Andy & Ari On3 - The Most IMPACTFUL College Football Transfers in 2024

Episode Date: August 2, 2024

Andy and On3 national scout Cody Bellaire break down the transfers who will make a huge difference in college football this season.(0:00-1:25) Intro(1:26-6:19) Joe Milton & The Patriots(6:20-7:15) Rara Thomas Dismissed from Georgia(7:16-8:43) Previewing Transfers of 2024(8:44-10:13) On3's Cody Bellaire joins(10:14-15:29) Ole Miss with Walter Nolen and Princely Umanmielen(15:30-19:09) Texas A&M DE Nic Scourton(19:10-22:21) Notre Dame WR Kris Mitchell(22:22-26:14) Ohio State DB Caleb Downs(26:15-29:29) Ohio State C Seth McLaughlin(29:30-32:30) Alabama C Parker Brailsford(32:31-35:44) Texas with Isaiah Bond and Amari Niblack(35:46-40:17) Baylor QB Dequan Finn(40:18-42:30) Kentucky QB Brock Vandagriff(42:31-45:29) QBs Aidan Chiles and Sam Leavitt(45:30-49:05) UCF QB KJ Jefferson(49:06-52:41) Arizona RB Jecory Merritt(52:42-59:11) Florida State with DJ Uiagalelei and Marvin Jones Jr(59:12-59:53) ConclusionHow big of a difference will Texas A&M transfer Walter Nolan and Florida transfer Princely Umanmielen make on the Ole Miss defensive line?What can Alabama transfer Caleb Downs do for Ohio State’s defense?How well do a pair of Alabama transfers fit into the Texas offense?Which familiar quarterback in a new place can make an already lively Big 12 race even more interesting?How good of a job did Mike Norvell do in replenishing Florida State’s roster through the portal? Want to watch the show on YouTube? Join us LIVE, M-F at 8 am et! https://www.youtube.com/@On3sports

Welcome to Andy Saples on three. Happy Friday. It's a beautiful day. There was a football-like substance on our televisions last night with the Hall of Fame game. I realize NFL preseason isn't the most interesting thing in the world, but hey, we're college football fans. For some of these guys, it'll be the last snaps we get to see them play. So let's enjoy that part of it too but it's been a fun process but i'm i was glad to see pads pop it because it

means we're almost there today we've got a great show for you cody belair on three's national scout joins us we're going to talk about the most impactful transfers this year and explain to you why these guys are the most impactful transfers. And it's some of the people that we've been talking about all offseason. And then some people that these names you may not have heard until today. Unless you are a complete sicko watching games at all hours of the night on all days of the week, which is a lot of you. But there'll be some names in here that you're going to be jotting down going, ooh, ooh.

I'm going to have to watch that guy. It's going to be so much fun. But another sport I enjoy this time of year. OK, you think I'm going to talk about some Olympic sport like canoe slalom? No, no, no. The sport I enjoy this time of year is watching people who don't really follow college football examine players in NFL training camps as if there was not a giant body of work in college that they could have used to inform their perspective. I don't say this to denigrate Joe Milton, who seems like a great guy. Everybody talked to it, Michigan or Tennessee, who played with him, worked with him. They love it. But no college football fan who watched Michigan and Tennessee during those years

would assume that Joe Milton would have any shot at being a starting quarterback in the NFL. Just too many missing open receivers. The arm strength's incredible, but no mid-range accuracy, very little short-range accuracy, and it just doesn't compute based on what we've seen. The NFL media industrial complex is trying this week to convince us that Joe Milton might beat out Drake May to be the starting quarterback for the New England Patriots. They're trying to convince us that Joe Milton is the superior athlete to Drake May,

which, again, tell me you never watched them play in college without telling me you never watched them play in college. We had Colin Cowherd on Thursday, who is much better at this job than me and makes a lot more money at this job than me. Maybe this is why. Because on Thursday, he laid out a case for why Joe Milton will win the starting over Drake May, who was chosen third overall. Guys, all of this has been asked and answered twice at Michigan and at Tennessee. Now, I'm not a firm believer that Drake May is going to be a star quarterback in the NFL. You remember during the pre-draft process, the only guy I felt really super confident in, in this class is Caleb Williams. Everybody else has their potential pitfalls. Maybe they are good. Maybe they're not, but I'm not completely sold on Drake May either. But if you give me the choice between those two guys,

anybody who watched college football at all over the past three years is going to make the same choice. And NFL coaches who are much smarter than us about football are also going to make the same choice. I think I fell for the rage bait. I'm pretty sure that's what happened here. I think I did, and I'm sorry. Maybe I need to put out some rage bait. I'm not exactly sure what rage bait I can throw out there. Maybe that's why Colin Cowherd makes so much more money than I do, but

I just don't think I could sit here with a straight face and say that because I've watched them play. Reminds me, my friend, Andrew Perloff, he has a radio show on WFA. And now he worked with Dan Patrick for years. He got into the kind of draft prospect story story industrial complex at one point when we were both at Sports Illustrated. And so he would write about these quarterback prospects and that kind of became his specialty.

And there was a passage in something he wrote at one point. And he said, when I introduced you to Ryan Tannehill last year, talking to the reader, and I'm like, you introduced them to Ryan Tannehill? He plays in a stadium that seats 90,000 plus people. Millions of people watch these games on television. You didn't introduce anybody to the squad. But that's what's going on here. You got to have something to drive the calls on WEI, I guess. But again, the question's been asked and answered twice with Joe. Nice guy. Can throw a football over the mountains. Probably not an NFL starting quarterback.

