There were several players mentioned in last week's waiver wire column who played a big part in a lot of victories in Week 5. Sam Darnold was a top-three quarterback. Rico Dowdle was the No. 2 running back.

Several area athletes also put up some big time numbers and performances this past week, but only four can get the nod as our nominees for News4 Friday Night Football Week 7 Player of the Week. Here’s a look at this week’s nominees:

Can Arch Manning get going against Oklahoma? Can Illinois make Ohio State sweat? Will Texas Tech keep rolling?

The Kansas City Chiefs defeated the Detroit Lions 30-17 on 'Sunday Night Football' in Week 6 of the NFL's 2025 regular season.

The ACC football power rankings are shaken up after Pitt walks out of Tallahassee with a win over FSU, SMU and Wake Forest jump up.

The AP men’s college basketball preseason top-25 was released Monday and Alabama will begin the season ranked No. 15. The Crimson Tide finished last season 28-9 and made a run to the Elite Eight, which ended with a loss to No.