WR Damien Alford withdraws from portal

[Cuse'91]

So, can Dino claim to have grabbed a quality wide receiver from the Portal now; and silence the critics that say we need to bring portal wideouts in?

 

[HRE Otto IV]

Just wait until he drops his first pass...make sure you're in the game thread that day. lol

If he has a Jamal Custis like leap I'll be ecstatic.

Custis went 4 catches, 1 catch, 8 catches to 51 catches 906 yards and 6 TDs as a senior. That would be amazing.

He turns 22 in April. Custis was nearly 23 at the start of his break out year. So we can hope.

 

[storange]

Maybe there were people saying he’s no good I just glaze over that stuff but as far as myself, I was pointing out that we shouldn’t be freaking out. We didn’t lose production that wasn’t there to begin with (except blocking which I acknowledged). I picked him before the season to be my breakout player in a thread. I’ve also said through the year that I think he’s a high NFL draft pick IF he could put it all together. His size and speed alone we need. But I also wasn’t freaking out about a player who catches only 1-2 per game for all but 2 games this season.

I’ve always said he has incredible potential but on the flip side, he had a chance this year to really break out and never seized the moment IMO.

So not everyone who said it wasn’t a big loss were saying he sucked. Just that his production “could” be easily replaced at this point and this wasn’t a huge loss compared to some of the losses on D.

Ditto

 

[money3189]

Same, one of my shoulders was chronic dislocation from college wrestling days. Ended up with 2 anterior labral tears, multiple capsule tears, frayed biceps tendon, there was a groove in a bone in there from me continuing to relocate on my own...I think that might be it.

But once I had surgery I have had an issue since...and I still get on the mat here and there with the boys. Now, my other shoulder that has tendonitis...pain every day after cortisone has ran its course.

Yup I wanted to try wrestling myself but didn't because of my shoulders. I'm glad you are able to be some what active with the boys.

 

[cvilleorange]

And the proper dedication to strength and conditioning...

I mean he's already bigger than Linton. He may fit in well in the 3-3-5

 

[bigmike]

I would feel the same way about losing him as I do for Steve Linton -he’s a nice player with important skills that can win games. In Alford’s case I think his upside is higher. Glad he’s back.

 

[money3189]

He turns 22 in April. Custis was nearly 23 at the start of his break out year. So we can hope.

We can also say Alford has had a better career than Custis at the same point of their careers. I dont know if Alford will have as many opportunities Custis had (Gadsden is primary target) but it would be great if he can improve a little more each year.

 

[tep624]

does this mean we're no longer a mid-major?

Well if recruiting well against yourself is a mark of that then yes

 

[Chip]

Both of my shoulders would repeatedly dislocate during my playing days. I got labrum surgery years later and they haven't popped out since.

Geez, just bang if off a wall ya babies.

(if I get a papercut, I ask someone to hold me).

 

[shu 49]

Both of my shoulders would repeatedly dislocate during my playing days. I got labrum surgery years later and they haven't popped out since.

My kid had both too. He gets sore sometimes when he goes heavy but other than that no issues so far.

 

[orangeinohio]

He’s not visiting Miami. Withdrew from the portal tonight.

 

[orangepassion]

Glad he's coming back but certainly wasn't soiling my BVD's with the thought of him moving on like many do when the assistant equipment manager moves on

The assistant equipment manager put his name in the portal? It's over.

 

[richmondcuse03]

We can also can say Alford has had a better career than Custis at the same point of their careers. I dont know if Alford will have as many opportunities Custis had (Gadsden is primary target) but it would be great if he can improve a little more each year.

Good point. I think there’s plenty of targets to go around. I like his upside potential and can’t teach that size.

 

[orangencpolice]

Anyone who didn’t think we needed him is a fool! Glad he’s back.

 

[OburgOrange]

A lot of tap dancing going on in this thread. Some great takes taking back their takes. Lol

 

[Trueblue25]

Obviously you’d rather retain proven production than lose it.

