linemen who were still available developing into quality

Melbourne, Australia (SportsNetwork.com) - World No. 1 Serena Williams and former top-ranked star Venus Williams secured berths in the quarterfinals at the 2015 Australian Open. Serena dropped the first set before rallying to top rising 24th-seeded Spaniard Garbine Muguruza 2-6, 6-3, 6-2 in two hours at Melbourne Park. Muguruza stunned Serena at the French Open last year, handing the American, who won just four games in that match in Paris, the worst loss of her Grand Slam career in the process. The 33-year-old American great blitzed her 21-year-old opponent with 17 aces and won 38 of 49 first-serve points on Monday. It was a great match -- congratulations to Garbine, she played so well, Serena said. The 18-time Grand Slam champion and reigning U.S. Open titlist owns five Aussie Open titles, but none since 2010. Her quarterfinal opponent will be 11th-seeded Slovak Dominika Cibulkova, who doused on-the-mend Belarusian star Victoria Azarenka, 6-2, 3-6, 6-3. Azarenka led 2-0 in the third set, but couldnt hold on against the diminutive Cibulkova. Today I wasnt thinking about the score, I was just going for it, Cibulkova said. And when I was up, I was going for it even more. I always have tough matches with Vika. The tennis she plays goes well with mine, Cibulkova added. Cibulkova was last years Aussie runner-up to since-retired Chinese star Li Na. The former world No. 1 Azarenka is a two-time Aussie Open champ and two-time U.S. Open runner-up. Her 2014 season was interrupted by a foot injury and shes been trying to re-locate her game since last spring. In other fourth round action on Day 8 of the fortnight, an 18th-seeded Venus remained undefeated in 2015 by surprising sixth-seeded former Wimbledon runner-up Agnieszka Radwanska 6-3, 2-6, 6-1 and rising Madison Keys vanquished fellow American Madison Brengle 6-2, 6-4. Brengle reached her first-ever WTA final in Hobart two weeks ago. Venus will clash with the 19-year-old Keys in an all-American quarterfinal on Wednesday. Venus is a seven-time Grand Slam champion who was the 2003 Aussie runner-up to her younger sister. Shes a perfect 9-0 this year, including a title in Auckland three weeks back. The 34-year-old Venus was asked what her inspiration has been to keep plugging away all these years. Definitely my sister Serena, she replied. Shes just the ultimate champion. She definitely gives me a lot of inspiration. And of course all of my fans, whove always stayed behind me. Keys will play in her first-ever Grand Slam quarterfinal when she faces Venus. It feels really good, she said. My mom texted me before the tournament. She said, Its your last Grand Slam as a teenager, and sent me a bunch of grandma faces. Im like, Thanks for reminding me mom! Thank you. Love you. But its huge. Its my last Slam as a teenager. I hope I can keep it up. The quarterfinals will get underway Tuesday, as second-seeded former No. 1 Maria Sharapova will battle seventh-seeded Wimbledon runner-up Eugenie Bouchard and third-seeded French Open finalist Simona Halep will take on consistent 10th-seeded Russian left-hander Ekaterina Makarova. Sharapova is 3-0 all-time against the Canadian Bouchard, including some French Open match wins in 2013 and last year, while Halep is 1-0 lifetime versus Makarova. The reigning French Open champion Sharapova was the Aussie champ in 2008 and runner-up in 2007 and 2012. Drew Butera Jersey .? It was his second straight start for the Jets; he suffered a 1-0 loss against Minnesota Monday. So this season Hutchinson has now won games in the ECHL, AHL and NHL. He was perfect three- for-three in the shootout to nail down the win. Custom Kansas City Royals Jerseys . 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Napoli beat high-flying Hellas Verona 3-0 to keep up the pressure on the top two while AC Milan had another disappointing night as four goals from teenage forward Domenico Berardi saw relegation-threatened Sassuolo come back from two goals down to win 4-3.With the 2014 CFL Draft set to take place next Tuesday in Toronto, CFL on TSN analyst Duane Forde breaks down the top prospects. Today, he looks at the offensive line. 1. Laurent Duvernay-Tardif (OT, McGill) You Should Know: Over the course of his university career, Duvernay-Tardifs commitments to medical school and the family business frequently limited him to one practice per week, yet he was still the Metras Trophy winner as the Top Lineman in CIS football in 2013. The Good: His combination of size, athleticism, strength, intelligence, and untapped potential make him the most intriguing offensive line prospect produced by the CIS since Mike Schad in 1986. The Bad: Hes projected as a 4th round pick in the NFL Draft so whoever picks him wont have him for at least another year - if ever - especially considering his desire to finish med school. 2. David Foucault (OT, Montreal) The Good: At 67 and a relatively lean 320 lbs., he moves well, making him a potential ratio-breaking offensive tackle. The Bad: Despite all of his obvious tools, Foucault has yet to be consistently dominant at the university level. 3. Matthias Goossen (OC/OG, Simon Fraser) The Good: Combining toughness and intelligence, this three-time All-GNAC selection has played every position on the O-Line during his four years as a starter. The Bad: Despite having always played in Canada, he has never faced defenders who are a yard off the ball, as SFU and British Columbia high schools both play under American rules. 4. Pierre Lavertu (OC, Laval) The Good: Quick, strong and smart, he was a three-time All-Canadian and four-time All-RSEQ selection while anchoring the nations best collegiate O-Line. The Bad: His ceiling likely isnt as high as those ranked ahead of him. That said; hes as CFL ready as any prospect in the Class of 2014. 