Recruiting And Transfer Portal Notes

College football is in full recruiting and Transfer Portal mode

Recruiting And Transfer Portal Notes

With the vast majority of spring games done, like Auburn, Alabama and Georgia, college football fans should know that it’s time for recruiting and the Transfer Portal to take centerstage. Here are a few of the storylines taking place around the SEC and college football.

• College football players have through April 30 to enter the Transfer Portal. Players entering their names are beginning to surface but look for a lot more this next week as paperwork clears with the NCAA.
• Auburn’s biggest Transfer Portal need is a defensive tackle. There are actually more solid to good defensive tackle prospects transferring than some might expect. There is a downside, however. The market is overflooded with teams that want and need a top interior defensive linemen (or two). That means at least some of the defensive tackles might ask for a lot of NIL, to the point of teams flat-out needing to overpay. Of course, that takes away from the overall cash Auburn or any other team has for other players. Tough decisions could be coming for several programs.
• The recruiting saga for quarterback Jaden Rashada is one for the ages. Committing to both Florida and Miami, signing with the Gators, and then the ridiculous NIL scandal with the Florida boosters, just incredible. Rashada ends up at Arizona State. Well, he’s now back on the market. Rashada is in the Transfer Portal and there are whispers that Georgia is interested, among several other college football programs.
• Despite numerous SEC and ACC schools like Auburn, Florida State, and many others pushing for Homestead (Fla.) High School wide receiver Cortez Mills it’s going to be hard to knock off the hometown Miami Hurricanes. Their NIL is very strong and Mills lives less than an hour from UM’s campus in Coral Gables.
• Sticking with wide receiver, Duncanville (Texas) High School talent Dakorien Moore is an LSU commitment but he’s far from a sure thing. Ohio State, Oregon, Texas, and many other schools are chipping away. Intel is consistent that Moore’s recruitment is far from over. Watch out for Oregon.
• A former Ohio State commitment would be Cocoa (Fla.) High School wide receiver Jayvan Boggs. He’s visiting Notre Dame for the Irish spring game, and several other programs would love to land the prospect coming off a junior campaign with 93 receptions, 1,493 yards, a 16.1 average, and 23 touchdowns, per MaxPreps. 
• In case anyone missed it, Kirby Smart and UGA now hold a 2025 quarterback commitment from Findlay (Ohio) High School product Ryan Montgomery. That leaves the door a little more open for Auburn, Alabama, and Colorado to flip 5-star quarterback Julian “Ju Ju” Smith from Southern California. Lewis is from Carrollton (Ga.) High School. UGA previously went after Lewis hard, but it’s tough to say how that situation will play out now with a quarterback commitment in the fold for Georgia.
• There are still questions about Alabama head coach Kalen DeBoer and whether his West Coast roots will be able to recruit well in SEC country. One thing he can do is bring more talent from out West to Tuscaloosa. A top recruit visiting for Bama’s spring game, per the Bama Central website, would be elite Mission Viejo (Calif.) High School cornerback DJ Lee. He’s also going to be taking an official visit to Alabama (June 21).
• Auburn also needs help at defensive end and it could come via South Florida. Former Miami defensive end Nyjalik Kelly will be a redshirt sophomore this next season. Auburn, Missouri, UCF, and several other programs will be under consideration, per 247.
• There’s been a lot of optimism for LSU’s offense in 2024, but the secondary looked terrible in the spring game. Losing another cornerback to the Transfer Portal is not likely to help the Tigers either. According to several reports including Tigers Wire, Ryan Yaites is no longer with LSU and is entering the Transfer Portal. LSU might score a lot of points this fall, but the Tigers probably need at least two top-notch defensive backs to join their roster to be a top SEC contender.
• Speaking of LSU, big-time running back prospect James Simon from Shreveport (La.) Calvary Baptist may not be a true lock for the Tigers as originally believed. He recently visited Alabama and Notre Dame and will be at the Texas spring game this weekend.