Yeah... not getting the sh*t part??
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I think if he is the lynchpin of our portal class on the OL we are in trouble. I do not believe he is though.
On Taylor, that is your CB2 and my god have we upgraded there. Talked to an Iowa St buddy today and they were really high on him. Said Campbell wanted him to come to Penn St with him.
We've done well in the secondary so far and we're not done there. Just have to win a few of these battles for DL and OL or it won't matter
So far:
Nash - ideally interior OL battling for starting position, but would rather him grow
Singleton - DB depth, few years of eligibility
Taylor - CB2
Swann - QB2 (note no word on Kamario's MRI leaked)
Jenkins - DL; Older guy who will be in rotation. Gotta hope age helps him
Johnson - WR2/3 depending on if we get BT back.
Needs:
QB - Kamario confirmed healthy in spring
HB - Fluff healthy in spring; another warm "prove it" body
WR - BT back, Ant confirmed staying, one more big body WR, Cunningham is a nice to have
TE - Prove it guy to compete with Ball / West
OL - as many as possible to compete; I'd want 5 guys transferring in at least personally, understand that gotta have bites even though we're dangling good bait.
Interior DL - in Arnett's system I don't mind going the Jenkins route. One or two more 22yr+ guys for rotation is nice.
Edge - Would love a splash piece here, most important place left to shore up on defense
LB - Arnett made lemonade out of lemons here; shouldn't splurge but I trust whoever we get here
CB - looking for young depth
S - grouping these 3 slots together; I want us to grab at least one starting player out of the portal and then a bunch of depth.
Sounds like our plan and wants from the coaching side align mostly with this. Just need the bites especially on OL.
Having seen footage of KT walking around and rumors of him doing things like bowling I'd say that the odds of the MRI results being Ok are really high.
RB- I don't know, I think there is a good chance that at least one of Hill and Crosby emerges this season in a reserve role. I bet we could find a decent RB 2/3 in G5, FCS or D2 even. Just isn't a huge need.
WR- I wouldn't be completely surprised if we add more WR's than we anticipate. I would definitely be very interested in Gipson from Oklahoma who just entered the portal. I could see SanFrisco and Ayden really turning the corner next year. I thought they both flashed in the bowl like I hoped they would have during the season.
TE- We need a couple to go with what we have.
OL- Beaten to death ad nauseum. We were horrible last year. But we also scored enough points with the five matadors to compete in the league. If we improve that unit to below average even our offense could make a jump. Hopefully we improve enough here to allow us to make a jump from 30 PPG to 35 PPG although I will admit that is a pretty big jump.
DL- We need some guys that can win the LOS. I'm glad Trevion and Dinkins and Whitson are coming back. Glad we got Jenkins. We need some more and we need the guys I mentioned in the other sentence to get stronger and better and healthy. I really like the DT from Arkansas State that is visiting.
LB- One of the strongest units on the team and maybe the best on the defense.
EDGE- This actually is probably our biggest need since we couldn't generate any pressure last year. We really need to overpay at this position to fix our issues. I like Nickerson's upside but he needs to add a good 50 pounds of muscle. Praying for the EDGE from Tulane and Herring. Probably end up with the EDGE from Michigan State.
CB- Kelley Jones and the new CB's look like an improved group. We'll need it with our blitzing likely to increase. Say what you want about Corey Bell but he did some work in the portal this offseason.
K/P- Getting Ferrie and Pulliam back are huge.
KR- Need some guys that can do more than fair catch. Honestly wouldn't mind taking the small guy from Sacramento State just to return kicks. I think he runs like a 4.2 but is only 145?
S/DOG- We get Isaac back and I really think that Womack will contribute next year- at least as much as Lockhart did this year in terms of playing time. Womack is a special player that could contribute right away. I'm guessing we get Hartzog from Nebraska and hopefully some others. We've been very aggressive with this position group.
I penciled in Isaac and Womack as starting safeties. I just don't think we get Womack without assuring the playing time and I don't hate it.
But basically we're an elite edge + one more starting DB away from having a paper contender on defense. Two big ifs but the mountain seems climbable.
Then it comes down to getting the OL we need.
Montrell Chapman becomes the 34th player to transfer out since the portal opened.
I feel pretty confident that, unless we get an unexpected committment, Jamroc Grimsley will be the next portal commit. DB from Florida.
Not state related, but I'm worried if I'm a Penn state fan. Campbell has taken 19 Iowa state players off an 8-4 team with him. Maybe it's the best 19 players on the team, but man.... his 8-4 big12 team would be a 6-6 big10 team
Will the mizzou WR play outside unless Evans leaves?
He took some really good players. However, he's going to have to work to get them on par with Indiana(still feels weird typing that), Ohio St, and Oregon.
That's the one issue I had with them hiring Campbell. Everyone always said he didn't have the resources to win big at Iowa St, but it was never the games that he wasn't supposed to win that would cost him a shot at a conference title and sometimes a playoff shot.
2021- He loses at WVU, who finished 6-7, and at Texas Tech, who finished 7-6 and had already fired their coach.
2023- Loses at Ohio
2024-Loses at home to Texas Tech and loses to a bad Kansas team in Arrowhead.
2025- At Colorado and a home loss to ASU
Like he definitely wins a lot of games he shouldn't and made Iowa St a good program. But man he has some head scratching losses.
Indiana is spending big money now. Wild.
Jamroc Grimsley has committed. I imagine we will be processing out one of the corners currently on the roster so I feel like we'll see at transfer out of that room in the next day or so.
With the Michigan State OT landing at Auburn this has to help us with landing Seagren correct?