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How will the portal affect high school recruting?
Posted on 1/13/26 at 12:20 pm
Posted on 1/13/26 at 12:20 pm
Obviously there’s room for a combination of recruits and transfers for positions like OL, DL, WR and even DB.
The competition starts heating up at RB and especially at QB. A QB wants to be the man and a RB wants to be the feature back.
I get the desire to bring in a RB and QB transfer who can give you a solid year immediately and its a bonus if he has multiple years of eligibility.
In the age of the transfer portal, will a school miss out on a 5 star QB (especially) or RB if that school brings in a high level transfer who has multiple years of eligibility left?
The competition starts heating up at RB and especially at QB. A QB wants to be the man and a RB wants to be the feature back.
I get the desire to bring in a RB and QB transfer who can give you a solid year immediately and its a bonus if he has multiple years of eligibility.
In the age of the transfer portal, will a school miss out on a 5 star QB (especially) or RB if that school brings in a high level transfer who has multiple years of eligibility left?
17
Posted on 1/13/26 at 12:31 pm to NorthTiger
quote:I see the elite 5 star QBs going to less and less big time schools where playing time isn't guaranteed, and instead going to mid tier schools where they can start day 1.
How will the portal affect high school recruting?
It just doesn't seem to make much sense for the top tier schools to pay top dollar for elite 5 stars to sit around for 2 years in their system when they can get playing time elsewhere for "free" to the top school, then the top school can invest in them when they're proven after a year or 2 of already playing.
Posted on 1/13/26 at 12:32 pm to NorthTiger
quote:
I get the desire to bring in a RB and QB transfer who can give you a solid year immediately and its a bonus if he has multiple years of eligibility.
In the age of the transfer portal, will a school miss out on a 5 star QB (especially) or RB if that school brings in a high level transfer who has multiple years of eligibility left?
Of course...5 star players are not going to go where they can't play immediately, in most cases. The key is to recruit good players out of high school, maybe not 5 stars, so you can always have 3 talented QBs on the roster.
Posted on 1/13/26 at 12:37 pm to NorthTiger
My opinion is that schools will still recruit HS OL and DL to keep them in house and develop. They will also take the highly rated QB’s, WR’s, and DB’s but only the top. They will also take any consensus 5* types at any other positions.
What they won’t take developmental players at LB’er, RB, TE ever. They may even pass on most developmental QB’s and WR’s.
What they won’t take developmental players at LB’er, RB, TE ever. They may even pass on most developmental QB’s and WR’s.
This post was edited on 1/13/26 at 12:38 pm
Posted on 1/13/26 at 12:37 pm to NorthTiger
HS QB recruiting is pretty much dead
Posted on 1/13/26 at 12:38 pm to NorthTiger
5 stars are going to start wanting guarantees before they sign. The portal has severely damaged college football
Posted on 1/13/26 at 12:39 pm to sunnydaze
This is THE TRUTH
Posted on 1/13/26 at 12:45 pm to shel311
quote:
I see the elite 5 star QBs going to less and less big time schools where playing time isn't guaranteed, and instead going to mid tier schools where they can start day 1.
they will go to the schools offering highest NIL $. Those schools will still be the premier schools and not mid tier schools.
Posted on 1/13/26 at 12:47 pm to shel311
quote:
I see the elite 5 star QBs going to less and less big time schools where playing time isn't guaranteed, and instead going to mid tier schools where they can start day 1.
Agreed. Not many Power 5 schools want to sacrifice a season breaking in a new QB.
Posted on 1/13/26 at 12:51 pm to NorthTiger
Kiffin said at his introductory press conference that one of the reasons he chose LSU is he can supplement the roster with the portal instead of building the roster with it like he had to do at Ole Miss.
So he’s clearly prioritizing recruiting still.
So he’s clearly prioritizing recruiting still.
Posted on 1/13/26 at 12:51 pm to NorthTiger
Do you mean in general or this cycle for LSU?
In general, I think with OL and DL you can take more "risks" on development projects with HS recruits because you now have up to 105 scholarships.
With 5* there will be even more emphasis on getting on the field Year 1 (and in some cases game 1) & how much NIL.
In this cycle, depending on where our numbers shake out, we could offer a couple of HS kids who could develop in a year or 2. i've seen numbers thrown around that we are currently in the low 80s.
In general, I think with OL and DL you can take more "risks" on development projects with HS recruits because you now have up to 105 scholarships.
With 5* there will be even more emphasis on getting on the field Year 1 (and in some cases game 1) & how much NIL.
In this cycle, depending on where our numbers shake out, we could offer a couple of HS kids who could develop in a year or 2. i've seen numbers thrown around that we are currently in the low 80s.
This post was edited on 1/13/26 at 3:29 pm
Posted on 1/13/26 at 1:06 pm to shel311
This was my theory as well I’ve said on here.
