Rank Em: Portal Transfers

[JHallCanes]

Way too early for this but we’ve got some immediate returns on our portal guys and looks like Mario and the NIL department have hit a grand slam

1. Cam: He is him. Everything as advertised and then some.

2. Baron: Absolute cheat code create a player so far.

3. Alston: Blown away with how complete his game has been.

4. Carpenter: big concerns with him replacing Lee. I’m not an OL guru but he’s been dominant to my eyes.

5. Barrow: Seems to be getting better every week. Love how he looks in Guidrys defense.

6. Meesh: Might be too low of a ranking here he’s been exactly what we needed back there.

7. Hill: secondary has been playing well.

8. Martinez: bit of an incomplete for me so far. Run game looks like it’s still finding itself but he’s still RB1 to me by a wide margin.

9. Brown: talent is obvious. Like Martinez he just seems a tick off from where he needs to be.

10. Clark: idk

 

[5XNC]

I don’t think it’s Martinez by a wide margin. So far, fletcher looks better.

 

[JHallCanes]

I don’t think it’s Martinez by a wide margin. So far, fletcher looks better.

I agree that Fletcher is playing better

But imo Martinez is the better back

 

[Cylo]

It shows how much deeper we are at DT versus last years 9-4 NC State team. CJ Clark a solid guy but we got better DTs.

Alston been much better then expected. He11 so has Baron, I was thinking 5-6 sacks for the year and he will crush that number

 

[Baba Yaga]

Way too early for this but we’ve got some immediate returns on our portal guys and looks like Mario and the NIL department have hit a grand slam

1. Cam: He is him.

 

[JHallCanes]

It shows how much deeper we are at DT versus last years 9-4 NC State team. CJ Clark a solid guy but we got better DTs.

Alston been much better then expected. He11 so has Baron, I was thinking 5-6 sacks for the year and he will crush that number

Moten and Horton look to be stepping up big

We will see more the next few games but those two and Barrow, suddenly the DT spot looks pretty good

 

[E1k]

Way too early for this but we’ve got some immediate returns on our portal guys and looks like Mario and the NIL department have hit a grand slam

1. Cam: He is him. Everything as advertised and then some.

2. Baron: Absolute cheat code create a player so far.

3. Alston: Blown away with how complete his game has been.

4. Carpenter: big concerns with him replacing Lee. I’m not an OL guru but he’s been dominant to my eyes.

5. Barrow: Seems to be getting better every week. Love how he looks in Guidrys defense.

6. Meesh: Might be too low of a ranking here he’s been exactly what we needed back there.

7. Hill: secondary has been playing well.

8. Martinez: bit of an incomplete for me so far. Run game looks like it’s still finding itself but he’s still RB1 to me by a wide margin.

9. Brown: talent is obvious. Like Martinez he just seems a tick off from where he needs to be.

10. Clark: idk

Cam
Baron

Barrow
Meesh
Alston

Hill
Martinez
Brown

Alderman
Clark
Cook

 

[Gables Cane]

Exceeding Expectations: Cam, Baron and Carpenter
Meeting Expectations: Meesh, Barrow, Alston and Hill.
Below Expectations: Martinez, Brown, and Clark.
Not Sure Yet: Alderman and Cook

I still believe Martinez and Brown will elevate their production as the season progresses. But, YTD they’ve underperformed based on the hype coming in. Clark is meh.

I can’t get a read on Alderman or Cook yet. Cook was hurt early on and is just now getting his feet wet and Alderman has gone unnoticed (not sure if that’s a good thing or not).

 

[JHallCanes]

Exceeding Expectations: Cam, Baron and Carpenter
Meeting Expectations: Meesh, Barrow, Alston and Hill.
Below Expectations: Martinez, Brown, and Clark.
Not Sure Yet: Alderman and Cook

I still believe Martinez and Brown will elevate their production as the season goes on. But, YTD they’ve underperformed based on the hype coming in.

I can’t get a read on Alderman or Cook yet. Cook was hurt early on and is just now getting his feet wet and Alderman has gone unnoticed (not sure if that’s a good thing or not).

I like how you broke that down

I guess I just missed the boat on Alston. I know his PFF grades were high but that can be tricky

I expected Alderman to be the starter but Wes has elevated his game bigtime

 

[MasterBlaster]

Martinez has been disappointing, he dances to the line like Le'Veon Bell instead of using his 230 lbs. and plowing people over. I'm hoping he makes some adjustments, I think he could be a monster.

