Transfer Portal: Who's Coming and Going (2022 Roster)

[JacketFan137]

The achilles generally takes longer to recover from but lately has a very successful recovery rate. Cam Akers, Rams RB, had a torn achilles last July and was able to play again about 6 months later. That's a bit earlier than normal, though. Generally full recovery takes between 9 - 12 months. For reference purposes my daughter is currently going through this exact recovery process and probably needs to whipping around more than a QB does as she does high level tumbling for competitive cheer. She was recently cleared to begin simple tumbling about a month ago after surgery in early September of last year.

these athletes can return to play but akers has lost a lot of his explosiveness. at least this year in the playoffs vs his time at FSU and his rookie year. now that he will be basically a year and a half removed it will be interesting to see. i completely forgot about that injury when he signed with us and now i’m a little more concerned with what he will look like going forward

 

[RamblinRed]

Just as an FYI
Here is a list of the players lost and players gained through the portal so far this offseason.

QB - out - 2 (Yates, Peery), in - 2 (Gibson, Phommachanh)
RB - out - 3 (Gibbs, Griffin, Amerson), in - 2 (McDuffie, Hall)
WR/TE - out - 3 (Sanders, Deveney, Ezzard), in - 2 (Benson, Jenkins)
OL - out - 1 (Camp), in - 4 (Quick, Tchio, Adams, Robinson)
DL - out - 4 (Ivey, Domineck, Lockhart, Griffin), in - 0
LB - out - 1 (Wright), in - 0
DB - out - 2 (Walker, Huff), in - 5 (Bennett, Reed, Wallace, Gee, Harvey)

Having more going out than going in at a position does not mean that we lost more than we gained, nor is the opposite necessarily true either.
If I was going to rank how GT has done on a net basis with the portal I would say the following
QB - slight net +
RB - slight net -
WR/TE - slight net +
OL - moderate net +
DL - large net -
LB - N/A
CB - slight net + (probably more long term than short term)

At a program level we have 16 out so far and 15 in so far and overall I would say its pretty close to a wash. Some areas are stronger, some are weaker.
I don't think all the action in the portal has made the program significantly stronger, nor significantly weaker. Pretty much kept it close to where it was at the end of last season.
There has been alot of action, but not much moving the needle.

 

[cthenrys]

I think we had a thread on this a while back, but the average transfer doesn't move the needle very much. There are exceptions of course (Gibbs, Choice, Russell Wilson) but generally you are indeed getting someone who left for more playing time (not always but more often than not). Outside of the TE, I think we mainly got depth. Hall could be an early contributor but is not likely to take a lot of snaps from Smith. It helps - and we are better off than had we not gotten the transfers in, but the incoming transfer class doesn't significantly upgrade the roster from a team that went 3-9, in my opinion.

 

[JacketFan137]

Just as an FYI
Here is a list of the players lost and players gained through the portal so far this offseason.

QB - out - 2 (Yates, Peery), in - 2 (Gibson, Phommachanh)
RB - out - 3 (Gibbs, Griffin, Amerson), in - 2 (McDuffie, Hall)
WR/TE - out - 3 (Sanders, Deveney, Ezzard), in - 2 (Benson, Jenkins)
OL - out - 1 (Camp), in - 4 (Quick, Tchio, Adams, Robinson)
DL - out - 4 (Ivey, Domineck, Lockhart, Griffin), in - 0
LB - out - 1 (Wright), in - 0
DB - out - 2 (Walker, Huff), in - 5 (Bennett, Reed, Wallace, Gee, Harvey)

Having more going out than going in at a position does not mean that we lost more than we gained, nor is the opposite necessarily true either.
If I was going to rank how GT has done on a net basis with the portal I would say the following
QB - slight net +
RB - slight net -
WR/TE - slight net +
OL - moderate net +
DL - large net -
LB - N/A
CB - slight net + (probably more long term than short term)

At a program level we have 16 out so far and 15 in so far and overall I would say its pretty close to a wash. Some areas are stronger, some are weaker.
I don't think all the action in the portal has made the program significantly stronger, nor significantly weaker. Pretty much kept it close to where it was at the end of last season.
There has been alot of action, but not much moving the needle.

i think the only position we can surely say we probably will not be as good at is RB. on the d line we lost a lot of guys but honestly that unit vastly underperformed the entire season. production wise it is certainly possible we achieve the same with the younger guys that will be taking their place.

i’m not sure if the guys we got will be better but it is certainly not a high bar for them to clear in many positions like OL and the DB group

 

[CEB]

DL - out - 4 (Ivey, Domineck, Lockhart, Griffin), in - 0

 

[LargeFO]

DL - whiff city per the norm

 

[WreckinGT]

Just as an FYI
Here is a list of the players lost and players gained through the portal so far this offseason.

