Are you kidding ? An AA type safety vs a 3 star JUCO with no playing experience. That’s not a tough decision.
2020-21 Transfer Portal Thread
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Are you kidding ? An AA type safety vs a 3 star JUCO with no playing experience. That’s not a tough decision.
Lack of depth on the OL and at DT is not the difference. There was plenty of depth at DT and the OL before Tangelo was brought in at DT and Wilson was brought in at Guard (he'll reportedly arrive in May).
At DT, there were still Hawkins, Darkwa, Beamon, Hansard, Mulbah, Vanover, Ellies, Brevard, Mustipher, and Izzard returning at DT (10 DT's that are not true freshmen), even after Cullpepper left and before Tengelo was brought in. What about your concern for those young players getting playing time?
And on the interior OL there were also more players competing for the 2 Guard spots (including Scruggs, Whigan, Holmes, Wormley, Achumba, Dawkins, Bruce,....) than what there now are competing for the two Safety spots (only Brisker, Sutherland, Brown, Rudolph and Jennings - just 5 Safety's).
So it's really the opposite of what you have repeated - there was more depth at DT and on the interior OL when Tangelo and Wilson were brought in from the Portal than what there still is at Safety.
You need to look at the roster before making generalizations that are not true.
It's about getting better at every position when there is a chance to do so. It always has been for Franklin, and the Portal has opened up more opportunity for Franklin to improve the roster and win games.
Obviously we don't know if Franklin is really pursuing Tykee Smith, or if he will. But if he does not it won't be due to there being more depth at Safety than there was at DT and the OL before Tangelo and Wilson were brought in to compete at DT and Guard.
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This all kind of goes back to the "elite" vs. "Good Enough" mentality our fans all seem to struggle with. I mentioned at the end of the season that Franklin had to be really active on the transfer market if we are legitimately going to compete for a Big ten crown and the playoffs. Michigan, Iowa, Wisconsin, Minny, even maryland all recruit well, I believe all finished ahead of us in recruiting rankings last year. O$U is simply on another level and we need to find a way to beat them moving forward. If we can not recruit with OSU, we better find another way to procure proven talent and depth at positions of need, just have to. I see the points on here about "giving our young guys a chance" 'and "Franklin needs to have loyalty to the guys he recruits and not transfer over them." Im sorry, it's just failed logic if you want to be in the playoff discussion. I don't think Franklin prefers this method, but it's the rules that have been forced on him with the new transfer policies. You either put a sub-optimal product or players on the field and try to pacify these kids, who in turn have little loyalty themselves if they don't feel used enough or appropriately and leave, or you are hell bent on creating the best possible rotation of players year in and year out. You either spend the $$$ on OC's and Facilities or you don't. It all goes hand in hand. Again, a case could be made that "we don't do this at PSU, success with honor and all that," but don't be mad about losing to OSU year in and year out. This safety is sort of a crown jewel of transfers right? A PROVEN/EXPEIRENCED high level, all-american, performer. If this is the type of guy Penn State doesn't want to get involved with, then why do we pay our coach north of $6MM a year? Are we trying to create as Franklin says "The most competitive environment in college football" or are we not?
Yep, look at all the players at DT on the roster before Tangelo was offered the opportunity to come to PSU to compete to play at DT. 10+ players. Cullpepper likely realized that he does not have the talent to start for PSU and chose to move on. There are other young DT's at PSU that may be on the way to becoming legit starting B10 DT's but are not there yet. But it's about winning in 2021. Those young DT's, even Hansard who is a redshirt JR, will have to compete against Tangelo for playing time, raise their level of play, to get on the field for hopefully a great PSU defense.
We don't know if Franklin sees T. Smith as a fit at PSU, but the coaches following him on social media is likely a clue that they are exploring the possibility. If Smith comes to PSU the other Safety's can still compete to play, but they will likely have to up their game to get on the field. Or they can continue to develop and prepare themselves to compete to start when Smith moves on from PSU.
As you pointed out, Franklin has said on a number of occasions that he is trying to put together the best roster he can, to create the highest level of competition at every position. It is a touchy subject due to the players that may get passed up on the depth chart, which is likely why Franklin won't bring the subject up unsolicited, but the fact remains that Franklin will do what he can within the scholarship limits to put the best team on the field that he can while still giving every player he recruited the chance to develop and compete to play, and also to attain a PSU degree.
^^^^^100%. If Franklin walks into Sandy's office, and she is a respectable AD(hypothetically) and Franklin says "I want more money, I want more money for my assistants, I want a bigger recruiting budget, I want state of the art facilities." What does she say back to him????? I hope, I think, she says " I want BIG10 championships, I want a playoff caliber team year in and year out."
Unless of course, he goes into her office and says " I want happy kids on my team, I want a fun experience, I expect us to lose 3-4 games a year, but we will do it the "penn state way" to which she says "fine, but I'm not paying you like a top 5-10 coach, we aren't hiring the biggest fish to be our OC.....you can forget the facilities upgrade." Right???? Don't Franklin and Sandy start the year saying "how do I win a championship" and then enacting a plan financially/operationally that supports that stated goal? Getting AA caliber players on the transfer market would be an antecedent to that end.
All Barbour is interested in is keeping the stadium full. Planning? Pffffttt. To the extent that there is any "vision" for the program, it is entirely Franklin's.
She gives Franklin what he wants (facilities, budget) to keep him around because she's petrified at the prospect of replacing him with a coach that will mire the program in mediocrity (or worse) and drive attendance down the shitter. If Franklin leaves, it won't be because PSU didn't provide resources.
