2024 Transfer Portal Thread (Merged Zeek's New Thread)

[WFE12 9,191]

 

[Hank2020 3,225]

41 minutes ago, aucom96 said:

That's the problem with the traditional approach. You are having to strain your resources to keep these guys on the roster year after year. The further we get into the NIL era, the transfer portal will become impossible to ignore managing talent will be more important than just traditional recruiting. Freeze is going to have to get better at this part of the game, because no SEC team is waiting for year 5 or 6 to figure it out anymore. 

We don’t know how he is going to land until the end. Last year he had a high rated group ( whether they panned out or not).

[Mikey 16,777]

3 hours ago, aucom96 said:

That's the problem with the traditional approach. You are having to strain your resources to keep these guys on the roster year after year. The further we get into the NIL era, the transfer portal will become impossible to ignore managing talent will be more important than just traditional recruiting. Freeze is going to have to get better at this part of the game, because no SEC team is waiting for year 5 or 6 to figure it out anymore. 

We haven't lost a player to the portal that mattered since Freeze has been here.. Nobody knows if he can continue to hold the line like this or not but so far, so good.

[toddc 13,194]

Maryland TE transfer Rico Walker to officially visit Auburn

JD McCarthy

(Photo by Mike Mulholland/Getty Images)

Auburn is looking to add a young tight end out of the transfer portal and a new target has emerged in rico walker. He played in eight games as a freshman for Maryland before deciding to enter the portal and picking up an offer from Auburn.

With three more seasons of eligibility, he has the youth that Ben Aigamaua is trying to add to a room full of veterans. That interest is mutual as Walker will officially visit Auburn on Jan. 3, according to On3’s Jeffrey Lee.

Auburn recruited Walker out of high school and was a finalist for the Hickory, North Carolina product before he committed to North Carolina but ultimately signed with the Terrapins. His father, Ricardo, played defensive tackle for Auburn in the 1990s.

The 6-foot-4, 248-pounder was a four-star prospect coming out of high school and was recruited as both a tight end and edge rusher before ultimately settling on the offensive side of the ball for the Terrapins. He caught four passes for 27 yards.

[gr82b4au 5,568]

I have not looked but I would bet the majority of teams killing it in the portal did not have a great HS recruiting class. 

[Gowebb11 9,429]

14 minutes ago, gr82b4au said:

I have not looked but I would bet the majority of teams killing it in the portal did not have a great HS recruiting class. 

Probably some truth to that. It seems for most programs to be an either/or focus. 

[AuburnNTexas 7,198]

38 minutes ago, Mikey said:

We haven't lost a player to the portal that mattered since Freeze has been here.. Nobody knows if he can continue to hold the line like this or not but so far, so good.

I think there is one exception J Johnson at WR he was our top returning WR. With Freshmen class coming in that is probably not a huge loss but having an experienced older player would have helped early in the season. Luckily two of our WR class are early enrolees.

[aucom96 1,640]

16 hours ago, Mikey said:

We haven't lost a player to the portal that mattered since Freeze has been here.. Nobody knows if he can continue to hold the line like this or not but so far, so good.

We haven’t had much to lose. That will change with top ten classes. All I’m saying is that Freeze will not be able to ignore the portal in favor of a traditional long term approach because both are now very much connected. Our hotshot receiver recruits will all come with a higher price tag next season, for example. 

[gman87 398]

2 hours ago, aucom96 said:

We haven’t had much to lose. That will change with top ten classes. All I’m saying is that Freeze will not be able to ignore the portal in favor of a traditional long term approach because both are now very much connected. Our hotshot receiver recruits will all come with a higher price tag next season, for example. 

With higher price tags comes higher productivity. If they put in the work it will be worth it.

[FreezeWarning 11]

On 12/29/2023 at 3:53 PM, Gowebb11 said:

Probably some truth to that. It seems for most programs to be an either/or focus. 

I’d say that’s debatable. 

We already have 4 portal commits for 2024. As for what we did in the portal before New Years for our 2023 class, we only had Wade, McAllister, and Fairweather committed. The other 17 portal players Hugh landed for the 2023 class came after New Years. 

So that being said, Hugh really didn’t start racking in players from last years portal until January and the spring yet we still ended up a with a top 5 portal class. 

So it seems to me portal and HS recruiting are just two different animals. Portal recruiting is quick while HS recruiting is long. Hugh seems to be an aggressive recruiter overall which is a good sign too!

Hugh’s last class proved he could recruit the portal very well and now he’s proving he can recruit HS just as well with this upcoming class. 
 

