'25 (in-season) - '26 CFB Portal Thread
- Thread starter Tom McAndrew
- Start date
I’m more interested in who the back up would be that they can bring in. I need to see a plan since we are moving on from a promising redshirt freshman.
That's fair. I'm confident they'll add a younger guy in the portal that they can sell on starting in 2027. We were never going to have Grunk & Becht so it's just a matter of which one of them ends up being better in 2026. Campbell isn't dumb. He sees our schedule and thinks 10 wins should be a lock.
Why not pay him though? That guy is accurate and only getting better. Becht is average as they come.
Becht is nothing special. Grunk might have been. That's my problem.Im not interested in a year of Becht.
Too much Iowa State is not what we want.
He was supposed to be a high draft pick then hurt his non throwing shoulder and just played hurt all year on top of his WRs getting hurt
Because Campbell disagrees with your assessment. You're not giving Becht enough credit. I'd rather have Grunk but Becht isn't "as average as they come".
Ranking the best players in the college football transfer portal — ESPN
The transfer portal closed Jan. 16. Here's your guide to the best players on the move this offseason.
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It doesn’t mean it can’t still happen. Especially now that Shanahan declared for the portal yesterday.
They are going to need an OL haul in the portal now.
That's an abundantly fair assessment.
Last year Becht placed 67th in QB rating (FWIW: Grunk placed 46th, and was improving each week)
In 2024, with 2 "NFL receivers", Becht placed 56th.
Grunk, of course, was placed at the helm of a program in the midst of a dumpster fire - and facing a brutal first month (Iowa, OSU, Indiana)
NCAA College Football FBS current individual Stats | NCAA.com
No reasonable coach would intentionally trade Grunk for Becht. If Campbell does that - and only time will tell - that would be disconcerting.
FWIW: One of the reasons PSU (PK) had Campbell as a "B List" candidate is his lack of effectiveness wrt the portal ... only a couple impact players brought in through the portal in his tenure at ISU.
It is going to be a very critical week for Campbell and staff, to show they can improve in that regard.
If this season has taught us anything, it’s that it’s never a lock to win 10 games or more. I think Campbell is the type of coach to get the team to avoid any type of mindset prone to assuming wins, thankfully.
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"No reasonable coach would intentionally trade Grunk for Becht. If Campbell does that - and only time will tell - that would be disconcerting."---I'll take CMC's QB assessment and QB room plan anytime. He knows his business and what he's doing, AND how he wants his offense to run.
" FWIW: One of the reasons PSU (PK) had Campbell as a "B List" candidate is his lack of effectiveness wrt the portal ... only a couple impact players brought in through the portal in his tenure at ISU. '----CMC never had the MONEY to go after high level portal players at IS. He has the money and coaching talent to recognize the talent he wants, and go after them now. The Team will be better in 26 vs 25, no doubt in my mind.
Well, given the dumpster fire of 2025, and the cupcake 2026 schedule, I think that's a pretty safe call
Will it be as good or better than 2024? And how soon? THAT is the question.
Otherwise, the boundaries of:
An abundantly consistent "7-5 in the Big 12" for Campbell
and
Consistent 10-win seasons with consistent "big game fails" for PSU
Kind of sets the standard - unless and until it can be shown otherwise.
Where does it end up? Who knows?
The first several weeks are less than promising, on many fronts. In fairness, the FUBAR of the entire months-long hiring process, and the resultant forced marriage between PK and Campbell (which I don't think will last too long), can't be laid at Campbell's feet.
Fair but next year's schedule is infinitely easier than this one...which isn't saying much...9-3 should have been our floor this year.
The fact (or, at least, reported fact) that Campbell hadn't even sat down with most of the individual players in his first 3 weeks on the job.... along with the fact that the composition of the coaching staff for 2026 is still in flux (and only recently given any substance at all)... makes the portal exodus, IMO, a lot less confusing (should probably say "portal entries", since technically they are not all gone yet).
Unless PK was flat out lying, PSU will have as much or more $$$ to spend on players as just about anyone in the nation.
No reason not to believe him.
Cyclones had a top 10 in most positions in the portal. Safety Marcus Neal will be there too when it is revised. CMC haters gonna hate though.
- QB Rocco Becht, positional ranking: No. 8
- WR Brett Eskildsen, positional ranking: No. 21
- TE Benjamin Brahmer, positional ranking: No. 1
- TE Gabe Burkle, positional ranking: No. 6
- LB Caleb Bacon, positional ranking: No. 9
- CB Jontez Williams, positional ranking: No. 1
- CB Jeremiah Cooper, positional ranking: No. 5
It’s likely Mack was encouraged to explore his options elsewhere. There is nothing confusing or surprising about Mack hitting the portal. He has done it 3 times now.
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Definitely given how much leadership he demonstrated in the final was and the bowl game. Maybe he wanted more $ than they were willing to pay. Bummer.
Well, they have about 40 in the portal (with PSU now close behind), and the guys from the top teams are just now starting to make their decisions/announcements. Those "rankings" are less set than pudding at this point.
With Mack leaving, then Campbell better sign Marcus Neal Jr.
No one leaving (or staying) shocks me any more. King Mack proved to be a good guy and leader over the past few weeks/months. Him leaving doesn't alter that for me. Best of luck to him.
Boyer and Shanahan are shockers. They started in the Bowl game.
I'd wager almost every coach would try to bring a guy that has started under them for 3 years
Big fan of Ethan but winning the 3 games he did wasn't exactly him beating good teams
So many on here trashed Franklin for using QB’s that didn’t fit the system he wanted to run. So now we’re going to trash Campbell for trying to get QB’s that fit into the system he wants to run. Make it make sense.