Is Drake May a star NFL starting quarterback? I don't know. Does he have better tools to potentially be one? Oh, yeah. That's why he got picked third. Don't take the bait, everybody. Don't take the bait. Okay, rant over.

Little bit of news. We mentioned earlier in the week, Georgia receiver Rara Thomas got arrested. There was a count of cruelty to a child. There was a domestic violence charge. And we don't have the specifics of that case because the case is involving children. They don't release the police report. But we do know now that Georgia has dismissed Rara Thomas. Kirby Smart announced it on Thursday that Rara Thomas was not going to be continuing with Georgia's football team.

So that ends that speculation. People were wondering, OK, where they're going to bring it back. What does it mean? No, he's been kicked off the team. So that case, we'll see what happens with the legal system there. But Kirby Smart, Georgia have made their decision and they've dismissed him from the team. Now, we got to talk about happier news. And that is new faces, new places, people who are in situations where they may be ready to shine.

You know, the transfer portal, sometimes guys just move around to be moving around. But a lot of times, it's very purposeful. Somebody was in a place that maybe was not great for them, and they go to a place where the scheme works for them, where they mesh better with the coach, where they're just happier. There's a bunch of those potential guys this year. There are a bunch of people who seem to be very good fits for where they landed. The question is, who's going to be the most impactful? The guy who's been scouting them for years is the best person to ask about that cody belair

our national scout he and i are gonna break it down the most impactful transfers in college football this year and man i am even more excited about this season thinking about what some of these guys are going to do in their new places. We've done this a few times where we've talked about the new faces in the new places. In fact, last time we had this gentleman on the show, it was in the form of a game show. Whose team is it anyway? We were quizzing one another on who transferred where. But now I want to bring on Cody Belair for like a full-on nuts and bolts discussion Cody on three's director of scouting we are going to talk transfers impactful transfers and you have

a very unique perspective on this because when a lot of these guys were in high school you were working for various teams scouting these guys. Yeah, you know, it's fun. When we talked about the list of guys we wanted to kind of discuss and look over a lot of those names, they bring back memories that aren't necessarily of them as college players as much as they were as high school prospects. A lot of these guys I remember seeing in person and being able to get on campus. So there's a lot of good players out there, man. And there's a lot of talent players out there man and there's a lot of talent that has been exchanged across college football so i'm excited to sit down and talk about it

exchange is the right word and you're like they don't have trades in college football like we still haven't gotten a one-for-one swap yet where you had like one really impactful guy go from one school to another and somebody go to the other one but it does feel like well i actually i have a good place to start with that i want to start on the defensive line and i want to start with someone who now these guys don't play the same position but somebody who left texas a&m for all miss and then somebody that Texas A&M acquired. Now, again, Walter Nolan and Nick Skorton don't play the same position, but when we talk about Ole Miss and the things that they had to do to get better, Nick Saban got up there on ESPN during

SEC media days and said he feels like Ole Miss, what was holding them back, was being able to hold up on the line of scrimmage and he said the guys they got this year should allow them to hold up better on the line of scrimmage and coming from him I believe it absolutely and we talk about a guy like Walter Nolan who you're alluding to right right? The transfer from Texas A&M. But they got an absolute horse in Prince Leumon Miellon from Florida as well. These are two of the most sought-after defensive linemen in the transfer portal this cycle, and both of them end up in Oxford. This could be Lane Kiffin's best shot at making the college football playoffs

since arriving at Ole Miss. These are two guys that are borderline top 100 NFL draft picks, like almost locks at this point. And I think it's about living up to their potential, right? These are players, Walter Nolan in particular, five-star player coming out of high school, one of the top-rated prospects in that absolutely loaded A&M defensive cycle that

year, we need to see that five-star show up. And I think the addition of Prince Leomon Miellon on the edge for Ole Miss will allow Walter Nolan to sort of get some singled up shots on the interior and they are going to cause havoc for opposing offenses. I think this year, you mentioned the potential versus the production. And I think that was the question for Walter Nolan at Texas A&M. And it was interesting. We had Brandon Ivy on from Ole Miss, one of the,

one of the defensive ends. And he was talking about what it's like practicing alongside Walter Nolan. And he's like, basically when he decides it's time to turn up, there's nothing in offensive lineman can do, but a hundred percent. I feel like that's a common thread with a lot of interior defensive lineman.

Like I think at that size, it's awfully hard to be 100% on all the time for sure. For Walter Nolan, how much more often does he need to be that? Right. And I think that's to Brandon Ivy's point. He said it specifically, right?

Like you said, playing alongside a defensive tackle like that is fun to watch, but it makes everyone's life easier. Having so much talent up front allows you to say, hey, maybe for instance, like Walter Nolan, you don't have to play 75 snaps as hard as you possibly can. You have moments where you can say, hey man, I'm going to throw a change up here. I'll let Prince Lee Juan Miel and throw the curve ball. Or I'm going to have Brandon Ivey throw the fastball. I'll do the slider on the outside. You know what I mean? There's a lot of different ways you can approach attacking an offense and being able to mix your pitches and sort of place,

hey, I'm gonna go 75% here. Now I'm going to go 100% here and on third down and instead of going balls to the wall, first, second and third down. I think having so much talent and being able to rotate guys up front allows you to sort of mix your pitches and throw your best shot when the time is right. Well, and I think that's interesting that you bring that point up because I think that affects Prince Lee quite a bit as well, because that's sort of been the thing with Florida's defensive line the last

few years where there's been like one guy who's really good and all the focus goes on that guy and but they get relied upon so much like jervon dexter now he was a bigger one he's an interior guy but just relied upon to play on so many snaps that his effectiveness sort of wore down as the game went on and we'll see with princely if being with this level of talent alongside him, does that change his production level too? Because Florida has some pretty good edge rush. They feel like even though they lost him, they're still going to be okay at that position.

