We've just had recent transfers from FAU, Bowling Green, and Stanford. Are we getting quality players ? Does this reflect what Elko's program will look like ?........ Thoughts from the Zoo ?

Yes.

Wait. No!

I mean... Maybe?

Does that sum it up for you?

We shall see.

if you watch alot of cfb games (not just aggie games) there were impact players from small schools all over the country. Michigan's starting corner was a UMASS transfer. People need to quit worrying about where the transfers come from.There was a buttload of large school transfers that did squat. We had several of them ourselves

I know zero about recruiting and talent evaluation…but EJ Smith and Nic Scourton seem like solid gets.

Depends on our ability to analyze video. I trust Elko

Personally out of the portal I prefer hungry kids from smaller school who are eager to prove they can play at a higher level after having some success at a smaller school. If Elko and staff believes they can help us than I am in.

The talented 5 star kids that flame out at bigger schools (Denver Harris, Chris Marshall types) do not interest me as much. I like what Elko has done. Supplemented what is still a talented core.

It looks like Elko is considering multiple factors into who he is recruiting from the portal. A lot are one and done guys that he has sought out to provide experience. One problem with Jimbo teams were they were perpetually young

The coaching change also resulted in more turnover than usual so more holes to fill in the depth chart.

You can probably figure that portal numbers will be in the 10-15 range going forward instead of 20+ and player selection will be more targeted to very specific needs and depending on where the teams sits potential-wise may go after some big fish

I think he looked for players who have played above their potential with past success, character, maturity and leadership. Not players who have potential but haven't yet lived up to it.

We haven't been looking for a bunch of starters except for in the back field and at DE where we landed high quality transfers. Most of the others have been for depth purposes, and they have years of extra experience and are grown ass men.

If you haven't been watching any NFL, many of these players come from smaller schools and just developed a bit later.

A lot of 300 + pounds recruited

Either he has an eye for picking excellent guys for his system from smaller schools or he's wiffing on or completely not even attempting to recruit elite guys from name programs.

I for one am glad he's hitting the portal so hard. At the very least we have a better idea at how these guys can produce immediately at the college level more than the majority of highly ranked incoming freshmen. There's room for hope and skepticism lol.

Edit: just saw some of you guys with an excellent point that a lot of these guys simply are for depth simply because of the one off situation we're in right now.

Here's a thought - how about we wait til they play some football for us before we judge them on how well they play football?

Gotta start somewhere. If he doesn't get guys from the portal we won't stand a chance. So my answer is he is doing an outstanding job with the portal.

Bryanisbest said:

---

Depends on our ability to analyze video. I trust Elko

---

It at least appears that Elko went after guys that have proven they aren't afraid to stick their head in there and make tackles.

Michigan's tackling stood out in the three or four games I watched.

I think it's all about trying to shore up
Obvious weak spots. Whether or not these guys can play at a high level in the SEC is not really the question… are they better than what we had available is the real question imo. I feel like the chances we are upgrading the secondary are pretty good because we pretty much had no one that could cover quality receivers

Going to have to trust Elko and his staff. Game day results will supply an answer.

whatthehey78 said:

---

Going to have to trust Elko and his staff. Game day results will supply an answer.

---

Alternatively people could not trust them, and the difference would be....... nothing

They don't reflect anything until we see what they do on the field

I think they reflect a program in the process of rebranding itself. Numbers were important here. Quality to be determined. We got the numbers.

We need help NOW! Not talent to develop. We have ~50 holes on our roster to fill.

Elko will crank up the recruiting effort, but right now he needs guys that can play next year while he builds.

We got really good athletes who want to play up and who have developed into young men

jdaggie2112 said:

---

if you watch alot of cfb games (not just aggie games) there were impact players from small schools all over the country. Michigan's starting corner was a UMASS transfer. People need to quit worrying about where the transfers come from.There was a buttload of large school transfers that did squat. We had several of them ourselves

---

Exactly. When will we learn that some kids peak in HS and never get better, other's hit their stride later.

Bill Superman said:

---

We haven't been looking for a bunch of starters except for in the back field and at DE where we landed high quality transfers. Most of the others have been for depth purposes, and they have years of extra experience and are grown ass men.

If you haven't been watching any NFL, many of these players come from smaller schools and just developed a bit later.

---

most likely portal transfers will also start at receiver, secondary and oline. Good chance on a lb too.

S.A. Aggie said:

---

Gotta start somewhere. If he doesn't get guys from the portal we won't stand a chance. So my answer is he is doing an outstanding job with the portal.

---

The interesting thing about these portal guys is that they've all played college ball. Maybe they haven't played at the SEC level, but most have played against P5 teams at least a couple of times, and most of the tape is probably readily available, if you so desire.

Just last night the starting TE for the Philadelphia Eagles played his college ball at S.Dakota St. I trust that Elko and staff know what they are looking for and have found a few guys that can play in the SEC. For most of these guys this is their big chance to show that they can play with the best and I'm sure like most young men that play the sport their dreams are to play in the NFL.

We still have a lot of talent on this roster, despite how it feels. The hope is that Elko is focusing on 1) plugging holes that have to be filled immediately and 2) getting the right group of guys together to fix the "culture". If his recruiting rankings are still down next year it is time to worry, but for now I think the priority has to be building as good of a team as possible as opposed to as good of a collection of players as possible.

Elko is bringing in quality players that want to play and try. It does not matter what star rating someone has from high school or what college they are coming from . . . what matters is how they have performed in college. Those star ratings mainly come from someone doing well in a recruiting camp when they were 16 years old and then probably signed on to a top college where they did not perform. I really like who he has signed.

Guess we'll find out next year. Who knows. Odds are it won't be good.

Guy12 said:

---

Here's a thought - how about we wait til they play some football for us before we judge them on how well they play football?

---

Read closer..... there was no "judging", only asked questions for the zoo's response/reactions....