Guys.. what’s the readers digest version of the portal transfers - guys want to get paid and we aren’t paying em? I thought grunk looked better than allar at the end of the season… just sayin’
'25 (in-season) - '26 CFB Portal Thread
- Thread starter Tom McAndrew
- Start date
Well the fact that Campbell heavily recruited Grunk would lead one to believe that Grunk was one of HIS guys.
So what happens to the remaining PSU guys? Do they sit behind the Iowa State transfers because they are not Campbell’s guys? I call BS on this
theory. CMC will play the best players, period.
He wasn't though--Becht actually agreed to play for him. Grunk didn't.
The guys staying are the ones Campbell has made promises too and got them the NIL money they wanted
We've known Grunk was likely gone--I'm not sure why people are pretending they're surprised.
Regarding Becht performance...
Compare his 2025 stats to his 2024 stats when he had two NFL WRs.
PSU better have some future NFL receivers on the roster.
The only area where he improved, slightly, was completion %...because he had to throw shorter passes.
There's always Rutgers. They'll be thrilled to have you.
Obviously, he will play the best players LEFT.
The problem is that barring a HUGE haul of incoming portal guys, the exodus may leave "not much to pick from", aside from some former ISU scruffers.
So much for the "Keep T Smith and save the roster" theory.
Campbell had - as job 1: keep the quality of the current roster, and add Big Ten level guys in the portal. Part A has been a huge fail - Part B now needs to be an A+. Time will tell.
That never made sense but we've only lost 2 people I care about at all honestly
Edit: I guess I could say 3 or 4 but I like our secondary even without Harris and Chaz wasn't staying no matter who we hired
Not really. Two or three of the guys leaving are actually losses. The rest will be lucky to see the field wherever they go.
Coleman, Gilliam, and Harvey on D, Shanahan on O are the only disappointments for me. Grunk not a disappointment if Becht comes aboard
We only lost 4 guys that actually hurt, but are still not irreplaceable. We’ve also kept our best players from this year on the roster for next year. If we get most of these ISU guys, we’ll have a pretty solid roster.
Both Harvey and Gilliam are replaceabLe. Neither were difference makers. Coleman is already a very good push rusher, but he is far from complete. Against the run he’s soft.
LOL. They won't see the field anywhere else? But would have likely started at PSU? Are things really THAT bad?
If they had stayed:
Starting QB (Grunk)
Starting OG (Shanahan)
Likely 2026 starting DT (Gilliam) and both likely starters at DE (Coleman and Fisher)
Starting CB (Harris)
And a handful of supposed highly recruited younger guys - and some veterans who had already been in the rotation (Washington and Wylie).
And this from a roster that already was losing 8 offensive starters (RB, 4 OL, all 3 WR) to matriculation (even if not counting Allar).... and 5 defensive starters (DE, both DT, one LB, one S).
But, sure, just grab a bunch of "better guys" in the portal. Sounds rather Deion-ish. I don't see that working out well for Campbell. Thank goodness for the cream puff schedule - so at least there is that.
Time will tell.
Anyone whose rationale behind keeping Grunk is that you will have him for three years is completely misguided. Part of the reason the kid wants to leave, besides looking for a big payday after a good stretch of play, is because he wants to get to the league as quick as possible. He will probably be a two year starter for somebody, but if he’s really good next year, it’ll be one year.
Becht isn’t necessarily set as being the guy next year, he might not even be here. Our new GM is from Cincinnati and they had a pretty good QB over there who may be interested
Becht isn’t necessarily set as being the guy next year, he might not even be here. Our new GM is from Cincinnati and they had a pretty good QB over there who may be interested
Grunk left because he wasn't going to start--Becht is our 2026 QB
Coleman leaving has nothing to do with Campbell
I'm torn on Harris because I like him but I like the kids we kept too
The turnover here isn't any different than most schools.
Time will tell, but if the tight end, offensive guard and cornerback that are already in the portal from ISU, who are three of the most linked to be coming to Penn State do come, they are upgrades over Reynolds, Shanahan and Harris.
As someone who knows much more about Harvey and Gilliam than the other posters here, I’ll just say that I don’t think either of them are necessarily gone, but I also think that there are plenty of other players in the portal who can give the same effort and stats that they did.
I watched Harvey closely all year waiting for him to pop. He never did. Fisher, if he stays healthy, is just not worth the NIL $.
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Grunk is, by any objective measure, a better QB TODAY (even after a handful of starts) than Becht after three years as a starter - and it is "no guarantee" that PSU even signs Becht (or any other QB from the portal). Grunk was also better than 3 year starter Allar - but that's another story.
And a guy like Becht is - for certain - no more than a 1 year rental. Using the "there is no guarantee they will stay" as the criteria, you wouldn't bother signing a 4 or 5 start recruit - unless they were going to be a day 1 starter - because they might leave. Is that really sound reasoning for building a squad?
Campbell, and his semi-complete
staff's work to date vav roster retention is, obviously a huge problem. If roster additions via portal are not a grand-slam, its gonna' be dicey.Just as obviously, it didn't have to be this way. C'est la vie.
Agree with your take here 100%. Where I’ll get a bit concerned is if we OVERLOAD with ISU players. Some will be depth pieces, which is fine. But if we see too many jump aboard early, I’ll be worried we don’t have confidence in landing the big time portal guys.
Correct, even in high school down here at QO he was supposed to be the next chop. He’s never been able to live up to that comparison, and Gilliam was viewed by many as a group of five type player but JF hoped bringing him along would also get Jaylin.
Seems like strange rationalization to me…
If Grunk is here for only 2 more years instead of 3, well that’s 1 more year than we’d get from Becht.
If Grunk is here for just 1 more year, it means he had a very good year (what we’d be hoping for if we replace him with Becht).
Not to mention the money likely saved…
I’ll be very disappointed if we don’t get ISU’s freshman in addition to Becht. If it’s just Becht, I would rather have kept Grunk.
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Must be tired of rowing!
Maybe. I think he simply realizes that he can get more money and more exposure playing for a bigger program. Minnesota isn’t a bad team, they just seem to be stuck in middling purgatory, like all Minnesota sports. The U has wealthy donors but really hasn’t seemed to go “all in” on resources for football.
Koi is a gamer. Would love to have him in blue and white. Could see him landing at ND.
, obviously
, obviously
Maybe. I think he simply realizes that he can get more money and more exposure playing for a bigger program. Minnesota isn’t a bad team, they just seem to be stuck in middling purgatory, like all Minnesota sports. The U has wealthy donors but really hasn’t seemed to go “all in” on resources for football.
Koi is a gamer. Would love to have him in blue and white. Could see him landing at ND.
Hard to say where he'll land. He went to HS in MN. Ohio State made a real push to land him after (I think) he has verballed to Minny, and the On3 predictor had him going to Ohio State (after he took an official visit, and the tOSU coaches visited him near signing day), but he ended up signing with Minny.
Will that prior relationship impact him while in the portal? Time will tell.
Hmm, if I was putting in a prediction minutes after the portal officially opens, I would think I'd have to have a confidence level much higher than 60%. Can you explain, @PeteNakos?
After seeing some of these transfer kids play like their life depends on it during these playoffs, maybe some of these highly recruited busts and the coaching staff that enabled it leave is just what PSU needs.