But I do wonder if he's alongside elite talent, does that change what he can do? Yep, I agree. I think it's about raising the floor of your defensive front. And I think Ole Miss did that this offseason. And I think we're going to see this Ole Miss front do some damage because this is a group of guys that has not played together. And even though that's the case, I think all these these guys when they're on the field if they're

all clicking and they're all able to be on the same page together as the defense man you can't single up all these guys you just can't do it and that's going to allow problems that's going to give some big problems for offenses trying to line up against these guys yeah and that's what so we've talked about Ole Miss for like five minutes here we haven't even mentioned a skill position player like we haven't mentioned Juice Wells who they also got out of the transfer portal but absolutely that that's the thing like at this point I am now conditioned in the Lane Kiffin era that they're going to have great skill position players like right I need to see the big guys up front be good and that's completely that's right so we mentioned we mentioned Walter Nolan

leaving Texas A&M Texas A&M also acquired an elite defensive lineman who was someone who grew up in their own backyard used to work at Texas A&M yeah what was Nick Skorton coming out of Bryan High School in Bryan Texas which by the way sister city to College Station but what was he coming out of high school and what was his recruiting profile like what schools were looking at sure yeah so with nick scowerton it was very interesting because this was a player when we were evaluating him out of high school with his tape he was playing off ball backer right like this cat was playing it like inside like a true mike linebacker and he was listed i would say maybe in the 6-3-2-35-2-40 range so body type wise it was already of someone that you were like okay tweener body type he's ready to go now as a backer however

athletically you were like okay he's a little more downhill hips are a little tight he's ready to go now as a backer however athletically you were like okay he's a little more downhill hips are a little tight he's got some hip stiffness can he really get sideline to sideline i'm not sure on the athletic projection to off-ball linebacker however as an edge defender you said okay can this guy put on that much more weight? Is this someone that's going to have to play edge at 245, 250? Is he going to bulk up and kick inside at like 280, 285? You were sort of playing around with the body type and you weren't sure exactly how he was going to fill out. And when he does fill out, is he going to retain that athleticism

or is he going to get heavy footed and slow? So for us, we said, you know what? We'll probably pass. We had some other options on the defensive front other options at linebacker we felt some other options on the defensive front like the greatest defensive line hall of all time correct right and so you're like okay i think it makes sense to go ahead and pass however he was always looked at as a back-end option for the class if we got to that point, of course, fast forward, Nick Scowerton is now an absolute animal and would 100 percent play on this Texas A&M front. And talking to some of my guys that are in there, you know, I have some some folks I used to work with that are in that building now. And they absolutely rave about this kid.

Like, not only as a player, but they say the person and the leader he's been on and off the field is impeccable. This is a guy that's going to be a team captain for this new-look Texas A&M defense, and I think the impact he could make is immense. And this is a program that has a new identity, right? Under head coach Mike Elko,

after being around him as well during my time at A&M I know he's going to instill a culture in that program that's tough that's smart he's going to have this defense playing fast he's going to have them being hard-nosed and technical having someone like Nick Scowerton who walks in and fits that identity to a T is going to pay dividends for this A&M defense. I'm excited to watch it because if they have as good of a defensive line as it looks like they might have, that travels. That makes Mike Elko's job easier in year one. It's not easy.

I mean, that schedule is very hard. In fact, I want to talk to you about some guys that they're going to see right off the bat. So Mike Elko, obviously very familiar with Riley Leonard, Notre Dame's new quarterback, because Mike Elko coached him at Duke. But there's a guy that you love that Notre Dame picked up. And it's interesting because there's probably

some bigger names at this position that they took out of the portal. Like Bo Collins, who is at Clemson, probably the headliner of the portal class at Notre Dame. But Chris Mitchell from FIU is the one that you love. Yeah, that's to me, right? When you talk about, you mentioned his name, right? Riley Leonard, new quarterback. It's a system

that is not necessarily familiar with. You're walking into a situation where you say, hey, I'm the new guy here. I got to find a guy that can be my safety net. That is Chris Mitchell. To me, that's the difference. When you talk about Chris Mitchell compared to a guy like Bo Collins, this is the guy that you say, when in doubt, feed me the football. Because Chris Mitchell, he had 1,100 yards, 64 catches last year at FIU. I believe he can be the guy that steps up in that Notre Dame room, which, by the way, did not have a wideout gain more than 500 yards last year. They need someone that they can feed the football to and go to,

whether that's third and sure we're on first and 10 we need to take a shot chris mitchell can win at every level of the field and so i believe that he is the one that's going to become the safety net for riley leonard in uh in in this new setting for him well and the other thing is like you get mitchell evans back healthy the tight end and it's great because he sort of goes in that line of Notre Dame tight ends who've been great, but you need somebody who threatens on the outside. You need somebody who's a reliable target elsewhere. It can't just be the tight end. So if Mitchell's that guy, and then we'll see maybe Jordan Faison, who was pretty interesting last year,

a two-sport guy who plays lacrosse for Notre Dame as well, or Jaden Greathouse, who had some injuries last year. Like, a couple good receivers, and all of a sudden, this offense is humming. Right. It's a completely different group like I mean the way the offense moves I think is very dependent too on Riley Leonard in that ankle you know that's a big factor in this too I think we have to see how Riley Leonard operates because

he's a physical player right he's a he's a guy that wants the ball in his hands he wants to maneuver around he wants to run the football if that ankle starts acting up on him, right? And if you need to say, hey, that dimension of our offense is gone. We need quick hitters. We need ways to move the ball efficiently without necessarily running the ball or taking shots. To me, that's where Chris Mitchell and maybe a guy like Jaden Greathouse, where you say, hey, Jaden greathouse could be like our h type of receiver uh chris mitchell's maybe more of your f where you say hey we can move these guys around and we can feed them the ball in all sorts of different directions to me chris mitchell's the one though that's the dynamic twitchy guy that's going to hit his fair share of homers but can also be a safety net underneath as well and that's what notre dame

is seemingly needed for a long time. Like I'm thinking back, maybe since Chase Claypool? Like when's the last time they had somebody really scared you out there? Right. I completely agree. And that's why I mentioned that stat last year. I mean, the receiver room has essentially been a ghost the last couple of seasons. Hopefully there's some life in it this year.

