I didn’t used to watch college football with this thought constantly in the back of my mind, but the game has changed. Now if I see a great player at the G5 level, I can’t help but wonder if he’ll hit the portal looking for a P4 home, and if Texas Tech might be interested.
Ashton Jeanty is a true sophomore at Boise State who currently leads the nation in all-purpose yards. His hometown is listed as Jacksonville, FL but he went to high school in Frisco. Would fit the profile of portal guys moving back closer to home that McGuire has talked about. If Tahj goes pro, couldn’t hurt to add a guy like this to pair with Valdez and the other backs.
Ismail Mahdi is listed as being born in Kenya and only playing two years of high school ball, so I’m guessing he was a late bloomer of sorts that flew under the recruiting radar. Spent his freshman year at Houston Baptist/Christian, but he’s at Texas State this year. He’s 6th nationally in all-purpose yards per game right now.
Tavian Combs is a tackling machine originally from Amarillo, currently playing for New Mexico. True freshman during COVID and redshirted in 2022 after an injury, so I think he’s got two years left after this one. I think he plays their version of the STAR, but he might be able to play one of the two deep safety spots with both of our starters slated to graduate. He’s 6th nationally in solo tackles per game so far this season, and was second on the team in tackles as a true freshman and true sophomore.
Trey Moore wound up at UTSA. Redshirt in 2021, freshman All-American as a RS freshman last season. Listed as an OLB but I think he’s similar to our OLB/EDGE spot. He’s tied for 9th nationally in sacks so far this year with four (4). I think Linton and Cole are out of eligibility after this year. Seems like he’d be hard to pry away from Traylor, but if Traylor takes a job somewhere else and this guy doesn’t follow for whatever reason, who knows?
With Sonny Cumbie at Louisiana Tech, I’ve watched a couple of their games this season. Cyrus Allen is a big play sophomore. Last year as a true freshman: 22 catches for 500 yards (22.7 YPC), 4 TDs (scored on 18% of his catches). This season he’s at 17 for 246 (14.5 YPC), but that doesn’t include his 85-yard reception earlier tonight.
I don’t watch a ton of G5 football so I’m sure there are several others who look like they could make the jump. No clue which positions we’ll potentially be targeting in the portal — probably OL if I had to guess but the rest might depend on development at each position.
Have you seen any G5 players this season that you might want Texas Tech to target should they hit the portal? This might be a fun thread to revisit in a few months…
Ashton Jeanty is a true sophomore at Boise State who currently leads the nation in all-purpose yards. His hometown is listed as Jacksonville, FL but he went to high school in Frisco. Would fit the profile of portal guys moving back closer to home that McGuire has talked about. If Tahj goes pro, couldn’t hurt to add a guy like this to pair with Valdez and the other backs.
Ismail Mahdi is listed as being born in Kenya and only playing two years of high school ball, so I’m guessing he was a late bloomer of sorts that flew under the recruiting radar. Spent his freshman year at Houston Baptist/Christian, but he’s at Texas State this year. He’s 6th nationally in all-purpose yards per game right now.
Tavian Combs is a tackling machine originally from Amarillo, currently playing for New Mexico. True freshman during COVID and redshirted in 2022 after an injury, so I think he’s got two years left after this one. I think he plays their version of the STAR, but he might be able to play one of the two deep safety spots with both of our starters slated to graduate. He’s 6th nationally in solo tackles per game so far this season, and was second on the team in tackles as a true freshman and true sophomore.
Trey Moore wound up at UTSA. Redshirt in 2021, freshman All-American as a RS freshman last season. Listed as an OLB but I think he’s similar to our OLB/EDGE spot. He’s tied for 9th nationally in sacks so far this year with four (4). I think Linton and Cole are out of eligibility after this year. Seems like he’d be hard to pry away from Traylor, but if Traylor takes a job somewhere else and this guy doesn’t follow for whatever reason, who knows?
With Sonny Cumbie at Louisiana Tech, I’ve watched a couple of their games this season. Cyrus Allen is a big play sophomore. Last year as a true freshman: 22 catches for 500 yards (22.7 YPC), 4 TDs (scored on 18% of his catches). This season he’s at 17 for 246 (14.5 YPC), but that doesn’t include his 85-yard reception earlier tonight.
I don’t watch a ton of G5 football so I’m sure there are several others who look like they could make the jump. No clue which positions we’ll potentially be targeting in the portal — probably OL if I had to guess but the rest might depend on development at each position.
Have you seen any G5 players this season that you might want Texas Tech to target should they hit the portal? This might be a fun thread to revisit in a few months…
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