Taking a look back on our portal activity from last year, what player could we have added that would have improved our team this year as far as wins and losses? I don't think even a player of Walter Nolen's caliber changes us from 10-2 to 11-1. Pretty universally on the vent last year nobody wanted Evan Stewart because of his perceived attitude. Does Isaiah Bond make us 11-1 or 12-0? I don't think so. (We did go out and get the third highest ranked receiver in the portal in Humphrey FWIW last year). College football is not about "winning the portal." It's about winning championships.
We can all get frustrated about our lack of portal activity right now but I would advise caution. Radi posted something a little while ago about the danger of recruiting a kid to a position, like quarterback, in the portal while simultaneously telling Gunner that he's our guy and that he can get the job done in the post season. We still have a championship to win and being duplicitous or appearing to be so will hurt our chances.
There is NOT a big fish other than the Washington state QB in the portal now. There isn't a Walter Nolen. Oatis is not even in that same conversation. This is like NFL free agency where the only players who are in the portal now are by in large players that their original team can live without, because if they couldn't live without them they wouldn't have hit the portal in the first place.
Yes, we need at least 2 receivers. Yes we need a safety, defensive tackle, and I would say right tackle (I would argue that it's our 2nd biggest need) but this is also only the first wave and players are still getting added every day. The better teams with better players are still in the playoffs and some of them will enter in the spring.
We can all get frustrated about our lack of portal activity right now but I would advise caution. Radi posted something a little while ago about the danger of recruiting a kid to a position, like quarterback, in the portal while simultaneously telling Gunner that he's our guy and that he can get the job done in the post season. We still have a championship to win and being duplicitous or appearing to be so will hurt our chances.
There is NOT a big fish other than the Washington state QB in the portal now. There isn't a Walter Nolen. Oatis is not even in that same conversation. This is like NFL free agency where the only players who are in the portal now are by in large players that their original team can live without, because if they couldn't live without them they wouldn't have hit the portal in the first place.
Yes, we need at least 2 receivers. Yes we need a safety, defensive tackle, and I would say right tackle (I would argue that it's our 2nd biggest need) but this is also only the first wave and players are still getting added every day. The better teams with better players are still in the playoffs and some of them will enter in the spring.