So let's talk about the the biggest names in the portal like one of the probably the most sought after guy now his recruitment didn't last long in fact the team he left didn't really get a chance to to get him back but let's talk caleb downs because he's the name that comes up when we mention the transfer portal he goes from Alabama to Ohio State and when you talk to people who really watched Caleb Downs who really know football like they speak in almost reverent tones of what he could do just as a freshman like what does he bring to Ohio State's defense yeah I'll use a quip that NFL Network's Daniel Jeremiah said that's been burned in my brain ever since I started listening to him. At the safety position, there's three dimensions of the game that they can affect, right? The ability to play man coverage, the ability to play zone, and the ability to stop the run. if you have a player that excels at two of those you have a damn good football player if you have a player that can do all three you have a generational talent and Caleb Downs can do all

three so if I'm Ryan Day and I just got this caliber of player on the defensive side of the ball I am playing him anywhere and everywhere on that defense and just letting him go hunt. That's what the best ones do. You say, go play ball and they do it. And I think the result of that will be forced turnovers and stops and turnovers and stops turn into wins and wins turn into championships. And ultimately, that's what Ryan Day wants. And that's what Ohio State fans want. The other thing for downs that I find really interesting, because when we talk about these transfers coming in, it's also how they affect their teammates,

how they allow you to change how you deploy the teammates. So it allows Ohio State to make Sonny Stiles a linebacker. Sonny Stiles is 6'4", 235. He has been playing safety and he was not a bad safety. He was a pretty good safety at 6'4", 235, which means he is going to be an exceptionally fast linebacker who's now backed up by the best safety in the game. No question. The bonus of that to me, Andy, is you can play games with offenses with guys like that. When you have players that have that type of versatility,

those two could borderline switch positions and be completely fine. Let Sonny play the back half. He knows what he can do. Caleb Downs had the most tackles on Alabama's defense last year as a true freshman. He knows how to play against the run. So you can play all, if you're, I mean,

the DC at Ohio State has to just be giggling when it comes to scheming things up and how he can deploy all these types of weapons because the versatility that these guys bring, the thing is you can be versatile and not necessarily excel at certain aspects of the game those two excel at all three levels which means you can genuinely do anything with them on the defensive side of the ball and they will make an impact it is scary and that that's why i yes we're high on ohio state because they brought in quinshaw judkins because we think will howard can can probably move that offense with chip kelly calling the place but i i for

me it's the defense it's so many guys who could be in the nfl right now came back they added such a weapon in calebs and he lets them do so many other things but there is there's a guy on the other side of the ball that I'm completely fascinated by who they got out of the transfer portal and that's Seth McLaughlin so Seth McLaughlin one of the more talked about offensive linemen in college football playoff history because he was the center who had problems snapping the ball to Jalen Milrow in the Rose Bowl against Michigan multiple times. He did, right? But that's not the player's identity, which is something that I need the college football community to remember, right? Like Seth McLaughlin is going to be an NFL draft

pick. Like this guy is a dominant interior offensive lineman. To me, this is a cherry on top of the sundae type of player for Ohio State. Did Ohio State necessarily have a huge need on the offensive front, especially at center? i wouldn't say so because i think carson heisman at at this point in their careers i think seth mclaughlin's a better prospect however carson heisman carson heisman ain't no slouch he started 12 games last year he was a quality player and is still fighting for a starting spot on this offensive front at guard however they bring back two dominant starters at left tackle and left guard, Donovan Jackson, left guard, can't think of the left tackle's name. But Seth McLaughlin comes in at

center. Those are three absolute dudes on the left side to the center position. Right guard and right tackle is a battle. However, they have quality depth on the offensive front. I think Seth McLaughlin, when you look at it, is an absolute treat on top of an already the offensive front. I think Seth McLaughlin, when you look at it, is an absolute treat on top of an already solid offensive front. You pair that up with an experienced vet in Will Howard and a guy like Quinshawn Jenkins, like you mentioned, and all this offense has to do is take care of the football. And I think with a guy like Seth McLaughlin, Quinshawn Jenkins, Trey Henderson, Will Howard, all these pieces up front that have played the game for so long and have such good experience, it's just about taking care of the football and moving the chains. You have so much talent as an offense at Ohio State.

