup today, and got under [Jauan] Jennings’ skin late on a short checkdown that Demmings screamed down on.”

Go ahead and consider what Will Ragatz had to say: “Rookie CB Chuck Demmings is maybe the best story of training camp thus far. He just keeps making plays, with two more PBUs so far today. And he isn’t shy about celebrating afterwards. Vikings might’ve found something in the fifth round.”

Never one to turn down a chance to praise Mr. Demmings, Brevan Bane wrote about the Vikings rookie doing some good things over on PurplePTSD. “All indications continue to point towards rookie CB Charles Demmings being an absolute stud,” Bane explains. “Admittedly, I love soaking up every bit of the Demmings praise.”

Vikings Rookie Charles Demmings is Turning Heads

Consider a best guess for what the corner depth chart looks like as of early August. The starters:

• CB1 Byron Murphy Jr.
• CB2 Isaiah Rodgers
• CB3 James Pierre

The Vikings are still sorting through what the depth chart is going to look like for the September 13th game against the Packers. Could other young guys like Dwight McGlothern or Zamaiah Vaughn force their way into the lineup?

Moreover, there needs to be a consideration of the safety talent. Josh Metellus is coming off a disappointing year but he’s going to play. Next up are some combination of Theo Jackson, Jay Ward, and Jakobe Thomas. All of these guys are trying to force their way onto the field.

Lingering among all of these options is Charles Demmings.

Consider what the scouting report looked like going into the draft. The insight from Lance Zierlein from the NFL website: “Demmings is capable of mixing into a variety of coverages but is at his best starting from a press look. He has the hips/feet to match route breaks and the speed to stay with routes as they unfold. His recognition and instincts are average from off coverages and he can be a step slow to drive on throws in front of him. While Demmings lacks ideal play strength and is not a firm tackler, his ball skills and man-cover consistency could land him a roster spot as a future CB4 with gunner potential.”

Maybe the main knock on Demmings is that he played for a modest college program. Pretty reasonably, analysts struggle to confidently proclaim him capable of making the jump to the NFL.

Demmings, for whatever it’s worth, doesn’t appear to be drowning at Vikings training camp. To the contrary, the young fella is carrying himself with a lot of confidence, which is a basic prerequisite for playing the position. Nobody can be a great corner, especially a press-man corner, without being confident.

Admittedly, the practices back in June weren’t at the same standard, but here is what I saw when watching Demmings.

The Vikings rookie looks long. He’s tall and has long arms, a great attribute for the position. So, too, is he fast. Again, that’s excellent. But then there’s something intangible that nevertheless shows up in a physical way. The kid is willing to get over top of the receiver’s toes before the snap, lining up directly across from the player he’s covering.

Essentially, Demmings is saying, “I’m covering you and am not at all concerned about hiding that basic fact. Good luck trying to catch the ball.” The NFL is a workplace where actions speak louder than words. Demmings says much in those moments.

Charles Demmings is 23.

Senior Editor for Vikings Territory & PurplePTSD . Twitter & Bluesky: @VikingsGazette. Email: k.joudry[at]vikingsterritory[dot]com. Canadian. Jude 1:24-25.

The last of the PGA Tour’s 34 regular-season events is Thursday’s Wyndham Championship from Greensboro, N.C., and it’s the one tournament on the slate where the drama on Sunday is really less about the winner and more about which players make the FedExCup playoff field or not. Only the top 70 in points after Sunday will do so. CBS has weekend coverage.

As you would expect, nearly every golfer around the cut-off line of 70th in points is teeing it up this week. Rookie sensation Jackson Koivun, 21, is in the 70th spot despite winning just two weeks ago at the 3M Open in Minnesota. He would be ninth-youngest golfer in history to make his first playoff appearance. Fellow American Mac Meissner is the first player out at No. 71.

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Among players sitting between Nos. 60 and 80 in points, the only golfer not teeing it up in North Carolina is Ireland’s Shane Lowry, but he should be safe to reach next week’s FedEx St. Jude Championship as he sits 60th in points.

There are a handful of bigger-name guys currently on the outside looking in, led by the USA’s Keegan Bradley (No. 72 in points) and Aussie Jason Day (No. 75). Day tries to reach the playoffs for a 19th straight season and Bradley could make his 16th in a row.

The only other time Day played the event was in 2022, when he shot a first-round 67 but then withdrew. His streak of 18 straight playoffs is the longest active, while Bradley’s run of 15 in a row is the second-longest. Bradley missed the cut last year – that would spell doom in 2026 – and was 22nd in 2024. Last year, the only player to move into the top 70 at the Wyndham was Chris Kirk after he tied for fifth.