QB - out - 2 (Yates, Peery), in - 2 (Gibson, Phommachanh)
RB - out - 3 (Gibbs, Griffin, Amerson), in - 2 (McDuffie, Hall)
WR/TE - out - 3 (Sanders, Deveney, Ezzard), in - 2 (Benson, Jenkins)
OL - out - 1 (Camp), in - 4 (Quick, Tchio, Adams, Robinson)
DL - out - 4 (Ivey, Domineck, Lockhart, Griffin), in - 0
LB - out - 1 (Wright), in - 0
DB - out - 2 (Walker, Huff), in - 5 (Bennett, Reed, Wallace, Gee, Harvey)

Having more going out than going in at a position does not mean that we lost more than we gained, nor is the opposite necessarily true either.
If I was going to rank how GT has done on a net basis with the portal I would say the following
QB - slight net +
RB - slight net -
WR/TE - slight net +
OL - moderate net +
DL - large net -
LB - N/A
CB - slight net + (probably more long term than short term)

At a program level we have 16 out so far and 15 in so far and overall I would say its pretty close to a wash. Some areas are stronger, some are weaker.
I don't think all the action in the portal has made the program significantly stronger, nor significantly weaker. Pretty much kept it close to where it was at the end of last season.
There has been alot of action, but not much moving the needle.

My only problem with this analysis is that it devalues Gibbs a good bit. He was also one of the best receivers we had and one of the best return men in football. He was our only true game changer every time he was on the field. We will be lacking that now.

 

[Billygoat91]

My only problem with this analysis is that it devalues Gibbs a good bit. He was also one of the best receivers we had and one of the best return men in football. He was our only true game changer every time he was on the field. We will be lacking that now.

I agree. I am hoping that increased TE usage can reduce the loss of Gibbs on the receiving side. Gibbs basically filled the safety valve for a QB role that TE's usually occupy. His play making ability in general will be missed for sure

 

[MonroeJacket]

Didn’t we lose a couple more OL to medical? Pendley and someone else. I know it’s not portal, but still losing someone before we expect to.

 

[Lil G]

Imo- if we don’t land 2 DL nasty boys it’s another sub 5 win seasons and another 50 point loss to UGA. Outside of an upcoming Keion White (mark my words he’ll be a name this season) we are really going to struggle up front.
I’m really excited about Long’s takeover, dontae getting more snaps (I liked him a little more than mason). Most people here seem to think Sims is easily holding the start over Clemson guy, but I think those people need to watch his spring game tape. Sims has moments of glory but the inconsistency only slightly improved. I would love for sims to start and prove me wrong, but I’m excited about the new guy and bare minimum the competition he will bring.
Also I think Kyle Efford either this year or next will be a clear NFL prospect and household name

 

[jojatk]

these athletes can return to play but akers has lost a lot of his explosiveness. at least this year in the playoffs vs his time at FSU and his rookie year. now that he will be basically a year and a half removed it will be interesting to see. i completely forgot about that injury when he signed with us and now i’m a little more concerned with what he will look like going forward

RE: Akers, you hit on where I was going with his rehab. He came back in about the same time frame as an ACL tear but he was definitely not the same guy as he was. He should regain a lot of that explosiveness back as this coming season goes on and he has more time getting back the strength after the injury. One of the problems that we tend not to think about is the imbalance that is inevitable with an injury like this. Imbalance as in one side being stronger than the other and it does take specific rehab for that (I'm going through that myself with rehab from a back injury that caused me to lose a lot of strength on the left side of my lower body and at this point we are rehabbing that specific issue, not the actual injury anymore - and it's going really well!!!).

As for Taisun; considering it was Spring of 2021 and I don't expect him to challenge Sims for the starting job and perhaps not even Gibson for the 2nd spot I'm not as concerned. That doesn't mean I'm not concerned at all, though.

 

[Backstreetbuzz]

OL moderate +
DL large -
DB slight +

laughable.

 

[LargeFO]

Didn’t we lose a couple more OL to medical? Pendley and someone else. I know it’s not portal, but still losing someone before we expect to.

Yeah I think Spiers from Mississippi & rankins left too.

 

[D-man44]

Lockett and Miles have some nice upside hopefully they show promise as TF

 

[BuzzDraft]

This paying players to play college football has gone from the smoke-filled backroom to the full-on display of mine is bigger than yours. What a transition. What is equally astonishing is the unwillingness of anyone to take a position of leadership or "hey, I am in charge and this is going to further destroy our once great game if it hasn't already done so, and here is how we are going to fix it." More or less, a statement on modern-day society. Let's just let this play out and see where it takes us.

Just my thoughts.

I don't see any unwillingness to try to "fix" this...

I see any potential leaders trying to think of all possible proposed fixes, and realizing that none of them would stand up in court.