Just move the ball forward and you're going to win games. Josh Simmons, the projected starter at left tackle there. Now, the McLaughlin thing is interesting to me because he did have to leave Alabama. Because of the way it went down, because of what happened, he needed a fresh start. And it wasn't the only game that he had some issues. And with centers, it's like a Yips thing. It's like a Chuck Knobloch throwing to first base,

Steve Sachs disease kind of situation. That's like a Yips thing. It's like a Chuck Knobloch throwing to first base. Yeah. Steve Sacks disease kind of situation. That's such a good analogy. But also, I think the change of scenery might just eliminate that. Agreed. Because it just takes you, it puts you in a different headspace. Completely agree. And I think it's funny because this is probably the first offensive lineman

we're having this discussion with and i'm excited because we're going to talk about some players down the line especially a quarterback that we can point to this for but we've seen this happen with qbs especially recently with the transfer portal where we say hey just a new system just a new belief system a new environment can be the best thing to happen for some of these guys. And if that's the case with Seth McLaughlin at Ohio State, more power to him. And Alabama, meanwhile, replaces him with someone who Kalen DeBoer is very familiar with. They get Parker Brailsford, who is a 15 game starter at center at Washington last year,

which that has got to be helpful not only for Kalen DeBoer for Jalen Milrow but also for those other offensive linemen at Alabama who in the meeting room or even on the field can be like hey how'd you guys do this I feel like you read my notes and that's like exactly what I have here because you talk about Parker Brails for joining DeBoer. When you compare apples to apples here, I think, Andy, Seth McLaughlin's impact at Ohio State, I do not think touches the impact that Parker Brailsford brings to Alabama's team because of what you mentioned, right? It's the familiarity with the system,

and it's being able to assist in players along the offensive front. But to me, primarily Jalen Milrow, you got to remember Jalen Milrow started his first full season last year. The guys only started 13 games, right? That's still relatively new for quarterbacks amongst, in terms of starters in the FBS. So with someone like Parker Brailsford and Kalen DeBoer who come in and you have to teach this new system to Jalen Milrow, having someone like your center be able to borderline teach your quarterback how this offense is supposed to look and what he's supposed to see, especially in terms of reads and diagnosing and understanding what you're looking at on defense,

having someone like Parker Brailsford come in and essentially hold Jalen Milrow's hand through this process is, you can't put a price on it, in my opinion. And I think that could be secretly, like low-key, one of the most underrated transfers in the entire country. Yeah, I can't wait to see what this offense looks like. Because like you mentioned, the year one to year two jump that Jalen Milrow might make

was big anyway. If nothing had happened, it would be fantastic but now he's got kalen abor whose offense might suit him better than what they were running with tommy last year like i i think it's it's possible now here's the thing and this is this brings us to another couple guys that we need to talk about alab Alabama didn't really actually lose that much, but two guys went to Ohio State and two guys went to Texas, basically, in terms of guys that they really wanted who were going to be major contributors.

You know, there were some guys that were maybe not going to be starters who were going to be playing at Florida State and some other places, but two guys went to Ohio State. I mean, McLaughlin and Downs. Isaiah Bond, he of fourth and 31, fourth and goal from the 31 in the Iron Bowl.

And Amari Nyblack, the tight end, they go to Texas, which Texas really needed these guys. Yeah, I was going to say a hat tip to that Texas staff because when you talk about the type of player you're looking at, Isaiah Bond is a borderline clone from a physical, technical skill set at the wide receiver position as Xavier Worthy, right? Like that is an automatic plug and play. They're going to play the same type of role. They're going to be vertical stretchers that essentially threaten defenses every time they step up to the line of scrimmage. And you look at a guy like Amari Nyblak and compare him to Jatavian Sanders. It's again,

it's the same type of deal where you say, this is a flex tight end. That's going to kill teams in the slot. He's a mismatchatch for defenses you have to account for these guys because they will torture you in the seam and up the middle of the field both i mean again kudos to this staff because you couldn't i don't know if you could draw up more similar players stylistically especially out of the portal um then you can isaiah bond and amara nye black these guys are plug and play types of uh pass catchers that i think they can make an impact almost immediately for this texas offense well it's it's one thing you say like sark you know sark was at alabama did he was at about at alabama a long time ago at this point right right? Like it's not like he, he brought those guys in.

Correct. Right. And that's what I'm saying. It's like with the player pool being what the player pool is in the portal, the fact you're able to find two guys, not only that fit your former players that you just lost, but the fact that they're at the same school and it's one that you have recent history with is,

I mean, you got to take advantage of that. Like if you if somebody puts a baseball on a tee and you don't take a hack for the fences, you messed up. And this is borderline a BP soft toss down the middle of the down the middle of the plate for Sark. And I think he hit a home run, if I'm being honest with you. Yeah, I cannot wait to see that offense because it J Sanders, I thought, was the secret sauce among the skill guys in that offense that really made it possible to do a lot of the things they did. And Nyblak, I don't know that he really was used in that way at Alabama, but I imagine they will try to use in that way at Texas. Have to. I think the physical profile and the athletic profile are too high for him to not at

least be on the field one. Two, you have to see what you have there because this is someone who athletically and physically is a mismatch for most defenses. There's not a lot of of human beings that play safety or linebacker that can hang with this guy it's about getting the opportunities and i think at texas his opportunities could come in come in bunches to be honest with you just because you know what that type of athlete and physical uh prospect looks like at tight end in jatavian Sanders. This is a guy that just fills the cleats almost immediately. All right. So we are going to leave Austin. We're going to drive up by 35.

We're going to go through Pflugerville where they filmed the Friday night lights TV show. Yeah. We're going to go to temp. We're going through temple. We're going to hit the Buc-ee's get some beaver nuggets and jerky at Buc-ee's and we're going to stop in Waco. You're crushing.