On the DL we lost 3 starters: Oweh, Toney & Shelton. Some of the remaining depth was no impact or low impact: Hawkins (none), Culpepper (low), Darkwa (total project), Hansard (still low impact), Vanover (showed little in limited PT. They had to bring in the two (the DT & DE) to ensure there was experienced/impactful depth. OL, perhaps I did overreach on my estimates, but we lost starters and the depth behind those six OLs projected to compete to start this season had very limited PT/impact. Thus a veteran like Wilson made sense. Revisiting, I think I am more concerned about T. Smith's potential character issues than our inexperienced Safety depth. Thanks for your input.
Yikes. "The loss of Okoli is the third player in the last week for a program that is currently hemorrhaging players. DVO makes the 17th player to leave the program since the 2020 season began and the 10th since the end of the season and the third player who was expected to make an impact on the team. "
https://www.smokingmusket.com/2021/...u-football-david-vincent-okoli-leaves-program
https://www.smokingmusket.com/2021/...u-football-david-vincent-okoli-leaves-program
This kid was highly rated, yet didn't get many offers from top programs. Didn't play a snap last year.
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It's fashionable here to get lubricated over talent and ignore possible character issues.
Hansard was the #3 DT before he got hurt, and played pretty well last season as he returned from a major injury, so you are not correct there.
Vanover did show up decently in limited snaps. And you forgot to try and dis a number of other players that have been working hard behind the scenes to get better and get on the field. DT may have more young talent than any position on the team, yet CJF brought in another DT to make the position better.
Saying they "had to bring in" a DT is not true. The opportunity to bring in an experienced DT to compete and make the DT unit better presented itself and CJF took advantage when he explored the DT available, recruited him, and found out he was a fit at PSU.
Before any Portal players were brought in, DE and Safety were the obvious positions of need regarding numbers. DE still has limited experienced depth and if CJF can find a experienced fit and he has a scholarship when/if he does he may bring in another DE. Obviously how the young players perform in Spring practices will factor into his decision as well.
Safety is still somewhat thin on experienced depth, but for all we know CJF may or may not be set with the talent he has at Safety to find a 2nd starter he is satisfied with. Nice that you are concerned about potential character issues, but it's CJF job to examine the character and fit of all the players he recruits, and he seems to do a pretty good job of it. He does much more due diligence in that regard than what any of us here will ever be able to find out. If the staff is following T. Smith's social media as reported, it just may be that CJF believes Smith is worth vetting for a potential fit on his team.
Your original response to me was incorrect but you are continuing to try and make it look reasonable. It was not. And directing your original response to me as a "reply" as if I posted something untrue got me to point that out. Next time you post something untrue just do it as an original post in the thread and it will likely get ignored so you won't have to try and defend a sinking ship.
CJF's potentially bringing Portal players at Safety, DL and OL, as well as any other positions on the team, is about the staff examining players available in the Portal to determine if one or more can make a position better, and the team better. And that's what CJF has said, if you were listening. It's not about being "desperate" as your original response to me stated regarding looking at the Safety's available in the Portal. Pretty simple.
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Did I dis Beamon or Ellies? No, because I believe they came on strong. We will have to disagree about Hansard last season. Perhaps this year he plays better. I hope he does. I didn't dis Darkwa. He is a project and not ready to step into a 2 deep role @ this time.
I wasn't trying to do an individual player analysis. As for your comments on the players that did not play last year, and those that played sparingly, you or anyone else not on the coaching staff has no clue whether or not they will be ready to contribute or not in 2021 as they have been likely working very hard to improve and they have so far not gotten played in public view. Not even in a B/W game.
I'm only documenting that the depth situations at DT and OL, and Safety as well, were not "desperate". And making judgments about one position being "desperate" for depth when that position actually had and has more depth in numbers than another position you judged to have adequate depth is incorrect. When a team has 10 DT's on the roster that their head coach and DL coach believed were good enough to bring in on scholarship that team is not "desperate" for depth at DT. And if that coach then does bring in an experienced DT it is to try and get better.
And quoting Franklin in his goal to use the Portal to get better at any and every position when there is a chance to do so. Which is what he believed he did at DT, DE, CB, RB and OL when he brought in Portal players.
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Penn State Football: Rivals predicts All-American safety lands with Nittany Lions
Sought after All-American safety Tykee Smith just landed in the transfer portal after leaving West Virginia and Rivals is predicting it could be good news ...
victorybellrings.com
Me too, how else are you supposed to catch up to OSU's talent. For whatever reason, we just don't recruit like them. Getting a productive, AA type, Experienced talent in our defensive backfield is simply a major net positive.
Does anyone have a list of all the PSU Portal Guys and where they are ending up?
Levis: Kentucky
Dixon: West Virginia
Culpepper: Toledo
Havent heard anything about Thorpe or Kuntz, two guys I thought would be awesome Nits.
Levis: Kentucky
Dixon: West Virginia
Culpepper: Toledo
Havent heard anything about Thorpe or Kuntz, two guys I thought would be awesome Nits.
awesome man, thank you very much.
I assume Thorpe will be Pitt or I can even see him at an HBCU.
I don’t know what to think about Kuntz. I really thought he was going to be a red zone mismatch. Maybe drops down to a Power of 5.
Georgia and aTm are really becoming a thorn in our side for outside the region recruiting.
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