Now that we’re in Year 3 of Week to Week Notes, we’re finally back in album mode. Today’s tune is Tuscan Leather by Drake. It’s a 6-minute introduction to his 3rd studio album called Nothing Was The Same.
This album was released on September 24, ‘13. It was my freshman fall semester at UAlbany. For the first time in my life, I was on my own and taking full advantage of it by doing things like binge-watching every season of Entourage within 2 weeks. I might be reaching a bit, but Drake’s rise in music sorta correlated with people around my age’s high school experience. We were freshmen in high school when Best I Ever Had and Successful dropped on his first mixtape. Thank Me Later dropped in the fall of sophomore year and Take Care came out in November of junior year. In my senior year of high school, he didn’t have an album but he was on feature after feature hits by collaborating with other artists.
Nothing Was The Same is my favorite album of his because it’s not only some of his best work but it brings me back to being an 18 year old freshman. Everybody who goes to college probably has their own freshman fall semester story, my first weekend of college was actually spent back down in Pearl River. I had to go to court with friends for partying on our high school graduation night. My roommate situation was 3 guys sharing a tiny 2 bedroom dorm. UAlbany had been doing renovations on the Indian Quad Tower so they were just stuffing freshmen into close quarters. My roommates that fall were both very nice. Dan was a huge Yankee fan but didn’t really like to go out too much. I forgot my other roommate’s name but he was a med student who would full on belt out Bruno Mars songs in the community bathroom’s shower at weird hours of the night.
Two of my friends from PR also went to UAlbany and were also on Indian Quad that semester. They ended up transferring by the end of it. It was kind of a shit show start. I did end up meeting who would be my friends in college that semester (Kevin, Tommy, Jack, Banks, & Garrett). The only problem was they lived on State Quad, a half-hour walk in the Albany winter. Your best course of action was to use the tunnels, which is a whole other story for a different day. Luckily during the 2nd semester of my freshman year, I found a dorm on State Quad. Unluckily my roommate for that spring was a total computer gamer who would stay up until 4 AM on his desktop.
How much time is he going to spend on this intro?
All of this is to say, my freshman year at UAlbany was an experience. It obviously wasn’t like the way college gets portrayed on TV, but it was a lot of fun, and I listened to this Drake album all the time while walking to class, the library, State Quad, etc. Everybody’s freshman year, or better yet everybody around 18 years old, starts experiencing life as an adult for the first time, so Nothing Was The Same fit like the perfect caption. Okay, time to dissect the 1st half of this song’s lyrics…
Said it before and I’ll say it again, anytime he leads with a “Yeah” he’s about to really rap on the song.
The opening sample is Whitney Houston’s I Have Nothing. Drake at this point was a huge fixture on the radio airwaves, but mostly for songs where he was on the chorus or hook, his rap songs like Tuscan Leather weren’t typically the mainstream hip-hop songs of his that were most played. Basically, he’s opening up telling us that this album isn’t for the radio plays, but hip-hop fans will listen to it anyway.
Tom Ford Tuscan Leather is a cologne… Fellas, you can buy it on Sephora for $295, use Promo Code: W2WN for a 0% discount. Drake, despite being a bit of a degenerate, had been on Ellen Degeneres quite a bit back then.
Yessir, as OVO TD, that is my duty!
Enough clowning around, the beat clicks at the 1:56 mark and Drake just unloads. One of 40’s greatest gems.
Gucci Row is a courtside of UNLV hoops games. UNLV’s mascot is the Rebels and at the time Drake was signed to Young Money.
These lines are Drake telling his music label that they were taking too much. It’s clever way to address how he was making compromises with his label in order to stay in the Young Money family.
Nicki Minaj was also signed to Young Money at this time. The two used to be close, yet during this time were distant. More clever lines here admitting that he makes mistakes but being that he’s the second to admit, he needs someone like her to call him out on his BS when he’s wrong.
Sidenote: I made quite a few wrong picks in the Mock Draft, will try to be better in ‘25.
This line is pretty self-explanatory so for filler I’ll add that we’ve updated the About page.
Man, Kendrick Lamar fans out there must be Down Bad. It appears “King” Kendrick caught a case of strep throat. Sad!