Cody worked in Texas, so I'm just driving him crazy with something he saw. All right. So we're going to Waco. Okay. I have said, I think Dave Aranda will work his way off the hot seat this year. There is one particular transfer who you believe will help him make that happen i don't know that a lot of people who didn't watch a lot of weeknight match in know this name but get to know the name daquan finn yeah i i think it's funny because i was at baylor as well so i i understand sort of the history and like where this place is coming from

and how Aranda is operating. Right. So Baylor finishes last year at three and nine, Dave Aranda, one of the hottest seats in the country. The thing that adds onto that, right. Former Baylor bear,

Kyron drones, starter at Virginia tech, a sleeper Heisman hopeful. A lot of people talking a lot of good things about kyron yep former baylor bear blake shapen going to be the starter for mississippi state and in a with with levy over there in starkville again former starter at baylor goes to mississippi state could have a bright future there also former bear bear, Gary Bohannon is going to be the starter at BYU. So it's not like there hasn't been talent in the quarterback room at Baylor. However,

are any of those three former 2023 MAAC MVP Daquan Finn? I don't know. This might be the best quarterback that has been in that room, which I just stated. There have been three really good quarterbacks that have played for Baylor that have gone on now to be potential starters or current starters at other schools at the Power 5 level. I still think Daquan Finn might be the best one of the bunch. And to your point, Andy, is he good enough to save Aranda's job? I want to say maybe he just might be. What do you think? We shall see a different offense. So Jeff Grimes was the offensive coordinator. He's now at Kansas. Jake Spavitol comes in. One of the issues I think that they had, and Dave Aranda pointed this out at Big 12 Media Days,

is he didn't feel like their offensive line was old enough, mature enough, ready to play. They should have hit the portal harder, he said. They should have gotten some more veteran guys. But the scheme that Jeff Grimes ran, very outside zone heavy. Your linemen have to be studs. They have to be athletic. They have to be able to move people. It's not easy to do what they were asked to do. When it worked, when they won the Big 12, it looked really good. But when you have guys who

can't physically pull that off, they can get dominated. And that's bad for your qb blake shapen took the brunt of that last year absolutely yep spavital's offense does not require the offensive lineman to be as studly as jeff grimes offense does they can the better they are the better the whole offense is going to be that's true but you can work and function without a bunch of studs up front. And I think that probably helps Daquan Finn this year as well. Absolutely. And he's creative, right? Like if things do break down, he's able to make things happen outside the pocket, inside the pocket. He can create on his own. You can do design runs with him. If need be,

this is a guy we talk about the quarterback position, trucks and trailers, right? Trailers are guys that are being sort of pulled by the offensive unit as a whole in our sort of tasks to be game managers. Daquan Finn is a truck. He is the one that is dragging the trailer behind him. That offense goes as he goes. And I think Daquan Finn could be the right guy

and in the right place for this season for Baylor and Dave Aranda. So let's go to another quarterback who takes over as a starter. Okay. At a big school. But this is a case where you probably know his name because he was a major, major recruit. This is the guy that Lincoln Riley had committed before Caleb Williams. It wasn't until this guy flipped to Georgia that Caleb Williams then got recruited by Lincoln Riley at Oklahoma.

That's how much Lincoln Riley, a very good evaluative quarterbacks, thought of Brock Vandegrift. But Brock Vandegrift could not win the job at Georgia. He couldn't beat out Seth Bennett, couldn't beat out Carson Beck. Now he goes to Kentucky where he will take over and run the offense there. Correct. And this is exactly the type of thing we were alluding to earlier, right, Andy?

Could this be a deal where the change of scenery creates a new type of player that we had seen previously, right? At the high school level, Brock Vandegrift's a five-star. He was a former industry five-star. Are we looking at a potential Will Levis-esque impact at Kentucky here with Brock Vandegrift? I would say so. And the thing that I think could help drive that is that receiver group that receiver group can roll andy with guy like barry and brown you talk about a vertical field stretcher brock vandegrift's got a hose those

guys just have to match up i don't know link up twice three times a game and that's and that's six all two or three times so to me kent Kentucky is betting on Brock Vandegrift. They're betting in the arm talent. They're betting in the potential. They're betting in on the prospect that almost every team, and like you mentioned, Lincoln Riley at Oklahoma was betting on Brock Vandegrift before Caleb Williams was even in the fold. So this is a top-tier caliber prospect from a physical and athletic standpoint at the quarterback position. We'll see if Mark Stoops in Kentucky can get him right. realize you were this high on so this is a guy it's it's kind of another trade situation so

jonathan smith gets the michigan state job he brings aiden childs with him from oregon state so aiden childs is going to be oregon state's excuse me he's going to be michigan state's starting quarterback right that forces out the guys who were at michigan state one of those guys was sam levitt who goes to Arizona state and you love Sam Levitt. We, we do love me some Sam Levitt. I'll give a gigantic hat tip to our director of recruiting here,

or excuse me, our director of scouting here at on three Charles power, because Charles was pounding the table for Sam Levitt for what felt like 18 months. I think during our evaluation process, you want to talk about months, I think, during our evaluation process. You want to talk about this. I mean, Sam Leavitt was an on three top 100 player nationally, not quarterback, top 100 prospect.

He is as efficient and gifted of a quarterback that, I mean, we really saw in that entire 2023 recruiting cycle. Aiden Childs is also similar in that aspect. I think he finished top 12 for us as well. Sam Levitt is someone that went into Arizona State and pushed Jaden Rashada out the door, who is also a former industry top 100 prospect. Jaden Rashada was one of the most highly coveted recruits in the country coming out of high school. May have done a couple stories about his recruitment. I think I did.

