Potential of the transfer portal on the 2020 FB roster

Submitted by Hail to the Vi… on November 18th, 2019 at 11:22 PM

Still a lot of interesting football left to play this season, but it was mentioned that Michigan offered a JUCO cornerback over the weekend (which sounds like now, may not actually be the case). In any event, I wanted to take a quick look at the transfer portal for the 2020 season and see if this might be a way to patch some of the holes that occurred from some misses on the recruiting trail.

Michigan has taken and pursued a few 5th year guys, but to date have not utilized the transfer portal much for guys with multiple years of eligibility to address the roster.

Do you think this is the year they should take a look, especially given the current depth situation at cornerback and defensive tackle? Here's a few players that might be intriguing:

Mannie Netherley: Cornerback, LSU - Class of '17 | 4*, #251 overall 24/7 (WR)

Devin Bush (hah): Cornerback, Arkansas - Class of '19 | 4*, #260 overall, #28 CB 24/7

Ken Montgomery Jr: Cornerback, Maryland - Class of '18 | 4*, #359 overall, #33 CB 24/7

Karter Johnson: SDE, TCU - Class of '19 | 4*,  #360 overall, #26 DT 24/7

Robert Porcher IV: DT, Virgina Tech - Class of '17 | 3*,  #656 overall, #41 WDE 24/7

If it can be layered in properly, the portal seems like a great tool to utilize in February to help mitigate any of the recruiting misses from the most recently finished recruiting cycle. Without an eligibility waiver, these guys obviously wouldn't be able to make an impact on the 2020 season.

Still, I wouldn't mind seeing the staff make use of this resource in recruiting so some of the position groups don't fall off a cliff like they have in the past if we strikeout on our top prep targets.

Interested to get the boards thought - or just neg the shit out of me lol, either way. My first attempt at a post, so I'll see how it goes.

Comments

Joby

November 18th, 2019 at 11:42 PM ^

Not a bad post at all, but I was under the impression that the post was about the impact of potential outgoing Michigan transfers on the roster, not potential incoming transfers. Why did you highlight the particular players that you did? Is there transfer talk about any of them, or any ties to Michigan?

MGOTokyo

November 19th, 2019 at 1:56 AM ^

Yes, the title didn't specify whether they are transfers in or out.  But the text was obvious that the OP was talking about filling holes by recruiting INCOMING transfers.  The guys he listed have all registered with the transfer portal.

Jon06

November 19th, 2019 at 7:48 AM ^

Did we recruit any of those guys out of high school? If not, why bring them up? Are they trying to transfer up after blowing up? Or are they just guys we didn't recruit the first time around who now have an additional red flag, in that they're leaving their first program early?

I am fully in favor of recruits being allowed to transfer, but I think you have to treat being in the portal as a red flag for most players. Maybe they couldn't get on the field where they are despite trying. Maybe they bailed without trying. Or maybe they have a problem at their current program not related to the depth chart. If a top program is going to take a guy out of the transfer portal, they've got to figure out what the problem was, and be convinced it isn't going to follow them to the next stop. That's a steep hill to climb.

Salinger

November 19th, 2019 at 9:18 AM ^

I mean I see what you are saying, but let's not forget that top programs have shown to use the transfer portal with wild success. See Oklahoma: Hurst, Jalen as the most obvious example.

Obviously, he's an outlier, but I don't think the transfer portal is as much the red flag as we might think. St. Juste was not a problem player and look at how things are panning out for him at Minnesota.

Just some food for thought.

M go Bru

November 19th, 2019 at 9:31 AM ^

Mike Danna was a worthwhile addition. Unfortunately we haven't been very successful in luring more grad transfers. Hopefully our success rate will improve!

droptopdoc

November 20th, 2019 at 11:25 AM ^

im all for it if they can make a great contribution to the defense, the thing about transferring is it can be for a myriad of reasons, to change over in coaching staff, or new philosophy, or despite them telling you you would get a fair shake at a position, you are not, you thought the campus and the school would be a good fit, but its not, the list goes on. So if a guy wants to come and it adds depth and allows our defense to do more then I'm here for it  

Jon G.

November 22nd, 2019 at 10:10 PM ^

A glaring omission is a quarterback. Coach Harbaugh has not had a standout quarterback transfer nor has he  developed one. It's the most important position in today's game of football. Help is needed at running back also. I've been a fan for years and remember the great Michigan running backs.  Billy Taylor, Anthony Thomas, Mike Hart, and Rob Lytle-old names for sure. It has been a long time. But I have faith our coach will do better for 2020.