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Football Transfer Portal '23

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Re: Football Transfer Portal '23

Postby Terry Webster » Tue Jan 10, 2023 5:12 pm

Got a commitment from @rocketrahimi from Liberty. Impressive DB.
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Re: Football Transfer Portal '23

Postby JasonB » Tue Jan 10, 2023 7:28 pm

Diving into all of these commitments a little more... and keeping in mind that Cincy, Houston, and UCF are leaving the conference...

Megginson probably had a better season last year than any of our corners. If we don't add anyone else, he will be a solid number 2 corner, an upgrade over Westfall. He is good in coverage, and much better against the run then our current corners. Woods is a significant upgrade over Armani (as long as he is healthy). If we land another transfer CB who becomes a starter, that player will be a significant upgrade over Westfall, and then Megginson is a massive upgrade over the third corner and Rogers becomes the 4th corner. Woods will be all conference if he is healthy, and Megginson would probably be the best third corner in the conference, and one of the better second corners in conference. Woods is an elite add if healthy. Megginson is a nice upgrade who should do well in our conference, but I wouldn't look at him to be on the all conference team.

At Nickelback, I think Sanders will backup Crossley. I wouldn't expect him to be all world, but he is a massive upgrade over anyone who backed up Crossley last year, and will allow Crossley to play less which will help him out a bunch. He is a significant improvement in depth.

At Safety, Rocket is basically an upgrade for 22 (Roberts). Roberts struggled some in the run game, but caused turnovers. And he struggled in coverage, but got picks. Rocket is kind of the same thing, but better - he allows completions, but doesn't give up as many big plays, he gets a few more INTs, and he is better against the run. An upgrade over Roberts for sure, but not sure if I would consider him an all-conference type player. McGill will play as the second safety and will be a massive upgrade over Massey as a starter in all phases. McGill will probably challenge for an all-conference spot. McGill at Stanford played some Nickel as well as safety, but I suspect with us he will play more of a true safety role because we have Crossley and Sanders who will play Nickel. The only way I could see him play NB is if Massey or Moses take a massive step forward (we all love Moses, and he will see plenty of time), but his versatility will allow us to get all the best players on the field. I don't think we are going to be dominant like Cincy or Houston a couple years back, but we have certainly upgraded significantly and should challenge for having the best unit in conference.

On the line, Miller is the key add. His most important benefit is that he allows 40 to move to the 3 tech and 96to DE, where both will be able to compete for all conference honors instead of struggling to play out of position. So, it is a major upgrade because it makes the line better. I don't know if he will be all conference - there is a reason he never started at Miami. But he should be solid and will allow others to perform better. Roberts will provide us good depth on the edge, competing to backup 96, and possibly some depth behind 40 inside if 92 can't get healthy. I wouldn't expect either player to be all conference, but I would expect them to make a unit that underperformed this year significantly better, and more like one of the conference's best units that we saw the year before.

The other defensive player we are adding is Walker at LB. The stud LB was Smith, who went elsewhere. Walker is good against the run and can create pressures, but struggles in pass D. Certainly an upgrade over Reid, but he isn't going to replace Phillips. Ideally, he is competing for the second LB spot with both Burns and Farrar, and we have someone else coming in as the top LB.

Overall, we have certainly upgraded the secondary and depth at corner, nickel, and safety and should have one of the better units in conference. In order for us to really transform the defense, we need to add a top LB and another NT.
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Re: Football Transfer Portal '23

Postby Terry Webster » Tue Jan 10, 2023 8:37 pm

Just got a commitment from the Aggie OL. Huge pickup for the Stangs.
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Re: Football Transfer Portal '23

Postby stlpony » Tue Jan 10, 2023 9:41 pm

Terry Webster wrote:Just got a commitment from the Aggie OL. Huge pickup for the Stangs.


On the offensive side of the ball, it seems like we are pretty close to being done. With PJ now added to shore up the LT, I think the last two targets are Drake Metcalf (Stanford OL) and Cane Berrong (Notre Dame TE). As it is, I don't see any AAC team stopping the potential of this offense!!
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Re: Football Transfer Portal '23

Postby crispy_taco » Tue Jan 10, 2023 10:27 pm

JasonB, what do you think happened to Jahari Rogers. He transferred after one season at Florida and was rated as a 0.9630 on 247. Also a top 100 nationally ranked recruit in the 2020 class. Blue chip recruit that hasn't panned out yet, I get it happens a lot. But any further insight?
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Re: Football Transfer Portal '23

Postby crispy_taco » Tue Jan 10, 2023 10:33 pm

Worth noting that PJ Williams' commitment message was released by his criminal defense lawyer out of Houston. The message mentions that Williams is in the midst of a pretrial diversion program. I had heard that he was in trouble of some sort at TAMU but did not know that criminality was involved.

