***Official portal tracker thread***

[CycloneT]

It's gotta be hard to fill 30 minutes on iowa state every weekday. I try to listen to a few minutes, but he does say things or have subject lines that are click bait. But I'm sure he needs the click bait, more cyclones coverage is always good.

Exactly what it is. Locked On Corp wants clickbait and you need 6 30 minute episodes a week and it's tough to fill. It's all from a fan perspective and is usually same topic back to back days but one side is optimist perspective one side is doom and gloom

 

[RoseClone]

Have a friend who listens to this numbnut. Best way to describe him, numbnut.

Absolute worthless, waste of time, piece of garbage podcast. I listen to a couple Locked On podcasts for other teams and they are great. This is junk.

 

[Cydkar]

Have a friend who listens to this numbnut. Best way to describe him, numbnut.

I think almost the entire Locked On "network" can be described that way.

 

[CloneAlta]

Our LBs are really small. Stecker is listed at LB now, and so is the JUCO cornerback newcomer.

Compare the size of our guys to Indiana’s starters and watch the quickness & speed of both. Presuming we can avoid the injury bug that hit that group the past 2 years, I think we will be just fine!

 

[TheJackWePack5]

You're right. Small compared to what we are used to at ISU though. We usually have guys that are 6'3"-6'4" and weigh 240+

And that’s fine. It’s not like we were world beaters at linebacker.

We were good from time to time, but it almost seemed like we were stuck in the mud just as often.

 

[FLYINGCYCLONE]

247 shows commits at WV of 81, Okie St 70, ISU 69

 

[FallOf81]

247 shows commits at WV of 81, Okie St 70, ISU 69

I like our number.

 

[Die4Cy]

247 shows commits at WV of 81, Okie St 70, ISU 69

Nice

 

[cycloneman003]

247 shows commits at WV of 81, Okie St 70, ISU 69

That WVU number is insane considering they added 83(!) new players last year as well. So you’re talking about 80% roster turnover two straight offseason.

 

[Nococy]

tried to listen a couple of times but had to turn it off as it was a waste of time. The info would be like me doing it. No insider
Info just a reaction of what’s been going on

 

[CyLyte2]

Alberto Mendoza has entered the transfer portal.

 

[buf87]

He spoke about how the On3 ranking measured incremental impact of portal signees/losses on roster. So ISU losing 54 players to schools like PSU, UCLA, USC, Neb, etc was going to be a huge negative in the On3 ranking algorithm.

Don't know where the Cyclones ranked nationally in the number of portal kids signed, but at around 45 players we had to be near the most. CJR wasn't trying to plug holes or strategically upgrade the roster by jettisoning bottom of roster scholarship players.

CJR portal signees filled spots ranging from starting QB all the way down to the 85th scholarship player. He wasn't just signing kids projected to get snaps, he was also signing scout team players.

And he signed a lot of freshman/sophomore portal players who don't have college production.

Success for ISU in 2026 is about CJR finding portal players who talent is maximized in his O & D schemes. And if CJR staff can coach the players up!

I took the On3 algorithm as, if you had a better team and lost more of them, their impact is going to better a bigger potential negative. So basically, we started higher and lost some good players, so we are going to have a bigger negative impact than an Oklahoma State who started lower, so their losses don't have as big of a negative impact.

Does that make sense and am I understanding it correctly?

 

[acoustimac]

They are small compared to what we used to have, but we always had heavier and slower backers in the past. Seems JR wants them leaner, lighter and faster.

Forgot one descriptor…meaner

 

[deadeyededric]

NIL Valuation of $307,000 Revealed for Iowa State Defensive End Transfer Commit

New Iowa State Cyclones head coach Jimmy Rogers had a lot of work to do with the roster upon accepting the job. Taking over for Matt Campbell, who accepted the

www.si.com

 

[cyclonespiker33]

NIL Valuation of $307,000 Revealed for Iowa State Defensive End Transfer Commit

New Iowa State Cyclones head coach Jimmy Rogers had a lot of work to do with the roster upon accepting the job. Taking over for Matt Campbell, who accepted the

www.si.com

I imagine he could have gotten a lot more at other schools

 

[isucy86]

247 shows commits at WV of 81, Okie St 70, ISU 69

Assuming that's combo of portal and HS signings.

Wow WVU. I had seen in early December their HS/Juco class was 49 players and assumed Rich Rod was churning out some leftover Brown players. Rich Rod looks like he's starting over in year 2.

 

[Cyclonepride]

NIL Valuation of $307,000 Revealed for Iowa State Defensive End Transfer Commit

New Iowa State Cyclones head coach Jimmy Rogers had a lot of work to do with the roster upon accepting the job. Taking over for Matt Campbell, who accepted the

www.si.com

I love the focus on linemen. On offense, I'd rather have five $250,000 linemen with a $250,000 running back than a million dollar back with five $100,000 linemen.

 

[isucy86]

I took the On3 algorithm as, if you had a better team and lost more of them, their impact is going to better a bigger potential negative. So basically, we started higher and lost some good players, so we are going to have a bigger negative impact than an Oklahoma State who started lower, so their losses don't have as big of a negative impact.

Does that make sense and am I understanding it correctly?

It does. But it also accounts for portal additions as well.

We lost a lot(54ish) of established players (16 starters), proven next guy in and solid prospects from an 8-4 Big12 team.

And CJR added slightly fewer (45ish) portal players who either hadn't stood out playing with P4 teams or were solid starters at mostly G5 schools or were defensive players at WSU.

The net score is automatically going to be bad because so many former ISU players ended up at top tier P4 programs. I doubt the majority of Okie State outbound portal players transfered to blue bloods.

 

[Clonedogg]

Here is similar article on Montreze Smith

Linebacker's $311,000 NIL Value Highest Reported Amongst Iowa State Transfers So Far

The Iowa State Cyclones are at a bit of a disadvantage when it comes to recruiting players on the transfer portal because of their limited funds compared to oth

www.si.com

 

[NetflixAndClone]

tried to listen a couple of times but had to turn it off as it was a waste of time. The info would be like me doing it. No insider
Info just a reaction of what’s been going on

I talked with a guy that used to do the Locked on Minnesota Wild and he would even agree that its horrible. The job was absolutely brutal with the job expectations. They wanted a podcast everyday even during the off season when he had absolutely nothing to talk about.

It been a quite a few years since he did it so I don't know if the locked on network changed their expectations, but he told me the job just made him burnt out because he had to scrape the bottom of the barrel for content on news dry days.