A win would do it for either Day (+10000) or Bradley (+4000), and you can wager on many different outcomes on the top sports betting apps. Day hasn’t won since the 2023 Byron Nelson, while Bradley doesn’t have a top 10 this year, with four missed cuts. But a top 30 would get Bradley into the top 70, and he’s +340 for that. Day needs no worse than a two-way tie for 12th and is +660 for a top 10, and he has two in 2026. But in his past four tournaments, Day has missed two cuts, withdrawn and finished T-55.

Most players would move into the top 70 this week with a win, other than guys who are sitting No. 182 in points or worse. Two guys who need nearly a victory to advance are Brooks Koepka (+4400 to win), sitting 86th in points, and Tony Finau (+12500) at 89th. Koepka needs no worse than a solo fourth, and Finau, who has never missed the playoffs since earning his Tour card in 2014, needs no worse than a two-way tie for third.

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Since the inception of the FedExCup in 2007, the Wyndham Championship has been the regular-season finale, and it has been held since 2008 at Sedgefield Country Club, a very easy par 70 at 7,131 yards. It has taken at least 20 under par to win here eight of the past 10 years. American Cameron Young tied the tournament-record score of 22-under 258 last year when he won by six shots – his first Tour victory (he’s since added two this year) and the biggest margin of victory in this event since 1961. The Over/Under for winning score this year is 260.5. 

No player has repeated in the tournament since Sam Snead in 1956. Young is the clear +820 favorite (his shortest favored price ever after opening +1000 last week in Detroit and finishing T-8). He’s clearly the best player in the field at No. 3 in the world and played collegiately only 30 miles away at Wake Forest.

The next highest-ranked player is No. 19 Aaron Rai of England, this year’s surprise PGA Championship winner. He won this tournament in 2024 and is +3100 this week. Rai and Young are two of eight past champions in the field. There hasn’t been a playoff since 2021, and that there is Sunday is priced +325, and I’ll likely play a little something on that. 

File phot of the Indian cricket team© AFP

Akwa United have thanked former captain Ubong Essien, popularly known as Kante, following his move to Katsina United ahead of the 2026/2027 Nigeria Premier Football League (NPFL) season.

The 2021 Nigerian champions shared a farewell message on social media on Wednesday, appreciating the defensive midfielder for his commitment and memorable moments with the club.

“Thank you, our former captain Ubong Essien, for your commitment and the countless memorable moments in our colours.

“A chapter closes here, but the memories remain.

“As you begin a new journey, keep flying high.

“Once a Promise Keeper, always a Promise Keeper ,” the club wrote.

Katsina United have confirmed the signing of Essien on a two-year contract as he begins a new chapter in his career.

The midfielder captained Akwa United during the 2025/2026 season, when the Uyo-based club competed in the second tier of Nigerian football.

His move to Katsina United will see him return to the NPFL, where he will bring his experience and leadership to the Katsina-based side.

The 2026/2027 campaign will not be Essien’s first experience of northern Nigeria. Having grown up in the region, he is familiar with the weather, culture and language, which could help him settle quickly at his new club.

For Akwa United, Essien leaves behind memories of his time at the club, including the 2021 NPFL title-winning season, while Katsina United will hope his experience can help strengthen their squad for the new NPFL season.

Cynosure Football Club has formally appealed to the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) against a decision by the Ebonyi State Football Association Disciplinary Committee to ban the club and its chairman, Prince Chidiebere Nwaeze, from all football-related activities in the state for two years.

According to Sports Concave, the appeal, dated August 4, 2026, was addressed to the Chairman of the NFF Organising and Disciplinary Committee in Abuja and has been received by the office of the NFF General Secretary.

In the appeal, Nwaeze challenged the ruling issued by the Ebonyi State FA Disciplinary Committee on August 3, asking the NFF to review the sanctions.

The appeal also challenges the recommendation that the NFF should impose a nationwide ban on both Nwaeze and Cynosure FC.

Cynosure FC said the appeal was filed in line with the dispute resolution process provided under the NFF Statutes (March 2026) and the Nationwide League One (NLO) Rules and Regulations 2025.

The club said it is a duly registered NLO team and is scheduled to take part in the South-East Centre playoffs, which are due to begin on August 7, 2026, in Aba, Abia State.

Cynosure FC also pointed out that it had previously appealed an earlier sanction imposed by the NLO before the NFF Organising and Disciplinary Committee. The decision was later overturned and the ban lifted.

The club is now asking the NFF Organising and Disciplinary Committee to review the Ebonyi State FA decision and determine whether the sanctions are in line with the rules and regulations governing Nigerian football.

With the appeal pending, the decision could affect the NLO South-East Centre playoffs. Cynosure FC is therefore calling for the competition to be put on hold until the NFF reaches a decision on the matter.

The NFF is expected to consider the appeal and communicate its decision in line with its disciplinary and appeals procedures.

Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua are set to collide in November, but after their recent ‘tune-up fights’, former WBA featherweight champion Barry McGuigan has updated his prediction for the contest.