I too have one reply to my haters, of which there are many, “Thank you for the feedback, cheers!!” Of course, my comment section ain’t as popping as Drake so if I get a nice one, I’ll give a genuine sincere response back, but either way it’s best to keep busy working rather than focusing on what others think.
I had quite a few spelling and grammatical errors on yesterday’s Stumblin’ Along. That always pisses me off when I re-read a piece. Striving for perfection can make you a bit obsessive, well put.
An A, B, C, D, E diss to his competition is wild. “Effort” also phonetically starts with F, it’s great wordplay.
Well, enough time has passed since this album was released, Drake was right in that he would still be around a decade from then. Critics of his at this point didn’t think he’d be able to sustain a career of making hits at the rate he was doing, so by making a goal for himself to still be around a decade from now in the fall of ‘13 and then actually doing it needed to be Noted. Next Monday I promise not to ramble about my freshman year or whatnot and we’ll finish off with the ending of Tuscan Leather.
On to the sports…
Building A Board ‘25 (Vol I)
The ‘25 NFL Draft won’t be in Lambeau Field until April 24th, ‘25. I don’t have a Mock Draft for that class, I have to learn more about the players. So, just like last year’s Mondays, we’ll get started with the 5 biggest names in College Football for this upcoming season and we’ll make our way toward April ‘25 using the same process of adding 5 more players to Build A Board. Last year, 170+ college players were profiled, but I’ll be a bit more transparent so here’s the first 5.
Shedeur Sanders is from Dallas, Texas. The son of Deion “Primetime” Sanders played for Trinity Christian High School and QB’d the team to a 47-5 record. He was 4-star recruit entering college but decided he would play for his father at Jackson State in ‘21. At Jackson State, he led the Tigers to 2 SWAC Championships, going 23-3 in the process. Stat-wise, during his 2 years at Jackson State, Sanders threw for 6,983 yards and 70 TDs to just 14 INTs. His 40 passing TDs as a sophomore is a school record. When Deion Sanders took the job at Colorado last spring, Shedeur joined him. The Colorado Buffaloes got off to a hot start, going 3-0 including their Week 1 upset over #17 TCU. While the rest of the season wasn’t as dandy, Sanders had a 69% completion percentage with 3,230 passing yards and passing 27 TDs to just 3 INTs. This won him the AP Pac-12 Newcomer of the Year. He plays the QB position with a ton of poise and is very smart with the football. One thing that he will need to improve upon this season is taking fewer sacks (52 sacks in ‘23) and throwing the football away. Colorado’s offensive line play was a major factor in why their season fell off the rails, however, Deion Sanders was able to recruit quite an offensive lineman including the #1 5-star freshman tackle recruit Jordan Seaton and the #2 JUCO tackle Issiah Walker Jr. With the revamped line, Sanders should have the opportunity his senior season to showcase why he can be the #1 Overall Pick of the ‘25 NFL Draft.
Benjamin Morrison is from Phoenix, Arizona. He comes from a family of collegiate athletes with his sisters Faith & Naomi being gymnist, his other sister Grace playing volleyball, and his older brother Samuel played CB for Arizona. Out of high school, Morrison was a 4-star recruit and chose to play for Notre Dame. He immediately made an impact as a freshman for the Fightin’ Irish as he led the team in interceptions with 6. His 6 INTs are the most by a Notre Dame player since Manti Te’o’s 7 during his Heisman Trophy bid season of ‘12. Last season, Morrison had 3 more INTs and also led the team in pass breakups with 10. In ‘23, when Morrison matched up with Marvin Harrison Jr. he was targeted 7 times and allowed only 2 catches for 26 yards. Morrison is 6’ and runs an unofficial 40-time somewhere in the low 4.3s. Currently have the junior slotted as the Top CB in CFB this ‘24 season.
Travis Hunter is from Suwanee, Georgia. In high school, Hunter played both sides of the football as he had 272 receptions for 3,963 yards and 48 TDs as a WR along with 19 INTs at CB. The elite 2-way player was a consensus 5-star and the nation’s top ranked recruit of the ‘22 class. Hunter decided to play for Deion at Colorado, following in the footsteps of Primetime as a 2-way player. As a freshman on at Jackson State, Hunter was the SWAC Freshman of the Year. On defense at corner he had 10 pass breakups and 2 INTs. On offense he caught 18 passes for 188 yards and 4 scores. When Sanders and his sons left for Colorado, Travis Hunter was part of the package deal. As a sophomore in ‘23, Hunter was named 1st Team All-American while also winning the Paul Hornung Award which goes to the most versatile player in CFB. Hunter had 57 catches for 721 yards and 5 TDs on offense, while picking off 3 passes with 30 tackles on defense. While he is a great athlete who can play both sides of the ball, it’ll be interesting to see if NFL teams decide he should stick to just 1 position and which one they pick.