5. Tchissakid Player (OG, Northwestern State) The Good: Although he played at a smaller school, this 66, 300 lbs. guard is the only NCAA Division 1 player in the entire draft class. The Winnipeg-born, Texas-raised lineman was a three-year starter for the Demons. The Bad: A hamstring injury suffered at the Toronto Regional Combine prevented him from participating in the main CFL Combine, which kept scouts from comparing him head to head with other top prospects. Other Contenders: - Jas Dhillon (OG, British Columbia) - 2013 Canada West All-Star; former DL, 2013 was his only year on offence- Terry Hart (OG, St. Francis Xavier) - 2013 AUS All-Star; 32 bench press reps tied Lavertu atop O-Line group at CFL Combine- Kyle Paterson (OG, Regina) - from same hometown (Weyburn, SK) and college as CFLers Brendon LaBatte and Brett Jones; 5.22 second 40-yard dash and 30 bench press reps at CFL Combine- Quinn Everett (OG, Mount Allison) - college defensive lineman shows potential as a guard; dominated the O-Line testing at the Montreal Regional Combine - Aaron Wheaton (OG, Toronto) - 65", 295 lbs.; participated in 2013 East West Bowl Also On The Radar (alphabetically): Ahmed Abusafeyeh (Tiffin/Windsor AKO Fratmen), Kwinton Albino (Manitoba), Stephen Armstrong (Mount Allison), Lane Bryksa (Saskatchewan), Renaud Lafrance-Longtin (Sherbrooke), Fréderik Landry-Simard (Concordia) Analysis: During the 2013 season, the CFL made two significant changes to the leagues draft eligibility rules. Under the old system, all players became draft eligible four years after joining a college program. Now, prospects at U.S. schools become draft eligible upon completion of their college eligibility, eliminating redshirt juniors ("futures") from the draft. Those at Canadian schools now become draft eligible three years after using their first year of CIS eligibility. In other words, if a player redshirts in his first university season, his draft year gets postponed by a year (i.dddddddddddde. hed now be draft eligible after his fifth year instead of his fourth). In this "transition year", no position group was impacted more by the rule changes than the offensive line. No fewer than five NCAA Division 1 O-Linemen, including outstanding UNLV tackle Brett Boyko, and a handful of top CIS hogs, like Calgarys All-Canadian guard Sukh Chung, were reclassified from 2014 to the 2015 draft class. In addition, a CFL policy requiring "non-resident" Canadians to apply for their non-import status (even when they clearly qualify) led to Penn States Winnipeg-born star guard John Urschel also being excluded from this draft class. As a result, what wouldve been a bumper crop of high end offensive line prospects was reduced to just four (Duvernay-Tardif, Foucault, Goossen, and Lavertu), followed by a lot of uncertainty about the next tier of prospects. Bear in mind that while the eligibility rules have changed, the CFLs need for non-import offensive linemen hasnt, and the effect on this years draft process will be twofold. First, with Duvernay-Tardif most certainly NFL-bound, the demand for the other top linemen will be intense. For teams whose need is more immediate, theyll look to Lavertu and Goossen, as their learning curves wont be as steep as Foucaults. Regardless of the order, those three could easily be the first three players off the board and will surely all be Top Five selections. Secondly, with the leagues constant need for non-import O-Linemen, teams looking for OL depth will be forced to reach for lower ranked prospects (i.e. draft them earlier than their ability suggests they should be picked). As for Duvernay-Tardif, the gap between the top four or five O-Line prospects and the rest of the class means that his NFL interest shouldnt cause him to fall as far as he would have in a deeper draft pool. As a precedent, Ill point to the 2005 CFL Draft. Much like the Class of 2014, there werent a lot of "cant miss" offensive line prospects. A few days before that draft, the clear No. 1 prospect, Toledo tackle Nick Kaczur, had been selected in the 3rd round of the NFL Draft. Despite the limited supply of upper echelon O-Linemen, the demand for non-import blockers remained the same, as eight of the first nineteen selections were offensive linemen, including Kaczur, who went 9th overall. Simply put, the Toronto Argonauts, who chose him, felt that the likelihood of Kaczur returning to Canada within a few years was greater than the likelihood of the linemen who were still available developing into quality starters within the same time frame. In the same draft a similar line of thinking led to the second-ranked O-Lineman, Chris Best, going 4th overall despite having already committed to a Masters degree program that would keep him from turning pro until two years later. Godfrey Ellis was chosen 10th overall even after measuring in at 510 at the Combine. The fact that Jeff Keeping, a college tight end, had never played O-Line didnt stop him from being drafted - as a guard - 18th overall. John Comiskey went one spot later even though he hadnt played a single snap in the previous season. Fast forward to 2014, where the point is this. The top offensive linemen will be snapped up early. Once Lavertu, Goossen, Foucault, and Player are gone, teams will have to evaluate the likelihood and timeline of Duvernay-Tardif becoming a CFL lineman vs. the likelihood and timeline of the same happening for the remaining O-Linemen on the board. The "tipping point" could be reached by the end of Round 1 and probably no later than Round 3. ' ' '