So I don’t really see how prioritizing HS recruiting impacts portal recruiting like that. Hugh still as plenty of time to bring in some impactful players through the portal for 2024. 
 

The only thing I think impacts recruiting all around is a schools NIL budget and how and where they’re spending money.
 

I’m assuming it’s the highly ranked HS recruits that are being recruited by damn near every school that are likely getting a big NIL deal. So likely the top 50-100 HS recruits could possibly be drawing in big NIL money. The NIL deals for the HS recruits that are ranked outside of the top 50-100 probably drop off significantly. 
 

As for the top 50-100 portal guys, they’re likely getting the most when it comes to NIL money all around. I’m assuming the NIL money drops off significantly as well when it comes to the portal guys ranked outside of the top 50-100 as well but I’d assume they’re still getting a hefty amount unlike the HS recruits ranked outside the top 50-100. 
 

This is just me guessing on how it all works since it’s still new and nobody really seems to have it figured out but it seems pretty logical to think NIL budgets factor the most when it comes to what type of HS and portal players each school are recruiting. 

[AUwent 3,778]

If a transfer QB that we like is out there, I think I'd be good conceding RW and re-allocating that $. 🤷‍♂️

Edited December 31, 2023 by AUwent

[Mikey 16,777]

8 hours ago, AUwent said:

If a transfer QB that we like is out there, I think I'd be good conceding RW and re-allocating that $. 🤷‍♂️

Unless yesterday changed Freeze's mind I don't see that happening.

[NWALA Tiger 3,535]

16 minutes ago, Mikey said:

Unless yesterday changed Freeze's mind I don't see that happening.

We need a QB to bridge the gap to Hank and White. But since Freeze has been so stubborn,  most of the portal QB are off the market

[Mikey 16,777]

Just now, NWALA Tiger said:

We need a QB to bridge the gap to Hank and White. But since Freeze has been so stubborn,  most of the portal QB are off the market

That maybe what we fans think but unless Freeze thinks that it isn't happening. To date, all indications are that he doesn't want a portal QB.

[NWALA Tiger 3,535]

1 minute ago, Mikey said:

That maybe what we fans think but unless Freeze thinks that it isn't happening. To date, all indications are that he doesn't want a portal QB.

He walked his endorsement of PT back.  But it's too late to get a Portal QB

[tinman1 488]

57 minutes ago, Mikey said:

Unless yesterday changed Freeze's mind I don't see that happening.

I hope yesterday's performance did change his mind.  It wasn't all Thorne's fault but we need some stiff competition at the QB position.

[aujohnson 300]

37 minutes ago, NWALA Tiger said:

He walked his endorsement of PT back.  But it's too late to get a Portal QB

Was that in the post game presser? I missed it. 

[War to the Eagle 364]

18 minutes ago, aujohnson said:

Was that in the post game presser? I missed it. 

Yeah, me too. When did that happen?

[NWALA Tiger 3,535]

21 minutes ago, aujohnson said:

Was that in the post game presser? I missed it. 

Yes, said QB comp. was open

[aujohnson 300]

Going to be interesting to see who we try and bring in for visits starting on the 3rd and whether the qb vibe has changed enough to look at that again. 

[Hank2020 3,225]

2 hours ago, Mikey said:

Unless yesterday changed Freeze's mind I don't see that happening.

He seemed to soften up some with his “QB is wide open” comment, but that doesn’t mean he is going to the portal.

[TAYLORKEETON 808]

2 hours ago, NWALA Tiger said:

He walked his endorsement of PT back.  But it's too late to get a Portal QB

When? 

[NWALA Tiger 3,535]

18 minutes ago, TAYLORKEETON said:

When? 

Press conference after game 

[au701948 1,009]

59 minutes ago, NWALA Tiger said:

Press conference after game 

The portal will provide opportunities. Hoping that Hugh and AU can make their best effort to improve us in the most needed positions.

[NWALA Tiger 3,535]

Here is what I would do regarding QB.

Get a QB from the portal. KJ Jefferson would be a perfect fit for Freezes offense.  He has 1 yr left. We have seen what PT brings to the table. Does anyone actually think PT is gonna improve that much during yr 2? I will take my chances on KJ for 1 yr vs another yr of PT. That will bridge the gap to Hank or Walker or whoever.  I've seen what PT brings and watched enuf of KJ to think it would be an upgrade.  This clown show this year that Hugh calls an offense isn't just on the WR. Anyone else notice the change of body language when Hank was in?

 

Edited December 31, 2023 by NWALA Tiger