 

[ageezy]

I like how you broke that down

I guess I just missed the boat on Alston. I know his PFF grades were high but that can be tricky

I expected Alderman to be the starter but Wes has elevated his game bigtime

with you on alston ... he's been a pleasant surprise

 

[Jassid82]

You couldnt have asked for a better portal class to mix with the young talent we have on the roster. These guys are teaching and showing the young recruits how its done. The difference between our portal class and FSUs portal class last year that yielded an ACC title..is that we actually have young recruits waiting in the wings and getting great experience from this portal group so will be no dropoff next year.

To have Baron and Alson being mentors to Bryant, Lightfoot, Cole, etc is priceless. Bryant looks like a totally different player. Some folks thought he was a portal candidate.... For Barrow to provide leadership to Scott, Moten and Horton? Priceless. Both Moten and Horton look like sure fire starters (or at least guaranteed 2 deep) in 2025 at DT... Same with Meesh showing Harris the ropes at safety... Its not just the performance, but the leadership and guidance they are giving. That is worth whatever we paid these guys.

 

[JHallCanes]

Martinez has been disappointing, he dances to the line like Le'Veon Bell instead of using his 230 lbs. and plowing people over. I'm hoping he makes some adjustments, I think he could be a monster.

Yeah just looks like he’s trying to find his footing. Fletcher being in the system a while now he’s more comfortable and looks a bit more natural

But Martinez will get it figured out. He’s too good not to

 

[Cylo]

Moten and Horton look to be stepping up big

We will see more the next few games but those two and Barrow, suddenly the DT spot looks pretty good

Even Anthony Campbell getting good snaps. Who expected that?

 

[AtlAtty]

Way too early for this but we’ve got some immediate returns on our portal guys and looks like Mario and the NIL department have hit a grand slam

1. Cam: He is him. Everything as advertised and then some.

2. Baron: Absolute cheat code create a player so far.

3. Alston: Blown away with how complete his game has been.

4. Carpenter: big concerns with him replacing Lee. I’m not an OL guru but he’s been dominant to my eyes.

5. Barrow: Seems to be getting better every week. Love how he looks in Guidrys defense.

6. Meesh: Might be too low of a ranking here he’s been exactly what we needed back there.

7. Hill: secondary has been playing well.

8. Martinez: bit of an incomplete for me so far. Run game looks like it’s still finding itself but he’s still RB1 to me by a wide margin.

9. Brown: talent is obvious. Like Martinez he just seems a tick off from where he needs to be.

10. Clark: idk

I can’t disagree with any of the rankings, but I almost feel like they should be 1a, 1b and 1c because Ward, Baron and Alston have been as good we could have ever hoped for. It is almost unfair to rank them but I do understand in terms of importance to the team, Ward has to be #1, and Baron is playing as well as any D-end in the country.

But Alston is really, really good against the run, the pass (he usually goes up against the LT who should be the better blocking Olineman). And he is also really good as a spy and dropping into coverage on a zone blitz. Alston may be the most versatile D-end I can ever remember at UM. Not saying the best because we have had 1st monsters, but really good at a lot of things.

Carpenter has been as good or better than we hoped. Everything you wrote is accurate. Your top 7 are all meeting or exceeding expectations.

 

[Shooter McGavin]

It’s a beautiful thing when you haven’t had to rely heavily on Clark. I mean **** Mesidor lines up inside half of the game, Barrow has done a great job so far, and then you have guys like Moten, Scott, and Horton emerging.

 

[BS85]

I haven't been payng a ton of attention to Martinez but he seems fine so far.

Turns out you need holes to run through and an actual plan for a rushign attack to get the most of your high priced running back acquisition.

I'm blaming the dog**** run "scheme" for all of his "struggles" right now.

 

[423Hurricane]

The biggest surprise for me is Baron. He was pretty good at TN but I don’t think any of us thought he would be this dominant.

 

[JHallCanes]

I haven't been payng a ton of attention to Martinez but he seems fine so far.

Turns out you need holes to run through and an actual plan for a rushign attack to get the most of your high priced running back acquisition.

I'm blaming the dog**** run "scheme" for all of his "struggles" right now.

Our fans have been bipolar on Fletcher per the usual

Still think Martinez is gonna absolutely go ham in one of these games especially as teams are gonna have to be scared ****less about being shredded by Cam

Plus getting guys like Rivers back will help. We’ve had some trouble on the left side

Carpenter and Mauigoa have been outstanding from what I’ve seen. Mauigoa plays with a mean streak that is borderline scary

 

[BigDikDaddyFromCincinnati]

Carpenter has been WAY better than I though he would be. Solid replacement for Lee.
Barrow and Baron have been awesome, as has Alston.
Meesh has been really good.

Martinez has been a question mark. He only got three carries against Ball State. Why? Is he hurt? Coaches saving him for later in the year? My best guess is that these past two games have been glorified scrimmages and the coaches used them to get backups some game film to analyze. If he shows up and balls out when it matters, I'm good.