The Des Moines Register's 2018 Preseason High School Football Rankings

Give the Rockies points for creativity. They find excruciating ways to lose ballgames, largely because of their spectacular imploding bullpen. Thursday afternoon at the Oakland Coliseum, they turned a walk in the ballpark into a full-fledged soap opera. Ultimately, they lost 10-9 to the A’s in 11 innings. A few sordid details: • The Rockies led 4-0 heading into the bottom of the seventh inning before giving up 10 runs to lose the ballgame. • They scored four runs in the top of the 11th and appeared to have finally clinched the win.

The Broncos’ quarterback competition between rookie Bo Nix, Jarrett Stidham and Zach Wilson was in full swing during organized team activities on Thursday. This week, each quarterback has received their fair share of first-team reps, with Stidham getting those snaps on Tuesday and Wilson on Wednesday. On the final day of practice this week, Nix got his turn to run with the starters. Overall, Nix had a solid day, as he was efficient and seemed to be in control of the offense.

Chris MacFarland and Gabe Landeskog spent nearly an hour taking questions from assembled media Thursday, and there were nearly as many queries about Valeri Nichushkin as there were about the Avalanche captain. Two integral members of the organization made one thing very clear: The proverbial ball is firmly in Nichushkin’s court. There are many questions still to be answered, but a general theme was clear.

Courtland Sutton’s offseason away from the Broncos continues. The veteran wide receiver was not in Denver for the first week of organized team activities. He also skipped the opening phases of the Broncos’ offseason workouts, which began in mid-April. Head coach Sean Payton on Thursday again downplayed Sutton’s absence. “Listen, there isn’t any concern and here’s why: I know Courtland well,” Payton said.

Zach Wilson’s second act has begun. The No. 2 overall pick in the 2021 draft is off and running with the Broncos and now, like the rest of his teammates, is through the first week of organized team activities. Wilson will compete for Denver’s starting job with Jarrett Stidham and first-round draft pick Bo Nix, but in his first chat with reporters since getting traded here last month, he expressed excitement about having a chance to re-set his career. “I feel like you learn the most when things don’t always go the best,” Wilson said on a sun-splashed Front Range afternoon.

Gabe Landeskog is confident he’ll return … at some point. When that is going to be remains very much to be determined. At one point during an end-of-season press conference sitting alongside general manager Chris MacFarland, the Colorado Avalanche captain asked when training camp for the 2024-25 season is going to start. “Between mid-September and the start of April,” Landeskog joked. Landeskog and MacFarland met with the media for nearly an hour Thursday.