Fury and ‘AJ’ have been linked to one another for a number of years, but after consistent disappointment, fans finally look set to be treated to the long-awaited grudge match, albeit without a heavyweight world title on the line.

Instead, at the respective ages of 37 and 36 years old, Fury-Joshua could be a shared career finale rather than the career-defining moment that it had always been deemed as, but global fan interest remains, amid talk of a showdown in New York.

Discussing the fight a few weeks ago, McGuigan confidently predicted a win for the Londoner, believing that Joshua beats ‘The Gypsy King’ every day of the week.

“I think [Daniel] Dubois would knock out Anthony Joshua every single day of the week, but I think Joshua beats Tyson Fury every day of the week.

“He just has that style; he just has that technique. I think he’s too much for [Fury].”

However, after witnessing Fury’s below-par effort against Mariusz Wach and Joshua’s near-catastrophic shootout with Kristian Prenga, the 2005 International Boxing Hall of Fame inductee has admitted that he now believes Fury to be the favourite.

“You’d have to make Tyson the favourite at this stage following Joshua’s increased vulnerability. BUT, at the risk of using to many cliches, “the last thing a fighter looses is his punch”. However, you need to be in the right position to land that punch.”

It is believed that Fury-Joshua could take place at Madison Square Garden in November, much to the disappointment of British fight fans, who had presumed the pair would go toe-to-toe at Wembley Stadium. 

Terence Crawford has been receiving plenty of plaudits since he hung up the gloves in December, but there is one reigning world champion who believes that ‘Bud’ is far from the ‘legend’ that he is being portrayed as.

Last year, Crawford beat Canelo Alvarez to claim the undisputed super-middleweight world title and, in doing so, became the first post-war three-division undisputed champion and just the second fighter in boxing history to achieve that feat – joining Henry Armstrong in an exclusive club.

Off the back of that win, ‘Bud’ made the decision to walk away from the sport at the age of 38 years old, refusing a lucrative offer for a rematch with the Mexican superstar.

One man seemingly wasn’t impressed with that decision, as speaking to FightHype, WBC welterweight champion Ryan Garcia explained why he believes Crawford damaged his legacy by retiring.

“I don’t f**k with him, at all, and I would love to fight him but he is already retired, see. He got out before the young and hungry fighters came through, he knew that the young lions were coming in. He owes me.

“Every great champion does it, you have got to fight one of those young, hungry motherf***ers. Muhammad Ali beat George Foreman when George Foreman was a young, hungry animal, that is what made him into a legend.

“Terence Crawford is not a legend yet, I don’t know why people are trying to talk about ‘he is a legend’. He is an all-time-great, he is a Hall-of-Famer, but a legend? Nah, not even close. There’s a lot of big moments that should have happened, I am here to become a legend. 

“He owes me a fight, he owes [Jaron] Ennis a fight, he owes Vergil Ortiz Jr. a fight, he should of ran it. He still had so much in the tank. They are trying to act like he was old and had injuries, bro didn’t have none of that s**t.”

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Garcia’s words are the latest in an ongoing back-and-forth between he and the Omaha switch-hitter, whom he believes he could tempt out of retirement if successful against Conor Benn on Saturday, September 12.

Former world title challenger Raven Chapman has received widespread support from across boxing after undergoing emergency surgery for a brain injury sustained following a sparring session in Denmark.

Chapman was placed in a medically induced coma on July 24. The procedure successfully stopped the bleeding, and the 32-year-old is continuing to receive treatment before being transferred to a hospital in the UK.

Messages of support have since poured in from across the boxing community. Promoter Frank Warren shared a link to the GoFundMe campaign set up to support Chapman’s family, which has received donations from fellow fighters as well as promoters Eddie Hearn and Nakisa Bidarian. Former opponent Skye Nicolson urged the Brit to “keep fighting” as she continues her recovery.

Chapman’s management team released the following statement:

“On Friday, July 24, Raven unexpectedly collapsed after a sparring session in Denmark. Emergency services were called immediately, and she was airlifted to a local hospital. She was diagnosed with a brain haematoma and cerebral oedema.

“Raven underwent emergency surgery immediately. The procedure successfully stopped the bleeding and helped stabilise the swelling. She was then placed in a medically induced coma. Over the past day, she has been taken off the sedatives and is continuing to receive treatment while awaiting medically supervised repatriation to a hospital in the UK, where her rehabilitation is expected to take some time.

“Her doctors are doing everything they can to support her recovery, and we remain hopeful as she continues to fight through this incredibly difficult time. Raven’s family are in Denmark supporting her during this incredibly difficult time. We kindly ask that their privacy is respected.

“At this stage, this is the only update we are able to provide. If there are any significant developments, we will share further information when it is appropriate to do so. Thank you for your continued support. Please keep Raven and her loved ones in your thoughts during this challenging time.”

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