Portal Woes and Lack of Development: Why 9-1 Feels Worse Than it Should

[TemplarCane]

The glaring problem is the 2022 transition class. I wouldn’t be too critical since it was a transition class, but there is little value there, especially on defense. Moss, Kelly, and Wayne should be in their third seasons with plenty of experience and playing time. Instead, they are at other schools.

Wes is the only contributor on defense. In my opinion, he’s only been serviceable. The defense is terrible so good can he be? I’ve seen him miss plenty of tackles and exhibit the same fundamental issues like nearly every other player on defense.

The defense hasn’t recovered from a poor recruiting class coupled with bad coaching hires to start the Mario era.

 

[AUcane]

You obviously put a lot of effort into the post and I commend you. Lots of good analysis. Thank you for that.

I don't necessarily agree with some of your ratings (besides, what's the difference b/w "non factor" and "not ready" when you're talking about first/second year guys? there does not seem to be consistency).

Do we have a talent issue? Yes we still do. I believe the 2024 class is the start in the right direction. I'm not too thrilled with the 2025 class so far as I don't really see any elite guys here.

I am bullish with a few position groups - OL, RB, TE, DL. There are still lots of areas to shore up and that's on Mario. If he manages to get a solid QB in the portal, I think we'll be in good shape. Are we a perennial 11-12 win team? No, not yet. But I do think we are a perennial 9-10 win team at this point which is where many thought we would be by year 3.

 

[Rellyrell]

From CBSEC

CBS is B1G now

 

[Rellyrell]

Just saw a graphic that GT put up the most rushing yrds against us since 2020 vs. UNC.

 

[dlow_cane]

If only Manny(DUKE) could've beat SMU We would have been GOLDEN!! . But the debate keeps going on for another week.. Can we win the the Coastal(ACC) now? in this decade? maybe even make the playoff with the 12 team expansion or do we need to go to 14? The question still lingers CAN WE EVER EXERCISE ALL THE DEMONS THROWN OUR WAY? It's a 21 year curse and counting.

 

[RVACane]

Good question.

Oregon, Ohio State and Texas have phenomenal depth. They look like they’ve been hitting on a ton of their recruits, and granted they’ve blasted conference opponents to the point that we get to see those recruits in action.

Bama was very young, but as you can see against LSU…they’re developing VERY quickly. They’ll be stocked up, plus they have leftover Saban recruits.

Clemson has some young talent, but Dabo will Dabo.

A&M has some dudes, so does Tennessee, UGA is declining but still some good guys.

People will hate to hear this, but UF looks like they’ve hit on a fair number of 2023/2024 kids. I know we’re not allowed to mention them on here, so I’ll stop.

Miami is certainly still in the upper echelon of recruiting, imo. But what we are doing with those recruits, remains to be seen

The gator has hit on a bunch of guys in the last class - DJ Lagway, Miles Graham, LJ McCray & Jaden Baugh minimum plus Michai Boireau and Tank Hawkins have shown promise.

 

[Dghustla]

Good question.

Oregon, Ohio State and Texas have phenomenal depth. They look like they’ve been hitting on a ton of their recruits, and granted they’ve blasted conference opponents to the point that we get to see those recruits in action.

Bama was very young, but as you can see against LSU…they’re developing VERY quickly. They’ll be stocked up, plus they have leftover Saban recruits.

Clemson has some young talent, but Dabo will Dabo.

A&M has some dudes, so does Tennessee, UGA is declining but still some good guys.

People will hate to hear this, but UF looks like they’ve hit on a fair number of 2023/2024 kids. I know we’re not allowed to mention them on here, so I’ll stop.

Miami is certainly still in the upper echelon of recruiting, imo. But what we are doing with those recruits, remains to be seen

what are basing you “Bama young players are developing quick” on?

A simple google search shows that that majority of contributors and statistical leaders on Bama this year are Jr. and SRs.

In terms of underclassmen they have Ryan Williams and 3-4 sophs who are getting burn as rotation players and contributing.

 

[Negro-Wan Kanobi]

OP def did

 

[kyle_schick]

Mario and his staff (especially defensive) aren't good at finding, evaluating, and developing talent.

They hit on a few, but the majority of the defensive players from both HS and the portal are busts.

They need to seek external help on identifying contributors, or up the budget.

 

[miamimike305]

9 and 1 feels worst when maybe you try to compare the Canes to Bama, UGA and OSU. And neglect that these programs have been building machines for over a decade ignore that Miami after 2 good classes is no where near being a complete team. Becuase as Op pointed out not ever my player is going to be a star. Yet on CIS we seem so shocked by this.

All those schools in the top 5 annually have bust or kids that develop slow or barely any at all. The difference is they are just so stacked with talent that the cream rises to the top. So their fans don’t have to make a 1,000 word post over analyzing data.

OSU fans don’t care that Brandon Innis is developing slow cuz they got Smith and all the other highly rated kids.

Some ppl just need to admit they won’t be happy unless we win every game by 20 and never have a close game.

To me This has been one of the most fun and exciting seasons I can remember.

It sucks to lose to GaTECh

Ppl say this roster isn’t as good as the rankings suggest and I guess all our players are overrated and will never get better, but then say GaTech has massively inferior talent so that it should never be close…which is it?

The team is growing and building.

There are some areas of regression where clearly guys specifically the Safeties who were highly sought after just aren’t playing well in the scheme.

And even when we go heavy man coverage it exposes other weaknesses.

In short we’ll be alright if we keep stacking talent.

I disagree. Can't stack talent when there is no talent.