Everyone sincerely seeking an equitable solution's hands are tied by the inevital legal challenges. College football is now an openly professional sport, but without the NFL's tight franchise/union partnership that provides competitive balance like controlled free agency and salary caps. The court cases have stripped all the rules, starting with the Okie/Dwags suing for their own TV money rights. It's a free-for-all period for all the Haves to race to grab all they can, and is not sustainable. It will have to crash and burn before it can be brought back out of the ashes. This is the epitome of "Killing the Golden Goose" because the factories didn't want to share any of their largess for the good of the sport. They will break off into their own training league for the NFL, and I won't be sad to see them go.

The Ivy League has a pretty satisfying model for college football. Their "Super Bowl" is their regular season conference championship after a full round-robin schedule with no artificial championship game, and they don't give a crap about the money or bowl games or FBS playoff. The people I know from there, who also take a lot of pride in their school's athletic competition, take just as much satisfaction and pride in bragging rights among their like minded universities as the factories and factory-wannabes do in FBS, and probably more because they did it right.

 

[BuzzDraft]

I don't see any unwillingness to try to "fix" this...

I see any potential leaders trying to think of all possible proposed fixes, and realizing that none of them would stand up in court.

Everyone sincerely seeking an equitable solution's hands are tied by the inevital legal challenges. College football is now an openly professional sport, but without the NFL's tight franchise/union partnership that provides competitive balance like controlled free agency and salary caps. The court cases have stripped all the rules, starting with the Okie/Dwags suing for their own TV money rights. It's a free-for-all period for all the Haves to race to grab all they can, and is not sustainable. It will have to crash and burn before it can be brought back out of the ashes. This is the epitome of "Killing the Golden Goose" because the factories didn't want to share any of their largess for the good of the sport. They will break off into their own training league for the NFL, and I won't be sad to see them go.

The Ivy League has a pretty satisfying model for college football. Their "Super Bowl" is their regular season conference championship after a full round-robin schedule with no artificial championship game, and they don't give a crap about the money or bowl games or FBS playoff. The people I know from there, who also take a lot of pride in their school's athletic competition, take just as much satisfaction and pride in bragging rights among their like minded universities as the factories and factory-wannabes do in FBS, and probably more because they did it right.

I'm sorry, I reread this and this thread is not the place for it. I posted it in an appropriate thread and it was too late to delete it here.

Sincere apologies.

 

[JacketFan137]

The Ivy League has a pretty satisfying model for college football. Their "Super Bowl" is their regular season conference championship after a full round-robin schedule with no artificial championship game, and they don't give a crap about the money or bowl games or FBS playoff. The people I know from there, who also take a lot of pride in their school's athletic competition, take just as much satisfaction and pride in bragging rights among their like minded universities as the factories and factory-wannabes do in FBS, and probably more because they did it right.

again, while this would be fun for the fans this doesn’t sound like a profitable venture and would immediately turn the athletic association in a different direction.

 

[RamblinRed]

again, while this would be fun for the fans this doesn’t sound like a profitable venture and would immediately turn the athletic association in a different direction.

I will say that having spent a couple of years at an Ivy school that the poster is correct that they take tremendous pride in their athletic programs and when they succeed against their peers. I've been to watching parties here in Atlanta to see Ivy teams take on each other.

Alot of this comes down to what does the new college football structure look like. There is the potential that thinking in terms of conferences is old-fashioned and not what the new model will look like.
There will almost certainly be a new structure within the NCAA with a top group that runs itself and then probably a middle tier and a lower tier. If that happens I think GT ends up in the middle tier.
It could also go the way that ND AD Swarbrick has been saying since about 2016, that there will be a group of schools that basically abandon any pretense of their college football programs actually being college football programs, that they will just be semi-pro teams and then you will have another group that believes the academic part of college athletics is important so they will have their own system with their own rules. He has made it clear that ND would be in that latter group and I would expect GT to be in that group as well.

My own belief is that whatever new structure evolves out of college football that GT is unlikely to be in whatever the 'top' tier is, and frankly I am ok with that.

 

[g0lftime]

Does the rest of the country really care if two SEC teams play for the national championship every year? I didn't even watch it this past year. I did watch Bama beat UGA in their SEC championship game. TV needs cross sectional games to get viewers.

 

[Techwood Relict]

I think we had a thread on this a while back, but the average transfer doesn't move the needle very much. There are exceptions of course (Gibbs, Choice, Russell Wilson) but generally you are indeed getting someone who left for more playing time (not always but more often than not). Outside of the TE, I think we mainly got depth. Hall could be an early contributor but is not likely to take a lot of snaps from Smith. It helps - and we are better off than had we not gotten the transfers in, but the incoming transfer class doesn't significantly upgrade the roster from a team that went 3-9, in my opinion.

I see the overall turnover through the portal as both a manner to fill created needs and one to bring balance and competition to the roster. The desire for more playing time is a strong motivator and selling point for both parties. Hopefully, the incoming players bring a maturation to the competition and help us improve overall, but I suspect other factors, ie the coaching changes, will have the strongest impact on outcomes. I am hopeful to see the TE group contribute. Haven't seen much of that in recent years.