Well if there’s one kid to steer clear of …it’s Jaden Rashada who is rumored to be jumping ship (again)… this time from Georgia. At the rate he’s going he’ll probably end up at WinkleNut State or some other far off program. The portal allows the prima-donnas to weed themselves out.
Branch brothers to Georgia. Were we in the mix at all here? Can’t remember.
Ya they visited this past weekend. They were definitely top targets.
And Georgia also picked up Jaden Harris.
College football is a tough world now with these portals.
Jaden Harris was god awful. By all accounts a good kid and hard worker though, best of luck to him.
Added Carson Beck and Jack Nickel
Portal Moving Forward as of 1/11/25…Either from playoff teams or spring
This is assuming we don’t have any more starter or key two deep losses, which is obviously a big leap of faith
RB- I’d say it’sleast 50/50 we add one…And it may have a lot to do if we are going to give Elijah Lofton snaps at the position. I doubt the player we add would be a top notch addition, maybe a depth piece. Unless a Terrell Walden or a walk-on can be a capable #5 in the rotation.
WR- One more is a definite. Two is possible imo. And I expect this player to be starting caliber proven player, if not a stud. I think if we lose anyone else then we would definitely replace that player as well as bringing in the one.
TE- One more is possible. I’d lean to we are done here, but again if Lofton is going to play multiple positions?
OL- 1 wouldn’t shock…Either an upside frosh/soph or interior depth piece. I lean to us adding one, but definitely not a lock. Now if we lose guys I would expect them to be replaced.
DT- I wouldn’t be surprised if we are done, but again another spot that is 50/50. We obviously would welcome a big time player. And like other positions if a Josh Horton, etc…Would transfer out I think we would be more aggressive. I think the top 3 of Blay/Moten/Scott is better than people think.
DE- I think we add only if a big upside guy. Now if Mesidor leaves for NFL (Word is he’s staying), I think we may get impressive. Lot of young talent here.
LB- I think the chances are fairly good we lose one of our backups after spring…I think either way we would welcome talent, but like DT not just take one for the sake of depth. Now if we lose 2 or more here we will definitely add 1.
DB- We are still after Lucas fighting the Wisconsin drama. If that doesn’t work out, I think there is a chance we stand pat, but I would bet on bringing in 1 more. After Lucas I think we will only add if we get a sure thing. Now if a Demari Brown/M.Williams decides to leave after spring, I think we will be aggressive in adding the 1.
So to summa up, definitely will add imo:
WR
DB (Lucas)
Decent Chance even if no more attrition
RB
OL
WR2
50/50
DT
Less likely but if attrition then more aggressive
TE
LB
DE (Mesidor?)
DB2
Let’s not forget QB. Good chance Williams leaves after being passed up twice now. However, IF he wants to start I think he goes to a smaller school. What if Beck falls on that elbow and gets hurt again?
I agree on WR. Rumor has it that some may follow Beck here. Not sure who the some are but it’s a rumor.
I think we need some more beef on the interior Dline.
Our LB room could use a playmaker or two.
Our DB group looks much better next year than this year.
I highly doubt they will find anyone worth a damn to bring in. The backup will be the winner of the backup battle between Williams/Nickel/Anderson…If Williams wins and still wants to bail or leave even before that battle, then it’s nickel/Anderson.
I guess it’s not impossible to bring in an experienced guy who doesn’t mind sitting. Not sure what price tag is for that. A few teams have done it.
What’s the deal with the Xavier Lucas kid? Besides the drama involved. Have the talent to compete or another warm body?
He is another very good addition to your secondary.
Oh definitely the talent to compete. Big expectations.
Great job by Miami to flip the DB room.
Big pickup on our end. Let’s hope we have done our due diligence on the legal side of things. I’m assuming we have
Can we say that we should have enough in the secondary now to not be horrendous?
I don’t expect a top 5-10 defense but can we at least be above the bottom third in the country?
I think we have loaded up the D with our incoming recruits and portal additions. I think we have 3 really good corners in Lucas, O’Connor and OJ, perhaps more as we see how guys progress in the spring.
Bluestein made a comment on how horrendous our pass rush was this year. He stated that after the Ball State game when our guys were starting to play better OL guys we just fizzled out and it exposed our weak secondary. Perhaps, a blessing in disguise because if our pass rush was any good it would not have exposed our horrible secondary.
It will be interesting to see who we bring in for DL, LB and DB. I also think we need a QB coach. Bluestein made a really good point about development and how we can’t keep doing the one year QB rental. If we do, guys won’t come here to play QB. He’s super high on Nickel.
Perhaps part of the problem with the pass rush was that the back 7 was so bad the QB was able to throw the ball quickly because his primary receivers were always open.
UM is kicking butt in the transfer porthole, it shed some losers and picked up some very good players. These guys plus some others including Beck. Not too shabby.
Is Wisconsin going to be able to prevent Lucas from going to Miami?
I think the tough thing is when you are part of a bad orginization or in this case college football program it is easy to get negative. Miami has been so bad for so long or underachieved that the first reaction is to always fall back to that. Mario has changed the narrative. Each year the program under him has improved. He realized on day one that the players in his program were not good enough to play at Miami. So he took a wrecking ball to the roster. He could have easily kept many of the players from Manny’s roster but the reality is it slowed down the rebuild. Mario in year one said we are going to make the OL better (Bam). He now heads into year four with most likely what will be the number one OL not only in the ACC but the country. He wanted to improve the DL - Bam…the DL improves. They still need to find that one elite edge rusher but the DL should be very good in 2025. He wanted to improve the skill on the offensive side of the ball he does that. He had to flip the roster and at the same time show results. In year four he solves the final piece of the puzzle (the secondary)… There is still room to grow but the moutain that Mario had to climb…was a big one. He came close this year. Cam still masked issues. I feel he has done a very good job of roster management. I like what he has done. He could have easily taken a step back in 2025 but landing Beck probably makes that less likely. This team in 2025 will be better in 2025 outside of Cam Ward. Listen Restrepo represents Miami very well but he should not be a number 1…Probably not a number 2. On a very good to great Miami team he is probably a 3. I feel that someone like Trader has more upside. He is someone that can create bigger players. I like the Daniels kid. Miami has recruited very well at TE. This team is getting better every year. Miami was close this year…I think they can finally…yes finally close the deal in 2025. I like what they have done.
I like your optimism but I’m not sure the talent is as high as you say it is. Until we start getting more high draft picks again we aren’t in the same level as the elite teams. Georgia OSU etc have 13-15 draft worthy guys. We have far fewer than that, and few elite guys outside of Ward.
Ya we were probably weren’t bottom 3rd in country but we weren’t good.
And yes, the secondary looks much better on paper, and you have Frederique and possibly Patterson/Day ready to emerge.