Harold Perkins is from New Orleans, Louisiana. Out of high school, Perkins was the #4 ranked player in the nation of the ‘22 class. The 5-star prospect immediately had an impact on the LSU Tigers’ defense as a true freshman in ‘22. He was named 1st Team All-SEC by the AP as he led LSU in tackles for loss with 13 to go with 72 total tackles and 7.5 sacks. In ‘23, Perkins made 13 starts and once again led the team in TFLs with 13. While his sack production dipped to a bit to 5.5, this may have been because offenses have started to key in on him more pre-snap. As an outside linebacker, Perkins not only rushes the passer but is active in coverage as well. He can guard WRs in the slot and even has picked off 2 passes in his collegiate career with 9 career pass deflections. When Perkins hits, he wallops opponents as he already has 7 career forced fumbles. He is an ultra-athletic and versatile defender who runs an unofficial 40-time in the 4.4s. As of today, expect him to be one of the first defenders off the board in the ‘25 NFL Draft.
Quinn Ewers is from Southlake, Texas. He was considered one of the top QB recruits of his class in ‘21 and originally started his collegiate career at The Ohio State University. As a true freshman, Ewers only took 2 snaps for a Buckeye and it came in OSU’s 56-7 win over Michigan State. After his lost year where he was behind the depth chart of CJ Stroud and Kyle McCord, Ewers decided to transfer back home and join the Longhorns. In ‘22 as a Redshirt freshman, the Texas kid was an honorable mention for the Big 12 Offensive Newcomer of the Year. He made 10 starts in ‘22, totaling 2,177 passing yards and 15 TDs to 6 INTs. His biggest moment that season may have come when Texas hosted the #1 ranked ‘Bama. He nearly led the Longhorns to a 10-10 tie at half-time before he got roughed up by Dallas Turner before the break and would not be able to return in the game. As a sophomore in ‘23, Ewers got his revenge against ‘Bama in Week 2 as he threw for 349 passing yards and 3 scores in their 34-24 win. Not only did he improve on his completion percentage (58% to 69%), yards (2,177 to 3,479), and TDs (15 to 22), but Ewers was able to hold off Arch Manning Mania. Ewers will enter the ‘24 season without many of his ‘23 companions as WRs Xavier Worthy, Adonai Mitchell & Jordan Whittington, TE Ja’Tavion Sanders, and RB Jonathan Brooks are now all on NFL rosters. Despite these losses of key players, I would expect Quinn Ewers to have a strong junior season in hopes of becoming a 1st-round QB in the ‘25 NFL Draft.
‘24 NFL Draft Report Cards
Grade: B
The Pats went QB and now Drake Maye is my new mortal enemy. Does it feel weird, sad, and pathetic to say that about a 21-year-old kid? Of course, but that’s sports. Whenever a team takes a QB in the Top 5, the rest of their draft sorta doesn’t really matter as much. Maye will enter New England with the expectation to be the next Tom Brady. Good luck. Outside of Maye, I think the Pats did a good job adding offensive pieces for him to grow with. WRs Ja’Lynn Polk and Javon Baker each had over 1,100+ receiving yards last season. Caedan Wallace and Layden Robinson are both big guards so there is an emphasis on protecting him. I also hate that I like them taking a flier on TE Jaheim Bell in the 7th Round. While his production in college didn’t jump off the page, Bell has versatility.
Grade: B+
During Jim Harbaugh’s first draft as the head coach of the San Diego Chargers, he decided to address protecting his franchise QB first and foremost. Joe Alt will likely slot in as the team’s RT to start his career, but he’ll eventually be Herb’s blindside. Ladd McConkey is an excellent 2nd Round pick. He should have the ability to play both outside or in the slot and he will find a way to get open. Harbaugh knows all about Junior Colson as the Michigan LB led the National Champs in tackles in ‘23. After not playing much of his career at ‘Bama, DE Justin Eboigbe broke out in ‘23 with 63 tackles, 11.5 TFLs, and 7 sacks. Going into the draft, the Chargers had plenty of openings at WR. They filled those gaps up in the 7th Round with Jerry Rice’s son and Cornelius Johnson, who played for Harbaugh. Harbaugh clearly had his handprints all over this draft class.