I think we will see a shift that more highschool recruits go to “smaller” (not playoff caliber) schools.
they will get more money by committing to smaller schools to play right away. then earn big money “free agency” contracts in that portal after that one year at the smaller schools.
the playoff caliber programs don’t want highschoolers anyway, they want proven players via the transfer portal.
i think it will start a big shift
I think we will see a shift that more highschool recruits go to “smaller” (not playoff caliber) schools.
they will get more money by committing to smaller schools to play right away. then earn big money “free agency” contracts in that portal after that one year at the smaller schools.
the playoff caliber programs don’t want highschoolers anyway, they want proven players via the transfer portal.
i think it will start a big shift
Posted on 1/13/26 at 1:17 pm to NorthTiger
Recruit hard any HS player that could get a lot of playing time as a freshman, accept any 5 star willing to accept your money, and use the rest of the interested high schoolers to fill the roster to see how they develop. Redshirt the freshmen that have not grasped offensive and defensive schemes enough to get regular playing time but have upside in positions where imminent upperclassmen departures will open up opportunities without providing much game film for other colleges to use as the basis for their bidding.
Posted on 1/13/26 at 2:01 pm to NorthTiger
quote:
In the age of the transfer portal, will a school miss out on a 5 star QB (especially) or RB if that school brings in a high level transfer who has multiple years of eligibility left?
Possibly.
I don't know what the future holds for high school recruiting. We'll see if Underwood finishes at Michigan. Arch Manning looks to be completing his career at UT.
If both of those guys finish where they started, then high school QB recruiting may not be dead.
As it is now, I don't see it being sustainable to pay an unproven 18 year old a boat load of money to come to your school for 1 season when you can pay a proven 20-21 year old.
Looking back to the 2023 recruiting class - only Arch Manning and LaNorris Sellers are still with their original team out of the top 10 QBs. Some of these guys (Leavitt, Malachi Nelson) are on their 3rd+ team.
This post was edited on 1/13/26 at 2:02 pm
Posted on 1/13/26 at 2:33 pm to NorthTiger
quote:you can’t predict anyone staying, no matter the remaining eligibility.
will a school miss out on a 5 star QB (especially) or RB if that school brings in a high level transfer who has multiple years of eligibility left?
Posted on 1/13/26 at 2:55 pm to NorthTiger
You’re recruiting high school kids to be immediate depth or rotational pieces. You obviously take the kids that are willing to play for scholarship and a little cash so you have a practice squad but for the most part, you better be ready to compete or no NIL. If they expand the redshirt to include 9 games then this will absolutely change the game even more. Those Olinemen with 3-4 years under their belt will be highly sought after for depth. Give me the 23-24year old 3 star with a college developed body and experience over most 4 star seniors with “potential”.
Posted on 1/13/26 at 3:05 pm to NorthTiger
I see it becoming more of a mesh of the NFL draft and minor league baseball.
The power programs will still recruit and sign the blue chip HS prospects with big 1 year "contracts" with the hope they can be immediate impact players are stick around longer than a year to develop. But they will be less like to sign the 3 star prospects unless the "slot money" is relatively low. Otherwise, they will just use that money to sign higher priced free agents.
That could open an opportunity for the non-power conf. schools to sign HS players that in the past would go to a bigger school. The hope being that the small program could keep the player for 1, 2, maybe 3 years before he got "promoted" to a higher classification.
That approach is happening a lot in basketball. For example, Will Wade's pitch to HS players/transfers at McNeese was essentially "come play for me. I will make you better. And if/when you have a great year, go to a bigger school for more money. I'll help you on the deal."
The power programs will still recruit and sign the blue chip HS prospects with big 1 year "contracts" with the hope they can be immediate impact players are stick around longer than a year to develop. But they will be less like to sign the 3 star prospects unless the "slot money" is relatively low. Otherwise, they will just use that money to sign higher priced free agents.
That could open an opportunity for the non-power conf. schools to sign HS players that in the past would go to a bigger school. The hope being that the small program could keep the player for 1, 2, maybe 3 years before he got "promoted" to a higher classification.
That approach is happening a lot in basketball. For example, Will Wade's pitch to HS players/transfers at McNeese was essentially "come play for me. I will make you better. And if/when you have a great year, go to a bigger school for more money. I'll help you on the deal."
Posted on 1/13/26 at 3:14 pm to NorthTiger
Portal guys = slightly more accurate assessment of future success on college level.
Posted on 1/13/26 at 3:16 pm to Alt26
a lot of big schools will choose to take 10-15 less from HS to leave room for portal and to put a preference on older more developed kids from the portal. This will provide higher level of talent at the group of five and possibly FCS levels. that is where you will be able to find a bunch of talented kids that years ago would have been a depth piece at a big P4 school but due to difference in recruiting philosophies they will be at smaller schools and gaining playing experience and physical strength and development to be more ready to compete at the P4 schools after 1-3 years at the lower level.
Posted on 1/13/26 at 3:19 pm to NorthTiger
I wouldn’t waste any energy with anyone that can not contribute the next year. Maybe a QB and a few linemen to develop.
This post was edited on 1/13/26 at 4:26 pm
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