re: Logan Diggs - not really talked about on the board

quote:

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Why did he transfer?

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If I had to guess, I'd guess that its either one or a combination of a few different (but related) things.


The main factor--the thing that everything else ties back to--is this: The staff (rightfully, in my opinion) really really likes Kaleb Jackson. This has a few implications:


First: At best, Diggs was going to find himself in a true RB-by-committee situation, and heavy on the "committee". We all see how good Josh Williams is in pass protection and as a pass-catcher out of the backfield, and (more importantly) how much the staff loves him in that "third/passing-down back" role. So, already, Diggs would probably only be in line for 1st- and 2nd-down duties. But even in those situations, it's likely that Kaleb Jackson would be getting a legitimate share of the snaps. And beyond the fact that KJ would get some snaps, that job would probably have been treated as a competition in camp--and (imo) there's a good chance that KJ would've simply beaten Diggs out. So basically Diggs was looking at a best-case scenario RB-by-Committee, splitting touches with two other backs, and a worst-case scenario where he just got straight up jumped on the depth chart altogether.


Second: Related to everything above, Diggs was not going to see any type of significant NIL $. As between Diggs and Kaleb Jackson, I am extremely confident in saying that the staff would've prioritized keeping KJ - and oftentimes, those circumstances ultimately dictate a one-or-the-other approach: Even if you like both guys you can't satisfy both guys at once, so you either have to pick one or lose both. It's the same thing that happened with Dillon Gabriel and Jackson Arnold at Oklahoma - Gabriel was rock solid for them, but when presented with a choice between (a) one more year of solid, and (b) two more years of a potential true difference-maker, coaches are gonna chose option (b) every time. It seems to me that this was the same calculation they made with KJ and Diggs. It may not have even necessarily been specifically money-related, but the same logic applies to touches/role/etc.



Bottom line: They really like Kaleb Jackson, and they probably felt that there were only enough touches and/or dollars to keep one of the two happy, and so they chose Kaleb. Even if, in an ideal world, they probably would've loved to have both.