I noticed he said "our last one was in this morning" or something like that. Was wondering if we had another commit or if that was just finalizing one we already knew about.
***Official portal tracker thread***
- Thread starter demoncore1031
- Start date
Chase Sowell ranked higher than Marcus Neal?
This clearly tells me the portal recruiting rankings are worthless.
Turns out this was the right call on the number of ISU guys in the portal that ended up on CJR’s first squad. He addressed the reason for this in this week’s pressers pretty well.
Think that brings it to just 5 transfers out that haven't found landing spots yet. Michael Parkes, Daniel Jackson, Dyllan Malone, Derek Jensen and Jace Gilbert.
Of the ones who have...
- 38 transferred to other P4 (24 to Penn State)
- 6 transferred to G5
- 7 transferred to FCS
- 1 transferred to D-II
Just got a message from my bro in law…my nephew is a big time basketball player in Wichita. He was saying TE commit Drake Debaun is killing them on the court. Obviously a real multi-sport talent.
IMO Gabe Burkle, Brett Eskildsen and Marcus Neal will be the transfers that hurt the most. They all have 2 or more years left, and I think they will be NFL players someday.
I believe the rest of the starters we lost have only 1 year left at their new school. So while ISU will likely take a hit in 2026 vs what we could have done if Campbell had stayed, we should be in better shape for 2027 and beyond. We were going to lose a lot of starters at the end of 2026. It would have been a lot like the 2021 season (Purdy's last year) in terms of expectations.
I believe the rest of the starters we lost have only 1 year left at their new school. So while ISU will likely take a hit in 2026 vs what we could have done if Campbell had stayed, we should be in better shape for 2027 and beyond. We were going to lose a lot of starters at the end of 2026. It would have been a lot like the 2021 season (Purdy's last year) in terms of expectations.
I don't see Burkle or Eskildsen as NFL guys. Not drafted guys anyway. Especially Eskildsen.
Esklidsen has a lot to prove yet. Neal is a stud. Burkle only has 1 year left and coming off major knee injury.
When you aren't a pro or good enough to commend significant dollars in the portal, why not live in Hawaii for a couple years! I've vacationed there for 10-days and it was VERY hard to get back on the plane... Even better of a deal when your food, housing, and a stipend is included!
I think Burkle is an NFL tight end if he improves at the same rate he has. He was super consistent before getting injured.
He's only got 1 year left and he'll be coming off a major leg injury. It's certainly possible but he's got the deck stacked against him.
Burkle is a GREAT college tight end. But I don’t think he fits the bill as an NFL TE. I think Brahmer for sure is an NFL TE.
If you asked me which guys that left are NFL guys(of the guys that are known quantities) I would say Brahmer and Neal.
I looked at his stats and assumed he redshirted in 2023 when he only had 2 catches. I agree that it will be tough for him with just one season left coming back from an injury. He does have good hands though and is a great blocker. He had a lot better production when Brahmer was out.
Agree, the rebuild was coming in 2027 anyways, so this just brough it forward a year earlier. Looking at the roster now versus what we projected on signing day, before Matt skipped town:
- QB - unknown, I think Reynor is a lower floor and higher ceiling play
- RB - downgrade
- OL - upgrade (second biggest)
- TE - biggest downgrade IMO
- WR - push
- DL - biggest upgrade, not even close
- LB - push (completely different system now)
- CB - If you guarantee we brought back Cooper and Jontez, it's a downgrade.. But I don't think that was a given as Jontez is playing at USC now.. I say a push with no Jontez
- ST - upgrade (3 coaches!), plus coaches emphasizing it's impact more
I'd say LB is a big upgrade just with the speed brought in
Maybe. None of these newcomers have played P4 football, so we don't really know.
True, but speed is one of those attributes that usually translates at all levels
True, but our new MLB had his best game (tackle numbers wise anyways) against Ole Miss. At least he's seen big competition.