I have read a couple of things or heard a couple of things on that end. And Sam Leavitt is someone that I think is not only a change of pace for Arizona State, but he's someone that can take care of the football, but also drive this offense. He's someone that has tremendous arm talent, but also maneuvers the pocket extremely efficiently. He's not going to take a lot of sacks. He's going to continuously move the chains, but the best quality to me that he has is distributing the football. He understands how to layer the football in the middle of the field. He's an accurate touch passer, but also has sufficient enough arm strength to push the ball vertically. This is someone I think Kenny Dillingham is going

to have a field day with at Arizona State, and I wouldn't be surprised if that offense put up some pretty impressive numbers here in their new conference. Watch out, Big 12, because I think Arizona State's one that a lot of you know fan bases in the big 12 they're seeing and saying oh well that's one we can we can mark as a w in a league where there's not where many where you can mark as a w sure if if they got a dude at qb that all of a sudden i it does change the math and so kenny dillingham who did great things with bo nicks bo nicks first year at oregon he also coached Bo Nix at Auburn. But worked well with Jordan Travis at Florida State when he was there.

And he's done quite well mentoring quarterbacks through the years. So I'm very excited to see how he works with them. Speaking of people who once employed Kenny Dillingham, you like these transitions here. I'm working on these segments. You're doing amazing. So Gus Malzahn once employed Kenny Dillingham. You like these transitions here. I'm working on these segues, but you're doing amazing. So Gus Malzahn once employed Kenny Dillingham. Gus Malzahn essentially got his create a player out of the portal in KJ Jefferson. And in fact, Gus Malzahn wanted to recruit KJ Jefferson to Auburn.

That happened to be the same year that Bo Nix was coming out of high school, and they only had one quarterback spot, and guess who's going to get that spot at Auburn University? The guy who's Patrick Nix's son. Right. And, I mean, KJ at UCF under Gus Malzahn, is that a match made in heaven would you say Andy I mean when we talk about pure transfer portal matches and marriages that's the one to me that makes the most sense out of all the quarterbacks in the country almost that's the one where you say oh yeah that uh that

that's gonna work out because to me Gus Malzahn knows what he wants out of his quarterback. And KJ Jefferson is essentially a plug and play type of player. He's a physical downhill runner with the ball in his hands that has a bazooka attached to his arm that can stretch the field vertically and rifle the football at all levels of the field. Now, the biggest difference between, to me, KJ and a guy like John Rhys Plumlee that had some success at UCF. John Rhys Plumlee, in terms of passing and being efficient and he gets time and if he is being sort of put in positions to take shots, KJ Jefferson, I trust with taking shots under Gus Malzahn more than I do a guy like John Rhys Plumlee, but they still have the factor of creating plays on their own with their legs.

John Rhys Plumlee more of a twitchy burner home run hitter. KJ is going to be a sledgehammer, but I still think they move the ball efficiently on the ground and in the air. I think KJ is the one that's going to take care of the football much better under Gus Malzahn than John Rhys Plumlee did. Go back to KJ at Arkansas in the Kendall Bryles off it's not last year in the Danny Ness offense but KJ and Rocket Sanders in the Kendall Bryles offense together in the in the read option mesh you're a defender you're like what the hell is going to happen here and yeah so now you take a it's a different offense Gus's offense is not

the same as that the theryles offense but it is still very much a get the box count you want and that determines whether you're going to run the ball or throw it and now kj jefferson is in the mesh with rj harvey who ran for 1400 yards last year who our guy philip duke says looks like the thing from Fantastic Four. And Penny Boone, the transfer from Toledo. I mean, when we talk about evaluating and scouting and we talk about players specifically, we have a tendency to overcomplicate things at times. When you simplify it and you just look at it black and white

and you ask yourself, do I want to play against this team? The answer is no. I do not want to play against that three-headed monster i simply don't and they could be genuinely dangerous again like you mentioned that big 12 is scary it's just there's too many too many scary thoughts there it's just it's it's go ahead go ahead and what you got let's let's add to the fear factor in the big 12 because there's a guy you love who's joining a team in the big 12 that already has some of the most potent offensive weapons in the league because the big story with a was Jed Fish is leaving. Who's going to follow him?

Who's going to stay? And Noah Fafita and Tetra Roy McMillan, the quarterback, and the guy who might be the nation's best receiver, decide they're going to stay. That causes the entire core group to stay at Arizona. Now, they did lose their best back, but Ja'Cory Merritt comes over for New Mexico. This Andy, we, we talked about him a little bit cause he did happen to pop up in the,

whose team is it anyway, game that we got to play. And I did get to glow up on him a little bit. I'm, I don't think the, the the the general college football community is prepared for jacori merit suiting up for the arizona wildcats because this guy is the definition of juice like he ran for 1200 yards and 17 touchdowns last year at new mexico this is a guy that was originally committed to old miss and they were going to have him compliment Ulysses Bentley. And instead he ends up at Arizona and he gets to stand back there with Noah Fafita, with Teteroa McMillan on the outside. My notes say star, Ric Flair, woo star, because that's what this offense is going to be with those three guys in it. It's going to be so much fun.

So we've just, you know, UCF in Arizona, we've just pumped up the Big 12. Yeah. And we should, because again, you don't know Daquan Finn, like you don't know who's going to come out. That's the thing. and we talk about all these games that are going on and i think i saw a tweet or something i was talking about like these are going projected most televised these are gonna have the most eyeballs on them or whatever guys folks listening turn on a big 12 game this year yes it doesn't matter they're all going to be competitive all of them the big 12 is wide open and it all going to be competitive. All of them.

The Big 12 is wide open, and it's going to be super fun. I have a column that you could read it on through right now about what I call pivot point games. They're the games, not necessarily a team's biggest game of the season, but the one where for both teams, it could really be kind of a make or break situation. And I picked a few games in the SEC and a few in the big 12, or excuse me,

a few in the big 10 and a few in the ACC. I wrote the entire big 12 schedule. I could not choose the games. Exactly. Because I mean, truly that conference is as wide open as it's ever been. And in comparison to some of the other conferences, like you mentioned,

there's no clear dude in that conference. There really isn't. And that goes from top to bottom. There's no absolute bonafide number one, number two team, but there's also no bottom feeder either that you say, oh, they're finishing last. Like that, they don't exist in the Big 12, which bodes well for fans because it's going to be fun the entire time.