Sure he is a great guy, just needs to be shown the way. Hopefully SMU is the place that can make that happen

EDIT: Did a quick search and he was arrested for possession of marijuana back in October. Was taken to jail because it was between 4 oz and 5 pounds of marijuana. For those that aren't familiar that is quite a lot of marijuana even if it is near the 4 oz threshold. If it is closer to the pound range we are talking about pillow case sized bags. He was one of the four players everyone may have heard about that were suspended before the South Carolina game. All four players entered the portal. Marshall to Ole Miss, Harris to LSU, Williams to SMU, and it looks like Lucas to USC.
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Re: Football Transfer Portal '23

Postby MustangBroker » Wed Jan 11, 2023 8:48 am

crispy_taco wrote:Worth noting that PJ Williams' commitment message was released by his criminal defense lawyer out of Houston. The message mentions that Williams is in the midst of a pretrial diversion program. I had heard that he was in trouble of some sort at TAMU but did not know that criminality was involved.

Sure he is a great guy, just needs to be shown the way. Hopefully SMU is the place that can make that happen

EDIT: Did a quick search and he was arrested for possession of marijuana back in October. Was taken to jail because it was between 4 oz and 5 pounds of marijuana. For those that aren't familiar that is quite a lot of marijuana even if it is near the 4 oz threshold. If it is closer to the pound range we are talking about pillow case sized bags. He was one of the four players everyone may have heard about that were suspended before the South Carolina game. All four players entered the portal. Marshall to Ole Miss, Harris to LSU, Williams to SMU, and it looks like Lucas to USC.


One of the unintended consequences of NIL will be that some players will do large drug deals. They can 5x the money that they get and “help” friends from back home. I’m absolutely sure it’s happening on a decent scale around the country.
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Re: Football Transfer Portal '23

Postby JasonB » Wed Jan 11, 2023 12:36 pm

stlpony wrote:
Terry Webster wrote:Just got a commitment from the Aggie OL. Huge pickup for the Stangs.


On the offensive side of the ball, it seems like we are pretty close to being done. With PJ now added to shore up the LT, I think the last two targets are Drake Metcalf (Stanford OL) and Cane Berrong (Notre Dame TE). As it is, I don't see any AAC team stopping the potential of this offense!!


Metcalf is coming. We need a blocking TE and another WR.
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Re: Football Transfer Portal '23

Postby JasonB » Wed Jan 11, 2023 12:56 pm

crispy_taco wrote:JasonB, what do you think happened to Jahari Rogers. He transferred after one season at Florida and was rated as a 0.9630 on 247. Also a top 100 nationally ranked recruit in the 2020 class. Blue chip recruit that hasn't panned out yet, I get it happens a lot. But any further insight?



Jahari is a good athlete, which is why he was highly regarded in recruiting. It shows up in that he has 13 pass breakups and 2 INTs at SMU, and the pass completion percentage against is relatively low.

There are two areas he struggles in (understandably). The first is defending the run, which you would expect from someone who played a lot of offense in high school. This is something that will continue to improve with time. The other area is anticipation. It takes a while to really understand how to read a WR and where they are going and react quickly to it. The year before, he also had really poor technique in how and where he lined up and tracked a route, but those issues improved significantly this season.

This defense is going to rotate like crazy; even if he is a second team corner, he is going to get a ton of time in the games.

The thing you love about him is that any time he had the opportunity at practice, he always chose to cover Rashee. Went out of his way for that assignment. So, he has the mental attitude to push himself to be the best, so I wouldn't ever count him out. I could see him taking a very big step forward next year. With some of the other corners on the roster this season, there was a lack of fluidity that really limits their upside. Jahari doesn't have that issue.
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Re: Football Transfer Portal '23

Postby Terry Webster » Thu Jan 12, 2023 9:09 pm

Add one more. DB Jaelyn Davis-Robinson out of LSU. Our defense is going to look so much better next year.
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Re: Football Transfer Portal '23

Postby ponyboy » Thu Jan 12, 2023 9:54 pm

Kid out of Waxahachie. Good pickup.
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Re: Football Transfer Portal '23

Postby JasonB » Fri Jan 13, 2023 9:56 am

CB room: Woods and Megginson are the starters going into the Spring, with a history of good performance in college, and both are upgrades over our starters from this year. JDR and Rogers will compete to supplant them, each with outstanding athletic potential and they will continue to grow so that they can play against the run. Davis, McMorris, Hall, and the frosh Muhammed are next, with Davis having played extremely well as a true freshman this last year. My guess is that Hall or McMorris will be moved to NB to compete in that room and add some depth over there. Having a three deep of players you aren't scared of playing will allow for a ton of rotation, which is another big factor to help improve the secondary.
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Re: Football Transfer Portal '23

Postby crispy_taco » Fri Jan 13, 2023 1:40 pm

So for safety it's looking like McGill and Rahimi like you said?
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Re: Football Transfer Portal '23

Postby JasonB » Fri Jan 13, 2023 3:48 pm

crispy_taco wrote:So for safety it's looking like McGill and Rahimi like you said?


Yes, McGill and Rahimi with Moses and Massey backing them up. NWO and Adimora third team.

And then at Nickel, you have Crossley starting with Sanders backing him up and someone from CB room will move over as third string.

Moses might be good enough to start, but I suspect they will keep the layout above in order to have sufficient depth everywhere. There is going to be a ton of rotation.

Significantly improved tackling across the board in the secondary, which will help eliminate some explosive plays in the running game.
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Re: Football Transfer Portal '23

Postby Terry Webster » Tue Jan 17, 2023 9:49 pm

Picked up another one tonight. Logan Barr. 6'3 315 OL out of Utexas.
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