re: Elko keeps cooking

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quote:We just keep getting quality starters from other power 5 programs Who?

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Here is everyone. 9 of them are quality starters from another power 5 team, and 8 are stars from a non power 5 team. 1 of them was the Big 10 sack leader.

1. Kansas State CB Will Lee III (Dec. 10, 2023).
2. Youngstown State LB Alex Howard (Dec. 16, 2023).
3. Louisiana Tech WR Cyrus Allen (Dec. 17, 2023).
4. Central Michigan S Trey Jones (Dec. 18, 2023).
5. Purdue TE Garrett Miller (Dec. 19, 2023).
6. Vanderbilt S De'Rickey Wright (Dec. 22, 2023).
7. Purdue EDGE Nic Scourton (Jan. 4, 2024).
8. San Diego State safety Marcus Ratcliffe (Jan. 4, 2024).
9. Cal Poly CB Donovan Saunders (Jan. 5, 2024).
10. Troy WR Jabre Barber (Jan. 5, 2024).
11. Troy OL Derrick Graham (Jan. 6, 2024).
12. Florida DB Jaydon Hill (Jan. 6, 2024).
13. Florida LB Scooby Williams (Jan. 6, 2024).
14. Wisconsin DL Rodas Johnson (Jan. 6, 2024).
15. UAB CB BJ Mayes (Jan. 6, 2024).
16. Kansas OL Ar'maj Reed-Adams (Jan. 7, 2024).
17. Stanford RB EJ Smith (Jan. 7, 2024).



Some of these guys (like the LBer from UF) are P5 starters, but maybe not quality. But most of these guys are depth. If we just get 5-6 strong contributors from this group, that’s a huge win.

Just for kicks, this is who has left A&M in the portal:

1. Raymond Cottrell - almost never played
2. Max Johnson - started some, but would not have been a starter, barring injury
3. Remington Strickland - almost never played
4. Jordan Spasojevic-Moko - almost never played last season - did play some the prior season
5. Jardin Gilbert - starter at safety
6. Jake Johnson - part time starter after Donovan went out, but would not have been a starter next year
7. LT Overton - not a starter, but played some. 1 sack in two years as a DE.
8. Walter Nolen - high level starter
9. Tyreek Chappell - high level starter
10. Fadil Diggs - starter, but not nearly as good as the Purdue DE we brought in
11. Deuce Harmon - rarely played, but a depth guy
12. Fernando Garza III - almost never played
13. Evan Stewart - high level starter, but a drama queen

So, we lost maybe 5 guys who would have been a day one starter next year (Gilbert, Nolen, Chappell, Diggs, and Stewart). I feel confident we brought in at least as much as we lost. Scrouton from Purdue has far, far more production than any player we lost. The TE from Purdue had better numbers that Johnson, and is a better blocker. Between Lee from Kansas State, Hill from Florida (maybe their best defensive player), and Mayes from UAB, we've upgraded at corner in a big way. All three of those guys were good players. The LBer from Florida was a really highly rated high school guy who has been a subpar starter for them so far, but at worst he's a depth guy for us. The safeties and WRs are all stars from smaller schools, but places like UAB and Cal Poly and Central Michigan DO sometimes have really good players.