 

[miamimike305]

Yall don’t feel like yall kinda over doing it over one loss? Especially after wining 9 straight.

Genuinely asking..

I would be OK if we lost to GT and our second year QB has us at 9 wins and our defense makes plays here and there. Except we don't have anyone behind our starters.

 

[miamimike305]

I could absolutely be wrong, believe me I’ll be ecstatic if even 20% of these players become household names in CFB. That would mean the process is working (sorry Philly).

I just don’t see it? And I think it’s increasingly alarming that

1. We have to keep going to the portal for the same positions.

2. We’re still not nailing those positions in the portal.

Admittedly, this centers around defense. Not sure if that’s a Guidry thing or everyone to blame. At least QB was a home run selection, as well as RB.

In regards to running back, there's a disconnect between Dawson and MC. Martinez and Fletcher aren't build to be #1RBs and to make matters worse, they are not the right fit in this offense. We need someone with burst as soon as they get the ball and a 4.38-4.44 RB in this offense. It still bothers me that we keep trotting Martinez and Fletcher when we have 3 running backs that fit this scheme better.

 

[RangerGranger]

Corey Flagg >> Jaylin Alderman.

Fr, JA looks like he's 30 with 3 kids.

Next year, I hope we prioritize our signees with potential over a malformed/experienced transfer.


We can't let Kaleb Spencer xfer & popo aguirre sit the bench while JA gets pt.




Can't man!

 

[Unsider]

Lol…looks like the U whiffed on a fan base. We are definitely the worst. Even more horrific is that more than half of us here are not even U alumni, and have the temerity to demand a winning product, “How dare they not give us National Championships? Yes, the program must be run by incompetents.” Its the best season in decades FF sake, try to enjoy it!

 

[canes732]

I could absolutely be wrong, believe me I’ll be ecstatic if even 20% of these players become household names in CFB. That would mean the process is working (sorry Philly).

I just don’t see it? And I think it’s increasingly alarming that

1. We have to keep going to the portal for the same positions.

2. We’re still not nailing those positions in the portal.

Admittedly, this centers around defense. Not sure if that’s a Guidry thing or everyone to blame. At least QB was a home run selection, as well as RB.

Well Deon Bush keeps posting about no edge defender and being out leveraged on d. That has nothing to do with talent or development. It’s simple we aren’t doing the little things right on D which makes us bad I can’t even watch our defense it’s so **** bad and undisciplined. How the **** is Indiana 9-0 and they looks so well coached.

 

[Zanecane]

stopped reading when you said Bain wasn't a star player.

 

[Angry Ibis]

OP makes a powerful case. That said, no one can argue the roster isn’t leaps and bounds ahead of what was inherited. It’s a turn around. Would someone else fix the mess faster, maybe, but maybe not. At least the mess is getting fixed. I think we’re very lucky to have Mario and his resolve, despite some on-the-job learning and a few glaring mistakes.

On the job learning?

 

[Angry Ibis]

Well Deon Bush keeps posting about no edge defender and being out leveraged on d. That has nothing to do with talent or development. It’s simple we aren’t doing the little things right on D which makes us bad I can’t even watch our defense it’s so **** bad and undisciplined. How the **** is Indiana 9-0 and they looks so well coached.

So Deon Bush is a mope?

 

[jmiller]

9 and 1 feels worst when maybe you try to compare the Canes to Bama, UGA and OSU. And neglect that these programs have been building machines for over a decade ignore that Miami after 2 good classes is no where near being a complete team. Becuase as Op pointed out not ever my player is going to be a star. Yet on CIS we seem so shocked by this.

All those schools in the top 5 annually have bust or kids that develop slow or barely any at all. The difference is they are just so stacked with talent that the cream rises to the top. So their fans don’t have to make a 1,000 word post over analyzing data.

OSU fans don’t care that Brandon Innis is developing slow cuz they got Smith and all the other highly rated kids.

Some ppl just need to admit they won’t be happy unless we win every game by 20 and never have a close game.

To me This has been one of the most fun and exciting seasons I can remember.

It sucks to lose to GaTECh

Ppl say this roster isn’t as good as the rankings suggest and I guess all our players are overrated and will never get better, but then say GaTech has massively inferior talent so that it should never be close…which is it?

The team is growing and building.

There are some areas of regression where clearly guys specifically the Safeties who were highly sought after just aren’t playing well in the scheme.

And even when we go heavy man coverage it exposes other weaknesses.

In short we’ll be alright if we keep stacking talent.

I don't think he's trying to compare us to those programs but he is trying to compare us to a program like Texas under Sark who had his program from talent standpoint in year 3 where I would of thought Mario would have us right now. I'm not ready to freak out just yet but it is a little concerning

 

[E1k]

Id say some of this is unfair, like saying bain isn’t a star id say in this sample size he’s shown he’s a star but i dont think his ceiling at edge is as high as most think. I would have put a tbd on some of the guys who are young and haven’t played yet and context should be added at certain positions..But for the most part this is interesting and insightful.

Only reason i would say this can be a real concern is because the depth mario left at oregon. He left some good players and some stars, they were definitely trending up but lanning flipped the roster and they seem to be heading to a higher level than they were with mario..Not final just looking at how they are operating since he got there

All of this really comes down to what people’s expectations are. Are we expecting mario to have us as a tier1 program? Or are we cool with being tier 2 or 3 with some great years here and there like this one. If u are expecting a tier1 trajectory then u should agree with this post, if you aren’t then u shouldn’t see it as an indictment because we all should be following these trends in real time

Fanbase only want to acknowledge stuff when the house is on fire or completely burned down.