Yeah. Whether whether you're a fan of UCF, Arizona, Colorado, Oklahoma State, Utah, Kansas State, Kansas, Baylor, TCU. All of them. Bang. All of them. It's going to be fun. All right. I cannot let you go without bookending. We started out talking about Ole Miss. Lane Kiffin has been one of the kings of the transfer portal. Another guy who has been masterful in the portal at digging his team out of a hole, building it up to an elite team, and now maybe keeping an elite team, Mike Norvell at Florida State.

So let's talk DJU at quarterback. Let's talk Marvin Jones Jr. off the edge. There's a bunch of guys that we could be talking about here, but it feels like this is one where it's a great mixture of what they brought in and what they already had. Yeah, and I think if we start with DJ Ongolele, it's the same conversation that we had with Brock Vandegrift, right?

This is the type of player that was a former five-star, arm talent, good athleticism, transferring. You know who that sounds like? Yes, it sounds like Brock Vck vandergriff but it also sounds like a guy named bo nicks it's the same exact deal it's a change of scenery what can this do for a quarterback we've seen it time and time again that sometimes all these guys need is a new coach a new team a new belief system and here's the deal this isn't something that is like oh yeah every one of 50 guys that does this if you look at the draft last year four of the six first round quarterbacks in last year's

draft were transfers so who is to say that dju cannot be the next success story yeah the the one difference with dju is we have seen in another place. We saw him at Oregon state, but I don't, I've talked to Mike Norvell about this. He seems very confident that he can unlock whatever it is in DJ. You that's, that's laying dormant and he's seen it at times.

Like Mike Norvell knows probably better than anybody what the guy can do because the last time DJU played in Tallahassee, he dissected Florida State. Scorched them. Correct, exactly. Probably the best game he ever played at Clemson. 100%. And I think this is something that the supporting cast, too,

that Florida State has put around DJU on the offensive front at the skill positions. This is a this is a world that we live in where DJU could potentially and again, we talk about trucks and trailers. He just has to be a trailer. You don't have to put the whole team on your back here. This is something where you say, say hey take care of the football let the ground game do what the ground game does here and that defense if we want to transition to marvin jones right that defense is extremely talented especially up front and i say you know you bring in a guy like marvin jones jr which by the way can we talk about it? Marvin Jones Jr. wearing Florida State colors just feels right, doesn't it? Sure.

With his dad being, I mean, exactly. So suiting up in the garnet and gold just feels right this season. But when we talk about the impact this could have, right, especially with Florida State's track record, with defensive front guys, guys like Jared. From Georgia. Exactly, right? Jared Vers, Braden Fiske, Jermon or

Jermaine Johnson. These are all players who transferred in and became top 50 NFL draft picks. And if we're talking about the caliber of these guys as high school players compared to Marvin Jones, Marvin's isn't Marvin's in a completely different world than these guys were coming out of high school. So the ceiling of what Marvin Jones Jr. could be is astronomically high. Pairing up his frame with his athletic ability, if Norvell and company there at Florida State are able to get him right and turn him into the type of player

that we saw in the SEC championship last year with Marvin Jones at Georgia I think he what had like three or four like he had like three sacks 13 tackles if they can unlock that guy to show up at every game for Florida State they absolutely could have themselves another first round pick along that defensive front well and having Patrick Payton on the other side helps because that's a guy who who was great last year and it's funny because losing Braden Fisk you think okay how are they going to replace somebody in the interior well remember Braden Fisk was supposed to be playing alongside another transfer named Daryl Jackson Jr. last year

but they wouldn't let Jackson play he didn't get a waiver from the NCAA so he sat out last year that's another like major you know for from your guys perspective out of high school talent that the ceiling is very high we don't yet know what he can fully be correct and this is this lines up beautifully because we go back to the very first point that we made in this entire show, which is what does pairing talent along the defensive front do for you on defense? It allows guys to get singled up. And what happens if you have all three of those guys that you mentioned in one-on-one scenarios,

they win. But the odds are they win. So being able to pair up that talent up front for Florida State, and again, masterful job by Norvell and his staff, plucking these guys and putting them in situations to succeed, that's going to pay off for them in the long run. It's so exciting to hear what these guys could be, and I'm sure for these guys who may not have been in the ideal situation for themselves. Getting into a scheme that works for them or getting into a situation that works for them has got to be so freeing. Cody, I cannot wait to watch these guys play. We're not far off.

In fact, with the Seminoles week zero game three weeks from tomorrow in Ireland against Georgia Tech. It's amazing how fast this comes up. I tell you what, I've had a very exciting July. I ended up getting engaged this July. Congratulations. Thank you so much. Traveled to Hawaii, traveled to Iceland, and it's been awesome. But I tell you what, when August 1st rolls around

and you start to look at the schedule and you go, ooh, that game's going to be good, it's been awesome. But I tell you what, when August 1st rolls around and you start to look at the schedule and you go, ooh, that game's going to be good, it is very exciting. And I am very excited for the games to start getting played because we finally get to start, you know, it's not projecting anymore. It's happening.

And we finally get to see it with our eyeballs. And that is always fun. It's going to be amazing. Cody Blair on 3's national scout. Thank you so much for joining us. Thank you. The viewer and the listener for joining us. Hope you all have a great weekend.

You've only got a couple of free ones left. They're about to be very, very busy. We'll talk to you on Monday. Outro Music