TRANSFER PORTAL
Aamir Hall - CB - Albany: Hall is a product of Baltimore (MD) Mount Saint Joseph's who originally went to Richmond out of high school, where he played two seasons, making 88 tackles, 5 tackles for loss, 1.5 sacks, 2 interceptions, and 16 pass breakups. After transferring to Albany in 2023, he notched 63 tackles, 5 interceptions, and 15 total pass breakups. At 6'1" and 201 pounds, he's probably more of a nickel than a true cornerback.
Jaden Mangham - S - Michigan State: Mangham was a 4-star, the #13 athlete, and #311 overall in the class of 2022. Trying to escape the dysfunction in East Lansing, he's visiting Michigan this weekend to potentially fill the hole(s) left by Rod Moore's injury and the departure of Keon Sabb to Alabama. Listed at 6'2" and 185 pounds, he has started twelve games during his two seasons wearing green and white. He has 73 tackles and 4 interceptions during his college career and was named Honorable Mention All-Big Ten in 2022. Michigan did offer him coming out of Franklin (MI) Groves - also the home of recent Michigan commit Avery Gach for the class of 2025 - but both sides cooled a little bit throughout the recruiting process.
Wesley Walker - S - Louisville: Walker actually visited last week, but I did not include him in last week's visitor list. He started his college career at Georgia Tech, transferred to Tennessee, entered the transfer portal in December, committed to Ole Miss, flipped to Louisville, and spent spring ball with Louisville. Then he entered the portal again. Originally, he was a 3-star, the #58 cornerback, and #572 overall in the class of 2019. Overall, he started 25 games and made 184 tackles, 11 tackles for loss, 2 sacks, 1 interception, and 12 pass breakups throughout his career.
Got them all. I think we are set in the back 7 for now. Need some depth pieces for the DT, 15 games plus 1 is a long season.
ReplyDeleteThe portal has broken recruiting rankings. Consider the relative impact of 3 star recruits.
ReplyDeleteHigh School 3 stars -- A typical (median) 3 star high school recruit at Michigan (i.e., an above average 3-star recruit) is a special teams player and backup at Michigan. Or, more likely these days, transferring for playing time. For example, the 2019 recruiting class that included Quinten Johnson (still on the team) had 9 players who were composite ranked as 3-stars. On the high end you have a couple excellent starters (DJ Turner, Mikey Sainristil). On the low end you have a few straight up busts (Quintel Kent, Charles Thomas). In between the other 5 (Zach Carpenter, Joey Vazquez, Jack Stewart, Gabe Newburg, George Johnson 3) were mostly backups, special teams guys, and transfers.
Portal 3 stars -- These 3 portal additions are also 3 stars in the composite rankings. But they are all instantly vying for starting jobs at Michigan because they are already a) an FCS all american, b) an all conference HM Big Ten starter, and c) an above average SEC starter coming for his 6th year.
These recruiting rankings treat them as equivalent values. This is laughable.
If I told you a high school recruit was more likely than not to be a starter on a top 10 defense you would line that up with a median expectation (typical outcome) for a high 4 star or 5-star recruit. They should be ranked and valued accordingly.
I've said it before but with another recruiting class of 8 or 9 portal additions, all projected to be starters or top backups and/or valuable locker room additions at a minimum, the contrast in value is stark.
It's not just apples and oranges, it's a fresh off the branch orange during peak season vs a fallen apple off the ground next to a highway that you're not confident you should be biting into.