Happy Merry Portal Day! | Page 3 | Syracusefan.com

Happy Merry Portal Day!

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Well let’s look at who left skill position wise:

QB - Collins, Carney, Williams - none of these 3 were going to be contributors here moving forward for, quite frankly, different reasons. What is success for us here? I think a starter quality QB and a quality backup QB to go along with incoming Lott (Fr) and returning Angeli would be the way to the A+ here

RB - Willis, Hart, James - Willis definitely would have been in the rotation and probably had a leg up on being the #1 next year even with his limitations and trips to the doghouse. Hart/James were not going to be significant contributors. If we can land a starter quality RB out of the portal to go along with our existing depth chart, that’s the way to the A+ here. We only had 1 Fr in the 2026 class incoming (Anderson), to go along with Hill and Coleman. I think we need 2 portal RB’s with one starter capable at a minimum. Nixon is trying to get a waiver for another year but we can’t count on that.

WR - Cook, Gill, Ross, Hatcher, Hornsby - I think it’s hard to really say who the probable starters would be heading into next season. We have some very high end talent coming in with this incoming class (Russell, Gough, JUCO Merriweather and 2-3 others) plus Boobie Johnson from last class who looked great before he got injured. I could see maybe a value add or a flyer here but with the number of WR’s in the incoming class at least from a numbers perspective we should be covered. I’d say 1 value add here for depth / veteran leadership would be the path to the A+. I just don’t see this position as critical for bodies as some others.

Of the other 16 portal entries, most were rotational players at best for this season and I think with the strong probability of multiple 2 deep quality players coming in from Toledo on the defensive side, we should be able to upgrade. But we really need to add a couple of impact players on both the OL and DL to make me feel really good about the portal effort.
I like the breakdown especially OL-DL I am shocked that only Josh Miller is the only OL. player to ( again ) enter his name in the portal although it is still early we may see more, but as I look over the returning OL. players I am very concerned. I really hope we hit a home run on some OL. portal studs we need to really protect Angeli if he goes down again we are screwed. And obviously we really need to improve our run game or we are double screwed.
 
I like the breakdown especially OL-DL I am shocked that only Josh Miller is the only OL. player to ( again ) enter his name in the portal although it is still early we may see more, but as I look over the returning OL. players I am very concerned. I really hope we hit a home run on some OL. portal studs we need to really protect Angeli if he goes down again we are screwed. And obviously we really need to improve our run game or we are double screwed.
We have some very young unknowns on the depth chart. I think Byron Washington is the real deal even with his suspect PFF grades, just going through some growing pains. But I was pretty disappointed in the portal OL performance outside of Ferguson. So not really sure what we even have there with Pringle and Rice. We did have some pretty heavily recruited OL in the last class that mostly redshirted so there is that group too, Mann, Hawn, Stewart, etc. And Mack had some good PFF pass blocking grades the last 3 or 4 games of the season.

On a bad line sometimes everyone looks bad but when you get a few key pieces in there and relocate some guys it can turn around quick. Marrone did a great job of that while he was here.

I don’t think it’s a complete rebuild though. There are some pieces. I would venture to guess 3 starters are already on the roster.
 
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We have some very young unknowns on the depth chart. I think Byron Washington is the real deal even with his suspect PFF grades, just going through some growing pains. But I was pretty disappointed in the portal OL performance outside of Ferguson. So not really sure what we even have there with Pringle and Rice. We did have some pretty heavily recruited OL in the last class that mostly redshirted so there is that group too, Mann, Hawn, Stewart, etc. And Mack had some good PFF pass blocking grades the last 3 or 4 games of the season.

On a bad line sometimes everyone looks bad but when you get a few key pieces in there and relocate some guys it can turn around quick. Marrone did a great job of that while he was here.

I don’t think it’s a complete rebuild though. There are some pieces. I would venture to guess 3 starters are already on the roster.
There’s a lot of young guys who were redshirting as you pointed out. But I’m counting on addition by subtraction too (aka getting rid do Dale).

I’ll be curious to see if they add any OL in the portal.
 
I don’t care if a player comes from the Group of Five or the FCS level—if they’ve produced, they can play. We need players with proven production. That should be the formula, along with targeting guys who still have multiple years of eligibility left.
 
I don’t care if a player comes from the Group of Five or the FCS level—if they’ve produced, they can play. We need players with proven production. That should be the formula, along with targeting guys who still have multiple years of eligibility left.

Do multiple years of eligibility even matter anymore in the year of the one year rentals?
It would be nice to have a player here for more than a year but I wouldn't pass up superior talent based on years of eligibility remaining.
 
Do multiple years of eligibility even matter anymore in the year of the one year rentals?
It would be nice to have a player here for more than a year but I wouldn't pass up superior talent based on years of eligibility remaining.
Yes, it does. Like I’ve said before, this one-year “rent-a-player” era is only going to last another season or two. Schools will begin signing players to multi-year agreements, and more rules and regulations will be implemented to bring stability back to the sport, including potential buyouts or penalties when players get poached. Players are already starting to realize that the transfer portal can hurt careers just as much as it can help them, because if you enter and don’t find a new home, you’re suddenly stuck in a survival game. Roster spots fill quickly, opportunities disappear, and not everyone who leaves ends up in a better situation. Because of that reality, I believe that by 2028 and beyond, college football will begin to shift back toward what it used to be, with greater roster continuity, fewer mass exits every offseason, and programs focusing more on development rather than constant turnover.
 
That's an average of 28 players from every team. Yikes.
Yep, which puts our losses in perspective. We're average.

I guess our guys hate their con man head coach as much as every other team hates their coach. ;)

If each FBS team has 105 players on their roster that means, between graduations and transfers, roughly 43% of every team is turning over.

Wild.
 
Yes, it does. Like I’ve said before, this one-year “rent-a-player” era is only going to last another season or two. Schools will begin signing players to multi-year agreements, and more rules and regulations will be implemented to bring stability back to the sport, including potential buyouts or penalties when players get poached. Players are already starting to realize that the transfer portal can hurt careers just as much as it can help them, because if you enter and don’t find a new home, you’re suddenly stuck in a survival game. Roster spots fill quickly, opportunities disappear, and not everyone who leaves ends up in a better situation. Because of that reality, I believe that by 2028 and beyond, college football will begin to shift back toward what it used to be, with greater roster continuity, fewer mass exits every offseason, and programs focusing more on development rather than constant turnover.

I hope you're right but the way things have been going, I'm not holding my breath.
 
There’s a lot of young guys who were redshirting as you pointed out. But I’m counting on addition by subtraction too (aka getting rid do Dale).

I’ll be curious to see if they add any OL in the portal.
I would expect a different looking kind of OL. This staff will not be the 6-7, 380 types.
 
In 50 years you’ll never be able to convince people that the NCAA actually allowed all this insanity to happen.
 

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