Grade: C+
Over the weekend, I mentioned that the Giants nailed their 1st 2 picks with Nabers and Nubin. I still think that way with them. To be honest, in regards to Rounds 3-6, 170 players were profiled since last April and I did loads of Mock Drafts as well…These names never came across my radar. Not saying they won’t be good, just not sure who they are, that’s on me dawg. Forget that though, for a team that is rebuilding, I’m not quite sure why they didn’t look to trade down more often to collect more picks. Their 6 selections were the least of the 8 teams covered on Week to Week Notes and they are arguably in the biggest rebuild phase of the bunch.
Grade: B
On draft night, the hope was Brock Bowers. What? I can’t help it that it’s more fun to watch TE highlights instead of O-Lineman. Olu is probably the right selection here because Rodgers throughout his career has proven he can elevate his pass catchers and protecting him is most important if this team wants to make a Super Bowl run. Malachi Corley is known as the YAC King. He’ll be a fun player for the Jets if their coaching can ever figure out creative ways to get him the ball. The selections of 2 RBs don’t necessarily mean the Jets have given up on Izzy Abinkanda but moreso that they plan on running the football a lot. Braelon Allen is a bowling ball that will be awesome to have as Breece Hall’s backup. Isaiah Davis (not related) is from South Dakota State where he led the FCS in rushing yards in ‘23 with 1,578 and 18 rushing TDs. Both are big, physical backs. QB Jordan Travis is a nice addition to the QB room. Not only can he learn from Aaron Rodgers, but he can also pick the brain of Tyrod Taylor. Travis suffered a gruesome broken leg late into the FSU season last year and should be eased back onto the field as the team’s 3rd-string QB. CB Qwan’tex Stiggers has a very unconventional backstory. After enrolling at Lane College in ‘20, he returned home after his father passed away from injuries to a car accident. Stiggers did not play football at all in ‘20 or ‘21 before becoming the youngest player in Fan Controlled Football (7-on-7 indoor league) in ‘22. He made his way back into outdoor football in ‘23 when he starred in the Canadian Football League and was named the CFL’s Most Outstanding Rookie. Jaylen Key was the draft’s Mr. Irrelevant. The Jets also made some noteworthy UDFA signings with Leonard Taylor III and Braiden McGregor of Michigan. Should be a very solid draft class.
Grade: B-
Chop Robinson may have a ton of upside as an athlete but didn’t have 1st Round production at Penn State. Jaylen Wright adds to Miami’s set of wheels in their RB room. Patrick Paul fills the team’s need as a long-term tackle. Mohamed Kamara had a great ‘23. The rest of these guys I don’t know much about, so B minus it is.
Grade: A
Quinyon Mitchell and Cooper DeJean were 2 of my favorite playmaking DBs of the class. They should both produce plenty of turnovers, especially when you factor in the Philly pass rush. Will Shipley gives the Eagles a 3rd-string versatile RB behind Saquon and Kenneth Gainwell. Jeremiah Trotter Jr. you just know is going to be good because his dad played for Philly. WR Johnny Wilson in the 6th Round is the ultimate boom or bust type of player, but all he has to do as a rookie is catch a 1 on 1 jump ball or 2 a game for this pick to be a win.
Grade: B
Brian Thomas has a ton of talent but has never been a team’s true #1. It’ll be interesting to see where he’ll start off on the depth chart. If he can’t beat out Zay Jones and Gabe Davis then people will start to question if he has enough dog in him. Maason Smith will have a shot at starting right away. Don’t know much about the other guys, so a B.
Grade: B+
Guyton and Beebe were guys I mocked in the past month to the Cowboys so Dallas in my book did an exceptional job.
YouTube Rabbithole
Bill Tobin vs Mel Kiper (1994)
Mel Kiper debating on ESPN that the Colts made a mistake passing up on Trent Dilfer when all they had was Jim Harbaugh at QB. Classic.