Just wasn’t an extraordinary amount of production worth acting like “yup, this is it, this is proof this program’s swirling the toilet bowl”.

Glad we kept him. Hope he does make Custis like strides.

 

[samspann1]

Are all the people who said that Alford's potential loss was no big deal, now saying that his potential return is also no big deal?

 

[dollarbill44]

I was SO HAPPY to see this. Somehow we must’ve come through with a bag to keep him home.

Thank you very much to whoever made that happen.

I have full faith Alford is going to blossom and go to the League.

It was me. I hope he doesn't look past the first couple of hundreds in the stack until the portal closes, because all the bills on the inside are singles.

 

[CbusCuse]

Are all the people who said that Alford's potential loss was no big deal, now saying that his potential return is also no big deal?

Very few if any people were saying that we didn't want him. Most were saying he wasn't irreplaceable but disappointed to lose him. It just wasn't something to get really worked up over. If we were to lose him you'd think we'd gain a portal receiver to fill in his place. Would that have been worse or better I don't know. If he doesn't improve next year and has the same numbers as 2022 I'll be a bit disappointed. But maybe he has a jump in his game like we are all hoping. But that is not guaranteed. I'm guessing he improves though. Glad he's back.

 

[money3189]

Very few if any people were saying that we didn't want him. Most were saying he wasn't irreplaceable but disappointed to lose him. It just wasn't something to get really worked up over. If we were to lose him you'd think we'd gain a portal receiver to fill in his place. Would that have been worse or better I don't know. If he doesn't improve next year and has the same numbers as 2022 I'll be a bit disappointed. But maybe he has a jump in his game like we are all hoping. But that is not guaranteed. I'm guessing he improves though. Glad he's back.

Yeah I dont recall seeing a bunch of people saying Cuse didn't need him. Common response "he has great big play ability but needs to be more consistent".

 

[GoSU96]

A lot of tap dancing going on in this thread. Some great takes taking back their takes. Lol

Who are you referring to?

 

[qdawgg]

Are all the people who said that Alford's potential loss was no big deal, now saying that his potential return is also no big deal?

Correct. I’m glad he’s back but wasn’t losing any sleep if he left.

 

[kcsu]

Alford is a special athlete. You cant coach his skills. His speed, hands, and catch radius are at the top of NFL measurables. Simply put he is a specimen that will end up in an NFL camp.
Beck will get the most out of him. My expectations for him are as high if not higher than Gadsen.
I expect him to crush it next season

 

[OttoinGrotto]

Are all the people who said that Alford's potential loss was no big deal, now saying that his potential return is also no big deal?

I mean, look, I've long been an Alford skeptic. I wasn't worried when he went in the portal. More was interested because the timing seemed weird. It's a good thing to get a guy back that has made some plays and that we've invested a lot of snaps and on-field development in. He did seem to come around at the end of the year. I keep wondering what his upside is. A lot of folks think he's a sleeping giant. He's coming off a 20/400/2 season as a starter. That's relatively low production for a WR2. Can he double that to 40/800? I think that would be a fantastic year for him. That's what I would be shooting for. I'm just not sure a) he'll get all of those opportunities and b) if he does if he can translate them into that kind of production.

I will say this... I think Beck's going to throw the ball a lot next season. We'll run some, sure, but we'll see a lot of "the short passing game is the running game" type of stuff. So I do think there's a lot of opportunity overall, just remains to be seen who gets the biggest slices of that pie. I think LeQuint is going to catch 50+ passes, for example.

 

[IthacaBarrel]

A lot of tap dancing going on in this thread. Some great takes taking back their takes. Lol

Really, don't see much of that at all. Most wanted him to stay but weren't ripping arm hair out if he left. Marginal on field success with big upside. made a lot of mistakes and some really great plays. I think Tomcat's post somewhere in this thread was spot on.

read what you want I guess. I will wait for the twitter assistant to move on to Fucillo auto mall before I really panic